Happy Day To Everyone!

I'm not a big fan of holidays that people are excluded from...and often not by choice. (But don't tell my husband or he might take back the chocolate!)

For those of you who are feeling romantic, here's an anthology of short stories that's out today with a few friends of mine it it:

It's FREE right now on Smashwords and only 99 cents on Amazon (so it can be your gift to yourself!)

Description from Amazon: Sixteen original short stories, all from the point of view of our favorite male characters - some are old flames from our novels and some were dreamed up especially for this anthology.

Let these imminently crushable, swoon-worthy guys show you what romance looks like – in his eyes.

The contributors to IN HIS EYES include award winners, frequent “Top 100” placers, and hot 2011 debut authors.

Contributors include: C.K. Bryant, Lisa Nowak, Magan Vernon, Elle Strauss, Laura Pauling, Cheri Lasota, S.R. Johannes, Stacy Wallace Benefiel, Ali Cross, Jessie Harrell, Katie Klein, Karen Amanda Hooper, RaShelle Workman, Heather McCorkle, Susan Kaye Quinn, and Cory Putman Oakes

And how about if you're not feeling lovey-dovey today? Here's a great danceable break-up song, if that's where you're at!




And because I'm all about books, here's a little Non-Valentine contest for you...tell me in the comments the name of one of your favorite novels WITHOUT ROMANCE (I know, it's hard!) and I'll send you a swag pack!

See, now it's a happy day for everyone!

Promo Successes and Failures

Today marks five months until my release of Never Enough, so I thought I'd do something a little special for today's post - geared mostly at authors who are published or planning to publish. I thought I'd talk a little about promotion and marketing of my books - what I've done, what I've found to be successful, and also what I've found to be unsuccessful.

There's recently been a discussion on one of the Yahoo loops I'm a member of on promotion, so that has sparked my memory for various marketing and promotion techniques. To be honest, I've had a really hard time nailing down what works. With my second book soon to release, I am thinking of what I plan to do the same and what I plan to do differently, though, and so obviously my thoughts must reflect some kind of "Inner Knowing." LOL.


1. Swag. I love it and so I have a lot of fun designing, ordering, and distributing different things. It's really not all that expensive if you watch for deals (I get most swag from Vista Print, and bookmarks from Printrunner.) I send it out to anyone and everyone who asks, leave it around town, conferences, send to bloggers, wherever. I've also used more expensive swag like journals, T-shirts, and baseball caps for giveaways during my launch, and I plan to do all of that again this time around. I think that bookmarks are definitely worth the money I spend on them. The other stuff probably isn't, but it's fun to promote with.

2. Postcard mailings - I spent an awful lot of time handwriting postcards and sending them out for Losing Faith. I had one bookstore tweet about receiving my postcard, but otherwise I didn't see much response from this. I didn't enjoy it. I don't have nice handwriting. So I think I'll skip this effort this time around. Or if I send any, it will be a small amount and only to specifically targeted bookstores and libraries in my area. I think I'm more inclined to personally drop off a stack of bookmarks though.

3. Blog Tour - for my blog tour for Losing Faith, it was quite involved. I gave followers of the tour a different way to enter each day, a different blog to visit, and a different prize to win - books, hats, journals, etc. Then I had 3 grand prizes at the end - three boxes containing about 10 books each. I had these donated by Simon Pulse and so many of them were recent releases or ARC's and there was lots of buzz around these prizes. I mailed them via media mail, but offered one as an overseas prize, which cost me a fortune to mail, so I would probably just offer a gift card or something to international winners this time around.

I also did a blog tour a couple of months after my release with We Love YA Book Tours. It was free, they planned it, and basically I just had to answer some questions and offer some books for prizes. I don't think this group is putting together tours anymore, but Teen Book Scene is another great group of bloggers, and I'll be working with them on touring Never Enough. 


4. Book Trailer - I hired Madison from M2Productions to put together my book trailer for Losing Faith. I was happy with it, and very much enjoy sharing it. I don't know if it made any great difference at all in sales, but I have seen comments on GoodReads and also on Simon & Schuster's Pulse It that people have decided to read the book because of the trailer. With Never Enough, I'm making my own trailer in Windows Moviemaker. It has been a labor of love. I'm excited to share it, but it's not quite done yet...

5. One thing I plan to do this time around that I did not do with Losing Faith is to make a multi-author collaborative video about self-esteem - a theme that is close to my book and close to my heart. Holly Cupala recently did one centered on the theme "Words Have Power" (if you haven'tseen it, you should look it up on YouTube). I was moved by the video, and sales aside, it's something that I would like to do.

6. School visits and appearances - I've only done one real school visit so far, but I loved doing it, and I hope to do more in the future. I have also done library visits, plenty of bookstore signings (which have ranged from packed stores to not a single person buying a book - and there's really no way of knowing what you will get), panel discussions, workshops. I'm attempting to try everything where I can find opportunity and see how I like it. With Never Enough I will certainly remain open to opportunities, but I suspect I won't pursue too many of my own bookstore visits this time around. Bookstore events seem to work better, in my experience, when the bookstore is excited and invites you to come in. I do, however, stop at any bookstores I'm nearby and sign whatever stock of Losing Faith they have on hand. 

Aside from that, I'm active on Twitter and blogging - because I love it. So that's the theme of my thoughts on marketing and promo, I guess. I'm continuing the things I love and I'm ditching the stuff I don't. My husband has been a pretty big influence on me where marketing is concerned. He has his own business (has for over 20 years) and has never done any advertising. He believe strongly in word of mouth and that stressing over trying to get more clients (or sell more books) will not make those things happen. And, in fact, relaxing and trusting WILL make these things come to pass. I'm more of a stress-case than he is, but I'm getting better all the time!


I'd love to hear what your experiences have been with promotion and marketing. Have you found anything you definitely want to do or definitely want to stay away from?

Also, here are two authors I greatly admire who have some fabulous advice on book marketing:

Lisa Schroeder's Timeline For YA/MG Authors

Saundra Mitchell's Tools For Writers

Trailer Tuesday! DON'T BREATHE A WORD by Holly Cupala

First, check out this awesome new trailer for Holly Cupala's DON'T BREATHE A WORD. Next...don't go away, because Holly has a huge contest going on where you can win some fab prizes. Read on below to find out how!

PRIZES:

Five Grand Prizes:
Signed copies of Don’t Breathe a Word, Tell Me a Secret, the TMAS special edition audiobook, bookmarks, stickers, and other swag*

Ten Runner-Up Prizes:
Don’t Breathe a Word flyers, bookmarks, stickers, and a TMAS button*

Plus the first forty people who buy the book at this link between now and Valentine’s Day get DBAW bookmarks, stickers, and undying book love from me!*

*Must include mailing address with entry. (US + up to 20% international winners)

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Click here to go to the DBAW trailer link, then click the Share button to send to your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, MySpace, blog, or other social network. 5 pts each

2. Buy the book at this link for more chances to win (include in your entry below)!

3. Click here to enter with your links and/or purchase!

March Madness #WIPMadness Sign-Up!

ETA: I now have enough hosts for this year's March Madness! Thanks so much, everyone!

I've mentioned it on Twitter, but I figure I better start getting organized for this year's March Madness Writing Challenge.

What is March Madness? An annual writing challenge, kind of like Nano, but we all set our own ambitious goals and then cheer each other on to complete them.

How do we cheer each other on? Through daily check-ins on blogs throughout the blogosphere.

Why will you check in? Because you will need the encouragement...and...did I mention there will be prizes?

First and foremost, I'm looking for some writers with active blogs who would like to be a check-in host for this life-changing event! You'll need to be able to host up to four times during the month of March, encourage people who check-in at your blog, and offer something in the way of a prize that a writer would really appreciate (a critique, a gift card, a really great book, etc).

I've already heard from a couple of people who want to be check-in hosts, but I'm scatterbrained, so even if this is you, please email me and confirm that you'd like to do this and have a prize of some kind to offer. My email is d (at) denisejaden (dot) com

And for those of you who aren't aware, March Madness continues year-round, in a sense, under the hashtag #wipmadness on Twitter. If you just want to join in on the fun, but don't want to host, come and find us there!!

NEVER ENOUGH Praise!

Contrary to what the title of this post implies, I feel like I've been rained upon with unbelievable amounts of praise (from some pretty amazing sources!) I've been so excited to share these ever since I first saw them. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to yet, but I see that may of them are up on Amazon...so I guess it's okay!

Praise for
Never Enough

“Denise Jaden positively nails the love-hate relationship between two polar opposite sisters who share a single quest: the desire to be perfect, regardless of the cost. A compelling, often gut-wrenching coming-of-age novel, Never Enough will haunt you long after the last page.”
—From Jeannie Garsee, author of Before, After and Somebody In Between
“Denise Jaden's Never Enough is honest, gut wrenching, and oh so beautiful.  It's a book you can't wait to share.”
—Eileen Cook, author of Unraveling Isobel and The Education of Hailey Kendrick
“A poignant, important book, Never Enough tackles self-esteem and body image issues while always remaining true to its three-dimensional characters. Denise Jaden has created a cliché-free zone filled with hurt, heart, and personal strength. Jaden's tender sympathy for her characters and dedication to honest storytelling shine through every page.”
—C.K. Kelly Martin, author of I Know It’s Over and My Beating Teenage Heart

“Raw and unforgettable, Never Enough is an authentic portrait of a teen girl faced with an impossible situation. Loann’s relationship with her sister is beautifully drawn and heartbreaking.”
—Tara Kelly, author of Harmonic Feedback and Amplified

"A poignant look at sisterly devotion and heartache, woven into a sweet tale
of first love and a girl coming into her own."
—Holly Cupala, author of Tell Me A Secret and Don't Breathe a Word

I'm seriously completely bowled over by this. Many authors have told me that blurbs aren't really important, especially when it comes to selling books, but I can tell you honestly that each of these blurbs is incredibly important to me. There will be days, I'm sure, when I may get inundated with people who cannot connect to my books or my writing, and it will be so wonderful to come back to these and remember that there ARE folks out there--even industry pros--who could connect.

So thank you Jeannie, Eileen, CK, Tara, and Holly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Links, Links, Links!!!

I have a few links I'm excited to share with you...

1. First of all, if you tried to download a copy of NEVER ENOUGH from Galley Grab and were receiving an error, I have a new, shiny (working) link!

http://www.galleygrab.com/?asset_url=9781442444287

This is for bloggers, teachers, librarians...anyone who can spread the word about NEVER ENOUGH as the release date approaches.

Also, I just received some new bookmarks and postcards for NEVER ENOUGH in the mail. If you'd like some signed swag for yourself or to help pass along to others, please email me at d(at)denisejaden(dot)com and I'll send some your way!

2. You may remember my good writer-friend Elle Strauss recently released her YA Time Travel Novel, CLOCKWISE, and I featured it here on the blog? Well, Elle has just released her first middle grade novel as well, IT'S A LITTLE HAYWIRE, and for a short while it is being offered on Amazon TOTALLY FREE!  Here's the link.

3. And finally, my writer-friend from The Tenners, Shaun David Hutchinson (author of THE DEATHDAY LETTER), has a cool project in the works...He's launching a serial novel on his blog, a new chapter every two weeks, and letting you, the reader have input on which direction the story takes! He also has a huge section of writer tips and info, so if you're a writer, interested in the process of a pro like Shaun, you can stop on by this link.

Young Adult Giveaway Hop Winners!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my Young Adult Giveaway Hop!

The winners:

THE HOURGLASS DOOR goes to...Andrew Uy!

and

PUCKER UP goes to...LisaILJ

Congratulations to both of you!!