Gill Fernandez's Blog, page 2

The Final Countdown

Wow! Last Love has made it into the final round of the AllAuthor February Cover contest. Twenty-four covers were selected for this last stage, and only three can win. Results will be announced in seven days. So first, a big thank you to everyone who voted for Last Love (187 lovely people) in the earlier rounds. Currently, Last Love is ranked 20 out of 24, and that's 115 votes behind the top-ranked book. It is a close battle, and it is possible that Last Love can win with a final push! Watch this space for more news, and in the meantime, if you get a moment, please pop over to AllAuthor and vote (or vote again).

I need your help

Last Love is in the February cover competition over at AllAuthor.com

and I need your votes. Currently, the cover is sitting at position 28, but in the end, position 1 is the only one that counts. If you feel like giving your backing to this cover, here's the link: https://allauthor.com/cover-of-the-month/17246/

Last Love is launched of ReedsyDiscovery

Back in the day when the competition was not so fierce, it was possible to publish a new book with almost a minimum of effort. Nowadays, it is essential to use all means available to reach new readers. For the release of Last Love, there have been BookBub, Facebook and Amazon ads, social media sharing and the last part, a ReedsyDiscovery launch. And that is what this is what this blog post is about. It's a call to arms. Any Reedsy members out there with some time on their hands are asked to hurry over to the Last Love page and do an upvote so that the book will be included in the Friday ReedsyDiscovery newsletter.

Here's the link: https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/last-love-gill-fernandez#review

A big thank you for your help.

New Covers All Round

As part of a spruce-up to existing work, before I move on to the new series, I've had all my covers redesigned. It's probably a little bit of displacement activity, if I'm honest, but I know I will settle into the writing of the new work more easily if I know the old work is all tidy and wearing its best bib and tucker. To see the Love Me new cover, visit here, but if you would like to comment on the new covers for the Six Degrees of Separation series, then take a peek here.

New Beginnings

I am starting work on a new project. Perhaps the biggest yet! And I've decided to open the creative process to the world.

This is a challenge to me since I am the original pantster.

No planning, no plotting, just the vision of the characters and an idea of how it will end is how I have previously worked.

Now, I'm going to have to create plans and reveal character profiles and event details. All sorts of things that I previously just held in my head.

To join me in this creative journey, you will need to join the Readers' Club. Then, you will receive character profiles, some first drafts, writer's thoughts, general development notes and results from research. Give it a go. There's nothing to lose, and you will get a free short story linked to the previous series when you sign up.

Give it a go - get inside a writer's mind.

Terrible Timing!

It's launch week for Last Love. The thirty-day golden window is ticking away (the publication date was the 30th of September). It was all going nicely, and then ...

Suddenly, impressions on the new Amazon ads campaign I had set up to run from the publication date dropped to 0! Yes, big fat 0. There's no point in contacting Amazon support; I might as well talk to the wall. So, there is no option for me but to try and work things out. Three days later, I managed to get one click ... yes, one click and only then by bidding crazily high. After days of optimising the life out of the campaign, setting up new campaigns, auto and manual, the impressions are up a bit but not where they should be for a list of very popular targets. Targets that were, until the 3rd of the month, working perfectly fine. Clearly, this is some kind of a technical glitch. Meantime, the days are slipping by, and my new release is not going to get its fair share of Amazon love.

What am I going to do?

Scream with frustration Leave the dead ads running just in case they fix themselves Head off to Facebook to increase my advertising Ditto TikTok Get on with writing the next book Revisit the option of going wide (again).

And in the meantime, if you're reading this and fancy helping out, please visit here and get the book:

It's nearly time!

Only a few hours now before Last Love is published.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/a5c5e8_12f6d94d688f4004bd1a286e68d6fae8/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

4 DAYS TO GO

30th September is publication day for Last Love and I learned this morning that it has been bundled in a 'second chance romance' ARC offering by Booksirens. Time is running out to get a free reviewer copy, so don't delay. https://booksirens.com/bundle/second-chance-romance-arcs-you-ll-love-september-2023-batch/LHE7PRC

The Countdown has Begun

Despite various last-minute hitches and the demise of my lovely elderly dog, Last Love has made it! The ARC is available for anyone who would like a free copy in return for an honest review on Amazon. You can download your copy from Booksprout until the end of September or email me at gill@gillfernandez.com, and I will send you a link to the ARC copy on Bookfunnel.Last Love is the third and final book in the Six Degrees of Separation series. Like the other stories, it is a romance with a touch of realism, set within a family saga—lots of twists and turns, plus complicated family relationships. For those who are concerned about the 'heat' in romance, I should mention that there is some, but it is not a blow-by-blow account of sexual gymnastics. I would go as far as to describe it as a clean romance with a little heat but a lot of tenderness. Set mostly in England but with some Scottish settings, Last Love is a second chance (later life) romance starting in 1980 and ending in 2023.

All three books in the series are reduced during the launch period (September, October and November).

Better Late Than Never

I'm sorry for the lack of blog posts recently. It's been a bit crazy here. My elderly cocker spaniel is struggling with dementia on top of being profoundly deaf and suffering from arthritis. She needs special food and medicine and, most recently, has taken to waking in the middle of the night, barking to be let out into the garden. My son says I am giving canine palliative care. Which, in a way, I am.

All this while the publishing process rumbles on for Last Love. It's currently in editing, and I am setting up the ARC team and worrying about the cover; and also starting work on the first book in a new series (more on that in the next post). Right now, I've after your feedback on the cover options. Please visit this Facebook post link and tell me in the comments which is your preference. https://www.facebook.com/GillFernandezAuthor/posts/pfbid02AXUBuBiSYdMk2dhLYaKhw5cWCTY2yDtEECuaAQHxave4cckdq3fwJbZFa6wWhswDl