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Thursday, January 25, 2018

Preparing for your kit - Press Kit

Preparing the kit is a long process. So instead of spending hours in front of the computer, I am going to setup this guide as a way for you to do small increments of the kit at a time. It will be smoother. It will be less overwhelming. And, it will allow you to spend more time writing or doing something else.

So today, the goal is to setup your folders and yourself up to gather the information as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

First, you want to create a new folder on your desktop by right clicking and selecting New, then New Folder.



Once the new folder comes up, name it Press Kit.


Now, double click the folder and make a new folder for each of the following:

  • Author Photos
  • Biographies
  • Book Information
  • Book Photos
  • CV
  • Press Releases
It will look something like this:


This is such a small task; however, it will be ready for you when you are ready to work. In this folder, you will keep all the important information for the press kit. Having it in one place means that you can access it quickly, which is the main reason why you are creating a press kit in the first place. You are doing the work now, so you do not have to do it in the future!

Congrats! You just finished a small step toward the bigger picture. Stay tuned for the step-by-step instructions on filling these folders.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

What am I up to?

What author wouldn't love to say that 23 days into a year they had finished a chunk of work? Okay! This author would love to say that. Unfortunately, I can't or I would be lying. What I have done is finish up a huge portion of the Press Kit blog posts, read a few books for reviews, planned upcoming reviews, and wrote a few poems for Mountain Momma.

As I wrote out the blog posts for the Press Kit, I was once again struck at the immense amount of work that is involved. This work isn't just for you. I am also compiling the press kit for myself. So, I have to go through and gather all the information. I have 11 publications now so it is a lot of work. Of course, I don't regret it. I figure if I get the work done now, I can have a slow addition for each future publication.

It has been so strange to schedule my work around the grief I feel and the amount of other things I need to do. That seems to be the plight of any author. Stay tune for more What am I up to posts.

Friday, January 19, 2018

*BOOK TOUR* Review: Tia Lee's Vermilion Tears

Vermilion Tears
Tia Lee


   
Copyright 2017 Tia Lee

☆☆★★


Genre: Paranormal/Contemporary Fiction/Gothic

Pages: 272
Publisher: Independently Published
Publish Date: July 19,2017

Author Bio: I'm author Tia Lee and I am a self-published author and live in one of the most humid places in the USA: Houston, TX, but I love it here (sans the humidity of course.). I have a wonderful husband and two beautiful kids. My passion is writing and I can't stop thinking of more stories for the future. My debut novel is Vermilion Tears. It is a Victorian Gothic paranormal, that starts out like any other boy meets girl book, until vampires, werewolves, and witches show up. I absolutely loved writing this book and it will always be my book baby. I am currently writing a novel about a self-absorbed mob wife, who has aspirations of being at the top herself.  Not sure when it will be out yet, it’s currently going through beta reads.

Blurb: Vermilion Tears is a Gothic paranormal novel set in Victorian times. Lydia comes from humble beginnings living with her family in New Haven. Her life gets turned upside down when she is on a train to New York City to start her new life. Lydia is attacked by supernatural creatures she didn’t even realize existed. Now a supernatural being herself, she finds herself fleeing from a brutal captor and trying to keep her family intact. Will she be caught or will she succeed in escaping and restoring her family?
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Dark, matte lips and downcast eyes with hair curling around her face. That image is the first draw toward wanting to know more. As I look at the cover, I cannot help but wonder what her story is and why, in her immense beauty, she has her gaze down. The lack of direct gaze intrigues me. To say the image is poignant would be an understatement.

Unfortunately, that first impression doesn't stand for the entire work. I received an advanced reading copy. I expected to have and read a polished manuscript. Instead, I received a work that had multiple errors in format, grammar, and spelling. The reason those errors are so stark is maybe because I am also an author and am used to picking out errors. What those errors did for my enjoyment of the book? Well, it made Vermilion Tears more difficult to enjoy.

The wonderful thing about Paranormal writing is the fact that the author can craft any aspect into some fantasy. Tia Lee does craft a unique spin on the vampire and werewolf. I love a world full of the paranormal. It is an interesting read if you can ignore all the errors. Think this book is for you?

Check out all the information here: Book Tour Information



*Book Tour* Vermilion Tears

•✰ Book Tour ✰ •

Vermilion Tears by Tia lee
Genre: Paranormal

BLURB

Vermilion Tears is a Gothic paranormal novel set in Victorian times. Lydia comes from humble beginnings living with her family in New Haven. Her life gets turned upside down when she is on a train to New York City to start her new life. Lydia is attacked by supernatural creatures she didn’t even realize existed. Now a supernatural being herself, she finds herself fleeing from a brutal captor and trying to keep her family intact. Will she be caught or will she succeed in escaping and restoring her family?


Buy Link #Free in #KU

Add to your TBR


Author Links & Bio


I'm author Tia Lee and I am a self-published author and live in one of the most humid places in the USA: Houston, TX, but I love it here (sans the humidity of course.). I have a wonderful husband and two beautiful kids. My passion is writing and I can't stop thinking of more stories for the future. My debut novel is Vermilion Tears. It is a Victorian gothic paranormal, that starts out like any other boy meets girl book, until vampires, werewolves, and witches show up. I absolutely loved writing this book and it will always be my book baby. I am currently writing a novel about a self-absorbed mob wife, who has aspirations of being at the top herself.  Not sure when it will be out yet, it’s currently going through beta reads.



#VermilionTour #QuillinkPR

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Review: A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House

A Parchment of Leaves
Silas House

Copyright © Silas House
★★★★★

Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Algonquin Books - First Print
Pages: 285
Publishing Date: August 16, 2002

DescriptionSet in 1917, A PARCHMENT OF LEAVES tells the story of Vine, a beautiful Cherokee woman who marries a white man, forsaking her family and their homeland to settle in with his people and make a home in the heart of the mountains. Her mother has strange forebodings that all will not go well, and she's right. Vine is viewed as an outsider, treated with contempt by other townspeople. Add to that her brother-in-law's fixation on her, and Vine's life becomes more complicated than she could have ever imagined. In the violent turn of events that ensues, she learns what it means to forgive others and, most important, how to forgive herself.

As haunting as an old-time ballad, A PARCHMENT OF LEAVES is filled with the imagery, dialect, music, and thrumming life of the Kentucky mountains. For Silas House, whose great-grandmother was Cherokee, this novel is also a tribute to the family whose spirit formed him.


Author Bio: Please view Silas House's biography HERE.
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I cannot begin to tell you everything I loved about this book. Like many of my other book purchases, I was drawn in by the cover. The woods. The leaves that have fallen. The fog. It paints such a picture in my mind. I can imagine myself standing and looking down that road. I can feel the sense of peace, trepidation, and coziness.

What the cover didn't convey, the story did. I connected with Vine on so many levels. I could stand in her shoes and view the world through her eyes. This story brought me to tears. Of course, knowing that the extraction of the Cherokee people was brought on by greed and the history of the Appalachian mountains made this story resonate so much more in my soul. Above that, it made me feel the sense of pride in being Appalachian with a Cherokee ancestry. House did an amazing job.

If you would like to read this book, I highly recommend it. Silas House has a wonderful voice. You will not be disappointed.


All information of this book has been taken from the Amazon page for A Parchment of Leaves. I do not own any copyright. I received nothing in compensation for this review.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

An Online Press Kit

If I could list all the things I had to figure out myself as a new author, I would run out of room and you're eyes would be tired from reading it. Recently, I was scrolling down my Facebook news feed and found a post for authors about press kits. It sounds crazy to think this, but I was a little taken aback that I hadn't heard about it before. None of my favorite authors have one on their websites, and I chalk it up to having an agent.

As an Indie author, it is unlikely that you have an agent to provide that sort of information to perspective interviewers and reviewers. So I set out to find out what is in a Press Kit, and how other Indie authors are handling this.

What I found was not as fantastic as I would have liked. There is not that many authors that think to have a Press Kit. That seems weird.

If you got to this point, you may be asking yourself: So what is a press kit?

Well, a press kit is a collection of information and promotional material that is easily accessed by the media and other people who want/need the information.

For a new, Indie author, this seems like a strange thing to add to your website. "Why do I need that? I don't have media beating down my door asking for information." Of course you need it. First off, you centralize all the important information into one place for your own sanity. And what happens when one day, a journalist asks you for it? What are you going to do is berate yourself for not doing it sooner!

In the next few months, I will be providing a list of things you should be putting in your online press kit and helping you develop one of your own! Just in case...

Stay tuned!!!


Tuesday, January 9, 2018

January 9th - Celebrating a Life

A year and two months ago, my whole world changed. I sat on the edge of my bed and listened intently into the phone as my mom told me she had cancer. I heard her tell me it was bad. I knew a little about how she felt. See, she watched her father go through chemotherapy and wither in front of her eyes. She never wanted her family to go through that. It is a sentiment I share, if it ever comes to that.

I supported her. I celebrated the little time I had with her. I helped her. I was her strength. And I worked my behind off to make sure she died peacefully. One year ago, she died in a hospice bed in her home. It was a quiet and muted by snow night.

I decided a few weeks ago that on her anniversary every year I wanted to celebrate her life, not her death. I bought myself some flowers, because she loved flowers. I chose yellow roses in remember for her. I made a chocolate pie, because we shared a love of chocolate pies. We hid them every holiday so we could eat them together.

I took time to go through some old photos and enjoyed seeing her face. I enjoyed the memories.


Today, I take joy in getting to know my mother. And not only that, but having her as my friend as well. There comes a point in all our lives. A transition between immaturity and maturity. One where we move from contempt, embarrassment, and disdain for our parents into the one in which they become our friends and confidants. She was my friend. I can look around and point to things in my home she had given me, but they are nothing compared to the memories we had together.

Of hitting curbs with the tires because we were laughing too hard to pay attention.
Of eating swiss rolls after a long day of errands.
Of having iron chef competitions any time we cooked together.
Of redecorating and waking up my sister as we laughed so hard. (Sorry Em)

Those memories stick with me. In remembering them, I am celebrating her life, her love of her family, and her persistence in being kind and understanding to everyone. Thank you for celebrating her life with me.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Review: Beyond These Hills by Sandra Robbins

Beyond These Hills
Sandra Robbins


Copyright - Sandra Robbins
★★★★★

In the recent months, I have been looking for Appalachian literature that captures the essence of living in Appalachia. When I picked up this book, I fell in love with the cover. Those mountains are mountains I live in and look out at every single day. It immediately connected me to the story.


As I come from this area, I am always emotional when it comes to the history of the Appalachian people. I can feel the emotions of this book. The fear. The struggle. The anger. And unfortunately, those feelings are still very present in Appalachia. What Sandra Robbins did in this book is create a realistic view of the emotions surrounding the creation of the park. It ruined the family lives of so many, but it protected our mountains for the future.

I give this book at 5 star review. If you want a sweet love story with a little bit of history, this book is for you!

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Genre: Christian Fiction

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers


Description: It’s 1935, and Laurel Jackson fears the life she’s always known is about to become a memory. The government is purchasing property to establish the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and nearly all the families in Cades Cove have decided to sell. Laurel is determined to save the land her family has lived on for a hundred years.

Andrew Brady, the son of a wealthy Virginia congressman, arrives in the Cove to convince the remaining landowners to sell. Sparks fly when he meets Laurel, the outspoken young woman who is determined to thwart his every effort. Will they ever be able to put aside their differences and accept what their hearts already know?

In the third and final book in the Smoky Mountain Dreams series, acclaimed author Sandra Robbins brings a dramatic conclusion to the story of the families of Cades Cove.


Author Bio: Sandra Robbins and her husband live in the small college town where she grew up. Until a few years ago she was working as an elementary school principal, but God opened the door for her to become a full-time writer in the Christian market. When asked what she writes, she replies, "Christian fiction--Southern Style."

Her books in both romantic suspense and historical romance with settings in the South have been recognized in the Daphne du Maurier Contest for excellence in writing mystery, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence for writing romance, the Holt, and the ACFW Carol Awards.

Sandra enjoys hearing from her readers. To find out more about Sandra and her books go to http://sandrarobbins.net or send her an email at sandra@sandrarobbins.net.




All information of this book has been taken from the Amazon page for Beyond These Hills. I do not own any copyright. I received nothing in compensation for this review. I simply borrowed the book from my local library and chose to write a review.