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The Brand Challenge Introduction

October 12, 2022 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Author Brand, Denise M. Colby, Marketing for Authors, The Brand Challenge

This month, I’m introducing a concept called The Brand Challenge. It’s a way to encourage you to try something new on your website to help you build your brand.

Sometimes branding and dealing with your website can be challenging. The purpose of this challenge is to encourage you to just try. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It can even be something you decide to change later on. The idea is trying something new to keep propelling you forward in your Author career.

For a list to choose from, here are some ideas to help you with your Brand Challenge this month:

Create a new blog post this month about a character, your story theme, or genre you write in
Up your on-page SEO with each post and page (for help, I’ve created an On-Page SEO Checklist for you to download, and check out my past blog post Using a Blog SEO Checklist to Streamline Your Blog Post)
Create a book page on your website for every book you have or are working on
Link two or three pages on your website to one another using Anchor Text
Design a social media post about the genre you are writing in, or a book you’ve read recently

Pick One Task A Month For This Brand Challenge

Again, I encourage you to do one thing on this list above to help build your brand. It may not seem much, or it may feel overwhelming. But just stick to one thing only for the entire month. Then do another thing the following month. Pretty soon, you’ll have many months of blog posts or content you didn’t have before.

I’m always amazed at how slow and steady can be the right way to approach brand building.

Sometimes we feel this urgency to hurry up that adds extra stress we don’t need as we are busy writing our next book.

I’d love to hear other ideas that can help you build your brand. Do you like the idea of a monthly Brand Challenge? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Blessings,

Denise

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‘The Orphans of Berlin’ is now on NetGalley by Jina Bacarr

October 11, 2022 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as Berlin, historical novels, NetGalley, WomensFiction, WW2

It’s always exciting when a new story you’ve labored over for months… and months finally makes its debut… like a Broadway show opening out of town.

@jinabacarrauthor
book reviewers get your copy #booksthatmakeyoucry #historicalbooklover #womensfiction #writersoftiktok #heartbreakingstories #booktok @bookandtonic #historytok #netgalley #authorsoftiktok #bookreviewers #historicalbooklover #historicalfiction
♬ original sound – Jina Bacarr Historical Author♥

Philadelphia has had its share of out-of-town openings, so it’s only fitting THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN with my Philly debutante heroine had its opening this weekend on NetGalley.

To celebrate, I pulled out memorabilia from Berlin… my red cloche hat and red leather driving gloves… Berlin postcards.

And three of my favorite dolls that I carried around in a special pink trunk when I was a kid every time we moved.

My childhood ‘posse’.

Doll friends I could hang with since I was always the new kid in school (I went to 15). I’d eventually make friends, but these 3 ‘sisters’ were always there for me as they are today when I introduce you to the three Landau Sisters during WW2, Jewish girls in danger when the Nazis come to power…

Rachel, Leah, and Tovah.

Through a twist of fate, their fate is changed forever by Kay Alexander, a candy heiress with a dark secret that haunts her. Kay has no idea what’s in store for her when she visits Berlin in 1937… once she meets the Landau family, she’ll do anything to help them survive.

I spent part of a summer in Berlin years ago, visiting the city’s museums and shopping on the Ku’Damm, but the most memorable part was visiting East Berlin before the wall came down. I remember what the hotel clerk told me when I asked him for directions to Checkpoint Charlie. ‘They’ve forgotten how to smile,’ he said. I didn’t understand then what he meant until I was lost in that world of gray between East and West like a lost shadow.

During WW2, the Landau Sisters also forget how to smile as their freedoms are slowly taken from them because they are Jewish. In The Orphans of Berlin, you’ll meet Rachel and watch her grow up during the 1930s until the day her parents make the hardest decision a family should never have to make.

To send her and her sisters away… so they may live.

But how? Will they survive? Where will they go? Find out in THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN.

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If you’re a book reviewer and you’d like to request an ARC here’s the NetGalley info:

THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN

UK http://netgal.ly/JraDUM

US https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/270880

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PRE-ORDER NOW:

UK https://amzn.to/3Qjp5mB

US https://amzn.to/3TMKZlf

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October Featured Author: Denise M. Colby

October 7, 2022 by Denise M. Colby in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Christian Historical Fiction, Denise M Colby, Marketing, Social Media, writing

Denise M. Colby loves to write words that encourage, enrich, and engage whether it’s in her blog, social media, magazine articles, or devotions. With over 20+ years’ experience in marketing, she enjoys using her skills to help other authors.

She treasures the written word and the messages that can be conveyed when certain words are strung together. An avid journal writer, she usually can be found with a pen and notepad whenever she’s reading God’s word. Denise is writing her first novel, a Christian Historical Romance and can be found at www.denisemcolby.com

She’s a member of RWA, OCC/RWA, Faith, Hope & Love Chapter of RWA, ACFW (where she is a semi-finalist in the Genesis contest Historical Romance Category), OC Chapter of ACFW, and SoCal Christian Writers’ Conference.

In addition to Denise’s column The Writing Journey on A Slice of Orange, you can read some of her magazine article here.

Denise M. Colby’s Books

SHORT and SWEET’S FAMILY ALBUM

THE SHORT & SWEET OF IT: When the Right Word Is a Short Word

WHEN PLANS GO AWRY

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New Release: Dark Wine at Halloween

October 4, 2022 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as #NewRelease, A Hill Vampire Series, Dark Wine at Halloween, Jenna Barwin, mystery

Dark Wine at Halloween releases today, October 4th.

Dark Wine at Halloween

A Hill Vampire Novel Book 8

Jenna Barwin

After Henry and Cerissa discover a two-day-old vampire in the last place they expect to find one—a Halloween funhouse—they have no choice but to hand him over to the town council who will decide whether he lives or dies.

At almost eighteen, the youth didn’t ask to be turned and hates being a vampire. As heart-wrenching as his situation is, the Hill can’t endlessly accept new residents.

Placed under house arrest until his fate is decided, the teen bites Cerissa while seeking her help to escape the community’s walls, and Henry’s jealousy flares. Then an ex-girlfriend of Henry’s suddenly appears in town, and Cerissa fights against her own green-eyed monster.

With dead bodies stacking up in a neighboring city, Henry and Cerissa must pull together to help the teen accept his situation and recover his memory, so they can identify and stop the crazed vampire who turned the teen—before he or she kills another mortal.

If they don’t, the killer’s actions might reveal to mortal police the wicked truth: vampires really do exist…

P.S.: While you can read Halloween as a stand-alone mystery, I want you to have the best reading experience possible, so dive into Dark Wine at Midnight first—book one in the Hill Vampire series—before reading this one. You won’t regret it.~Jenna

The Hill Vampire Series

DARK WINE AT CHRISTMAS

DARK WINE AT DAWN

DARK WINE AT HALLOWEEN

DARK WINE AT THE GRAVE

DARK WINE AT DISASTER

DARK WINE AT THE CIRCUS

DARK WINE AT DEATH

DARK WINE AT MIDNIGHT

DARK WINE AT DUSK

DARK WINE AT SUNRISE

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Is the World Reopening?

October 4, 2022 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston

I think it is! At least, I’ve attended more in-person events recently than I had in ages, and more to come.

Yes, I did go to a few small local events in person now and then before but not many. Mostly, I attended on Zoom. And I did go to several concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, getting seats in areas where it wasn’t very crowded.

But last month I attended an actual writers’ conference, Bouchercon, which was in Minneapolis this year. Fun conference, and it was definitely enjoyable to meet up with people I’d known before and to make new friends.

I also attended a gumbo party given by my local Mystery Writers of America chapter recently. And I went to a physical meeting of my local Sisters in Crime chapter as well.

And upcoming is an event being thrown by Orange County Romance Writers, a Celebration of Romance.

More to come? Most likely. For one thing, next year’s Bouchercon will be in San Diego, and the Romance Writers of America conference will be in Anaheim. Since I live in Los Angeles, both are already beckoning to me.

And I haven’t even mentioned some upcoming family travel plans. Yes, there’ll be more people around than I was used to for a while.

I doubt it’s only me. Are you starting to get out there in the world more yet? It’s still a bit scary. Though things have improved, people are still getting bad cases of Covid, including a friend of mine, and some are even dying.

But hope is increasing, as well as events!

~Linda