Archives

Getting the word out

Jul28

Ari Wright’s Once Upon A Pack

Ari Wright is releasing the Audio Book for Once Upon a pack, and it has me wondering: what methods do you find work best for getting the word out on new releases (E-book, print or audio)?

As a baby writer (nothing huge published, mostly short stories and a couple of poems) I will send information to those I think might like the story. I use either email or text as I don’t post on social media.

As a consumer, I have 4 main ways of finding books.

  1. Recommendations. Friends, family or even KU. I actually found Ari Wright through a Based on your other books…. Recommendation. She’s one of my favorite authors and an auto read for me. Goodreads– i use it to log my books but don’t really get recs there.
  2. Newsletter. Author newsletters are awesome. I especially like the ones where they share this it’s of what’s going on with them. Maybe a photo of their work desk, or what they’ve been up to. And of course the new releases! As an author, you have to walk a line with the newsletters. Readers want to know about your upcoming and new releases, but not to be inundated by a sales pitch constantly.
  3. Social Media Ads. For me, mainly TikTok and Instagram as those are the two I scroll most. I will say as a reader I prefer Instagram as the link goes directly to the ebook link. I don’t know what’s going on with people, but the amount of TikTok ads for books that FORGET to give the title and/or  author name is ridiculous. I’m also not going to buy off the Tok shop.
  4. Social Media Groups. I belong to a few groups for readers of an author, but also some for specific types of romance. This is where you cannot only get a rec, but also find out what that book you read three months ago with this particular scene was. Life-saving! Or sanity saving.

So– how do you advertise for your writing? If you’re mostly a reader, how do you find the books you read?

Summer Check In: Fast Five

Jul14

Summer is here and the air is sticky! Life has been lifing. Some great, lots of ok and some terrible. But that’s life, right?

Here’s my Fast Five for July (so far)

  1. Writing has fallen off since about Fathers day. Not even a poem a day. I’ve written two in July. Working on getting back on track.
  2. Still reading! Currently I’m reading book #241 of the year. This doesn’t even include the re-reads I’ve done.
  3. I am still circling writing an Omegaverse romance. Part of the problem is that I’m so uncomfortable with writing traditional sex scenes. Almost all of the ones I’ve started and stopped all happen in the same “world”. The book I’m currently reading? #241 above? It’s in the same subgenre (Reverse Harem Omegaverse) and … It’s rated G. It’s building a relationship. I love it!!! I do think the author needs to promote her books as G/PG rated (a lot of her reviews center around that. But they still read it!)
  4. I love fireworks but not masses of people. I am happy to report that I can watch fireworks from my back porch. If I walk down to the back of my property, I can watch two different shows! One on the left (visible from porch) and one in the right (obscured by tree unless I walk down to the alley).
  5. Got the AC in my car fixed (Thank you T-Bo!!)  and went on a mini adventure with my sister! It was so awesome!  So many more that I want to go on. We went to a city about an hour, hour and a half away and visited 2 bookstores (one was a dud one was AH-MAZZING!) Had a wonderful lunch in a Cafe / bakery and LOTS of sister binding time!

That’s all from me for now. I’ve got 9 minutes left of my dedicated writing time, so I think I’m gonna Ng to go okay in my #fafo world.

What fun or interesting things have you done this summer?

Book Review: Her Knotty List

Nov19

Her Knotty List by Ari Wright comes out on Thursday, November 21. I had the pleasure of receiving an ARC for review.

This review might contain spoilers. Maybe not.

Her Knotty List is a Reverse Harem Omegaverse Christmas romance. It’s the fourth book in her MVP series and came in at a solid 3.5 stars for me. It was exactly what you want out of a Christmas romance– fun with men to swoon over.

I’m having a problem writing this review because I love this series so much. I adore the writing style and how I’m able to connect emotionally with the characters.

However

But.

I’m gonna do this how I would for my writing partner in crime. We read each other’s work all the time. And ..

For me, there was a lack of balance between what happened in the beginning and what happened in the end. The pack from Book 1 were featured secondary characters (Theo is the FMC’s brother) and I loved the Ash pack in book 1. Adored. Still liked them in books 2 & 3. This one? Hated.

I wanted to castrate the Ash Pack Alphas with a rusty spoon. If you need me to go into why I can, however… To take a reader like me who loves the series and leave me feeling like that? And while they do “make-up”… It’s not balanced. It doesn’t feel as if amends have really been made when all of the female characters are together at the end. Which in turn makes the show down with the real villains of the story feel a bit weak as well. Possibly because we’re told what’s going to happen instead of shown.

I really did enjoy this book. It is a solid read.

What’s your favorite Christmas read?

Keeping the love alive

Sep30

Ari Wright has a new book coming out early November. She’s one of my favs, and even though I just devoured Book 3 or the MVP Series, I can’t wait for book 4. Although, of course I’m going to have to LOL.

It’s hard to write a series of books that both stand alone and give something a little extra to your faithful readers. I’m excited to find out how Ari pulls it off in Her Knotty List.

But we have until November to find that out (although the blurb gives us a hint) so let’s look at the last three and see how she did it.

In books 1 & 2 (Knot her Goal, Knot her Shot respectively) the female leads are really good friends and are in each book. They are both in book 3, but don’t know the female main character (and if I tell you more it’ll spoil book 3).

In all three of the books so far (#3 is Knot her Fight), the females have insecurity, or issues with feeling like they are worthy. To be fair, that might just be a people issue, but it resonates strongly for me. Even when things look up, sometimes it’s hard to remember it’s real life and you deserve good things.

Meg (Book 1) is a PR person, and happens to work on her packs  football team accounts. When she pops up in book 3, it’s believable because one of the male main characters is on that team. New readers will read it and move on. Personally I read it and went “Why’s Meg being so weird?” There was a reason, and when everything comes to light it makes sense. A little side wink to faithful readers, but not needed to get the plot or the hint. It will be fun to see if any of the previous characters make it into book 4 and how they end up in the book.

In all three of the current books, the female main characters have met their packs very different ways. A job interview, a matching service and a police station. Book 4 looks like it will be a wild meet up as well. A runaway bride? Yes, please!

There is a big difference between the first three books and the fourth. The pack isn’t formed when she meets them. This is going to be fun to read and must have been fun to write.

Some authors have a specific formula they follow religously when they write. And that’s fine — there are times when I know I need a hit of that formula and will seek out a new title by them.

But there are other authors, like Ari Wright, who take a formula and tweak it and tweak it until the book burns brightly on its own.

I can’t wait!