Sallyann Phillips's Blog, page 2

Unwelcome tweets and the Indie Author.

Hi guys!
Hope you're all doing well, and your weekend is all set to be a good one. I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for the summer to be here now. I've had about enough winter as I can stand, and I'm totally fed up of dressing like a Michelin man to stay warm :).

I've just this minute bome off Twitter, and to be honest I was a little piqued at a tweet I had sent to me.
Now if you use Twitter regularly, I've no doubt that you've had some unwelcome tweets along the way. I know I have. They range from rude, to nasty, to down right pornographic. Well you can bet I blocked those suckers (no pun intended).
Now the ones I've had today I've had a few times before, but now they're coming from other people. How they found me I have no idea, unless they just troll through for Indie Authors of certain genres.
This is the first one.

AJ @Elijahsback@_AngelsBlood Vampirism and bloodguilt. You will lose your life unless you change! bit.ly/1b3VrLi sent out of love!

I really have to say that a threat to your life doesn't sound very loving to me, and just because I write in that particular genre, I don't think someone has the right to send me such tweets to force their beliefs on me. I do believe that everyone should be allowed their beliefs, and shouldn't be mocked for whatever they are, but they shouldn't feel it necessary to have to push it on others. I have my own beliefs, yet I don't feel the need to tell you all about them, or try and convert you away from your own. So why, oh why? Would someone believe it allright to do it to me.
Which leads me neatly in to the second one.


AJ @Elijahsback@_AngelsBlood Do you want to live forever in paradise? Change now. See link! It will come true soon! bit.ly/1672Aeq

Now as I said, I have my own beliefs, so why ever would I see the need to click on a link to someone else's site, which would no doubt try and convet me. I believe in a live and let live culture, and have to say that I wish other people believed in it too. Who is to say who is right and who is wrong, I know for sure that I would never be as presumtious to tell someone what they should, or should't do, let alone whay they should, or shouldn,t believe.

I must admit I'm unsure as whether or not to block these individuals as they come up, but then I wonder if that would be against my live and let live policy. So I guess my only option for now is to wait. If they leave it go from here on out, then I'll let them be. But if they continue to send me such pushy, in your face tweets, then I guess my only option will be to block them.

Please feel free to let me know if you have experience with the same thing, or with anything else you consider to be pushing boundaries you think shouldn't be crossed. I'd love to hear about them, and how you dealt with them.

Oh well! Rant over. Now I guess it's time to get my nose back to the grindstone :). Don't forget Hybrid Justice will be out on the 30th March, so why don't you check it out. And Angel's Blood is already available at Amazon, in both kindle and paperback editions, which Hybrid Justice will be soon too :).

Well bye for now, I'll see you all soon.
Best wishes,
Sallyann.

Cover reveal: Hybrid Justice.

Hi guys!
It's finally time: Book 2 has had it's cover revealed today.
You can find it at Angelsblood.co.uk.
I hope you all like it, and as you can see the title to book 2 is Hybrid Justice. I have to say that the title took it's time coming to me, and trying to design a cover to match what I saw in my mind... Well, let's just say it wasn't easy.
I have to say I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and the response I've had so far seems to second that. Which I have to say, pleases me no end, and has settled my nerves down a whole lot.
Yes, nerves. Though there was some excitement in there too. Since the countdown to the reveal has gotten closer, my nerves had risen in tandem. By the time I got to today, my hands were shaking, and I was all but a nervous wreck. But true to form, I had the same few people support me through this, that have supported me in the past.
Thank you @BooksandSpoons, @SimmillKJ, @Blackbirdancing, @THHeyworth, and of course @Ianstories, and @BBallmama.
And, of course, thank you, to each and every one of you that re-tweeted, or shared, the post of the cover reveal. Your support has been wonderful, and I appreciated them all.
Well, I'm glad I've got that nervous ordeal over with, but I guess I'd better get used to them, after all they'll be back for the few days before the 30th March. Which, as you all must know by now, will be the Hybrid Justice publishing date.
Right, it's back to work for me. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and I'll speak to you soon.

Bye for now.
Sallyann

An unexpected review.

Well hey guys, would you look at that! I had a review on Amazon.com I hadn't realised was there, well, at least not before a friend pointed it out :). What a lovely surprise to find I've had two in rapid succession, and in two different places at that.
Well here it is, I'll let you read it for yourselves. And thank you Charlotte, for taking the time to post a wonderful review on Angel's Blood.

Really Good Read!, March 13, 2015

By

Charlotte H. (Houston Texas) -

Angels Blood is a novel approach to the werewolf tale with a vampire thrown in. This story is creative and imaginative yet the approach is interesting and fresh. I enjoyed the book. The characters were interesting and the werewolf world created is warm and caring within the pack.

The alpha, Cade, is a strong man/wolf that finds his mate in the newcomer Tavi, a roam. Tavi is alone when her father is killed and been coached of the danger of pack life. When a vampire that had saved her mother many years ago returned to protect Tavi he talks her into joining Cade’s pack for safety sake. Though hesitant, she agrees and despite her insistence she didn’t know how to make friends she wins the hearts of the pack.

Tavi joins a family and becomes auntie to a precious three year old. When the child is placed in danger, Tavi comes to the rescue and is captured by an Alpha that was her biological father, a wicked beast of a werewolf and man.

Without going deeper into the story, I found a budding romance between Cade and Tavi a halting affair that added interest to the tale.

Great writing with a good job of editing. If you enjoy werewolves and vampires this is a good read with a future of more to come.

Well there you go guys, I'm stoked again :), but that's to be expected right? lol.
Take care guys, and I'll see you all soon.
Sallyann.

Another great review.

Hi guys,
I thought I'd let you know I've had another great review left in Goodreads, and thought I'd post it up for you all to see. You see, every time I get a review, it gives me the same kind of buzz as the very first one did.
I'll keep it short but sweet tonight guys, since it's so very late here again, 2 a.m, which is quite normal for me I can tell you :). And I'll say a quick thank you to Salena, who took the time out of her day to leave a review.

Salena rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: amazon-unlimited, favorites, nis-not-on-gr, pnr, action-suspense

Please let there be a next in series! I really enjoyed this book...intriguing from start to finish. It's not as erotic as I like, but the premise and pace of it was excellent. Great story line and solid writing. Some times Indy authors flop, but this one totally hit my paranormal bone.


Ok! That's it for tonight guys. Take care, and I'll speak to you soon.
Sally.

Where to get help when the hard work begins.

Hi Guys,
I'm in the middle of marketing again, and it's been throwing me into a bit of a tailspin. Who knew that writing a book was the easy part? And that the real work begins afterwards.
Well I for one, didn't. I have to admit that I didn't do a lot of marketing for Angel's Blood, and that was a mistake, but in doing the marketing for book two I found it a lot of hard difficult work. What didn't help was all the contradictive information out there. You're told to get an agent, or get a publisher, that they'll do the deals for you, and make you money. The funny thing of it is, that even the more popular authors are now going Indie. It seems you keep more right's, and control, by doing it all yourself. They don't tell you that if you sign with an agent, or a publisher, that you can't control what happens. They also don't tell you that you have to fight them for your royalties, which is something I was told by and author who has just gone Indie herself.
There is enough information out there to make your head spin, so be sure to take a time out and think about what you're doing, before you do something you can't easily get out of. As I was reminded recently, by Ian. D. Moore, 50 Shades of Grey started out as an Indie book.
But a little advice I will give you, is join a group on Facebook. Indie Author Review Exchange, and The Creative Promoter, are just two of the ones out there, and I belong to both. The amout of support and advice between the two, has been outstanding, and you couldn't ask for a better, or friendlier, bunch of people.
So I guess you could say the whole point of this blog is to tell you if you don't know something, ask. There's any number of people out there that will give you sound advice, and it's yours for the asking if you just ask the question.
Well, that's it for now, so take care and I'll see you soon.
Sallyann.

Another fabulous review

Hi guys :),
Well, I am over the moon this evening, or should I say this early morning, seeing as it's 1-20am :). I seem to be getting more and more of a night owl, though to be honest, it's really when it's the most quiet in my house :). I get more done in the late evening to early morning, than I get done in a whole day. There's just something about the night that's soothing, and a lot more peaceful than the day could ever hope to be.
Nope, nada, no. I'm going off on a tangent, and it has to stop.
I have to show you the new review I've had. It's wonderful, and another 5 STAR. So here you go....

An Absolute Jewel of a Book!, March 6, 2015 By Robin Chan - See all my reviews This review is from: Angels Blood (Kindle Edition) What an amazingly unique story. Angels Blood is everything you want in a great book. The writing style is so visually descriptive that the characters come to life. It has something for everyone, strong characters, heart pounding action, a bit of mystery and a unique love story. You are quickly drawn into a world that you want to become a part of and a story line with characters that you don't want to let go of, a story you never want to end. I look forward to many more books from this great new writer, and I can't wait to find out what Tavi has in store for us in the next book. Do yourself a favor and grab this book quickly, you'll want to read this one before the second installment hits the shelves! I know I can't wait!!

Wow! That's a really wonderful review don't you think?
Well I just wanted to share it with you guys, a great review is always exciting to me, and I would really like to thank Robin Chan, for taking the time to write such an outstanding one. A lot of readers don't realise that a review is like gold dust to authors, it lets them know you've enjoyed a world, or characters, or both, that they created.
Well I'd best be off now, more work to do yet.
Take care,
Sally.

Cover reveal.

Hi guys!
Well the cover reveal date is finally here, 23rd March. That's when you all get to see the cover for book two, but don't worry, the book itself will be out on the 30th March.
It's been busy lately, what with looking for reviewers, which hasn't been as easy as you'd expect. I've had one refusal, but then I've had one agreement too. Then there's the building of the hype for the book cover reveal, something I didn't do the first time around, and I'm trying to keep on top of it. And once that's done, then it's on to the marketing for the release. It's never ending, and you're constantly pushing forwards. You have to have a plan, which I admit I had help with, and try to stick with it to the very end.
Don't be affraid to ask for help, or ideas, you'd be surprised as to how many people will stand up and voice something you hadn't thought of. You don't have to take every one, and you don't have to follow it to the letter, but it'll give you something else to try. Don't forget, there are more nice people out there than not nice, and don't judge a book by it's cover (pardon the pun). You can, and will, make some really good friends, and you can belong to a community that's happy to accept you for who you are.
Well I guess I should get on with it :), take care and I'll check in soon.
Best wishes,
Sally.

Book two reviewers neeed.

Hi guys.
Well book two is going to be out real soon, and the cover reveal is going to be even sooner. At the moment I'm looking into getting some people in line to review it for me, and would like to offer you the chance to do so. If your interested, please get in touch with me, either via my blog, or at my email address, and be the first in line to read the second book in the series.
I'll keep you up to date as it goes, and hopefully everything will go according to plan.
Take care of yourselves, and stay warm, the summer is just arround the corner.
Bye for now,
Sally.

Finished book covers.

Hi guys :).
Guess what? The book cover is done :). Yay! The battle paid off in the end, and the finishing touches are all in place. It's all set up and ready to go, and the cover reveal date will be released shortly. Then the next thing will be the release of book two.
I've a few other things left to do, but on a whole, they should be a lot more simple than the previous task.
I admit that it's now that I begin to have a bit of a panic, marketing not being my strong point, but it's a good kind of panic, if there is such a thing. I've had lots of help, from, you guessed it, the same sourses as before. @booksandspoons, @simmillkj, both steadfast supporters, and very much my spirit sisters. @blackbirdancing, who has been my calm port in every storm, and is my spirit brother, and brother of my heart. @ianstories, who has been a good friend in giving me a kick when I needed one on some very late nights. Now I know I've mentioned them before, but they really are a fab bunch, and if you're registered on twitter you'd do well to follow them all.
Righty oh then! It's back to the grindstone for me.
Take care of yourselves, and if you're in the cold climates, stay warm.
Best wishes,
Sally.

Book covers and gimp.

Hi guys :)
I hope you're all doing well, and taking care of yourselves in all the bad weather thats's been reproted around the world. And if you're in a place where the sun is shining, could you share it with the rest of us? Please.
Well, in the past week I've downloaded gimp, and begun my cover for book two. Now I was told it was as easy to use as photoshop, and that may be, but I haven't used that either. I'm pretty much the least tech savvy person you would come across. I've spent a lot of time asking what? Where? How? And huh? And I've either been pulling my hair out, or adding to the grey.
I've attempted to play around with it, and I even read instructions, but those may as well have been written in double Dutch for all the sense they made to me :). It seems that the instructions were written with a tech expert in mind, which totally puts me on a back foot to start with. I tried youtube for videos, but couldn't follow them. It said delete, I deleted, and lo and behold, nothing happened. Clearly I was missing something.
Well I haven't given up, but I have tried to sourse some outside help :), so maybe, just maybe, I will get there in the end.
So it's back to the drawing board, so to speak, and hopefully without the urge to throw it through the window. Wish me luck.
Take care of yourselves.
Sally.