Kindle Freebie: When Love Calls by Lorna Seilstad

When romance calls, will she choose to answer?

Hannah Gregory is good at many things, but that list does not include following rules. So when she must apply for a job as a switchboard operator to support her two sisters, she knows it won't be easy. Hello Girls must conduct themselves according to strict--and often bewildering--rules, which include absolutely no consorting with gentlemen while in training.

Hannah doubts it will be difficult to keep that rule--until a handsome young lawyer starts getting under her skin.

With historic details that bring to life the exciting first decade of the twentieth century, Lorna Seilstad weaves a charming tale of companionship that blossoms into sweet romance.

File Size: 1653 KB
Print Length: 353 pages
Publisher: Revell (May 1, 2013)
Publication Date: May 1, 2013
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00B85M0XG

Purchase here!

10 Things You Need to Know About Virtual Book Tours By Dorothy Thompson, Founder of Pump Up Your Book

10 Things You Need to Know About Virtual Book Tours

By Dorothy Thompson, CEO & Founder of

 Pump Up Your Book

By now, most authors know what virtual book tours are or at least have heard of them.  They’re that wonderful marketing tool that should be a must have in every new book’s campaign.  With each new book I write, I’m making a game plan before the book is even published, and a virtual book tour is the first promotional venue on that list.

While most of us know what they are, there are still a few authors who might have heard of them but have no idea what they involve.  I give you my top 10 things you need to know about virtual book tours so you know what to expect.

1. Virtual book tours are the BEST way to get the MOST online exposure for your book. Not only are you presenting your book--and yourself--to thousands of people, all of your interviews, guest posts and reviews are archived, which means months down the road you’re still selling your book because of that one tour.
2. Virtual book tours ARE a lot of work. Not only are you searching for the perfect blogs to host you, you are acting as the middle man between you and the blogger unless you are using a paid service, such as Pump Up Your Book, who will do all that work for you.  Even if you do sign up with Pump Up Your Book, there is still work to do--filling out interviews and writing guest posts (unless you choose an all review tour).  Even though it requires a little bit of your time to fill out interviews and write guest posts, it’s well worth it.
3. You will learn more about your book than you ever did. I had an author tell me that through the interviews and guest posts she had to complete she learned so much about her book, which caught her off guard.  Now, when she is interviewed on radio shows and makes television appearances she is better prepared.
4. Virtual book tours will build up your author platform.  No matter if you’re a fiction author or a nonfiction author, virtual book tours will build up your author platform using your key search words.
5. Your reviews are guaranteed. Offline publicists, while they mean well, do it all wrong.  They query a book blogger, make arrangements to send the book, then that’s where it stops.  The review is not a guaranteed thing.  The reviewer can post the review anytime they see fit.  With virtual book tours, your review is guaranteed on a certain date unless the reviewer jumps ship, which rarely happens.  I had an author tell me she signed up with an offline publicist who sent out tons of books, but only one or two reviewers actually came through for them.  That was money lost for the author.  Books don’t come cheap these days, so scheduling a date the reviewer can agree upon guarantees that review will happen.
6. Many reviewers now take eBooks, which save you money. Thank goodness someone was smart enough to invent a device that automatically loads a book in a few seconds (no waiting to go to the book store anymore, my friend) and makes it fun to read.  When Amazon lowered their price of the Kindle, sales soared and book lovers started talking about getting one.  It opened up a wonderful way to get these books to the book reviewers quickly and less expensively.  Have you noticed how much books are and how much it takes to ship them?  Not saying all reviewers will take eBooks, but as time goes on, most will have an e-reader and might prefer an eBook.
7. More website hits, more blog hits, more Twitter hits and more Facebook Fan Page hits. All authors should have a website or blog and accounts at Twitter and Facebook.  No matter if you think they’re all a waste of time.  A virtual book tour will definitely give you more hits at all places--as long as your links are in your bio.
8. Going on a virtual book tour raises your Alexa rankings. What is Alexa?  Alexa measures how well you are doing in the search engines.  When you go on a virtual book tour, your website and blog links are included in every bio (or should be!) whether it be an interview or guest post.  Those are incoming links that Alexa uses to measure your ranking.  The more your website or blog link shows up on other sites, the more valuable your site is to them, and thus, your rankings soar.
9. You will learn how to sell your book through media exposure. Not all authors take advantage of their interviews and guest posts by gearing them toward their audience, thus luring them to their book and/or website/blog.  I’ve had many authors on tour. The ones who really take the time to make their interviews and guest posts effective selling tools are the ones who profit the most.  The key thing here is to make your audience curious.  One liners, in the case of interviews, may not cut it.  Of course, there are only so many ways you can answer “What’s your book about?” but take your time and get your audience’s curiosity piqued so that they make their way over to your website or your book’s buying link.
10. Virtual book tours teach you how to connect well with others. There is no better way to learn how to network.  All these wonderful book bloggers who agree to host you are your new friends in your extended network, and they will be there for you the next time you have a book to promote (unless they completely panned it of course).  You’ll also learn how to use the social networks effectively as you study how to get people over to your tour stops with persuasive wording.  Remember to talk to your audience, not at them.

There you have it.  Ten things you need to know about virtual book tours in a nutshell.  If you have a tour coordinator as opposed to setting one up yourself, she will walk you through it so that your tour will be a fun experience for all.  Your book will thank you for it.

Dorothy Thompson is CEO/Founder of Pump Up Your Book, an award-winning public relations company specializing in online book publicity.  You can visit her website at www.PumpUpYourBook.com or follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pumpupyourbook and Facebook at www.facebook.com/pumpupyourbook.

New Year's Resolution Solution - Post Days 2 & 3

There are days I think I must be crazy to do this. After the first day, my middle hurt. On Day 2, we worked our arms, so they are sore. Then today, we worked out buttocks. Half an hour later my legs still felt like spaghetti. By tomorrow, I won't be able to out of bed.

For the most part, I am sticking to the healthy eating portion of the program too. Breakfast is either oatmeal with fruit or Greek yogurt and a hard-boiled egg. Lunch is usually a salad of some kind. Dinner--I grew up calling it supper--on Day 2 was brown rice, teriyaki chicken, and broccoli. I ate lunch late today, so tonight I opted for some seafood salad (no dressing) in a whole wheat pita with some greens.

Confession time: I cheated at lunch today and had a Pepsi. Gosh, I miss it. I'm thinking, though, if I went from having two 12 oz. cans a day to one every three days, I'm still doing better than I was before. The head aches a bit, but not overwhelming.

The one challenge I am having is getting enough sleep. I really need to get to bed at least an hour earlier.

Not sure what is on tap for exercise on Thursday, but I don't think I have many body parts left that aren't in pain.

New Year's Resolution Solution - Post Day 1

The picture below is from right before yesterday's workout. Don't I look thrilled? Exercise has never come easy for me, but it's time I started doing more of what's right. 

Day 1 of the New Year's Resolution Solution started with my bowl of oatmeal with bananas and walnuts that I washed down with a cup of decaf black tea (everyone says drink green or white tea, but it isn't for me). I'm doing baby steps here. 

Then came the workout. The focus was on abs, so we did the Total Abs workout by Neila Rey--think crunches, leg raises, flutter kicks, planks, etc. My middle still hurts.

Morning snack was low-fat raspberry Greek yogurt. Lunch was a spring mix salad to which I added carrots, beets, and chickpeas. I topped it with a tiny bit of fat free Italian dressing. For the record, I am not a salad person. Drank water with both of these.

Wasn't sure what to do about afternoon snack because I was on the road, so I grabbed some carrots and unsalted dry roasted peanuts, then brought along my trusty water bottle.

I cheated a bit for dinner by having ham and cheese on a whole wheat pita. Added spinach and romaine, along with some tomatoes, to this one. Drank water with this too. I also allowed myself one chocolate chip cookie as a reward last night with a cup of tea. 

Amazingly, I made it through the entire day without a can of soda. I'm craving it, but have managed not to cave in. I haven't had a headache yet, either. If I do, I might have to add one can back in. I'm not sure if the lack of a headache has anything to do with the disastrous detox I did last week.

Trying to get myself ready for the new year, I thought an easy and not radical detox might help. Well....it might have considering my lack of caffeine withdrawal headaches this week, but I thought I was going to die last week. Three days in a row of drinking detox water (water with lemons and other fruits or mint) made me so ill I had to go to bed. I could handle the expulsion of toxins through waste, but my migraines were so bad I couldn't stand light or lift my head off the pillow. I gave up after that. 

Yesterday, makes me optimistic about my ability to stick with it. We post all kinds of photos to the Facebook group each day so we are accountable and have visual aids to remain focused. I've already had a healthy breakfast and performed today's workout, so now it's time to re-hydrate and go about my day. 

New Year's Resolution Solution

In an effort to stick with my goal of eating better and exercising more, I have joined the New Year's Resolution Solution group on Facebook.

With meal plans, daily workouts, recipes and tons of encouragement, we are working to get our bodies ready for summer time. My beach body coach is one of my high school classmates. She's been doing it for a couple of years. While I won't be doing the Shakeology part of the program--I can't stand shakes--I've already done some grocery shopping that is much better than my usual fare. Added more fruits and vegetables this week too.

Wish me luck!

Mailbox Monday - January 4

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

Happy New Year! Welcome to the first Mailbox Monday post of 2016. I hope you all enjoyed the holiday. We didn't do much...just hung out and had the in-laws over for a small dinner.

Thanks to setting my writing goals for this year, my mailbox was fairly full this past week.

With more than 4,000 entries and 36,000 synonyms, this updated, award-winning thesaurus encourages young writers to think analytically about their word choices. Entries are arranged in a way that distinguishes between words that are close synonyms and words that differ somewhat in meaning or usage. More than 150 full-color photographs illustrate the many example sentences and make this book as attractive as it is useful. As an added bonus, this updated edition includes an explanation of the major parts of speech, to help young writers establish a firm grasp of language.

This title's unique design ensures that writers speak to their audience with a vocabulary and style they both understand and find appealing. A fast-reference guide meant to be used along with a dictionary, thesaurus and yellow pad of paper, it will help fulfill the dream of becoming a published children's writer. Highlights include: lists of specific words introduced at each of seven reading levels (K-6); a thesaurus of synonyms, annotated with reading levels; advice and tips particular to word usage for each reading level; guideline for sentence length and themes; idea generators for other stories.

I discovered that there is a newer version of the Children's Writer's Word Book. Not sure if I will pick that one up yet. I'll see how this one works out.

This revised and updated dictionary for elementary school children includes more than 93 new entries, from broadband and graphic novel to MP3 and smartphone — for a total of 35,000 words and phrases in all. Each entry is fully explained with its definition, usage, examples, and notes on spelling and punctuation. Word senses have also been refreshed to reflect modern usage, and maps and country statistics have been updated to include new countries, borders, flags, and cities. Throughout this new edition of Merriam-Webster Children's Dictionary, there is a fresh design with a different color-coded border for each letter of the alphabet, plus updated photographs and illustrations for a lively, accessible look that gives kids lots to look at as they build important research skills.

I might return this one. It's a dictionary for kids--hence the title--and in skimming through it, I don't think I'll need it considering the other two resources I purchased.

This was supposed to be a simple summer for Billy: one more lazy expanse of time before college began. He'd fill the hours playing with Jimmy – his canine best buddy – going camping and doing all the things he promised Jimmy they'd do before Billy left. But that was before the accident that shook the entire town. It was before the summer job that turned into something so much more than a way to get a paycheck. And it was before Vicki. This summer was destined to be many things to Billy, things he didn't truly understand until now. But it was definitely not going to be simple.

An enormously touching, richly textured, deeply moving novel of new adulthood, THE CHANGING SEASON is an experience to savor.

This book releases in February. I am hoping to read it before then. Manchester writes emotional stories that pull at the heartstrings.

What are some of the books you received last week? Are you digging into the books Santa put under your tree?

Personalized Gifts from GetNameNecklace.com

The holidays might be over, but that's no reason for the gift giving to end. GetNameNecklace.com has a wide selection of personalized jewelry to choose from. Necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings and cufflinks are all available. Find gifts for him, for her, and for the kids too.

I was checking out their Family Necklaces, many of which have birthstones of family members embedded on them along with engraved names. What a unique, special gift for a family to share.

GetNameNecklace.com offers top quality products that arrive in free gift boxes. They ship everywhere for free and orders over $150 qualify for free express shipping. Not satisfied with your order? Return it within 60 days--even if the item has been engraved!

On their website you'll find a helpful jewelry sizing guide, jewelry maintenance guide, and purchasing tips and advice.

What are you waiting for? Visit GetNameNecklace.com today!



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