Space Coast Book Lovers 2017

Woohoo! Less than a month away. Mark your calendars for June 1st through 4th and pack up for the beach for 3 days of authors, readers and plenty of  Florida fun.

Space Coast Book Lovers 2017

Buy tickets starting at $0.00

This event is nonstop activities from the Meet & Greet Friday to Gimme S'more time to the book signing. In attendance is a smorgasbord of authors and genres but the excitement doesn't stop there. There'll be industry professionals such as professional bloggers and models.

I'm pumped and excited and counting down the days. I can't wait to see those I know and meet those I don't.

At my table will be copies of all my books, including my new release The Monster Upstairs. Participate in the scavenger hunt and you might get some free goodies from me. See you there!

One Lovely Blog Award

 Thank you KayCee K at Wonderstruck for nominating me!

Here are the rules for accepting this award: 

First, you thank the person who nominated you for the award.Then, you add the One Lovely Blog logo to your post. 

 Share 7 things about yourself.

Nominate up to 15 bloggers you admire and inform the nominees by commenting on their blog. 


7 things people might not know about me...

1. Junior Mints and Reeses are my favorite candy

2. I have many unpublished works

3. I have lived on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts

4. I have a huge collection of Barbies I'm attempting to sell- hit me up if your interested :-)

5. My favorite U.S. city is St. Augustine

6. I was the kid at Christmas who shook and poked my presents endlessly until I got to open them

7. I have only been out of the U.S. once but I have a passport now so watch out!

I'm nominating
Caverns of my Mind
Megan Cyrulewski
Rhoda D'Ettore

Inspiring Blogger Award

Thank you KayCee from Double Decker Books!

Here are the Rules:

Thank and link the amazing person who nominated you.
List the rules and display the award.
Share seven facts about yourself.
Nominate fifteen other amazing blogs and remember to comment on their blogs to let them know you’ve nominated them (provide a link to your post).

This rule is optional – you can proudly display the award logo anywhere on your blog (e.g. on your sidebar) and also follow the blogger that nominated you.

7 facts about me:
I love to write
I have an analytic mind
My favorite candy is Reeses, although I love Cadbury Eggs at Easter.
I enjoy scary movies the best.
True blood is my favorite current show. I'm already in mourning that this is its last season :-(
I drive a red truck that I bought new in 2000.
My best friend is my roommate.

The bloggers I'm nominating are
http://shannonathompson.com/
http://susanneleist.wordpress.com/
http://johntuckermustlive.wordpress.com/
http://ashleysaddictivebookblog.blogspot.com/
Jeniann Bowers at the Scribble Writer
KayCee at Wonder Struck
Max E Stone The Coloured Book
Madi Predda
Terri Klaes Harper at Carverns of My Mind
Marcha Fox
Jane Peskara/Audrey Valentine My Novels, My World
Megan Cyrulewski Authors Supporting Authors

My Thoughts On Book Blog Tours

Recently, I just finished a blog or virtul tour for the release of Baby Girl Book 2 Moonlighting in Paris.

I had participated in a couple tours, even using thetroubledoysteras to participate. I think any exposure to an authors book is good and a blog tour does that. Each site that hosts the author's tour has its own set of viewers and followers so the book is seen by a large viewing audience.

I also ran a Facebook event at the same time, playing games and getting to know my fans. I loved it and can't speak enough about how great the experience was.I would definitely consider having a Facebook or Google+ event. You and your fans get to know each other and the author can run more giveaways. I used trivia having to do with elements of the book and gave a few more books away.

At the same time I had a giveaway going on which also turned out successful, only I wished I'ld of had a few more entrants but either way my books went out to new people who were just hearing about me for the first time.

What I recomend to any authors contemplating whether they want to complete a blog tour or not, go for it! Here is some advice:

1. Study blogs-find blogs that interest you and contact the bloggers. Have material ready for the bloggers but make it something that caters to their sight, talk with them. I ran a short blog tour of only 5 days and talked with friends of mine who have blogs or people I have blogged for; reciprocity is a great quality. Consider this when contacting the blogger, give them a reason to feature you such as freebies, bragging on the excellent job they did, or bringing in a lot of views. Many people make money on their blogs so more viewers means the possibility of more money. Don't be pushy though and remember thetroubledoyster is willing to host you.

2. I ran my tour for 5 days, and that just isn't enough time. Try 10-15 days with or without weekends, maximum exposure. You may also have a greater turnout in a giveaway.

3. Have a giveaway. Goodreads is a great place to run a giveaway, you can even pick the countries. When I ran mine in February I gave away 5 autographed books worldwide. Here is the catch you are responsible for mailing the books. I spent quite a bit of money on postage but it was well worth it. For my blog tour I tried rafflecopter. This was my first experience with running a giveaway through them and I chose them because the Baby Girl books are only available in Kindle (Goodreads you have to give away paper or hard copies). I would suggest at least one giveaway, maybe run a rafflecopter and Goodreads.

4. I kept up with the tour here and posted daily the events. I would say daily was too much. Twice a week would be better for a longer tour.

Blog tours are a great tool! I gave away a lot of books but even without the giveaways I sold more books and I got more reviews for both the Baby Girl books. I have a few more fans as well and a few people have already told me they can't wait for book 3!

Will I do another one? Definitely, I plan on one for As Snow Falls one year anniversary coming up in August. I am seriously considering releasing her name as well.