My own personal #MARCHMadness

"I'm never doing that again. EVER!" -- These were my words early yesterday morning as my prices went back to normal after a three-day sale on Electrified. My friend and fellow author, Susan Ward, replied with skepticism. She didn't believe me––to which I answered, "You're probably right."

Electrified was free for 72 hours. It started out as my way of thanking new readers who may have started with Smoldered or my newest series, Redemption Lane. It turned into 24 frantic hours of me hassling Amazon and Nook to adjust my prices. I know, it was naive on my part to think I could just set my book to free. With Amazon, I must be exclusive to their platform to do so and with Nook, I needed to use a third-party provider to deliver my ebook in order to do so. Neither one would allow me to offer my readers a freebie.

I wasn't going down without a fight as I learned about these policies. I started bombarding Amazon with emails, and I have to say their support people were the BEST!!

I'm not joking. I don't know if I got lucky or what, but they were insanely responsive. They heard my plight, could sense the worry and fear and anxiety jumping off my emails and worked quickly to price match Electrified to FREE. Nook not so much. They kept passing the buck and passing the buck, and finally I waited 3 days to hear back from someone, who said it just wasn't possible. DUH! Good for everyone involved, I'm not a quitter and I found out over the weekend how to get around this policy and set that plan in motion. These are the not-so-glamorous days of independent publishing.

Anyway, the point of this is not to complain, but to say thank you. Not just by offering the sale but from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. For reading and supporting me. And know this -- I will do whatever it takes to keep making you all happy.

CHEESE ALERT --- I know!

And because I love you all so much, I'm part of this giveaway HERE with a number of other authors...hurry up and enter.

Also, I'm going to be giving away a ♥ primo ♥ prize next week for readers. You need to be signed up for my mailing list to receive the details. There is a little tab right there in the sidebar --->

I hope you are all enjoying your reading––whether it be my books or not!

♥ Leave a comment with a great book you are reading, so we can share the wealth! ♥

RB

Why Reviews Matter to Independent Authors

From time to time, you may have heard me saying something like, "If you liked my book, please leave a review where you purchased it or on Goodreads or both..."  

And you probably think, "GOD, that Rachel is such an ego-maniac. First we have to buy her book and now we have to go write a review about her writing. How much ego-stroking does this lady need?'

I know it appears that way, but let me explain why reviews are important to any author, but especially an independent one. We [I] do all our own marketing. We make teasers, interact daily/hourly in Facebook and Goodreads reading groups, we love to talk to readers, and we take time every day to do all of this and more. It's time-consuming, and I'm sure it sounds like I'm whining, but I would not trade my relationships I have with readers for anything. Nothing. Not even my own Dunkin Donuts franchise.

But I also want to write more books and I can't keep up with everything, and this is where reviews come in. Reviews are really helpful marketing tools for authors. They live and breathe on the pages where readers visit to peruse and buy books. They are read by potential customers and influence their purchasing decisions. Yes, that was a mouthful, but basically, your kind [or not so kind] words help me promote my books, which let's face it––I appreciate that immensely. I spend a lot of time writing each and every title, and I want to share them with as many readers as possible.

An ego-trip is the furthest thing in the world that I want or need, but don't think that your reviews go unnoticed. I try to like, comment and touch base with as many reviewers as possible.

What did you say? You don't want your name associated with a romance review. NO problemo.

Reviews can be short, sweet and to the point. A quick little note, and if you don't want to include your name––that's cool. Just put Amazon Customer or Nook Lover or Reader Extraordinaire. You can call yourself whatever you want, and I don't even have to know it's you.

So far, today had been one of those oh-so-NOT-glamorous days, being an independent author. Mostly, I'm already pulling my hair out regarding uploading Redemption Lane to the various places you'll be able to buy it. Currently, it's stuck in review purgatory at iTunes and from what I hear, Amazon is running slow in approving titles. So, I'm panicking. All the while, I'm trying to rush getting the paperback approved because I know there are a number of you who prefer the feel, touch, and smell of a real book.

And even though all this seems so crappy, I'm super excited to share my latest title with YOU. Seeing your feedback after it releases lets me know my hard work was not for nothing.

At the moment, I look ghastly, and that's being generous. Still, I am about to publish my third book, and my stomach is a mix of nerves and mostly excitement.

So, if you happen to read Redemption Lane and enjoy it, please leave a quick note where you purchased it. And to those of you who have read my other titles and left a review -- THANK YOU! And if you haven't written one yet, you still CAN!

~ Rachel

XOXO

p.s. Smoldered is on sale for 99 cents --> EXTENDED through the release of Redemption Lane on 2.19.15

amazon 

iBooks 

barnes&noble

This Author's 2015 Bucket List

So, if I'm correct we're already two days into 2015. At least in my time zone.

And I'm yet to make a list of what the hell I want to accomplish this year––goals, trajectories, long-range plans. In other words, the ugly side of self-publishing.

So, without further ado, my 2015 Bucket List.

1. Get dressed each and every day. Work as much as I can in my robe.

2. Release THREE books and hopefully one novella.

3. Go to bed on time, making sure to get my 8 hours every night.  Stay up late into the wee hours reading for fun, reviewing other indie's ARCS and editing my own.

4. Give back. Send books to the troops and the women's shelter.

5. Give up sugar and caffeine. Install a coffee maker in my office. Maybe a bat-phone to Dunkin Donuts too.

6. Run a half-marathon or three to counteract the donuts and writing while sitting on my ass.

7. Hide out in my office or coffee-shop. Hit the road and meet readers and other new authors.

8. Lend support [and a shoulder to cry on] to other authors.

9. Shove all my receipts into a drawer until April 14th. NOT! My accountant will shoot me.

10. Answer every message, email, tweet, fb post, or as many as I can. Because without you––READERS––I am nothing.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for a great year in advance...and making last year the absolute best debut year EVER!

RB

AND a very special thanks to Becca Manuel for this fan-made trailer.

Have you seen it?

Happy Holidays [and I'm not on tsu]

 

Just yesterday it was the end of the summer and I was putting the finishing touches on Smoldered. Now––it is almost Christmas Eve, and I'm blown away how quickly the time went.

This has been one hell of a year. From releasing both Electrified and Smoldered to meeting many of you. Cliche', yet so true,

without readers, an author is nothing.

For the last nine days, I've been giving away books on Facebook––on my page––but I'm told that will not be a viable place to touch base after the new year. FB is apparently adding fees and further controls to make connecting more difficult.  Many authors and readers are jumping on tsu. I'm not there yet.

I barely have time to keep up with the social media channels I'm currently on let alone new ones––and keep putting out books.

I hope to stay connected on FB, but if that's not possible...I am prepping a new subscription form where you will be able to sign up and receive updates and fun, probably naughty, notes from me. Maybe even teasers?!?! Stay tuned for details.

I adore each and every one of you. Thank you so much for stopping in to say something exciting about the books or to ask me about upcoming releases on FB or here or by email or at a signing.

I wish all of you the most spectacular holiday season.

Love, RB

My Strip Club Confessional over at Romance at Random [uh-oh]

In case you missed it, my second book, Smoldered, is now LIVE. It is Asher Peterson’s story––Asher, the owner of the Electric Tunnel, the fictitious strip club of my mind and setting of the Electric Tunnel Series.

It may come as no surprise, but I am asked all the time about my personal experience with strip clubs. In fact, I had a chance to chat with Romance at Random about this topic specifically and here is what I said:

…The question I’m asked the most is, “Did you go to strip clubs before, during, or after writing this? Are you going today? Now? Tomorrow?”

Friends ask my husband, extended family members question my mother, readers are extremely curious if I have friends who are strippers, and most of my husband’s gang has offered join me in doing research. Okay, are you ready? Cue Drumroll.

Yes. The answer is yes. I have in fact been to a number of strip clubs before writing Electrified. While the Electric Tunnel doesn’t really exist and all the characters that work there are fictitious, I don’t think it would be wise to write a book about the adult entertainment world without researching it.

I’m not even going to take the fifth…I am here to tell all.

For the record, there were two crazy and wild nights I spent inside the dark and cavernous walls of a strip club long before writing a story about one…Way back when, I was young, carefree, legal, and having a blast at a dance club when someone from my group suggested we go to the latest “adult place” to open. We ended up leaving and going with a semi-famous sports coach, who was out with us, and subsequently we were given the VIP treatment, including secluded tables in the back and use of a limo.

This might have influenced a tiny bit of the adult entertainment culture in Electrified and Smoldered, but a separate visit definitely doesn’t make it into the book. This happened when I was six months pregnant with my first-born and went on a bachelorette weekend in Sin City and found myself hopped up on pregnancy hormones at the all-male strip club. Let’s say, I cut out early that evening; my feet were hurting.

Then, we finally get to the part where I decided to actually create my own adult entertainment empire and a bunch of complex characters residing full-time within its deep purple velour walls. The idea of writing a book was always seated deep within me, and there were a few attempts before Electrified that ended up stuck on some hard drive underneath a pile of junk in my closet. It was late one night, in the bathroom of a posh and exclusive Las Vegas Strip Club when I had my big moment. The brainstorm of the century and I was carrying a purse barely big enough to hold a lipstick, let alone a pen and paper. (I call these napkin––or toilet paper––moments.)

It was way past dark in Sin City; we’d been to dinner and a show before late night cocktails and an evening that never ended…I found myself at the aforementioned adult establishment. I had to pee, and so I went to the ladies room and for whatever reason, one of the dancers was in there, and to say I became fascinated was putting it lightly.

I watched from afar as she moved incredibly graceful through the women’s room, studied her while she studied herself in the mirror …and a story began to come to life in my head. This woman was such a complex creature. A standout on the stage. Sexy, sinful, silky smooth and radiant as she wrapped herself tight around the pole center stage or ran her body along someone during a lap dance in the dim haze of the club floor. But inside the bathroom she was a regular person: a wrinkle here, a scar there, a hair out of place, a tiny tube of lip balm in her hands just like mine. As I watched this stranger’s chest rise and fall with breath in the reflection in the mirror, she became a multi-dimensional being to me and not just a glorious body to envy.

The social worker in me began to wonder what her story was or is and how she came to do what she does. Did she have a family? One that she kept in contact with or saw with regularity? Was she running from something bad? The possibilities pummeled through my brain like a freight train before it became clear, I’d spent too long in the loo...

Head on over to Romance at Random to read more…

A day in the life of an #indie author...how to write a book, I think.

Over the last few months, I've had a lot of inquiries about what it takes to publish a book.

LIKE, "Oh, so you just slapped that puppy up on Amazon?"

NOT QUITE.

A lot of work goes into publishing a book other than having a marvelously, fabulous, original idea that you purge from your brain.

Its not all glamorous and exciting.

The whole process starts with eeking out a little of your story and sending a small chunk to a beta reader or two or three. Not your neighbor or good friend or aunt to sister, but someone you trust to give you solid feedback that your story is shit or not.

Then, you wait to hear from your betas and sit on your ass, eating, telling yourself that they will hate your story and so you start dreaming up new ideas.

The process is repeated any number of infinite times: you write, you share, you wait on pins and needles, you gain five pounds while waiting OR drop five depending whether you eat or lose your appetite under stress.

ALL the while, you waste spend countless hours on social media, pimping, chatting, stopping to look at pictures of your college roommate's bull dog (she is soooo freaking cute, I want one!), pimping some more, retweeting, hitting like a billion times, trying to engage with other successful authors for tips and advice, signing up for rafflecopter, looking at pictures of half-clothed men (inspiration, people), and obsessing over previews for SOA or the Bachelor or whatever show you love.

You sneak off to your "cave," which could be your kitchen table, closet, or the dingy coffee place around the corner every so often to write, rewrite, despise what you wrote and start all over. You write AH-mazing bathroom sex scenes that you then share with your other author friends (where is it? Christy...).

You incorporate feedback and thank your betas profusely, sending them emojis and x's and o's and hoping and praying they don't ever leave you like your ninth grade boyfriend did. THAT was devastating.

During all this, there is hunting for editors and cover designers and formatters and book trailer makers and blog tour peeps. HOLY shit! ALL of those people have FULL schedules and are booked until 2017! What the fuck? But I have to have a cover from so and so...You beg, plead, give up your dog and son for a slot. Just take them...I need my cover.

After securing your team, you are SO not done! NO way. There are first and second and third rounds of revisions and then you totally offend the cover person you gave up your child for because you want just a "tad more purple" in your cover.

AND, the worst is yet to happen. There is a never-ending pile of virtual forms, where you enter your tax information and electronic signature after you are unsure what you even just agreed to do so you can upload your book (after it is edited and goes through another round of "clean" beta reading).

Don't even get me started on the uploading because I need twelve or thirteen more degrees to be able to figure that shit out.

Finally, your book is up on the shelves and your mom buys a copy and it is the best feeling that someone wants to read you.

Until, you get your first bad review.

YET, somehow... we love it all so much, we do it again and again (like childbirth, you must forget all the steps of the process).

So, that is basically what I have been up to and although this post is funny, borderline hysterical, I could not do what I do without the help of many, many people. You know who you are. Don't make me call you out.

And, my fellow author babes, who have graciously entwined their success with mine. Love you.

AND, yes, I am releasing a second book soon.

Until then ... R