Allie Boniface's Blog, page 47
February 13, 2012
Monday Mentionables: Time For A Little Hero Worship!
Hey everyone, my Hero Worship Valentine's Day contest is in full swing over at my Facebook Fan Page. Excerpts featuring my heroes will be posted every day from February 11 - 18 for your reading pleasure, and at the end of the week all you have to do is email and tell me your favorite one!
2 randomly drawn winners will receive their choice of my ebooks PLUS an Amazon gift card - you can't go wrong!
2 randomly drawn winners will receive their choice of my ebooks PLUS an Amazon gift card - you can't go wrong!
February 10, 2012
Friday Fun Facts: Win a Prize! (or more than one...)
Hey everyone, The Romance Studio is holding a Valentine Gala from today through Tuesday, Feburary 14th. For the next 4 days, romance authors will be chatting and posting excerpts...and you can win a lot of great prizes! I'm giving away an Amazon Gift Card AND the winner's choice of any of my ebooks. Click here for the main Gala page (then click on "Party Giveaways" to see the list of all the prizes).
And tomorrow I'm joining my fellow Hudson Valley RWA authors at the Barnes and Noble in the Palisades Mall for an afternoon of meeting and chatting with readers and shoppers! Should be fun (as long as the weather holds...believe it or not, after an almost snowless winter, we might be getting some of the white stuff tomorrow).
Happy Weekend!
And tomorrow I'm joining my fellow Hudson Valley RWA authors at the Barnes and Noble in the Palisades Mall for an afternoon of meeting and chatting with readers and shoppers! Should be fun (as long as the weather holds...believe it or not, after an almost snowless winter, we might be getting some of the white stuff tomorrow).
Happy Weekend!
February 8, 2012
Writers' Wednesday: Listening to a Book
Yes, I skipped my Monday blog post....suffering from an awfully bad head cold that is making the rounds at work. Why, oh why, do people INSIST on coming to work when they're sick? I suppose I shouldn't fault the devotion of the students, maybe not even the other teachers either, but really, martyring yourself by dragging your sick self coughing to work is only going to spread around your lovely cold germs for the rest of us.
Aargh....
Well, I'm on the mend now, and anxiously awaiting the narrator demo tapes for the first of my 3 novels that will be produced as audio books this summer. When AudioLark started up a couple of years ago, and did my first 2, that wasn't an option, but now they let the authors have a listen to the narrators they're considering, and we get a say in who will read our words. How cool is that??
Aargh....
Well, I'm on the mend now, and anxiously awaiting the narrator demo tapes for the first of my 3 novels that will be produced as audio books this summer. When AudioLark started up a couple of years ago, and did my first 2, that wasn't an option, but now they let the authors have a listen to the narrators they're considering, and we get a say in who will read our words. How cool is that??
February 3, 2012
Friday Fun Facts: Hero Worship Contest Starting Soon!
Well, it's February, and that means time for Valentine's Day and my First Annual Facebook Hero Worship Contest!
From February 11 - 18th I'll be holding a "Hero Worship" contest. Every day that week, I'll post an excerpt from either my published books OR my works-in-progress...spotlighting all my wonderful heroes, of course! All the posts will be up on my Facebook Fan Page, so you'll have to "Like" me over there if you haven't yet. Then, all you have to do at the end of the week is email me which hero was your favorite. That's it! I'll choose 2 winners from everyone who emails (yup, count 'em - two!) to receive their choice of any of my ebooks AND a $10 Amazon gift certificate. Plus you get to drool over some romance heroes just in time for Valentine's Day...
Hope you'll join me :)
February 1, 2012
Writers' Wednesday: Battling Online Pirates
Hey writer friends, here's a link you might want to check out, especially if you're e-published and you've found some online scoundrels posting your ebooks for "free". Yeah, those e-pirates are awfully tough to track down, but www.muso.com is a site that will do it for you. For $15/month, the site scans the Internet daily to look for illegally posted "shared" files that violate copyrights. They'll send you an email every day, and then you can have them send an official DMCA letter to have the file removed (the monthly fee covers 60 "takedowns" although you can pay for more).
So far I'm pleased with the site. It only found 15 illegally shared files of mine the first day, and those were taken down within 24 hours. I'll probably continue with them until/unless there's not a need...which, unfortunately, may not be anytime soon, knowing piracy sites. But at least there's something authors and other artists can do to protect our copyrighted works. We've certainly worked hard enough to produce them!
**Note: email me at allieb@allieboniface.com for the email link that will take you to the $15/month fee, otherwise I think it's $25/month if you go straight through the main Muso site.
So far I'm pleased with the site. It only found 15 illegally shared files of mine the first day, and those were taken down within 24 hours. I'll probably continue with them until/unless there's not a need...which, unfortunately, may not be anytime soon, knowing piracy sites. But at least there's something authors and other artists can do to protect our copyrighted works. We've certainly worked hard enough to produce them!
**Note: email me at allieb@allieboniface.com for the email link that will take you to the $15/month fee, otherwise I think it's $25/month if you go straight through the main Muso site.
January 30, 2012
Monday Mentionables: New Banners!
I have two new banner ads today, courtesy of the design staff over at The Romance Studio. Click here to see the banner ad and click here to see the headliner ad, featuring my 3 "One Night" books.
I LOVE the second one, especially! Don't you? And if you check out The Romance Studio, you'll see it live, starting later today!
January 27, 2012
Friday Fun Facts
Happy Friday!!
Fun Fact #1: I have a "first kiss" excerpt up at Coffee Time Romance - check it out!
Fun Fact #2: I'll be holding a Hero Worship Contest over at my Facebook Fan Page from February 11-18, and the winner will receive their choice of any ebook or audio book. All you have to do is "like" me there to find out more...
And Fun Fact#3: If you're looking for a reasonably priced, professional web designer, try Glass Slipper Web Design. She has an expansive portfolio to look through and works with all budgets. She's been my web designer from the start, and I've been nothing but happy!
Fun Fact #1: I have a "first kiss" excerpt up at Coffee Time Romance - check it out!
Fun Fact #2: I'll be holding a Hero Worship Contest over at my Facebook Fan Page from February 11-18, and the winner will receive their choice of any ebook or audio book. All you have to do is "like" me there to find out more...
And Fun Fact#3: If you're looking for a reasonably priced, professional web designer, try Glass Slipper Web Design. She has an expansive portfolio to look through and works with all budgets. She's been my web designer from the start, and I've been nothing but happy!
January 25, 2012
Writers' Wednesday: The Influence of Charles Dickens
I read an article in Time magazine yesterday about Charles Dickens, and why he was and is such a popular author. Interesting: he was one of the earliest authors who really wrote for his audience, who understood what it took to make a connection with readers and who tailored his stories and his characters to what he thought people wanted (and later in his career, messages he wanted to send about the world he was living in). Really interesting stuff. Of course, he was the master of serialized fiction, and he made a career out of writing stories with chapters that end in cliff-hangers, with plotlines that continually move forward and characters we always want to know more about.
I can't say I have a favorite by him (I did take a Dickens seminar in college, where we had to read a book a week by him...yikes...), though I do like the very traditional A Christmas Carol and the less-traditional Bleak House (great characters, and great commentary on society getting caught up in business at the expense of the individual).
But Dickens knew what to do as a writer - connecting with readers is so valuable, and yet some authors definitely do it better than others. Social media does help in this respect, I think. Even those writers who aren't particularly comfortable talking with people in person, face to face, can do so on the safety of the computer in arenas like Facebook and blogs and chat groups and such. I think readers like the sense that an author listens to their opinions and cares about what they have to say about the world.
Charles Dickens. Huh. Never pegged him as a visionary, but guess what? Maybe we can all take a cue from him. Can you picture his Facebook page? Status update: Wrote 500 words today. Time for a new quill pen...
I can't say I have a favorite by him (I did take a Dickens seminar in college, where we had to read a book a week by him...yikes...), though I do like the very traditional A Christmas Carol and the less-traditional Bleak House (great characters, and great commentary on society getting caught up in business at the expense of the individual).
But Dickens knew what to do as a writer - connecting with readers is so valuable, and yet some authors definitely do it better than others. Social media does help in this respect, I think. Even those writers who aren't particularly comfortable talking with people in person, face to face, can do so on the safety of the computer in arenas like Facebook and blogs and chat groups and such. I think readers like the sense that an author listens to their opinions and cares about what they have to say about the world.
Charles Dickens. Huh. Never pegged him as a visionary, but guess what? Maybe we can all take a cue from him. Can you picture his Facebook page? Status update: Wrote 500 words today. Time for a new quill pen...
January 23, 2012
Monday Mentionables: A Word About Promo
I've probably mentioned this before, but VistaPrint is a GREAT site for any of your promotional goodies. I've used them for bookmarks, signs, postcards, and more. Great quality and really good prices - even better since they usually email you discounts after you've ordered from them. Check it out if you haven't yet!
Always take advantage of the chance to guest blog or do interviews at the various writer-reader websites out there. Many of those are free, and all you have to do is contact the site or blog owner. If you belong to (or join) a discussion group/loop, you'll often know about opportunities before the general reading & writing public, too. There are sites that will set up these kinds of blogging/online appearances for you, too, but they often charge, so keep your eyes open for FREE chances as well.
Finally, don't underestimate the power of making personal connections with potential readers. There are so many ways to do this, from responding to comments on a social media site, to taking advantage of in-person meetings, book signings or conferences etc., to joining a writers' or reviewers' group to donating your books to giveaways or auctions. People love connecting with writers - people love connecting with others in general, since we're social creatures - so take advantage of it!
Bottom line: there are many, many inexpensive, or free ways of promoting your name. And oftne, all it takes is a little time. Good luck!
Always take advantage of the chance to guest blog or do interviews at the various writer-reader websites out there. Many of those are free, and all you have to do is contact the site or blog owner. If you belong to (or join) a discussion group/loop, you'll often know about opportunities before the general reading & writing public, too. There are sites that will set up these kinds of blogging/online appearances for you, too, but they often charge, so keep your eyes open for FREE chances as well.
Finally, don't underestimate the power of making personal connections with potential readers. There are so many ways to do this, from responding to comments on a social media site, to taking advantage of in-person meetings, book signings or conferences etc., to joining a writers' or reviewers' group to donating your books to giveaways or auctions. People love connecting with writers - people love connecting with others in general, since we're social creatures - so take advantage of it!
Bottom line: there are many, many inexpensive, or free ways of promoting your name. And oftne, all it takes is a little time. Good luck!
January 20, 2012
Friday Fun Facts: An (e)Book Signing?
Happy Friday!
So it looks as though I may be doing an author appearance at a local Barnes & Noble - always a fun event - but for the first time ever, it will be an ebook "signing" rather than a traditional print book signing.
I'm not exactly sure how it will work. The president of our local RWA chapter is arranging it, and with the growing popularity of ebooks and ebook readers, combined with the fact that many bookstores are doing fewer traditional signings AND the fact that many of our members have only ebooks available, she thought it might be a different and unique idea to market B&N Nook downloads at this event.
So I guess I'm planning on having lots of swag available - bookmarks, excerpt booklets, maybe some other flyers/book cards for people to pick up and peruse. The thing is, I really don't know how many people will buy a download based on meeting the author in a bookstore. I mean, it's ALWAYS a good idea to promote yourself in person, spread the word, chat with potential readers, etc. But without any print books to sell or sign, well...I don't know.
We'll see. I'll let you know! In the meantime, if you have any thoughts on how to draw potential ebook readers to our table, or what kinds of free goodies work best at author appearances, leave a comment :)
Enjoy your weekend!
So it looks as though I may be doing an author appearance at a local Barnes & Noble - always a fun event - but for the first time ever, it will be an ebook "signing" rather than a traditional print book signing.
I'm not exactly sure how it will work. The president of our local RWA chapter is arranging it, and with the growing popularity of ebooks and ebook readers, combined with the fact that many bookstores are doing fewer traditional signings AND the fact that many of our members have only ebooks available, she thought it might be a different and unique idea to market B&N Nook downloads at this event.
So I guess I'm planning on having lots of swag available - bookmarks, excerpt booklets, maybe some other flyers/book cards for people to pick up and peruse. The thing is, I really don't know how many people will buy a download based on meeting the author in a bookstore. I mean, it's ALWAYS a good idea to promote yourself in person, spread the word, chat with potential readers, etc. But without any print books to sell or sign, well...I don't know.
We'll see. I'll let you know! In the meantime, if you have any thoughts on how to draw potential ebook readers to our table, or what kinds of free goodies work best at author appearances, leave a comment :)
Enjoy your weekend!
