Writers in the Storm

A blog about writing

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February 3, 2016

A Valentine's Gift from WITS: Pimp and Promote!

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Love is in the air here at Writers In The Storm. Love for our readers, and for the many amazing contributors that keep us inspired. Valentine's day is just around the corner and here at WITS we're marking the occasion with a little "Pimp and Promote."

These P&P days always dent our pocketbooks because we hear about all the cool books in the comments and have to load up our TBR piles. That's okay. The winter weather is perfect for curling up with a fun read.

How does this work?

To quote the genie in Aladdin, “There are a few provisos, a couple of quid-pro-quos…"

  • Pimp out somebody else’s work – this can be a favorite author, blogger, post or book you’ve read, a wonderful teacher or just someone who had profound influence on you as a writer or a person. Please limit your comments to one work.
    OR
  • Promote one of your projects that you’re excited about – a hobby, a blog, a book, or a new direction your writing is taking you. You decide. Just tell us about it in the comments! (Please restrain your enthusiasm to just one of your WIPs.) The rest of us will jump in and “ooooh and ahh” at you, and likely promote your project even further because we’re just so darn excited today.

If you really want to ace this P&P thing, do both...

We'll get this party started with a little gift from our archives. These are the Top 10 posts here at WITS ever. Give them a peek if you've missed them - this is good stuff.

  1. Submission Tip Checklist: Double-Check These 16 Things Before Sending Your Book Out
  2. The Ultimate Writers’ Guide to Twitter Pitch Contests
  3. Are Your Characters Stylin’? Descriptive Fashion Phrases and Terms
  4. Genres Explained: Insights, Tips and Definitions From Literary Agents
  5. How to Pitch Your Self-Published Book to an Agent
  6. Diving Deep into Deep Point of View
  7. Writing About Hair: The Thick and Thin of Descriptions
  8. Top 10 Scrivener Features for Writers
  9. 14 Agents Seeking Science Fiction Novels NOW
  10. 4 Ways Besides Query Letters You Can Contact Literary Agents

And for our promote, here are our Top 10 Referrers of all time. That means these extraordinary sites liked one of our posts enough to link to it. We are humbled, down to our fan-girl shoes.

Don't be shy -- tell your pals! 

We are open for as many entries as you want, and you're welcome to send anyone who reads great stuff our way. We want to hear about it! Be sure to peruse the comments. You might find a few things you like in the plethora of pimping that’s about to ensue.

Thanks again for making WITS one of the top writer’s blogs! We appreciate you.

~  Fae, Jenny, Laura, and Orly 

 

Photo credit: Shandi-lee Cox, Flickr - CC License 2.0

44 comments on “A Valentine's Gift from WITS: Pimp and Promote!”

  1. I'm assuming that you are all really great people, which means you MUST love dogs, so I'm gonna toss out the link to my new(ish) blog where I write about fostering rescue dogs. It's my guilty pleasure and when I'm finished all my SERIOUS writing, I write a fun post about the current foster dog/s we are hosting and their incredible journeys. Anywho - here's the link: https://anothergooddog.wordpress.com/

  2. First, I'll pimp the Women's Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) at http://http://womensfictionwriters.org/ because it is a great way to connect with other writers in your genre (if you write women's fiction) and has GREAT tools, tutorials, FB groups, emotional and craft support, and retreats!

    Second, I'll pimp a budding author of middle grade fiction, Heather Dean Brewer. I work with Heather (she's an art director and an amazing designer who designed the gorgeous cover of my short story collection found here: http://erinbartels.com/home/books/ ). She wrote an exciting MG adventure story that is currently being shopped at some impressive publishers and she and her whole family are big into adventure biking (follow her on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/whumpus/ ). Weirdly, though, there is a YA author named Heather Brewer you'll get if you Google her name who recently came out as transgender. That's a different Heather Brewer. And there's a Heather Dean who authors gardening books. Not sure what my Heather is going to decide about what name to use on her book when it comes out...

  3. Hi Cara Sue. Funny you should mention dogs.... My new blog is a few days away from publishing so as a song writer I am pimping my "mini movie" music video that promotes pet adoption and stars my rescue dog Chuckles. http://youtu.be/0j8kNcpnvKo or just Google "Forever Home" and my name. I will definitely check out your blog. I'd like to promote a friend's new "chicken fried noir," novel, as he calls it. "The Last Second Chance" by Jim Nesbitt. You can find him on FB.

  4. Pimping my debut book: Daughter of Destiny (Guinevere's Tale Book 1) is short-listed for the Chaucer Award for Early Historical Fiction. Here's the short blurb:

    Guinevere is much more than the unfaithful wife/seductress of medieval legend. Now she tells her story in three parts. Before queenship and Camelot, Guinevere was a priestess of Avalon. She loved another before Arthur, a warrior who would one day betray her. Learn the true story of her early life.

    Print and ebook are available at Amazon and B&N. Audio book should be out within the next few days. http://amzn.to/1SGnENF

    Pimping others: I just finished The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. So good! Such a beautiful, raw portrayal of the lives of women during WWII. Also loved Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. Very magical. Interesting mix of modern and old magic. And I will always recommend my fav authors: Deborah Harkness, Jennifer Lee Carrell, Anne Fortier, Susanna Kearsley, Carol Goodman, Katherine Howe, Chloe Neill (there are so many others...)

  5. I'm promoting my new chicklit release The Secret Life of Charlotte Dodd!
    After taking an experimental drug to erase her memories of saving the world (or at least the country - several times) Charlotte is given a new life - a quiet, unassuming job, a second chance at love with Luke, and no one trying to kill her.
    Two years later and with no recollection of saving the world, she steps in to help a random stranger and is amazed at the ease in which she dispatches her opponents using a rolled-up magazine. But how is that possible? She has Buffy-like fight moves, fires a gun with deadly accuracy and can use the air from car tires to keep breathing underwater.

    When she meets Ham - why is he so familiar? The flashes, the déjà vu, the dreams - they’re not really dreams? Blowing up a building in Mexico, being buried alive - those things really happened to her? And what is her brother doing flying a plane? Turns out those two years of quiet with Luke was really an undercover mission to help bring down a secret organization targeting her family.

    Charlotte needs to remember her secret life if she wants to save the world again and the only man she’s ever loved.

    I'm calling it Buffy meets Bourne and ebook and print available everywhere. Here's the amazon link http://amzn.to/1nMXrC4

  6. I'm pimping Yann Martel's new book, The High Mountains of Portugal because I met him last night!! If you loved the Life of Pi, check it out. His storytelling is amazingly imaginative and so beautiful!

  7. My bestie, Sherry Ficklin, is currently the #35 Best Selling Teen Author on Amazon. Her amazing Stolen Empire Series (historical fiction about the early years of Catherine the Great), is currently on sale for the ebook box set at $.99 for all three books.

    The Stolen Empire series is a decedent look at one of history's most scandalous queens, Catherine the Great of Russia. Beginning with her humble origins and culminating with her coronation, this series offers a fanciful glimpse inside the life of the dynamic, strong young woman who won the hand of a king, the heart of a nation, and, ultimately, sacrificed her own innocence on the throne of an empire. The trials and tribulations of court life left their scars on young Sophie—the girl who would be Catherine, but she faced down every obstacle with the courage and grace of a queen.

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Stolen-Empire-Boxed-Set-ebook/dp/B015PK2JTO

  8. I'm pimping the first in my sweet contemporary series, Sweetheart Cottage.

    http://www.amazon.com/Sweetheart-Cottage-Cranberry-Bay-Book-ebook/dp/B0168XG8B2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1444155987&sr=1-1

    Available in print and ebook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and at the end of the month, available at Apple, Kobo and Smashwords.

    Can a bet to save a dying town bring two former high school sweethearts back together for a second chance at romance?

    Self-reliant and determined never to fall in love again, Rylee Harper is traveling with her dog, Raisin, to Cranberry Bay, a small Oregon Coast town. She needs to sell her deceased grandmother’s house before her meager savings account runs out. Rylee intends to make friends with no one least they discover the family’s long-held secret. But when former high school sweetheart, Bryan Shuster, offers her a job staging his vintage river cottages, Rylee finds her guard softening. However, when Bryan’s plan threatens to unearth Rylee’s shameful family secret, will Rylee run away or will she trust Bryan with her heart and stay?

    Also, I just finished Searching for Beautiful, a contemporary romance, by Jennifer Probst and loved it! Great friends to lovers stories with the wounded character archetype which I'm always a sucker for!

    http://www.amazon.com/Searching-Beautiful-Book-3-ebook/dp/B00LD1OLTG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1454516669&sr=1-1&keywords=Searching+for+Beautiful

  9. A shout out to Julia Claiborne Johnson's debut novel BE FRANK WITH ME, launched yesterday, and is roaring up the charts! An Amazon Book of the Month, this book is unforgettable, charming, funny, tender, unique. Frank is a boy like none you've met, and his mother Mimi is a reclusive author whose hit novel thirty years before made her an American icon.

    I interviewed Julia on my blog, Confessions of Motherhood, about her "Writer's Life" -- how motherhood impacts writing, who inspires her (you'll be surprised), and her motto ("I had a coupon."). Great book, great lady.
    Great interview: http://lauranicolediamond.com/2016/02/02/writers-life-julia-claiborne-johnson/

  10. I love Anne Tyler. I was given her latest novel, A Spool of Blue Thread, for Christmas and finished it in one sitting (staying up WAY past my bedtime to do so). For me, she is the modern answer to Jane Austen - beautifully crafted stories of ordinary people, no great events, just the small and wonderful dramas of daily life.

    And I'd like to promote my debut novel, Lives in Limbo. From my Amazon blurb:

    Have you ever wondered what happens to the thousands of frozen embryos created as part of the IVF process?
    “Lives in Limbo” is a contemporary tale that will take you on an emotional rollercoaster as it tells the story of four families facing the dilemma of what to do with their embryos in storage.
    Did you know that there are over 100,000 frozen embryos in Britain? Every year, thousands more are created, and every year, couples must choose between using these embryos in another IVF cycle, donating them to scientific research, giving them up for embryonic adoption or disposal.
    For four families, making this difficult decision will prove a threat to their happiness, security and well-being. Guilty secrets will be revealed, family ties pushed to the limit, marriages tested and one teenage girl will have a brutal introduction to the world of adult decisions.

    You can have a look for yourselves here: http://bit.ly/Lives-in-Limbo

  11. Check out Diana McCollum's novella "The Witch With The Trident Tattoo" the first book in her Coastal Coven series. Creative and fun read!

    A shout out for Romancing The Genres a diverse group blog of 20 romance authors representing different romance sub-genres. We have a lot of fun and find this is a fun way to share about ourselves with readers and promote each other. We also have Saturday guests - February's are Regency romance authors: Collette Cameron, Christie Caldwell, Bronwen Evans and Ella Quinn!

  12. I'm pimping my latest release, an American historical, BY CLEAR WATER available at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016QNZN42/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb
    This is a journey from horror to happiness with twists and turns that test the heroine every step of the way.

    I'd like to also invite you to check out https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Rom-Critters/info?yguid=344865989 if you are looking for a supportive group of writers who are excellent listeners, helpers, doers, encouragers, and even lend a shoulder to cry on when things don't go your way.

  13. I have a free romance read up on my website, a Valentine's story: http://alinakfield.com/free-romance-reads/. This is a sweet story that was published in 2012 in an anthology, Romancing the Pages.

    I'm also pimping the California Dreamin' Conference coming up in March 2017. If you're in the SoCal area (or want to be there in March 2017), this is an awesome regional conference put on by the four SoCal RWA chapters. Check it out! https://www.facebook.com/SoCalRomanceWritersConference/

    1. People, if you're looking for a west coast conference, you cannot do better than California Dreamin'! LOVE that conference! Like RWA National in great workshops etc., but more personal and intimate.

  14. I'm pimping my friend Camilla Monk's fantastic, witty, original book SPOTLESS, part of a great series--think James Bond meets Bridget Jones, with a hot OCD secret agent and a smartmouthed computer programmer genius. If you need an idea of her style, just check out the image on her home page: http://camillamonk.com/

    Also pimping my own series debut, The Breakup Doctor--about a therapist who reinvents herself as the Breakup Doctor ("On call to help you shape up after a breakup!"), then gets dumped via text message and finds herself breaking all her own rules. The e-book is going on sale for 99 cents Feb 8-14 in honor of the release of book 3 in the series (and in honor of Valentine's Day!). http://www.phoebefoxauthor.com

  15. Thanks for the opportunity to promote. I'm pimping my first book, "Waiting on the Outside", The story of my son's journey to federal incarceration and a white supremacist prison gang. This story was written to let others who have loved ones in prison know they are not alone. No family is immune to the destruction drugs and crime can cause. I am proud to announce that It just won first place for non-fiction book in the Preditors and Editors 2015 Readers Poll and third place for artwork / cover by Morpheus Blak. Available on Amazon. If you know someone with a similar problem in their family, this book may help them get through it.

    I'm also pimping my friend, M.A.R Unger's new book, "Past Imperfections". This thriller is the newest in her Matti James series set in Las Vegas. A famous diva was killed in an airplane crash, and then... she walks into Matti's detective agency wanting to know who wants her dead! The twists and turns will keep you up at night. Also available on Amazon.

    1. Congratulations Sharron! wow - your book sounds powerful and heartbreaking and I can only imagine your personal journey has been the same. How brave and generous you are to share your story. Kudos to you.

  16. I'm pimping my friend's series: "The Winter People," by Rebekah L. Purdy. There are three books to it("The Winter People," "Summer Marked, and "The Winter's Spite," with the newest due out this summer about a YA Fantasy protagonist, Salome, who discovers a curse on the fae people that may be stopped by someone from her bloodline.

  17. Thank you for opening your site to pimping and promotion. I am blessed to be among twelve authors in the recently released "Sexy to Go Valentine's Day Edition". It is currently on sale for 99 cents. These short sexy stories (in a variety of genres) will get you in the mood for Valentine's Day. It was a pleasure to work every one of these ladies. If you haven't read any of their work, perhaps this will introduce you to more authors you'll enjoy. http://mybook.to/STGVal

  18. Julia's book sounds adorable and I enjoyed your blog post/interview. Looking forward to hearing about/from other authors. Motherhood colors everything I write for good and bad, so I'm always curious about other mom-writers.

  19. Okay, so I just HAVE TO pimp my critique group: The Sumter Chapter of the South Carolina Writers Workshop! Without their astute reads and considered comments, I would be LOST. Great support! Great writers! Great critiquers! THE MOST FAB group of "friends/family" any writer could have.

    Promoting my anthology due out this summer through Holladay House: HIS MOTHER! Women Write about Their Mothers-in-law with Humor, Frustration, and Love

    PS I LOVE WITS and my whole writing group reads it!

  20. BIG PIMPING! I love this blog and read it religiously! My debut novel is ready for pre-order as of yesterday and my publisher just uploaded it to the website.

    A young woman is dying of cancer until a stranger approaches her with a cure in exchange for becoming a demon hunter. A little Buffy meets The Exorcist!

    http://christophermatthewspub.com/angel-blade/

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