Lori L. Robinett's Blog, page 10
April 12, 2016
Diamond Earring Giveaway to Celebrate Diamond in the Rough Launch
Everyone likes a little bling, right? I know I do! To celebrate the launch of my newest Western romance, Diamond in the Rough, I’m giving away a pair of diamond earrings (retail price: $340). I mean, really, what is better than hot cowboys and diamonds?
The earrings will be given away on May 22 to one lucky winner. If you’d like to have these sparkling beauties, entering is easy! Preorder a copy of Diamond in the Rough at the special introductory price of $1.99 (regular price is $3.99) and send a copy of the confirmation (or a screenshot – proof of any sort, really!) to me at lori(at)lorilrobinett.com with the word DIAMOND in the subject line. Every preorder gets you 5 entries into the drawing.
Entries will also be awarded for those who order the paperback during the first week the book is available (May 14 – 21), plus there will be bonus entries available to newsletter subscribers and those who attend the Facebook launch party.
Good luck!
April 10, 2016
DIAMOND EARRING GIVEAWAY
Stay tuned for pictures . . .
I am giving away a pair of diamond earrings to celebrate the launch of Diamond in the Rough on May 14, 2016. Here are the deets, my peeps.
This is for a pair of 14k white gold diamond solitaire earrings (hat tip to Robinette Jewelers, where I purchased the earrings):
preorder Diamond in the Rough (Kindle only)* = 5 entries
order Diamond in the Rough (print or Kindle) during the first week it’s available* = 5 entries
bonus entries available to subscribers to my newsletter
bonus entries available during the online Facebook launch event on May 21, 2016
*To get your entries, you must email proof of purchase (screen shot of purchase page, copy of emailed order confirmation, etc.) to lori(at)lorilrobinett.com with DIAMONDS in the subject line.
The winner will be chosen by random draw on May 22, 2016, and will be contacted by email.
March 27, 2016
Contest / Giveaway: Bestselling Author Jodi Thomas
I like sharing my favorite authors with you. This month, I’m giving away a copy of bestselling author Jodi Thomas‘s western romance, Ransom Canyon. All you have to do to enter is comment on this post and tell me if you’d rather have a print copy or an ebook. I’ll announce the winner on April 15.
And make sure you visit my author page on Facebook, where I posted a video with Jodi talking about becoming a writer. I had the pleasure of meeting Jodi at the Ozark Creative Writers Conference a few years ago. She impressed the heck out of me as a writer, and I love her western romances. Ransom Canyon is a great introduction to her writing, if you aren’t already familiar with her work.
Remember – comment for a chance to win! (and sign up below for my mailing list for other chances to win)
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March 22, 2016
Cover Reveal! Diamond in the Rough
I’m pleased to unveil the cover of the next novel in the Diamond J Series . . .
Diamond in the Rough is a romance with a dark streak. It’s the story of Gina Montgomery, a single mom who runs a scrapbook store, whose love life has been suffering a major drought . . . until a tall, dark, sexy cowboy strolls into her store. And it’s the story of Aidan Brackston, a ranch hand who has spent his whole life hiding from his past, keeping him from letting any woman get close . . . until he meets Gina.
Western contemporary romance / craft & hobby romance
Release Date: May 14, 2016
Pre-order your copy of the e-book HERE
Pssssst . . . stay tuned for announcements about:
a special print edition for scrapbookers
the online launch party (prizes galore!)
SWAG you can get for preordering
If you are a book blogger / reviewer and would like an advance copy, please email me at lori(at)lorilrobinett(dot)com for more information.
March 10, 2016
Blank to 50K: How to DO a Book Signing
Once you’ve written your way to those first magical 50,000 words, then edited & polished to perfection, then published your book, it’s time to market. One way to get your book in front of people is to literally get in front of them.
Do a book signing.
NOTE: I did not say “host” a book signing. I did not say “have” a book signing.
I said DO.
A book signing should be interactive, involving your prospective readers. You will catch more customers if you are active and engaging. Carry through the theme of your book, either capitalizing on the title or a major component of your book. Here are some things I’ve done that worked, specific to my book, Denim & Diamonds:
Prepare: Take a flyer to the location so they can post it in advance of your event. Put your event on community calendars (think TV, radio, newspaper websites). Send postcards out to friends and family inviting them to the event. Notify local reporters – think of a hook they can use to create a story (give them a reason to talk to you!). Put flyers around the community and in your local library and local bulletin boards.
Presentation. This means use a table skirt (I bought sparkly denim fabric), have some sort of centerpiece (I used three glass jars covered with rhinestone mesh, which held LED candles), and a display of giveaway items (I often give away items that feature my book cover & website: postcards, bookmarks and bite-size candy bars – more on that stuff later). Of course, make sure your books are prominently displayed. A small banner with your name is also helpful. I used my diecutting machine to make a banner of blue and silver diamond shapes which spelled out my name.
Game. Have a game to draw people in. I made a game called “Pick Beau’s Pocket” with a big piece of core board, with nine back blue jean pockets (thanks to friends who donated their used jeans! BTW – you can see it in the bottom right corner of the pic at the right, with my friend Lisa, who was the first winner of a pen!). I used my diecutting machine to cut out diamond shapes. Some of them were marked “Winner” and some were marked “Sorry!”, then I laminated them, and stuck them in the pockets. I had this set up on an easel next to my table. I stood beside it and asked everyone who passed by if they wanted to play – no purchase required. Simple game – all they do is pick a pocket and pull out a diamond. One of the prizes was a $10 gift certificate to the bookstore (this is a good way to say thanks to the store for allowing you in – and it instantly gives them good vibes when you walk in and buy a gift certificate before you even set up), and I also like to give travel mugs and nice pens (I usually buy from Vistaprint). For those who get the “Sorry!” diamonds, I offer a consolation prize – a full-sized chocolate bar wrapped with a custom wrapper featuring my book cover on the front and my website address on the back. I created the wrappers myself, and am happy to send anyone who’d like it a copy of the template.
Just shoot me an email and ask for it!
Celebrate Sales. I offer to take a picture of every individual who buys my book, and offer to let them wear my cowboy hat or my giant fake diamond ring. Then I snap a picture on my phone and post it to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with the hashtags #DenimDiamonds #LoriLRobinett. This creates interest on social media, and customers often end up then liking my social media accounts. You can even encourage them to post with a simple flyer on your table featuring the hashtags you recommend, to make them part of the action.
I create a Pinterest board for each of my books and I include things I want to do for book signings, such as foods, drinks, decorations and games.
Remember, a book signing is as much a celebration of your publication as it is a sales event. Think of this as a party.
Have fun, and success will follow!
February 26, 2016
Kindle Countdown Deal – Denim & Diamonds is only $.99
Denim & Diamonds is a Kindle Countdown Deal! It’s on sale right now for $.99 – grab your copy today!
On a different note, and a personal one, my husband had a heart attack a week ago today. He’s now sitting here next to me on the couch, with our mini Beagle curled up beside him. I’m feeling incredibly fortunate.
So, go right now and hug a person you love.
Then go buy my book. And if you already have it, buy a gift copy and send it to someone who wants to read a feel-good story.
February 10, 2016
Book Tour / Review: Bound to Be His
Genres: Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Romance
Release Date: 2/8/16
MY REVIEW
I’ve been reading more romances here recently (Tawna Fenske, Susan Mallery, etc.), so jumped at the opportunity to read this book when offered a copy in return for an honest review. Bound to be His is steamier than I usually read, but I loved it. The growing attraction between Shay (in Hawaii for her best friend’s wedding) and Matt (the best friend’s brother) was electric. The two are thrown together, but immediately find a bond in their lack of family stability, and discover their shared insecurities and yearnings bring them closer.
Matt is a sports pro, famous and gorgeous and fun-loving. His nagging wrist injury and mother-issues tug at him (LOVED the scene where he takes Shay to spy on his mother who abandoned him and his siblings as children). Shay can’t escape her own mother issues (yikes! yet another stepfather!). The two have been friends, but while in Hawaii for Andy and Logan’s wedding, they can’t resist each other. The attraction is magnetic and the sex is hot (seriously? sex in a grotto? does it GET any hotter than that?). They fit together like a puzzle, in more ways than one. And what better location for a sexy rendezvous than beach side in Hawaii.
This book was a touching story between two likeable characters punctuated with white-hot sex scenes. It’s a great read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I give it 5 stars.
Opposites attract…
Pro Pitcher Matt Archer is untouchable. Even after an injury threatened to end his career forever, he manages to make everyone smile and laugh—everyone, that is, except his sister’s no-nonsense best friend who doesn’t have the time or patience for his shenanigans…or his playboy tendencies. When his sister’s wedding forces them to work together, though, neither Matt nor Shay anticipates the potentially catastrophic consequences of their chemistry.
Shay Meyers didn’t sign on for this. Yes, she agreed to be Andy’s maid of honor, but she never agreed to be Matt’s keeper, too. Still, the more time she spends wrangling the infamous player, the more she realizes there’s more the Matt Archer than meets the eye. And the worst part? She’s starting to like what she sees…
Buy this book now at:
Excerpt:
Matt lay on his bed, opening and closing his palm and waiting for the pain to subside. In the old days, when the injury was fresh, this kind of pain was something eh could only dream about–manageable, workable. But now?
Every pang sent his mind whirring back to the phone. The texts from his physical therapist. The call for the majors that he still hadn’t gotten. He rolled over, careful not to put any weight on his hand, and got to his feet. He’d never paced before, but this seemed like the time for it. When he had a problem that couldn’t be solved.
And when Shay still wasn’t home…
He pushed that thought away, too. What should it matter to him whether or not Shay got home at a reasonable time? It was a bachelorette party. They should be out all night, and they’d deserve it if they were. Just so long as it was just the two of them…
He shook his head and turned on his heel. Yes, pacing was good. Pacing at least made him feel like he was doing something instead of just sitting there staring at the ceiling. At least while he was moving he could–
The door burst open and then, just as quick, slammed shut with Shay now leaning against the white door. “Okay, so we need a couple ground rules,” she huffed a strand of her dark hair out of her face.
“Um…hello to you too?” He stopped short and surveyed her, trying to determine if she was drunk.
She wasn’t swaying, her eyes weren’t glass or half lidded. Her hair was a little haphazard, but it was nothing unmanageable. In face, if it wasn’t for the red glow on her cheeks she might have looked completely normal.
Normal, of course, in the way that Shay was normal–her slender body wrapped in the slinkiest black dress he’d ever seen. The collar dipped just low enough for him to catch a trace of her cleavage, but then–
He internally shook his head again. Impassive. That was the new stance. Whatever she did, he was impassive. No matter how fuckable she looked in her shiny red heels.
“We…I’m not sure where to start.”
“Probably with an aspirin. Are you drunk?” He asked.
She shook her head furiously. “I stopped drinking hours ago when I finally decided that…”
She trailed off again, then took a deep breath and said. “I just poured Andy into bed. Logan was already asleep.”
“Okay.” He nodded.
“They’re both pretty knocked out. It’s just you and me.”
The huskiness in her voice gave him pause, but he said, “Good, if we play Yahtzee I’ll know I can yell.”
“No. Listen. I…We need some rules.”
“Like not barging into my bedroom?” The corner of his mouth quirked up and she rolled her eyes.
“Don’t make me change my mind.”
“That’s a big ask when I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” he said.
She nodded. “Right, right. Well…look, I’ve been thinking. This thing between us. It’s not going away. I don’t think it’s going to and I think it’s been there for a lot longer than either of us will admit.”
He stayed silent, unsure whether to trust whether she really meant what he thought she meant. And if she did…
His gaze flicked to the messy tangle of his sheets. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying we need some rules.”
“What, like Pretty Woman? No kissing?”
“How the hell do you know the rule in Pretty Woman?”
“I’m a man, I’m not dead.”
She shook her head. “Right. Not important. Rules. We need to, I don’t know,
agree that whatever we do is confined to our bedrooms. No PDA. We’re
not a couple.”
“So…you want me as your booty call?”
“Yes, I guess. My very secret, temporary booty call.”
“How temporary?”
“Just until we’re off the island. By then, we’ll have all this out of our systems and we can find people we’re more compatible with without wondering, you know–“
“What would have happened if we’d slept together more than we already have?”
“Right.”
“You know you’re crazy, right?”
She nodded. “Yup. Now take off your pants.”
About the Author:
Allison Gatta is an avid writer of steamy contemporary romance, an obsessive viewer of bad television, and an occasional player of overly-complex board games. In her free time, she thinks up fun, new characters and argues with her family over sci-fi trivia. She is a firm believer that Voldemort would vanquish Darth Vader in a duel.
Allison lives in the bustling city of Austin, TX with her husband and their scrappy pup, Sophie. She is fueled by coffee and feedback, so feel free to get to know Allison though twitter (@Allison_Gatta), facebook (Allison Gatta), or her website www.AllisonGatta.com.
Giveaway:
Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card! This giveaway is open to residents worldwide–eighteen and over. The giveaway will run 2/8/16 – 2/15/16 (ends at midnight Eastern time). Enter daily! This giveaway is not sponsored by Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.
See the first book in The Archer Family Series:
Made to be His
Amazon
See the guest posts, interviews, and tour schedule at
Fire and Ice Book Promos
February 9, 2016
Romance Week 2016: Meet Cute
Happy Valentine’s Day Week!
Commercials touting jewelry and flowers as the perfect gift for your love have pervaded the airways here recently. Personally, I don’t go for that kind of stuff.
Don’t get me wrong – I’ve never turned down jewelry.
But romance shouldn’t be relegated to a day, it’s a lifestyle.
Anyway, thinking about Valentine’s Day naturally has me thinking about my hubs. We’ve been married 21+ years. (wowzers.)
And a lot of people thought we wouldn’t make it 6 months. (aren’t we cute? and look at that 1990’s style scrapbooking!)
We met in July of 1994. At a bar. The Silver Bullet. He was there with friends, I was there with friends. He asked every one of my friends to dance before he got to me. We finally danced and he asked for my number. I hesitated, but jotted it down for him. It was a whirlwind romance. We’d both been married before, and talked about things more seriously and deeply than I think most young couples do, because – quite simply – neither of us wanted to go through another divorce. We were married in December of that year.
Crazy, right? (but when you know, you know.)
In Denim & Diamonds, Beth meets Beau after she runs off the road in the middle of a thunderstorm. Beau slides down the ditch and rescues her. That damsel in distress bit gets me every time.
So . . . tell me your story. How did you and your significant other meet?
January 27, 2016
Book Slut: Reading Multiple Books
I heard the term “book slut” a long time ago and wasn’t sure exactly what it meant. Cheating on your favorite author? Reading more than one genre? A late night rendezvous between the sheets?
Whatever the term means, I think I might be one.
I realized that when I updated my Goodreads status earlier today.
I’m currently reading 7 books. S E V E N. (7).
Seriously, how does that even happen? Then I looked at the books I’m reading. One audiobook in the PT Cruiser – Bossypants by Tina Fey. Got a playaway in Daisy – Finding Perfect by Susan Mallery.
Me & Daisy, exploringThen there’s the audiobook on my Nook that I carry around with me in the house and listen to while working out on the elliptical – Friction by Sandra Brown. Then there’s the ebook on my Nook – The Wanderer by Robyn Carr. I realized that Dark Harbor by Stuart Woods is still on my list. I got it from the library, returned it before I was finished because that was during the holidays & things got busy. I need to check it out again and finish it. Oh, and I have Spying in High Heels by Gemma Halliday on my phone’s Kindle app, which I read every time I’ve got a few extra minutes. Oh, and The Witch is Back by H. P. Mallory.
And did I mention I just finished Scrapped by Mollie Cox Bryan today?
Not only do I have 7 books going right now, they are all over the map when it comes to genre: non-fiction, romance, romantic suspense, mystery, paranormal.
So, yeah, I think I’ve got a book problem.
And I’m perfectly OK with that.
If you want to add a book to your Currently-Reading list, pick up one of my books:
And feel free to friend me at Goodreads. 
I won’t judge you based on your Currently Reading list if you don’t judge me by mine.
January 9, 2016
Year End Review: Is Indie Publishing Worth it?
Credit: Prawny – PhotoMorgueI’ve been doing a lot of thinking over the past couple of weeks. I always do that at the end of the year – review what I’ve done, plan for the upcoming year. This year, I did it under the guidance of the Your Best Year 2016 planner by Lisa Jacobs. It has been fantastic – easily the best money I spent this past year.
As part of my year end evaluation, I was curious about my accomplishments. When I bought the 2016 planner, Lisa included the PDF of the 2015 planner, which I began working through in the fall. One of the biggest a-ha moments for me was seeing that I do the same thing every year, and hope for improvement. Hope for success.
I’ve dreamed of being a writer for as long as I can remember, and my first book was published in 2014 by a small press. My second book was published in 2015, by my own micro press, Three Creeks Press (essentially, I’m an indie publisher). As I worked through Lisa Jacob’s planner and reviewed the numbers and what I had been doing (which was essentially writing and hoping folks would find my books), I decided it was time to change – to treat my publishing as a business.
I was inspired to share my results after reading Lisa Medley’s blog post about her experience this past year. (as an aside, I wish more authors, indie and traditional, would share their results.) I met Lisa at ORACon a couple of years ago and have followed her progress, because I consider her a “real” author (I have always been, oh, so jealous, because she got “the call” from Harlequin! ). I know traditional authors have sharing restrictions because of their contracts, but am glad to see them at least discussing generalities, like Tawna Fenske did on her blog.
As I mentioned, my first book, Denim &Diamonds, came out in 2014. I’ve made about $200 on it, give or take. Yeah, not going to retire on that. I was so excited to get a publisher, and working with CaryPress has been a good experience, so I still consider it a success. My second book, Fatal Impulse, came out in 2015. At the beginning of 2015, my goal was to make enough to pay one small bill a month (I was thinking the water bill, which runs $20 – $25). (Yeah, I know. Not exactly reaching for the stars.)
Here’s how Fatal Impulse has done this year – these are my royalties for each month:
March: $48.02
April: $18.36
May: $2.04
June: $22.24
July: $4.08
August: $0 (OUCH. this was my a-ha moment – I need to DO something!)
September: $74.49
October: $131.66
November: $224.64
December: $2594.95
I know it’s a bit crass to discuss money, but I have to admit, throughout December, I proudly discussed royalties with anyone and everyone who would listen. I caught myself whispering numbers, prefacing it with “I know this is crass, but get this . . . ” To be fair, that money isn’t all profit. I’ve spent over $700 and 25% of those royalties go to taxes, but I’m damned proud of that book. It isn’t perfect, it has flaws, and it’ll never win any literary awards. It’s simply a story that banged around in my head since my first marriage 25+ years ago that I needed to get out. My hope is that it will entertain some folks, and that it’ll provide a bit of escapism for anyone stuck in a bad relationship.
But the fact that I am able to realize a profit from that is very exciting. And now that my next book is in edits, I find myself confident that indie publishing is for me. As my friends and family will tell you, I’m a bit of a control freak, so being able to change the book description and tags is a huge plus. It makes the book responsive to trends. I write the book, then subcontract the graphic design, editing, promotion. The role of authorpreneur fits me very well.
I’m thinking about putting together resources to share what I’ve learned to help others become successful authorpreneurs. If you’re interested, sign up for my newsletter (see sidebar) so you’ll get the news before anyone else.
And if you have tips, feel free to share them here.
And if you’re brave enough to share your own publishing results, I’d love to hear them. Feel free to email me if you want to remain anonymous and I’ll share those results in an upcoming post.
