Mandy Baggot's Blog, page 24

Festival of Romance seeks New Talent

Morning everyone!

Today I wanted to tell you all a little bit about this year's Festival of Romance! Last year was the first year of this new festival and I was lucky enough to be able to take part. I spoke on a panel about self-publishing and I did a reading from Strings Attached but of course, the event I am most remembered for is dressing up as The Love Dove from my novel Knowing Me Knowing You!

Yes, that is me underneath the chicken suit! Well, 2012 it set to be even bigger and better and i...

Romance novel with your maxi dress Madam?

Hi everyone - hope Tuesday finds you all well!

Now, last week I reported that Waterstones are cutting down their author signings - well this week after speaking to my good friend Katie Mettner - I am sure there is another way! Katie lives in Wisconsin in the US and she is the author of  Sugar's Dance http://www.amazon.com/Sugars-Dance-ebook/dp/B0061QJVW0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344327312&sr=8-2&keywords=Katie+Mettner. She told me that as well as bookstores she signs in cl...

Bookstores feel the pinch and authors suffer!

Not such a bright blog today I'm afraid! I've just had a phone call from the lovely Helen at Waterstones Camberley cancelling my event with them in September. Apparently all Waterstones stores have been issued with a new directive concerning book signings and all authors have to meet a strict criteria before they will be considered for a signing. If you aren't at the very top of the writing tree or extremely local (your house has to be within two miles of the store as the crow flies or someth...

Quiet moment!

Hi everyone! As you know I am getting minimal work done as the school holidays are well and truly rolling! But I wanted to share something with you and ask your thoughts.

You know that moment when you just need to get away from everything and everyone for just five minutes. You need to take a breath, refocus or zone out, find something calming...well I'm going to share with you the You Tube video that does it for me! So, let me know what you do when you need that ultimate five minute chill to...

Reviews - I love them!

A quick blog today and a little bit of an appeal! I am looking for reviews! If there are any book bloggers/reviewers out there who would like to read an e-copy of my latest novel Taking Charge please get in touch by email mandybaggot@sapphirestarpublishing.com or through Twitter or Facebook or wherever else you can find me! 

I love reviews! Of course I adore the four and five star ones much more than the one and two star ones but I learn something from every single review! It might not al...

Setting the scene...

Ah ha, now you think I am going to be talking about setting a backdrop for your characters to play in don't you? No! Today I want to ask about where you writers write.

I am struggling at the moment with finding the perfect location to write. Don't get me wrong, I can and will write anywhere, but working from home most days I feel I need a spot to call my own. So what's the problem? Well, the problem is we have a lovely size study/office but I have to share the space with Mr Big and his guitars...

Shout lines/tag lines - discuss!

Morning everyone! We have SUN in Wiltshire, I repeat, we have SUN! Washing is out on the line, all is right with the world. Of course tomorrow it will be back to cloud and rain again! Not that I am at all obsessed with the weather!

Today I want to ask your opinion on shout lines/tag lines. These are the little phrases that appear on the front cover of the book. Here are mine so far:-

Excess All Areas - But who's got the most baggage?

Breaking the Ice - Will their first steps lead to meltdown?

Kno...

Strong men and Lady Gaga!

Morning everyone! Now, due to my trumpet blowing of yesterday I completely forgot to tell you about my trip to watch Salisbury's Strongest Man.

Now, for those of you that don't know, I have a little fetish for Strongman! Ever since I was a little girl one of the highlights of my year has been sitting around the TV at Christmas time to watch World's Strongest Man. And I have been lucky enough to see some of the world's strongest men compete LIVE in front of my very eyes! If you check out the p...

#1 in UK, Germany and France!

WOW, WOW, WOW!! 'Wow' will have to do because I can't think of any words strong enough to express my total and utter joy at what happened over the weekend! Yes, thanks to the support of at least 13,194 people, Knowing Me Knowing You topped the Amazon free Kindle charts as follows:-

#1 in the UK

#1 in Germany

#1 in France

And not only did I make it to #1 in the UK in contemporary romance, I was also the #1 selling free book in the whole of the Kindle store. I also made it to the heady heights of #...

Happy Fourth of July!! Get a FREE book!

Happy Independence Day everyone - especially all my lovely American friends who are celebrating today!

Here is my American tribute:-

So what treat has Lady B got for you as promised yesterday? Well what could be better than a free book? YES! Knowing Me Knowing You, one of my two bestsellers is FREE for you on Kindle for the next five days! Usually £1.95 or £8.99 in paperback it's your chance to grab a bargain and read all about Kate and Joel and their quest to be crowned relationship...