Selena Blake's Blog, page 4

Busy Bees

The beta readers for Bewitched by His Fated Mate have been busy the last few days!

Everley earned the Good Catch badge.

Tina has been a Busy Bee.

And Jaqueline earned the Pen Pal badge.

And they’re off…

Hello friends,

It’s been a while since I’ve needed beta readers. I know. My bad. But… the beta reading process is in full swing!

And this time, I thought I’d do some things differently.

Writing can be a lonely process. Having beta readers take the first look at a new project can be… well, let’s just say that it makes me nervous. But, it’s a nice chance to get to know some readers and interact with my fellow, real life humans.

And what better way to celebrate a new book baby and getting to chat with readers than with fun beta reader badges.

I thought you guys might want to follow along and cheer these betas on as they work through my new novella, Bewitched by His Fated Mate.

Four betas have taken the plunge and earned their Starter Line badge this week.

Yay for Tina, Julie, Everley, and Jacqueline!

Join Selena’s Review Crew

Do you LoVe reading romance novels? Are you opinionated?

Selena is adding to her review crew and she wants you on board. (Please do not apply if you are already a member of the Review Crew!)

The Who, What, Where, When, Why

There are currently 25 additional spots open on the review crew.

Note: In the past, review crew members had to be on Facebook. This is no longer a requirement.

How to put your name in the running.

1. Write a review of any of Selena’s books and post it to one of the following sites:

bookbubapple booksamazonnookkobogoogle playsmashwordsShelfariGoodreadslibrarythingFBtwitterbook blogs

Important: any previous reviews you’ve written for Selena’s books DO count! So if you’ve reviewed an SB book in the past, you totally get credit (and a giant thank you from Selena.)

2. Post a link to your review (where can we see it?), along with your username, to this form.(To preserve Selena & Co’s sanity, only entries via the form are eligible. Thanks for helping us out!)

3. Sit tight. 25 folks will be randomly selected and invited to join the crew.

NOTE:

There’s potential for more review crew members going forward but we’re just looking for an additional 25 right now. Your entry into the form above will put you into consideration for future drafts for new review crew members.

How the Review Crew Operates

When you review the designated book you’ll be invited back to review again and will be provided with Selena’s next book. If that book is read and reviewed within the designated time frame you’ll be invited back to read and review the next book and so on. Program changes are possible and program may be canceled at any time.

What’s your preferred vendor?

We’re counting down the days until all my books are available across all platforms.

Woohoo!

You guys have been asking for them and I’m happy to deliver.

So leave a comment below and tell me: apple, nook, kobo, google, smashwords? Where do you download your ebooks?

Book Review: Come a Little Bit Closer by Bella Andre

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Where to begin?

First of all, I love a good love story. That should be obvious. But so often, I read stories that leave me wondering why two characters are together and how long they’ll stay together.

Not so with Valentina and Smith.

These two have waited for a long time, made lots of sacrifices for family and careers. And then they meet each other.

I’d say it’s like fireworks at first sight, but as with any good show, there’s a crescendo.

Other things I really appreciated about this feel good romance: a glimpse at San Francisco and Alcatraz. The family dynamics. Also, how mature Valentina’s sister is and how sweet and supportive their relationship is. Honestly, more folks need to read this and let these families be a guide to getting along.

From the back cover:

Movie star Smith Sullivan can’t afford any distractions. He’s staking his entire reputation on his new film…but he can’t stop thinking about Valentina Landon and the fire he sees smoldering just beneath the surface.

Valentina isn’t averse to sensual pleasure, or even to the idea of finding true love, but as a Hollywood business manager she’s watched too many smart women fall for actors…only to be torn apart when the fairytale comes to its inevitable end.

But when intense weeks together on set turn their heated attraction into red-hot flames of passion, Smith knows he has to find a way to convince Valentina to let him get a little bit closer. Close enough to completely steal her heart…the way she’s stolen his from the start.

Read it

What to read after Scoring with the Football Star

Did you grab a copy of Scoring with the Football Star recently? Hint: It’s currently free across all vendors. You’re welcome. *hug*

When you’re done reading Trevor and JJ’s story, grab your copy of Falling for His Fake Fiancee. And buckle up. This is one of the sweetest, most emotional stories I’ve ever written.

Gretchen Mascoe has had a ‘thing’ for Greg Fairchild for years, however the timing has never been right. So she sat on the sidelines, watching him date woman after woman. It’s time to either tell him how she feels or move on with her life, but how do you move on when you know in your bones he’s the one?

When a tragic car accident leaves Greg dependent on Gretchen’s generosity and nursing skills, he sees a whole new side to his sister’s usually quiet and laced up friend. It doesn’t take long before he starts falling for the curvy goddess who’s taken such good care of him. But how can he think of happily ever after when survivor’s guilt is eating him up inside?

Amazon: http://www.selena-blake.com/gfia
Apple Books: http://www.selena-blake.com/GFIitunes
Barnes and Noble: http://www.selena-blake.com/GFIbn
Google: http://www.selena-blake.com/GFIg
Kobo: http://www.selena-blake.com/GFIk
Smashwords: http://www.selena-blake.com/GFIs

Save it your Goodreads Account

My reading recommendation for the week

I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately. Last night I figured out the problem. I just needed a good contemporary romance with a straight forward conflict. No deception. No demi gods. Just a love story and a really good one at that.

So my recommendation is:

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Come a Little Bit Closer by Bella Andre

I’m enjoying the slow burn, how sweet Smith is and how tormented Valentina is over her attraction to a movie star. I’d be totally tongue-tied, how about you?

Heads up Kindle Unlimited Readers

Mystic Isle, Stormy Weather and SEALs of Roseville are leaving Kindle Unlimited mid October. So if you’ve been wanting to read one of these series, grab ’em now!

Note: If you put these books in your Kindle Unlimited ten borrowed books, they’ll stay in there even after they’ve been removed from KU as a whole. You can read them whenever you get to them.

Update on FloDesk

If you read my last post about the emailing list service FloDesk, you might be wondering what the current state is. Am I still using it?

I had a big promotion going out on September 10th and it was one of those group efforts where it HAD to go out on the 10th.

So I sent the newsletter from my website using the Newsletter Plugin for WordPress (in conjunction with Amazon’s SES). A little after that, I got word from FloDesk that my account had been reactivated.

I did send out a newsletter to another segment that day via FloDesk and it had a fairly good open rate (35-36%, I think.) I still really like how streamlined the backend of FloDesk is. Writing and sending newsletters is a delight.

So the status is yes, my account has been reactivated and I have sent newsletters since then.

However, I have around a 1000 people in a welcome/workflow sequence and it appears that FloDesk is not sending out email to those folks.

To recap: I created a BookFunnel specific welcome sequence, imported contacts from a BookFunnel promo to that segment at FloDesk, the first of 5 emails went out to that segment, and then my account was paused by FloDesk. See this post for more detail.

I asked my support contact if the welcome/workflow sequence would pick up where it left off once my account was reactivated and she assured me that it would.

Well, the second email in the sequence is supposed to be sent 4 days after the first. In real time, it’s been 3 weeks to the day since the first email went out. It’s been a little over 7 days since my account was reactivated.

According to their statistics, that second email in the welcome sequence hasn’t been sent to anyone, so I don’t know what’s going on.

But I have an email in to support.

The other thing that’s currently bothering me about FloDesk is that their statistics don’t make much sense. And maybe I just haven’t had my coffee and enough sleep. But when it tells me that 88 people have been sent a welcome letter and then in the same report tells me that 90 people have completed my welcome sequence, I’m wondering which one of us can’t do math. LOL

So that’s where we’re at. I’m still with FloDesk. I’m enjoying parts of it but I am fearful that every email could get my account locked again. And this is not an iscolated incident.

Unfortunately, friends of mine that I referred to FloDesk have had the same problem. And their Facebook group is full of people having the same issue. Growing pains…FloDesk has ’em. I’m crossing my fingers.

Look what I found!

Anyone remember when Romance Trading Cards were the thing?

I ordered a bunch and gave about 600 sets away… but I have lots more.

But now, I have new covers for all these books, so let’s call the old ones vintage. Collectible?

Whatever you call them, I still love the concept and want to do more in the future.

I’m giving away five sets to folks who replied to my recent newsletter. And I have plenty more for future prizes. Are you subscribed?

While we’re talking about Romance Trading Cards, make sure you’re signed up to the FB Group so you can collect more cards and swap with your fellow readers.