Allie Boniface's Blog, page 26
October 7, 2013
Monday Mentionables: Recovering After Indie RomCon!
I made it back from Nashville! The Indie Romance Convention was a good experience - I learned a lot and can't wait to share it with you. Today, however, I'm up to my ears in my day job, and catching up with home stuff after a weekend away, so I'll have more details for you back here on Wednesday. (Biggest piece of info that surprised me: there are very few of us who work full-time day jobs and are also published authors trying to grow our careers. When I bemoan the fact that there aren't enough hours in the day, I found that, in fact, that might be true - for everything I want to do. But more about that later.)
Until then, here are a couple of pictures from the weekend:
One of the ads I purchased, on a display placard in the main meeting room (it worked!)
Visited downtown Nashville on my Sunday down time
Until then, here are a couple of pictures from the weekend:
One of the ads I purchased, on a display placard in the main meeting room (it worked!)
Visited downtown Nashville on my Sunday down time
October 4, 2013
Friday Fun Facts: Planning a Trip to Tennessee
Fun facts about my trip to the 1st Annual Indie Romance Convention this weekend:
1. I have to fly west in order to get south (the convention is in Tennessee). Don't you just love airline routes?
2. The town where the convention is being held is home to the largest, and the original, Cracker Barrel restaurant.
3. The "fun unknown fact" about me that I sent in for the Saturday evening game/giveaway is that I don't like & don't eat any kind of cooked fruit. This includes apple pie, blueberry muffins, oatmeal raisin cookies...
4. I'm looking forward to meeting new readers and writers!
See you back here next week with a full report...
1. I have to fly west in order to get south (the convention is in Tennessee). Don't you just love airline routes?
2. The town where the convention is being held is home to the largest, and the original, Cracker Barrel restaurant.
3. The "fun unknown fact" about me that I sent in for the Saturday evening game/giveaway is that I don't like & don't eat any kind of cooked fruit. This includes apple pie, blueberry muffins, oatmeal raisin cookies...
4. I'm looking forward to meeting new readers and writers!
See you back here next week with a full report...
September 30, 2013
Monday Mentionables: Getting Ready for a Convention!
5 days and counting until I'm off to the 1st Annual Indie Romance Convention in Lebanon, Tennessee! Very much looking forward to chatting with other indie writers and readers and learning more about the industry! For anyone who's in the area (I'm told it's about 20 miles outside of Nashville), there will be a book signing open to the public on Saturday afternoon, at the Comfort Inn in Lebanon, from 3:30 - 5:00. For all the details, click here.
Also, I'm giving away an Autumn Tote filled with goodies, as part of the charity raffle at the convention. Looks fun, right?
And over the weekend, I treated myself to a specially-designed manicure, in honor of all things romance (yes, those are hearts, if you look closely):
I'm ready to go! Will make sure to tell you all about it next week :)
Also, I'm giving away an Autumn Tote filled with goodies, as part of the charity raffle at the convention. Looks fun, right?
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And over the weekend, I treated myself to a specially-designed manicure, in honor of all things romance (yes, those are hearts, if you look closely):
I'm ready to go! Will make sure to tell you all about it next week :)
September 25, 2013
September 23, 2013
Monday Mentionables: Congratulations Contest Winners!
Thank you to everyone who entered my recent giveaway....and now...drum roll....congrats to the lucky winners!
The Promise of Paradise Audio Books (2 winners) - Amy Hart and Jean Patton!
Choice of any signed print book from my backlist - Gail Rosenstrom!
(Amy, Jean, and Gail, email me at allieb@allieboniface.com to confirm your email/choice of book - and thanks so much for participating!)
Don't worry, more contests to come in the upcoming months :) Always something to celebrate when books are being written!
Happy Monday, everyone~
The Promise of Paradise Audio Books (2 winners) - Amy Hart and Jean Patton!
Choice of any signed print book from my backlist - Gail Rosenstrom!
(Amy, Jean, and Gail, email me at allieb@allieboniface.com to confirm your email/choice of book - and thanks so much for participating!)
Don't worry, more contests to come in the upcoming months :) Always something to celebrate when books are being written!
Happy Monday, everyone~
September 20, 2013
Friday Fun Facts: Why Email Subscription Services are Great Ad Options for Writers
TGIF! Whew, it's been a long week here on my end...glad it's almost over! If you've been following me here, you know that I've been participating in a couple of different parties and blog hops, and my contemporary romance, The Promise of Paradise, has been on sale as well. Through tomorrow evening, you can still pick it up for $0.99.
From a marketing perspective, it's been an interesting couple of days. In conjunction with the sale price, I took out 2 online ads, through BookBasset and E-readerNewsToday. Both are email subscription services that send out daily email announcements featuring free or bargain books. (The biggest one of these subscription services currently seems to be BookBub, which costs anywhere from $100 - $500 for an ad - but authors report HUGE sales returns that are worth the initial output of $$). BookBub has become tougher and tougher to have an ad accepted these days, though, plus it was a little above what I was willing to spend.
Happily, through these 2 ads I did take out (and I'm sure it helped that they ran on back to back days), as of last night I had sold just over 200 books in about 36 hours. Now, the royalty on a $.99 book is of course fairly low, but considering name recognition (getting my book in front of new readers), the potential visibility is worth just as much as money returns for me. Side note: late yesterday, I broke the Top 100 for both the Women's Fiction and Contemporary Women categories!
Also - and this is so important - sales of all my other books went up as well (BookBasset allows authors to feature up to 5 books for the single ad price of $22.00). Though my other books are traditionally published, which means I don't have access to real-time sales, every single Amazon ranking improved over the course of those same 36 hours.
Lesson? Taking out ads on these kind of email subscription services seems to be a pretty good marketing technique, one I'll probably do again. And the more books you have, the more "trickle-down effect" you'll enjoy across all your titles.
So keep writing and keep marketing. Happy weekend, everyone!
From a marketing perspective, it's been an interesting couple of days. In conjunction with the sale price, I took out 2 online ads, through BookBasset and E-readerNewsToday. Both are email subscription services that send out daily email announcements featuring free or bargain books. (The biggest one of these subscription services currently seems to be BookBub, which costs anywhere from $100 - $500 for an ad - but authors report HUGE sales returns that are worth the initial output of $$). BookBub has become tougher and tougher to have an ad accepted these days, though, plus it was a little above what I was willing to spend.
Happily, through these 2 ads I did take out (and I'm sure it helped that they ran on back to back days), as of last night I had sold just over 200 books in about 36 hours. Now, the royalty on a $.99 book is of course fairly low, but considering name recognition (getting my book in front of new readers), the potential visibility is worth just as much as money returns for me. Side note: late yesterday, I broke the Top 100 for both the Women's Fiction and Contemporary Women categories!
Also - and this is so important - sales of all my other books went up as well (BookBasset allows authors to feature up to 5 books for the single ad price of $22.00). Though my other books are traditionally published, which means I don't have access to real-time sales, every single Amazon ranking improved over the course of those same 36 hours.
Lesson? Taking out ads on these kind of email subscription services seems to be a pretty good marketing technique, one I'll probably do again. And the more books you have, the more "trickle-down effect" you'll enjoy across all your titles.
So keep writing and keep marketing. Happy weekend, everyone!
September 16, 2013
Monday Mentionables: The Party Continues!
Happy Monday, everyone! Thanks so much to all those readers who stopped by last week to take part in the Sultry Summer Blog Hop. The grand prize winner is being announced today, so make sure to visit the Safari Heat website and see if it's you!
And the news isn't over yet...
The Romance Studio is holding its 10th Anniversary Party this week, which means lots of excerpts and fun posts for you to read. Even better, they're giving away a $170 Amazon gift card AND there is a HUGE list of individual author prizes you can win. All you have to do is visit the party site and fill out the entry form. I love my prize package for this one, too: it's a blown glass wine stopper in the shape of a lighthouse (to celebrate my novel Beacon of Love), along with any choice print book from my backlist AND a collection of romance novels that I'll put together and send the lucky winner. Make sure to enter by clicking here!
And the news isn't over yet...
The Romance Studio is holding its 10th Anniversary Party this week, which means lots of excerpts and fun posts for you to read. Even better, they're giving away a $170 Amazon gift card AND there is a HUGE list of individual author prizes you can win. All you have to do is visit the party site and fill out the entry form. I love my prize package for this one, too: it's a blown glass wine stopper in the shape of a lighthouse (to celebrate my novel Beacon of Love), along with any choice print book from my backlist AND a collection of romance novels that I'll put together and send the lucky winner. Make sure to enter by clicking here!
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September 15, 2013
Are You Still Hopping? There Are Still Prizes!
Oh my gosh I'm such a slacker today! Forgive me... :)
It's Day Five of the Sultry Summer Blog Hop, and there are still prizes to be won! Check it out:
The Hop's Grand Prize is a Kindle Fire HD 7” with Second Prize a 100.00 Gift Card to Amazon or B&N! Plus books to go on the winner’s new Kindle! (Note: due to shipping costs, winners must reside in the U.S. or Canada).
Even better, there are four ways readers can get extra entries into the grand prize giveaway. You will get an entry for completing each of these: leaving a comment, following my blog, following me on Facebook, or following me on Twitter.
All the rules and a description of how the hop will work are listed on the Safari Heat site. Click the banner above or follow the link below.
http://safariheatbooktoursandauthorservices.blogspot.com
Today's prizes:
Three Book Marks: Lara Adrian
Signed Book: Sleep With The Lights On By Maggie Shayne
Signed ARC Copy: Born in Blood by Alexandra Ivy
Signed Book: Like Humans Do by Daryn Cross
Pre-Made Book Cover: Carey Abbott
Signed Book: Coming Clean by Sue Margolis
In addition to these great prizes, I'm also running a giveaway this week and next. What can you win? I'll be giving away 2 audio book copies of The Promise of Paradise AND one signed book from my backlist (you can view it here). All you have to do is enter right here, via Rafflecopter.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
It's Day Five of the Sultry Summer Blog Hop, and there are still prizes to be won! Check it out:
The Hop's Grand Prize is a Kindle Fire HD 7” with Second Prize a 100.00 Gift Card to Amazon or B&N! Plus books to go on the winner’s new Kindle! (Note: due to shipping costs, winners must reside in the U.S. or Canada).
Even better, there are four ways readers can get extra entries into the grand prize giveaway. You will get an entry for completing each of these: leaving a comment, following my blog, following me on Facebook, or following me on Twitter.
All the rules and a description of how the hop will work are listed on the Safari Heat site. Click the banner above or follow the link below.
http://safariheatbooktoursandauthorservices.blogspot.com
Today's prizes:
Three Book Marks: Lara Adrian
Signed Book: Sleep With The Lights On By Maggie Shayne
Signed ARC Copy: Born in Blood by Alexandra Ivy
Signed Book: Like Humans Do by Daryn Cross
Pre-Made Book Cover: Carey Abbott
Signed Book: Coming Clean by Sue Margolis
In addition to these great prizes, I'm also running a giveaway this week and next. What can you win? I'll be giving away 2 audio book copies of The Promise of Paradise AND one signed book from my backlist (you can view it here). All you have to do is enter right here, via Rafflecopter.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
September 13, 2013
Day Three of the Sultry Summer Hop!
Welcome back to the third day of the Safari Heat Blog Hop contest!
The Hop's Grand Prize is a Kindle Fire HD 7” with Second Prize a 100.00 Gift Card to Amazon or B&N! Plus books to go on the winner’s new Kindle! (Note: due to shipping costs, winners must reside in the U.S. or Canada).
Even better, there are four ways readers can get extra entries into the grand prize giveaway. You will get an entry for completing each of these: leaving a comment, following my blog, following me on Facebook, or following me on Twitter. All the rules and a description of how the hop will work are listed on the Safari Heat site. Click the banner above or follow the link below.
http://safariheatbooktoursandauthorservices.blogspot.com
Today's prizes:
Five-Dollar Gift Card to Are: Dynese BridgerSigned Book: Perfect Mate by Mina CarterSigned Book: Ruthless by Debra WebbSigned Book: Coming Clean by Sue MargolisFive-Dollar Gift Card: Carey Abbot/Tabitha Blake
Signed Book: Coming Clean by Sue Margolis
In addition to these great prizes, I'm also running a giveaway this week and next. What can you win? I'll be giving away 2 audio book copies of The Promise of Paradise AND one signed book from my backlist (you can view it here). All you have to do is enter via Rafflecopter (scroll down to Wednesday's post)
Here's today sultry read, from my EPPIE-nominated contemporary romance One Night in Memphis (and yes, it was inspired by an actual night I spent on Beale St. a long time ago...) Enjoy!
In the moment before Dakota knew what was coming, Ethan bent down and kissed her. His hands moved to her face. His mouth landed squarely on hers, hot and hungry; his tongue parted her lips before she realized what was happening.
Oh wow, this wasn’t supposed to happen…was her first thought. Oh God, I want him to kiss me like this all night was her second. She leaned into him, into the solidness of him against her, and was amazed at the feeling of rightness that swept over her. A whimper escaped from the back of her throat. She let her fingers pull at his waist, drawing him closer. There was attraction, she thought, and then there was inevitability.
There was the hot jolt of desire that pulled you toward someone because you liked their eyes or their smile or the way they filled out a pair of jeans. There was the want that warmed beds late at night because company was better than being alone.
And then there was something beyond the physical, beyond the way two bodies fit together. There was chemistry that created itself from bits of conversation, from skin brushing skin by accident, from the air surging between two people who were simply supposed to be together. There was a strange working of the universe that led you to someone you’d never even envisioned and then suddenly couldn’t imagine being without.
Sensations too strong to ignore slipped into her veins. She felt herself sway and wondered if it were the crowd pushing her or the ground wavering beneath her. Closing her eyes, not caring where she was or who might see, Dakota gave herself up to the kiss and the way it turned her mouth into an animal all its own. His palms pressed against the small of her back. His tongue was inside her, and he was tasting and whispering and asking a question she didn’t know how to answer. Ethan brushed the hair from her cheek with one hand and a lightning bolt moved straight from her toes up to the crown of her head.
The Hop's Grand Prize is a Kindle Fire HD 7” with Second Prize a 100.00 Gift Card to Amazon or B&N! Plus books to go on the winner’s new Kindle! (Note: due to shipping costs, winners must reside in the U.S. or Canada).
Even better, there are four ways readers can get extra entries into the grand prize giveaway. You will get an entry for completing each of these: leaving a comment, following my blog, following me on Facebook, or following me on Twitter. All the rules and a description of how the hop will work are listed on the Safari Heat site. Click the banner above or follow the link below.
http://safariheatbooktoursandauthorservices.blogspot.com
Today's prizes:
Five-Dollar Gift Card to Are: Dynese BridgerSigned Book: Perfect Mate by Mina CarterSigned Book: Ruthless by Debra WebbSigned Book: Coming Clean by Sue MargolisFive-Dollar Gift Card: Carey Abbot/Tabitha Blake
Signed Book: Coming Clean by Sue Margolis
In addition to these great prizes, I'm also running a giveaway this week and next. What can you win? I'll be giving away 2 audio book copies of The Promise of Paradise AND one signed book from my backlist (you can view it here). All you have to do is enter via Rafflecopter (scroll down to Wednesday's post)
Here's today sultry read, from my EPPIE-nominated contemporary romance One Night in Memphis (and yes, it was inspired by an actual night I spent on Beale St. a long time ago...) Enjoy!
In the moment before Dakota knew what was coming, Ethan bent down and kissed her. His hands moved to her face. His mouth landed squarely on hers, hot and hungry; his tongue parted her lips before she realized what was happening.
Oh wow, this wasn’t supposed to happen…was her first thought. Oh God, I want him to kiss me like this all night was her second. She leaned into him, into the solidness of him against her, and was amazed at the feeling of rightness that swept over her. A whimper escaped from the back of her throat. She let her fingers pull at his waist, drawing him closer. There was attraction, she thought, and then there was inevitability.
There was the hot jolt of desire that pulled you toward someone because you liked their eyes or their smile or the way they filled out a pair of jeans. There was the want that warmed beds late at night because company was better than being alone.
And then there was something beyond the physical, beyond the way two bodies fit together. There was chemistry that created itself from bits of conversation, from skin brushing skin by accident, from the air surging between two people who were simply supposed to be together. There was a strange working of the universe that led you to someone you’d never even envisioned and then suddenly couldn’t imagine being without.
Sensations too strong to ignore slipped into her veins. She felt herself sway and wondered if it were the crowd pushing her or the ground wavering beneath her. Closing her eyes, not caring where she was or who might see, Dakota gave herself up to the kiss and the way it turned her mouth into an animal all its own. His palms pressed against the small of her back. His tongue was inside her, and he was tasting and whispering and asking a question she didn’t know how to answer. Ethan brushed the hair from her cheek with one hand and a lightning bolt moved straight from her toes up to the crown of her head.
Welcome to the Sultry Summer Blog Hop!
Welcome to the fourth day of the Safari Heat Blog Hop contest!
The Hop's Grand Prize is a Kindle Fire HD 7” with Second Prize a 100.00 Gift Card to Amazon or B&N! Plus books to go on the winner’s new Kindle! (Note: due to shipping costs, winners must reside in the U.S. or Canada).
Even better, there are four ways readers can get extra entries into the grand prize giveaway. You will get an entry for completing each of these: leaving a comment, following my blog, following me on Facebook, or following me on Twitter.
All the rules and a description of how the hop will work are listed on the Safari Heat site. Click the banner above or follow the link below.
http://safariheatbooktoursandauthorservices.blogspot.com
Today's prizes:
Swag Pack: TG Ayer
Signed Book: Darker After Midnight by Lara Adrian
Signed Book: Darkness Rises by Dianne Duvall
Signed Book: Skin Deep T.G. Ayer
Three Bookmarks: Lara Adrian
Pre-Made Book Cover: Carey Abbott
Signed Book: Poems by JoAnne Myers
In addition to these great prizes, I'm also running a giveaway this week and next. What can you win? I'll be giving away 2 audio book copies of The Promise of Paradise AND one signed book from my backlist (you can view it here). All you have to do is enter right here, via Rafflecopter.
Have a wonderful weekend!
The Hop's Grand Prize is a Kindle Fire HD 7” with Second Prize a 100.00 Gift Card to Amazon or B&N! Plus books to go on the winner’s new Kindle! (Note: due to shipping costs, winners must reside in the U.S. or Canada).
Even better, there are four ways readers can get extra entries into the grand prize giveaway. You will get an entry for completing each of these: leaving a comment, following my blog, following me on Facebook, or following me on Twitter.
All the rules and a description of how the hop will work are listed on the Safari Heat site. Click the banner above or follow the link below.
http://safariheatbooktoursandauthorservices.blogspot.com
Today's prizes:
Swag Pack: TG Ayer
Signed Book: Darker After Midnight by Lara Adrian
Signed Book: Darkness Rises by Dianne Duvall
Signed Book: Skin Deep T.G. Ayer
Three Bookmarks: Lara Adrian
Pre-Made Book Cover: Carey Abbott
Signed Book: Poems by JoAnne Myers
In addition to these great prizes, I'm also running a giveaway this week and next. What can you win? I'll be giving away 2 audio book copies of The Promise of Paradise AND one signed book from my backlist (you can view it here). All you have to do is enter right here, via Rafflecopter.
Have a wonderful weekend!
