R. J. Larson’s journey to publication

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Greetings from fall-draped Colorado. Davalynn Spencer here, visiting with author R. J. Larson whose second book of her Books of the Infinite series hits stores in November. Rarely is publishing success an overnight venture, R. J. How did you get into writing? My personal road to publication was actually a long twenty-years-plus hike through the publishing field. I’ve been a book fanatic since my parents first placed books within my reach. But writing…well, writing books never occurred to me until my sister-in-law, Kathi Macias, became an editor/writer and inspired me to write. I cut my author-teeth, so to speak, on…

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Tips from the Pros: Tiffany Amber Stockton

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Greetings from Sarah Sundin, currently in gorgeous Monterey for a retreat! But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to interview Tiffany Amber Stockton. Tiff is my website designer (Eagle Designs), a multi-talented and creative woman who talked me through a gazillion of my techno-idiot moments. She and her husband, Stuart Stockton – also an author – put together a fabulous interactive map on my website which is getting lots of raves. But Tiff is more than a techno-whiz – she’s a multi-published author of historical romances, with two new releases this month! Tiff, how did you get into writing? I…

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Postcards Aren’t Just for Making People Envious of Your Vacation

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Hi, all. Pamela S. Meyers here, freshly back from the ACFW National Conference in Dallas, with another installment about marketing your new novel. During my year of blessings in 2011, I received a three-book contract with OakTara Publishing, and a single-title contract with Summerside Press. This fall, the second book in the three-book series is coming out, and next spring the Summerside Press title is to release. When I received final cover art for both books within days of each other, I didn’t have any time to waste if I were to have a promotional item to take with me…

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Hard Sell

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Hello from Ava Pennington, CAN Secretary. I’m enjoying the fall weather in south Florida, which, of course, for us, just means temperatures in the high 80s instead of the low 90s! I’m sure I’m not the only person to see subject lines like these in my email inbox: Check this out! Sale! New discounts! New Prices! Get it now! Order now!  

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Tips from the Pros: Sharon K. Souza

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Greetings from Sarah Sundin in California. Today I have the joy of interviewing novelist Sharon K. Souza. I met Sharon at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference in 2009, the year she and Kathleen Popa won the Mount Hermon Writer of the Year Award. Sharon’s writing receives much praise, and her group blog Novel Matters promotes taking our fiction to loftier heights. Definitely a blog to follow. Sharon, how did you get into writing? I’ve always had an artistic bent. When I was younger, it was expressed through drawing and painting. I can’t remember back far enough to remember when I…

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Power and Benefits of Groups in Marketing

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Aloha from Karen Whiting CAN offers great benefits to readers and blessings to members. It’s good to follow CAN because we post about marketing that others can adapt. It’s also good to see what a group does to glean ideas for your own group. Let’s chat about how to multiply efforts greatly through team efforts that benefits all the members and blesses others.  

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Uping the Game With Social Media

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Hi everyone! Pamela Meyers here with another discussion on marketing your novel. Recently, while in a discussion with a couple people from my church, a woman asked me if I had a publicist. I replied that the publisher for my book releasing next spring has a publicist on staff that is available to me, but for my small press books, the marketing is pretty much up to me. At that point the man with us spoke up and recited the old adage, “To make money, you have to spend money.” I assured him I agreed, but with a very slim…

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Marketing a debut novel

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Hi everyone. Pamela Meyers here for my monthly column on what I’ve learned about marketing your debut novel. We’re almost to the end of July and with fall just around the corner, I can look forward to Love Will Find a Way, my second book in the On The Road to Love series, coming out November 2012—exactly one year after Thyme for Love made its debut appearance. Over the past several months, I’ve let the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer lull me into a kind of laid-back stance as I’ve spent time researching historical information for a book series….

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I finally took the Pinterest Plunge: tips

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I’ve been a lurker for several months. There were several reasons for my reluctance 1. I didn’t want to spend time on a fad that would fade, 2. I couldn’t see adding one more social media need-to on my list of must-dos, and 3. I just didn’t get it. I didn’t see how I’d use Pinterest and how the time invested would offer a worthy return. But, after several months of reading the stats, I finally decided to take the plunge. Here is what I found.

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Lights! Action! Camera! – Are You Ready for Prime Time?

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Hi all, Pamela Meyers here and back with another installment on what I’ve learned while marketing my debut novel. When I received THE call about a year ago telling me I’d sold my first book, I knew right away I had a lot of work ahead of me. Not only did I expect deadlines for edits, but I also knew marketing would eat up some time. Over the past year I’ve learned a lot about marketing my novels, and I’m sharing what I’ve learned with you on the fourth Wednesday of each month. So far, I’ve covered the prep work…

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