Why do I do this?

Sometimes I’ll run a poll just for fun or curiosity, such as the poll that asked for your favorite Denise Grover Swank book. Honestly, some of the answers on that one surprised me. But often, I’m asking to help me understand how MY READERS react/respond/behave in regards to books.  I’m either trying to determine the best way to market to other readers OR I’m trying to determine what my readers are looking for/wanting from an author or a book.

April’s poll was the later. I wanted to know how readers pick books to read, hoping to glean information to reach out to new readers.  I created the poll so that multiple answers were allowed because I myself am not limited to only one way. I take friend recommendations and look at reviews.

I collected this information for just myself, but it occurred to me that others might interested in the results too.  I used PollDaddy (a free service) and they provide a report of the results.

This pie chart kind of loses its effectiveness by itself here, but it was just too cool not to include. The corresponding colors are below. If you can differentiate them, can you please label the chart for me? >jk<

Below is the helpful information. There were 207 responses. I don’t have data telling me how many responders provided answers.

All research I had found before this poll indicated that friend recommendation was the best source of garnering a book sale. This poll has the same results, but barely.  A Goodreads poll had placed this influence around 35% but my own poll puts that descion factor at a little over 15%.

I found that surprising, but keep in mind, my sample pool is relatively small and probably limited to my readers since I rarely announce the new polls. Also, readers were allowed to pick MULTIPLE answers which might have diluted the results. But this just proves what we already knew and what I preach at any self-publishing program I give. The very first step to publishing a book in any venue is to write a damn good book. You need a book your readers are going to talk about days after they finish.  A book they think is so good they convince their friends to read it.

The second biggest influencer was reviews on SALES SITES such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, coming in at 14%. This doesn’t surprise me.  My own personal experience, both as an author and a reader, is that reviews are extremely important.  When I release a new book, I try to make sure I have at least ten reviews within a week of the book’s release. A good book review is the next best thing to a friend recommendation. In essence, it’s a recommendation from a stranger, but a recommendation all the same.

Contrary to what you might think, bad reviews are beneficial as well.  Some bad reviews prove themselves to be inconsequential.  We’ve all read ridiculous reviews. But even well thought out bad reviews can be beneficial as long as there aren’t too many.  Legitimate low reviews might weed out other readers who wouldn’t like the book and in turn, reduce your future bad reviews.  But ultimately, a few low reviews prove that the author hasn’t “stacked the deck.”

Chosen has more low reviews on Amazon than I would like. Out of 97 reviews, 11 are two or one stars. That bothers me. Until I realize that I’ve received eleven low reviews out of over 36,000 PAID copies of Chosen  and over 50,000 FREE downloads of Chosen. When I look at it that way, it’s more palpable.

It’s important to reiterate that reviewers are meant for READERS not for the author.

The third biggest influencer is something I’ve believed to be true, but now have some factual proof to back up. 13% of readers are influenced by the emails and recommendations from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. While I didn’t specifically ask this, and in hindsight I should have, I suspect this includes Amazon’s “Also Bought” carousel. The Also Boughts are obvious, they are books readers bought in addition to the book on the product page.

The real beauty here is Amazon and Barnes & Noble recommendations through emails. I’m not sure how Barnes & Noble picks the books they recommend, but Amazon picks their’s from the top 100 of genre. While the nature of long tail marketing is one of the greatest attributes of self-publishing, these results support something I’ve believed since last fall: you need to get your book on the top 100 of its genre and keep it there as long as possible.  As long as it’s there, Amazon is giving you free advertisement. Hello! How awesome is that???

The fourth, coming in at 11%, is scanning the Amazon bestseller list. I saw proof-positive of this last Christmas. My fourteen year old daughter got a Kindle Fire as a gift and after she played around with apps, she decided it was time to use her gift card and buy books.  How did she decide what to buy? She went to the Best Seller list for YA.  ** I intend to discuss my daughter’s experience and reading habits since acquiring her Kindle in another blog post. ** This is another fact supporting the need to find ways to get your book as high as possible and keep it there.

Books that dip in the Top  100 in Kindle sales  list, from 60-100,  tend to fall out faster. I’ve learned this through personal experience with Chosen and Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes on the Top 100 of the Kindle store. Chosen climbed onto the list in December and only lasted a few days, climbing into the 80′s.  Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes did the same after its free promo in April. But when Chosen shot to the top of the Top 100, getting as high as #19, it lasted on the list for a week and a half.

Fifth was Goodreads at 8%. This was actually lower than I expected, but I need to take two things into account. One, I suspect a good portion of my readers aren’t on Goodreads. When I sent out ARCs of Sacrifice to self-declared, devoted readers of The Chosen series, I requested that they review the book on Goodreads and Amazon. I found that at least half of the twenty readers weren’t on Goodreads.  But I wonder if the second reason has some importance as well: Goodreads has become a bit of a battleground between reviewers and authors. The ugliness is turning readers away. Personally, I spend much less time on Goodreads than I used to. While I expect to read bad reviews of books, I cringe when I read scathing, ugly, and insulting attacks. (And I’m not talking about my own books.) Sure, I don’t have to read them. But it’s hard to ignore them when they show up on your front page.

Reviews from book bloggers came in sixth at 6%. This was also surprising given the success I’ve garnered from participating in tours. However, one hypothosis might be that the books garnered early readers with book blogger reviews, then spread out to readers who don’t  typically read blog reviews. Blog tours review and typically post on Amazon and Goodreads, adding to #2.  I have had fantastic success with my books tours for Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes and Chosen, but I’ve had three separate book tours for Here, with lots of positive reviews, and hardly any increase in sales.  I believe this is because Here is YA, but I also think my last blog tour– a week long blitz of over thirty bloggers–was harmed by the large number of blogs that offered Here in a giveaway, taking away impulse sales.  But that is a topic for another day.

At 5% is the elusive other, the seventh influencer.  Respondants could fill in the blank and the answers were varied.  Out of eleven write in reasons,  four were for book decription or blurb, and two were for book cover. The rest of the answers referred to preferred genre or autobuying an author.

So what does all this data mean? For me, it tells me that I’m focusing on the right areas. How do you get people to recommend your book to friends? Write a book they can’t put down and can’t forget. How do you get reviews? After you complete the answer to the first question, then you entice readers to leave reviews. Offer ARCs in exchange for an HONEST review.  Have contests so reviewers can win a prize, such as an Amazon gift card.

If you are an author, did this blog post help you? Were any of these answers a surprise to you as an author or a reader?

This week’s author is a Facebook friend of mine– Bonnie Paulson.  I asked her to write a guest post about romantic gestures and she even included Will in her post!!! (I confess, I may have squeed when I read it.) She has a special surprise giveaway at the end. One you’re guaranteed to be a winner! How awesome is that?

Scoop of Romance – Season to Taste

When you think of romance what comes to mind? A novel? A movie? Flowers? Channing Tatum without his shirt?

Usually romance involves the giving of something like jewelry or chocolates (my favorite are Ethel M’s lemon satin crème dark chocolates). But what about the intention behind the giving? Is it bigger than the gift itself?

I like to see some effort behind the act, especially if I’m reading about it. For instance, Will in Chosen saves Emma’s life like a thousand times – even against his better judgment. Isn’t that romantic? In my YA Urban Fantasy romance, Barely Alive, Paul does his best not to eat Heather – he likes her for more than her flesh. Isn’t that romantic?

I go out of my way to have dinner on the table as often as possible when my hubs comes home – not because I don’t work full time, home school 4 kids, have another job as an author, volunteer for church, and whatever else I can fit in, it’s because it’s one of the ways I show him I love him.

In all of my novels there’s a dish that one of the character’s makes for the other (either guy or girl). I believe the adage that the way to someone’s heart is through their stomachs. Each of my books has an original recipe of mine linked to it. You can find them here. My lasagna is guaranteed to get me a kiss from Hubs and a big ole grin which makes my day.

That’s romance I hope lasts a long time.

I love giveaways! Don’t you? I find them romantic – it’s me giving you an early Mother’s Day present, or maybe an I’m-Not-A-Mother Day present, or maybe an I’m-Celebrating-My-Fifth-Baby-Due-September present. I’m going to do something a little unorthodox with this giveaway. I have 2 new books seasoned with romance recently released that I love: Into the End (adult apocalyptic thriller) which features a traditional romance (boy meets girl = happy ever after) as well as nontraditional romance (a married couple rediscover their significance to each other) and Barely Alive (YA urban fantasy) which features traditional zombie romance (if there is such a thing) with a Twilight feel around the world ending. I love them both.

Comment below with 1) your idea of a romantic gesture, 2) your email and 3) your choice of either book and you’re guaranteed to win. That’s right EVERY COMMENTER WINS an ebook from the two choices above. I’ll contact you and ask your preference for format and send it as soon as you answer.

,

I can’t wait to hear what romance means to you!

Bonnie R. Paulson mixes her science and medical background with reality and possibilities to make even myths seem likely and gives every romance the genetic strength to survive. Barely Alive is the first in a YA zombie romance where fighting the virus might be easier than fighting attraction. (Falling Apart, #2 comes out late summer 2012). Into the End introduces the scary realism of what happens when nature and other countries seek to defeat America. (Through the Flames, #2 due out early summer 2012).  Visit her at www.bonnierpaulson.com and see what she thinks about science flavored with romaction.

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Everyone has until Sunday night at midnight to leave a comment for a copy of one of Bonnie’s books!!!

To my delight and joy, I made the list. And not only did I make the Top 100, but I made the Top 50!!!

That is unreal to me. One year ago, I was doing a lot of soul searching while I wrestled with the decision to self-publish Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes. If you had told me last year that a year later I’d be on that list, I would have laughed–at how deluded you must be. I was hoping to sell 1000 books of Twenty-Eight by the end of 2011.

I met my goal.

The list ranks me at #47, but the truth is my accurate sales totals put me between #33-#39. It all depends where Amazon borrows fall into the figures. For anyone looking at the totals, that puts me a little over 15,000 books sold in April.

And that seems unreal.

So what doea that list mean? Not much, really. But it is validation. Self-publishing has become more acceptable, but there’s still discrimination toward self-published authors.  This list shows that we take what we do seriously and we’re making money at it. It’s a statement to the world that those top 100 authors are doing pretty well on the self-publishing path.

So what’s my secret? Multiple books. Multiple books in a series.  My book sales are spread across five books. Those add up quick.  This won’t happen every month, but I’m going to enjoy the months that it does.

And by now, I know I’m becoming repetitive, but I  have to thank my readers! I literally wouldn’t be on that list without you.

Thank you to everyone who has emailed, sent me Facebook messages, posted on my Facebook Timeline and sent me tweets, all asking WHEN would the next The Chosen book be out. I have never felt so loved and wanted. Well, except for my youngest child who is often a cling on.

In this post I’m going to address why there’s a fourth The Chosen book, why I have three series, and why it takes me “so long” to release a book.

I’ve stated this before, but it’s buried in posts so there’s no harm in repeating it: I had intended for Sacrifice to be the last book of The Chosen series. In first draft, I had gotten to 80,000 words and realized I was only halfway through my intended plot. (The typical adult book is 80,000-100,000 words.)  I had a huge dilemma. While I had never stated it was a trilogy, it WAS my intention. (I left myself a back door to add more if necessary, the beauty of self-publishing. I get to call those shots.) Also, the three symbols insinuated it was a trilogy.  But to keep it three books meant restructuring the book and taking a LOT of character development out, as well as some history to the game.  So I emailed my beta readers and asked what they thought of a fourth book. Would they be upset the series wasn’t done? The response was an overwhelming “We want more books!”

The point where I hit my wall in Sacrifice was the big scene with Will and Emma in New Mexico. If you’ve read Sacrifice, you know this scene. If you haven’t, it hasn’t spoiled anything. I realized I was a close to a fantastic spot to end the book and leave the readers satisfied (hopefully) and okay with waiting for the next book. But then came the REAL dilemma. When was I going to write the fourth The Chosen book?

I currently have three series going. An adult urban fantasy, a Rom Com mystery, and a young adult science fiction romance.  Why? When I started my writing career, I did it with the goal most writers aspire to. Find an agent, get a book deal, have published books. So I wrote Chosen and queried agents (the query letter is almost identical to the blurb) I got requests. I got a lot of them, but all were rejected. Unfortunately, most came with no feedback, just that they loved it but didn’t think they could sell it to New York.  I had no idea why. Was paranormal untrendy? Should I try a different genre?

I’m an eclectic reader. I read pretty much EVERYTHING. A few days before a devastating rejection for Chosen, I took my son to the DMV and said “It would be awesome to have a character in a book who worked at the DMV.”  Ross rolled his eyes, but the idea took root. Three days later, the day after my rejection,  I had a semi plot for Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes. It was THEN I realized, “Hey this is a mystery.” So I wrote it, sent out queries and hardly got any requests. I revised the query letter multiple times and nothing. The few requests I got were all rejected with some variation of: great plot/great voice/great character, not for me.

I was a bit frustrated. (understatement) I realized mysteries for unknown authors weren’t selling well. About that time, my then thirteen year old daughter pestered me AGAIN  ”Mom, will you please write a book my friends and I can read?” Why not? My other books weren’t going to get bought by New York and I had begun reading a lot of YA.  So I wrote Here, then titled Torn. Little did I know the main premise of Here was “the next big thing” in YA trends. So when I queried it, I got a few requests, but most rejections said they already had a client writing a similar project and I would competition.

What the bleeeeeeep?

I got my last DEVASTATING rejection for Here, the agent had spent three hours telling me how much she loved the book, how she worked with clients, what did I expect from an agent, etc. BUT she had a client with a similar project and rejected me two weeks later. I would have gone to bed and buried my head under the covers for days if I wasn’t pursuing an alternative publishing path.

I’d already set the wheels in motion to self-publish Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes.  A year ago, when I started the processs, I still intended (hoped) to sell The Chosen Series and Here to a traditional publisher. But the voices are SO different, and NO ONE wanted Twenty-Eight, I thought, “why not publish it myself?”  I would have been thrilled to sell 200 copies. I was told by others who had self-published before me to expect to sell 20 the first month. If I was lucky.

But after the initial success of Twenty-Eight, (I sold 200 books the first month) and more rejections on Chosen and Here, I decided I’d had enough rejection and I was taking charge of my career.  I had two and a half books on my query backlist (Hunted was written but not edited.) so why not publish them?

Note: Self-publishing is NOT the end of rejections. Just check out my Amazon and Goodreads pages for proof of that.

But that meant I had three series, which really isn’t a problem in the traditional publishing world when books in a series typically come out once a year. But it is a problem for readers. I suspect that’s probably a gripe of theirs with traditional publishing, that they HAVE to wait a year. It took me until last month to realize I was thinking of my self-published books using the traditional publishing paradigm. I needed to leave those expectations and rules behind and make my own.

But I still had three series. I realized I need to only have two at a time. The Chosen series include my most popular books, followed by Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes. So I decided to rearrange my writing schedule and finish the Chosen series first. (I already had Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons written and readers had been waiting for it since last July) Then I’ll make the On the Otherside a two book series instead of a trilogy and finish it. I hope to release it by the end of the year.  I’ll write the first book of my new adult urban fantasy series this summer between Redemption and There. I’ll give it to my agent to try to sell to a traditional publisher.

I hope you all have noticed I have not slammed traditional publishing. I have not climbed onto a cliff and become a self-publishing prophet. I think successful authors of the future will pursue some type of BOTH publishing avenues.

Bottom line: My ultimate goal is to have two self-published series at a time– The Rose Gardner Mysteries and another urban fantasy series, with a book published every three to four months. This is my goal for 2013, but things are ever changing. I have no idea if that will still be my goal in six months. However, my readers “happiness” is very important to me. I wouldn’t be in this position if I didn’t have readers. Still, I can’t release quality books in two months. Quality is very important to me. My books go through MULTIPLE professional steps:

Developmental editor
Copy editor
Multiple professional proof readers
Cover designer
E-book formatter

Those first three steps take some time. I’m at the mercy of the professionals’ schedule, although I’m fortunate that they are very accommodating of my schedule.

Thank you to everyone who reads my books and recommends them to others!  If you really loved a book, I’d very much appreciate if you’d leave me reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, or any other site you prefer. I love that you want to read my stories and I’m doing my best to provide more. I truly love what I do!!! I have the best job in the world!!!

I love hearing from you using any of the above listed forms of communication. I always answer, even it might take me a couple of days! So if you don’t get a response from me, please send it again.

Email me: DeniseGroverSwank@gmail.com
Facebook friend me: https://www.facebook.com/deniseswank (warning: I’m chatty and if you friend me, you’re fair game. There’s a chance I’ll start commenting on your updates)
Twitter: @DeniseMSwank

But it just didn’t happen.

Then coincidentally, around the time I was deciding to self-publish Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes last May, Trish had decided to self-pub her book, Forged in Fire. Our connection grew tighter. Both of us were traveling on this journey of the unknown, and it was comforting to know that someone I knew was going through it too.  For me, it was scary. How well would my book sell? Was I making a mistake? Was I killing my chances at a traditional publishing career? But it was exciting too. The chance to be in control of my own destiny instead of at other people’s mercy.

Trish, you published your first book, Forged in Fire, last September. What were your goals when you published?

My original goal was to make enough money in royalties to pay for the production costs of the next book I planned to self-publish. 

Forged in Fire shot up the charts after its release. This didn’t happen by accident but was the result of careful planning. What would you consider the number one reason FiF did so well?

I’m certain the reason the book took off, was because of the guest blogs I did early in the book’s release. Those guest blogs started a word of mouth buzz. Quite a few of the people who bought the book off the guest blogs started chatting it up on Goodreads, Amazon’s reader forums and various readers’ loops. Nobody would have known about it without those early guest blogs. But price is a huge consideration in FiF’s success as well. Readers were willing to try it because it was so cheap. At $2.99 there wasn’t a lot of financial investment in a new-to-them and completely unknown author. If the book had been priced higher, I doubt it would have done so well. 

You caught some attention with your success.

I’d received several agent emails through my website once FiF climbed to the top of the romantic suspense bestsellers list, but I had no interest in signing with an agent. My intent was to self-publish my work and I didn’t need an agent to do that. At that point I had no interest in going after a traditional deal. I felt I could make more money self-publishing. Then right after I hit my 10,000^th sale I got an email from an editor at Montlake Publishing. (Montlake Romance is Amazon Publishing’s romance line) She said she’d read FiF, had loved it and saw tremendous potential for the series. She asked if she could call and speak with me about the benefits of partnering with Amazon Books. I already knew the benefits of partnering with Amazon. I watch the Kindle store and I’ve witnessed what happens to books when Amazon gives them a push. One email blitz can sell tens of thousands of copies and push a book to the very bottom of the Kindle Store. When the editor called and offered on the first four books in my Forged series, I accepted with no hesitation.     

Would you have been interested in a traditional book deal with a Big 6 publisher?

No, for me a traditional deal was a poor business decision. For one thing, the royalty rates are peanuts compared to what I currently get. Add in the fact I would sell a lot less books because I wouldn’t be able to control the book’s price. A book’s price tag is what moves an ebook, particularly one from a debut author. People are willing to try me for $2.99; few would be so willing at $7.99-9.99. From watching the Kindle store it’s pretty clear that self-published titles are dominating the market. If the best selling traditional romantic suspense authors with their legions of fans couldn’t compete against the self-pubbed titles, what chance would a debut author have? Until the traditional houses raise their royalty rates and drop their ebook prices I planned to focus on self-publishing.

About a month ago, you announced that you had accepted a publishing deal with Amazon’s romance imprint, Montlake Romance. So what made you decide to go with Montlake?

Unlike so many of the traditional houses, Montlake Romance understands how essential price is to a book’s success. Their titles  are priced to sell and consistently hit the bottom of the Kindle store. Add in Montlake’s higher royalty rates, monthly royalty reports and quarterly payments and they make more sense from a financial standpoint. But the deciding factor was Amazon’s marketing muscle. The Montlake titles have the full power of Amazon’s promo and marketing behind them. This is unbeatable. Every Montlake title gets the full treatment—the kind of treatment the traditional publishers only give to their mega selling superstar authors.  

Will you continue to self-publish books while you publish with Montlake?

Yes, my plan is to continue selling my romantic suspense through Montlake, but self-publish select paranormal titles as well. Although, it will be a while before I’ll have anything to self-publish. I’m contracted with Montlake to produce two books a year. I’m writing full time now, but this is fairly new. I haven’t been doing it long enough to have a good sense of how many books I can produce in a year. 

Thanks for stopping by, Trish and I can’t wait to see how well you do with your new contract!

And now readers can win a $5 Amazon electronic gift certificate by answering the following question:

Do you prefer reading eBooks or print books?

You have until Friday, April 20  midnight CDT to answer.

Nevertheless,a mother sent me a message on Facebook and asked if there was anyway if she and her daughter could meet me at a local Starbucks. Marybeth, her sixth grade daughter, had to do a report about an author.  Marybeth had read Here and loved it.  (Her mother Becky also read Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes as well as The Chosen series and wanted to meet me to.)

Those of you who have known me since my early blogging days know that I will do just about anything to have a reason to go to Starbucks.

And I was also intrigued that someone acutally WANTED to meet me.

Me. Weird.

So I took a shower and put on something besides sweat pants and went out in public so we could met last Friday at a local Starbucks. Marybeth asked questions from her list while Becky asked questions based off my answers. Marybeth and Becky were so sweet that it was a pleasure to spend an hour with them.  I was very impressed with Marybeth’s questions and had to give some thought to several of them. One question in particular made me take a trip down memory lane: What role did your family play in your writing when you were little ?

Marybeth got a scoop. I told her a story about my very first rejection, a story I don’t think I’d ever told ANYONE.

Like most writers, I’ve always loved to write. I wrote multiple short stories when I was a kid. One of them was about a little girl who had cancer. I don’t remember anything else about the story, but I remember my mother thought it was good. She took my hand written on wide rule spiral notebook paper story and sent it to Redbook magazine.

Would you believe they wrote me back?

It was a form rejection letter, but it was my first. It didn’t devastate me like my later rejections did. If anything, I was thrilled they wrote me at all. What I took away from that experience was that my mother thought I was good enough. I was good enough to be published.

Maybe someday I’ll tell you about the time I wrote President Gerald Ford in the fourth grade and got a response from his press secretary.

If you’re a fan of The Chosen series and just aren’t sure about taking a chance on my humorous southern mystery, now’s your chance to try it for FREE!!!

Or if you already own the Kindle version with the old cover, now’s you can get it for FREE!!!

For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone’s toilet’s overflowed, but she’s never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn’t enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.

Rose realizes she’s wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She’s well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won’t help with number fifteen– do more with a man. Joe’s new to town, but it doesn’t take a vision for Rose to realize he’s got plenty secrets of his own.

Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they’ll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn’t her biggest worry after all.

Siri’s fun, but my kids LOVE Siri! They are forever changing my name. I have no idea what Siri will call me when I talk to her. They’ve discovered they can tell Siri to play a particular song on my iTunes or a band. They can ask Siri what the weather is going to be so they can be prepared for school attire.

Tonight I was watching the little kids take a bath in my bathroom and while I worked on critiques of Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons. My my nine year old daughter, Jenna, started playing with my phone. The little kids had gotten out of the bathtub and had gone to their room to get their pajamas on. Then Jenna started “interviewing” me.

Ignore the fact I’m wearing no makeup. AND that my son enters off camera half-way through and Jenna refers to the “naked body” (He wasn’t naked, for the record.) And ignore the shaky camera moves in a few places. What you see is Jenna having fun and she was very pleased with her “interview” so I told her I’d post it. I suspect I will regret it later.

*Heartland Romance Authors meets in Lee’s Summit, Missouri on the second Saturday of the month. If you live in the Kansas City area, check it out! I’ll most likely be there since I’m the president.

Not only was Alicia more experienced with contests–she runs the Finally a Bride contest for her local RWA chapter, OKRWA–but she’s also a published author. She published Heart of the Witch traditionally along with several titles through The Wild Rose Press  She was the whole package and someone I looked up to as an example of what I wanted to achieve.

Thank you for having me, Denise. I’m so happy to be here, and thank you for such high praise.

I’m honored to have you!

Recently, Alicia jumped into the self-publishing pool with her release of Death Notice (The Northland Crime Chronicles Book 1)  followed it up just this month with the sequel, Death Offerings (The Northland Crime Chronicles Book 2)

**You can get Death Notice from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Death Offerings is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble as well. 

To top it off, Alicia’s book Soul Seducer, is launching a new romance line in June for Adam’s Media! I am honored and thrilled that Alicia asked me to blurb her book! Let me tell you, it’s good!

Thank you, Denise. To hear those words from a writer of your caliber means a lot to me. And, I’m honored that you agreed to blurb my book.

Okay, now I’m blushing. Thank you for your very kind words!

Alicia, your career path is what I’ve been spouting for several months. I believe that successful authors of the future will both self-publish and traditionally publish. You published with Dorchester first, then self-pubbed. When did you decide to self-publish and why?

I had an agent who tried to sell Death Notice and while we had a few requests for a revise and resubmit, and some publishers who considered it, we weren’t able to sell it. It didn’t fit The Wild Rose Press guidelines, so I decided to test the self pub waters.

How did your agent feel about your decision to self-publish?

I was with Meredith Bernstein at the time I self pubbed, and she was all for it, since she couldn’t find a home for my book. I have since signed with Jewelann Cone of the Cascade Literary Agency. She is also open to self-publishing if we’re not able to sell one of my projects.

You write both paranormal and romantic suspense. Since I write multiple genres, I get this. Do you prefer one over the other?

I do. I love paranormal, but suspense is where my true passion lies. I love a good thriller/mystery/suspense. My favorite authors are suspense writers.

I know this is so cliché, but what inspired you to write or come up with the idea for  Death Notice.

I wanted to write a suspense series, but I didn’t want my heroine to be in law enforcement. I decided to make her a newspaper columnist, writing obituaries to be specific, and I thought of how eerie it would be for a killer to put their future victims’ names in an obit column.

How do you like to connect to your readers?

I love to hear from my readers through email or Facebook or twitter. It thrills me when I receive an email from a fan that lives across the country. I also love getting reviews from my readers, even if they’re not favorable. I always want to know—good or bad—what people think of my writing.

OR, if you meant ‘make a connection’ as in a psychological or metaphysical way, it would be:

I love writing stories that evoke emotions in readers. If I have a scene or a character or a moment that resonates with readers, that reminds them of something personal, it’s a huge rush.

I meant literally, but I am so glad you added the metaphysical connection! I feel exactly the same way!  So what’s one of the most memorable experiences you’ve had with a reader?

I received the following email, and it really touched me.

I just finished reading your latest book Death Notice and I loved it! Finished it in one sitting, I just couldn’t put it down. I cannot wait for the next one!

Thank you for sharing your gift of storytelling.

To know someone enjoyed something I wrote so much, and thanked me for sharing my ‘gift’ of story-telling, which is my dream/passion, was awe-inspiring.

What are you plans for the future?

I am going to write sequels to both Soul Seducer and Death Offerings. I’m also involved in a novella project that will be self-published with wonderful, successful authors such as Claire Ashgrove, Mel Odom, and Sharon Sala.

And now Alicia gets to ask YOU a question. Answer in the comment section and you’ll be eligible for a $5 Amazon gift card!

Who is the one character in a book you’ve read who stands out the most and has struck a chord with you and why?

Readers have until midnight Friday April, 6 CDT to leave a comment for Alicia and be eligible to win!

More about Alicia and her book below:

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Find Alicia on the internet:

AliciaDean.com (but her website is being redone at the moment)

Twitter link is: http://twitter.com/#!/Alicia_Dean

Facebook author page is: Alicia Dean

Buy links and a link to my trailer:

trailer: http://bit.ly/GByIJa

Blurb for Death Offerings:

For more than twenty-five years, a series of unsolved murders has haunted newspaper columnist, Monroe Donovan. One of those victims was Monroe’s best friend, Katie, who was snatched from Monroe’s back yard when they were only twelve years old. Hours later, Katie’s body was found, but the killer was never caught. The most recent murder was over two years ago. It seems the monster has finally stopped.

After a promotion from obituary columnist to crime writer, Monroe begins publishing a series of articles on the murders, hoping to uncover information that will lead the police to solve the case.  But, rather than helping find the killer, it appears the articles might have woken a sleeping maniac. A young girl is brutally slain and the M.O. is eerily similar to the others…except the killer has added a twist that points directly to Monroe.

When more young girls are murdered, and someone close to Monroe is kidnapped, Monroe becomes embroiled in a game of cat and mouse. But what the cat doesn’t know is that the mouse can play games, too…and with stakes this high, Monroe is determined to come out the winner.

Excerpt:

Chapter One

I think about dead people a lot.

It makes sense in my line of work—I’m a crime writer for the Northland Chronicle, and my former job was writing obituaries—but that’s not the reason.

I don’t think about dead people because of my career, and I didn’t choose my career because I think about dead people. They both just sort of happened, independent of one another.

Maybe it’s partly because my entire life has been shrouded in death. Not only is my father a mortician, but my mother named me Monroe, after Marilyn, the dead sex goddess. Growing up, I hung out at the funeral home a lot with my father. I went to my first funeral when I was five—my aunt Karen—and touched the body when my mother encouraged me to do so. When I was in school, the kids called me Elvira, the Queen of Death. I presently live next to a cemetery.

But mostly, my connection with the dead is about what happened to Katie. Katie, who was one of my childhood friends. Katie, who was only twelve when she was snatched from my backyard and murdered. Katie, whose murderer was never caught.

I don’t just think about the dead, I see them. Not in the same way as the boy in the movie. I see their pictures on the web. Each and every detail etched into my memory, ready for retrieval and study.

Specifically, I think of dead girls—young, murdered girls.

It’s not as creepy as it sounds. I think about them because they deserve to be remembered and to be mourned. But also so I can learn all about the hows and whys of their murders. I hope by doing so, it will help me learn the who of Katie’s.

For the past six months, I’d been writing feature articles on unsolved murders. Mostly, the stories were about young girls in and around the Kansas City area. The series was finished. I’d covered all the unsolved murders of young girls in Missouri and Kansas. It didn’t stop me from researching the details of others. I couldn’t seem to help myself.

Although I should have been working on material for tomorrow’s article on the rise of street gangs in south Kansas City, I was reading about the six-year-old murder of Jessica Browning. Her case had been solved.

Shutting out the sounds of the newspaper office that floated around me, I read the details on my computer screen. Jessica was fifteen when she was murdered, but in the photo displayed with the article, she looked to be about twelve or thirteen. She wore a white, puffy-sleeved, baby-doll blouse. Her brown hair was shoulder-length and badly cut, with bangs that were longer on the right side than the left. Still, she smiled, all white teeth and freckles.

Jessica lived in a small town in Pennsylvania, but was kidnapped from a school field trip in New York City. The class had gone to the Empire State building and somehow, somewhere among the many floors, the confusion, and large number of high school kids, a maniac had gotten his hands on her. Her raped and mutilated body was found a week later, among a pile of rubbish in an alley.

The man they’d finally arrested was an ex-convict out on parole for rape. He’d been found guilty of second degree murder and was now serving a twenty year sentence. He hadn’t ‘planned’ the murder, so no life sentence or execution for him. In our justice system, murderers were rewarded for spontaneous acts of evil.

“Monroe?”

The voice came from my left, and I shook out of my trance. My boss, Adam, stood next to my desk. Strands of blonde hair fell over his tanned forehead, and his full, sensual lips were drawn into a frown.

“You okay?”

I tucked my hair behind my ear and squinted up at him, trying to blink the computer blindness from my eyes. “Yeah, sure. What’s up?”

Adam didn’t respond right away. He stared at me like a Leprechaun stares at a pot of gold. Not only was Adam my boss, he was also my ex-boyfriend. He’d cheated on, then dumped me, but his affections were rekindled last year. I’d inadvertently saved him and his fiancé—the woman he’d cheated with—from a psychotic killer.

Shortly after, Adam broke up with the fiancée, gave me the promotion he’d been promising me, and declared his undying love. Much to his surprise and disappointment, I was officially over him by that time. His baby greens no longer had the power to weaken my knees. Not since I’d fallen for Detective Lane Brody.

“A body was found at Riverside Park,” Adam said. “Possible murder victim.”

“You’re giving it to me?” I asked, even as I came to my feet and grabbed my purse. Phillip Conan was the other crime writer, and it was technically his turn.

Adam grimaced. “I thought you might want this one. Young girl. Phil will get the next two.”

A young girl. My insides froze as Katie came to mind. Had the killer resurfaced?

No reason to think so. Not yet, anyway. This case could be totally unrelated. The last victim with a similar MO had been over three years ago. Maya Pittman. Seventeen years old. One of her teachers—with whom she’d been having an affair—was questioned and released. No one had been charged with the crime.

Whoever had committed the murders was still unknown. Maybe he’d died, maybe moved on to another area, maybe had a change of heart. Regardless, he’d never been caught, so…

Anticipation and dread warred inside me. I’d find out soon enough.

“Thanks.” I flashed Adam a smile before brushing past him and heading toward the door.

“Hey,” he called out.

I paused and looked back.

Sadness was etched on his too-pretty-for-a-man face. His lips quirked in a humorless smile. “Say hi to Lane for me.”