Tracey Alvarez's Blog, page 9
April 3, 2015
Easter Giveaway and Excerpt Involving Underwear Removal… ;-)
Happy Easter everyone!
Sorry, was I deceptive in leading you to believe this tall glass of chocolatey scrumminess was my Easter giveaway? Ooops. My bad. He’s miiiiiiiiiiine. 
However you’re spending your long weekend, I hope it’s filled with friends, family, and lots of Hot Cross Buns and Easter Eggs. Oh, and one of my US friends here in NZ said she had no idea what Hot Cross Buns were (and I’m assuming she may have been thinking about the hot guy above in a grumpy mood and facing the other direction, if you know what I mean…) so I thought I’d include a photo of what we Kiwi’s mean by ‘Hot Cross Buns’.
My second Due South book, Melting Into You, features an Easter Gala and part of that is an opportunity for the men of Oban to prove themselves with the ‘Due South’s Manly Man of the Year contest.’ Yeah, the guys are really keen to experience public humiliation, but it’s fun. Here’s an excerpt of a scene where the heroine, Kezia, witnesses the hero, Ben, showing off his prowess of unhooking a ladies undergarment…enjoy! 
Kezia clenched her fists, turning to go.
“Who’s your favorite?”
Kezia jumped and looked up at Piper. “Gesù! How long have you been there?”
“Long enough to observe you checking out the talent.” Piper wriggled her eyebrows.
“I’m an old widow, remember?”
Piper snorted. “Kez, you may be a widow—but you’re not old and you’re not blind. Don’t even think of telling me you weren’t ogling Kip’s ass in those tight Levis.”
Actually, she’d been ogling Ben’s ass, but she’d take the fall for Kip to get Piper’s snoopy-cop nose off her case. “Busted. He’s probably going to win.”
“Nah, my money’s on Noah. The man’s got hidden depths.”
Kezia glanced over at Oban’s only full-time officer. Dark hair trimmed short and built like a rugby full back, Noah gave nothing away as he scanned the horizon. He was popular with the locals, and with his slightly unapproachable and mysterious aura, even more popular with women. Though their interest seemed to ping off him like bullets off body armor.
“You’re not supporting your own brother?”
“In a bra-removing contest? I can’t begin to tell you how wrong that would be.” Piper kept her gaze fixed on the men lined up by the mannequin, which Joe had loudly dubbed “Siobhan.” “Besides, since I heard you and Ben hang out a lot, I thought you’d be rooting for him.”
Kezia’s eyes narrowed on her friend’s bland expression. Her cop face. “What are you implying?”
“Nothing.” Piper’s hazel eyes widened. “Should I be implying something?”
“Zoe and Jade spend a lot of time together, so as a result, I’ve seen more of Ben than usual.”
“Uh-huh. You’ve got kind of a tic thing going on there, Kez.” Piper touched Kezia’s cheekbone, beneath her right eye. “Classic sign of untruthfulness.”
“You’re not a cop anymore, Piper.”
“And you’re not telling me the full story—don’t make me beat it out of you.”
Kezia pulled away from Piper and mock-glared, throwing up her hands. “You Harlands are a pain the rear!”
Piper smirked and tipped her head at Siobhan the mannequin. “Look, Ben’s first.”
Kezia turned back to the main event. Ben’s gaze locked with hers and she sucked in a sharp breath.
“Are you ready?” Old Smitty, one of Oban’s more colorful characters, stood beside Ben with someone’s iPhone in his hand.
The crowd roared approval, and a loud wolf-whistle pierced the air.
“Well, I’m blinkin’ not—stupid gadget.” Old Smitty lowered the hand he’d raised to start the contest and jabbed the cellphone’s screen. “Who can work this?”
“Kezia can.” Piper bulldozed her forward.
“Hey!” Kezia squeaked and tried to retreat, but Old Smitty grabbed her wrist with a grin.
“Round of applause for our new ref and timekeeper!”
The crowd whooped and whistled.
She could’ve dug in the heels of her flip-flops and refused. But after lecturing Ben earlier, refusing seemed childish. So after a half-hearted bow to her audience, she relieved Old Smitty of the iPhone and reset the stopwatch function.
The other competitors gathered around, heckling him. Ben swiveled and scratched his eyebrow with a raised middle finger.
“Amateurs,” he said.
“Better check Ben’s left hand is secure, ref,” Piper called from the front of the crowd.
The corner of Ben’s mouth curled. Kezia angled her weight backward to confirm Ben’s hand remained tucked into the back pocket of his jeans.
“Looking good?”
Kezia schooled her mouth into a neutral line. Drooling would be bad. Very, very bad. “Acceptable.”
More like delectable. The faded denim snuggled against the taut curve of his rear end. Not that she gave the shape of his butt any undue attention. She studied the iPhone’s screen, though the three columns of numbers could’ve been Arabic numerals for all the sense they made. “Just keep your hand there the entire time.”
“This won’t take long.”
“Siobhan will be disappointed,” she muttered.
Behind Ben, Noah snickered.
Kezia bit her lower lip. She needed to get this done and somehow maintain her immunity to the testosterone pumping off Ben.
She hovered a finger over the green start button, pasting on a broad smile. “All right ladies and gents, contestant number one is ready. On your marks, get set…go!”
Ben snaked his right arm around the mannequin, but his broad shoulders blocked Kezia’s view. The bra sprang free in six seconds and the crowd surged forward to congratulate him. Kezia jotted down the time on the clipboard Old Smitty handed her, then politely applauded with everyone else.
After accepting more backslaps, handshakes, and the odd lewd comment, Ben walked toward her. Her grip on the clipboard tightened with each step he took, until the wooden corners dug into her palms. He moved like a much smaller, lighter man. A runner or a gymnast—all coiled power that could switch from casual swagger to lightning-fast action in a heartbeat.
She licked dry lips as he stalked closer, a witty response swallowed by the slow burn kindling low in her body. Both English and Italian deserted her, and she simply drank him in. Too good-looking, too confident—too much of everything that eroded her determination to resist him.
Bracing her spine as he stood alongside her, she waited for the punch line or another double entendre.
But he said nothing.
Just gazed down with a small half smile. Which was another word for a smirk—a baby, you know you’re impressed smirk.
She fanned herself with the edge of the board. Did she need a reminder of why she hated Alpha males? After growing up in a home full of five bull-headed Alpha brothers, no, she did not.
Ben’s arm brushed hers as he moved to let Noah past. Beneath her summery dress, her nipples puckered against her lacy bra cup.
Oh, no! Not again.
Kezia hugged the clipboard to her chest and closed her eyes. Please St. Paula, let the clipboard base be wide enough to cover my boobs.
A soft, rumbling sound next to her—Ben chuckling.
Sweet Mother! Had she spoken out loud? A quick glance confirmed her worst fears unfounded. Ben stared blandly into the crowd, as if he had no idea how much his closeness affected her.
Honestly, she should ask the Patron Saint of Widows for more than boob coverage. She needed strength—brute strength—to resist either the urge to murder the man, or the almost-as-terrifying urge to jump his bones until he begged for mercy.
(Open Internationally)
Melting Into You Swag pack:
* Melting Into You hand-crafted paua and bead earrings
* Melting Into You hand-crafted bookmark
* Hand-crafted paua pendent
* Due South Magnet
* Melting Into You Magnet
* 2 x Stewart Island gift cards & envelopes
BONUS: Sign up to my monthly newsletter as one of the options to get a free e-copy of Melting Into You! Win-win!!
April 2, 2015
Easter Giveaway and Excerpt Involving Underwear Removal… ;-)
Happy Easter everyone!
Sorry, was I deceptive in leading you to believe this tall glass of chocolatey scrumminess was my Easter giveaway? Ooops. My bad. He’s miiiiiiiiiiine. ;-)
However you’re spending your long weekend, I hope it’s filled with friends, family, and lots of Hot Cross Buns and Easter Eggs. Oh, and one of my US friends here in NZ said she had no idea what Hot Cross Buns were (and I’m assuming she may have been thinking about the hot guy above in a grumpy mood and facing the other direction, if you know what I mean…) so I thought I’d include a photo of what we Kiwi’s mean by ‘Hot Cross Buns’.
My second Due South book, Melting Into You, features an Easter Gala and part of that is an opportunity for the men of Oban to prove themselves with the ‘Due South’s Manly Man of the Year contest.’ Yeah, the guys are really keen to experience public humiliation, but it’s fun. ;-) Here’s an excerpt of a scene where the heroine, Kezia, witnesses the hero, Ben, showing off his prowess of unhooking a ladies undergarment…enjoy! :-)
Kezia clenched her fists, turning to go.
“Who’s your favorite?”
Kezia jumped and looked up at Piper. “Gesù! How long have you been there?”
“Long enough to observe you checking out the talent.” Piper wriggled her eyebrows.
“I’m an old widow, remember?”
Piper snorted. “Kez, you may be a widow—but you’re not old and you’re not blind. Don’t even think of telling me you weren’t ogling Kip’s ass in those tight Levis.”
Actually, she’d been ogling Ben’s ass, but she’d take the fall for Kip to get Piper’s snoopy-cop nose off her case. “Busted. He’s probably going to win.”
“Nah, my money’s on Noah. The man’s got hidden depths.”
Kezia glanced over at Oban’s only full-time officer. Dark hair trimmed short and built like a rugby full back, Noah gave nothing away as he scanned the horizon. He was popular with the locals, and with his slightly unapproachable and mysterious aura, even more popular with women. Though their interest seemed to ping off him like bullets off body armor.
“You’re not supporting your own brother?”
“In a bra-removing contest? I can’t begin to tell you how wrong that would be.” Piper kept her gaze fixed on the men lined up by the mannequin, which Joe had loudly dubbed “Siobhan.” “Besides, since I heard you and Ben hang out a lot, I thought you’d be rooting for him.”
Kezia’s eyes narrowed on her friend’s bland expression. Her cop face. “What are you implying?”
“Nothing.” Piper’s hazel eyes widened. “Should I be implying something?”
“Zoe and Jade spend a lot of time together, so as a result, I’ve seen more of Ben than usual.”
“Uh-huh. You’ve got kind of a tic thing going on there, Kez.” Piper touched Kezia’s cheekbone, beneath her right eye. “Classic sign of untruthfulness.”
“You’re not a cop anymore, Piper.”
“And you’re not telling me the full story—don’t make me beat it out of you.”
Kezia pulled away from Piper and mock-glared, throwing up her hands. “You Harlands are a pain the rear!”
Piper smirked and tipped her head at Siobhan the mannequin. “Look, Ben’s first.”
Kezia turned back to the main event. Ben’s gaze locked with hers and she sucked in a sharp breath.
“Are you ready?” Old Smitty, one of Oban’s more colorful characters, stood beside Ben with someone’s iPhone in his hand.
The crowd roared approval, and a loud wolf-whistle pierced the air.
“Well, I’m blinkin’ not—stupid gadget.” Old Smitty lowered the hand he’d raised to start the contest and jabbed the cellphone’s screen. “Who can work this?”
“Kezia can.” Piper bulldozed her forward.
“Hey!” Kezia squeaked and tried to retreat, but Old Smitty grabbed her wrist with a grin.
“Round of applause for our new ref and timekeeper!”
The crowd whooped and whistled.
She could’ve dug in the heels of her flip-flops and refused. But after lecturing Ben earlier, refusing seemed childish. So after a half-hearted bow to her audience, she relieved Old Smitty of the iPhone and reset the stopwatch function.
The other competitors gathered around, heckling him. Ben swiveled and scratched his eyebrow with a raised middle finger.
“Amateurs,” he said.
“Better check Ben’s left hand is secure, ref,” Piper called from the front of the crowd.
The corner of Ben’s mouth curled. Kezia angled her weight backward to confirm Ben’s hand remained tucked into the back pocket of his jeans.
“Looking good?”
Kezia schooled her mouth into a neutral line. Drooling would be bad. Very, very bad. “Acceptable.”
More like delectable. The faded denim snuggled against the taut curve of his rear end. Not that she gave the shape of his butt any undue attention. She studied the iPhone’s screen, though the three columns of numbers could’ve been Arabic numerals for all the sense they made. “Just keep your hand there the entire time.”
“This won’t take long.”
“Siobhan will be disappointed,” she muttered.
Behind Ben, Noah snickered.
Kezia bit her lower lip. She needed to get this done and somehow maintain her immunity to the testosterone pumping off Ben.
She hovered a finger over the green start button, pasting on a broad smile. “All right ladies and gents, contestant number one is ready. On your marks, get set…go!”
Ben snaked his right arm around the mannequin, but his broad shoulders blocked Kezia’s view. The bra sprang free in six seconds and the crowd surged forward to congratulate him. Kezia jotted down the time on the clipboard Old Smitty handed her, then politely applauded with everyone else.
After accepting more backslaps, handshakes, and the odd lewd comment, Ben walked toward her. Her grip on the clipboard tightened with each step he took, until the wooden corners dug into her palms. He moved like a much smaller, lighter man. A runner or a gymnast—all coiled power that could switch from casual swagger to lightning-fast action in a heartbeat.
She licked dry lips as he stalked closer, a witty response swallowed by the slow burn kindling low in her body. Both English and Italian deserted her, and she simply drank him in. Too good-looking, too confident—too much of everything that eroded her determination to resist him.
Bracing her spine as he stood alongside her, she waited for the punch line or another double entendre.
But he said nothing.
Just gazed down with a small half smile. Which was another word for a smirk—a baby, you know you’re impressed smirk.
She fanned herself with the edge of the board. Did she need a reminder of why she hated Alpha males? After growing up in a home full of five bull-headed Alpha brothers, no, she did not.
Ben’s arm brushed hers as he moved to let Noah past. Beneath her summery dress, her nipples puckered against her lacy bra cup.
Oh, no! Not again.
Kezia hugged the clipboard to her chest and closed her eyes. Please St. Paula, let the clipboard base be wide enough to cover my boobs.
A soft, rumbling sound next to her—Ben chuckling.
Sweet Mother! Had she spoken out loud? A quick glance confirmed her worst fears unfounded. Ben stared blandly into the crowd, as if he had no idea how much his closeness affected her.
Honestly, she should ask the Patron Saint of Widows for more than boob coverage. She needed strength—brute strength—to resist either the urge to murder the man, or the almost-as-terrifying urge to jump his bones until he begged for mercy.
(Open Internationally)
Melting Into You Swag pack:
* Melting Into You hand-crafted paua and bead earrings
* Melting Into You hand-crafted bookmark
* Hand-crafted paua pendent
* Due South Magnet
* Melting Into You Magnet
* 2 x Stewart Island gift cards & envelopes
BONUS: Sign up to my monthly newsletter as one of the options to get a free e-copy of Melting Into You! Win-win!!
March 19, 2015
Win a Bumper Prize Package! :-)
(Open Internationally)
To thank all you wonderful readers who have left reviews on my books, I’m giving away this amazing prize package to one lucky winner. Reader reviews are the lifeblood of an author’s career – it ups our chances of other readers deciding to download/buy our books, which means I can sell a few copies which means I can continue writing – kind of a win-win!
Prize includes:
~ Signed paperback of In Too Deep. Winner can opt to have it personalized.
~ Oh So Pretty soap. A luxurious handmade soap infused with the goodness of goat’s milk, cocoa butter, aloe vera, and kaolin clay, and is fragranced with notes of sea salt, ocean mist, fresh air, and soft musk. Pacific Breeze’s clean ocean scent will remind you of a day at a wind swept beach.
~ 4 Stewart Island gift cards & envelopes
~ Due South magnet
~ Due South pen
~ Gorgeous hand-crafted pendant with pacific design
~ Hand-crafted In Too Deep paua & dolphin earrings
~ Hand-crafted In Too Deep paua & bead bookmark with anchor charm
~ Pascal Jet Planes – classic NZ lolllies to make you wish you could hop on a plane and visit!
To Enter:
No purchase necessary to enter, it’s completely free. All you need to do is e-mail me the link to a review you’ve left of In Too Deep (which is free) from any of the major e-retail platforms (eg Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Google Play) and you’re entered in the draw. If you can’t figure out how to grab a link, just copy/paste the body of your review into the e-mail with your Amazon/B&N/iBooks etc name so I can match it up.
BONUS: If you’ve reviewed any of my other books, send me the links to those as well, and for each one you’ll get a bonus entry in the draw (max 5 entries per person). The winner will be drawn on March 31st).
So, pssssst, if you haven’t already left a review for one of my books, get in quick and post one here. Just a couple of sentences with your honest honest opinion of what you liked/didn’t like.
* Prizes are not exchangeable for cash or anything else.
* All due care will be made in ensuring the prize arrives at the winner’s address, but I am unable to refund prize value in any way should it not arrive due to postal disaster.
* Entries close on March 31st and winner will receive a direct e-mail from me soon after – so please ensure my e-mail address is added to your safe/contacts list. If I haven’t had a reply from the winner in 72 hours, I will redraw a new winner.
March 18, 2015
Win a Bumper Prize Package! :-)
(Open Internationally)
To thank all you wonderful readers who have left reviews on my books, I’m giving away this amazing prize package to one lucky winner. Reader reviews are the lifeblood of an author’s career – it ups our chances of other readers deciding to download/buy our books, which means I can sell a few copies which means I can continue writing – kind of a win-win!
Prize includes:
~ Signed paperback of In Too Deep. Winner can opt to have it personalized. :-)
~ Oh So Pretty soap. A luxurious handmade soap infused with the goodness of goat’s milk, cocoa butter, aloe vera, and kaolin clay, and is fragranced with notes of sea salt, ocean mist, fresh air, and soft musk. Pacific Breeze’s clean ocean scent will remind you of a day at a wind swept beach.
~ 4 Stewart Island gift cards & envelopes
~ Due South magnet
~ Due South pen
~ Gorgeous hand-crafted pendant with pacific design
~ Hand-crafted In Too Deep paua & dolphin earrings
~ Hand-crafted In Too Deep paua & bead bookmark with anchor charm
~ Pascal Jet Planes – classic NZ lolllies to make you wish you could hop on a plane and visit!
To Enter:
No purchase necessary to enter, it’s completely free. All you need to do is e-mail me the link to a review you’ve left of In Too Deep (which is free) from any of the major e-retail platforms (eg Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Google Play) and you’re entered in the draw. If you can’t figure out how to grab a link, just copy/paste the body of your review into the e-mail with your Amazon/B&N/iBooks etc name so I can match it up.
BONUS: If you’ve reviewed any of my other books, send me the links to those as well, and for each one you’ll get a bonus entry in the draw (max 5 entries per person). The winner will be drawn on March 31st).
So, pssssst, if you haven’t already left a review for one of my books, get in quick and post one here. Just a couple of sentences with your honest honest opinion of what you liked/didn’t like.
* Prizes are not exchangeable for cash or anything else.
* All due care will be made in ensuring the prize arrives at the winner’s address, but I am unable to refund prize value in any way should it not arrive due to postal disaster.
* Entries close on March 31st and winner will receive a direct e-mail from me soon after – so please ensure my e-mail address is added to your safe/contacts list. If I haven’t had a reply from the winner in 72 hours, I will redraw a new winner.
March 10, 2015
(Cover Reveal) Saved by an Angel – Roberta Capizzi
SAVED BY AN ANGEL by Roberta Capizzi
Angel, #2
Tentative release date: May 10th, 2015
Cover designed by: Najla Qamber Designs
Genre: contemporary romance
Add the book to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24909509-saved-by-an-angel
Soul mates always find each other . . .
For twenty-four years, Claire Neeson has been invisible. Ever the nerdy type, boys never spared her a second glance, and the one time one did, she ended up bruised and heartbroken.
After the last member of her family leaves her, she hopes a new life in Galway with her former college roommate might be the fresh start she needs. Falling in love isn’t her plan, especially now that she’s busy building a new life for herself.
That’s when she meets him.
David O’Hagan is haunted by nightmares. After losing his older brother in a car accident more than a year ago, he has been trying to go back to his old life, hiding his grief behind a mask nobody can see through. He thinks he’s getting by just fine. He thinks he’s happy with his life, his job, and his girlfriend.
That’s when he meets her.
When their worlds collide, David and Claire feel something spark but one minute is all they have before they go their separate ways. They never expected to meet again after that serendipitous encounter, but fate has its own plan . . .
Sometimes true love can heal the deepest scars. If you believe.
***Saved By An Angel is book 2 in the Angel series. It can be read as a standalone or after reading Hugged By An Angel.***
An avid reader since her childhood years and being an only child, Roberta always enjoyed the company of her fictional friends from the children’s books she loved reading, while she dreamed of writing her own stories one day.
It was when she discovered novels by authors Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy in her teenage years that she realized it was time she put down in words the stories she had kept well hidden in her mind until then.
What started as a hobby, soon turned into a real passion and a way of life, until she could no longer keep the stories to herself, and decided to get over her fears and share them with the world.
Roberta lives in Italy, but her dream is to move out of her country and live either in a thatched cottage in the Irish countryside or in a country house with a swing on the back porch, somewhere in the United States, where she would love to spend her days writing novels as a full-time job, and maybe one day even get as far as writing a screenplay for a movie.
***Subscribe to Roberta’s newsletter to receive a free short story***
I can’t even…
I thought I could probably come up with something clever to say about the days when I feel a lot like this cat. You know, the introverted, I’m-quite-happy-hunkered-down-in-my-editing-cave-no-I-do-not-care-that-I-need-some-vitamin-D Monday-morning kind of feels. And then I thought, you know what? I just want to share this gif with you all ’cause LOOK AT THAT CAT’S LEG! It’s freaking hilarious! (And I like seeing you smile!)
So if you’re having an introverted leave-me-the-hell-alone day, this gifs for you.
March 9, 2015
I can’t even…
I thought I could probably come up with something clever to say about the days when I feel a lot like this cat. You know, the introverted, I’m-quite-happy-hunkered-down-in-my-editing-cave-no-I-do-not-care-that-I-need-some-vitamin-D Monday-morning kind of feels. And then I thought, you know what? I just want to share this gif with you all ’cause LOOK AT THAT CAT’S LEG! It’s freaking hilarious! (And I like seeing you smile!)
So if you’re having an introverted leave-me-the-hell-alone day, this gifs for you.
March 5, 2015
Thanks again, Man Flu!
So this is the deal.
When I first started a blog, oh so long ago in 2012 sometime, one of my first posts was about my DH making me a website while he was home with Man Flu. Fast-forward to yesterday when DH was again home with Man Flu and feeling a little bit better – healthy enough to fiddle with my website/blog while I was off meeting a friend for a coffee. I came home to a sheepish DH who looked at me while propped up in bed with his box of tissues and laptop. This conversation followed:
DH: I’ve got good news and bad news.
Me: (Automatically thinking, please God, don’t have him say he’ll be home sick again tomorrow – that’s bad news!). What have you done now, dearest husband?
DH: I, ah, *lots of techo mumble about something or other he did to my blog* and as a result I’m building you a new website. Kind of me while I’m so sick, huh?
Me: But there is nothing wrong with my old website.
DH: There is now. It’s not working any longer because of *more techo mumble* but now you have a shiny new website, see?
Me: Okay. Well, it is kinda cool.
DH: Great! Now *cough cough* I’m just going to nap while you spend the next four hours finishing it off since you know how to use WordPress.
Okay, he didn’t exactly say that, but my plans for lazing around watching reruns of Grey’s Anatomy and smiling goofily at a young Dr McDreamy were interrupted for the rest of the afternoon.
So what do you think of the new look website – did we do okay? Can I let DH off the hook and resume bringing him cups of hot lemon and pain-killers?
February 3, 2015
Valentine’s Treat!
Valentine’s Day is the most romantic day of the year, right? Unfortunately, it only last one day, so together with my friend Serenity Woods, we’ve got a treat you could win to make the romance last just a little longer.
Serenity is giving away an e-book copy of her first 3 Treats to Tempt You books: Treat with Caution, Treat her Right, and A Rare Treat. You can check out Serenity’s website here.
I’m giving away a choice of any of my backlist books, including my latest collection of Due South Short Stories, My Forever Valentine.
How do I win these goodies you ask? Easy. Just sign up to my newsletter here before it goes out on February 12th, all the details are in there (basically it’s sending me an e-mail telling me to put you in the draw!)
Annnnnd, now you’ve got on your suspicious eyes thinking you’re going to get spammed as part of my mailing list. Nope – I’m not a spammer. I send out a monthly newsletter with stuff about releases, excerpts, book recommendations, giveaways, sales (not just on my books) and that’s it. No spam, promise I’m too lazy and too nice a person.
Really.
As a bonus, I’m currently offering anyone who signs up to my newsletter a FREE book, the 2nd Due South novel Melting Into You.
So it’s win-win. Even if you’re not the lucky winner of Serenity’s fabulous Treat books, or one of my back list books, you still come away with a freebie (and a damn good read, if I do say so myself…!)
Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
♥ ♥ ♥
January 26, 2015
Please don’t be THIS guy…
Part of being an author is selling books. Oooh boy, do I get that. See, I’m an author too, and nothing makes my little author heart sing than seeing the steady climb of sales on my Amazon account. So I understand. It’s hard to get your book baby noticed amongst the millions of other books available online and in the bookstore.
But please authors; please don’t be this guy:
You may not think you’re being this guy when you send everyone in your address book a plea once a month to buy your book. But you are.
You may not think you’re being this guy when you message other authors you don’t know on social media and ask them to buy your book AND help promote it. But you are.
You may not think you’re being this guy when you ask me (someone you’ve never met or even said hello to online) to read and leave a 5 star review of your book. But you are.
You may not think you’re being this guy when you send me unsolicited e-mails asking the same, or adding me to your newsletter list without permission, or filling your own social media pages with BUY MY FREAKING BOOK messages. But you are.
And here’s what’ll happen in my particular case when you are being that guy. I can’t speak for others, because some might just say ‘Meh, whatever’ and maybe if they’ve got a spare couple of bucks, buy your damn book. But as for me? I will never, NEVER buy your book. Not even if it sounds like the most awesome, page-turning, rip-roaring, book ever described (and FYI, that guy never seems to write a book like that, because authors that do tend to know their ass from their elbow when it comes to marketing it). I will not buy it, I will not review it, and I sure as hell won’t help you promote it. Not even if you say please. And if any one of my many social media friends or real life friends by some miracle stumble onto your book and ask for my opinion? I’ll tell them that you’re a pain-in-the-ass spammer, read at your own risk.
On the flipside. If you bother to genuinely interact with me on social media – comment on my posts, say hi, be friendly, be AUTHENTIC—and if you’ve written a book that interests me (key word here peeps, I only read books I’m genuinely interested in, no matter how great online buddies we are – and I expect the same in return from my online buddies) then I will buy your book, I will review it, and I will pimp the hell out of it for you. Heck, even if your book isn’t my cuppa tea and I think you’re a pretty cool person, I’ll still tell people about it as it’s bound to appeal to many other readers (but please don’t bug me to read/review it as that’s just, ya know, awkward, and I really don’t wanna hurt your feelings).
End of mini rant. Now go and write more great books and learn from others more experienced than me about the proper way to market them without pissing people off.
I’d love to hear your worst spamming stories – both readers and authors. Readers, what marketing effort from authors really turn you off? Authors, any advice to ‘that guy’ to help him/her not keep repeating the same old spamming methods?
Tracey
