Kelly Hashway's Blog, page 68

Friday Feature: Perfect For You Review Quotes Video

Yes, I'm sharing my own book today. Well, actually I'm sharing readers' thoughts of my book. Check out this video where I share some of my favorite lines from reviews of Perfect For You.

Do you have a favorite review quote of one of your books? Feel free to share it in the comments.
Want your YA, NA, or MG book featured on my blog? Contact me here and we'll set it up.

Writer Wednesday: Nothing Is One Size Fits All

Something I've discovered in this industry is that there is no such thing as one size fits all. What works while drafting one book, may not work for another. I've written some books completely out of order and had to piece them together. Others I've written linearly. The same goes for revision. Some books make me want to pull my hair out during revisions because I have to track so many things and keep lists to make sure there aren't inconsistencies anywhere. Other books go so smoothly during revisions that I get a little worried because I feel it should have been more difficult.
And even after the writing and revising stage, things still aren't one size fits all. What works for one author while promoting a new book may not work for another. I'm talking about the exact same efforts yielding very different results. So how do we know what to do? Honestly, I think it's all trial and error. We have to try new things and old things to see what will work for that particular book. Time consuming? Absolutely! Frustrating at times? Absolutely! Necessary? Absolutely! Well, unless you don't care if your books sell or not, but let's be honest. We ALL care. ;)
Have you ever experienced very different results from the same strategies?

Monday Mishmash 4/6/15

Happy Monday! Monday Mishmash is a weekly meme dedicated to sharing what's on your mind. Feel free to grab the button and post your own Mishmash.
Here's what's on my mind today:The Darkness Within Blog Tour  Spencer Hill Press and I are looking for people to take part in the blog tour for The Darkness Within. ARCs are available for review too. Interested? Sign up here.  Holidays/Spring Break  I hope everyone enjoyed Easter and/or Passover, whichever you celebrate in your family. We are also on spring break here, if you can call it that since most of it was taken back to make up snow days. ;)YASH  The YA Scavenger Hunt is officially over as of yesterday. As always, it was a lot of fun. :) Congrats to all the winners!Free Monthly Newsletter  My free monthly newsletter goes out today. If you aren't signed up to receive it, but would like to stay up-to-date on my books and writing tips, sign up here.Perfect For You  This Friday, I'll be sharing more info about my YA contemporary romance Perfect For You. Long story short, I took my rights back from the publisher and I'm relaunching the book this month. It's now available as an ebook AND as a paperback. Yay! And it got a new cover. Check it out. If you're interested in reading the book, you can find it on Amazon or B&N. That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

YA Scavenger Hunt: Julie Cross

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize—one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!
Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are EIGHT contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the GOLD TEAM—but don't forget about all of the other teams and the chance to win a whole different set of signed books!
If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number in gold. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the GOLD TEAM, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!). 
Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.
Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by April 5th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
Today, I'm hosting Julie Cross! JULIE CROSS is the author of the international bestselling Tempest series. Julie lives in Champaign, Illinois.

Find out more information by checking out her author website or find more about Julie's book here!
Now time for some EXCLUSIVE CONTENT!
Bestselling author Julie Cross teams up with Ford model Mark Perini to pen a poignant and gritty YA novel about love and the dark side of modeling and the fashion industry Eve's time as a fashion model nearly destroyed her-now she's determined to build a career behind the camera lens. But landing a coveted photography internship brings her face to face with her dark past-and her ex. While Eve is snapping pictures, up-and-coming male model Alex is launching his career-which, for him, involves maintaining a fake relationship with his (secretly) underage co-star, Elana. But Alex is falling for Eve, and Eve won't let herself get hurt again. If Alex can pull off a fake love with Elana, can he convince Eve to risk a secret affair with him?
Spotlight Excerpt
And then I see me. The pictures Eve took and pretended to be capturing shots of the view out the window. It’s just my profile and there’s a shadow over my face so you can’t really tell it’s me. I’m also hunched over like I’ve forgotten to stand up straight. Eve catches me staring at myself. She’s now wearing jeans and the pink shirt she yanked from the closet a minute ago. She’s morphed back into College Eve. “Is it weird that I have pictures of you on my wall?”
“You can’t really tell it’s me,” I say, but it is a little surprising. Not weird, just surprising. I don’t have pictures of anyone, including myself, in my room or in my shared apartment at all. 
Eve moves beside me and taps the picture I’m looking at. “I like this one a lot. You look human.”
I laugh. “As opposed to alien?”
“As opposed to supermodel.”
“I get it. You’re against Photoshopped models and all that,” I say. It’s a tired argument—though I’d willingly have it with Eve—but it’s not like I can change the world or anything. It’s not like I have any say in what’s done to my pictures.
She pulls two rubber bands out of her long wavy hair, letting it fall loose from the tight bun. I immediately smell her shampoo. “It’s not Photoshop that makes me hate fashion pictures. I edit too. I’m just not as intrigued by images where the subject knows they’re being photographed. It’s like being on trial. You’re going to hide all your vulnerability, all the raw emotion that you get in a real image.”
“So what you’re saying is, if I were to replicate this pose…” I tap the picture in question. “But this time I knew you were taking a picture, I couldn’t make it look the same?”
She’s still staring at the image. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m too biased to answer that since I’m the one who took the photo. Maybe it would only look different to me.”
Just hearing her say that makes me realize how much of her goes into her pictures, and how little of me is actually in a photo from any professional shoot I’ve ever done.
“I think I get it.” I scan all her photos again. “If you don’t include the entire subject in the picture, then people are free to fill in their own blanks.”
I’m not even sure where that came from. It sounded like a Freudian analysis or something. The air must be different on a college campus than in the rest of New York City, and it’s gone to my head.
Eve turns her eyes from the picture and stares at me. “Maybe.”
Her proximity to me becomes the only thing my mind is able to focus on. I didn’t come on this date just so I could kiss her, and I didn’t come into her room for that reason either. Which is why I know for sure, the second her head turns and her eyes meet mine, that it’s exactly what I should do.
I only have to lean in a few inches before my mouth is on hers and her eyes are closing. And there’s nothing to look at or think about, nobody watching us or taking our picture. It’s as easy and natural as taking my next breath, and I know I’m already addicted to kissing Eve before my tongue has even moved past her lips. My hands are going to insist on living in her hair forever, even if it’s really hard to walk around anywhere. And I’m pretty sure my heart is going to beat at this much faster pace for good.
I should have done this five days ago. And every day since.

And don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me, Kelly Hashway, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 8. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the GOLD TEAM and you'll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize!
CONTINUE THE HUNT
To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author, LAURISA WHITE REYES!

Writer Wednesday: Barnes and Noble vs. Amazon

Lately I've been wondering what drives people to Barnes and Noble as opposed to Amazon or vice versa. They both have books in paperback and ebook formats, so what prompts someone to pick one over the other?
I'm an Amazon girl, but oddly enough I used to purchase all my books through Barnes and Noble. I don't know why I changed. It sort of happened one day without me knowing it. But let me share something with you from an author's perspective—something that has me admittedly perplexed.
I released an Ashelyn Drake title (Looking For Love) this month. It's a new adult romance, and I mention the genre for a reason. I've heard (not that I know if this is true or not) that romance sells better on B&N than Amazon. Well, for this book, that's true. My B&N ranking continues to get better every day, while my Amazon ranking is going in the opposite direction. Checking my sales numbers, I see a drastic different between the two sites. Now here's why I'm baffled. I don't use the B&N link to promote. I always use the Amazon link. Sure I have the B&N link on my website, but I don't actively promote it.
That's not the only reason I'm confused. You see the other Campus Crush novellas, before they were packaged as one book—Campus Crush, all sold better on Amazon. Hmm… So what is making this book different? I have a clue!
So I'm asking you all, which site do you gravitate toward—Amazon or B&N—and why?

Monday Mishmash 3/30/15

Happy Monday! Monday Mishmash is a weekly meme dedicated to sharing what's on your mind. Feel free to grab the button and post your own Mishmash.
Here's what's on my mind today:Drafting  I'm 60K into my WIP, so that means I'll be finishing the draft this week. Yay! My street team, Kelly's Coven, also helped me decide on a title for this book, which I'm very grateful for.Different Blog Schedule This Week  The YA Scavenger Hunt is this Thursday, so that means my blog schedule will be a little off. I will still be posting my Writer Wednesday, but since the YA Scavenger Hunt needs to stay up as my main post for a few days, I will not be posting a Friday Feature this week. Make sure you stop by to join in the scavenger hunt fun and enter to win a bunch of amazing prizes.Editing  I have some openings in my editing schedule, which is rare. So if you have anything you need edited, feel free to contact me (khashway@hotmail.com) and we can discuss what you need and get your scheduled.Beta Reading  I'll also be working on a beta read for a writer friend this week. :) I always enjoy beta reading, but I've have limited time for it this year.Conventions/Conferences  I'm really bummed that I have no conventions planned. I won't be at BEA this year. :( I'm SO sad about that. I'm trying to figure out if there's another convention I can get to instead. Any suggestions? I'd love to do one where I can also sign my books.That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

Friday Feature: YA Scavenger Hunt Spring 2015

Hello Everyone! I'm so happy to introduce to you the Spring 2015 YA Scavenger Hunt Authors! We have eight outstanding teams this season. I am going to be a part of #TeamGold! The Scavenger Hunt runs from April 2nd through April 5th beginning and ending at noon Pacific time on those days. 
If you've never been a part of the hunt before you should give it a try. It runs like a giant blog hop, introducing you to new YA authors and books along the way. There are tons of prizes including a grand prize for each team. If you win one of the grand prizes you will get a book from each author on that team! For more information and to make sure you get hunt updates, sign up for news on the #YASH website. During the hunt, I'll be sharing an exclusive never-before-revealed sneak peek of THE DARKNESS WITHIN. 

You don't want to miss out on this fabulous and fun event, but play fast because the hunt is only live for three days. And now, here are the teams! (Hint: If you click on the image you can get a close up.)

 
I hope you are all as excited as I am! THE HUNT BEGINS 4/2/15!

Writer Wednesday: I'd Rather Buy a Book

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about things people buy on a daily/weekly basis that cost more than a book, and it kind of depressed me. Not that I want to depress you too, but check out this quick list. (This could have gotten really long, but I think you get my point.)
Coffee (lattes, cappuccino, etc.) ~ I make my own coffee, so I save on this daily expense.
Greeting Cards ~ Is anyone else appalled at how expensive these things are? I mean it's like a total of 20-40 words and you're charging me $5! My book is over 80K and it's not that expensive (in ebook format).
Vending Machine Snacks/Drinks ~ These tiny packages are more expensive than their larger counterparts you can buy in a food store.
Register Items ~ You know, those overpriced candy bars and packs of gum they have at the registers in stores. You could buy an entire bag of candy for the price of the one bar, but this is RIGHT HERE! Same with the gum.
Dollar Bin Specials ~ Okay, maybe this isn't a daily or weekly thing for everyone, but you know what I'm talking about. You walk into Target and those dreaded dollar bins stare you in the face. Of course there's something you HAVE to have, right? ;)
Yet all these things are items people purchase without a second thought. So why then, is it so hard to get people to buy a book priced anywhere from $.99-$9.99? Books are hours or days (depending on your reading time/pace) of entertainment. None of these items do the same. And all of the items above are discarded, when a book can be reread or passed on to another person.
Now, if you enjoy spending money on the things I listed above, that's your prerogative, but personally, I'd rather buy a book.
How about you?

Monday Mishmash 3/23/15

Happy Monday! Monday Mishmash is a weekly meme dedicated to sharing what's on your mind. Feel free to grab the button and post your own Mishmash.
Here's what's on my mind today:YA Scavenger Hunt  I'm so excited to announce I'll be on Team Gold for the YA Scavenger Hunt next month! Join us on April 2-5th to win books and get exclusive content from a bunch of awesome authors. (I'll be promoting The Darkness Within—sharing never before scene teasers—and giving away a copy of The Monster Within. Back to Drafting!  As much as I love editing for my amazing clients, I'm really excited to have time to get back to my WIP this week! I'm halfway through it, and my characters have been hounding me to get back to work! They're very demanding.Reviewing  I have two books I promised to review, and I need to make process on them both really soon. Like now.Beta Reading  I also agreed to beta read for a very talented writer friend, so I'll be working on that too this week.My Embarrassing Video  If you missed my embarrassing video last week, you can view it here: 
That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

Friday Feature: Looking For Love

My new adult contemporary romance, Looking For Love, is now available! While this is part of the Campus Crush series, you should know that it's a companion series and the books don't have to be read in order. Each features a different couple and stands completely on its own.

Mike Hannigan is looking for love in all the wrong places. Maybe that’s because having his heart torn to shreds by who he thought was the perfect girl left some emotional scarring. But that’s about to change. 


Summer Patterson isn’t like anyone Mike’s dated before, and he can’t help but be intrigued by her. Now if only he could keep his foot out of his mouth long enough to win her over. But when a secret involving Summer brings Mike’s past crashing back to the present, he’ll need some backup from his best friend and wingwoman, Mindy, to sort out the mess.


Will Mike find love before he leaves Timberland College for good?
Goodreads / Amazon / B&N
*This is a New Adult title and is not suitable for younger readers.*
But that's not all. 
I also updated the Campus Crush paperback to include this novella. So if you want to have all the novellas in the series in one place, you can get that from the paperback here. 
The Campus Crush ebook was not updated and still remains FREE. However, that means Looking For Love is NOT part of the free ebook boxset.
Want your YA, NA, or MG book featured on my blog? Contact me here and we'll set it up.