tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30931713823094565492024-03-08T03:34:36.226-08:00Dr. Debra Holland - BlogIt's all about the power of love...Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-5447515760862929482014-12-03T08:41:00.001-08:002014-12-03T08:41:36.124-08:00Reading Between the Wines Book Club: Audio #Review: Harvest of Dreams by Debra Holland - 5 Wine GlassesSometimes I receive a review, which gives me goosebumps and makes me a little teary. Thanks so much to reviewer Linda Townsend! <br /><br />
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<a href="http://www.readingbetweenthewinesbookclub.com/2014/12/audio-review-harvest-of-dreams-by-debra.html">Reading Between the Wines Book Club: Audio #Review: Harvest of Dreams by Debra Holland - 5 Wine Glasses</a>Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-82770074299240104492014-12-02T09:44:00.000-08:002014-12-02T09:44:45.419-08:00ROMANCE TO THE RESCUE, BUY A BOOK, SAVE A PET<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1OB0APXpCJE" width="480"></iframe>Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-46237397375456887702014-11-24T22:57:00.000-08:002014-11-26T02:58:49.207-08:00MY FIRST GERMAN TRANSLATION--A TRIBUTE TO MY GRANDMOTHER!!!<style>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">My grandmother, Martha
Muth Junger, was a huge inspiration for my writing. When I was little, she'd
tell me stories of her childhood, growing up on a big estate in Germany. Martha was the
fifth (living) daughter of a large family, and her parents were divorced, which was unusual
for those days. She had a strict governess who later became her stepmother.
Martha ran wild and often found herself in trouble, being chased by a bull,
climbing the barn roof to explore the stork nest, getting sick from stealing
her father's pipe and smoking it, running away to the Gypsies to have her
fortune told.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">I often stayed with my
Omi (as I called her.) In the morning, I'd crawl into bed with her, and she'd
tell me stories, not just her own, but those of her father and her grandmother. Even at that young age, I
knew I wanted to write her stories when I grew up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">But first I went to
school, and school, and school. Not until after I recovered from obtaining my
Masters Degree and Ph.D, did I start to work on that old dream of writing down
Omi's stories. But by that time, she was older and had forgotten many of the
details I needed to write a biography. So I took my favorites and wrote several
short stories. After a computer crash (my very first computer,) I learned why it
was important to back up your files, and I lost a lot of my research. But I
continued writing short stories about my grandmother and started taking writing
classes. And I joined a critique group led by a writing teacher.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the last year of Omi's
life, I started writing my first novel, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1612184669?ie=UTF8&tag=dehophd-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=1612184669">Wild Montana Sky</a>, </i>and she died before I
finished the book. Although I wish I could place a copy in her hands, I have no
doubt that she's still present in my life. Parts of her stories have made their
way into my <i>Montana Sky Series </i>books--not what I'd imagined writing when I was a child,
but perhaps even better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.0pt;">For the last few years,
I've wanted my books translated into German, both as a tribute to my beloved
Omi, but also for the German members of my family to be able to read my books.
So today, with great joy and a few tears for Omi, I announce the
release of <a href="http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00NUAK3RW"><i>Der wilde Himmel über Montana</i></a>, my first German book. </span><br />
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Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-39205187113117663322014-10-27T07:03:00.001-07:002014-10-27T07:03:10.634-07:00GLORIOUS MONTANA SKY--FROM DREAM TO REALITY<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Sometimes an author carries a
story around in her head for years before she actually has a chance to write
it. Such was the case for me with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477826025?ie=UTF8&tag=dehophd-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=1477826025"><i>Glorious Montana Sky</i>.</a> I can’t tell you when the idea for the story of Joshua Norton,
son of Reverend Norton (the minister in my small Montana town) and his wife
Mary, came about. I do know I started formulating the story about three years
ago.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLVr3mHMVPRidSKaXa48UhtTtDifRAO91aH-P2h44y6S0OxgRL_qB1KQJWC6W1_S1DKNK2vLFTGkSIDv4wJ7QYFjfppLBC6t1JKwbEzCniGXgnN6NqN9WXGo1lee4O6sHN9wWL0Pt3Qk/s1600/Holland_GloriousMntSky_+front_v.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLVr3mHMVPRidSKaXa48UhtTtDifRAO91aH-P2h44y6S0OxgRL_qB1KQJWC6W1_S1DKNK2vLFTGkSIDv4wJ7QYFjfppLBC6t1JKwbEzCniGXgnN6NqN9WXGo1lee4O6sHN9wWL0Pt3Qk/s1600/Holland_GloriousMntSky_+front_v.4.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">The first scene that came to me
and I wrote down at the time was between Joshua and his father. In the scene,
Joshua, a missionary who’d just returned from Africa after the death of his
wife, was telling his father about his feelings of burnout. (But since it’s
1895, I couldn’t use the word “burnout.”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">As I wrote this scene, another
character came into being—Joshua’s nine-year-old son, Micah. Joshua told his
father how Micah had run wild for the previous year because his mother was
dying. The boy bonded with the African natives, whom he considered family, and
was grieving and resentful about leaving them. Joshua had been focused on
caring for his wife and neglected his son. So his relationship with Micah is
strained. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Ah, two hurting men or, rather, a
man and a boy. I had to find a partner for Joshua—a woman who’d both challenge
him and help him heal, one who’d bond with Micah and help him adjust to living
in Sweetwater Springs, Montana.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">A definite challenge for I had no
character in Sweetwater Springs who would fit for Joshua. Therefore, I had to
bring her from somewhere else. So the idea of Delia Fortier, a quadroon woman
fleeing New Orleans with her father, came to me. I knew he’d have a heart
attack on the train, forcing the two to stay in Sweetwater Springs while he
recovered. Delia has a secret that she hides from Joshua—the reason she and her
father left New Orleans. This secret will keep her and Joshua apart and may
even threaten their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">With the idea for the book firmly
in my mind, I wrote down my notes. I commissioned Delle Jacobs, my cover
designer, to do the cover for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477826025?ie=UTF8&tag=dehophd-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=1477826025"><i>Glorious Montana Sky</i>,</a> telling her I wanted a sweeping sky scene with a train in the
distance. We played with the size and angle of the train, and I settled on a
small barely seen version.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Then I set the story aside and
focused on writing <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1481816942?ie=UTF8&tag=dehophd-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=1481816942">Painted Montana Sky</a></i>
and <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0092XYEIK?ie=UTF8&tag=dehophd-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B0092XYEIK">Montana Sky Christmas</a></i>, both
smaller books that I could write quicker than the longer story for Glorious
Montana Sky. Then I had the idea for <i>The
Mail-Order Brides of the West</i> subseries, and wrote three of those books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">So <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477826025?ie=UTF8&tag=dehophd-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=1477826025"><i>Glorious Montana Sky</i> </a>had plenty of time to simmer in my mind. In
the years since thinking of the story and writing it, I would have ideas or
bits of dialogue come to me. Often this happened in church during the sermon.
One of the ministers at my church was a missionary and also grew up on a farm
in North Dakota. Sometimes he’d tell a story that had me scribbling notes on my
bulletins. When it came time to write the book, I had a stack of church
bulletins to go through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">A week ago, I received my author
copies of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477826025?ie=UTF8&tag=dehophd-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=1477826025"><i>Glorious Montana Sky</i>.</a>
Holding the book in my hand, with the beautiful cover designed three years ago,
I had a huge sense of accomplishment—a dream that was three years old was now a
reality. What a wonderful feeling!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">YOU’RE INVITED TO MY FACEBOOK LAUNCH PARTY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/957855357576681/">https://www.facebook.com/events/957855357576681/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">On Thursday, October 30<sup>th</sup>,
from 3:00-6:00 EST, I’m throwing a Facebook party for the release of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1477826025?ie=UTF8&tag=dehophd-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=1477826025">Glorious Montana Sky</a></i>. Joining me will be authors: Julianne Maclean, Laura Drake,
Catherine Bybee, Kat Martin, Pat Wright, RJ Sullivan, Sarah Woodbury, Joan
Wolf, and Caroline Fyffe. Each author will have his or her own 20 minute
segment, but I’ll be there the whole time, and I’ll have other authors dropping
in. We’ll have plenty of giveaways—signed books, small gift cards, and the
ultimate prize of a Kindle Fire (selected randomly from all the commenters of
the day.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3a0a0b; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I hope to see you all there! <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/957855357576681/">https://www.facebook.com/events/957855357576681/</a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<!--EndFragment-->Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-54643460472195842742014-10-05T10:10:00.001-07:002014-10-05T10:10:52.217-07:00A Blog Post In Italian from the Women's Fiction Festival in MateraI used Google Translate when I read this article. <br /><br />
<br /><br />
<a href="http://bibliotecaromantica.blogspot.it/2014/10/womens-power-cronaca-delle-giornate-del.html?showComment=1412528013566#c3028751574773470665">la mia biblioteca romantica: WOMEN'S POWER - Cronaca delle giornate del WFF 2014 a Matera da due inviate speciali: Adele V. Castellano & Monica Lombardi</a>Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-29651332298400577902014-08-08T23:10:00.000-07:002014-08-08T23:18:32.471-07:00A LETTER FROM AMAZON TO THEIR INDIE AUTHORS CONCERNING THE HACHETTE NEGOTIATIONSIn this battle between Amazon and Hachette, I'm siding with Amazon, not only because I'm a
Montlake Romance author and a self-published author, but because I've
been closely following (as much as possible) the information and
discussions about this situation and feel Amazon is (for the most part) in the right. I'm very concerned about my colleagues
who write for Hachette. They are truly the ones suffering because their
publisher is using them as canon fodder. (Although many of them don't
realize Hachette has thrust them into the front lines, and they are blaming Amazon for the war.)<br />
<br />
Please
don't throw the "Amazon is not your friend" comment at me. I already
know that. Amazon is a business--one that has changed my life for the
better. I'm deeply grateful to the company, but that doesn't mean I'm
blindly on Amazon's side.<br />
<br />
What I am against is paying
high prices for ebooks. However the dust falls from the giants duking
out the contract, I will NOT buy high priced ebooks. I don't care who
publishes them or if they are written by my favorite authors. For me, it
a matter of principle. I feel it's WRONG for publishers to charge a high
price for an ebook, and that they are just trying to GOUGE the reader.
Sometimes, it's really hard not to press that buy button on a book I
really want. At those times, I feel resentment at the publisher who
controls the pricing. But then I browse the Amazon or iBooks website and
find something else to read--something affordable. There are always other
books. :)<br />
<br />
When I say "affordable" that's perhaps
misleading. Thanks to Amazon, I'm in a position to afford to read
whatever I want, regardless of the price. But I won't. Perhaps it's from
too many years where I could never afford enough books. I out-read my
types of books at the city and school library. I haunted used books
stores and garage sales for paperback books I could buy for .25 or .50.
Sometimes, it still feels like a luxury to go on an ebook "shopping
spree" or pay a high price for a hardback book that only takes me a few
hours to read.<br />
<br />
There are a lot of people out there
like me--avid readers who speed through books and can never have enough
of their favorite type of stories. Many of those readers cannot afford
to feed their habit--or they couldn't before so many free and low price
ebooks came on the market--again due to Amazon.<br />
<br />
There are many, many, many inexpensive books out there, and readers will
buy them, find new authors to love and auto-buy, and drift away from
old favorites whom they cannot afford (or don't want to afford.) Then
both author and publisher will lose.<br />
<br />
Debra Holland, Ph.D<br />
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author <br />
<br />
<br />
From: Kindle Direct Publishing <kdp-support amazon.com=""><br />Subject: Important Kindle request<br />Date: August 8, 2014 at 10:12:34 PM PDT<br />To: Debra Holland <drdebra earthlink.net=""><br /><br />Dear KDP Author,<br /><br />Just
ahead of World War II, there was a radical invention that shook the
foundations of book publishing. It was the paperback book. This was a
time when movie tickets cost 10 or 20 cents, and books cost $2.50. The
new paperback cost 25 cents – it was ten times cheaper. Readers loved
the paperback and millions of copies were sold in just the first year.<br /><br />With
it being so inexpensive and with so many more people able to afford to
buy and read books, you would think the literary establishment of the
day would have celebrated the invention of the paperback, yes? Nope.
Instead, they dug in and circled the wagons. They believed low cost
paperbacks would destroy literary culture and harm the industry (not to
mention their own bank accounts). Many bookstores refused to stock them,
and the early paperback publishers had to use unconventional methods of
distribution – places like newsstands and drugstores. The famous author
George Orwell came out publicly and said about the new paperback
format, if “publishers had any sense, they would combine against them
and suppress them.” Yes, George Orwell was suggesting collusion. <br /><br />Well… history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.<br /><br />Fast
forward to today, and it’s the e-book’s turn to be opposed by the
literary establishment. Amazon and Hachette – a big US publisher and
part of a $10 billion media conglomerate – are in the middle of a
business dispute about e-books. We want lower e-book prices. Hachette
does not. Many e-books are being released at $14.99 and even $19.99.
That is unjustifiably high for an e-book. With an e-book, there’s no
printing, no over-printing, no need to forecast, no returns, no lost
sales due to out of stock, no warehousing costs, no transportation
costs, and there is no secondary market – e-books cannot be resold as
used books. E-books can and should be less expensive.<br /><br />Perhaps
channeling Orwell’s decades old suggestion, Hachette has already been
caught illegally colluding with its competitors to raise e-book prices.
So far those parties have paid $166 million in penalties and
restitution. Colluding with its competitors to raise prices wasn’t only
illegal, it was also highly disrespectful to Hachette’s readers.<br /><br />The
fact is many established incumbents in the industry have taken the
position that lower e-book prices will “devalue books” and hurt “Arts
and Letters.” They’re wrong. Just as paperbacks did not destroy book
culture despite being ten times cheaper, neither will e-books. On the
contrary, paperbacks ended up rejuvenating the book industry and making
it stronger. The same will happen with e-books.<br /><br />Many inside the
echo-chamber of the industry often draw the box too small. They think
books only compete against books. But in reality, books compete against
mobile games, television, movies, Facebook, blogs, free news sites and
more. If we want a healthy reading culture, we have to work hard to be
sure books actually are competitive against these other media types, and
a big part of that is working hard to make books less expensive.<br /><br />Moreover,
e-books are highly price elastic. This means that when the price goes
down, customers buy much more. We've quantified the price elasticity of
e-books from repeated measurements across many titles. For every copy an
e-book would sell at $14.99, it would sell 1.74 copies if priced at
$9.99. So, for example, if customers would buy 100,000 copies of a
particular e-book at $14.99, then customers would buy 174,000 copies of
that same e-book at $9.99. Total revenue at $14.99 would be $1,499,000.
Total revenue at $9.99 is $1,738,000. The important thing to note here
is that the lower price is good for all parties involved: the customer
is paying 33% less and the author is getting a royalty check 16% larger
and being read by an audience that’s 74% larger. The pie is simply
bigger.<br /><br />But when a thing has been done a certain way for a long
time, resisting change can be a reflexive instinct, and the powerful
interests of the status quo are hard to move. It was never in George
Orwell’s interest to suppress paperback books – he was wrong about that.<br /><br />And
despite what some would have you believe, authors are not united on
this issue. When the Authors Guild recently wrote on this, they titled
their post: “Amazon-Hachette Debate Yields Diverse Opinions Among
Authors” (the comments to this post are worth a read). A petition
started by another group of authors and aimed at Hachette, titled “Stop
Fighting Low Prices and Fair Wages,” garnered over 7,600 signatures.
And there are myriad articles and posts, by authors and readers alike,
supporting us in our effort to keep prices low and build a healthy
reading culture. Author David Gaughran’s recent interview is another
piece worth reading.<br /><br />We recognize that writers reasonably want to
be left out of a dispute between large companies. Some have suggested
that we “just talk.” We tried that. Hachette spent three months
stonewalling and only grudgingly began to even acknowledge our concerns
when we took action to reduce sales of their titles in our store. Since
then Amazon has made three separate offers to Hachette to take authors
out of the middle. We first suggested that we (Amazon and Hachette)
jointly make author royalties whole during the term of the dispute. Then
we suggested that authors receive 100% of all sales of their titles
until this dispute is resolved. Then we suggested that we would return
to normal business operations if Amazon and Hachette’s normal share of
revenue went to a literacy charity. But Hachette, and their parent
company Lagardere, have quickly and repeatedly dismissed these offers
even though e-books represent 1% of their revenues and they could easily
agree to do so. They believe they get leverage from keeping their
authors in the middle.<br /><br />We will never give up our fight for
reasonable e-book prices. We know making books more affordable is good
for book culture. We’d like your help. Please email Hachette and copy
us.<br /><br />Hachette CEO, Michael Pietsch: Michael.Pietsch@hbgusa.com<br /><br />Copy us at: readers-united@amazon.com<br /><br />Please consider including these points:<br /><br />-
We have noted your illegal collusion. Please stop working so hard to
overcharge for ebooks. They can and should be less expensive.<br />- Lowering e-book prices will help – not hurt – the reading culture, just like paperbacks did.<br />- Stop using your authors as leverage and accept one of Amazon’s offers to take them out of the middle.<br />- Especially if you’re an author yourself: Remind them that authors are not united on this issue.<br /><br />Thanks for your support.<br /><br />The Amazon Books Team<br /><br />P.S. You can also find this letter at www.readersunited.com</drdebra></kdp-support>Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-82249521759628770942014-06-28T17:04:00.000-07:002014-06-28T17:04:03.609-07:00What a Difference a Cover MakesI've had <a href="http://amzn.com/B00IX07OIA">Beneath Montana's Sky</a>, the prequel novella to Mail-Order Brides of the West and The Montana Sky Series available for sale on pre-order since April. The book is available on June 30th.<br />
<br />
Here was my cover:<br />
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Perfectly fine. What I didn't realize was that this wasn't the final version. When I recently went to upload the book to Nook (anticipating that I might need a couple of days for the book to go live) I found the cover was too big. So I requested a smaller version from my cover artist. She sent me this:<br />
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I loaded the cover on Nook. (I was at a conference at the time and was sleep deprived.) To my surprise, the book was live in three hours. The next day, while on the phone with Caroline Fyffe discussing our Mail-Order Brides of the West series, she mentioned that I had two different covers. Not knowing what she was talking about, I had to go look and each. Sure enough, the covers were different.<br />
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When I uploaded cover #2 on Amazon, my sales increased and the book went from having a sales rank in the 3000s to the current rank of #1500 overall in the Kindle store and #15 on the top 100 Western Romance list.<br />
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I love the new cover, although I'll probably have her make my name and New York Times Bestselling Author more visible.Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-71404525673629768812013-12-04T09:17:00.000-08:002013-12-04T10:35:59.377-08:00A Fantasy Author Holiday SaleTo honor the holiday season, I've reduced the price of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sower-Dreams-Gods-Dream-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B005FA30V6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385083164&sr=8-1&keywords=Sower+of+Dreams">Sower of Dreams</a></i> to .99 from $3.99.<br />
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AND I've joined with some other fantasy and fantasy romance authors to do a special promotion, where they too are discounting their books to .99 (or making them free.) In addition, there's a <a href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/555cef16/">rafflecopter</a> give away, including gift cards! The top giveaway is a $100 gift card for either Barnes & Nobel or Amazon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglysaCL1rney5XE61-b60sth9J5MXw3PCzRjhjO7t8Cir8LI353EUtBZ_G6KAw4Irpq_oLJqww7ZcSq0oEAVDmGoV4-UTQgFIeiJoQ-jNNWK4M12X3CASAuK2E7M2T3VCJkgfHIQyGfAs/s1600/IRFdraongpromotree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglysaCL1rney5XE61-b60sth9J5MXw3PCzRjhjO7t8Cir8LI353EUtBZ_G6KAw4Irpq_oLJqww7ZcSq0oEAVDmGoV4-UTQgFIeiJoQ-jNNWK4M12X3CASAuK2E7M2T3VCJkgfHIQyGfAs/s320/IRFdraongpromotree.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The other awesome authors in this promotion are:</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Tears-Elios-Elgean-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B005TDJ18U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386176236&sr=8-1&keywords=Crista+McHugh%2C+The+Tears+of+Elios"></a><br />
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Crista McHugh, <a href="http://amzn.com/B005TDJ18U">The Tears of Elios</a></div>
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Cate Dean, <a href="http://amzn.com/B0076Q1XX4">When Walls Can Talk</a></div>
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RM Prioleau, <a href="http://amzn.com/B00A1OL1AS">The Tears of the Goddess</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Give-Me-Tale-Wyrd-Tethers-ebook/dp/B005KHHZXS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386176876&sr=8-1&keywords=LK+Rigel%2C+Give+Me"></a><br />
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LK Rigel, <a href="http://amzn.com/B005KHHZXS">Give Me, a Tale of Wyrd and Fae </a></div>
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Michelle McCleod, <a href="http://amzn.com/B00GWPWHAI">Psychic Appeal</a></div>
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J.E Keep, <a href="http://amzn.com/B00D0SZ96Y">Her Master's Madness</a></div>
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Jen Minkman, <a href="http://amzn.com/B00GYEWV4Y">The Boy From The Woods</a></div>
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S.A. Hunter, <a href="http://amzn.com/B004UWU9IM">Unicorn Bait</a></div>
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Priya Ardis, <a href="http://amzn.com/B008BBG7VG">My Merlin Awakening</a></div>
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<br />Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-71909191987963275182013-11-14T11:28:00.000-08:002013-11-14T11:28:13.598-08:00Facebook Launch Party Invitation!<br /><br /><br />COME CELEBRATE THE LAUNCH OF SWEETWATER SPRINGS CHRISTMAS<br /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUAIIY62F0vYrdBESTnHYHPIwJSjEl8OV7S4FEj7GVEQAw-Fu03vb7DLwMFzMvh5OrA8luJp1Hv5qa8R3EpwfGwJMsp04pRimSDVYxE8tSZqFR3CHvahD75iZjmuXUmSyl9BL_UZF_AYA/s1600/Sweetwater+Springs+Christmas+21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUAIIY62F0vYrdBESTnHYHPIwJSjEl8OV7S4FEj7GVEQAw-Fu03vb7DLwMFzMvh5OrA8luJp1Hv5qa8R3EpwfGwJMsp04pRimSDVYxE8tSZqFR3CHvahD75iZjmuXUmSyl9BL_UZF_AYA/s320/Sweetwater+Springs+Christmas+21.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
Monday, November 18th, I will be hosting my first ever Facebook launch party at: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/628356887207612/?ref=br_tf.">https://www.facebook.com/events/628356887207612/?ref=br_tf.</a><br />I will be joined by ten other authors who’ve contributed short stories to <a href="http://amzn.com/B00G06W3SA">Sweetwater Springs Christmas: A Montana Sky Short Story Anthology.</a> Throughout the day, we’ll be “chatting” and doing playful question and answers. Each hour there will be plenty of giveaways, and at the end of the day, commenters will be entered into a grand prize drawing for a Kindle Fire. <br /><br />If you buy <a href="http://amzn.com/B00G06W3SA">Sweetwater Springs Christmas: A Montana Sky Short Story Anthology</a> before November 18th or during the time of the launch party, you can be entered into a grand prize drawing for a $100.00 Amazon gift card. Just forward your Amazon receipt to my assistant Mindy Freed at: freedmindy@yahoo.com.<br /><br />The party starts at 9:00 am Pacific Time and ends at 5:00 pm Pacific Time. The two random drawings for the grand prizes will take place at 5:00 pm. I hope to see you there!<br /><br /><br /><br />THANKFULNESS BREATHING<br />
<br />This morning after working until 3:00 am to finish the edits to <a href="http://amzn.com/B00G06W3SA">Sweetwater Springs Christmas</a> and send the story off to the formatter, I lay in bed reading emails on my phone. At some point, I became aware of feeling happy, and I set down the phone to explore and savor the emotion.<br /><br />The first and easiest reason for the feeling was because the book--my focus for three intense months--was finished and turned in. Then I became aware of my cat sleeping on my legs. The heaviness of his body curled between my knees was both cozy and comforting. Third, I realized my breathing had deepened and become slow and relaxing, and that I’d unconsciously been breathing thankfulness in and out, expanding and contracting my ribcage and belly.<br /><br />Deep breathing combined with a focus on feelings of gratitude is a meditation technique I often practice, especially during times of stress. For a few minutes, I take deep breaths making sure I fill my whole lungs, which will expand my belly. In other words, my stomach (not just my chest) poofs out. Then I exhale, pulling my stomach in. <br /><br />At the same time, I concentrate on different things I’m grateful for. These can be as small as appreciating being snuggled in a warm blanket, or as large as my gratitude to all the veterans who have served our country. Or, as in today, I may just enjoy a general feeling of gratitude and wellbeing.<br /><br />Both deep breathing and focusing on gratitude are excellent (and quick) stress reducing exercises. They each help our body and our brain become positive and calm. When combined, we feel the beneficial impact of both. <br /><br />As we head into the holiday season, our stress level tends to increase as we add more tasks to our already busy lives. Thankfulness breathing is one of the best ways to help us de-stress, allowing us to better enjoy all the pleasures of the season.<br /><br />Best wishes for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.<br /><br />Debra Holland, Ph.DDr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com195tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-41429984798284737972013-10-20T20:25:00.000-07:002013-10-20T20:29:45.398-07:00INTRODUCING SWEETWATER SPRINGS CHRISTMAS<br />
In the spring, I issued invitations to fifteen of my friends who write Westerns or Western Romance (or in one case horse racing romance) to submit stories for a Christmas anthology set in my town of Sweetwater Springs, Montana in 1895. Ten of them accepted for <a href="http://amzn.com/B00G06W3SA"><i>Sweetwater Springs Christmas.</i></a> I think none of us had any idea of how much work this kind of collaboration would be. It wasn't easy for them to write in MY "world" and in some cases, the authors had never written short stories. (Nor did I have as much time as I thought to guide everyone because I was bogged down in finishing Harvest of Dreams, which went 30k longer than I expected.) Nor did I realize how much time I'd spend editing to make sure the stories matched my town and characters both from past and FUTURE stories. Since I have about ten stories in my head, that's a lot of characters no one knows about yet. For example, I couldn't accept another hero or heroine who'd be a doctor because the town already has a doctor and is about to acquire another.<br />
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But we've had a lot of fun in the process and friendships have grown out of the collaboration. I've LOVED seeing what other authors could do with stories set in Sweetwater Springs (with my characters making some brief appearances.) I hope you enjoy reading the collection as much as we've enjoyed creating it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4x04na1S2cG8JeKUbqo3Z69KOermd1yY3DertPWd95qqZfi6yeirWk8bHKEsIGTIY71QuErSFcRJQZ4G8AFv_EqcsKHbs-12paLPg283yHP9sQSow-y-7EqJw3o53OMerOaQSF7Av0g/s1600/Sweetwater+Springs+Christmas+21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4x04na1S2cG8JeKUbqo3Z69KOermd1yY3DertPWd95qqZfi6yeirWk8bHKEsIGTIY71QuErSFcRJQZ4G8AFv_EqcsKHbs-12paLPg283yHP9sQSow-y-7EqJw3o53OMerOaQSF7Av0g/s320/Sweetwater+Springs+Christmas+21.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Here's the description:<br />
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<b>Come celebrate the holidays in 1895 Sweetwater Springs, Montana, as ten Western Romance authors join New York Times Bestselling author DEBRA HOLLAND in telling SHORT STORIES of love and laughter, heartbreak and healing, and most of all, Christmas joy. </b><br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.ayers.58"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ELIZABETH AYERS</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> - <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
CHRISTMAS FAR FROM HOME</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Far from home, a
young Wyoming rancher and the daughter of a Montana railroad man learn the true
joy of Christmas is in giving.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<a href="http://www.ayersbooks.com/"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">www.ayersbooks.com</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">LINDA
CARROLL-BRADD - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">WISHES ON A STAR</i> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Will a wish on a star foretell the future of a
young suffragette and a visiting rancher?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<a href="http://www.lindacarroll-bradd.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">www.lindacarroll-bradd.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/mj.fredrick"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">MJ FREDRICK</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> - <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ABIGAIL'S
CHRISTMAS ANGEL</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">A lonely widow
and a lonelier marshal make peace with their past.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mjfredrick.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">www.Mjfredrick.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DEBRA
HOLLAND – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">THE GIFT OF MUSIC</i> </b></div>
<div style="background: white;">
Can two reserved people overcome their limitations
and find love? </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/drdebraholland\.com\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">drdebraholland.com</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DEBRA
HOLLAND - <i>A FAMILY FOR IKE</i> </b></div>
<div style="background: white;">
A newly-orphaned boy finds and unexpected family.</div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/drdebraholland\.com\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">drdebraholland.com</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DEBRA
HOLLAND -<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS</i></b></div>
<div style="background: white;">
The town banker learns that perhaps some things are
more important than money. </div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/drdebraholland\.com\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext;">drdebraholland.com</span></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">PATY JAGER
– <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER</i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ida doesn't remember the last two years, but her
husband is determined to find her and reignite their love.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">JILL MARIE LANDIS - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">UPON A<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="aqj">MIDNIGHT</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>CLEAR</i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A spinster discovers it's never
too late to embrace love and the surprises life has in store.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/www\.jillmarielandis\.com\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">www.jillmarielandis.com</span></span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TRISH
MILBURN – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A NEW HOME FOR CHRISTMAS</i></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
A woman scarred in face and heart finds
love with a cowboy.</div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/www\.trishmilburn\.com\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">www.trishmilburn.com</span></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">LINDA
MCLAUGHLIN - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">THE BEST PRESENT</i></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMS;">A grieving ten-year-old girl anticipating a sad Christmas receives
some holiday surprises.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://www.lindamclaughlin.com/"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">www.lindamclaughlin.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BEV PETTERSEN - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">THE
CHRISTMAS CROSSING</i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">With a little Christmas magic,
two searching hearts discover they can bridge much more than a raging river.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><br />
<span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/www\.bevpettersen\.com\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">www.BevPettersen.com</span></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/www\.bevpettersen\.com\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">TORI SCOTT
– <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A PROMISE FOR CHRISTMAS</i></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Faced with her first Montana winter without her husband, Rachel
Tanner and her young son need a miracle.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"></span><span style="mso-field-code: "HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/toriscott\.blogspot\.com\/\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022";"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">http://toriscott.blogspot.com</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span>
</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">CINDY
WOOLF - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">SUGARPLUM DREAMS</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArialMS;">Julia Bosworth travels west to fulfill a special dream and finds her
heart’s desire.</span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.cynthiawoolf.com/"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">www.cynthiawoolf.com</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></span></div>
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Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-83818540149194865152013-03-29T20:22:00.000-07:002013-03-29T22:49:16.785-07:00Jasinda Wilder: A Self-Publishing Success StoryAbout a month ago, I made a new author friend--Jasinda Wilder. She'd joined a cross-promotion group I've recently become part of. Until that point, I'd never heard of Jasinda. But I was interested in her book, <a href="http://amzn.com/B00BUPMC8C"><i>Falling Into You</i></a>, because it's a story of love and loss and grief and loving again. I started to read the book and was immediately riveted. I read the book straight through, then thought a lot about the story afterwards. I can honestly say that <a href="http://amzn.com/B00BUPMC8C"><i>Falling Into You</i></a> is one of those rare books that I'll always remember.<br />
<br />
The book starts out with sixteen year old protagonists, but it's not a <i>young </i>adult book, its a <i>new</i> adult book (meaning college age and up) then jumps to a time period of several years later. The book is very sensual and makes an accurate portrayal of what can happen when someone becomes stuck in grief and guilt as well as the aftereffects of trauma.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FMiol7JcXlIitBbsoXHrdVe6rEVqYphE1cTpMzXfk-I6yUZkE6lV1ILGDRN2t5TBph0KwolPegU27IzlegFiQwed4jcoHw3_7eG1JLfLbqu3bUoChFU0OIamdsiK0F_FnpLmnTuFO-w/s1600/Falling+Into+You+amazon+GR+Smash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FMiol7JcXlIitBbsoXHrdVe6rEVqYphE1cTpMzXfk-I6yUZkE6lV1ILGDRN2t5TBph0KwolPegU27IzlegFiQwed4jcoHw3_7eG1JLfLbqu3bUoChFU0OIamdsiK0F_FnpLmnTuFO-w/s320/Falling+Into+You+amazon+GR+Smash.jpg" width="221" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
But Jasinda's terrific book isn't why I'm having her guest blog for me. I wanted to showcase her on my blog because of her life story. A year ago, she was struggling with a family member in the hospital and bills mounting up to the point of almost losing her house. Today, as of this week, Jasinda is a USA Today Bestselling author, A New York Times Bestselling author, and #1 on the Amazon Kindle Top 100 list. Needless to say, her financial situation has considerable changed, and all because of writing good books and then self-publishing them.<br />
<br />
I felt reading Jasinda's story couldn't help but motivate other struggling authors and give them hope and encouragement. Writing books for publication can be extremely difficult and discouraging. Not everyone will experience the extremes of darkness to fireworks kind of success that has been Jasinda's journey, but you don't have to hit #1 to make a positive difference in your financial situation.<br />
<br />
And so, I bring you, Jasinda Wilder. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSHxH84KB9wjZ-oUlhG30Pdca3jF5d7LRKn0wyJ-Q9u54UiTWASAsR-N3ATUnF2VtACJhwsHXYV9qw6S66nd5-E-jACvGYjR7EF0zY3aFfwDpT4graGuGJlnBUXLXj0Ewns2gUYE2mJgQ/s1600/newheadshot1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSHxH84KB9wjZ-oUlhG30Pdca3jF5d7LRKn0wyJ-Q9u54UiTWASAsR-N3ATUnF2VtACJhwsHXYV9qw6S66nd5-E-jACvGYjR7EF0zY3aFfwDpT4graGuGJlnBUXLXj0Ewns2gUYE2mJgQ/s320/newheadshot1.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ON HEARTACHE; OR, THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">By Jasinda Wilder</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">We’ve
all been through hell. I have, and you reading this…you have too. Stop for a
moment and think about your life, think about the hardest times. You probably
went to bed wondering how you could get up in the morning, and then when you
did wake up, you had that blissful moment where you let yourself think it was
all a bad dream, something horrible you imagined. Then, of course, reality
asserted itself and you wished you could go back to that place of denial. It’s
tempting, isn’t it? To want to just deny, deny, deny. Pretend the horror that’s
swirling all around you and making a ruin of your life is just a dream. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">The
problem is, reality doesn’t stop. Truth doesn’t go away, and life doesn’t live
itself. Sure, if you ignore the problem long enough, circumstances will
eventually change; usually, in my experience, the way they change is for the
worse, whereas if you stand up, accept the heartache and let it wash through
you and breathe past it, take life one step at a time, you can forge a new
reality for yourself. It’s easy for me to type those words, though. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">I’ve
been there, though, that’s the thing. I’ve been betrayed. I’ve had my heart
stomped on and my life ruined and my trust broken and my reality shattered.
I’ve ignored problems in the hopes that they’d work themselves out, and I’ve
spent the weeks and months and years working to rebuild myself and my life
after it all came crashing down. I’ve lost people I loved and cared about to
cancer and suicide and age. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">I’ve
been Nell. I may not have chosen to deal with my pain in the same
self-destructive ways she did, necessarily, but I’ve been in denial of my own
pain, I’ve closed myself off from those around me, I’ve drank too much in the
search for numbness. I’ve also been Colton, having to make my own way in life,
having to believe in myself when no one else did. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">There’s
no secret formula, no magic bit of advice I or anyone else can offer to help
you through your hardest times, except, perhaps, what Colton told Nell: just
keep breathing. Keep getting up day after day and force yourself to go through
the motions. Fake it till you make it. Eventually, things will get better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">How
does this apply to writers? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Keep
writing. Keep submitting. Keep publishing. Finish a story, be it a novella,
short story, novelette, or the fictitious “next great American novel”. Finish
it, set it aside and write another one. Polish the first one, make it as best
you can, and then don’t mess with it anymore. Just keep writing. Publish it, or
work up your query letters if you’re going the trad-pub route. And then? Keep
writing. If the first thing you published doesn’t sell, publish something else.
Don’t endlessly fiddle with the cover or the blurb, don’t screw around with a
social media campaign. Just keep writing. That’s not to say that covers and
blurbs and social media aren’t important, because they are, especially for the
indie author. But don’t let <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anything</i>
overshadow the writing. That’s where the satisfaction is, that’s where the
money is. Write, publish, repeat. Do this as fast and furious as you can. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">If
your book gets shit reviews, keep an open mind and take the core advice to
heart when you write the next one. Try—and you will sometimes fail at this—not
to take the bad reviews personally. There’s no accounting for taste, you can’t please
everyone…take your pick of overused adages. They’re all true, though, which is
why they’re so overused. The reviews are there to help, good or bad. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Before
things started taking off for me as Jasinda Wilder, I’d been writing and
self-publishing here and there for a long time (and I even made a few passes at
trad-pub agents and writing contests), but nothing ever really hit, never felt
quite right. I hadn’t found my niche. It was hard. It was discouraging. The
stuff I was putting out there just wasn’t finding an audience. So, instead of
giving up or continuing to throw more of the same thing at the wall, I stopped,
stepped back, and reconsidered my approach. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">I
looked at what I was writing and why. I looked at the market, at what was
selling, what people were reading. Then I looked at myself, my life, the
stories I had to tell, and tried to come up with a new plan. The result was a
partially-autobiographical novelette, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Big
Girls Do It Better</i>, and that was the beginning. People identified with my
characters and seemed to be responding to my writing style, and were asking for
more. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">But
like I said, that was the beginning. I had setbacks, I had stories that didn’t
quite flop, but weren’t really going anywhere either. I had partnerships
dissolve and friendships fizzle. I had personal drama, illness, bills that
weren’t being paid. And in it all, I kept looking at the market, following the
trends, watching for what kind of stories were doing the best and trying to
figure out my own angle. See, I don’t want to ever just write a story that will
fit neatly into a slot. I believe in taking risks—calculated, considered risks,
but risks nonetheless. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">So
when I look at the market and the bestselling titles, I don’t ask “how can I
mimic this and capitalize on the trend?” but rather, “what is the trend, and
how can I write a unique and edgy story that will fill that niche?” I don’t
want to be part of the trend, I want to further it, make it new, expand on it,
push the boundaries. </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Falling Into You</span></i><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"> is a New Adult novel, because
that’s the big thing right now, but it’s also a story that (I hope!) will
always be relevant. Nell and Colton are all of us, anyone who has faced a
mountain of grief and felt buried under a deluge of trial and tribulation.
They’re you and me. The healing power of love, the need to let yourself grieve,
to own your emotions and keep breathing through the hardest times, the need to
find someone that fills the space in your heart, these are timeless issues.
Death, pain, the mistakes we make in dealing with our problems, these too are
all things that will always be relevant. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">You
can’t just capitalize on a trend. You have to be relevant and daring. Most of
all, you have to believe in your own talent and in the stories you have to
tell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The most-quoted words of advice for new
writers: “Write what you know.” But that’s so ambiguous. What you know can be
anything. If you know historical fiction, you don’t have to have lived in
Restoration-era England to write good Restoration-era romance. I know loss and
grief and betrayal and redemption and love and hot sex, so I write about those
things. If you know what it’s like to be cheated on and how devastating that is
and how to move past it, write that story. It will always be relevant, because
people are stupid and cheat on other and they always have and always will. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Write
what’s true for you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Just
write. That’s my biggest piece of advice. Don’t be an aspiring writer; be a
writer. I can be an aspiring Olympic gymnast (Ha, right!) but unless I go to
the gym and get a coach and start learning to do backflips and handstands, I’ll
never be anything <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">but</i> an aspiring
gymnast. I have to get my ass in the gym and start practicing my backflips.
Same with writing. Aspire all you want, all day long. But you’ll never sell a
single copy until you sit down, put on your headphones and fill the page with
words every single day and finish the damn book. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">This
is all a bit rambling, I guess, but it all fits together, I hope. Take risks.
Understand that heartache is part of life, and one day you might be able to put
that heartache into a story and it’ll move people, it’ll touch their lives. But
before that, you have to just keep breathing, keep living. Love. Be true to
yourself and what you want your life to be. Just breathe, just write.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">And
listen to great music, because music heals, too. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">***********************************************************************************</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Debra Holland is teaching an online self-publishing class for the Futuristic, Fantasy, and Paranormal Chapter of RWA, starting April 8 and running through May 12. Cost is $20 for members, $30 for nonmembers. For more details, see http://romance-ffp.com/page/workshops</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"> </span></div>
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<br />Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-36796598449103483172013-02-05T14:16:00.003-08:002013-02-05T14:46:48.678-08:00STARRY MONTANA SKY--ONE OF AMAZON'S TOP 50 GREATEST LOVE STORIES!!!<div>
<a href="http://amzn.com/B007REBJ7K"><i>Starry Montana Sky</i></a>, Book Two in my Montana Sky Series, is an Amazon Top 50 Love Stories pick!!! I’m over the moon, disbelieving, humbled by being included in such impressive company, and very, very grateful. Amazon picked a book per state, and <i>Starry</i> obviously represents Montana. Wow! What a wonderful early Valentine’s Day present!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcLjTmTZaGb6f8G3vKppKkfbJmC96TZmKoJwQrhYAbMhwuVLPO3XDP31vjgfckQnMQiTLvrnBbk-92m7cTxbQYhyKYcQ7FYQQP7l-HLgjSnG_K_C_zXZbXFVr5fCmkHXs5oidR_pLgdk/s1600/Starry+Montana+Sky+Montlake+print-ebook+FINAL26+300dpi+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAcLjTmTZaGb6f8G3vKppKkfbJmC96TZmKoJwQrhYAbMhwuVLPO3XDP31vjgfckQnMQiTLvrnBbk-92m7cTxbQYhyKYcQ7FYQQP7l-HLgjSnG_K_C_zXZbXFVr5fCmkHXs5oidR_pLgdk/s320/Starry+Montana+Sky+Montlake+print-ebook+FINAL26+300dpi+.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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The top 50 picks are love stories, not necessarily romances. Many, such as <i>Gone With the Wind</i>, or <i>My Antonia</i>, are classics. </div>
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Today, as I reflect on <i>Starry Montana Sky’s</i> journey, I realized the book has lessons to offer authors and readers about the value of collaboration, persistence, and of following your intuition.</div>
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The germ of the idea for <i>Starry Montana Sky</i> came about when I attended the Rose Parade--probably back in 2001. I saw a tiny buggy pulled by miniature horses, and immediately thought, <i>I want miniature horses in my next Montana Sky book! </i></div>
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For the next hour, I divided my attention between watching the parade and thinking about a story. I wanted to have the miniature horses save the day in a way a horse couldn’t. By the end of the parade, I had the idea of someone being injured in a cave system, and only a little horse could pull him through the tunnel. I scribbled notes all over my parade program. The only possible stumbling block was not knowing if miniature horses existed in the 1890s.</div>
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When I returned home, I researched miniature horses, and to my relief found Falabellas existed in Argentina in the 1890s, although they weren’t officially recognized as a breed until the 1930s. So I knew my heroine or hero had to be from Argentina and bring Falabellas to Sweetwater Springs, Montana.</div>
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In a an informal plotting group with the fabulous author, Leanne Banks, organized by my local Romance Writers of America (RWA) chapter of Orange County, Leanne mentioned that she’d recently read an article titled, “Last Chance Ranch,” about an organization that rehabilitates wayward youth and suggested that might be something interesting for the book. I liked the idea, and started toying with my own version of Louisa May Alcott’s book, <i>Jo’s Boys</i>, a little known sequel to <i>Little Women</i> and <i>Little Men</i>.</div>
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For my heroine, I chose widowed Samantha Rodriguez, an American who’d married an Argentine rancher. Samantha inherits her uncle’s dilapidated ranch in Sweetwater Springs. I gave the book a working title of <i>Sam’s Boys</i>.<i> </i>It wasn’t until two thirds into the book, when the hero, Wyatt Thompson is driving to Samantha’s ranch and admires the night sky, that the title, <i>Starry Montana Sky</i> came to me.</div>
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In <i>Starry</i> for the first time I allowed a secondary character a point of view. I LOVED writing the POV of Jack Cassidy, one of the orphaned boys adopted by Samantha. His “voice” flowed out of my fingers, unique and so very him. My writing teacher and editor, Louella Nelson, warned me that he was in danger of taking over the book, and said that I needed to make the rest of my writing match the quality of Jack’s scenes. To this day, those scenes I wrote for Jack are among my favorites.</div>
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Once I finished <i>Starry</i>, I entered it in the Orange Rose contest where it took second place. My agent at the time loved the book. But because it was the second in a series, <i>Starry</i> wasn’t submitted to editors. The first in the series, <a href="http://amzn.com/B007REBLF0"><i>Wild Montana Sky,</i></a> was the book garnering the stack of rejection letters for not being the type of book the editors were looking for—meaning it wasn’t sexy nor a contemporary Western Romance.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCiR80ffF3rJEt75GblHVXq_B6tDPmf02cKSMnQm1BDyi-f-EjFGHkmFIH5Oe3IQeQLPN5xBlMZpQMKMrR_7A6MvacnRyqHjmQb1pMnCe5gPTNMTr_RtsRkMRO7b75LKxrFgPMBLrR1aQ/s1600/Wild+Montana+Sky+Montlake+FINAL+25+300dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCiR80ffF3rJEt75GblHVXq_B6tDPmf02cKSMnQm1BDyi-f-EjFGHkmFIH5Oe3IQeQLPN5xBlMZpQMKMrR_7A6MvacnRyqHjmQb1pMnCe5gPTNMTr_RtsRkMRO7b75LKxrFgPMBLrR1aQ/s320/Wild+Montana+Sky+Montlake+FINAL+25+300dpi.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Finally my agent received an offer (with an advance) for <i>Wild Montana Sky</i>. BUT the publisher wasn’t interested in a series. That meant no sale for <i>Starry</i>. Going with my intuition, I turned the offer down. My agent was NOT pleased. She lost interest in me and within a few months she dropped me.</div>
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With a pile of rejection letters for all my novels, I turned to writing nonfiction, which I knew I could self-publish and sell in the back of the room when I gave talks. At the time I made that decision, Kindles didn’t yet exist, and self-published novels were considered the bottom of the barrel.</div>
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I finally received my first contract for <a href="http://amzn.com/B008NSUQLO"><i>The Essential Guide to Grief and Grieving</i></a> AND a five month deadline. While in the middle of writing the book, author Delle Jacobs sent me an email about how well she was doing with her self-published books. I made up my mind to self-publish <i>Wild</i> and <i>Starry</i> as soon as I turned in the grief book.</div>
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While still on the deadline, I commissioned Delle to design my covers. I knew exactly what I wanted for both books. <i>Wild’s</i> cover took us some time as we went back and forth in choosing the elements. Delle sent me dozens of photos of ranch houses, and when I saw the one for <i>Starry</i>, I emailed her to hang onto that photo for book two. Luckily we found the ranch house for <i>Wild</i> soon after.</div>
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The process of creating <i>Starry’s</i> cover was much easier. I told Delle I wanted a starry night sky with a full moon, the ranch house I’d already chosen, and a solitary horse. Delle nailed the beautiful cover on her first design, although we made a few small changes. I think the covers are a big reason for the success of the books, and one of my stipulations for going with Montlake as a publisher was that I’d keep my covers, although they could be polished up.</div>
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The sales of <i>Starry</i> always lagged behind <i>Wild</i>. <i>Wild Montana Sky</i> served to weed out the people who didn’t like my type of stories, and the book’s lower review average reflects that--4.2 versus <i>Starry's</i> 4.4. People who bought <i>Starry </i>were predisposed to like the book because they already like my writing style, my voice, and the time and place of my stories.</div>
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In November, after an intense Amazon promotion of <i>Wild Montana Sky</i>, the sales of <i>Starry</i> overtook book one. The people who bought and loved book one had jumped to book two, floating the sales and the rank. For the first time, <i>Starry</i> started to outshine, USA Today bestselling <i>Wild Montana Sky</i>.</div>
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Amazon chose <i>Starry</i> as the Kindle Daily Deal for January 1, 2013, and I sold the most books I ever had in one day. <i>Starry</i> quickly reached the top 100 Kindle list and dropped lower in rank than the two times <i>Wild Montana Sky</i> made the list. Midway through the month of January, the books flipped in sales and readers who first bought and read <i>Starry</i> returned to buy <i>Wild. </i></div>
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Today, I started to think about why <i>Starry Montana Sky</i> was chosen as a to 50 love story instead of <i>Wild Montana Sky</i>. I don’t know that it’s a better book, but perhaps it’s a more “classic” read, and I believe that’s because of Jack’s POV. </div>
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I’ve learned from Jack. Since his creation, I’ve added the POV of children to my subsequent Montana Sky stories, and I believe the stories are richer for it. I've found I have a knack for getting into the characters of children.</div>
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I can’t help but reflect with humility and awe on my journey for the last year and nine months since I first self-published the Montana Sky series, ten years after <i>Wild Montana Sky</i> won the RWA Golden Heart. After years of rejections, I thought my dreams for writing fiction had died, and I never dreamed they’d rise from the ashes and flame into an amazing blaze. I still see the books as simple, old-fashioned romances and am sort of bewildered by the reader response to them. I try to make my stories reflect my own values of love, family, kindness, and helping others because I believe that’s what’s important in life.</div>
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So that’s <i>Starry Montana Sky’s </i>journey. Thanks to all who made it possible, especially my readers.</div>
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Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-87881963758510411662013-01-24T10:11:00.000-08:002013-01-24T10:15:21.826-08:00Self-Publishing: Avoiding, "It's too short!" Bad ReviewsA common reason for a bad review is the criticism that a short story or novella is "Too short." Whenever I hear authors complain about this type of review, they also are grinding their teeth because they mention in the product description and/or the cover that the book is a novella or short story. Thus the readers didn't read (or notice) that a book is a novella or short story, or they forgot by the time they got around to reading the story on their ereader.<br />
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When I self-published my first collection of short stories, <a href="http://amzn.com/B0092XYEIK"><i>Montana Sky Christmas</i>,</a> I worried about receiving these kinds of negative reviews. To prevent these type of reviews as much as possible, I took four proactive steps to avoid reader confusion.<br />
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1. I made "short stories" part of the title. The whole title is, <a href="http://amzn.com/B0092XYEIK"><i>Montana Sky Christmas: A Short Story Collection</i>.</a><br />
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2. I made sure the subtitle was on the cover and as visible as the main title. I did this by changing the font and making the color "pop."<br />
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3. I put "Short Stories" in all caps in the product description: In Montana Sky Christmas, USA Today bestselling author Debra Holland offers seven SHORT STORIES set in the small town of Sweetwater Springs, Montana in 1894.<br />
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4. In my email blast to my fans, I made sure to communicate the book was short stories.<br />
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In a lucky stroke that I didn't anticipates, when the reviews started coming in, the reviewers often mentioned that the book was composed of short stories. Some even mentioned which stories they liked the best.<br />
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To date, a little over four and a half months after publication and with 55 reviews, I don't have any reviews dinging me because <i>Montana Sky Christmas</i> was short stories, instead of one long story. I do have one or two who wistfully mention that they wish there were more.<br />
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For my novella, <i><a href="http://amzn.com/B00ARXMWTW">Painted Montana Sky</a>,</i> I did the same thing. I put in the subtitle that the story was a novella--<a href="http://amzn.com/B00ARXMWTW"><i>Painted Montana Sky: A Montana Sky Series Novella</i>.</a> The subtitle also identified the novella as part of the series.<br />
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The only difficulty I encountered before publication was people asking me what a "novella" was. So when I sent out the fan email announcement, I used novella/novelette as a descriptor.<br />
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The first line of the product description reads: In Painted Montana Sky, a NOVELLA from the acclaimed Montana Sky Series, USA Today bestselling author Debra Holland brings together two people who have turned their backs on love and relationships.<br />
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I self-published <i>Painted Montana Sky </i>on December 22, and in slightly over a month it has acquired 21 reviews, none of which complain about the length.<br />
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So while I might not have forewarned every potential reader about the type and length of these stories, I did everything I think is possible to give them the knowledge, thus preventing future disappointment.Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-14529141240781362562013-01-07T19:06:00.000-08:002013-01-15T22:15:55.184-08:00An Agent Bashes Self-Publishing and AmazonOver the weekend, I attended a wonderful conference on story mastery, which was fun, inspirational, and chock full of interesting attendees. I had a marvelous time--with one exception--the agent who was a guest speaker. It wasn't the first time I've heard agents bash self-publishing and Amazon, but since it's important to me to educate authors about self-publishing, I wanted to write out some of what the agent said, and my opinion of his opinion. :)<br />
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First of all, I want to be clear. I am NOT bashing agents. I know and respect many agents. I have one of my own, whom I admire. Nor am I bashing traditional publishing. I'm also traditionally published and may be again in the future.<br />
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Before yesterday, I'd heard this agent/literary attorney speak several times. This weekend, when he was discussing selling a screenplay to Hollywood, including what should and should not be in the contracts, I thought he was very sharp and knowledgable, and I considered pitching my screenplay to him.<br />
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That opinion changed when he started talking about the importance of having an agent for books. He said editors will ONLY read agented submissions. (There was no mention that authors can pitch to editors at conferences or that editors now troll for best selling self-published books and make offers directly to the authors.) The implication is that an agent is vital for your publishing career.<br />
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However, that wasn't what annoyed me.<br />
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Someone in the audience asked his opinion of self-publishing. The agent responded by giving the audience opinionated, misleading, and sometimes false information, some of which I will detail here.<br />
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The agent was obviously against self-publishing, quoting the old statistic that 97% of authors sell less than 100 books. I know there are more recent surveys, and I also know that these surveys don't tap into much of the self-publishing community. I know a LOT of self-publishers who sell more than 100 books. They sell more than 100 books a year, a month, a week, a day, or an hour. Granted I hang out in the romance author circles, and romance fiction is a big percentage of the market, but I also know authors of other genres who have sold more than 100 books.<br />
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I spoke up, not to challenge the guy, but to educate the audience. I stated that I was a successful self-published author who had made the USA Today list and sold almost 100,000 books in a year. The speaker then made his point by saying that I was obviously one of the 3%. <br />
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The agent stated that with self-publishing you have to be your own editor and do your own marketing. He said that you want to go with a traditional publisher because they have wider distribution and can get you into brick and mortar stores. All true. But he didn't present the complete picture--that with self-publishing, you pay others to edit your work, and that no matter how you are published, you have to do promotion. Also most new or midlist authors don't receive a lot of promotion from their traditional publisher--so it doesn't matter if the possibility exists for wider distribution and promotion.<br />
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The agent was against small publishers, not even mentioning that there are some hot small pubs now that are doing far more for their authors than traditional publishers do for most of their authors. I think you have to be careful and do your research to discover them, but some small publishers are making exciting inroads into the market.<br />
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As for brick and mortar stores.... They are less and less viable for authors because many of them don't exist anymore. When my local Borders closed, I started buying my books at Amazon. Stores offer limited shelf-space, that mostly goes to well-known authors. And there's a limited amount of time a book will be available in the store.<br />
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The agent did grudging admit that a self-published author could receive higher royalties, but he mentioned that you could make 70% on a $10.00 book. (Untrue, you make 35% on a $10.00 book. You make 70% on a $9.99 book.) Granted, I'm being picky here. But if you are educating your audience, you have to give them the correct information.<br />
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Someone asked the agent more about Amazon. The audience member seemed to be asking about Amazon's traditional imprints, but the agent kept referring to Amazon's self-publishing platform. I spoke up and said that Amazon has traditional imprints. The agent responded by saying, "I would never submit to them because <i>Amazon is destroying publishing</i>. And I don't know any other agent who submits to them either."<br />
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Wow, really? No other agents submit to Amazon imprints?<br />
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I knew some of my fellow Montlakers had their books submitted by agents. Today, I took a survey of my Montlake friends and found a large percentage of authors had their books submitted by their agents. And if you look at Publisher's Marketplace, you'll also see agented sales to Amazon Imprints. I can't believe this agent wouldn't read PM.<br />
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Here is a guy who may be acting to detriment of his clients due to his own ideology. This agent is denying his clients the opportunity to have offers from the Amazon imprints, which may be much better than traditional publishing offers--or at the least spark some kind of bidding war. In my case, I had a big six editor approach me for my Montana Sky series. Her terms weren't as good as Montlake's, so I declined her offer. I know several other Montlake authors who had offers from big six publishers, and they, too, went with Amazon's better offers.<br />
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Then there is the potential for promotion and generating sales (and thus making money) that Amazon imprints offer. For example, my two Montlake books have sold about 100,000 in four months and a week. Much of those sales are due to Amazon's promotions. I know authors who've had way better sales with Amazon than I have. I certainly know I wouldn't have sold as many so quickly with a traditional publisher.<br />
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<i>Amazon is destroying traditional publishing.</i> Yep, that's true. And it's not true. Traditional publishing has been destroying itself. I won't go into the ways it has done so. There are plenty of blogs and articles that address this issue.<br />
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One of the things Amazon has done to strike a blow to traditional publishing is opened opportunities for authors. The company made the Kindle a viable option for readers and established a free, easy to use, self-publishing platform. Authors are flocking to self-publishing, many combining a career that includes self-publishing and traditional publishing as a way to have the best of both worlds. However, in the process, agents are becoming less and less important, and may, at times, be a detriment to an author's career.<br />
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Think carefully and do your research before you decide you want an agent. Then before submitting to agents, carefully check them out. You want an agent who's future oriented, not stuck in the past. Read their websites and blogs, and speak with their clients. Read PM and see what they've sold. Listen to their podcasts or CDs of when they speak at conferences. A good agent will be gold and do marvelous things for your career. Make sure that's the kind you have.<br />
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<br />Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-51137469274999319772012-11-17T19:10:00.000-08:002012-11-17T19:18:05.375-08:00Superstorm Sandy:Crisis Counseling, Kindness, and HopeI'm in New Jersey on my second to last day of volunteer crisis counseling. Yesterday, I finally had a chance to take the books to the distribution center. Here's a photo of the books. There are actually more boxes of books than you can see because there are some behind the big boxes. I purposely hadn't opened any, one for ease of transportation, and two because I wanted everyone to see that people from all over the country had sent them.<br />
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Once the volunteer who unloaded my car had all the books in his cart, he started to roll them away. I offered to help him open the boxes. "No, Doc," he said in a thick New Jersey accent. "I have plenty of volunteers who can do that. But there's only one you who can counsel people."<br />
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Disappointed, I almost stopped him because I really wanted to see all the books. But I would have lingered, seeing who'd sent them, examining covers and reading the back blurbs, starting the stories, and probably coveting more than a few. So I left.<br />
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Then when I got home to Bill's late last night, I had another three boxes waiting. And five more tonight. I'll make another stop to the distribution center tomorrow after my last group and before I leave to fly home. The last two nights were dark and cold, and I quickly loaded the boxes in the car because I know I'll dash out of here in the mornings. So I didn't look at who sent them. But I'm VERY grateful.<br />
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Today I did a group at the Senior Center in Sayreville, where FEMA and the Red Cross are set up. As can be typical after disasters, neither organization knew about the distribution center for people to get free food and clothing (and now books.) When a woman told me she had to use a portion of her rent money to buy food and diapers, I told her about the distribution center where I knew they had more diapers than they knew what to do with. She was so happy to learn she could receive free food, clothing, and diapers, and she could return another day if she ran out. After that I made sure the Red Cross volunteers who greeted people and said good-bye to them had the directions to the distribution center and told everyone about it.<br />
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Just as I was about to leave the building to go back to Our Lady of Victories Church, where I have done the majority of my groups, a Red Cross volunteer came up to me and mentioned that there was a man who'd lost everything and was having a difficult (and thus emotional) time navigating the bureaucratic hoops that disaster victims often have to jump through to receive assistance.<br />
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I approached the man, (I'll make up a name and call him John) introduced myself, and asked if he'd like to speak to me. John was tall and wide, with dark circles under his brown eyes. He wore shorts and sandals on a day that I had on a coat and boots. His expression lit up with eagerness, and he said a strong, "yes!" Then John asked me to wait while he left to do some paperwork, promising to return in ten or twenty minutes. I said I'd wait for him.<br />
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John returned. We went to an empty room, and he started talking. Very quickly, I could tell that this was a man who life had dealt some very hard knocks, the latest one being Sandy. He and his 17 year-old son were left with only the clothes on their backs. John was on disability from an injury and didn't have resources to replace what he'd lost. He'd been wearing the same clothes for days.<br />
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Early on in our discussion, after I'd said something to validate his experience, John said in a tone of wonder, "You've only been talking to me for 10 minutes, and you understand what I'm going through!"<br />
I could tell he hadn't received much compassion in his life.<br />
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John told me a story that touched me and also broke my heart--how when the storm first started, he took $100 of his own money, bought candles, and went door to door at the hotel where he was staying and gave one to everyone.<br />
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His son said to him, "Dad, why are you doing this when no one cares about <i>you?</i>"<br />
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"Because it makes <i>me</i> feel good," John replied.<br />
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I hated to think of that young man (who'd been abandoned by his mother at age six) already having a world view that no one cares.<br />
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John and I had a very productive session. He was very open to my feedback and suggestions. I connected him with Catholic Charities for some free counseling and with the church for some spiritual support. At the end, he told me how much it meant to him that I had approached him, that I had listened, and that I had cared. The act of kindness was as important to him as the counseling.<br />
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As we were walking out, I told John I wanted him to take his son to the distribution center. In addition to getting food and clothing, I told him to search out the books, and I explained how people from all over the country had sent them to me, and I'd taken them to the shelter. I said I knew there were some science fiction and horror stories (thanks to the author-team at Amazon and also to Seventh Star Press) that I was sure a 17 year-old would love to read. "Yah, he likes those kind of books," his father said.<br />
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"Be sure you tell him that those books come from people who care," I said.<br />
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John thanked me, almost in tears.<br />
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As we parted, I hoped that the help I'd given John would indeed make a difference. Even more, I prayed that his son would pick out some books and, in so doing, would not just receive stories, but <i>hope.</i> And maybe, just maybe, he'd come to believe that there are people who do care.<br />
<br />Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-70993521984974863432012-11-14T15:41:00.002-08:002012-11-14T15:43:34.917-08:00Superstorm Sandy, Trauma Recovery Counseling<br />
As I write this, I'm in Sayreville, New Jersey, doing volunteer crisis counseling for the victims of Superstorm Sandy. I arrived at midnight on the 11th and am staying until the evening of the 18th.<br />
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Before I came here, I did a book drive, contacting my writers' groups and asking for donations to be sent to where I'm staying. I knew from experience that people in shelters needed the distraction that a good book can provide. I promised that if I had the time and energy, I'd write some blog posts to keep let people know how it was going. So this post in about keeping that promise<br />
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First of all, I I want to acknowledge that I've been welcomed with open arms. People are very touched that someone would come all the way from California on their own accord to help out. My friend, Bill, is housing me and driving me around. Through him I was networked into Catholic Charities. (Did you know Catholic Charities helps people who aren't Catholic? I didn't.) Monday, day one for me, was spent in meeting the people from Catholic Charities and determining where my services could be best utilized. Yesterday started with a meeting of all the agencies in the area who are working to help the victims, including the Red Cross, FEMA, Catholic Charities, United Way, and other government and local organizations. During and after the storm, many of these organizations had to deal with the loss of power or perhaps even damage to their own buildings, but the staff worked hard to help others, and managed to get creative and still accomplish a great deal both for their clients and the general community.<br />
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The purpose of the meeting was to learn what everyone was doing and to find a way to enhance the communication between the various agencies. I was there to talk about the free trauma recovery groups I was going to do, and also the group I wanted to organize for the people in the room and anyone else who's worked for one of the organizations serving the victims.<br />
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After the meeting, I went to the Red Cross shelter at Rutgers. Earlier in the day Shirley Hailstock had dropped off boxes of books and tote bags, and by the time I got there, people were happily reading. I've been receiving boxes of books (and know I have more coming). Tomorrow, I'll donate them to the distribution center.<br />
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I did my first group at the Red Cross shelter. By this time, many of the people who'd originally taken refuge there had moved on to live with families or friends, or found local housing. Those who stayed, had no where else to go. Some had been homeless before the storm and were coping with other issues such has not having proper medication. These people have had a chance to have their lapsed prescriptions renewed, and staff members are trying to transition them into local programs or at least a better situation. So they are receiving the support and attention that they normally don't have. One man commented with awe that he'd been taken to the Rutgers football game.<br />
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I also had five Red Cross workers join the group, so I had a mixed "bag" of people. Once I started the group, I felt this inner sense of relief. Even though I'd been "helping" since I'd been in NJ, I finally was doing what I'd really come here to do--aid people in their healing process. My crisis groups are usually a mix of education and sharing, and this one was no different, although I had to sometimes simplify things. But afterwards, I had a lot of feedback that the group was helpful--which was good to hear considering I had to meet very differing needs.<br />
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After working at the shelter, I had a break from thinking about the work when Bill, who graduated from Rutgers, took me to a popular restaurant and then to his favorite bar. If you know me personally, you know I'm not a bar person, but this was fun because Bill knew the staff, and we had interesting conversations and lots of laughs. The perfect way to escape for a while.<br />
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Today I started my first group at St. Mary of the Victories, and it was to help people, such as the staff of Catholic Charities, who'll be working with the victims. This group was both a training for them in what to say and do to help people with their emotional recovery, but also a place where they could share their own feelings and take a little personal time. I enjoyed working with such a great group of dedicated, caring individuals, knowing that they'd take what they received from their experience with me and pass it on.<br />
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Ironically, I gave them a lecture in self-care, but hadn't taken the time for breakfast, and then the group went so long it overlapped with group 2, so I didn't have lunch. However, my excuse was I squeezed in a little workout at Bill's gym, which is in itself self-care, and I did grab a protein drink and add a vitamin packet to it. And I had a protein bar in my purse for after the group. So I was doing self-care, just maybe not as well as I should have.<br />
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Catholic Charities has supplied me with a car, and Bill programed his GPS for me. So I'll be able to drive where needed.<br />
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The rectory at the church has a guest suite, and I was able to take a nap and join the priest for dinner. He shared with me that he was able to get the message for my groups to the community information network. We have them scheduled every day, including Sunday. I took a picture of the television. They missed the 12:30 Saturday group which is scheduled at the Senior Center. If you know of anyone in the area, encourage them to attend.<br />
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I'm sitting on the bed in my guest suite, quickly typing this before heading out to my 7:00 group. Please excuse any typos, missing words, and other mistakes because I'm not going to do my normal editing job.<br />
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I just wanted to express my thanks to everyone who's supported me, by praying or thinking positive thoughts, by sending books I can donate, or by being a member of this community and doing so much to help me out. I truly feel blessed to have the support so I can give to others.<br />
<br />Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-44814703494952365332012-09-29T17:11:00.002-07:002012-09-29T17:11:21.828-07:00Self-Publishing: Making Dreams Come True<br />
As I write this, I'm sitting on my hotel balcony in Montana, looking at the mountains. I've been here for four days, researching, relaxing, reading, and writing. This trip is completely paid for from my self-publishing royalties, and I'm so grateful and excited to be here. I'm having a wonderful time, and I know I won't want to go home in two days.<br />
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The air has been a little smoky because of the fires, and the sky has been a pale blue-gray instead of vivid blue. Other than the smoke, the setting is beautiful, and thankfully, I've escaped the Southern California heat. Here's a balcony view, although the picture doesn't really show how beautiful it looks today.<br />
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Yesterday, I went for a run. Probably not the best thing to do for my lungs, but before I came here, I visualized jogging through beautiful scenery, and I didn't want to give that up. I ran/walked about three and a half miles, and probably would have gone farther, but the air was dry and smoky. and I hadn't brought water with me. Here's the hill I jogged up. It's one of the foothills before the mountains.<br />
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Yesterday was the beginning of the Montana Romance Writers Conference, and they graciously allowed a California girl to attend. It's the smallest conference I've ever been to--about twenty authors--which is nice because I have a chance to get to know everyone. The only person I knew before was Kat Martin, who's here with her husband Larry. I've known the Martins for years. Great people. They took me and Rita Karnopp out to dinner last night. Lots of food, wonderful company, and the best tenderloin ever! (And I'm not much of a beef eater.)<br />
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Listening to the speakers at the conference today, helped me dig deeper into the two Montana Sky stories I'm currently working on. I'll be able to add layers and characterization. I've been avoiding writing for the last month--just doing a little a day. Hopefully, I've caught the creative spark and will be able jump back in to a more serious page count.<br />
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A nice bonus was that (for some unknown reason) the Montana Sky Series took off yesterday. I had over 400 sales of <i><a href="http://amzn.com1612184669/">Wild Montana Sky</a></i>. <i><a href="http://amzn.com/B0092XYEIK">Montana Sky Christmas</a></i> (at only a month old) overshot its previous sales record of 48 and sold 76 books. Yay!<br />
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Even though <i>Wild Montana Sky</i> and <i><a href="http://amzn.com/B007REBJ7K">Starry Montana Sky</a> </i>are Montlake's books now, Amazon has recently installed a dashboard that allows their authors to see their sales figures every day. So, I'm still able to keep track.<br />
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I haven't been to Montana since long before I wrote <i>Wild Montana Sky</i>, and it was always my dream to return. It never made financial sense to travel to the state when the Montana Sky books languished unsold, and I had plenty of other places in the country to explore. It was only about this time last year, when my self-published income took a leap, that I started telling myself I'd travel to Montana in September.<br />
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I didn't make any plans because in 2012, my personal life had far too much upheaval. I just kept the trip as a vague goal. The writers conference gave me an excuse to come here as well as a starting point for my research, even if Anaconda is south of where my books are set.<br />
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Tomorrow, we have a book signing, and for the first time, I'll sign <i>Wild Montana Sky</i> and <i>Starry Montana Sky</i>--another dream come true! Then I'll drive to Missoula to spend the night at Kat and Larry's house. They intend to pick my brain about self-publishing, which as you know from reading this blog, is one of my favorite topics. Larry's promised to grill his special salmon...<br />
<br />
I've already been invited back to speak at a conference next summer in Bozeman, and I look forward to many more future visits.<br />
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<br />Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-45108770272020434822012-09-13T21:21:00.001-07:002012-09-19T23:31:01.600-07:00Self-Publishing: Reflections on 2012 (so far)<br />
Today I resolved to tackle the paper piles in my house, throwing out what I don't need and filing everything else--a task that's easier said than done. I definitely need to get one of those scan-to-your-computer gizmos. (I found an ad for one in one of my piles.)<br />
<br />
The problem for me is that I'm self-employeed and have to save receipts, etc for my records. I have various interests and tend to collect articles that reflect those interests, especially if I might write about or speak on those topics. Then add to the piles the scraps of paper I write on whenever I have a story or article idea, or do some scribbled journaling about what I'm thinking or feeling....<br />
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As I sorted out papers, putting them into smaller piles, a stack of bulletins from church started growing ever larger. On Sundays during the sermon, I'm often jotting down quotes, Bible verses, and my own ideas about what's being said. Sometimes, story ideas come to me or a bit of a scene or dialogue. It might not even be about a work in progress, but about one of the future stories I have in my head. I scribble all these things down on the bulletin, which luckily has enough white space in the margins for me to do so, although you might have to turn the paper several angles to read everything.<br />
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On the bulletin for New Year's Day, one of my comments at the bottom of the page was: "<b>This is where my heart is leading me. Trust that there's a reason.</b>"<br />
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Those two lines referred to my concerns about moving away from being a psychotherapist and corporate crisis and grief counselor to becoming a REAL writer. The challenge for me was (and still is) my deeply held belief that I'm a healer--that's my purpose in life. As a psychotherapist and crisis counselor, I touch many lives. I make a difference. And while I know my nonfiction writing also makes a difference, especially <a href="http://amzn.com/B008NSUQLO"><i>The Essential Guide to Grief and Grieving</i>,</a> I'm not sure my fiction does.<br />
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Yet, the doors to my former life seem to be closing. My practice is down. I haven't been getting as many crisis calls. <i>And I don't care! </i>I like having a small practice and only one or two crisis jobs a month. I like having more time to write. And my self-publishing income has made that possible.<br />
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On January 1, 2012, I couldn't know that in two weeks I would receive a call from Lindsay Guzzardo at Amazon Montlake, wanting to acquire the Montana Sky series. I couldn't know I'd say yes. I did know that in mid-January, I'd self-publish <a href="http://amzn.com/B006X7OV72"><i>Stormy Montana Sky</i>,</a> but I didn't know how well the book would do, and that having a third book would lift the sales of books one and two.<br />
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On that New Year's Day, I didn't know my sales on Barnes & Noble would finally take off, that my self-publishing income would double and some months even triple, or best of all, that <a href="http://www.blogger.com/:%20http://amzn.com/B007REBLF0"><i>Wild Montana Sky</i> </a>would make the USA Today Bestseller List in April.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAlBIqTcofZT94Z1rhJ2c1flMdZ6IT8skFyhJsj2oHoeTOTWWKgmR3q4XCrDZSviNzjwxUMmCw5pbnpW3TfFAcsPPG34HKxIH2g43XOSbj_JG6D06TVJwtpxXnLfC1u8l64FzXHO7o2HU/s1600/Wild+Montana+Sky+Montlake+FINAL+25+300dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAlBIqTcofZT94Z1rhJ2c1flMdZ6IT8skFyhJsj2oHoeTOTWWKgmR3q4XCrDZSviNzjwxUMmCw5pbnpW3TfFAcsPPG34HKxIH2g43XOSbj_JG6D06TVJwtpxXnLfC1u8l64FzXHO7o2HU/s320/Wild+Montana+Sky+Montlake+FINAL+25+300dpi.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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At that time, I hadn't conceived of writing a collection of Christmas stories. I didn't even know I could write short stories. But I self-published <a href="http://amzn.com/B0092XYEIK"><i>Montana Sky Christmas</i> </a>on August 27th.<br />
<br />
I didn't know I'd make some changes in my personal life, such as breaking up with my boyfriend of six years, which would impact my writing career (more time to write.) Or that my young cousin would be hit by a car and killed, sidelining my writing for several weeks as I dealt with my own and my family's grief.<br />
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I didn't realize how much I'd absolutely love the wonderful team at Montlake who worked so hard to make my books a success. Publishing with Montlake has been a dream--so unlike the horror stories I often heard (or hear) about traditional publishing. For example, I never even conceived that the series could have an ad like they made. Wow.<br />
<br />
My print books arrived yesterday, and I teared up as soon as I realized the boxes were from Montlake. Even though I've sold about 140,000 ebooks, holding my own print versions was a special experience--a dream come true. Here's the boxes as I've opened them.<br />
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<br />
The decision to self-publish my books has taken me on quite a journey, more wonderful than I could ever have imagined.<br />
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I've followed my heart all year. Sometimes, that's led to some bruising, but for the most part, I think I'm on the right path.<br />
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<br />Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-53051264400929516192012-09-07T14:18:00.000-07:002012-09-07T19:28:04.959-07:00Self-Publishing: Making MistakesRecently, I had an author write me that she wanted to self-publish, but was afraid of making mistakes. I wrote her back that she probably would make mistakes--that's part of life. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes.<br />
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Even as I wrote that email, I was in the middle of coping with my own mistake--probably the first one (at least in my opinion) I'd made along the self-publishing path.<br />
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To give the backstory to the mistake...<br />
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For the last six months, I've had a series of unexpected life events that interfered with my writing time. When I could write, I concentrated on a collection of Christmas short stories--<a href="http://amzn.com/B0092XYEIK">Montana Sky Christmas</a>--that I wanted to self-publish about the time Amazon Montlake launched their versions of <a href="http://amzn.com/B007REBLF0">Wild Montana Sky</a> and Starry Montana Sky on August 28.<br />
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I started writing these stories in February, and gave each one to my developmental editor, Louella Nelson, as I finished them. I knew she's busy teaching writing classes and working to self-publish her backlist, so I wanted to give her plenty of time.<br />
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As my schedule freed up in August, I was busy writing the last of the seven stories and revising them as Lou's edits came back. I also wanted a copy editor to look at the final version, and found one in a student of my online self-publishing class, Linda Caroll-Bradd. For the last three weeks before the launch of Montana Sky Christmas, Linda also edited the stories, sending me her corrections. So I was doing original writing, developmental edits, and copy edits, right up until a few days before the launch date.<br />
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Lou, Linda, and my new formatter, Amy Atwell, went above and beyond to make the book happen by my deadline, and bless them, they succeeded. Montana Sky Christmas went live on August 28. I immediately downloaded it to do a final read-through, and MY KINDLE DIED. I went back and forth with Amazon tech support before they determined this, and then I had to buy a new Kindle. So it was two days later before I read the stories, and of course found some errors.<br />
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Amy corrected them for me, and I uploaded the new version of the book. Or I tried to... I had problems because I had set a different price for Amazon India. This had NOT been a problem on the first upload, and I didn't realize it was now. I kept getting an error message that I was missing inputs.<br />
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Unlike the normal error messages which give you the section you're missing in red, I couldn't find anything wrong. Amy checked the book file, and she felt sure that wasn't the problem. I tried several times to publish the book, but nothing worked. None of my self-pubishing friends had ever heard of this error, although one suggested re-entering the book data. I did so, and still an error. I went over and over each box to make sure I wasn't missing anything, and couldn't see where I'd left something out. The time grew later, and I grew more stressed, frustrated, and tired.<br />
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Finally, I decided to change the India price to match the others. That worked. I grabbed the book file to upload it again. All okay. Relieved, I went to bed.<br />
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The next day, I started to get returns on the book, very unusual especially since I'd only sold about 30. I had three good reviews, but no one gave me a bad review. So I shrugged it off. At five returns, I checked the book product page and saw that Amazon had put a notice on the page saying something was wrong with the book and they were working with the publisher to fix it. That was news to me.<br />
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Of course I was upset and embarrassed. And it was the holiday weekend, so I couldn't contact anyone I knew at Amazon directly. (A nice thing about being a Monttlake author is I know people.) So I talked to customer service, who of course, didn't know anything about what could be wrong. But while I was on the phone with the customer service rep, I checked the book in the preview and saw that I HAD UPLOADED THE WRONG BOOK! OMG! I couldn't believe it. I quickly uploaded the correct version.<br />
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I told the rep what was wrong. She never really got what the problem was, but she drafted an email to send to KDP, telling them the error was fixed, to take the block off the product page, and to send a new version of the book to the people who'd bought it. She promised a response in the next 24 hours. It was hard to wait because I wanted it fixed NOW.<br />
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For the next days I kept getting various emails from KDP that they were working on the problem. At first I could tell that they didn't understand what the problem was. They kept focusing on sending out new books, while I wanted the block to come down first. Secondly, they could deal with sending new books out.<br />
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I was very relieved with Tuesday morning came and I could email and call Dan Slater at Amazon, asking for his help. But unknown to me, Dan was buried in work for the launch of the new Kindles and didn't have time to work on my problem.<br />
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So more days went by with several "we're researching the problem" emails from KDP and no response from Dan. My frustration level remained high. I couldn't be mad at Amazon because the mistake was my fault, I still fretted about how long the fix was taking.<br />
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Thursday, I put another call to Dan, and that afternoon he called me back. He told me about the launch of the new Kindles. (GGGGRRRR because I just had bought one to replace the one that died.) I explained the whole tale, and he said he'd get on it. By late evening, Montana Sky Christmas was again available for sale. This morning the book began selling again.<br />
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So.... what's my lesson? Perhaps it's not to push so hard that I'm trying to accomplish something when I'm tired and stressed. Or maybe realize that because I'm in that state, I have to be extra careful.<br />
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Since I'm not a person who usually makes stupid mistakes, when I do, I know means I'm over-stressed. I need to relax, unwind, and recharge--something I was able to do yesterday when I knew my mistake would finally be fixed.<br />
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So there you have it. Stupid mistake? Yes. Cost me some sales? Yes. Upset me? Yes. But in the long run, it's not a big deal. Under normal circumstances, I'd probably have been able to focus on the fact that the book would eventually be for sale. But I had enough other things in my life last week that upset and stressed me, thus I wasn't as centered as I would have liked. Maybe that's my lesson.<br />
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But I can pretty much promise...I'll NEVER upload the wrong book again. I hope other self-published authors learn from my mistake!Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-7066372140974538222012-08-28T10:28:00.000-07:002012-10-03T19:04:03.978-07:00Self-Publishing, Hybrid Author, Dreams Coming TrueI become a hybrid author today with the launch of the Montlake versions of <i><a href="http://amzn.com/B007REBLF0">Wild Montana Sky</a></i> and <i><a href="http://amzn.com/B007REBJ7K">Starry Montana Sky</a></i>, the first two books in my originally self-published <i>Montana Sky Series</i>. Here's the ad Montlake designed. It went out on a Writerspace blast today.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3g2jtQmoaiXfADQtUdN2A46s57I8LJtMhvRxKIA9IbX3sQZjxhyJ7tnp9sD4_7w29smuoSoMU6ifl-i8BL9co0xc-DSzZqZ2PFaBM4PW-trzcVVq1-6InSbjWl-oyZmw8l2qMQsr-X8/s1600/Writerspace-Eblast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3g2jtQmoaiXfADQtUdN2A46s57I8LJtMhvRxKIA9IbX3sQZjxhyJ7tnp9sD4_7w29smuoSoMU6ifl-i8BL9co0xc-DSzZqZ2PFaBM4PW-trzcVVq1-6InSbjWl-oyZmw8l2qMQsr-X8/s320/Writerspace-Eblast.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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Even though I've seen the ad for over a week now, I'm still moved every time I look at it. I never even DREAMED I'd have something like this. I can't believe it's true.<br />
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I'm also looking forward to having print books because I didn't bother to make print versions of my self-published books.<br />
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Today, I also launched my self-published anthology, <i><a href="http://amzn.com/B0092XYEIK">Montana Sky Christmas,</a></i> a collection of seven short stories set in my small town of Sweetwater Springs, in 1894. These stories take place after <i><a href="http://amzn.com/B006X7OV72">Stormy Montana Sky</a></i>, Book Three in the <i>Montana Sky Series</i>, but they can be read as a stand-alone volume. The stories have both familiar and new characters.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0nP2RqTotPiIMsaruIajT6AuWbK4SOvJ3tbzcK8GWHmxZelOqB8hoI3IS4V-Kny_zNedWTMLR5y40v7Zz8nZ9XOYJIHGSszXLu8JrHHeh1yeqxI0mRDZ-cGxy8nGuMMkIOlYJJCxCugY/s1600/Montana+Sky+Christmas+3x4.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0nP2RqTotPiIMsaruIajT6AuWbK4SOvJ3tbzcK8GWHmxZelOqB8hoI3IS4V-Kny_zNedWTMLR5y40v7Zz8nZ9XOYJIHGSszXLu8JrHHeh1yeqxI0mRDZ-cGxy8nGuMMkIOlYJJCxCugY/s320/Montana+Sky+Christmas+3x4.5.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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I'm hoping to have the best of both worlds--Amazon's promotional efforts drive people to the series, and thus to this book. And, as the holiday's approach, and people look for Christmas stories, readers pick up this anthology, love it, and jump on the <i>Montana Sky Series.</i><br />
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I'll keep you posted on how it goes! Wish me luck!Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-36348299268396759682012-06-03T10:45:00.001-07:002012-06-03T10:45:18.213-07:00I'm teaching an inexpensive online class about self-publishing. It's the kind of class where the lectures drop into your in box. You don't have to be present in real time. :)<br />
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<a href="http://www.marylandromancewriters.com/june-workshop/">http://www.marylandromancewriters.com/june-workshop/</a></div>
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</span></blockquote>Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-80930413008494795602012-05-28T22:24:00.001-07:002012-05-28T22:30:32.515-07:00Self-Publishing: One Year's ResultsApril 29th, 2012 was the official one-year anniversary of self-publishing <i><a href="http://amzn.com/B004YKZCD2">Wild Montana Sky</a></i>, followed the next day by <i>Starry Montana Sky</i>. In July, I published <i>Sower of Dreams</i>, and in August, <i>Reaper of Dreams</i>. <i>Twinborne Trilogy: Lywin's Quest </i>was published at the end of December, and <i>Stormy Montana Sky</i> in January. All of the books except <i>Stormy Montana Sky</i> were written long before I self-published them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeF5CqLWWHyrC2LokdZbiK3aODW7gO3vMr8inq8SfYxNJX9g6erhD1H-RzepsvIiF0esEwRt0x0yOgF2n9LkWSnmH1etJdI3xlXTow9Mqq_EI_mhyxoWcEystXNKth4uVdEozbx4ci7U/s1600/Wild+Montana+Sky+Montlake+FINAL+25+300dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeF5CqLWWHyrC2LokdZbiK3aODW7gO3vMr8inq8SfYxNJX9g6erhD1H-RzepsvIiF0esEwRt0x0yOgF2n9LkWSnmH1etJdI3xlXTow9Mqq_EI_mhyxoWcEystXNKth4uVdEozbx4ci7U/s320/Wild+Montana+Sky+Montlake+FINAL+25+300dpi.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br />
When I started self-publishing, my hope was to make $3,000 a month on my books. I was friends with several self-published authors who were making this amount, and it seemed like an impossible dream to match them.<br />
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One year later (and a month as I'm writing this late) I've sold almost 100,000 books (see numbers below.) <i>Wild Montana Sky</i> made the USA Today Bestseller's List, and The Montana Sky series was acquired by Amazon Montake. (The changeover happens August 28.) I've made FAR more than $3000 a month, and have been able to cut back on my psychotherapy practice and corporate crisis/grief counseling at a time when I was feeling somewhat burned out by that work. And my creativity, which I'd boxed away when two agents couldn't sell my books, has exploded. I have lots of ideas for other books. This week, Romantic Times magazine mentioned <i>Wild Montana Sky</i> as a top indie read.<br />
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WOW! I'm amazed, touched, excited, and humbled by my year of self-publishing. The journey has been far more than I dreamed possible. What's been a wonderful bonus is all the self-published authors I've come to know. My circle of friends has grown by hundreds, and I've learned so much from them. (And read some great books!) I've had the pleasure of encouraging other authors, both published and unpublished to think about self-publishing their books.<br />
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In January, I blogged about my sales numbers for 2011. For a brief recap of that blog<br />
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Wild Montana Sky: 27, 069<br />
Starry Montana Sky: 10,207<br />
Total: 37,272<br />
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Sower of Dreams: 556<br />
Reaper of Dreams: 243<br />
Total: 799<br />
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Here are my numbers since my last sales blog from Amazon and Barnes & Noble combined:<br />
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JANUARY<br />
<br />
Wild Montana Sky: 5297<br />
Starry Montana Sky: 2045<br />
Stormy Montana Sky: 921<br />
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Sower of Dreams: 122<br />
Reaper of Dreams: 65<br />
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Lywin's Quest: 7<br />
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FEBRUARY<br />
<br />
Wild Montana Sky: 8543<br />
Starry Montana Sky: 3103<br />
Stormy Montana Sky: 3253<br />
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Sower of Dreams: 82<br />
Reaper of Dreams: 52<br />
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Lywin's Quest: 2<br />
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MARCH<br />
<br />
Wild Montana Sky: 6712<br />
Starry Montana Sky: 3198<br />
Stormy Montana Sky: 2997<br />
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Sower of Dreams: 86<br />
Reaper of Dreams: 55<br />
<br />
Lywin's Quest: 4<br />
<br />
APRIL<br />
<br />
Wild Montana Sky: 13, 861(This is the month the book made the USA Today List.)<br />
Starry Montana Sky: 4461<br />
Stormy Montana Sky: 2463<br />
<br />
Sower of Dreams: 84<br />
Reaper of Dreams: 46<br />
<br />
Lywin's Quest: 4<br />
<br />
TOTAL FOR YEAR:<br />
<br />
Wild Montana Sky: 61,482<br />
Starry Montana Sky: 23,014<br />
Stormy Montana Sky: 9,634<br />
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Total for Series: 94,130<br />
<br />
Sower of Dreams: 1,628<br />
Reaper of Dreams: 461<br />
<br />
Total for Series: 2, 089<br />
<br />
Lywin's Quest: 17<br />
<br />
Total books: 96,219<br />
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I didn't include books sold at Smashwords or sold in Europe in 2012. If I did, the total would be closer to 97,000.<br />
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Not bad for an unknown, unpublished author, eh? This last year has been a dream come true. :) Thanks to all my readers and fellow authors who have supported me.<br />
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For year two, I'm hoping to find more time to write, something that still seems to elude me. I think when I finish <i>Harvest of Dreams</i>, the last book in The Gods' Dream Trilogy, my sales of all three books will increase considerably. Right now I'm aiming for a Fall release of that book. I'll also have a collection of short Christmas stories set in my Montana town coming out in August so I'll still have monthly self-publishing income derived from that series. I'll receive quarterly royalties from Montlake for the big books. Hopefully I can also finish the next big book in the Montana Sky series by Christmas.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-69392131940219780292012-05-05T18:08:00.001-07:002012-05-05T18:08:10.834-07:00The Lucky One, The Surprise HeroI saw The Lucky One last night and haven't stopped thinking about it. The movie was so beautiful and romantic that I didn't mind a few plot holes.<br />
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About a third of the way through, I started feeling a sense of familiarity to Zac Efron, that became strong enough to pull me out of the movie. I couldn't figure out why. I'd never seen him in anything, wouldn't be able to pick him out of a line up. But I became more and more drawn to him. At some point it struck me that he looked like an old boyfriend, Mike, the young cowboy who I had used for my hero Nick in <i><a href="http://amzn.com/B004YKZCD2">Wild Montana Sky</a></i>, although Zac's eyes are bluer, and he doesn't have a broken nose.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZD-6Yq3YVTGihoyZLws_8gjDWWmCHrBRI1zxlSMKDpGpR8J_b1l1RDkP-Dr8Lloqouc_P8iP9iZ6vrm6T8bLln7o_G-0wCFDnwkjsHXNcqQbREJKzfVWzHtLNnpmNPwN8xrVl6N2ufU/s1600/Wild+Montana+Sky+Montlake+FINAL+25+300dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZD-6Yq3YVTGihoyZLws_8gjDWWmCHrBRI1zxlSMKDpGpR8J_b1l1RDkP-Dr8Lloqouc_P8iP9iZ6vrm6T8bLln7o_G-0wCFDnwkjsHXNcqQbREJKzfVWzHtLNnpmNPwN8xrVl6N2ufU/s320/Wild+Montana+Sky+Montlake+FINAL+25+300dpi.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Ah, it all came to me. Not only did Zac look like Nick (who looks like Mike) he played a similar character--the strong, silent, supportive, adoring hero. And like Nick, Zac had trouble communicating what was on his mind, and had fallen in love with the heroine because of a picture (for Nick it was a portrait.)<br />
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The heroine, played by Taylor Shilling was also similar in looks to my heroine, although Elizabeth is a more classic beauty.<br />
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Figuring out the connection to my hero and my book gave an added dimension to the movie. Not only did I fall in love with Logan, but I fell in love with Nick all over again. Watching Zac play Logan, made me wish to see to see him play Nick. It made me remember that I have the screenplay of <i>Wild Montana Sky </i>gathering dust in my computer. Even though the screenplay has finaled in some contests and won an award, I've never submitted it anywhere. Maybe it's time to dust it off and send it to a friend who acquires scripts for a producer.<br />
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Anyone know Zac Efron? Maybe he'd like to recreate a similar role, but this time play a cowboy instead of a former marine.Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-68187855372031801182012-04-30T20:42:00.000-07:002012-04-30T20:43:16.776-07:00Self-Publishing: USA Today List!!!I had the shock of my life on Wednesday, when my friend, author Tessa Dare, emailed me congrats and the link to the USA Today Best Seller list. Shaking and disbelieving, I opened it up. Sure enough, <a href="http://amzn.com/B004YKZCD2"><i>Wild Montana Sky</i> </a>was #137! I was stunned, excited, and moved to tears. I started calling and emailing friends and family with the news.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7u2gjvRO2rjQGxTA1Bba5aIA6ipIg9Zzgd0xF3rKEo3NmyQe-5Fv3eMIWXk7VOPMBYTYL4F1BBuyeKZ-LFGLj-KUqvmXkpX1DsY_TkS6Ot2y3u8xOewxXQppAk0pcIhoBH_DXLMhvyxU/s1600/wild-montana-Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7u2gjvRO2rjQGxTA1Bba5aIA6ipIg9Zzgd0xF3rKEo3NmyQe-5Fv3eMIWXk7VOPMBYTYL4F1BBuyeKZ-LFGLj-KUqvmXkpX1DsY_TkS6Ot2y3u8xOewxXQppAk0pcIhoBH_DXLMhvyxU/s320/wild-montana-Small.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
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It had NEVER crossed my mind that <i>Wild Montana Sky</i> would make the USA Today list as a self-published ebook, although I had a vague wish that it might happen someday when I became an Amazon Montlake author.<br />
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The congratulations came pouring in. The wave of acknowledgment was amazing.<br />
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So many of my self-published friends were especially excited because it gave them hope that someday, they, too, would hit the list. (My wish for them too!)<br />
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I emailed my Montlake editor, and she called. Lindsay was so excited for me. In her opinion, making the USA Today list was a better achievement than the New York Times list because USA Today List takes real numbers from booksellers, while the stores the New York Times list pulls from are a secret.<br />
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What a way to wrap up my one-year anniversary! I'll be posting a blog in a few days that discusses my year long numbers. But I have some number crunching to do before then.<br />
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What did change this month was for some (unknown) reason <i>Wild Montana Sky </i>started to sell well on Nook. The numbers kept escalating, double and even triple the amount I sold on Amazon. I hit the top 100 Nook list and dropped as low as #20. I've been on the list for about two weeks. Currently I'm #40. The sales for <i>Starry Montana Sky</i> and <i>Stormy Montana Sky</i> were less than Amazon all month, but increased as the month went on and readers came back to buy the second and third books. I've ended out-selling Amazon in total numbers for the Montana Sky series.<br />
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Here's the cake from my former writing teacher and current editor, Louella Nelson. She took me to lunch on Saturday.<br />
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<br />Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3093171382309456549.post-78425490258605685902012-04-15T21:47:00.003-07:002012-04-15T21:49:40.333-07:00Self-Publishing: Online ClassI'm teaching an online class about self-publishing for the Orange County Chapter of RWA. Go to <a href="http://occrwa.org">http://occrwa.org</a> for information and registration. I think you can sign up until Wednesday.Dr. Debra Hollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04556327521528996385noreply@blogger.com1