Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Cover Reveal: The Snake Pit - Jr High Can Be Torture, by Donna Dillon


The Snake Pit: Jr High Can be Torture is an important piece of work because of its content and subject matter. It’s not an easy, fun read, but is a book that every student, teacher and child advocate should read. Donna is very passionate to do what she can to stop bullying in the school system and MKSP has joined her in her quest. 


Donna Dillon published her first book in October 2010. When Master Koda Select Publishing approached her with a publishing contract, she took the opportunity in hopes to expand her reach and build her brand.


Together, Donna and Master Koda Select Publishing will be re-releasing her first novel today with updated editing and a fresh new cover.





The Snake Pit: Jr. High can be Torture Synopsis:


Cinda doesn't look like other twelve-year-old girls. A facial defect, and the surgery to correct it has left her face scarred and disfigured. When she walks into Hargrove Junior High for the first time, Cinda knows the other kids won't see how smart she is, or what a good friend she could be. The other kids will see her as a monster, and her life will be torture.


The school cafeteria, or The Snake Pit, as the kids call it, is the prime location for bullying. One pretty girl in particular takes an instant dislike to Cinda. Day after day she is pushed, tripped, and laughed at. Not all the other kids bully her, but only one tries to help.


Charlene Carsten is Cinda's only friend. She tries to stop the bullying, but the other kids won't listen. She tries to tell the Principal, but he only sees what he wants to. She tries to tell the teachers, but they all say the same thing, “kids will be kids.”


When Cinda falls victim to a vicious prank at a school dance, it sets off a series of events that will change the lives of everyone involved.



Donna, why did you write this book?


Cinda, the character in my book, The Snake Pit, was born with a cleft palate, and so was I. The things that happen in the book are fiction, but how she felt was exactly how I felt growing up. Being bullied for something you can't possibly help, or change, is horrible. I chose to turn it into something positive, but many bullied children do not. I'm 47 y ears old now. I can still hear the bullies voice in my head. But, the thing I remember the most, the thing that bothers me the most: the silence from those who just stood by and let it happen, and did nothing to stop it. That is why I wrote this book.




Five things people might not know about Donna

 

1. I can ride a unicycle.

2. I can write as fast backwards as I can forward.

3. I once played Miss Mona is a stage production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

4. I can't breathe through my nose and I have never had a sense of smell. I can taste, though, don't ask me why, it's a mystery.

5. When I was 22 I was flown out to Hollywood and made a make-up commercial for Victoria Jackson cosmetics that you can still catch on TV late at night. I also met Johnny Depp and had my picture taken with Heavy D on that same trip.




Author Bio:


Hello everyone! I am Donna Dillon: Author, Illustrator, and M&M connoisseur. I am the author of 5 and 1/4 books thus far. I have been writing in the young adult genre with The Snake Pit and Return to the Snake Pit which both deal with bullying in the public schools, and the children's genre with Why Did It Have to Rain Today? and My Special Christmas Child. My new book is a leap into the thriller/suspense genre so I'm anxious to finish and see how that goes.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Silken Secrets, by Laci Paige

Silken Secrets, by Laci Paige (Silken Edge #4)

*Erotic Romance/ BDSM (9/1/14)
Amazon purchase link for your country:
http://myBook.to/SilkenSecrets

Can the bonds formed between high school friends survive separation and a taste for darker desires?

Devon and Troy were good friends in high school and fellow musicians, a bond that remained even after Devon’s stint in the Army. Their relationship with their close friend Cindy ended abruptly, despite the firsts that she shared with Troy and the obvious affection she had for Devon.

The guys have changed, and now their casual garage band is the successful group known as Sinful Souls. When Cindy finally meets them again, the guys discover that Cindy has also changed, and the only man she is going to accept into her life and her bed will have to explore the kinkier aspects of sex that she craves. Will either man be willing to share in her lifestyle or is what they had only a fond memory?
Cover Art by Mina Carter
Edited by ELF

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Marketing Sucks

Having to market my own books really sucks! Just thought I'd throw that out there, but those of you who market yourselves already know this. I go through either one extreme or another. I either promo a ton (which I'm sure my followers get sick of me during this time), or I don't promo at all.

If I'm writing I don't promo, if I'm not writing I promo. Simple as that, right?

Not really. Sometimes I'm not writing because I'm marketing. It's not fair, I begin to resent the fact that I have to do this, what seems like a chore, and having it take away from my creative time. But it's a must to survive in this world. My stats prove it to me. Every. Single. Time. When I don't promote my sales drop. I market myself, they rise. Simple as that.

During the month of August, I participated in the Sizzlin' Summer Book Bash thrown by MKSP, and part of the event was to discount my books. I planned one month in advance. Contacted all the promo sites that would take erotic romance and asked them to run my ad on the dates of the Book Bash. I contacted blogs, and blogged myself about the event, and discounted prices. I set up a schedule on HootSuite to tweet about the event and the sales. I asked people to spread the word. I did what I could, and what I knew how to do. It was a lot of work, very time consuming, but I sucked it up and made the best of it.

Know what? August was my best month EVER in sales (except when I gave my books away for free), but my current WIP's took a serious hit for it. Damned if I do, damned if I don't.

What are some of the least time consuming ways you've found to market/promote yourself?

*****

Oh wait, while I have you, let me promo myself...
 Laci Paige on Amazon


Bio:
Above all else, Laci enjoys spending time with her family. She and her husband support their children on the soccer pitch and off. Laci enjoys the outdoors, and of course reading and writing (and chocolate). Their family lives in Hampton Roads.






Places on the internet you can find Laci: