3 Steps to Being a Hussy

A book hussy, that is.

After months of hard work, a little bit of crying, lots of cursing, and the occasional EEK I CAN'T DO THIS WHY AM I DOING THIS, A Night Without Stars has been released and is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo! 

And for about five minutes I was like this:

And then I remembered all the work that goes into promotion and I was like this:

You see, in the world of self-publishing (or publishing in general, for that matter) writing the book and making it available to readers is only half the battle. The other half is making people aware that your book exists and they have to stop what they're doing RIGHT NOW and go buy it IMMEDIATELY. So how do you do that? Well, one way is through reviews. 

Book bloggers can have a HUGE impact on your book's success (or failure). But bloggers are busy, elusive, magical creatures. They never come to you. You go to them and if you're very, very, lucky they may agree to read your book. If you've written something they like they might even give it a favorable review. If not, well, that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes. Either way, it's worth your time and effort to seek them out. 

But how? Well, you have to be a bit of a hussy. Here's how in 3 easy steps: 

1) Find the book bloggers. My preferred method is using Goodreads. I look up books that are similar to mine (in this case young adult paranormal) and read the reviews. Often if a reviewer has a blog there will be a link somewhere in their review. Yes, this is time consuming. Yes, you hit a lot of dead ends (links that no longer function, review sites that have been shut down or moved, etc) but it's worth it in the end.

2) Read their review policy. I know, total duh, right? But I see messages all the time from annoyed bloggers who vent about authors not following simple directions. Don't be an author that is vented about. It's bad for business. Half the blogs you visit will be closed to accepting new books. If this is the case, DO NOT E-MAIL THEM. It's rude. Not to mention annoying. Lots of blogs will have a checklist of books they do and do not accept. Some accept self-pub. Some don't. Some only want actual physical copies. Some are okay with ebooks. READ THE REVIEW POLICY THOROUGHLY. If your particular book passes, then feel free to contact them. If not, try the next one. There's no point in wasting your time (and theirs) sending a query that you know is going to get rejected. I found a blog this morning that I was super excited about. They were actively seeking books to review: check. They accepted self-pub: check. They preferred young adult: check. They were fine with ebooks: check. But at the very bottom I read one sentence that had me sighing and moving on with a regretful shake of my head: we are so over books about vampires. Could I still have sent them an e-mail about ANWS? Well, technically yes. Would it have been a good fit? Nope. And since my little book is already facing an uphill battle, why make it even harder?

3) Send a professional, to-the-point query. This is the part where you need to show a little restraint. Don't send them your book. That's not how this works. You e-mail them a query. Perhaps something similar to this: 

Dear So & So (except you would never actually use so & so because you would take the time to read their 'about me' page and use their real names),

I would like to submit my recently released young-adult novel, 'A Night Without Stars', for review.

Title: A Night Without Stars

Release Date: 01/24/14

Length: 70k words

Genre: paranormal young-adult

Description: Sixteen-year-old Lola is a daredevil. She likes playing hooky, stealing cars, and making out with bad boy Everett James. The reason behind all her rebellious antics? Because she can. But what can one girl do against a horde of murderous vampires?

Aided by her sometimes sober father, her best friend Travis, and Maximus, the mysterious strange who appeared out of no where to save her life, Lola must accomplish what the rest of the human race has failed to do in the after math of the world wide massacre: survive.

But how do you survive when everything you know has been destroyed... and the one person you thought you could trust ends up being the most dangerous person of all?

Format: PDF (compatible with kindle) or Nook Book

Links:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13611785-a-night-without-stars
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Without-Stars-Jillian-Eaton-ebook/dp/B00I0KA6LU
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-night-without-stars-jillian-eaton/1118200565


Thank you for your time & consideration!
Jillian

Occasionally a blog will request a cover to be included, or will want to know how you found out about them. Make sure to include everything they've requested and remember to put links where they can find your book.

After the e-mail is sent (and it's ALWAYS an e-mail, never a goodreads message or a facebook message or, heaven forbid, a tweet) you play the waiting game. Personally, if I never hear back from a reviewer I do not e-mail them again. But that's personal preference. If they decline, I send them a short e-mail thanking them for their time. If they accept, I send along the book (in their preferred) method ASAP. Then you play the waiting game all over again. It's a long, arduous, time consuming process... but it's worth it in the end, even when you get the bad reviews along with the good.  

And that's it! That's how you become a book hussy. 

4 star reviews & a lascivious lady

I have a confession to make.

When I first published A Brooding Beauty, the first novella in The Wedded Women Quartet, I didn't think anything would really happen. I figured I would chalk it up to a big learning experience, and move on to what I thought I really wanted to write: YA. Fast forward four months and ABB is still going strong, averaging around 20 sales a day (by my personal standards, that's great). A Ravishing Redhead, the second novella in WWQ, is doing slightly better, although they tend to go back and forth. Catherine and Margaret are very competitive.

This morning I woke up, made my coffee (heart you keurig), and checked Goodreads. I was beyond delighted to discover both ABB and ARR had two new reviews, both four stars. To read the reviews in their entirety skedaddle over to Steffi and Karla's blog, Swept Away by Romance. 

"[A Brooding Beauty] is full of drama and romance but also laughter and a light-hearted style of writing that I really liked."

"[A Ravishing Redhead] is a short, steamy, and sweet novella for romance lovers."

And, my personal favorite:

"I have to say that out of the four friends, Josephine and Grace intruige me the most. Josephine's story is next in A Lascivious Lady. I can't wait!" 

I am super excited for all of you to read Josephine and Traverson's story. It has been by the far the hardest in the quartet to write so far, simply because they are such polar opposites and have a lot going against their happily ever after. A Lascivious Lady will be released in August (exact date still TBA). Until then, I can give you an exclusive sneak peak at the first chapter. Enjoy!

CHAPTER ONE, A LASCIVIOUS LADY

"It is sunrise. You may leave now." Lady Josephine Marie Gates sat up one elbow and stared down at the man in her bed with an expression that bordered on disgust. "Leave," she repeated. "Now."

Lord Richard Penny, an unmarried Viscount of considerable holdings, rolled off the side of the bed and landed on his feet with a groan. He ran his hand through his short brown hair and yawned before offering Josephine a slumberous smile that never failed to get him pulled back under the covers.

She gazed up at him, heedless of her nudity or the sheet that had slipped, and he allowed his eyes to wander down across her breasts. Good God, but she was a fetching creature. Her blonde hair curled over her shoulders and down her back like a cloak of spun gold. Heavy eyes, tilted at the corner and just a tad too large for her face, were the color of glimmering amethysts. And her body... Richard sucked in a breath as he recalled the slender curve of her hips, the plumpness of her backside, the swell of her -

"You do speak English, do you not, Lord Penny?" Josephine purred, tilting her head to the side and running her tongue across her full bottom lip.

Had Richard known more about the woman he had just bedded, he would have recognized that while her body suggested things only a wicked man would dare dream of, her eyes told a different story entirely. Unfortunately for the Viscount, he was not a man who picked up on subtleties.

"You know I do," he said as he leaned forward to rest his hands on the edge of the mattress. "Did you not hear all the naughty things I whispered to you last night?"

"Yes, I did."

"And?" he said expectantly.

"I have heard them all before. Really, Lord Penny, you have far outstayed your welcome. If you do understand English, which I can see that you do, although some of the larger words seem to escape you, then you must understand when I tell you this: get out."

Thoroughly taken aback, Richard straightened and looked around for his trousers.

"On the back of the rosewood chair in the corner of the room," Josephine supplied helpfully before she fell back onto the pillows with a little sigh and crossed one arm over her face.

Her breasts were still exposed, the morning light from the window dancing across her dusky nipples, and Richard snuck another look as he yanked on his pants and slipped on his shirt. Giving up his cravat for lost, he hurried to the door and hesitated, still rather unsure where he had gone wrong, or why the infamous Lady Gates was kicking him out of her bedroom at such an indecent hour.

Had he not pleased her? Richard scoffed at the thought. Her throaty moans and breathless cries had said otherwise. Not once, not twice, but thrice he had taken her during the hours between dusk and dawn. Though five years his senior she had sated his lust as no other woman had before her, or - he feared - no other woman would after.

"Marry me," he said impulsively.

"Marry you?" Josephine echoed. Leaning up her elbow she finally drew the sheet up to cover her breasts and arched one eyebrow. "Why in the world would I do that?"

Richard flushed, but did not back down. He was not a man without means. He was a bloody Viscount, for heaven's sake. Had he not already been chased to the ends of the earth and back by half crazed mothers looking to marry off their daughters? Vain, insipid, ugly chits, the lot of them. No, what he desired - what he deserved - was a real woman. A goddess, just like the one sprawled before him.

"I will spoil you beyond measure," he said. "You shall never want for anything. Jewels? They are yours. Furs? I shall strike the beasts down myself. Mansions? I will -"

Josephine waved her hand in the air, cutting him off. "Do stop," she implored, her lower lip jutting out in a pout that made his loins surge anew. "I fear you are making my head ache. Really, Lord Penny, you are only embarrassing yourself. Rather like a flea ridden dog begging to be taken back by his master after he has been thrown on the street."

Richard gaped. "A... A flea ridden d-dog," he sputtered, his cheeks growing mottled as humiliation and anger swept through him. Never, in all of his twenty one years, had he ever been so insulted. And by a woman, no less! Hands curling into fists, he said, "Now see here, you have no right to speak to me in such a manner! I am a Viscount, and -"

"Yes, yes, so I have heard," said Josephine. Yawning, she stretched out one arm and rang the small silver bell that sat on the corner of her nightstand. A maid appeared almost immediately, stepping through the door and past Richard to stand attentively at the foot of the bed.

"What do you need, mum?" she asked in a chirping voice.

Richard could not help notice that the maid ignored him completely, as if she had found a man in her mistress's chambers more than once and had grown used to it. For some reason that annoyed him even more than being compared to a flea ridden dog. Was he... jealous? His skin grew clammy at the very thought. No, surely not.

"Amelia, please escort Lord Penny outside. I fear he has overstayed his welcome," said Josephine.

"Of course, mum." Pivoting crisply on her heel, the maid marched back across the room and held open the door. "My lord?" she said, keeping her eyes downcast. She could not, however, completely control the twitch of her lips as she stifled a laugh.

A common servant, laughing at him? It was the last straw. "I shall see myself out!" Richard snapped. Wrenching the door free from the maid's grasp, he slammed it forcefully behind him and stormed down the stairs.

Josephine peeked between the fingers she had covered her face with to contain her own laughter. "Oh, Melly, is he truly gone?"

Slouching against the door, Amelia drew off the lace cap she had placed haphazardly over her unruly red curls and rolled her sparkling blue eyes. "As gone as he is going to get. May I go back to bed now? You said I could have Friday mornings off and I am quite tired."

A frown flitted across Josephine's mouth, pulling the corners down and causing her forehead to wrinkle. "I forgot. I apologize, Melly. Take the entire day if you need. I will not be doing anything."

"You are not going out? 'Tis a beautiful day, mum." Walking briskly to the floor to ceiling windows, Amelia drew back the heavy velvet curtains with a flourish, exposing the bustling street below. Already the merchants were setting up their wares, carts drawn by drowsy draft horses ambled past, and paper boys ran this way and that, dashing through London's foot traffic with ease. Spring was in full bloom and as Amelia huffed and puffed to get one of the windows open, the sweet, heavenly scent of cherry blossoms and tulips began to trickle into the room.

Closing her eyes Josephine inhaled deeply, reminded once again why this time of year was her favorite. Everything was so fresh and new... It was a time for second chances, an opportunity to turn over a new leaf, such as it was. For everyone but her, of course.

"No," she murmured wistfully, sinking back down and bringing the sheets to her chin. "I fear I am not feeling well today. You go out, Melly. Enjoy the sunshine for me."

"Are you certain, mum? Perhaps a bit of sun is just the thing to get you out of your -"

The gunshot that sounded from down stairs caused both women to shriek. In a flash Josephine was on her feet and at the door, her face pale but determined. There had been a rash of daytime burglaries as of late. Just three days ago Mrs. Dobson from only two houses down had been robbed of all her jewels and treasured paintings. Josephine would be damned if she let some lily livered thief steal from her.

"Has Bates arrived yet?" she asked, referring to the brawny retired boxer who now earned his living as Josephine's butler.

"N-no," said Amelia. "It is just y-you and m-me and c-c-cook."

Cook, who was no doubt cowering under the kitchen table at this very minute. If he had not already dived out the window.

"Stay here and lock the door behind me," Josephine ordered.

"What are you going to do?" Amelia cried, wide eyed.

Holding the sheet around her body with one hand, Josephine reached out the other to grasp a heavy poker resting next to the dormant fireplace. Her arm trembled as she lifted the poker, but her grip was sure, and her determination strong. "Stay here and lock the door," she repeated. Taking in a deep breath, she slipped from the room and crept silently down the stairs. At the bottom of the landing she stopped and tensed, brandishing the poker as if it were a club. Too late she realized that the decision to face down a possible robber wearing nothing more than a sheet had not been a wise one, but what other alternative did she have? Sit idly by and let her precious things be stolen? Josephine's lips thinned as her resolve strengthened. Certainly not.

It was not a thief, however, that she came upon when she reached the front parlor, drawn by the sound of muffled yells.

Oh, but how she wished it had been.

The fireplace poker clattered to the floor as Josephine drew in a sharp gasp at the sight that greeted her when she drew back the pocket doors.

Hopping on one leg and clutching the other at the knee, Lord Penny was howling in pain. Yet that was not the worst of it, for sitting across the room, calmly cleaning out his pistol, was the last man she had ever expected to see. He did not look up when she stumbled inside the parlor, but Lord Penny did.

"Josephine," he gasped, his face a mask of agony. "I have been shot!"

Dazedly she looked back and forth between the two men, quite incapable of saying a word. Oh dear God in heaven, she thought, yearning to be swallowed up on the spot, for surely being cast into hell would be better than this.

"Did you hear me?" the Viscount yelped. "That - that bloody bastard shot me! He shot me, Jo!"

No one called her Jo. No one but her husband. Her eyes flicked to Lord Penny, taking note of the blood that seeped between his fingers as he clutched his leg, then skittered across to the other man who had finally set his gun aside. He did not rise, merely crossed his legs at the ankle and lounged back, propping his hands behind his head as if nothing was amiss. His gray eyes studied her, traveling with detached, scientific appraisal down her body and up again before easily dismissing her.

Josephine swallowed hard and pulled the sheet tighter around her bare shoulders. "I... I do not..." The words stuck in her throat, refusing to come out. Panicked, she began to retreat from the room with slow, measured steps.

"Do you know who he is, Jo?" Lord Penny said, effectively halting her in her tracks. "The man who shot me! Do you know him?"

Her cheeks paled. She pressed one hand to her chest, feeling the rapid beat of her heart. "Yes," she managed to squeak, all of her carefully constructed layers of confidence stripped to the quick. "Yes I do."

Lord Penny's eyes bulged. "Then who is the damn cur?" he demanded.

Josephine braced one arm against the doorframe to hold herself up. "My husband," she said, finally meeting Traverson's cold gaze. "He is my husband."  

pitch me a quote

Starting today and going every other day until the May 5th release date, I will be posting one quote from Pitch, my first YA novel(la). Today's quote is taken from a conversation between Maximus (who speaks first) and Lola, the MC.

“Going back in time is impossible. Turning invisible is impossible. Balancing the national debt is impossible. Blood sucking creatures that have been documented since the beginning of time across the entire world? Not impossible.” 

“Next you’ll be telling me they sparkle in the daylight.” 

“No,” he said, giving me his first real smile. “Never that.”

Add Pitch to your Goodreads TBR list by clicking right here. 

Come on, you know you want too. :)  

authors vs. reviewers

So a little while ago I stumbled across this website called Goodreads. How I had not heard of it before, I have no idea. Basically (for those not in the know) it is a magical place where book lovers flock by the thousands to read and review any manner of books. Historical fiction, autobiographies, self pubbed (yay!), YA, romance - you name it, it's on there. For the large majority of authors who frequent the site, Goodreads is a fantastic tool to:

a) get your name out there
b) market your book to people you normally wouldn't be able to
c) have your work reviewed

Most authors do great with A & B. C, however... not so much. Case in point being the only reason I wanted to check out Goodreads in the first place is because I had followed an author's blog to an author's blog to an author's blog which described a recent kerfluffle where an author had gotten into it with a reviewer who (without going into the messy, dramatic, drawn out details) had given the author's book a not so glowing review. The backlash that followed was not, as you might expect, against the reviewer but rather against the author. 

I'll admit, at first I as confused by this. But then I sat down and I pondered... 

  

Ultimately I sided with the reviewer (not that it mattered to anyone involved) and I learned an INCREDIBLY valuable lesson: 

THERE IS NEVER A TIME WHERE IT IS OKAY FOR AN AUTHOR TO COMMENT ON A NEGATIVE REVIEW OF THEIR WORK. 

I debated whether to write: there is never a time where it is okay for an author to comment on ANY review, but I changed my mind. Especially on Goodreads, where you can 'like' reviews, and on Amazon, where you can find them 'helpful', I personally think it is perfectly okay for an author to like a nice review of their work. Or even make a comment to the effect of "thank you for the review, I am really glad you liked it!". No more, no less. As my history teacher would say, when in doubt, just KISS (keep it simple stupid).

Now, all of that is fine and good. Sounds easy, right? Well... surprisingly, not so much. I came to this conclusion before I published A Brooding Beauty. Since ABB has been out, it has gotten some stellar reviews, some okay reviews, and yes, a few bad reviews. As an author who is invested and loves her work, I would like nothing more than to comment on these not so stellar reviews and be all like "why do you say this when clearly this is what happened and you didn't like it for this reason but you obviously don't know what you're talking about and you're just a big mean bully!" - or something to that effect. 

Why don't I? Because reviewers AREN'T "big mean bullies" (well, to be perfectly honest, some of them are -- and sometimes yes, you can be mean and hurtful on purpose with your reviews, but that isn't what this post is about). Reviewers are people who have read your book (let us all take a moment to let that sink in... someone, other than your family or friend - cause you know they would never give you less than 4 stars - has taken the time to sit down and read YOUR book) and cared enough about it (whether that be a positive care or a negative care) to take even MORE time to write down what they thought.

Sometimes a negative review can be as simple as "didn't like it, wasn't for me" and sometimes they can go into more detail. Personally, I learn the most from the ones that go into more detail. So you didn't like my book and you tell me why. Umm... THANK YOU! Now I will take that advice, pick it apart, and keep it in the back of my mind for my next writing project. Let's be honest here, what is more helpful:

OMGOSHHH this was the best book EVVERRRRR I loved it so much can't wait to read the next one Edgar is SOOOO HOTTTTTT

or

Edgar was a lily livered prat who didn't have a back bone. He let Sue walk all over him and never said anything about it. 

Okay, so the first review will make you happy and adore that reviewer to the ends of the earth (seriously, if anyone ever said that about something I wrote I might just offer them my first born child a candy bar) BUT it doesn't tell you anything about your writing. Maybe Edgar COULD have stood up for himself more. Maybe in your next book he will tell Sue to go stuff it. Maybe - sometimes - a negative review isn't so negative after all. 

Either way, if you're an author you need to learn how to roll with the punches (in my humble opinion). Yeah, I've gotten some what I would call (quote/unquote) negative reviews on A Brooding Beauty. But you know what? People are still buying it and lending it to friends (thanks, KDP select program!). So the next time I get a not so awesome review I will continue to keep my trap shut, eat another piece of chocolate, and keep on writing. 

Like Kim Kardashian has to tell herself every night... No publicity is bad publicity!