Mimi Barbour's Blog: Believe!, page 20

The choice of authors #3 – Who are the right people to be your collection? #NYTimes

#3 The choice of authors – this decision made a huge difference. I have no doubt we were each chosen because of either being a titled author (USA Today, New York Times or Amazon Best-seller), someone with great sales or a social media buff who had a huge following on Facebook, Twitter and a street team they could bring into play. How did the organizers find these professionals? Most of us were invited by another already recruited. For instance - I was invited by one of the brides who I work with in those collections. And I’m sure the others have a similar story – it’s a bit of who you know!!
It’s a proven fact that getting your toe in a door can happen a lot quicker if the doorman’s someone who you know or is friends with someone else who owes you a favor.
It’s the same way in the book publishing world too. Every one of the girls who were invited to be a part of Summer Fire were there because they knew someone. In fact, it’s the same with all the book collections I’ve been involved with.
Every time we’d try to come up with the full roster of authors we wanted to join us, it was always thrown out to the original few – who do you think will fit in? The first names everyone would offer were those with titles.
Face it, popular authors bring the readers. Usually they have large street teams, lots of followers on Facebook and active social media links. When you’re trying to push a book as hard as you have to in order to hit the New York Times, you need as many of these kind of people with that much power as possible.
Just a hint: Don’t forget the worker bees. Many times, more famous authors are so busy writing to deadline that they don’t have any time or energy left to add to the social media side. They don’t mind sharing their name but when it comes to the daily promo grind, it’ll be left to others. So... unless you have a group you can rely on to help with this area, find a few authors who are really active.
One of the big pluses we came across in Summer Fire was healthy newsletters that some of the authors were able to rely on. For the last couple of years, I’ve been working on my personal newsletter and wished I’d started a lot sooner. It isn’t easy to build up an audience but it can be one of the best promotional tools in your stable. And trust me - it’s also very much of a draw to the organizers of a potential collection.

Speaking of newsletters…
As I’ve mentioned before, I have recently started a group called Author’s Billboard.  And one of our most important goals is to build a joint newsletter as large and as fast as we can. This will enable us to promote as a group and provide our wonderful fans with a whole bunch of amazing reading choices from best-selling writers. If you have a few seconds, please subscribe. We promise to provide you with unbelievable deals.


The Authors' Billboard presents the Red, White & Blue Giveaway!Enter for a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card and over 40 ebooks from Best-Selling Authors!Entry form closes July 31st, 2015 and 42 winners will be chosen at random!CLICK HERE TO ENTER!
THANK YOU!  XOXO
******

*Giveaway* $50 Amazon Gift Card + 40 Best-selling eBooks. Up For Grabs! @mimisgang1 #mgtab

The Authors' Billboard presents the Red, White & Blue Giveaway!Enter for a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card and over 40 ebooks from Best-Selling Authors!Entry form closes July 31st, 2015 and 42 winners will be chosen at random!CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

Collections #2 - Decisions have to be made? #cat-fight? #NYTimes

***Here's how Summer Fire made it to #13 on #NYTimes. It’s complicatingly simple. We worked our fannies off!! Maybe not everyone—all of the time—but we all kicked in some of the time. And with 20 authors making the effort, it worked .



2.  Decisions– should be made by the person in charge as to how many people they want to have as a part of the group. What type of a collection it will be – full-length books versus novellas or even short stories – and which genre. And…another important option is whether all the books should be brand new or already published work.
One of the positives about being a part of a group with an organizer is that a lot of the decisions have already been made. I liked that our lady knew how many people she wanted as a part of the collection. And when I first understood there were to be 21, I have to admit to being shocked. I thought the number unmanageable, and hard to control. But I was wrong. Having that many people just meant that we had a lot more influence in the social media arena. And since most of us were professional and had previous experience in collections, we understood our roles. 
On the other hand, she had to make sure that all 21 novellas were submitted in sufficient time for formatting. Unfortunately, one of the authors wasn’t able to make the deadline which meant a huge amount of work for the boss. It was now up to her to get the cover changed, make sure the existing memes were replaced everywhere and the book blurb rewritten for all the book descriptions on all the different venues, etc. But it was handled and the rest of us weren’t really affected too much. On the other hand, the boss suffered through this whole situation - bigtime!!
Another decision I admit to feeling relieved about was the book cover. I’m sure a few of the first girls involved in the set had some input, but by the time I had signed on, it was a go. And I was utterly relieved not to have to deal with the numerous e-mails dealing with this controversial issue. Trust me, authors can get very picky about a book’s cover - everyone has visions of what they like and it’s often difficult to get each person on board.
It had also been decided that only new novellas were to be used. Yes!!! I totally agreed that that would be a huge selling point. Another issue they had set in place was the genre. Truthfully, I didn’t understand that the book was to be as “hot” as it was. I had thought it was to be basically a Contemporary Romance. But, in the end, many of the stories were spicier than I had expected and… that was fine with me. My sweet little romance would either be ignored by the lovers of steam, or if read, might find me a few new readers who enjoy a character-driven plot with some sexual overtures but a closed bedroom door. And isn’t that what it’s all about? Getting more people to like your voice and want to read your work.
Once I had joined the group, I pretty well knew what was expected of me, the dates I needed to meet with my submission were set and there was someone in place to make sure it would all happen as planned. The fewer decisions I had to be involved in was fine by me. Even so – we did have numerous votes on smaller issues and they went by majority. And… I always felt that if I had any suggestions, they’d be heard and taken into consideration.
Our organizer sent us all the marketing plan she’d come up with and a list of numerous events we’d all be expected to take part in – some of which I’d never heard of before. To say I was overwhelmed would be putting it mildly. To say I was enthusiastic – yeah! I was. 

Box Collections #1 - How important is a skilled leader? #potential #NYTimes

***Here's how Summer Fire made it to #13 on #NYTimes. It’s complicatingly simple. We worked our fannies off!! Maybe not everyone—all of the time—but we all kicked in some of the time. And with 20 authors making the effort, it worked .

1. An organizer – who is not only savvy about organizing, but someone with a lot of energy and… who is willing to take on the bulk of the work. No matter how much you believe that everyone will pitch in and help, most of the group are only going add so much. They want to be led, told what to do, how and when. If you have a vision of how everything should work, you better be willing to either take charge yourself, because of your experience, or join with someone who has done this before and knows the ropes.  
Over the past year, I’ve been involved in six different collections and there’s one thing I’ve learned that is inarguable. No matter which group you join, to succeed, there has to be one person who takes the reins and makes the decisions.
In our first bride collection, Ten Brides for Ten Heroes, we managed to split the tasks such as designing the cover, formatting all the books, uploading to different venues, setting up promotions, twitter blast, Facebook page setup, organizing a cookbook and have one girl take charge of the bookkeeping. I’m sure there were a lot more chores but these were the main ones that I can remember.
Since it was the first time for most of us, we relied on the know-how of the experienced authors who had been involved in an earlier set. Thank goodness they had that knowledge or we’d never have been able to organize ourselves. This first bundle was a huge learning curve and I sucked the information up like a dry chamois.
If those girls hadn’t been so forthcoming and helpful, I have no doubt the group would have fallen apart. As it was, we didn’t hit any lists, but we did learn what we needed to do the next time to ensure it would happen.
Now challenged… most of us joined forces again to produce, Ten Christmas Brides. Everyone kind of fell back into their old chores, and this was when I noticed that not everyone’s efforts were equal. No one said anything, the rest just pushed harder and this time our struggles paid off. We did make the USA Today List.
A few of us decided we also wanted to do a Valentine collection, so we found some different authors to fill in the empty spots and the same basic steps were set in play. Happily, we hit the USA Today, this time with Hearts & Kisses. Again, I noticed that some were more enthusiastic than others, worked harder—pushed more.
After that, I was accepted in the collection called Summer Fire. This time there were 20 authors involved and we had a skilled leader. Right off, I noticed the difference. She had rules. We were all expected to write a new novella, no exceptions. She had a cover ready so there were no on-going discussions about it taking up valuable time. There was a marketing plan in place, a budget set up and every one of us was expected pay up and to perform our parts. This lady knew what was needed for us to hit the New York Times and she fully intended for it to happen. Considering the rest of us were as hungry as she was, there was no problem getting the girls on board. 
Whether or not we all performed at the same level of energy on the daily social media grind is neither here nor there, but we were all required to complete a certain number of chores and weren’t really given any choice other than which day or what time. I have no doubt, that this expectation is what made us achieve the sales that we needed to succeed. 

And I have no doubt, it was because of the strong leadership that we maintained the necessary enthusiasm to continue performing as long as we did. That poor woman had her hands full - trust me. Twenty woman with opinions?? Dear Lord, I only hope her medications kicked in LOL!!

Dangerous Encounters Release Day! 13 Nerve-wracking thrills & heart-melting romances! #USAToday #NYTimes

Dangerous Encounters by  Nikki Lynn Barrett, Denise Moncrief, Jade Kerrion, 
Nancy & Nolan Radke, Stacy Eaton, Sharon Coady, 
Amy Manemann, Cathy Perkins, Chantel Rhondeau, 
Jacquie Biggar, Sylvie Grayson, Rachelle Ayala, 
and Mimi Barbour Genre: Romantic SuspenseRelease Date: June 23, 2015


Get your heartbeat racing with 13 romantic-suspense novels from USA Today bestselling and award-winning authors. Nerve-wracking thrills and dangers, heart-melting romance and love--enjoy them all in this outstanding collection of DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS....


Fallen Idol - Nikki Lynn Barrett
Sparks ignite between a single father and a singer making her musical comeback, but danger lurks in the distance, only getting closer as time goes on. For two people who want different things out of life, it's possible to find healing together...

Cross Examination - Denise Moncrief
Tamara Slay moves to Louisiana, hoping for a fresh start. An unexpected phone call from a Sheriff’s deputy in Florida shatters her new sense of security.

Lt. Martin Beck has been investigating the death of Brandy Fuller  for years. New evidence leads him to meet the estranged wife of his primary suspect. Together, Beck and Tamara conclude that her husband Scott murdered eight women on the Florida Gulf coast.

Carnival Tricks - Jade Kerrion
A fight during Sofia's waitressing shift turns fatal, and a dying scientist launches her into the shady world of scientific espionage. The unwilling trustee of research that people would kill to obtain, Sofia turns to the man who steps out of the shadows to protect her, even though he appears as dangerous and disreputable as the people who hunt her.Together, Sofia and Kyle must unravel the truth behind the illicit information she carries before one or both of them are killed.

Height of Danger - Nancy and Nolan Radke
Someone is killing construction workers at a Central American dam site, and CIA operative Owen Putman is sent in undercover to discover the who and why. The boss' lovely daughter picks this time to visit her father, and Owen kidnaps her to keep her safe. He finds himself juggling his mission, her safety, and his identity - and she manages to endanger them all.

Six Days of Memories - Stacy Eaton
When Detective Foster responds to the scene of a crash, she finds the female passenger dead, a bag full of money in the back seat and a body in the trunk. It is only when the driver, whom she nicknames Jay, wakes up with no memory that she must go with her instincts and continue the investigation in a way that was never taught in the academy.

Broken Lies, by Sharon Coady
After training with an Elitie unit of the Irish Special Forces, Niall is sent by his father to New York to be a bodyguard for Mr. Pierce. Abby is a woman with an abusive boyfriend and a painful past. She catches Niall's eye and he finds himself drawn to her.

Their lives change forever when they are drawn into a battle of deception, lies and murder. Can Niall keep her safe from whoever seems Hell bent of keeping them apart?

Don't Know Jack - Amy Manemann
Special Agent Jack Hamlin is a risk taker who isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to bring criminals to justice. Until he meets small town bakery owner, Kate Monroe. Danger, white hot romance, and stress baking ensue as Kate is swept into Jack’s dangerous world—and Jack's loyalties and training are put to the test when his cover is blown, and Kate’s life is on the line.

Cypher - Cathy Perkins
When a hitman kills the wrong person, Detective David Morris confronts hidden agendas and conflicting motives in a powerful local family, while trying to control his attraction to the intended victim—a woman who should be dead, but instead is hell-bent on saving the remnants of her family.

Unwilling to stand by while her family and world are destroyed, Cara Wainwright rips apart the secrets surrounding Cypher, the company her father built—and will take any measures to defend.

Murderous Lies – Bestselling Author Chantel Rhondeau
Imprisoned for murder and exonerated after eight years, Max Kensington returns to his hometown. His return forces Rosemary Spelling, his ex-fiancée, to confront the past. The day Max allegedly killed her sister destroyed her life, ripping apart her family and landing her mother in a mental institution. When murders start again and all evidence points to Max, Rose must team up with him to catch her sister’s real killer.

Tidal Falls- Jacquie Biggar
Sara Reed is on the run from an abusive ex with ties to organized crime. Mistakenly thinking her and her daughter would be safer if she had some kind of leverage, she takes a copy of some valuable files. Files that make her a target.

Nick Kelley is an ex-marine trying to find his place now that his career is over due to injuries suffered from an IED. When the two of them meet in the pretty little town of Tidal Falls, the experience is explosive.

Suspended Animation - Sylvie Grayson
Katy Dalton worked hard and when her friend Bruno talked her into an investment in Rome Trucking, it seemed like a safe bet. But when her job disappears and she needs her money back, Bruno stops answering his phone and bad things start to happen.

The last thing Brett Rome wants to do is leave a promising career in hockey to come home and run his ailing father’s trucking company. What he discovers is not the successful business that he remembers, but one that is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and a young woman demanding the return of her money. But danger lurks in the form of Bruno's dubious associates. What secret are they hiding and why are they willing to kill Katy? Can Brett put this broken picture back together, and is Katy part of the solution or the problem?

Knowing Vera – Award-Winning Author Rachelle Ayala
Vera's dating Zach, casually, not committed, when she discovers her long-departed father is the killer of Zach's mother many years ago. Meanwhile, Zach reevaluates his life after losing his leg in a tragic accident and realizes he's falling in love with Vera.

Can their timing be so wrong? Vera and Zach must depend on each other for survival and find a dangerous killer before he can kill again.

Special Agent Francesca – USA Today Bestselling Author Mimi Barbour
Is action her thrill of choice - or his lips?

Violence, suspense and sizzling romance explode during Special Agent Francesca’s humorous journey, fighting off the mob! Dr. Sean Collins wants to tame her! Yeah-like that’s gonna happen. Only one thing keeps Francesca motivated. Proving to her mother, the FBI “Snow Queen,” that working undercover is where she belongs.





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USA Today Bestselling author Nikki Lynn Barrett 
I'm an avid lover of books. I've been writing as far back as I can remember, completing my first "book" by fifth grade in one of those one subject spiral notebooks. I have a passion for music, photography, jewelry and all things creative. I live in Arizona with my husband and son, but dream of being somewhere much colder and stormier. For now, I'll have to live that life through my characters and stick it out with the summer heat.

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Denise Moncrief is a Southern girl who has lived in Louisiana all her life, and yes, she has a drawl. She has a wonderful husband and two incredible children, who not only endure her writing moods, but also encourage her to indulge her writing passion. Besides writing romantic suspense, she enjoys traveling, reading, and scrapbooking.

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Jade Kerrion writes award-winning and occasionally best-selling science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary novels anchored on unlikely romances you will root for and happy endings you can believe in. Her favorite romance is the Double Helix love triangle between Galahad—the lab-created perfect human being; Danyael—an alpha empath and Galahad’s physical template; and Zara—the woman who can wreak more havoc with love than most people can with hate. Visit her website for a free copy of Perfection Unleashed, the six-time award winning novel that launched the Double Helix series.

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Nancy and Nolan Radke are a mother and son team who write individually, checking each other's books, and who have now collaborated on a mystery/thriller. Nancy draws upon a teaching background and Nolan has a law enforcement background and is now a building contractor.

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Stacy Eaton is an International Best Selling Amazon author of eight books and a full-time detective who has a passion for putting the pieces together while investigating the crime. She is also a wife, mother, business owner and on the board of directors for her local domestic violence center. When she’s not ‘working’, she’s ‘writing’. Stacy loves chilling with her family and photography.

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Sharon Coady lives in Florida with her husband, three of their daughters and five of their eleven grandchildren. She wrote two books before discovering Romance novels. She has now written a romantic suspense, a romance novella and is currently writing a Christmas novella. She has two published novels. When not working as a nurse for the Veterans Administration or writing she enjoys spending time with her family and riding behind her husband on their Harley.

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Amy Manemann is an International Best Selling Author who writes sexy and intriguing romantic suspense, young adult paranormal romance, contemporary romance (NEW), and dabbles in children's books. She resides in her hometown along the Mississippi river with her husband and their two children. When she isn't plotting her next book, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, and diving into a good book.

Amy is also a site administrator for the World Literary Café, an online literary community for authors and readers. www.worldliterarycafe.com.

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Award-winning author Cathy Perkins works in the financial industry, where she's observed the hide-in-plain-sight skills employed by her villains. She writes predominantly financial-based mysteries but enjoys exploring the relationship aspect of her characters' lives. When not writing, she can be found doing battle with the beavers over the pond height or setting off on another travel adventure. Born and raised in South Carolina, the setting for CYPHER, HONOR CODE and THE PROFESSOR, she now lives in Washington with her husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd.

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Best-selling author Chantel Rhondeau once thought a great mystery or fantasy book with strong romantic themes was the highest level of reading bliss. After reading her first romantic suspense novel, she never looked back. Chantel is author of six romantic suspense novels, a Christmas novella, and the new McCallister’s Paradise series. She lives in the western United States, and when she's not writing she loves playing cards with her family, bowling on leagues, and snuggling with her lazy kitties.

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Jacquie Biggar lives in paradise along the west coast of Canada with her husband, daughter, & grandson. She loves reading, writing, and flower gardening. Spoils her German Shepherd, Annie, and Calico cat, Harley. And can't function without coffee.

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Sylvie Grayson has published romantic suspense novels, Suspended Animation, Legal Obstruction, and The Lies He Told Me, all about strong women who meet with dangerous odds, stories of tension and attraction. She has also written The Last War series, a romantic fantasy set to be released in 2015. She has been an English language instructor, a nightclub manager, an auto shop bookkeeper and a lawyer. She lives in southern British Columbia with her husband on a small piece of land near the Pacific Ocean that they call home, when she's not travelling the world looking for adventure.

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Rachelle Ayala is a bestselling Asian American author of dramatic romantic suspense and humorous, sexy contemporary romances. Her heroines are feisty and her heroes hot. She writes emotionally challenging stories but believes in the power of love and hope. She has won awards in multicultural and historical romance.

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Mimi Barbour is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author and the author of: The Vicarage Bench, Angels with Attitudes, Vegas, Elvis and the new sizzling Undercover FBI Series, Mimi lives on the East coast of Vancouver Island and writes her various romances with tongue in cheek and a mad glint in her eye. “If I can steal a booklover’s attention away from their every-day grind, absorb them into a fictional love story, and make them care about the ending, then I’ve done my job.”

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Wanna hit the lists? #USAToday Here's how Summer Fire made it to #13 on #NYTimes

Here’s the post you’ve been waiting for – the one I promised. My take on how the Summer Fire collection made it to the New York Times list.
It’s complicatingly simple. We worked our fannies off !! Maybe not everyone all of the time. But we all kicked in some of the time. And with 20 authors making the effort, it worked. We hit #13 and I’m still a foot off the ground.
This is what you need:
An organizer – who is not only savvy about organising, but someone with a lot of energy and… who is willing to take on the bulk of the work. No matter how much you believe that everyone will pitch in and help, most of the group are only willing to do so much. They want to be led, told what to do, how and when. If you have a vision of how everything should work, you better be willing to either take charge yourself because you have experience or join with someone who has done this before and knows the ropes.  
Decisions – should be made by the person in charge as to how many people they want to have as a part of the group. What type of a collection it will be – full-length books versus novellas or even short stories – and which genre. And…another important option is whether all the books should be brand new or already published work.
The choice of authors – made a huge difference. I have no doubt we were chosen because of either being a titled author (USA Today, New York Times or Amazon Best-seller), someone with great sales or a social media buff who had a huge following on Facebook, Twitter and a street team they could bring into play. How did the organizers find these professionals? Most of us were invited by another already recruited. For instance - I was invited by one of the brides who I work with in those collections. And I’m sure the others have a similar story – it’s a bit of who you know!!
The budget – whoever is in charge needs to have a realistic budget planned in advance according to their marketing plan. Make a list of all the promos, marketing and costly ads you want to put into play and then make sure the others are willing to spend their share – both as a payment into the promo pot and the individual expenses expected from them for giveaways, Facebook ads etc.
The cover - was important. It needed to show the readers what they could expect on the inside – the flavor of the books – and Summer Fire’s cover did just that. Most of the stories are explicitly sexual and it was certainly obvious when one looked at the naked chest of the male body on the front and the words “Love when it’s Hot!” printed on the side. If a few of the people in the group can make/organise a couple of covers – it’s best to hold a poll and get it decided quickly. Covers can be a huge argument if it isn’t nipped in the bud with majority rules.
The tittle – again you need to get everyone offering suggestions and then take the best five and do a poll. Otherwise, this type of differing can go on for far too long and create a deluge of unnecessary e-mails – and trust me on this – the authors start zoning out if they get overloaded in this way. What comes first the cover or the title? We did the cover first and then the title (I think?)
Publishing plans – need to be decided on – the release date and whether the book will be self-published by someone in the group, say on a multi venue such as Draft 2 Digital, or will you go with an organiser like Indie Writes who looks after all the formatting and does the publishing for you – and takes 15% off the top. There is a lot of work involved in the formatting area so you want to make an informed decision.
Pre-orders– are now a big deal whereas not too long ago, they didn’t exist for the lowly Indie authors. But because it makes a difference to sales and that’s really what this whole effort is about, it’s best to decide when the book should go out on pre-order, (keeping in mind that Amazon requires you to have the final submission published 10 days before the release).
Social media campaigns – are hugely important and it’s where the bulk of the work comes in for the rest of the authors rather than just the chief. She needs to be able to rely on everyone kicking in at this point. That compelling cover needs to be seen by as many people as possible and multiple times so they finally make the decision to push the buy button. As you all know, there are so many ways to do this and I will cover all the ones we used in a later post. Needless to say, you need worker bees and this is where the chosen authors come into play. 
Paid promotions – will make or break your chances of hitting the lists. It’s the area I consider that is the most important to benefit the collection. There are a huge number of places willing to take your money but they need to be set up in such a way as to keep the traction high on the final week. If you have someone who knows the owners of these promotional places and can set up your anthology before it’s even released on pre-order, then you have a shot at the number of sales it will take you to make it big. You cannot wait until you have the live links for the different venues (unless you put the book out on pre-order months in advance and then you may jeopardize the reader making the decision for not wanting to wait so long. Once she/he’s said no to it once, it’s easier for them to do so again.) This is where ‘who’ the authors are comes into play. Well-known names have a lot of fans who would be willing to wait to get a hold of their next book – of course that’s only if it’s never before released.)
Release day hype – is something that needs to be well-planned and worked toward with a kind of frenzy to get the pre-order buyers excited for their new collection and the potential buyers willing to jump on the same band wagon of those who already bought. A lot of giveaways will be made around this time.
Reviews– have been discussed so much it makes my head spin until I contemplate banging it against the nearest wall (except I’d be scared of the wall repair costs LOL).  As to whether they’re important – what do you think? Of-freaking-course they’re important. Hugely so! That’s where I learned a big lesson while being a part of this collection. Again, I’ll share in another post. Just know that there are ways that authors can get the reviews where it costs you nothing.

**Okay - that’s it for now! I don’t want you getting keyboard marks on your foreheads when you doze off from reading such a long post. I promise to break down these different sections and give you all the details I can remember.

Release Day - TWO PRINCES: The Biker and the Billionaire by #NYTimes Victoria Danann #VDanann

TWO PRINCES:
The Biker and the Billionaire by Victoria Danann Series: Sons of Sanctuary MC, Book 1Genre: Contemporary RomanceRelease Date: June 16, 2015


Brigid Roan is a graduate student at the University of Texas. She had no trouble getting her thesis approved, but finding a Hill Country motorcycle club willing to give her access to their lifestyle had started to seem impossible. Then she got a lead. A friend of a friend had a cousin with ties to The Sons of Sanctuary.

What she wanted was information to prove a proposition. What she didn’t want was to fall for one of the members of the club. Especially since she had set out to prove that motorcycle clubs are organized according to the same structure as primitive tribal society.

Brash Fornight was standing in line at the H.E.B. Market when his world tipped on its axis. While waiting his turn to check out, his gaze had wandered to the magazine display and settled on the new issue of “NOW”. The image on the cover, although GQ’d up in an insanely urbane way, was… him.

After reading the article, Brash threw some stuff in a duffle and left his club, The Sons of Sanctuary, with a vague explanation about needing a couple of days away. He left his Jeep at the Austin airport and caught a plane for New York, on a mission to find the guy who was walking around with his face.

Two brothers, one a player, one a playboy, neither aware of the other, are on a collision course with destiny and a woman who thought she won a prize when she was allowed a look inside the Sons of Sanctuary MC.





New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Victoria Danann
Victoria writes cross-genre with uniquely fresh perspectives on paranormal creatures, characters, and themes. She is making her debut into contemporary romance with the publication of the SUMMER FIRE ultimate romance collection anthology with the intro to the Sons of Sanctuary MC series. The first full novel of the series will be released June 16, 2015.

Victoria's The Order of the Black Swan has won BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES TWO YEARS IN A ROW (2013, 2014). Reviewers Choice Awards, The Paranormal Romance Guild.


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Romance at it's best!! Ten Brides for Ten Hot Guys!! 10 Incredible love stories - #99cents #tenbrides

Ten Brides for Ten Hot Guys by Donna Fasano, Helen Scott Taylor, Mimi Barbour,  Mona Risk, Patrice Wilton, Rebecca York, Dana Marton,  Nina Bruhns, Alicia Street, and Annie Jones Genre: Contemporary RomanceRelease Date: June 9, 2015


You loved our Christmas brides! Now get ready for some awesome June brides!

Ten award-winning New York Times and USA Today authors bring you ten fabulous stories featuring ten super-hot guys determined to find their perfect brides...even if they have to go halfway around the world to do it! From small-town home-and-hearth to international intrigue, from Boston to Scotland to the Greek Isles and everywhere in-between, these emotional, page-turning love stories will touch your heart...and make you reach for a fan to cool the sizzle!


TEN BRIDES FOR TEN HOT GUYS is a 10-author boxed set featuring 10 contemporary romance novels—including military romance, family romance, medical romance, romantic comedy, romantic suspense, sci-fi romance, and more—starring hunky heroes like doctors and lawyers, billionaires and men in uniform.



Need a fun vacation beach read to fill your hot summer days? Look no further! Ten Brides for Ten Hot Guys will take you on a thrill ride to the very last page. Who is your favorite book boyfriend? You're sure to find him in this fantastic boxed set! Check it out!



TAKING LOVE IN STRIDE by Donna Fasano, USA Today bestselling author—The school teacher and the business man - let the clash begin!

THE ARMY DOCTOR'S NEW YEAR'S BABY by Helen Scott Taylor, NYT and USA Today bestselling author—In the Scottish highlands, a career-driven army surgeon finds his commanding officer's beautiful sister too much of a distraction.

I'M NO ANGEL by Mimi Barbour, NYT and USA Today bestselling author—A Canadian earthquake brings them together...and their whole relationship is filled with aftershocks.

HER GREEK TYCOON by Mona Risk, NYT and USA Today bestselling author—In court, an American attorney and a Greek tycoon are ready to tear each other apart, but attraction sizzles during a romantic encounter on Mikonos Island.

FOR THE LOVE OF CANDY by Patrice Wilton, NYT and USA Today bestselling author—A bar owner and a Boston lawyer plot to keep their two kids from marrying, but their own attraction gets in the way big time.

NIGHTFALL by Rebecca York, NYT and USA Today bestselling author—After 20 years, a bride ship finally arrives on all-male planet Palomar, bringing a settler’s wife...won in a lottery.

BROSLIN BRIDE by Dana Marton, NYT and USA Today bestselling author—When she is accused of murdering her boss, the detective on the case is her jilted high school flame.

MIDSUMMER BRIDE by Nina Bruhns, NYT and USA Today bestselling author—Thrown into an international conspiracy, she learns a few Swedish customs that make for some sizzling hot foreign relations...

STARS, LOVE AND PIROUETTES by Alicia Street, USA Today bestselling author—A mysterious stargazer and a TV star take a ballerina for the ride of a lifetime.

IRISH EYES by Annie Jones, USA Today bestselling author—A soft-hearted social worker and an Interpol agent team up to track a kidnapped boy.




Donna Fasano
USA Today bestselling author Donna Fasano is the author of over 30 romance and women's fiction titles. Her award-winning books have been described as "emotional," "heartwarming," and "simply wonderful!" Over the course of her 25 year career, she has sold 4 million books worldwide. BigAl from BooksAndPals.com says, "Donna Fasano is a keen observer of human nature and creates characters that ring true to life."

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Helen Scott Taylor
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Helen Scott Taylor, had her first book released in 2009. The Magic Knot, won the American Title contest, was a Golden Heart® finalist, and was chosen as one of Booklist's top ten romances of 2009. Since then, she has published other novels, novellas, and short stories in both the UK and USA. Her published works have been finalists in a number of contests including the Holt Medallion, the Lories, the Prism Contest, the Write Touch Award and the Maggies.

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Mimi Barbour
Mimi Barbour is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who's sold over 500,000 copies of her books world-wide. Her five romance series: The Vicarage Bench/ time travel at it's best, Angels with Attitudes / angels love romance, Vegas / fast-paced plotting, Elvis / make a song a book and her newest, Undercover FBI / with sizzling conflicts and lots of humor.

Mimi's been heard to say: "I'm an author who loves to read uplifting stories about romance. Add in some time travel, or maybe an angel, or even a little romantic suspense and it makes the story more fascinating because of the incredible possibilities."

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Mona Risk
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Mona Risk, recently received an Outstanding Achiever Award from Affaire de Coeur Magazine. Her name has often been posted on the Amazon.com 100 Most Popular Authors in Romance list. She's a two time winner of Best Contemporary Romance of the Year from Readers Favorite; a winner of Best Romance Novel of the Year from Preditors & Editors Readers Poll; and an EPIC Award finalist.
Her contribution to Valentine Hearts and Kisses is Valentine Babies.

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Patrice Wilton
Patrice Wilton is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 20 books. Her best known series include The Candy Bar Series, Serendipity Falls series, and her returning war hero series, A HERO LIES WITHIN, HANDLE WITH CARE and AT FIRST SIGHT.

She lives in West Palm Beach with her retired PGA golf pro husband, and plays tennis and golf when she's not writing fun, sexy romance stories. She loves emails and will answer everyone the same day.

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Rebecca York
New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling and award-winning author, Rebecca York has written over 145 books and novellas. In 2011 she became the dozenth author to receive the Romance Writers of America Centennial Award for having written 100 romantic novels. Her Killing Moon was a launch title for Berkley’s Sensation imprint in June 2003. Five more books in the series have followed.

Rebecca has authored or co-authored over 65 romantic thrillers, many for Harlequin Intrigue’s very popular 43 Light Street series, set in Baltimore, and many with paranormal elements. She currently writes the paranormal romantic suspense Decorah Security Series and the science fiction romance Off World Series.

Her many awards include two Rita finalist books. She has two Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times: for Series Romantic Suspense and for Series Romantic Mystery. And her Peregrine Connection series won a Lifetime Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense Series.

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Dana Marton
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Dana Marton has thrilled and entertained millions of readers around the globe with her fast-paced stories about strong women and honorable men who fight side by side for justice and survival.

Kirkus Reviews calls her writing “compelling and honest.” RT Book Review Magazine said, “Marton knows what makes a hero…her characters are sure to become reader favorites.” Her writing has been acclaimed by critics, called, “gripping,” “intense and chilling,” “full of action,” “a thrilling adventure,” and wholeheartedly recommended to readers. Dana is the winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence, the Readers’ Choice Award, and Best Intrigue, among other awards. Her book, TALL, DARK, AND LETHAL was nominated for the prestigious Rita Award. DEATHSCAPE reached the #1 spot on Amazon’s Romantic Suspense Bestseller list.

Dana has a Master’s degree in Writing Popular Fiction, and is continuously studying the art and craft of writing, attending several workshops, seminars and conferences each year. Her number one goal is to bring the best books she possibly can to her readers.
Keeping in touch with readers is Dana’s favorite part of being an author. Please connect with her via her web site (www.danamarton.com) or her Facebook page (www.facebook.com/danamarton).

Having lived around the world, Dana currently creates her compelling stories in a small and lovely little town in Pennsylvania. The fictional town of her bestselling Broslin Creek series is based on her real life home where she fights her addictions to reading, garage sales, coffee and chocolate. If you know a good twelve-step program to help her with any of that, she’d be interested in hearing about it!

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Nina Bruhns
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nina Bruhns decided it was time to change careers and pursue her longtime dream of writing when fieldwork in Egyptology became too dangerous. Since then, Nina has achieved international bestsellerdom writing for Berkley, Harlequin and Silhouette, various epublishers, and now as an indie author with Cajun Hot Press. Nina has earned numerous awards for her thirty-plus books to date, including three Daphne du Maurier Awards for Best Overall Mystery-Suspense Book of the Year, three Rita nominations, four RT Bookclub Reviewers Choice Awards, a National Readers Choice Award, five Dorothy Parker Awards of Excellence, and two Golden Hearts.

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Alicia Street
Alicia Street is a USA Today and National bestselling author and a Daphne du Maurier award-winner. She writes both sweet and steamier romances and sometimes collaborates with her husband, Roy. Her years as a dancer, choreographer and teacher provide the inspiration behind her Dance 'n' Luv contemporary romance series. Many of her characters from this series cross over into her Holiday Luv series. A compulsive reader of every genre, Alicia loves watching old black-and-white movies and inventing new recipes for soup.

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Annie Jones
USA Today bestselling author Annie Jones loves Romance, Christmas and Route 66 so it seemed natural to combine them in A Cowboy for Christmas. The author of 40 books including romance and women's fiction, she lives in Kentucky with a houseful of family and a head full of ideas for more books.

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Is it kosher to brag about reaching one’s ultimate goal? Who cares – I did it!! New York Times Best Seller #SummerFire

If you haven’t already heard – with me telling everyone on Facebook and sending my news to all the groups I’m in – I want to share (brag) with you my friends on my blog, Believe. (This blog name now seems to be reflective of my mind set.) 
The other night I learned something fantastic and have been celebrating ever since. Just so you understand, to every author it would be equal to finding a winning lotto ticket.
An anthology called Summer Fire, a collection of twenty brand new novellas, with my story called Big Girls Don’t Cry being one of them, hit the New York Times list at #13 this week.
Phew – just writing about it makes me smile so hard, my face muscles get cramped. Guess I’ve been abusing them over the last 36 hours.
Truly, it’s like a dream. How could I, little Mimi Barbour, reach this pinnacle in a career that I started so late in life? I admit that I’ve worked harder than I ever have before. And trust me when I tell you – I’ve never been sloucher! But this job as a writer, marketing fool, promoter, editor, accountant, formatter, blogger, cover selector, social media pro, promotions expert and did I mention writer, has been the most time-consuming, intense abuse of every skill I ever possessed and many newly learned.
“Was it difficult?”
“Damn rights it was.”
“Was it worth it?”
“Damn rights it was.”
You might ask what’s next on the list. I mean – hitting the New York Times is pretty well the pinnacle.
True…
Ahhh… But next time, I’d like it to make it alone – just one of my books or an anthology of just me! Yeah...
Aha! Another goal to work for…. We need those, right?


**Come back for the next post and I’ll share some of the secrets we used to make sure we were successful and hit both lists!!

Has bad news from someone you consider a dear friend, but you’ve NEVER met, been distressing?

*************
How can someone you’ve never been face to face with matter so much? I know this sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But that’s today's reality, living with the internet connections we all make.
I see this all the time on Facebook. And if you inhabit the Facebook world, I have no doubt you’ve seen it too. People sharing their grief and worries about a loved one who passed on or someone they care about in trauma. And the responses from strangers and internet friends are overwhelming.
As an author, my job is to get ‘out there’ and mingle with the readers as much as possible. While doing so, I’ve met such wonderful, warm-hearted, loving people. A lot of them are authors, like me, who’ve made creating stories a career.
One lady, Katy, an author from England who I’ve never met but felt a kinship with for years wrote recently to say that her husband was in the Cardiac Unit of their hospital and to pray for him because he was critical.
It’s though our e-mails that we’ve become close—like pen pals of old. And I know a little bit about her personal life and her relationships with her family. As I mentioned, I’ve never seen her in person nor have I met her husband. Yet ever since learning about his fate, I’ve been walking around with a heavy heart, prayers ringing in my mind and sending loving thought her way. I think how sad that I can’t visualize the man, and yet in a strange way, it hasn’t stopped my concern.

I wonder if these personal connections are what will make the world a better place one day. Being able to care about others who you’ve only bonded with through the medium of words…!!