Posted by Michelle M. Pillow on Feb 13, 2008 in
Contests,
Marketing with Mandy 
Marketing with Mandy ~ Author Mary Winter
Q: Tell us a little about your experience with Ellora’s Cave.
A: My first EC title, Ghost Touch, was released in December 2002 (And just came out in print!) Since then, I’ve had fourteen titles published with them including my latest, Au Naturel, which releases on 11/09/07. I am a huge fan of Ellora’s Cave. I love my editor and know that every book we work together on just shines.
Q: What tips/tricks do you use for marketing or promoting your own titles?
A: I like to cultivate the reader’s loop for my publishers as well as my own chat list. I also believe in my monthly newsletter which has over 700 subscribers. I love The Romance Studio and feel being a featured member is probably the best value for the money out there. They’re so great to work with and the ability to post my new release news as well as being a featured author really helps.
Q: What is one thing you’d want to tell a newer author, just coming into the game?
A: You have to be a savvy businesswoman. Writing a good novel is the first step, the second, third, fourth, etc. is to market effectively. Know your strengths and run with them.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
A: My latest release from Ellora’s Cave, Au Naturel, deals with a subject close to my heart, natural healing. In this story Reba, a high-power advertising executive, is brought low by a birth defect that led to her heart attack. She has to rebuild her life, and she does it with the help of Todd, a man burned more than once by modern medicine. His natural healing may be the only chance Reba has at achieving the life she wants, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to show her that everything is better naturally.
Q: What’s your favorite genre to write in and why?
A: I love paranormals because metaphysical topics such as natural healing and nature spirituality are favorites of mine. Because they play a big role in my personal life, I find they drive a lot of my ideas. With my Arctic Hungers series, featuring Bjorn’s Mate, I can intertwine my love of the environment and environmental causes with a kick-ass polar bear shape shifter. I guess simply paranormals let me play in the worlds I want to play in.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your current WIP’s?
A: I am currently working on the sequel to StarMyst: Prodigal Son. This story features Reid and Laura, the doctor who treated Edwin. There’s a power struggle brewing, plus Reid and Laura have to overcome their disastrous past.
Q: What authors inspired you growing up?
A: Growing up I read a lot of horse books such as the Saddle Club. My first romances were Silhouette Desires, and these books made me decide I wanted to write romance. However, I soon discovered Mercedes Lackey, Tanya Huff, David Eddings, Lloyd Alexander, and Tolkien, and it’s these fantasy authors who really nurtured my love of books and of fantasy/paranormal elements.
Links
Homepage: http://www.marywinter.com/
Blog: http://www.marywinter.com/blog.html
Reader’s Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marywinterchat
Newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marywinternews
(or send blank email to newsletter-subscribe@marywinter.com)
TThere will be multiple winners! Enter to win EC Ebook (winner’s choice) — One from Ciana Stone, One from Sahara Kelly, One from Ann Wesley Hardin. All you have to do is comment on any of the Marketing with Mandy~Spotlight posts this week! Winner will be announced on Sunday!
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Posted by Michelle M. Pillow on Feb 12, 2008 in
Contests,
Marketing with Mandy 
Q: Tell us a little about your experience with Ellora’s Cave
A: How long can I gush? This is a publishing company who’s books fly off the shelves, who pays their authors twice a month, one that’s growing in leaps and bounds, breaking into foreign markets and quite simply charting their own course in the publishing world. But most of all, it’s a publisher that respects authors.
Q: What tips/tricks do you use for marketing or promoting your own titles?
A: I have your standard website and blog. I also advertise on select websites such as this one 
Q: What is one thing you’d want to tell a newer author, just coming into the game?
A: Try not to get overwhelmed by all the marketing avenues available. Just because everyone seems to be doing it, doesn’t mean you have to. Let the information sit awhile and choose what’s best for you. A lot of opportunities are free. Choose those first and see what works.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
A: Oh let’s see, A Lick and A Promise has dream sex, shower sex, sword fighting sex and spaceship sex, a topsy turvy plot, lots of laughs, and a psychic dog. How’s that?
Q: What’s your favorite genre to write in and why?
A: I really enjoy this sort of futuristic-lite that I’ve created. It’s straight enough for readers who love grounded, contemporary romance, yet still has enough para-magic to satisfy my creative urges and add a fairytale quality to the stories.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your current WIP’s?
A: Currently I’m working on an erotic Urban Fantasy trilogy that involves shapeshifters plagued with personality disorders. I don’t want to say too much about it since it’s under construction, but I will say it’s a hoot. Perhaps the most outlandish idea I’ve ever had.
Q: How do you come up with your ideas?
A: It’s a continual process of wondering what if and why, and never being satisfied with a pat answer. Until the story borders on absurd but, hopefully, never crosses into ridiculous, I’m not happy!
Links
http://www.annwesleyhardin.com
http://annwesleyhardin.blogspot.com
http://www.ellorascave.com
There will be multiple winners! Enter to win EC Ebook (winner’s choice) — One from Ciana Stone, One from Sahara Kelly, One from Ann Wesley Hardin. All you have to do is comment on any of the Marketing with Mandy~Spotlight posts this week! Winner will be announced on Sunday!
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Posted by Michelle M. Pillow on Feb 11, 2008 in
Contests,
Marketing with Mandy
Marketing With Mandy ~ Author Ciana Stone
Q: Tell us a little about your experience with Ellora’s Cave.A: I can only rave about the Cave! I have the most fabulous editor Sue Ellen Gower, our publisher, Raelene Gorlinsky is top-notch and all the Ellora’s Cave family are talented, smart people with a lot of heart. I feel honored to be part of the family.
Q: What tips/tricks do you use for marketing or promoting your own titles?
A: I put on my Hussy hat and act like a snake-oil salesman. And I run contests and ads and yak it up on The Hussies Club on yahoo.
An Exciting New Series from Publisher of Romantica, Ellora’s Cave http://www.thehussies.com
http://thehussiesblog.blogspot.com/
http://thehussiesbookslam.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheHussiesClub/
From the mists of time walks a woman of power and magic, a woman by whose hand destiny was forged during a time when magic still held sway. She thought her time had passed, but it was not to be, for now the world is in a time of great change. A time when destiny will be decided, and man will flourish or fail. And it is up to her to find the women who will be the new warriors in her time honored Order of the Hussies; hunters who will be called upon to seek out and save warriors in peril, in order to insure that these men live to fulfill their destiny and help guide man toward a time when once again human and beast will live side by side and all will flourish.
But this new army of women she will build have no knowledge of the old ways. They are of the new age, and their battles will be fought on far different ground than those of the past.
The Order of the Hussies will tell the tales of these women and the men they save. And each will do it in her own unique style, bringing you steamy passion, heart-tugging romance, and knuckle-biting excitement.
Q: What is one thing you’d want to tell a newer author, just coming into the game?
A: Be like the Zen archer. Write for the love of it, because it’s your passion. Then when the writing is done, become the stonecutter, chipping away a little each day, trying to find a publishing home or a new way to promote. But most of all enjoy the journey because that’s the read joy.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
A: Scout’n’ Cole is the third in my Hot in the Saddle series.
Cole had no trouble attracting women. The Russell men were all blessed physically, and Cole was no exception. However, finding a woman who could match his passion for the wilderness as well as ignite passions of a different kind in his life was the problem.
Scout Windrider knew that love wasn’t for her. She’d yet to encounter a man who took her breath away, and figured it was just as well. What man would want to hook up with a woman who spent most of her life in the wild, tracking mountain lions?
Neither of them could have foreseen being paired in a no-kill hunt turned deadly would force them to confront an explosive attraction hot enough to consume them with its heat. Faced with a murderous madman intent on exacting revenge against the Windrider family, Scout and Cole take a leap of faith with each other, and discover something relegated to myth and legend prove to be true, that will touch their lives in a way that will change them forever.
Q: How do you come up with your ideas?
A: I suppose ideas come from things I read. I’m a big non-fiction fan and read a lot on the myths and legends from various cultures, as well as books on quantum mechanics because hey, science rocks! And I’m a 25 year student of religions which abound with interesting ideas.
I’m also a big “what if” person, and find myself engaging in “what if” conversations all the time. Sometimes really interesting ideas come from those dialogues.
And then there’s my muse who is found of waking me in the middle of the night and refusing to be quiet until I get up and write down the ideas.
Q: How do balance family and writing?
A: LOL, balance is a relative term, but for me balance is having time to do all the things I want to do. So, I work all week and spend the evenings with my family, I have Saturdays for taking care of the home and yard and Sunday is my day off – the day I don’t do anything for anyone. I just get up, brush my teeth and wash my face and head for the patio with my laptop where I sit and write until my butt goes numb, then I go run or swim and write some more.
Q: What would you do if you weren’t a writer?
A: What I do now, art, photography, video and enjoy life. Writing isn’t the sum of my life, but it is one of my primary passions. However, as my honey is fond of saying, I’m a woman with a lot of passions and one of the few people he knows who has the energy to explore all of them. I guess I’m just lucky. Everything I do brings me joy. It doesn’t get any better than that.
LINKS:
http://www.cianastone.com
Marketing With Mandy ~ Author Sally Painter
Q: Tell us a little about your experience with Ellora’s Cave.
A: I love writing for EC. My first book was published in 2005 and it has been a delightful surprise every step of the way. My editor, Sue-Ellen Gower (Suz) is fantastic. EC allows me to write my stories with my vision and doesn’t intrude on how I do that. It’s a dream world for any writer.
Q: What tips/tricks do you use for marketing or promoting your own titles?
A: I do the typical things on list mom day, but try to offer some info that is entertaining and fun aside from just excerpts that relates to the book or items/facts featured in them.
In my vampire book, All I Need, I took listers on a short cyber tour of vineyards in France, gave a little background on wines and then shared some of my research about vampires. Same thing with my two gargoyle books. To Kiss a Gargoyle – I took listers on a cyber tour to various sites with gargoyle statues, told the history and then added some of the myth and fantasy details.
I try to tie in some part of the research I did or capitalize on things such as Last Resort which is about a vampire tropical vacation spot – Vampire Beach Resort. I shared legends about vampire’s sensitivity to sun and garlic, highlighting possible explanations of medical conditions that might have spawned the legend of vampires.
Q: What is one thing you’d want to tell a newer author, just coming into the game?
A: You are always on the stage. Everything you say and do is important so make sure you are presenting yourself in the image you want your readers to know. I’ve seen some very rude authors and the internet makes it fast and easy for news of a rude author to travel fast, just as it down for an author who is polite and considerate.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
A: Divided Love (Release TBD) is part of the EC Torrid Tarot series and mine is based on the Queen of Cups card. Reci Waters is the Queen of Cups which is an underground world created by the ancient Altanteans. They live in domes structures and have the ability to breathe on land or sea.
Reci abdicates her throne in what appears to be a selfish act of betrayal, but she abandoned her kingdom to save it from a fatal war. Now, a year later, all the enemies are revealed and she plans to reclaim her throne, only something strange happens. She has been out of the water too long and falls victim to a curse.
Reci divides into two people and her worst half has no intentions of returning to the underwater city. In fact, the hot-blooded Reci decides it’s time to explore those suppressed sexual longings for the handsome Arthur Finn, Captain of the Royal Guard. She soon finds herself competing with her other self for Arthur’s attention. Things don’t just grow steamy, they are scorching hot as the twin Recis plunge into a sex war to win the man of their dreams.
Arthur has been in love with Reci ever since transferring to Cups, the underworld palace. He’s wanted to claim her as his but protocol has keep his hunger smoldering below the surface. When Reci shirked her duty and opted for a life as a land dweller, he jumped onboard her escape chariot and ever since has served as her personal body guard. He’s never confessed his feelings for his queen, but now that she is twins, Arthur is on fire, finding her irresistible – both of her.
Q: What’s your favorite genre to write in and why?
A: I love paranormal anything. It captures my imagination and I’ve had so many encounters with paranormal activity, it affords me a way to weave them into my stories
Q: Can you tell us a little about your current WIP’s?
A: I’m currently writing my first book in The Hussies™, Danu, The Beginning. Danu is the central figure in the series and I’m writing her story because Ci made me.
Danu was born into a world long before recorded history and is a PICT and is the last of her kind, a seer trained in the ancient arts. She’s a shapeshifter and a Hussy, which is the order of these mystical arts, like her mother and grandmother before her. The Dragon Queen killed Danu’s mother and she’s vowed to extract justice and kill the queen of the dragon people. These are being that can shapeshift into dragons. Danu, however can shapeshift into anything she desires, a rock, a tree, an animal, another person. Anything except a dragon.
She is guided by her ancestors and other spirits, but it’s not until she meets Ragna, a dragon hunter that the rest of her magical power are unleashed and together they set out on the quest to free the world of the tyranny of the dragon king and queen.
Q: What types of research do you do for your books?
A: A lot. I research the mythology and the creatures found in them. If in a different time period, everything I can get my hands on so I feel as though I’m right there. In All I Want, set in 1250 AD Scotland, I immersed myself in the research until I could actually smell the peat fields and feel the wind on my face as it rolled over the Highlands carrying the sound of a lone bagpipe. Research is a part of the fun of writing for me.
I’ve researched foods, wine, grog, and then for my gargoyle books I’ve studied how a bird flies, kinds of wings and feathers and how they are used in flight.
LINKS:
http://www.sallypainter.com
http://www.ellorascave.com/AuthorsBooks.asp?AuthorCode=SPai
http://sallysmidnighthour.blogspot.com
Sally_Painter_Paranormal_Books-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (Newsletter)
There will be multiple winners! Enter to win
EC Ebook (winner’s choice) — One from Ciana Stone, One from Sahara Kelly, One from Ann Wesley Hardin. All you have to do is comment on any of the Marketing with Mandy~Spotlight posts this week! Winner will be announced on Sunday!
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Posted by Mandy M. Roth on Feb 8, 2008 in
Hell If I Know What It Should Be Labeled (yep, I did one, too, LOL)
An interview with Michelle M. Pillow
Michelle M. Pillow is a member of the new virtual authors’ group, Dark Muse Society. You can visit her and fellow authors in the virtual world, here.
What attracted you to writing books with paranormal elements?
MP: I love the mystery of the unexplained. In our era of science and logic, much of the myths and superstitions of life have been explained away or ignored. I like the idea of more being out there, more that we don’t know and can’t understand. I also like the idea of immortality, of power and freedom. Read more…
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Posted by Mandy M. Roth on Feb 6, 2008 in
Raven Radio Join us LIVE today 11 am -12 pm EST!
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ravenradio
Guest authors Mary Wine and JC Wilder join us to talk books, talk romance and talk ghosts. Our idea of the perfect night! They’ll take LIVE reader calls and questions from raven radio chat room!
Listener dial-in number during LIVE shows
(646) 595-3998 (New York number, long distance charges apply)
There is also a LIVE chat during the shows. Follow the link below and look for CHAT LIVE buttons! You can type your questions or comments in there during the chat and we’ll ask/answer them on air!
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ravenradio
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Tags: guest author, Raven Radio
Posted by Mandy M. Roth on Feb 5, 2008 in
Marketing with Mandy
Marketing with Mandy ~ Tips on Doing LIVE Radio InterviewsThere may come a time when you, as an author, find yourself committed to doing an interview on the radio. Many feel they can handle a LIVE interview with no trouble. That may be. It never hurts to be prepared. Nerves can get the best of us and it’s always good to have a plan ready.
Since I host an internet radio show with Michelle Pillow, I’ll use Raven Radio as an example. When you’re a guest, you call in from a phone to do the LIVE interview with us. Make sure you’re not calling in from a cell phone. It’s easy for calls to be dropped and for the reception to be low. If you sound crackly on the phone to me, you will sound exactly like that on air as well. Avoid using a speakerphone or Bluetooth like options—while those headsets work great while driving, they don’t exactly shine through on air. If you have call waiting, shut it off prior to calling in. There is nothing worse than the pauses in conversation because someone is trying to beep through. The same goes for disruptions in the background. Be sure you’re calling from a quiet spot.
While its important to be prepared, having notes in front of you, or your blurb handy, anything that may help you on the fly, its also important to not sound like you’re reading from a script. The opposite end of the spectrum is rambling. It happens to the best of us. (I know what you’re thinking—hey, lady, what the hell can I do then?)It’s simple. Strike a fine balance.
If you’re prone to rambling when nervous (Trust me, when it hits you that not only is the interview live but that it will be available as an mp3 in podcast form for thousands of listeners—forever immortalized in cyber land—the urge to ramble will be there.)
Tips to avoid rambling:
• Be prepared: note cards, your website(s) pulled up in front of you for quick reference, blurb handy, book handy (I send a show outline to guests prior to the show so they can glance at it and get a feel of what is happening when).
• Avoid using filler words such as and, umm, but, well…. No. I don’t mean you can’t ever say them just don’t use them as a bridge to nowhere. You know what I mean, when you’re stumped or when your mind is refusing to cooperate and agree with your tongue (happens to me all the time). By using filler words you’re tying the interviewer’s hands, leaving them the choice of letting you continue to ramble or cutting you off when it sounds as if you might say more. That makes them look rude and they’ll often avoid doing it. That means you’re left rambling. LOL.
• If you’re asked a question either by the interviewer or a listener who calls, don’t hedge your way through it or go all “clinical”. I have images of “Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone?” in my head. Monotone and/or way too clinical doesn’t win you points for being smart. It makes the audience sound you out.
Also, yes, you’re on the show to pump your book but it’s not a commercial. Find a happy medium with talking about your book, yourself and going with the flow of the topic. For Raven, we’ll often prompt authors, encouraging them to talk about their book, themselves, interests and so on depending upon time. We’re also fairly good at steering the conversation to help blend into whatever the topic of the day of the show is. I’m sure this is the case with most hosts.
Know how long your slotted time is. When that time limit nears, be prepared to wrap up your portion. Normally, we’ll guide you. When your time is ended and all the thanks yous have been said, go ahead and hang up.
Radio is just one more marketing tool to spread the word about yourself and your book. Taking the time to prepare and simply exhaling deeply before starting will lead to a happy and hopefully fun experience.
Hope this Marketing with Mandy was helpful!
Until next time…..
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Tags: , Marketing with Mandy, radio, Raven Radio
Posted by Mandy M. Roth on Feb 4, 2008 in
Day in the Life If you’ve emailed me and not heard back from me, please feel free do so again. It would appear my spam box was a very hungry lil box and decided to eat the majority of my mail coming to me for the past 14 mos. I am in there now, weeding through it all but honestly, it will take awhile. Sorry about that. –mandy 2/4/08
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Posted by Mandy M. Roth on Feb 4, 2008 in
Hell If I Know What It Should Be Labeled
An interview with Erin McCarthy
Erin McCarthy is a member of the new virtual authors’ group, Dark Muse Society. You can visit her and fellow authors in the virtual world, here.
What attracted you to writing books with paranormal elements?
I love being able to do whatever I wanted in my paranormal world, and having heroes and heroines who have experienced centuries of life allows me to really explore their characters, and the hazy line between good and bad. Read more…
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Posted by Mandy M. Roth on Feb 1, 2008 in
Marketing with Mandy
Q: Tell us a little about your experience with Liquid Silver Books.
A: I have published five books with Liquid Silver, two erotic romances and three Molten Silver romances, which are a step up in heat level. The editing staff is top notch, headed by Terri Schaefer. April Martinez is well known as a cover artist, and she heads the art department for LSB. Mike Feury runs the forums and websites and does the technical aspects of everything. He’s known as the Silver Seer. Raven Moore is the head honcho, and is treated like the queen that she is. Solid professionals, every one of them. And the authors are like sisters and brothers to me. I have a great amount of respect for all of them.
Q: What tips/tricks do you use for marketing or promoting your own titles?
A: I ally with others. I’d say that’s my only real secret — that I constantly invite others to join me. I can’t possibly tell everyone about my writing, so I let other authors come and play in my sandbox at Romance Lives Forever, my yahoo group. They in turn tell their readers, who end up learning all about me. Clever, huh? And the friends I’ve made over the years have been priceless.
Q: What is one thing you’d want to tell a newer author, just coming into the game?
A: Never let anyone steal your dream. There is always someone willing to tell you it can’t be done. If you listen to them, you will get nowhere. Instead, listen to your dream.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your latest release?
A: I’d be happy to. Jawk, Tales of the Chosen is the final book in a trilogy. The blurb is, “Pleasure. Trust. Possession. Is a betrayal of the heart forever? Jawk Brighton works at Batchelors, a hip restaurant/club in the Top Tier district of Tarth City, where he meets the immortal Luc Saint-Cyr. When Luc offers Jawk a deal too good to pass up, one night showing him and his Chosen, Wulf Gabriel, a good time in exchange for eight times his usual pay, Jawk takes it. All three have secret agendas. The question is, will Jawk’s keep him in Luc and Wulf’s shared bed, or tear apart the alliance of the immortal and his Chosen — forever?” This is my fifth book set in the Tarthian Empire, and it will challenge everything readers know. I can’t wait to see reactions once it’s out.
Q: What’s your favorite genre to write in and why?
A: Science Fiction, because I love world-building. I spent years developing the universe for my books, even writing Felis, the language of the Kin people, a feline-humanoid race. In Felis, “te shree tu,” is “I love you,” and “kahmay te hahr” is “hero of my heart.” My current book, Jawk, has a fifteen-page glossary in the back. The glossary is also available on my website. Although only a few words are used in the book, and in one way or another, all are translated within the context of the story, it helps to have a reference. The Kin can smell emotions, and included in the glossary is a listing of what major emotions smell like. Can you guess what bittersweet chocolate represents?
Q: What types of research do you do for your books?
A: I studied drumming for a character in my current WIP, studied language development and how speech is created within the mouth so I could invent Felis. To a certain extent (as needed for a book), I’ve also studied genetics, rainforests, grizzly bears (for the kweeoh on the Kin homeworld), gems, role-playing games, male prostitution (that was for Khyff, the hero of For Women Only), and professional thieves (for Senth, the union thief in At the Mercy of Her Pleasure). I read everything I can, and Google is my best friend. I’ve been working on ideas for a series about rock groups in the Tarthian Empire as well, so I’ve studied music, and have written lyrics for several songs that will be used in the series. Can’t play an instrument though, unless you count iTunes and the radio. If you do, then I’m very versatile, as I can play desktop, Nano, PDA, AM and FM!
Q: Why do you like writing romance/erotica?
A: Writing Erotica is like getting to color with all the crayons in the box. I could never go back to eight simple colors. They are beautiful, and simplicity has its place, but I live in a larger world, and I want to express it in my writing. I also write M/M, or gay romance. Once I stepped outside the boundaries I had set for myself, I discovered the world was so much bigger than I’d imagined. I could never go back to that little bitty box. One of my characters is asked in Jawk, “You really think outside the box, don’t you?” and he responds, “What box?” Exactly.
LINKS:
http://kayelleallen.com
http://myspace.com/romancelivesforever
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancelivesforever
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