Wednesday, August 12, 2015

This Cinderella’s got new glass slippers: My Kindle Scout Experience Part 4




(You can read my previous posts about my experience with the Kindle Scout program by clicking on , Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3
 
Glass slippers don’t last forever…

But Kindle e-Books do.

So when Cindy discovered her treasured glass slippers had a crack in them…ow! It was time to get a new pair.

And that's what’s been happening in publishing. It’s time to embrace new and different ways of getting our books to readers. That’s where the Kindle Scout program fills the gap. As I’ve discussed in previous posts, it’s been an amazing journey for me since I started my campaign with LOVE ME FOREVER, my Civil War time travel romance.

Last week I danced in my slippers when LOVE ME FOREVER went on sale.

Amazon sent me an email with the screenshots, showing LOVE ME FOREVER PR. My book was in the first slot on page one:





I’ve been blogging, too. Check out my posts on www.jinabacarr.wordpress.com  

Facebook Launch Party

 The Kindle Scout Authors did a 3-hour Facebook party. It was amazing…you can read all the comments and see what happened here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1755873821306210 

Time travel is my favorite genre, so I was thrilled to hit the Kindle e–Books&gt;Romance&gt;Time Travel Top 100 list several times. Here’s a graphic I made:




But most gratifying to me are the reviews:

“This is one of the best time travel historical novels I have ever read. I was hooked from page one. The descriptive scenes of the Civil War battles are so realistic that you find yourself imagining you are actually on the battlefield. I highly recommend this book.”

“Gripped me from the first page and wouldn't let go until I finished the book HOURS later.”

“Rich in history and social issues, Love Me Forever is both deep and emotionally compelling. Another fine read from a Kindle Scout winner.”

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What’s next for me? I’m writing the sequel to LOVE ME FOREVER, "Love Me Always,"  where we meet up with the offspring of the one of the heroines and send her off on her own time traveling adventure!

Thanks for coming along with me on my journey.

~Jina

Website: www.jinabacarr.com
Blog: www.jinabacarr.wordpress.com
  ================
 

Love_Me_Forever_500x798
LOVE ME FOREVER,

She wore gray.
He wore blue.
But their love defied the boundaries of war.
And time.
 
I'd love to hear from you. You can find me on social media:

www.facebook.com/JinaBacarr.author
And on Vimeo you'll find my videos--all 71 of them covering my books, poems, etc.:

https://vimeo.com/user216350/videos


Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Come Fly with Me -- new cover reveal and it's FREE today!

I love to fly…I’ve traveled a lot and enjoy the excitement of the airport, watching everyone, wondering what their stories are, where they’re going. I’ve met interesting people in airports…but so far I’ve not met anyone like Jace Chantiers, the hero in my novella, COME FLY WITH ME.

A Bad Boy Billionaire.

I’ve redesigned the cover…and here it is:

Come_Fly_cover_July2015_500x800

Here’s the blurb:

London’s Heathrow airport

New Year’s Eve


Kacie Bennett is stranded in London and desperate to get home to avert a family crisis. She’s shocked when a tall, dark handsome stranger offers her a first class airline ticket, no strings attached.

What’s a girl to do?

Kacie is the plain sister of the three Bennett girls. Tall and practical, she buries her loneliness in creating unique breads and croissants for the family business, The 3 Bees (Bennett’s Bed & Breakfast). She’s studying at a culinary school in Piccadilly when she gets a desperate call from her sister Emma.

Their baby sister Megan is eloping with a guy twice her age after breaking up with her boyfriend. Kacie is frantic to get back home to Forgotten Valley, California to save her sister from marrying the wrong man.

She can’t believe her good luck when the most gorgeous man she’s ever seen insists she take the ticket.

What does he want in return?

Jace Chantiers is a self-made oil billionaire, a player who can have any supermodel he wants, but he doesn’t believe in love. That would mean opening up about the pain in his past, something he swears he’ll never do. When he has to cancel his date to fly to San Francisco for an urgent business meeting, he overhears Kacie’s panicked phone call from her sister and is intrigued by her plight.

He never expected to ring in the New Year with a gorgeous blonde who needs his help. Kacie gets under his skin with her go-to attitude, hard work ethic, and strong dedication to her family. Something he never had growing up. She makes him wonder if he’s missing out on something, something his money can’t buy.

Can Kacie resist this gorgeous man the British tabloids have labeled the sexiest man alive? Does she dare lose her inhibitions at thirty thousand feet…or will she also lose her heart?

Link to my Amazon page: COME FLY WITH ME. It's FREE July 29-31, 2015

========
BONUS: 

You can read the Prologue to LOVE ME FOREVER in its entirety at the end of COME FLY WITH ME.  So get your free copy and check it out!

If you love Civil War romance and time travel and TWO hunky military heroes, check out my Kindle Scout winner below.

~Jina
Love_Me_Forever_500x798

LOVE ME FOREVER

She wore gray.
He wore blue.
But their love defied the boundaries of war.
And time.

LOVE ME FOREVER is a Kindle Scout selection and is now available for PRE-ORDER at Amazon.com!  

Thursday, July 23, 2015

What's in a Name?

Dalton Diaz is a pen name. There are a few reasons for that, one of them being that it's extremely rare for anyone to get my real name right. That reason is also why I gave each of my four sons strong, yet simple "manly" names. That's how my eldest son ended up with 3 penis euphemisms. This was discovered during his middle school years. Oh, and again in his military years. My bad.

Look at that! One paragraph, and I'm off course already.

This blog is supposed to be about when it's perhaps advisable to choose an alias for business reasons. You know, like the old Far Side comic with Sam and Ella's egg stand?

Sometimes, names can be funny and harmless. Like becoming a dentist if your last name is Chew or Gumm. Keeping your last name if it happens to be Payne (in any form)? Not advisable. Not advisable for anything in the medical/dental field, really. Though I did once see an add for a veterinary clinic where the two vets were Dr. Poacher and Dr. Hawk. That's freakin' funny.


I used to drive by a real estate office where the guy's last name was Van Wart. The office closed. Now I drive by this sign every once in awhile. It's not too bad, but you do have to wonder why he wouldn't use his full name.













Are there any fun-named businesses you've heard of, or that you frequent? Do tell!






www.DaltonDiaz.com

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Happily Edit After...with Cinderella: My Kindle Scout Experience Part 3



(You can read my previous posts about my experience with the Kindle Scout program by clicking on Part 1 and Part 2.)

Remember when Cinderella was all aflutter getting ready for the ball? Her fairy godmother shows up and poof! Cindy has a gorgeous gown, a carriage, and the sexiest pair of glass slippers. Next, she meets the prince, loses her slipper, gets it back, and marries the handsomest man in the land.

Then comes a reality check.

Cindy is a princess with a hundred and fifty room castle to manage, servants galore, royal obligations, and a demanding mother-in-law who can’t wait to show her off at high teas.

First, she must learn how to be a princess.

Kinda like putting out a good book. It’s a lot of work. Period.

After my 30-day campaign with Kindle Scout for LOVE ME FOREVER, my Civil War time travel romance, being on and off the Hot and Trending list, then waiting to see if I made the cut, came my reality check.

Edits.

Most writers would rather clean bathrooms for a week than open the Editorial Letter.

I was shaking in my slippers when mine came. I worked more than two years on “LOVE ME FOREVER,,” getting the research right, the romance, settings. Not an easy task. My story is over 150,000 words.

Which brings me to one of my favorite things about Kindle Scout: the Kindle Press Team. With everyone jumping into the self-publishing arena, it’s easy to want to write, write, write and get it out there. Do-it-yourself, especially if you’ve been writing for a long time. I can wrap my head around a story pretty well. I’ve written several novels for trad publishers, non-fiction books, kids’ TV scripts, and plenty of magazine columns and stories.

But no writer is an island.

A good editor is as important as Cinderella’s fairy godmother. She/he can wave their magic wand and give you that extra spin on your book, make you dig deeper, cut excess. One thing that drew me to the Kindle Scout program was the idea of receiving editorial input.

I wasn't disappointed. The editorial guidance at Kindle Scout/Kindle Press is awesome.

I’m thrilled to say that my editor at Kindle Press was thorough, gave excellent suggestions, made me think, and complimented me along the way when she particularly liked something. She’s definitely one of the best editors I’ve ever had. The turnaround was quick: a week to complete the edits. I admit I hardly slept and I maxed out the balance on my Starbucks gold card, but the KP Team gave me a heads up three weeks before as to exactly what day to expect the email with the attached files and they delivered.

So here we are at a new juncture in my Kindle Scout experience. Edits done; book in production.

Pre-order now on Amazon.

Am I nervous? You bet I am. I put my heart and soul into this story, laughed and cried with my characters every step of the way. I’m anxious to get it out there. But the best part is, I feel confident that as part of the Kindle Scout program, LOVE ME FOREVER, is the best it can be.

Update:  LOVE ME FOREVER got a five star review!! Check it out on Amazon.

"Gripped me from the first page and wouldn't let go..." Jade Onyx


~Jina

Website: www.jinabacarr.com
Blog: www.jinabacarr.wordpress.com

================
 
Love_Me_Forever_500x798
LOVE ME FOREVER,

She wore gray.
He wore blue.
But their love defied the boundaries of war.
And time.

LOVE ME FOREVER is a Kindle Scout selection and will be published on August 4, 2015.

You’ll meet both my heroines and both my heroes in the excerpt. It’s a saga of love and romance and war. Believe me, I walked every road, fought every battle with my characters, even walked around in a hoop skirt to “get it right.”

This is a book of the heart…any questions? Please ask!!

I'd love to hear from you. You can find me on social media:

www.facebook.com/JinaBacarr.author
 
And on Vimeo you'll find my videos--all 71 of them covering my books, poems, etc.:

https://vimeo.com/user216350/videos
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