The Glass is Half Full
I’m a “The Glass is Half Full” person. Always have been. Like most of you, I’ve had my share of difficulties, from losing loved ones to painful ends to relationships to financial uncertainty. And now, add the COVID-19 pandemic to that list. Despite these challenging times, I work to focus on the good that inevitably…
Read MoreFinding Peace Amongst Disruptions
I love Spring—the newness of the longer days, the flowering trees, and the sense of new opportunities in the coming months. But in a time of the pandemic, those feelings are dampened by the realities of what we all now face. I think of my readers often and hope you and your families are safe…
Read MoreWinter—A Perfect Time to Visit Sweet Lake
For many, winter can be a time of cold, even arctic weather. For others, it’s just viewed as an unnecessarily long step between Fall and Spring. But during the month of January, it can be the perfect time to take a trip to Sweet Lake, Ohio and visit the Wayfair Inn, where “…each room of…
Read MoreHonoring Silence
Whenever I’m invited on a blog for an Author Q & A, one question invariably pops up: “Where do the ideas for your novels come from?” The simple answer is, “they come from within.” For me, within is the quiet, contemplative place of my mind. It is when I am silent—not engaging in conversation,…
Read More#PubTip—The Elevator Speech for Authors
You never know where you’ll sell your next book. At your kid’s football game, during an impromptu chat on Facebook, or while standing in line at the bakery—potential readers are everywhere. Making a memorable impression, and sealing the deal, is easy when you’re equipped with an elevator speech. An elevator speech—or elevator pitch—is a quick…
Read MoreLaunch Your Book with Great Reviews: 4 Tips to Get You Started
Searching for rocket fuel to launch your book? Great reviews can shoot your masterpiece right up the Amazon lists. Potential buyers demand an unbiased critique of a book’s merits to simplify the task of finding the next great read. Most expect to find at least ten glowing reviews on a book’s product page before they’ll…
Read MoreThe Blogger-Author Relationship—Gaining 5-Star Status
If your relationship with the blogging community consists of a mass email dump to Dear Blogger every time you release a new book, you’re missing the point. Book blogs don’t just add to the string of 5-star reviews you’re hoping to wrap around your new release. Book bloggers also host authors, participate in book hops,…
Read MoreUsing Goodreads to Increase Book Sales
Tell the truth: After indie publishing your book, did you rush to Goodreads and attempt to “friend” dozens of authors and attract hundreds of new followers in a misguided belief the effort would ignite book sales? No doubt many of those authors who ignored your friend request wish you nothing but good fortune—they’re simply too…
Read MoreIn the John with Ginger Rogers
In the early 1980s, I attended a benefit at the Palm Springs Art museum alongside a host of movie stars and business tycoons. The goody bags handed out at the door to the women swishing their way inside the marble palace brimmed with expensive perfumes and silk scarves from Saks; the sculpture gardens glittered with…
Read MoreIn Praise of Book Bloggers…and A Few Confessions
In preparing my most recent release, The Road She Left Behind, I set out to find ARC reviewers as well as rounding up contact lists for book blogs in those countries where I know I have a following. This is part of my approach to launching a new book. However, this time I wanted to…
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