Authors know all about pre-buzz. Once they find out their manuscript has been accepted for publication, their mind races to think of ways to promote it. Booksignings might be one of them. Buying postcards and business cards might be another couple of things the authors might do in terms of publicity tools, but if you're aiming online, the first thing I would think of if I had a new book out was how to find ways to get those thousands of Internet buyers interested.

Setting up a virtual book tour should be at the top of everyone's list. Whether you set one up yourself or hire us to do it, there is no other way to get more exposure for your book if you do it right.

I sent out a few questionnaires to last month's clients to see how effective their virtual book tour went in their own opinion and one of the questions I asked was "How much pre-buzz did you create for your virtual book tour?" I will be sending a flurry of blog posts through here to let you know how that went, among other valuable information in case you're planning a virtual book tour launch. If you'd like, you can sign up for our feed at top left to be alerted when new posts are published.

I do hope that all authors realize the importance of pre-buzzing your book launch. Do stay tuned for more posts on this subject to make sure your book campaign stands out from the rest and while you're waiting, wander on over to ProBlogger...they've got really good tips that will help you create that online presence which virtual book tours are good for.

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The event is held at the hotel and the bookfair will take place in the hotel as well. I can't imagine trying to get that many authors in a bookstore. :-O

Details...

Booksigning *open to the public*

Saturday, June 7, 2008

3-5pm

Cincinnati Marriott North
(Just north of Cincinnati on I-75 at Union Center Blvd, exit 19)
West Chester, Ohio, 6189 Mulhauser Rd, West Chester, OH 45069-4842

If you live in or around the area, I'd love to meet you!

Since I'm taking off for the weekend, going to post an excerpt from my recent ebook release, Hunter's Edge. FYI, yes this is part of my Hunters series, but it was written as a standalone.

“I remember it.”

Shit, did he remember. You need to find something else to talk about, man. Fast.

But before he could wrest his attention to something other than that first night they’d made love, her lids lifted, revealing heated, hungry eyes.

“I remember.” She laid her hand on his cheek. “Are memories all I’m ever going to have of you, Kel?”

“Angel…”

She shook her head. “Never mind. That’s answer enough.” She started to wiggle away, but the dog’s weight kept her from moving away too fast. He brushed a hand over her shoulder but she jerked away. “Move it, Rufus.” At the sound of her curt voice, the dog shoved his mammoth weight upright and leaped off the bed.

Kel watched as she headed toward the door, the rational voice of common sense telling him to let her go. Disappear from her life. She’d be better for it.

He didn’t remember leaving the bed. He didn’t remember crossing the room, or barring the doorway. He didn’t even remember reaching for her, but he must have, because she was pressed up against him, his hands gripping her upper arms. She had her palms pressed against his chest, keeping him at bay. He held back but it took a measure of control he wasn’t sure he had.

“Go ahead, Kel. Disappear. I know that’s what you want.” She stared at him, her blue gaze icy and cold. She tried to twist away from him but he wouldn’t let go—couldn’t seem to manage it.

“You think that’s what I want?” he rasped, dipping his head and pressing a kiss to her neck, just below her ear. Her scent was strong there, warm, soft and female and he wanted to lose himself in it. The rapid beat of her heart was a siren’s song and he could almost imagine how she’d taste, could imagine pressing his mouth to her neck, his teeth piercing her silken skin…

Instead of doing it, though, he lifted his head and stared down at her. “Can you really believe, even for a minute, that I’d wouldn’t do anything to have you back in my life?”

His words had little effect—if anything, her gaze became more aloof. She flashed him a hard-edged smile. “Doesn’t look that way from where I’m standing. Let me go, Kel. Despite what your nudist friend thinks, I’ll be fine.”

“Nudist… Toronto.” Narrowing his eyes, he studied her face. “You heard him.”

“Yeah, Kel. I heard him—sort of. I took a mental trip but that doesn’t mean I’ve completely taken leave of my senses.”

I only wish I had…maybe life would be easier that way. Insanity sounds a lot easier. That or just plain dead.

Angel never spoke the words aloud. But those words echoed between them. She paled and jerked against his hold as his eyes flew wide. He snarled and wrapped an arm around her waist, locking her against him as she struggled. “Damn it, Kel, let go of me.”

“Not going to happen, babe,” he growled. Reaching up, he fisted a hand in her hair and jerked her head back, forcing her to meet his eyes. “You don’t think like that, Angel. You hear me?”

A sneer curled her lip. How such a derisive expression could be so damned appealing, Kel would never know.

“You can’t tell me how to think, babe.” Her voice was deliberately scathing, deliberately insulting.

His control stretched tight, he tried to let her go. He needed to do just that—get some distance between them before need, love, lust and fear got the better of him.

But his body wasn’t listening to his head’s commands and instead of letting her go, he shifted, turned, pressed her back against the door. Leaning into her, he slid one hand up and rested it over her neck. His thumb lay in the hollow of her neck, feeling the silken softness of her skin, the warmth of life rushing just below.

“I said, don’t,” he muttered as he dipped his head and pressed his mouth to hers.

She gasped…and it was like she was breathing him in—absorbing him, their bodies melding into one. He slanted his mouth more firmly against hers, licking the seam of her lips. Angel moaned and opened for him, rising on her toes and hooking an arm around his neck, pulling him closer.

In the back of his mind, a faint voice tried to warn him to stop now before it was too late. But Kel knew it had been too late from the moment he started down this path. Coming back into Angel’s life could have only led to one place…right here. All the self-denial and rambling about self-control had been nothing but a waste of time.

Slowly, he pulled back, watching her. Angel’s lids lifted, revealing turbulent blue eyes. But for the life of him, he couldn’t pick up anything from her. She had her mental shields locked down so tight, she could have been silently ranting at him and he wouldn’t know. He extended his thoughts, tried to touch hers, but she deflected the mental probe, throwing it back at him. A look of surprise crossed her face, but she said nothing.

He curled his hand over her neck and lowered his head, pressing his brow to hers. “Let me in, Angel,” he whispered. He felt so broken without her.

Buy

Thursday
January 17, 2008
7 p.m.
Larry and Suella Walsh will discuss and sign The Last O’Neill, the first in their mystery series for adult readers. This mystery is set in the wine country of Missouri and is written under the pen name L.S. Walsh.

Thursday
January 24, 2008
7 p.m.
Suzanne Arruda, a biologist, former zookeeper, and mystery writer from southeastern Kansas, will sign and discuss The Serpent’s Daughter, the latest in her Jade Del Cameron mystery series. The series is set in colonial Africa after World War I.

Aaannnd....please meet both Sheila and me at a booksigning on Saturday in Port Orchard, WA:

Saturday, November 10, 2007 - Port Orchard, WA. Booklovers Day Booksigning 1-3pm.
PAPERBACKS PLUS 1618 Bay St., Port Orchard, WA 98366 Phone: (360) 876-7224
Booksigning featuring Susan Wiggs, several others, and marking the long-awaited debut of Sheila Roberts's novel, On Strike For Christmas. Expect the merriment to come early this year.

A WRINKLE IN TIME was one of those books I read as a child and thought, wow. I am Meg. To this day, every protagonist I write in my own books seems to be a smart, awkward, vulnerable, strong-at-her-core female, which is the archetype Meg embodies. I didn't know that when I was in 5th grade. I just know I related to her on every level.

Later in life I read WALKING ON WATER, one of the single best books on the art of writing ever published. It is "must" reading for every writer.

I have a signed copy of A WRINKLE IN TIME because I was privileged to meet Madeleine when she visited a school where I was teaching about 15 years ago. I loved meeting her. She was Meg, all grown up. Smart, awkward, vulnerable, strong-at-her-core. She will live to eternity in the hearts of readers.

And okay, I splurged on the shoes, too. And, um, the bag. As a working writer, 90% of my clothes are the kind of thing you wear to clean out the garage. The other 10% of my wardrobe looks more like this. And how did I earn this hot little number?

See for yourself. This is a shot of me at a booksigning--yes, a booksigning--at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The day was organized around an air show, and there were tables and booths set up in the hangars along the air strip. I found myself sharing a table with an army ranger and his pet, Roxanne the Snake. The ranger wanted me to hold his snake. I said no. I hid behind my tower of unsold books. He insisted, so I told him I would only hold his snake if I sold all these books. (I never sell out at a signing.) But people kept buying books, and I was down to 3, so the ranger bought them all and I had to make good on my promise to hold his snake.

The snake seemed to like me. The ranger did not, because I told him his snake felt like a purse.

Anyway. Here I am with Roxanne, smiling through my inner silent screams of horror, earning any damn dress I want. For life. So there:

Note that this shot is slightly blurry. Why? Because Mr. Manly-Man Husband of Mine was standing about Note that this shot is slightly blurry. Why? Because Mr. Manly-Man Husband of Mine was standing about fifty yards away, too afraid to come closer, so this is with the zoom lens. And, I admit, I was not exactly holding still.

Diane von Furstenberg has to get her inspiration somewhere, right?

Shop on!

 Special bonus material--I spotted this on Story Broads:
I want a red dress.
I want it flimsy and cheap,
I want it too tight, I want to wear it
until someone tears it off me.
I want it sleeveless and backless,
this dress, so no one has to guess
what's underneath. I want to walk down
the street past Thrifty's and the hardware store
with all those keys glittering in the window,
past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old
donuts in their café, past the Guerra brothers
slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly,
hoisting the slick snouts over their shoulders.
I want to walk like I'm the only
woman on earth and I can have my pick.
I want that red dress bad.
I want it to confirm
your worst fears about me,
to show you how little I care about you
or anything except what
I want. When I find it, I'll pull that garment
from its hanger like I'm choosing a body
to carry me into this world, through
the birth-cries and the love-cries too,
and I'll wear it like bones, like skin,
it'll be the goddamned
dress they bury me in.

--Kim Addonizio

You'll be happy to know that the people in charge at Barnes & Noble are extreme book people. I had a very happy meeting with Tommy Dreiling, Antoinette Ercolano and Bob Wietrak in New York this week and I have to tell you, it's a treat to sit down and visit with people whose careers are dedicated to selling books. Dating myself: I was able to share with them the fact that I've been a B&N customer since before there were B&N stores. As a student, I used to order from the B&N catalog every month. Bob & Tommy have worked for bookstore chains nearly all their adult lives and know them inside and out. Antoinette, too, and she has visited some 500 of the 800 B&N stores. You can mention "Bellevue, Washington" and yes, she's been there. We are in very good hands.

And P.S.--I got to dine at two unforgettable restaurants: The Modern and Beppe. Not to be missed if you're in Manhattan.