Zoe York's Blog, page 5

Today’s #MarketingMonday post is for readers, writers and bloggers alike. Making graphics, like a book teaser or a quote card, can really make a review or social media post POP. But the how-to can be daunting for people without any graphic design background.

I’m doing a workshop on this at the Romancing the Capital conference in Ottawa this May, so as I was pulling together my notes for that, I thought…this would make a great blog post! So you guys are getting the top-level starter point-form notes. I’d love to hear any feedback or questions you have in the comments.

So the basics of any book-related graphic are image + text.

Images for Book Teasers

First rule of teasers: use royalty-free stock photography. Why? Images are copyrighted, just like books are, so unless you have express permission from the photographer to use it, assume you can’t. Even as a reader, I’d recommend you avoid using pictures of celebrities and models. Yes, I know some people do it, even big name authors. They’re taking a risk.

If you are going to make a lot of images, I recommend watching AppSumo for their deals; they have one for a hundred-image pack from DepositPhotos a few times a year that’s an excellent value. Another option is to do a monthly subscription at BigStockPhoto — or even just their trial of 5 or 7 days that they run every so often. Just make sure you cancel before the week or month is up to avoid getting charged for another month (and if you do, max out that month, too!).

There are free stock photo options, too: MorgueFile and Unsplash are the two I visit the most. These are great for landscape pictures especially. This blog post from Bootstrap Bay lists 17 free photo sites you might want to visit.

Adding Text

Okay, so you have a picture that evokes a scene or a character from a book that you love, and now you want to add a quote or a teaser line to it. So you need software beyond Microsoft Paint, because if you’ve ever tried to do this in Paint, you’ve quickly realized that once you plunk down the words…you can’t move them around.

In graphic design, being able to move each element around independently is important. So you need to use something that allows you to operate in layers.

I use GIMP for most of my graphic design work. It’s robust and it’s free. But it might be overwhelming for someone who is unfamiliar with photo editing software, so for purposes of this blog post, I tried out a web-based graphic service called Canva and I was really impressed! You can move text chunks around independently, and they have a nice selection of free images you can use, too. The lumbersexual teaser on the left I made in Canva, using a free image from their library. I added a second font, which took some clicking around to figure out which layer I was on to move stuff where I wanted it, but pretty easy to use, for sure.

The Book Boyfriend All Access Pass graphic above, I made in GIMP. Notice that in both graphics I’m using two different fonts for visual interest. And I tried to put the text on the parts of the picture where it would pop — and in the one on the right, I added some white shadow to help with that.

This is just a really simple starting point. Once you get going, there’s a world of text effects, image blending, layers, graphic design rules (rule of thirds is king!) and much more to learn, but if you’ve got a picture and you know how to put text on it in a way that pleases your eye, that’s a huge first step.

Let me know how it goes for you!

Save

So a year ago I started working out…and nothing miraculous happened

Unless you count my blood pressure dropping back into the normal range. That was my impetus for hiring a personal trainer: get more active or go on blood pressure medication, my doctor said. Fine. I’ve been an erstwhile runner my entire life, so fitness isn’t completely foreign to me. But on the other hand, I’m a writer, so sitting in a chair for hours on end, chugging coffee and getting lost in a story is my native state. Remembering to work out, finding the motivation to step away from the keyboard, that’s a much hurdle. Consistency, rather than ability, would be my biggest hurdle.

Enter Lisa. I met her, randomly, at a clothing swap for charity I went to with my sister. Entered a draw at her table, because yeah, I might be interested in at-home training. And then I ignored the next few emails I got from her, because my doctor hadn’t told me to get fit or get on drugs yet. But the day I had that doctor’s appointment, I got Lisa’s email newsletter again. So I called her.

Yesterday marked my 125th work out with Lisa. Next month will be my one year anniversary with her. I think usually she works with people for a few months, teaching them the tools and skills so they can continue working out on their own. LOL Nope — she’s stuck with me. It’s one of the only “diva” things I do for myself, having her come to my place three times a week and put me through my paces, and as long as I can prioritize that investment in my health, I’ll continue to do it.

And not because my body has radically changed in the last year: it hasn’t, not from the outside. On the inside, my blood pressure has dropped twenty points, my body mass has shifted in a significant way, as I make muscle and burn fat. I’m heaps stronger.

In 125 workouts, I’ve gone from struggling to do any pushups at all, to being able to do pretty much any pushup I try (at least a couple of them). On my toes, one foot in the air, my feet in the TRX stirrups. I can do a “ladder” of them up the stairs, starting on the bottom step and working my way up as I get fatigued.

I’ve learned I can do push-ups until I “can’t” do any more, then I move up one more step and lo and behold, I can do three more.

I still have a “Mummy Tummy”. I’m kind of  terrified of the dietary fierceness that would be required for me to get rid of it, so that’s not my goal right now. I like cheese too much. But as I start to think about running goals for the summer, and how much faster I could go if I lost a bit of weight, I might adjust my attitude on that. Over the last year, I’ve learned that anything is possible.

How about you? Let me know in the comments what your fitness goals are. Next Friday I’ll share a video of me doing those pushups on the stairs, if I can get the little Vikings to film me.

…and anyone who disagrees is wrong

This post at Heroes & Heartbreakers is just the latest in a series of blog posts asking completely the wrong question: can a romance novel have a different ending than the expected HEA (Happy Ever After) or the modern equivalent HFN (Happy For Now) ending?

That blogger states, “there is an emerging trend in romance for a different kind of ending.” And actually, no, there isn’t. 

What is happening is that books are being talked about more and more on social media. There is book-specific social media, even. And readers are changing some pre-conceived notions about what books they like.

Romance readers aren’t simple women who only like one kind of book. They like romances, AND they like ______ (insert whatever “trend” you think you’re seeing change the romance landscape).

The questions these blogs are actually asking, between the lines, are as follows. And warning, they’re kind of offensive:

Can a romance reader enjoy a book without a HEA ending?
Can the biggest block of female readers be enticed to read something new and different if it’s wrapped in something that looks like romance packaging?
Can a romance be improved by changing the basic genre tenets?

The answers to those are yes (seriously? of course yes), maybe (but seriously? why not be straight up about what’s inside), and no (seriously, don’t be fucking stupid). And you know who knows all of those answers intrinsically? The average romance reader.

Last point first: there is no need to try and improve romance. If you don’t like it, move on to what you do like. Caveat to that: if you genuinely love romance, and HEAs, improve away. We all love stories that do wild and crazy things–and that end with a HEA or HFN ending. But if your “super clever idea” is to kill the main character, I’ve just got one thing to say to you:

Fuck off.

If I want to read a heartbreaking love story, I’ll go find it in women’s fiction, or young adult, or _______ (insert all the other genres and add “with romantic elements”). There’s a category for books like that. And readers that want those books go to those categories to find them.

Second point: The trick. Just don’t do it. And if you see romance readers raving about a book, don’t assume that means they’ve been tricked, or that they think that book is a romance. Because…

First point: Romance readers are actually READERS who love romance. They also love other books, too. It’s not an exclusive contract, you know? Oh… you didn’t know that? Wow. How insulting.

And finally, there are some exceptions to every rule. There are books that soar despite breaking all sorts of genre expectations, and books that people love to hate. But to look at a handful of exceptions (that are actually best categorized in other genres, such as the ones readers find them in on Amazon) and pretend to see a trend is ridiculous.

Huh. I made it through this post with a lot less fucks that I expected.

What the heck is blueprinting?

This blog post is for writers, but it could also be for bloggers in general, and because it’s part writing, part business, I’m putting it up on #MarketingMonday. Blueprinting: Where Goals and Plans Collide. This is a tool you should be using on a regular basis to make sure you’re on track, that the project you’re working on is meeting your goals.

So for writers, particularly those that find themselves faced with a decision about what to write or how to market a book, and really aren’t sure about the pros and cons of the different options in front of them: sometimes we genuinely don’t have enough information to make a decision, and that’s when it’s useful to reach out to your network. But even once you’re told more about each option, the right decision is unique to your situation. In order to make the right call, what you need to do is blueprint your marketing or release plan backwards to your goals and objectives.

I recently took a fantastic course in goal setting with Bria Quinlan, and walked away with a bunch of really significant decision-making tools that have changed how and what I’m going to write in 2016. And as an educator myself, taking a course has had me thinking a lot about what I teach in a course. Bria’s course was done in a twice-weekly call-in session with a group, and that was really helpful to hear other people talk in real time, and have them react to my shares and revelations as well.

Learn more about Bria’s Zero to Planned workshop here

But back to blueprinting, because that’s what I was reminded about in Bria’s course: how important it is to constantly be checking back against your original plan.

Blueprinting: An exercise that connects the dots between goals and actions, ensuring that a plan’s action items can be directly connected backwards to the stated objectives. By doing a blueprinting check, you can make sure that no objective is left behind, and no action plan is undertaken that won’t further a stated goal.

But what does that actually look like, Zoe?

Step one:

Write down your goals and plans on a sheet of paper, gridded out

Goals on the left, Plans on the right

(this list could be short or long; when I did this in education, it was alllll the learning objectives for an entire course, matched to allllll the individual class date lessons, so it was pages and pages and took forever to cross reference)

Step two:

Draw an arrow from each plan backwards to the goal that it satisfies.

Ask yourself, “Why am I doing this? What goal does it meet?”

 

 

Step three:

Circle or highlight or put a question mark next to the Goals that don’t have any arrows pointing to them.

See how sad they are? They’re left out! That’s something you want to accomplish! But your plan doesn’t address them.

This highlights the importance of not just creating a [marketing/blogging/writing] plan, but double-checking that it’s on track with your goals on a regular basis.

Step four:

Revise your Plans list. I didn’t have any plans here that didn’t point backwards, but if that’s the case…take those off your list. Don’t do anything that doesn’t satisfy a Goal. (Or revise you Goals list if it secretly does!)

See how I made two of my action items physically smaller?

Step five:

Do another blueprinting check, this time going in the other direction.

Zoe Note from the future: This blog post was written a few years ago, and the screenshots of my emails were accidentally deleted in a website move. If you happen across this blog post and are interested in those email exchanges, feel free to email me at zoeyorkwrites AT gmail DOT com.

This week, two of my SEALs Undone books are on sale. Fall Deep is free, and Fall Fast is 99 cents. This is a series that has been a fan favourite since I started it, and neither of these books have been discounted to these prices before, so I was pretty stoked.

And I should say before I derail into a complaint, that both books are having a fantastic sales week, and I love my readers.

BUT. 

Oh, Amazon, you bunch of crazy prudes.

No, I’m done being polite and professional about this, because you see, I tried that. And the customer service I got back from Kindle Direct Publishing was appalling, and totally dismissive. Let me be clear on this point: I totally get that not everyone who works in a call centre is familiar with all the nuances of genre fiction. Even though romance is the biggest, most popular genre of all. Even thought this is their entire job, to support authors who publish books on the Amazon platform. I understand that there will be some dialogue back and forth while we straighten out a problem.

This is not my first kick at that particular can.

But it is the first time that I’ve been told flat out, from the get-go, “sorry, nope, can’t help you.”

And that’s pretty appalling, because I play by all the rules. I don’t write anything that violates the Amazon KDP TOS. I don’t write anything that comes close to being inappropriate.

I write romance.

And apparently, it’s too dirty for Amazon. [It’s not too dirty for iBooks, Kobo, Barnes & Noble or Google Play, though, so please go and buy a copy there while it’s still 99 cents!]

Except it’s NOT that dirty. This is the most ridiculous book to decide to stick in the so-called erotica dungeon, because it’s actually very sweet. As I try to explain to the customer support reps, this book is about a Navy SEAL who meets a flight attendant and they have a spark. Then there’s a snow storm, so they act on that spark.

Newsflash to Amazon: The vast majority of romance novels sold on your platform have a similar heat level to this book. 

To get specific, while this book has a decent number of dirty words in it (although I counted them, and they aren’t out of line from my average), there isn’t any sex act that in itself would push a book into erotica. (For example, anal sex, a threesome, fetish sex…if you want any of those, though, my Ainsley Booth books might be right up your alley, and BY THE WAY, those are shelves as romances!)

Is it kind of dirty? Yes, enough that it could be shelved in romance -> erotica, maybe if you squint, and enough that I put the erotic romance subtitle on it, just to be clear that the hero uses the F-word while he’s making love to the heroine. But this book is about two people who fall in love. Not two people who have a wild sexcapade.

Okay, so let’s back up to the start of this week, when I go to change the price on Fall Fast. I see that it’s changed on Amazon.com, Amazon.com.au, and Amazon.co.uk, but not Amazon.ca, so I send KDP an email about that.

And this is when I notice that it’s not in the right category, so I send them an immediate follow-up email.

I’m going to leave out the back and forth here where they didn’t know what book I was talking about, because maybe their emails don’t stay connected the same way mine do. The next day, I get this email back from them.

To remove your book from its current categorization [“erotic fiction”, and move it back to “romance”], you will need to remove the erotic or sexually explicit content and resubmit as a new ASIN.

That’s Amazon’s resolution suggestion to me. In order for this book to be shelved as a romance, I need to remove the sex from it.

Man, I wouldn’t want to date Amazon. Not enough cold showers in the world.

So I reply, because surely they’re mistaken. It’s happened before, many, many times. Pierre just copied and pasted a form response, right? Because it’s a romance novel. It’s going to have sexual content in it, even explicit sexual content. 

And again I have another thought, and I tag it on as a second email, because really, something’s gone weird here, right? So I just need to speak to a supervisor and get it straightened out.

This is what I got back.

I can’t properly explain how ragey this response makes me, because they’ve just lied to me, and I tell them as much. This email I copied Jeff Bezos on. I’ve never done that before. I’m not that girl. I don’t believe in jumping the chain of command. But seriously????

Crazy prudes.

SMH.

EDITED TO ADD: This was eventually resolved with the help of the Executive Response team who replied to my email to Jeff Bezos. It was a metadata problem, and once I removed the word erotic from the keywords, the book was put back into the Romance categories I wanted (Military Romance specifically).

It’s a shame it takes that much drama to take care of a very small fix.

I heard from Elyssa Patrick that there were romance-themed colouring books at the Romance Writer’s of America conference, so I decided to try my hand at it with the new cover for What Once Was Perfect. What do you think?

You can download the .pdf version here!

Want another cover? Just ask!

The post A new twist on adult colouring books! appeared first on Zoe York.

FOUR DAY SALE! July 16-19

The Opposite of Wild by Kylie Gilmore is Free!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

More Than a Kiss by Stacey Joy Netzel is 0.99!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

The Posse by Tawdra Kandle is 0.99!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

The Love I Want to Be In by MJ Fredrick is 0.99!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Love and Rumors by Jean Oram is free!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Cowboy Command by Olivia Jaymes is free!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Bargaining with the Bride by Allison Gatta is Free!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Love in a Small Town (Pine Harbour #1) by Zoe York is Free!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Temptation (Club X #1) by K.M. Scott is 0.99!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

The Other Fighter, part 1 by Tawny Stokes is 0.99!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Behind Closed Doors (Daniels Brothers #1) by Sherri Hayes is 0.99!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Aloha Texas by Chris Keniston is 0.99!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Relatively Famous by Heather C. Leigh is Free!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Miami Dreams by Layla Wilcox is 0.99!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Rebound (Tryst Island Series #1) by Sabrina York is 0.99!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Come Home to Me by Jessica Scott is Free!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Sucked Into Love by Rochelle Paige is 99c!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Smittened by Jamie Ferrell is 99c!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Can’t Shake You by Molly McLain is Free!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

Pros & Cons by Sydney Logan is 99c!

Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks

 

The post Awesome summer beach reads! appeared first on Zoe York.

Two weeks ago, I went to Romancing the Capital in Ottawa. The brainchild of the wonderful Eve Langlais, this was the first romance conference I attended, and the bar is now crazy high for all future events to meet. Milly Taiden said it felt like a wedding, and it really did–catching up with distant friends, making instant connections, and coming together for a joyous celebration. Plus dancing, great food, tons of hugs, and special, meaningful moments…and lots of conversations.

We talked about books we love, and writing we want do it. Publishing we’ve done and plans for the future. Some of those plans changed because of the conversations we had.

On the long drive back to London, my friend Stacie and I started talking about historical romance, and she mentioned the lovely Mia Marlowe. Right now I’m finishing up a newsletter-exclusive novella, Fall Deep, that I built off the bones of my first (almost-but-never finished) romance novel. That story was hopelessly flawed, but the “meet cute” in a bar in Hastings, England was one that I could never lock in a drawer and say goodbye to. Every time I thought of that story, I regretted that I didn’t know enough when I wrote it to fix the problems I ran into.

Craft is king, in so many ways. But the start of that story had an advantage–Mia included it on her blog, for her Red Pencil Thursday critique, and that was my first experience with critting. It was lovely, gentle, honest, and extraordinarily helpful. [Trivia point! Readers of all of my series will recognize the name of the pub, The Green Hedgehog — I use it in my Pine Harbour series, as well — that name came from that blog post, one of the commenters suggested it and I loved it so hard I used it in Pine Harbour, when I thought this book would never see the light of day; but I couldn’t change it once I started revising Piper and Miles’ book, so now it’s an homage.]

That first positive experience led me to seek out different writer communities (I ended up at Romance Divas) and craft workshops (like Before You Hit Send, led by Angela James). And nine months later, I published my first book–a different book, one that had series potential and better conflict, and almost no head-hopping (a year later, when re-reading What Once Was Perfect for a boxed set, I found some slides…gotta love that ebooks just let us snip and fix quietly!).

This is what we do for each other as romance writers–this is the helpful sorority we have, and it’s so special.

I’m going back to Romancing the Capital next year (May 6 and 7, 2016–author tickets already sold out, reader tickets available now!), and it blows my mind to think of where I might be, career-wise, at that point. A lot has happened in the last year, two years, three years.

 Today is my one-year anniversary of writing full-time. I’m about to start edits on Pine Harbour #3, Love on a Spring Morning. This is Ryan Howard’s story, and I first had the idea for his series one year ago today, when my life changed a million times for the better…but I also had to step up my game, big time. I was writing Beyond Love and Hate, Wardham #4, and mapping out the character of Finn Howard when I stumbled across his brother. Grumpy, grumpy Ryan Howard. Married, three kids, but the dude wouldn’t leave me alone, because maybe he knew that his life was about to get shitty and he needed a writer friend to get him through it.

It didn’t take me long to realize that Ryan’s book couldn’t be book one in a new series. I’m not going to lie to you guys, it’s really sad. I’ve cried more in writing and revising this story than probably all my other books combined. [And probably in the final version, those sad moments are going to flip by in a few pages and nobody will know that I ached over them for months. Except the people at my local Starbucks–they’ve seen all the tears] So I wrote bits and pieces of his story here and there as it came to me, but I also rounded out the rest of the community of Pine Harbour and met the Minellis and the Fosters. Ryan’s friends, all needing HEAs themselves. Score.

Pine Harbour is one of my shortest series, because the books take me longer to write, but it’s the closest to my heart, because it’s the series that was borne at the same time as my full-time career. Love in a Small Town, now available for free everywhere to celebrate this anniversary, was the first book that I launched as a “professional writer”. The reviews are still glowing, almost a year later, and they too make me cry. I didn’t know if I could do it, but I’m so glad I tried. And I did it because of readers, like my Wardham Ambassadors group, and other writers.

So finally, I’ll leave you with this trailer for a new documentary about romance readers and romance writers, because everything in it is bang-on. This romance community? It’s unbelievably special. I honestly got a little teary watching this. If anyone stumbles across my blog and wonders…could I do that? Yeah, honey. You could. And if you start writing, you will.

Two weeks ago, I went to Romancing the Capital in Ottawa. The brainchild of the wonderful Eve Langlais, this was the first romance conference I attended, and the bar is now crazy high for all future events to meet. Milly Taiden said it felt like a wedding, and it really did–catching up with distant friends, making instant connections, and coming together for a joyous celebration. Plus dancing, great food, tons of hugs, and special, meaningful moments…and lots of conversations.

We talked about books we love, and writing we want do it. Publishing we’ve done and plans for the future. Some of those plans changed because of the conversations we had.

On the long drive back to London, my friend Stacie and I started talking about historical romance, and she mentioned the lovely Mia Marlowe. Right now I’m finishing up a newsletter-exclusive novella, Fall Deep, that I built off the bones of my first (almost-but-never finished) romance novel. That story was hopelessly flawed, but the “meet cute” in a bar in Hastings, England was one that I could never lock in a drawer and say goodbye to. Every time I thought of that story, I regretted that I didn’t know enough when I wrote it to fix the problems I ran into.

Craft is king, in so many ways. But the start of that story had an advantage–Mia included it on her blog, for her Red Pencil Thursday critique, and that was my first experience with critting. It was lovely, gentle, honest, and extraordinarily helpful. [Trivia point! Readers of all of my series will recognize the name of the pub, The Green Hedgehog -- I use it in my Pine Harbour series, as well -- that name came from that blog post, one of the commenters suggested it and I loved it so hard I used it in Pine Harbour, when I thought this book would never see the light of day; but I couldn't change it once I started revising Piper and Miles' book, so now it's an homage.]

That first positive experience led me to seek out different writer communities (I ended up at Romance Divas) and craft workshops (like Before You Hit Send, led by Angela James). And nine months later, I published my first book–a different book, one that had series potential and better conflict, and almost no head-hopping (a year later, when re-reading What Once Was Perfect for a boxed set, I found some slides…gotta love that ebooks just let us snip and fix quietly!).

This is what we do for each other as romance writers–this is the helpful sorority we have, and it’s so special.

I’m going back to Romancing the Capital next year (May 6 and 7, 2016–author tickets already sold out, reader tickets available now!), and it blows my mind to think of where I might be, career-wise, at that point. A lot has happened in the last year, two years, three years.

 Today is my one-year anniversary of writing full-time. I’m about to start edits on Pine Harbour #3, Love on a Spring Morning. This is Ryan Howard’s story, and I first had the idea for his series one year ago today, when my life changed a million times for the better…but I also had to step up my game, big time. I was writing Beyond Love and Hate, Wardham #4, and mapping out the character of Finn Howard when I stumbled across his brother. Grumpy, grumpy Ryan Howard. Married, three kids, but the dude wouldn’t leave me alone, because maybe he knew that his life was about to get shitty and he needed a writer friend to get him through it.

It didn’t take me long to realize that Ryan’s book couldn’t be book one in a new series. I’m not going to lie to you guys, it’s really sad. I’ve cried more in writing and revising this story than probably all my other books combined. [And probably in the final version, those sad moments are going to flip by in a few pages and nobody will know that I ached over them for months. Except the people at my local Starbucks--they've seen all the tears] So I wrote bits and pieces of his story here and there as it came to me, but I also rounded out the rest of the community of Pine Harbour and met the Minellis and the Fosters. Ryan’s friends, all needing HEAs themselves. Score.

Pine Harbour is one of my shortest series, because the books take me longer to write, but it’s the closest to my heart, because it’s the series that was borne at the same time as my full-time career. Love in a Small Town, now available for free everywhere to celebrate this anniversary, was the first book that I launched as a “professional writer”. The reviews are still glowing, almost a year later, and they too make me cry. I didn’t know if I could do it, but I’m so glad I tried. And I did it because of readers, like my Wardham Ambassadors group, and other writers.

So finally, I’ll leave you with this trailer for a new documentary about romance readers and romance writers, because everything in it is bang-on. This romance community? It’s unbelievably special. I honestly got a little teary watching this. If anyone stumbles across my blog and wonders…could I do that? Yeah, honey. You could. And if you start writing, you will.

The post Feeling sentimental about writing and the romance community appeared first on Zoe York.

So over the last year, I’ve primarily used my newsletter to connect with readers, and that’s been amazing, particularly over the last fifteen weeks as I’ve sent out Fall Deep, chapter by chapter, each week. As I’ve done that, I’ve wanted to include other awesome information–other authors you might like, Facebook parties you might want to attend.

And sometimes, too much information isn’t a good thing. Last week’s newsletter sendout was blocked by a bunch of servers for a suspicious link (oh no!), which is upsetting because my links were just to Goodreads, Facebook and Amazon. All my favourite places!

So now I’m going to try to use my blog better–post a lot of stuff here, and share a link to this blog post in today’s newsletter. Hopefully that’ll be more acceptable to the server computers. LOL

On the agenda today:

1. My friend Bonnie Dee has a free book, the first in an angsty, emotional series!

2. I also have a new free book! Yay!!! A fan favourite is now free, tell all you friends

3. The InkHeart Authors are having a Facebook party tonight, you should come

4. I’m on the train as I write this, hurtling toward Ottawa for the Romancing the Capital conference. I. Can’t. Wait.

5. Did you see my blog post earlier this week on the Lift campaign to raise Autism Awareness?

Okay, you want to know more?

1. Here’s the introduction to Blind Passion in Bonnie’s own words:

Blind Passion is the first book in my Wyatt brothers series. It’s currently free until the end of April. The other books are Dangerous Passion, Guarded Passion and NEW THIS WEEK Committed Passion, a series finale.
I enjoyed creating this dysfunctional family of three brothers who basically had to raise themselves and the women whose love helped them reach the other side of their issues. Originally I only planned three books, but each couple needed just a little more to completely wrap up their tale.

Through personal darkness, two strangers find their way to each other.

Leah Schaeffer has come a long way since an accident took her sight. She’s finally ready for independence, but convincing her wealthy parents she’ll be safe on her own isn’t easy. The first night in her own place at last, she encounters her neighbor with the midnight velvet voice and her world shifts again.

Since finishing a military tour, J.D. Wyatt has struggled both financially and emotionally. When Leah’s parents hire him to act as her bodyguard, he seizes the opportunity. The catch—she can’t know she’s being followed. As he grows closer to the intriguing woman and begins to have feelings for her, the burden of this secret grows heavier.

Although Leah and J.D. have suffered different types of trauma, their mutual understanding of each other’s pain bonds them. But their relationship, dependent on absolute trust, is rooted in lies which will detonate like an IED when exposed.

GET IT FOR FREE AT:

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | All Romance Reads

2. Me? Yep, I’ve got another free book! Love in a Small Town, Pine Harbour #1, is now free!

3. A bunch of the InkHeart Authors are having a Facebook party tonight! Lots of giveaways!

4. Part of the Romancing the Capital conference this weekend is a book signing from 2-4 pm on Saturday, at the Holiday Inn in Kanata, Ontario. If you are in the Ottawa area and would like to say hi, it’s free and open to the public!

5. Kennedy Ryan has organized four weeks of amazing giveaways for her Lift campaign. Check it out on her Facebook page! I blogged about this week’s giveaway HERE.

The post What’s better than a free book? Two free books! And some other news appeared first on Zoe York.