Posted in Fellow Authors, News and Appearances

Release Day and Cover Reveal- His Personal Assistant by Lisa Harris

Don’t you love this cover, and doesn’t the blurb draw you in? I’m reading this one and it’s wonderful. There’ll be a review coming soon. Congratulations to Lisa on her upcoming release on 26th January.

 





TITLE – HIS PERSONAL ASSISTANT
Editor – R. E. Hargrave
Cover Designer – The Graphics Shed
Genre – Contemporary Gay Romance
Series – Book 1 – Men of New York
Length – 76k
Release Date – January 26, 2018
 
At the tender age of twenty-one, Kade Hutchins is at a crossroads, having endured enough hardship to last a thousand lifetimes. With money tight and career at a standstill, he’s running out of time and options. The day he applies for a job that isn’t exactly in his field of expertise and meets his new boss, Mr. Preston, is the day his fate is changed irrecoverably.

Luke Preston is the kind of man others envy. Rich, successful and unattached, his no-nonsense, ‘take no prisoners attitude’ has made him one of the highest profile litigators in Manhattan. He’s also a man with secrets. Secrets he wants kept under wraps since tragedy rocked his privileged existence to the core. When Kade, a man some fifteen years his junior steps foot inside his office, Luke wonders if his heart will survive.

 

 

Brushing an errant piece of fluff off my shoulder, I straightened the hem of my shirt and took a deep breath. Not that it did much good. By the time the elevator doors opened on the tenth floor, my nerves were beyond frazzled. With less than a minute to spare, I stepped inside the plush, modern offices.
A striking woman sitting behind a large reception desk greeted me, looking most business-like. What didn’t make sense was the way she seemed ready to pounce the second she saw me. I was surprised she didn’t fall flat on her face, considering she wore a pencil-thin black skirt and high-heeled shoes and was on her feet and running toward me like a crazy person.
“Thank God you’re here!”
“Um, what?” I took a wary step backward. She was kinda scary.
“Please tell me you’re Kade Hutchins.”
“Oh. Yes, I am.”
She held out her hand and when I took it in mine, I was impressed by her firm, assured grip. “You have no idea how relieved I am to see you.”
“Uh, thanks?” The warm smile she gave in response made her round, hazel eyes sparkle. Her hospitable attitude made me feel at ease in an instant, and I couldn’t help but grin back.
“The name’s Kimberly O’Connell. I’m the paralegal around here.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. O’Connell.”
“Oh, please, I insist you call me Kimberly.”
“Okay.”
Releasing her hold on me, she pointed a manicured finger at the closed office door located behind the desk. “Come on, Kade. Let’s get you in to see His Highness.” Covering her mouth, she giggled.
“Who?” I stopped myself from joining in, but it wasn’t easy. She had an infectious laugh.
“Luke Preston. The ass you spoke to on the phone.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know whether it was appropriate to agree with her or not, but decided it would be best to err on the side of caution.
“Sorry about him, by the way.” Kimberly knocked, before lowering her voice to a faint whisper, and adding, “I had no idea he was going to answer the phone when I went to make his coffee. He usually lets the machine pick up, but I didn’t think to switch it on since I was only going to be gone a few minutes.”
The moment I let out a nervous chuckle, the door to Luke Preston’s office flew open.
Tall and broad-shouldered, the strong jaw, high cheekbones, and dark brown hair slicked back so not a lock was out of place, coupled with the way his body filled out that navy suit, made Luke Preston look more like a model than a lawyer. My guess was that he was in his mid-thirties, but holy shit, did he wear it well. Startling emerald eyes fringed by long, dark lashes stared at me with such intensity that, for a split second, I forgot to breathe. His sharp features were softened by flawless, pale skin and full lips so plush, I wondered what they would feel like pressed against my own. In that briefest of moments, I knew I was in trouble as my head began waging a war with my heart so fierce, I didn’t know whether to pull him in for a kiss or run for my life.
All I could do was wait for him to say something… anything to break the tension.
 
 

 

L. J. HARRIS is a mother, wife, an introvert and author. Her family is her life, her soul, and the very reason she gets out of bed every day. Coming a close second is her writing.

She discovered a passion for putting pen to paper in her later years, jotting down poems in birthday cards for family members.

It was then a spark was lit, and ever since, she’s been unable to switch off the urge to share her stories.

L.J. Harris discovered that as much as experiencing pain, loss and betrayal can be devastating, capturing the feelings of anguish and loss that some of her characters have had to endure without firsthand knowledge would have proved difficult.

L.J. has been previously published and has shared several online stories and looks forward to continuing to share her work.  She can be found at:

CONTACT LINKS:

 

 

Posted in News and Appearances

Bob Dylan had it right when he said the times they are a changin…

Batten down the hatches. I’m going in.  I’ve been giving a lot of thought recently to the way we as authors promote. You might have noticed all the posts on my Facebook profile.

http://www.authormedia.com/why-traditionally-published-authors-should-not-pay-for-marketing/

I get this. I truly do. And there’s a huge element of truth in Reason #1 which has always been a huge bug bear for me. I need to know what’s working and what’s not when it’s happening, not when I get my quarterly statements. Publishers in general could do a lot to endear author confidence by having an online platform where authors can have up to date information on their sales, even if it’s not true ‘real time’. We’d at least have something. That’s why I like the idea of self-publishing. Indie authors do have better options, but they also must fork out the cash up front. It’s a decision one must make and in this climate of falling sales, readers being spoilt for choice, and the influx of new authors to the market every hour, I’m happy to let my publisher bear those costs.

I don’t agree that authors shouldn’t market themselves. We have a responsibility to build our own brand as much as the publisher does. Gone are the days where authors sit around imbibing cocktails and telling people smugly, ‘I wrote a book, you know,’ and watching their publisher do all the hard work. Authors are their own business. You might have a promotions company to manage most of your publicity and do the big stuff, but as a business, you personally must network, and build that brand. You’re not excluded from that, and to think you should be is naïve, no matter how much we’d simply like to drink cocktails and reap in those royalties.

I published this on my Facebook page recently and it garnered a lot of response. As it should. As authors we must move with the times and the vagaries of the market and have as many baskets as possible into which to place our marketing strategy. And yes, there may be cost involved with that.

http://www.authormedia.com/facebooks-2018-change-means-authors/

I’m going to play devil’s advocate here.

Facebook is only one of the outlets we use and it’s a biggie. It’s getting tougher by the minute to use it as a promoting tool.  Whether we like it or not, Facebook is a business when it comes to pages. If we want to promote and advertise, we need to pay for it, the same as we would elsewhere.  Facebook’s challenge is making it as easy and as cost beneficial as it can for its patrons. It’s about being able to read the results of a boosted post or campaign, have the information at our fingertips and see where we should be better spending our money. It’s about giving us the qualified information to make a choice. That’s what Facebook owes us. If they DON’T do this, then we have the right to complain.

While I hate to think they will one day monetise groups, depending on what the group was formed for, if it’s for promotion, pimping and author advertising to a selected target market- isn’t that the cost of doing business and shouldn’t we be paying for it? It might suck, but is it truly wrong?

It’s only a matter of time before other social networks decide to do the same.

If authors don’t want to pay for Facebook ads, boosted posts etc, then we need to look at where we can focus on moving our promotional efforts to places better suited. The areas we can control are our websites, our newsletters, our social networks to the point of building and maintaining a social relationship with readers, not a promotional one. Readers get to know us personally, they’ll remember us more when we tell them about something new coming out in conversation. Another area we have control over are author conferences, signing events and days out with readers to catch up.  Some of them are costly, yes, but we don’t baulk at paying for these like we do Facebook ads. Why? Because we can see the results face to face. We can see how many books we’ve sold, how many new fans we’ve made and how many we’ve happened to retain just by a hallo and a cup of coffee.

While I’m not an advocate for Patreon, or other arrangements like this (I’m not judging, it’s just not for me), I do know authors are using this to deliver bespoke material to select readers and eke an existence out of it. I have no idea how this brings new readers to an author’s book as it’s something I haven’t investigated. It works for some though and nowadays, anything we can do to encourage sales is relevant. It’s what works for you as an author that’s important.

The other way we can encourage book sales (although it can’t be measured) is with sites like

Queer Romance Ink

AllAuthor

Book + Main

Paranormal Romance Guild

The Romance Reviews

I belong to all of them, and while I can’t measure my success, I have access to time saving applications, preferential reviews, ease of social media use and a lot more. That’s valuable to me in terms of time and money. It gets my reach further out, via their web sites, and attracts people who might read my stories.

The trick here is to check the quality of what’s on offer and who is behind it. There are a lot of similar sites out there who promise a lot and deliver less. These ones I have a relationship with and I trust them.

On my website I have my own Bookateria which links directly to my publisher’s site to purchase, because I earn more royalties that way. I’m looking at creating a merchandise range this year as well. Who wouldn’t want Leslie’s sexy legs on high heels on a tee-shirt?  In short, I’m taking a long, hard look at everything I do to make sure it’s beneficial for me, and my readers.

Because times are changing and if we don’t move with it to become the creators of our own success, rather than rely on third parties like Facebook to do it for us, when that alarm bell rings for the final time, it’ll be too late. And as an industry, together, we can perhaps create a stronger genre where everyone benefits.

 

Posted in News and Appearances

2018- My Year Ahead

2017 was an amazing year in some respects, and awful in others, both from a personal standpoint and a world view. I’m not one to dwell on what’s been before, because I believe it’s self-defeating. Instead, I focus on the future and live day to day, because, honestly, that’s all any of us can do.

To my amazing publisher, Boroughs, the readers of my books, the bloggers that helped me throughout the year, the organisers of the events I attended, my fellow authors who consoled and supported me, my family who kept me sane, and everyone in my life who touched it, however briefly – thank you. I treasure each and every one of you and I hope your 2018 is as good as mine is going to be. If I can do anything to help in that regard, all you must do is ask and I’ll be there.

#Project1 and some news

Living on Air release. I anticipate this being out late February, but I’ll confirm dates when I can. Chris Talbot, how’s that cover shot doing? ♥ Cary and Rhys are waiting….

I’m hoping to produce seven new books in the next eighteen months. I have contracts for them all already, so I guess I’d better keep moving and get those fingers tapping on a keyboard.

There could be some good news too about other things in the works, but I’ve been asked by my publisher to keep mum on it until something pans out. Sorry to be so sketchy but I’d hate to say too much. It involves book fairs…

I’m planning a visit to the Facebook office in London to present the LGBTQ petition once I’ve finalised everything and anyone that wants to come with me is more than welcome. We can make a day out of it, ending with coffee, drinks and talk about books and life in general.  https://www.change.org/p/susan-mac-nicol-equal-facebook-standards-applied-to-lgbtqi-community/

 

#Project2

I’m co-writing with Author M Tasia from Boroughs Group Publishing. She’s the author of the wonderful Boys of Brighton series.  Our story is set in Toronto, Canada and promises intrigue, shmexy times, humour and a constant war of words between two very head strong and stubborn men. I’m not sure yet when the planned release date for this will be. Head over to her page, give it a like and you’ll have double the chance of spotting the updates ?

https://www.facebook.com/mtasiabooks/

#Project3

Nicholas and I will have concluded the ‘final- final’ edits (lol, we all know this old story, there’s always bloody edits to be done) to the screenplay for Sight Unseen and we’ll start looking for competitions and festivals to submit it to. We’re hoping this will be in February 2018 too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#Project4-7

This is the big one. This will be the spin off series from Feat of Clay, book 4 in the Men of London series featuring Clay Mortimer, former SAS soldier, and Tate Williams, ex drug squad policeman. These four books in the new series will focus on something rather different from what I’ve written before (I’m not spilling the beans yet) and will focus on the investigative agency they both work in. You can expect murder, mayhem, blackmail, and some rather disturbing characters…not to mention some eye widening situations and unusual plot lines. This series will be a whole lot of fun and both men are about to be catapulted into a world they knew existed, but didn’t expect to meet so up close and personal.

 

#Project8

I’m planning on bringing Louis’s story to life at the end of 2018, in a Christmas seasonal special which will make a tenth (a shorter novella) Men of London book. You may remember Louis from Survival Game- the gambler who lost it all and managed to bring himself up from the gutter. We’ll learn more about him and his new love interest – no less than rock star Callum Webster whom we met in Hard Climate, Ryan’s man crush. There will have been some time elapsing between the books to allow Callum a little time to mature but I’m hoping it will work out between them.

All in all, it’s going to be a very busy time and I hope you journey with me, and enjoy the time we have together. All the best for the year ahead. The times, they are a-changing……