Is Your Book in These Lists on Amazon?

Amazon Book Promotion
You have listed your book on Amazon because it is the world’s largest book seller and everyone in the publishing field says you must. Once your book is published on Amazon, do you let it just sit, while waiting for sales?  And then you are not making sales to anyone but family and friends. You need to learn “how to work Amazon”!
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Book Sales Increases

 

Discover how brilliant their book catalog sales pages are structured and how you can promote your book continually and on multiple levels – if you use their free promotion tools.  Amazon structured their site for auto-promotion, promotion and more promotion for each and every book.

Unfortunately these automated systems and promotional layers are unknown to many authors. Also unknown is the importance of, and how easy it is, to rank to the top 100 in several high-profile lists, some without even selling one book. But being seen in these lists nearly always generates sales.
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Category Bestseller
Category and subcategory best seller lists were created to highlight an item’s rank in the categories or subcategories where it really stands out.  Choose the smaller categories that are more tightly targeted to your subject.  This sounds simple but you would be surprised how many authors don’t pay attention to this.  One example:  instead of placing your book in the Business category choose the smaller, less competitive and more precise sub-category under it, Business-Budgeting.

Why are the proper categories so important? Without the right categories you may never earn a category bestseller, therefore never gain the publicity needed for higher visibility, never be recognized by Amazon’s algorithms which gains you better rankings in the numerous other Amazon top 100 lists, which generates more sales, which gains higher visibility, which gains rankings, which generates more…

Top Rated List
Here is another Amazon top 100 list, where you don’t need to outsell anyone to make the list. You don’t have to sell one book, yet inclusion in this list nearly guarantees sales.
Amazon’s search algorithm finds and tallies the number of reviews for each book and its star rating. The more good reviews your book has the higher up this reader’s choice Top Rated list you go. So be sure to urge all your readers to write a small review on your sales page.

Top Rated – for Kindle books only
The Amazon top rated calculation is based entirely on customer reviews. In addition to average star ratings, the calculation takes into account an item’s total number of reviews and compares it with other items within a category or subcategory. This allows books with strong star ratings across many reviews to outrank items with a better average rating but only a few reviews. The Top Rated calculation also gives less value to older ratings in favor of more recent ratings to ensure that the Top Rated lists highlight items that customers currently think are best.

Customer favorites Top 100 of the year
Customer orders per year are measured by this rating.

Best books of the month
These books are monthly picks of Amazon editors.

Bestsellers in Books
These lists contain the top 100 bestselling book sold by every author in every category combined, and are hourly updated.

Best Books of the Year
Books editors at Amazon read all year, considering every book, “Is this one worth telling people about?” These are the books they have been talking about all year, and have watched customers spread the word about too.

Top Rated – Kindle e-books only
The Amazon Top Rated calculation is based entirely on customer reviews. In addition to average star ratings, the calculation takes into account an item’s total number of reviews and compares it with other items within a category or subcategory. This allows books with strong star ratings across many reviews to outrank items with a better average rating but only a few reviews. The Top Rated calculation gives less value to older ratings in favor of more recent ratings to ensure that the Top Rated lists highlight items that customers currently think are best.

Most Gifted
These lists, updated daily, contain books most often ordered as gifts.

Most Wished For
These lists, updated daily, contain books most often added to Wish Lists and registries.

Amazon created an ingenious marketing engine, in several layers of free and automated publicity, each layer completely unique, and each one reaching millions of readers every minute – but it helps authors only if they use it! Or get their friends, family and social media networks to help them reach top spots in these listings. Read also David Gaughran’s blog about Amazon listings.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 750 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

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What Publishers Won’t Tell You

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Book Pile

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Eager looking forward to get a publishing contract or happy your received one?  Finding a publisher who will consider your book idea and getting your manuscript published is time-consuming and can often be a frustrating experience. Going with a big publisher is not easier than author-publishing. You will be surprised to learn about the following facts, sometimes the hard way:

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Your book has three months to fly off the shelves.
If your book does not sell in the first three months of its bookstore life, it will be remaindered and disappears from bookstores and could end up at “A Buck a Book”.  90 to 95% of books don’t pay back their advance. Royalty will only be paid if the advance is paid back. What you get upfront as an advance is usually all you will ever get.
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If you screw up on your first book, you’re out.
If you do well with it, publishers will be eager to see your next title. But if you don’t sell a lot of books, your agent or publisher will not want to read your manuscript when it comes time to offer your second book.
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Traditional publishing is very slow.
Unless you wrote a political tell-all, your book is going to ”be in the making” for two years or longer until it goes into the bookstores. You need to be sure your topic is timeless and that you will be interested in publicizing it years from now.
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Most likely your book will not be published in foreign countries.
Unless you have a savvy agent (preferably speaking several languages) who is trying to sell your book abroad, there is little chance that your publisher actively tries to find buyers in foreign markets.
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Your advance will be the only money you will see.
You can get as little as $5,000 or as much as $500,000, but either way, you’ll pay 15% of that to your agent, and the remainder will be paid in thirds or quarters over the next couple years.  So you first need to “earn out” the advance, before any royalties will be paid.
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Publishing is the slowest possible get-rich-quick scheme.
Breaking into big money publishing is like becoming a movie star - being talented definitely helps, but luck plays a big role and the odds might not be in your favor.
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Sorry, no publicity.
Until a decade or two ago, publishers did some marketing for books. Now they might send out some galleys and wait to see if anyone is interested. Then they focus all their publicity on the books they expect to be a bestseller. If you want your book to be a success, YOU will have to do all the publicity yourself!
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Books don’t sell themselves, as most writers sooner or later find out – often too late.  If you are interested in making money or selling your book for a long time, better consider e-books and self-publishing.  But in any way, marketing skills or at least the willingness to learn about marketing and PR to promote your book, are essential for an author. 

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites:  We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 750 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://pinterest.com/111publishing/

http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Author Interview with Denise Deegan

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Denise Deegan Book Signing

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Today’s author interview is with Irish author Denise Deegan,  a the bestselling writer of seven contemporary novels, four for adults and three for young adults. She began her writing career with a book of non-fiction. Her books have been published in Ireland, the UK and Commonwealth, USA, Germany, Holland and Korea, for sample: “AND BY THE WAY“ a story of a teenager who lost her mother and has no real connection to her rock star-father, became a bestselling Young Adult novel.

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Denise, Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?
I like that people take different things from books. Many people have contacted me to say that Alex’s journey in And By The Way has helped them deal with loss.
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What inspired you to start writing?
I was doing a Masters in Public Relations. While conducting the literature review, I realized that a book should have existed that didn’t. I wrote that book. It was a non-fiction book and was published. Then it was like being bitten by a bug. I had to write a novel. I had no peace until I gave up my business to do so.
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How did you get the idea for the novel?
And By The Way is my fifth novel. While brainstorming with an artist friend for a picture book that we thought would be fun to work on together, we came up with the idea of a father who traveled abroad from work, coming home and telling his little girl about the country he’d been to. We both decided that, while educational, it was boring and politically correct.  My friend went to the Ladies.  While she was gone, a voice came into my head. It was a teenage girl who was giving her father a really hard time. Her voice was angry and sarcastic yet vulnerable. It completely gripped me. I grabbed a serviette and began to write.

I had just finished a two-book deal with Penguin. I was free to do whatever I liked. I decided to follow the voice and see where it lead. It emerged that the reason that Alex, the main character, was angry because her mother had died six months previously and her father had not been there for her. I realized later that the story had come from my subconscious. Triggered by the picture book idea, it was telling me that it’s not always good when a parent isn’t around.
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Does your book have any underlying theme, message, or moral?
I do not like morals. But I think my writing is influenced – not deliberately – by my past. I was a nurse. One of the things I learned was to grab life while you have it. Though And By The Way deals with big issues, it is an optimistic book. Alex has to learn to trust that good things will happen again. She has to take a leap of faith.
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Are your characters based on real people?
No, apart from Homer, the golden retriever who doesn’t retrieve. That is our dog.

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Who is your favorite character and why?
I actually have three:

The Rock star – Alex calls her dad ‘The Rock star’ because he is not being a father to her. He means well but cannot handle loss. I like the idea that parents are supposed to know best but sometimes flounder themselves.
The Stylist – Marsha works for The Rockstar. She is adorably ditzy and optimistic. She drives Alex mad, until Alex realises that Marsha is optimistic despite tragedy.
Louis – ah, Louis, my all-time fave. I am a sucker for the bad-boy with a heart.
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Two of Denise Deegan’s YA novels

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Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
‘It was such a powerful, emotional, beautiful book, one I loved to pieces and gobbled up as fast as I possibly could. I just can’t wait to read more by Denise Deegan – it was just so freaking amazing!’
Book Addicted Girl
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If Oprah invited you onto her show to talk about your book, what would the theme of the show be?
Recovering from loss.
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What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
I love to hear teenagers ask how I can get teenage characters so right. I love to hear that the characters are real to them. They are real to me, too.

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Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you have learned as a writer from then to now?

• Write from the heart.
• Wait for the characters to come to you. Don’t rush it.

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Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process? What’s your least favorite?

Favorite: when the characters take over and write the story. For example, the character, Louis, was not meant to have a big part but he muscled his way in. I love when this happens.

Least favourite: depends on the book. It can be very difficult, for example, when you know that something is not working and you are so close to the book that you can’t see the solution. A good editor is invaluable at times like this. I have been very lucky with The Butterfly Novels. I have an amazing editor.

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What scene or bit of dialogue in the book are you most proud of, and why?
There is a sailing scene at the beginning of the book that I love where Alex is trying so hard to hate a guy she fancies. I like all the scenes with Louis (of course). I am particularly fond of the scenes between Alex and her dad when he realizes his mistakes and tries to make things right.
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What genre have you not yet written but really want to try?
I am writing historical fiction for the first time and loving it.

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If your book would be made into a movie, who should play the main character?
Saoirse Ronan, but perhaps that it too obvious a choice. I’d like some casting agent to surprise me.

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Denise Deegan

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How did you get published? Please share your personal journey.
Firstly, I gave up working. The book was what I most wanted to do and always ended up as the last thing I got to. I became a very angry person. Giving up a business to write a novel was a huge (and some would say mad) step. From the beginning, I treated my writing as a career. I really focused on the book.

When I did that, it became clear that the book I was writing was nothing special. So I stopped writing it. Then came an idea that had not been written before and that is what I wrote.

I did my homework. Sent off the three chapters etc. I expected rejection so went ahead and started writing a second novel for two reasons. One, so the rejection wouldn’t stop me. Two, so that publishers/agents would see that I had more than one book in me.

An agent came back to me and gave me tips on editing – without commitment. I still cannot believe how naive I was back then. I had not edited the book at all. When I started the process, I really got into it. I put the other book on hold and spent six weeks making the first into a much better book. I sent the revised chapters back to three people who had been encouraging in their rejections. They all wanted the book.
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What general advice do you have for other writers?
Persist. Get better. Persist. Get better. Persist. Get better….
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What do you find is the best part of being an author?
Hearing back from readers who loved the books, who were encouraged by them, changed by them, helped by them or felt newly equipped to help others. It is very special when people thank me for writing a book.

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What is ONE thing that you have done that brought you more readers?
Visited schools and gave readings, perhaps?
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What’s one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you?
What, perhaps, they don’t realize is the extent to which I appreciate them and like to hear from them.

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Where can people learn more about your writing?

www.denisedeegan.com
www.butterflynovels.com
www.goodreads.com/author/show/818841.Denise_Deegan
Amazon.com amzn.to/ZPL0mv
Amazon.co.uk amzn.to/111wlJN

AND BY THE WAY
amazon.com/dp/B009SMWI6K

AND BY THE WAY

Denise Deegan, famous for her Butterfly Novel series has been a nurse, a china restorer, a pharmaceutical sales rep, a public relations consultant, an entrepreneur and a college lecturer. Her short story, Checkout Girl, was inspired by her days carrying out the toughest of all these positions. Denise lives in Dublin with her husband, two teenage kids and their dog, Homer. She can be found at Facebook and Twitter: @denisedeegan

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The Dark Side of Bestseller Lists

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… or how newspapers don’t tell the whole truth – and not only newspapers, but also book statistic firms, wealthy writers and certain big publishers. Have you ever wondered how some books could reach bestseller status? And how could this be, so short after they are on the market?

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BookScan or BookScam?
But first a statement: Bestseller doesn’t mean it is a terrific book, worth to read. It rather shows a 2-3 week old sales statistic of books that sold well in chain bookstores and at  independent booksellers, who are connected in a certain country (e.g. USA or UK) to Nielsen BookScan.  Sales of online retailers and book departments at big box stores, such as WalMart, Cosco, or Sam’s are not counted – neither are digital books or audio books, which are neglected by Nielsen BookScan as if they are not existing at all! Seems their book statistic methods are thirty years old and/or they have too tight connections to the big five publishers…
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Jeffrey Trachtenberg from the Wall Street Journal wrote an investigative story: “The Mystery of the Book Sales Spike”: How are some authors landing on the Best-Seller lists? They are buying their way!
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He described books that “hit The Wall Street Journal’s list of best-selling business titles upon its debut. The following week, sales of the books, written by first-time authors, plunged 99% and fell off the list. A week after selling enough copies to make it onto the Journal’s business best-seller list, more hardcover copies of the book were returned than sold, says book-sales tracker Nielsen BookScan.”

However it was enough to allow authors to put a label on his book: “Best-Seller”. Good for his reputation and a doorway to get speaking and consulting engagements.
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How could these authors reach Best-Seller status?
Well, there are (very expensive) Marketing firms who charge the author ten-thousands of dollars, not only for their services, but to actually BUY their books during a certain week. They advertise this with: “We create campaigns that reach a specific goal”, “On the bestsellers list,” or “100,000 copies sold”…
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Nielsen BookScan who delivers the data of sold books to large newspapers, such as the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, denies any manipulations and says it prevent its sales data from being manipulated. However the way their stats works and the way the newspapers report it, opens doors wide open to manipulations: it includes quantities bought by corporations or associations either for re-sale or free distribution, and quantities purchased by their authors, regardless of whether the writers intend to re-sell the books, give them away, or use them.

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Even so-called reputable, traditional publishers are involved into this kind of scam.
Read the whole story by Karen Ballum: “How Much Would You Pay to Be a Bestselling Author?” an eye-opener, I promise you!

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 700 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://pinterest.com/111publishing/

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http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

Don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks

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Have You Got a Marketing Plan for Your Book?

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Marketing possibilities for your book sometimes seem to be overwhelming. Use this article to schedule and divide it into small pieces to execute one at a time – make it a habit to work on it every day.
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Let’s assume that you, as a self-publishing author have produced an excellent, high-quality book or e-book and now you are going to publish and to market your book.
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Or take scenario two: you have written the best book and found the best agent possible and she’s made the best deal she can get with the best publisher who’s interested, then you will be surprised to learn about the reality in traditional publishing: Publishers do spend money on advertising, PR and paid placement in bookstores, but they don’t spend the same amount on all books. On average publishers spend less than $2,000 on advertising 90% of their titles—not much to get the word out about your book.

Bookstores will return your unsold books after three months to the publisher, which means almost the end of your book’s “brick & mortar” career. These are the reasons YOU will have to get the word out about your book, no matter if you author-publish or if you go with a big, traditional publisher.
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You certainly have done your homework before you started writing your book:

• You researched your possible competition and how popular the genre is in which you are writing.
• You have identified your target market and in which time-frame you want to accomplish the introduction for your book.
• You made plans for your writing career, you vision already – and maybe even lined out several books, you know that one book only doesn’t make for a writing career.
• You thought about where you want to be in one, three, or five years from now, and what you want to have accomplished as a writer then.
• You also know that book marketing starts ideally before and while you write your future bestseller.

There are two avenues to market and sell your work, even if you have sold your manuscript to a traditional publisher. Either you:

• will invest lots of money and buy ads / go on book signing tours / attend book fairs – or you
• will invest time into building a platform and an authors brand through the use of social marketing and content marketing, plus you learn some fast and free tricks to spread the word about your book
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And then there is 1. the promotional, social part and 2. the “hard-selling” part for your book.
The latter will barely work if you have not laid out the foundation with the first part. Would you likely buy something from an unknown person, no matter if on- or off-line?  Remember that your competition in published books is fierce and there are millions published every year. Readers have to be convinced to buy an unfamiliar book from a totally unknown author…
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It will be the same for both, fiction or non-fiction: The foundation for your books’ success is in building a community, a social environment and a platform to introduce yourself and your work to readers. How can you accomplish this, even before your book is finished? It takes a year to make yourself known in the book community, so start early in order to have a successful book launch:
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1. What you can do before your book is ready to go to the beta-reader, copy-editor and final editor:

- Have a professional! photographer taken a portrait to use for your avatar
- Get to know and introduce yourself to potential readers, sign up at Google+
(good for SEO), Twitter, FB, Pinterest, Flickr
- Join several book communities, #1 Goodreads, #2 Wattpad, #3 KindleBoards, BookTalk, Scribd…
- Visit forums in your field, especially if you write non-fiction
- Join HARO (Help a Reporter out) to make yourself a name as an expert in your field
- Start and write regularly (once or twice a week) blog posts
- Create your own (not a free!) author website 
- Send your blog articles to newspapers / magazines and even to e-Zines
- Write guest blogs for other bloggers to get your name out
- Write your “elevator pitch” and practice your “elevator speech” for quick pitch
- Start a spread sheet or list with email addresses of potential readers
- Create an email signature & use it for every email you send out
- Print business cards / book marks
- Get an ISBN number and register your copyright
- Register with Bowker to have your book worldwide listed (free)
- Choose the right genre (category) and keywords for your book
- Gather as many reviews as possible and write a compelling blurb
- Research media contacts and prepare Press Releases
- Invite several thousand! people as followers and friends on your social media sites

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2. Plan of action, once your book is edited, has an appealing cover – that’s what people see first, is professionally converted (e-book), or got a perfect layout (print) and is ready to launch:
.- Place your book into the right category / genre and sub-genre (important for its success!)

- Create a second, separate BOOK PAGE on Amazon, Goodreads, Google+ and FB
- Submit your book to the Library of Congress (USA only)
- Set up a media press kit on your website with a link to your book trailer
- Plan and create an email campaign to potential readers
- Get customer orders for special (price) pre-launch sale
- Invite more reviewers for your book
- Submit photos of your book cover image to Pinterest, Flickr…
- Create a slide show  and/or video book trailer
- Send copies to book reviewers in various publications and to book bloggers
- Send review copies to book clubs with large distribution
- Automate submissions to and between all your social networks
- Write a blog post about the upcoming launch
- Spruce up your website and blog for your book launch
- Write a compelling press release
- Ask your friends to “Like”, “Thumbs up” & “Listmania” your book on Amazon
- Participate in “Carnival of the Indies” blog carnival to promote your blog URL
- Comment on other blogs and write lots of guest blogs
- Submit your blogs including an URL link to even more e-Zines
- Consider to participate at KDP Select free days, announce your upcoming book for free
- Offer interviews at Radio /TV stations and newspapers or on other blogs
- Try to set you up to become a desirable guest expert on a talk or morning show
- Befriend influential book bloggers for even more reviews and articles
- Donate your book to local libraries and offer to speak
- Contact local bookstores for book signings
- Gather writing friends for cross-promotions and blog tours
- Add press clippings and articles, already published, to your website
- Get a new business card with an image of your book and sales link
- Place the books’ cover image & description daily on your Google+ stream
- Announce your book launch or book signing on Google+ for FREE
- Get even more friends, followers and people in your circles on social media sites
as you need lots of audience to spread the word about your new book!
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What else can you do to increase your books’ success:
- Become a guest speaker at writers conferences or business seminars
- Sell your book to libraries
- Let your book translate in other languages or sell foreign rights
- Split your (non-fiction) book in pieces and sell single articles to magazines
- Participate in writing contests and book awards

The possibilities are endless… Stay tuned for more tips at http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com
Make sure you have done every one of these steps to have a great start once your book is published. Write for pleasure – publish for profit!

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 700 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Follow on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks, Doris

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Never Say Sorry …

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Never Say Sorry Thriller Rose Edmunds

Claudia Knight is a straight-talking, feisty journalist hungry for her first big scoop. When she receives
a tip-off that pharma giant BEP has suppressed a natural cancer cure she’s sceptical, until her
source becomes the victim of a hit-and-run and his proof disappears.

Corporate financier Hugo Fleming likes the good life – but he’s broke. The promotion he
desperately needs hinges on the successful completion of BEP’s bid to take over bio-software
company IDD, run by glamorous and celebrated ethical businesswoman, Julia Fraser. But bulldog
boss Stephanie is breathing down his neck, and somehow Hugo can’t seem to stay out of trouble.

When Claudia and Hugo’s paths cross by chance, they clash and sparks fly. But like it or not, their
fates become entwined as they both hunt for the missing proof. In a search that takes them from
London to New Jersey and Rio, the pair are plunged into a world of mysterious hedge funds, secret
insider trading and unexplained killings. To what lengths will they go to find the truth? And how far
will the dark forces at work go to keep it hidden?

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Length: 364 pages            
Amazon.com:
Kindle Price: $8.99
Paperback $12.64
Amazon.co.uk: £8.99
Available at Waterstones in the UK

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About the author

Rose Edmunds gained a degree in mathematics at the University of Sussex and a doctorate from Cardiff University, before qualifying as a chartered accountant and embarking on a successful career in professional services. She worked for Arthur Andersen and Grant Thornton, before being headhunted to join Deloitte as a partner. After 20 years in the business, she decided to jump off the corporate hamster wheel and focus all her energy on writing commercial thrillers. Her second book is already to be launched this year. Rose Edmunds is a thriller writer who understands how big business and the City (London Business District) works, and who concentrates on the ethical dilemmas that modern commercial life poses.

Read a great article about the author and her book at Economia Magazine
“She’s done the time – now she’s turned to crime”

Read an interview with Rose Edmunds
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Bestsellers 2012 and e-Book / Print Book Sales

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Paperbacks Are Declining

A new report from Nielsen Bookscan indicates, while e-book sales are on the rise, the decline in print sales has actually slowed down, a sign that mainstream readers may not be finished with the print book format just yet. According to Nielsen Bookscan data analyzed by Publishers Weekly, sales of print books in 2012 declined by nine percent, approximately the same rate at which print sales declined in the previous two years.

• The Paperback category experienced a 20 percent drop in sales from 2011 to 2012.
• Readers using an e-book or tablet to read a book increased from 18 percent in 2011 to 33 percent in 2012

Bestselling Books of 2012

Half of the top 20 bestselling books of 2012 in print were either Fifty Shades titles or Hunger Games titles, and only one book not written by E.L. James or Suzanne Collins—Jeff Kinney’s latest Wimpy Kid title—cracked the one-million-copies-sold mark for the year, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks 75%-80% of prints sales.  Scanning this list, I would say sex and crime sell best!
Read the whole article by Gabe Habash

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FREE to read for Prime Members: The Wolf’s Moon

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In The Wolf’s Moon author Patrick Jones creates a spellbinding tale of an ancient animal that haunts the foothill towns of Missouri’s Ozark Mountains. An unknown group of scientists has genetically engineered a Dire Wolf into the present day. Allegedly extinct, the ferocious beast preys upon the innocent people of Maple Hills. 

To hunt and kill the beast, the town folk will have to rely on the tracking feats of Mark Lansdowne. He is a reluctant hero, still mourning the loss of his wife to illness. Relying on his rescue dogs and indefatigable hunting skills, Mark will set out on foot in search of the mysterious beast. Yet the hunter’s personal history and romantic entanglements will come back to haunt him during his search for the vicious animal.

Accompanying him on the hunt is his pal Warren Skruggs, who knew Mark when he was known as Michael Linden, a chapter of his history that he prefer be kept to the past. Adding to the intrigue are two beautiful, intelligent women who aid the hunter in his quest. Their looks and smarts would make the Bond Girls envious but Mark is still a grieving widower, unsure of how to move forward.

With its mixture of high-stakes hunting and personal and romantic intrigue, “The Wolf’s Moon” is a page-turner that will keep the reader captivated with its unexpected story twists. The thriller suspense novel is a real story grounded in the life and folkways of the Ozark Mountains not just another unbelievable werewolf story grafted onto the romance of the South.

Available as paperback and Kindle edition

Patrick Jones: “The sequel to The Wolf’s Moon is already in the works and proves to be yet another suspenseful page-turner!  Pat believes that there is a story in everything. Everybody that he meets has their own special story; one simply has to take the time to listen. The story then writes itself.”

http://www.thelindenchronicles.com

 

5 Top New Years Resolutions for Authors

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With 2013 just around the corner, are you thinking of the changes you would like to make in your (writers) live?  What are your goals for 2013, besides writing your next book? Where do you want to be in twelve months?

If one of your goals is to have a platform as a writer and successfully market your book(s) then have a look at my suggestions to built a foundation and boost your and your books success. Don’t work harder next year – work smarter!
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1. Start writing a blog TODAY!
You are a writer and creating a 300 to 500 word blog post once or twice a week should be easy for you. This is a very important step for your author platform whether you have a book yet or not. It is your inventory to feed your social media sites. Start before your book comes out so you have already readers waiting for it. Show off your writing skills and write guest blogs for other successful bloggers to even multiply your visibility by linking back to your book sales page or website. Authors need bloggers almost as much as media to help promote their books. Popular bloggers have direct access to your book’s audience. Use your blog to “feed” you social media posts. Create a file to collect snippets from your blog, short sentences under 140 characters. And just copy and paste e.g. into tweets.

2. Use plug-ins to manage your time
Would you like to have SEVEN times! more people read your blog or visit your website? So, how do you get readers to share your posts or website content online? Make it easy for them to share
what you have written with their social networks, so that others can discover your content – and forward it to their followers and friends, and these also forward it to their friends and followers …. You get the idea! Take advantage of the “Share” function on WordPress to ping your blog to all your Social Media sites at one and install Social Media buttons on your website for your readers to spread the word. 

Increase your Social Media presence – automatically!
Being on five Social Media sites is the same “work” as being just on one single site! My suggestion is to be on Goodreads, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Facebook (in this order).  Plug-ins and ping buttons are not the only helpers in spreading your content. Almost all Social Media and even forums, such as Goodreads are connect-able.

Your blog post can be automatically transferred to Goodreads. But that’s not all: copy the URL of your blog post and paste into your Facebook page, in your Google+ page and on Chime.in just to name a few. It will be transformed automatically into a mini blog including an image of your blog post and a link. All this saves you time, quality time to interact with your followers and friends on Social Media. Don’t use these sites as sales bill boards – it’s about people!

4. Create a fabulous biography / avatar
Written once, it can be used on your books blurb, your Amazon / Goodreads author pages, on all social Media Sites, for pitches to publishers, on guest blogs …. you name it. Keep it related to you as an author or your books. And get a professional, high quality portrait!  It is a small investment for many uses and for many years to come.

5. Get help from peers
I mean not only your friends, including social media friends or family members to “LIKE”, “FOLLOW” or “FRIEND you and your books, but also professional help. Attend writers conferences, writing workshops and seminars in the coming year. You will learn, meet new friends and get new inspirations. You learn tips and tricks and you will get follow up and maybe friends for life.

Did you realize that these 5 suggestions for New Years resolutions are basics? No matter if you want to go with one of the big publishing houses or self-publish: Start your platform in a professional manner – for maximum success.

Let me know what your goals are for 2013.

And don’t forget there is help … Yes, it is a long and sometimes lonely path for self-publishers, who start with a single book, till becoming a bestseller author.. Get all the support you need and take advantage of our great offer until December 31, even if you landed a publishing deal. Read more http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar.

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 600 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Follow on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks, Doris

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Perfect Gift for Young Adults: “And By The Way”

Alex is caught between honoring her mother’s memory and needing desperately to move on. She’s so afraid to move forward. If she let’s herself be happy, she’s afraid the world will rip that happiness away from her again.

“Six months ago, I lost my mum to cancer and my dad, ‘The Rockstar’, to work.  Now, I don’t do close. That way I won’t get hurt.  My friend Rachel won’t let give up on me. And that’s a problem. So is David McFadden, a guy in my class who says he wants to help. Six months ago, he could have, but didn’t.  Now, it’s too late. The last person I’m going to listen to is David McFadden.  When he calls me Ice Queen, I’ll show him just how right he is.”

The PERFECT Christmas gift for teens: “And By The Way” - in America only 99 cents till Christmas

amazon.com/dp/B009SMWI6K

Special ends December 25
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‘Deegan nails Alex’s caustic teen voice, and leaves the reader rooting for her heroine throughout…’ Irish Independent.
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More from reviews:

‘This is a gem of a book; intriguing, deep and thoughtful. Alex is a feisty heroine, and her voice rings strong and true. It’s fun entering the world of the privileged teen, with their credit cards, fake tans and less-affluent friends. Teenagers – and adults – will adore this book. It kept me up half the night.’ Irish Examiner.

‘An engaging and emotional read that leaves you wanting more – bring on the second installment.’ RTE Guide.

‘It was such a powerful, emotional, beautiful book, one I loved to pieces and gobbled up as fast as I possibly could.  I just can’t wait to read more by Deegan – it was just so freaking amazing!’ The Book Addicted Girl, blog.

‘We can’t explain our fascination with the spawn of the rich and famous but it won’t go away. AND BY THE WAY… is our latest addiction and it’s the first title in the new BUTTERFLY NOVELS series….super compelling.’
Kiss Magazine.

‘AND BY THE WAY… is a journey through grief, love and self-discovery. It’ll break your heart and make you laugh – both at the same time. And by the way…you’re going to love it.’ Dubray Books, Staff Recommended Reads.

‘I absolutely loved it. I was so engrossed in it that my family started pulling it out of my hands.’ Author Keris Stainton.

‘This is an absolute gem of a series.’

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Denise Deegan is the bestselling author of seven contemporary novels, four for adults and three for young adults.  Her first butterfly novel, And By The Way, was published as an e-book in the USA just a couple of weeks ago.

She began her writing career with a book of non-fiction. Her books have been published in Ireland, the UK and Commonwealth, Germany, Holland and Korea. She has been a nurse, a china restorer, a pharmaceutical sales rep, a public relations consultant, an entrepreneur and a college lecturer. Her short story, Checkout Girl, was inspired by her days carrying out the toughest of all these positions. Denise lives in Dublin with her husband, two teenage kids and their dog, Homer.

www.denisedeegan.com

www.butterflynovels.com

www.facebook.com/butterflynovels

twitter: @denisedeegan

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Be Spoiled for Choice …

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… how you want to learn book promotion.  And there is a lot to learn: Publishing evolves constantly and the success of your book(s) is very much depending on you, no matter if you self-publish or if you go with one of the big publishers. 

Choices in publishing, essentials of book / e-book layout and design, your platform and brand,  optimizing social media, use of non-traditional ways of book marketing, book distribution, online retailers, learning about  marketing on a shoestring… it’s over-whelming.  But not if you get help from someone who has studied e-publishing and marketing for many years – and practices it all.

Choose between weekend seminars or sign-up for customized online marketing training (special offer in December)  

… or plan ahead for a publishing and book marketing seminar on a 5-day Caribbean Cruise on board of the Carnival Breeze, a brand new cruise liner, taking off in Miami, FL, on November 3, 2013.  Make your travel plans soon, bookings for this offer start at the end of this month!  

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Hello, I’m Doris-Maria Heilmann with 111 Publishing.  We are not only publishers of traditional and eBooks, we extensively market our authors books.  We also host informative seminars for authors on the “art” of promotion. 

During the last years, publishing books has totally changed. Nowadays we writers need to build our own platforms, identify our own demographics, and find our own market share – even if we are with a traditional publishing house!  The profession has changed and we need to adapt in order to succeed.   

Our unique “Seminar-At-Sea” will help authors to:

• Strategically establish a writing career
• Create our own brand
• Identify our target readers
• Find out how to reach these readers
• Market and publicize our books on a budget
• Find free book publishing funding sources

Soon I will be announcing all the details of this spectacular opportunity.  But for now…mark November 3, 2013 on your calendars!!  Connect with your peers and learn invaluable information to enhance your writing career…all while having the time of your life on an exotic Caribbean Cruise!!

Doris-Maria Heilmann

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 600 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Follow on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks, Doris

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Are You an Eligible US Author?

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Starting in January 2013, some famous authors become eligible to reclaim their work, such as Stephen King, Judy Blume or John LeCarre.  US publishers face the loss of their back lists as authors begin using the Copyright Act to reclaim works they assigned years ago, for example these New York Times bestsellers from 1978:
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• Jackie Oh  by Kitty Kelley
• Illusions  by Richard Bach
• Chesapeake  by James A. Michener
• Robert Kennedy and his Times  by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
• A Time for Truth  by William E. Simon
• Fools Die  by Mario Puzo
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Section 203 of the 1978 Copyright Act allows authors to cut away any contract after 35 years. It was set up to protect young artists who signed away future best sellers for a pittance.
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In many cases, before Section 203 came into law, the author had signed away their rights. The new law has fewer such loopholes and will also mean that nearly every book published after 1978 becomes eligible for termination. These new options mean authors have more leverage to walk away from their publishers altogether.
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Authors have a five-year window to exercise the right but must also provide advance notice at least two years but no more than 10 years beforehand.
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Many authors are simply unaware of their options, others may prefer to seek a sweeter deal with their publishers, rather than fly solo or risk a lawsuit. The Authors Guild and copyright lawyers can help with plain English explanations.

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are almost 600 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Follow on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks, Doris

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How to Bring More Fun in Promoting Your Book

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The Road to Success – Photo by Michael Gras

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Planing to write a book – or having one or more books already on the market?
Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone helping you to promote your book and show you: 

• How to navigate all these Social Media sites?
• And teaching you successful book marketing? 
• Making it all fun – and not a daunting task?
• Publicizing your book on all major social media sites for you?
• Having someone you can ask all the questions you might have about self-publishing and book promotion?  

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We will show you how easy it can be, once you learn the insider tricks!  

And most important: You will get this professional help for  just a dollar per day for a full three months! Actually only $98 for the whole package during the next three months! We are offering all this to authors, new and experienced. Besides writing useful free blogs and books to help authors navigate self-publishing, we are providing seminars and workshops. However, not everyone has the time to come for a whole weekend or longer to attend these courses. And there are writers everywhere in all parts of the world who cannot attend seminars easily.

For those we created an individual ONLINE BOOK MARKETING SEMINAR with one-on-one instruction over the phone (Skype) and through email, plus three month of advertising your book several times a day on all major social media sites.  To introduce this new marketing help, we are offering it for almost “next to nothing”.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog post, when I explain

in detail how I can help you to achieve your goals

or visit: http://www.111publishing.com/seminar/

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And For Your Information…

. . Denise Deegan is the best-selling author of seven contemporary novels, including her most recent series for young adults, The Butterfly Novels.   The first of these, And By The Way… was published in Feb 2011. It follows the story of Alex Newman (16), a rock star’s daughter who attends an elite Dublin school and who is angry with just about everyone. . The second in the series:  And For Your Information… was published in Sept 2011 and follows the story of Alex’s friend, Sarah. The book opens with her shoplifting for the first time. And For Your Information has been shortlisted for an Irish Book Award.The third book in the series, And Actually… is an Irish bestseller. It follows the story of Alex and Sarah’s friend Rachel, who everyone thinks is the strong one, the guru. There’s a lot they don’t know. REVIEWS “And For Your Information…” is heartbreaking, bittersweet, and simply spectacular.’ Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf blog.” “This is just one of those books that really got under my skin. I just can’t stop thinking about it.’ I Want To Read That blog.” “..What I didn’t expect was to be blown away by the storyline, and by the developments in the lives of all the characters, focusing on Sarah but not excluding Alex, Rachel, David, Mark, Louis… The novels so far would make a brilliant television mini-series.’ Chicklish blog.” “Deegan) shows considerable insight into the minefields of adolescent friendships and knows how to keep the pages turning.’ Irish Times.” . . ABOUT THE AUTHOR Denise’s writing has been praised for its warm, believable characters, ‘sparky’ dialogue and fast pace. An Irish writer, she has been published in the UK, Germany, Holland and Korea.Before writing, she was a check out girl, a nurse, a pharmaceutical sales rep, a lecturer, a china restorer and an entrepreneur (running her own public relations business). She contributes regularly to the media. And is still learning how to be a mother. <><><><><>

 

Denise Deegan: And By The Way

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Denise Deegan is the bestselling author of seven contemporary novels, four for adults and three for young adults.

Her first butterfly novel, And By The Way, was published as an e-book in the USA just last weekend.
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Six months ago, I lost my mum to cancer and my dad, ‘The Rockstar’, to work.  Now, I don’t do close. That way I won’t get hurt.  My friend Rachel won’t let give up on me. And that’s a problem.
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So is David McFadden, a guy in my class who says he wants to help. Six months ago, he could have, but didn’t.  Now, it’s too late.
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The last person I’m going to listen to is David McFadden.  When he calls me Ice Queen, I’ll show him just how right he is.
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REVIEWS
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‘Deegan nails Alex’s caustic teen voice, and leaves the reader rooting for her heroine throughout…’ Irish Independent.

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‘This is a gem of a book; intriguing, deep and thoughtful. Alex is a feisty heroine, and her voice rings strong and true. It’s fun entering the world of the privileged teen, with their credit cards, fake tans and less-affluent friends. Teenagers – and adults – will adore this book. It kept me up half the night.’ Irish Examiner.

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‘An engaging and emotional read that leaves you wanting more – bring on the second instalment.’ RTE Guide.

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‘It was such a powerful, emotional, beautiful book, one I loved to pieces and gobbled up as fast as I possibly could.  I just can’t wait to read more by Deegan – it was just so freaking amazing!’ The Book Addicted Girl, blog.

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‘We can’t explain our fascination with the spawn of the rich and famous but it won’t go away. AND BY THE WAY… is our latest addiction and it’s the first title in the new BUTTERFLY NOVELS series….super compelling.’
Kiss Magazine.
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‘AND BY THE WAY… is a journey through grief, love and self-discovery. It’ll break your heart and make you laugh – both at the same time. And by the way…you’re going to love it.’ Dubray Books, Staff Recommended Reads.

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‘I absolutely loved it. I was so engrossed in it that my family started pulling it out of my hands.’ Author Keris Stainton.

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‘This is an absolute gem of a series.’ I Want To Read That (blog).

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‘The coolest thing about the setting, besides it being Dublin (these books capped off a 4 or 5-book Dublin binge that started with Tana French’s murder squad and ended with Skippy Dies) is it’s, like, real Dublin? You know, written by someone who lives there for people who live there and not translated for American audiences, or featuring an American girl who goes to study abroad in Ireland to find her (so insignificant they might be non-existent) Irish roots.’ Forever Young Adult.

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‘It was such a powerful, emotional, beautiful book, one I loved to pieces and gobbled up as fast as I possibly could.  I just can’t wait to read more by Deegan – it was just so freaking amazing!’
Book Addicted Girl

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More info:

www.denisedeegan.com 

www.butterflynovels.com

www.facebook.com/butterflynovels

twitter: @denisedeegan
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AUTHOR BIO

Denise Deegan is the bestselling author of seven contemporary novels, four for adults and three for young adults. She began her writing career with a book of non-fiction. Her books have been published in Ireland, the UK and Commonwealth, Germany, Holland and Korea. She has been a nurse, a china restorer, a pharmaceutical sales rep, a public relations consultant, an entrepreneur and a college lecturer. Her short story, Checkout Girl, was inspired by her days carrying out the toughest of all these positions. Denise lives in Dublin with her husband, two teenage kids and their dog, Homer.

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