Jan 8th Book Gems – A New Place for Author’s Books!

Happy New Year Everyone! Book Gems is my new go to. Why? As an author I’m always looking for new ways to get my books in the hands of readers. I’m super excited to tell you about an easy way for readers to “find my books”. A new way to be whisked away from your ordinary world into a fantasy adventure that you may never want to leave. LOL

BOOK GEMS. Is a new one-stop shopping experience for your favorite author’s books. Mine included.

What does Book Gems mean for you as a reader? All the books an author has currently available, across all publishing venues are listed. Also included are author blogs, books up for a reader to review, and in the coming months, giveaway offers. You can’t beat that with a stick. LOL

For authors Book Gems is a subscription service to list your books – the rates are extremely reasonable.

For readers, join up and get info on all your one-click authors.

Here’s the link to my personal author page: Tena Stetler

Just click on one of the book titles and poof you are at the book’s info page, which conveniently includes buy links. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

I love this one-stop shopping way of book promo because it makes it so easy for readers to find my work. And I can find the books from authors I enjoy with one click instead of 50!

Book Gems…. Find the Sparkle in Reading! Give it a try and tell me what you think in the comments.

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Authors, BookGems.com, Fid the Sparkle in Reading, One stop shop, Readers, Tena Stetler by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.

Jan 28th Raising Funds for Australia a 3-Volume Anthology

As most of you know, I am published by The Wild Rose Press. I’m so very proud and love being one of their authors. Australia Burns is a prime example of why I love being a Rose.. See below the words of The Wild Rose Press:

Authors have always been known to help one another but when our own Australian author, Stephen B. King, (Not that Stephen King) asked his fellow authors what could be done to possibly help his beloved Australia during the horrendous wildfires, The Wild Rose Press authors stepped up in a big way.

The result of that initial conversation, less than a month ago, is a three Volume Anthology, Australia Burns. Over 47 authors donated a short story. Yes, I was one of those authors. My short story, A Witch’s Protocol appears in volume three, The Wild Rose Press’ editors, artists and production staff donated their time and talents to edit these stories and compile them into an anthology.

Volume 1,2 and 3 are available to purchase on our website in print form..

https://www.thewildrosepress.com/product-category/writers-shop-cat/special-release-paperbacks

The ebook can be found on Amazon as well as any other distributor where you purchase ebooks.

https://www.amazon.com/Australia-Burns-Show-Some-Love-ebook/dp/B0848W2HQT/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Australia+Burns&qid=1580208647&sr=8-3

All proceeds from these 3 anthologies will go to help support the recovery of Australia. We asked Stephen to decide where the profits would go to do the best work and after much research he continued to come back to The Red Cross. We can identify where we want the donation to go and we will have it go directly to the efforts of The Red Cross in helping with the recovery effort in Australia.

Stephen gave us a recent update and if you want to read more about what is happening directly from someone who is there you can read more here:

Recent rains have helped enormously, still there are fires, but not to the same extent as there were, and the focus now is more on recovery and rebuilding. To that end there are advertising campaigns now to stop what’s called the second wave disaster and that is people staying away from tourist areas and business who rely on travelers and visitors to survive. Most of our tourist destinations are unaffected, yet people think the whole country is gone, which of course isn’t true. The problem of course is that if people stop visiting, businesses will go broke, making the overall recovery much harder. With the rains, re-growth has already begun and some burnt out areas have grasses and shrubs recovering already.

Then of course there is the wildlife, and those organizations such as the RSPCA, and others are doing remarkable work rescuing animals and rehousing them. A lot of our native trees are Eucalyptus, and with millions of trees gone, Koalas only eat those leaves, so regrowth and resettlement is going on in huge numbers to save a cuddly species from extinctions in the wild. Kangaroos will bounce back, and in time, the feeling is most other animals will to, but the key words are – in time. In a lot of cases we hope the burnt trees themselves will regrow as they have evolved to grow after bushfires. I’m told with heavy rains in recent days some are showing green growth, which is encouraging.

All charities are ‘working their bums off’ but the one who seems to be doing the most is the Red Cross. So in closing, two things. Firstly – and I know I’ve said it before – my heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you for participating in whatever way you have. Forty eight stories simply is mind-blowing, and the offers for promotion, trailers, editing, cover design, formatting and of course redirecting the money has been so uplifting I can’t even begin to tell you – and for someone who uses words all the time – that’s saying something.

Secondly, if ever you’ve thought about visiting this country, now’s the time. And as Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee) once said in some fantastic famous ads in the US and across the world. “Come on down; I’ll throw a shrimp on the barby for you. – Author Stephen King.

Thank you for the

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Austalia Burns, Authors, donate, short stories, The WIld Rose Press, Wild Fires by Tena Stetler with 4 comments.

Apr 16th Clean, Organize & Reviews-Not For Faint of Heart

Last weekend was clean, organize and as it turned out reviews. First up carpet cleaning, scrubbing the stairs is the worst! Wouldn’t you know it, the pump on the carpet cleaner quit. The darn thing was only 13 years old. Previous years, my husband had replaced the motor, belts and spin heads. This time, it was DOA without hope of resurrection. Should have been a great excuse to go to the next task on my to-do list, but the stairs were soaked with pre-cleaner. A quick search on the internet, I found the exact make and model I wanted. Even better it was on sale in a store located close to my neighborhood. Armed with the new cleaner, we knocked the stairs out in no time, leaving the last two rooms for this week.

Then cleaning and organizing my inventory of books and swag for 2018 appearances. I inherited a wonderful large Lane cedar chest and decided it was perfect for consolidating my book inventory in one place. As I finished up, hidden among the books I’d written was a book that I had not written but enjoyed reading. It had a sticky note on it “Review due April 16, 2018”. Oh crap, somehow I’d forgotten to review the book I read a few weeks ago. Reviews are so important to authors because: Writing and sharing a book review is a benefit for the writing and reading community. You help like-minded readers discover a great book and you help the author by providing valuable feedback. Also your words are as important to an author as an author’s words are to you. How so you ask? Those words may seem counterintuitive to you if you are a reader, but in our data-driven age, book reviews left by readers on Amazon.com and Goodreads can make a huge difference in the success of an author, especially emerging and mid-list authors like me who aren’t getting their books reviewed in The New York Times. Yet. LOL

Reasons why reader’s reviews really help authors. In fact they are vital! Author Lauren Faulkenberry breaks it down like this:

The number of reviews helps authors get into promotional gold mines like the Bookbub Newsletter who has all but said, you must have so many Amazon reviews or we won’t even consider listing your book. I’ve no idea why this is the case, but that’s the way it is.
Word on the street is that reviews help push our rankings on Amazon. Visibility, so important.
Reviews make it easier for authors to get their books into indie bookstores. (Did you know local bookstores or libraries stocking your book is hardly ever a given?)

So now you know why authors are asking politely for your review. Your review doesn’t have to be long, a few words like “great book” and a 4 or 5 star rating. If you don’t like the book, don’t leave a review, ’nuff said. Putting my soapbox back under the bed.

Click on cover to read more or purchase

Okay, time for a shameless plug for one of my favorite books. A VAMPIRE’S UNLIKELY ALLIANCE–Not what you’ve come to expect from a Vampire Tale! Leave your ordinary world behind, be swept away into a Romantic fantasy with Brandy and Stefan add just a touch of mystery and suspense for your Monday. Grab your copy today! http://a.co/gwldy2P

Friday an interview with Melody Johnson Author of Day Reaper will grace these pages. You don’t want to miss it!

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Authors, fantasy, fiction, Nonfiction, Paranormal, Readers, Reviews, Romance by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.

Jan 2nd New Year’s Resolutions – Make Them or Not?

Happy New Year!! New Year Resolutions?

Now there’s a dilemma. In 2017 I made what I thought was attainable resolutions, as I normally do. However, toward the end of the year due to a family member’s unexpected ongoing illness, making those goals was tough. I barely made my 50,000 words in November for Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo. I did muddle through making my word counts, deadlines and projects as planned, but it was tough.

I guess I’ve been lucky in that I am a planner and the plans I set in stone happen as expected. Toward the end of 2017, for the first time, I learned that setting long term plans and goals can be fraught with problems. Life throws curve balls that you cannot imagine until it happens.

Ever the optimist, I did make reservations for 2018 camping trips, with the knowledge that cancelling them is a possibility. The alternative of no camping reservations is unthinkable.

I have discovered that I don’t work well with the unknown. I like to have it nailed down and know where I’m going and how I’m going to get there. Which is probably why I’ve usually created my new year’s resolutions with an eye to my plans for the entire new year. Yeah, going to back that off a bit.

So here it goes. My 2018 resolutions:

Write 5,000 to 7,000 words each week.

Finish the edits for fourth book in A Demon’s Witch Series in time for a springtime release.

Finish the fifth book in A Demon’s Witch Series and the complete the sequel to Charm Me.

Finish a rough draft of my romantic suspense – book one. There will be three books in this series.

Take more time for myself and my companion animals. I did pretty good on that goal last year, but going to do better this year.

Read and enjoy more books than last year.

Think before I blurt out statements that are better left unsaid, making me a kinder, gentler person.

Clean out the closets and give away the clothes we don’t wear anymore. It’s time. LOL

Spend more time actually talking to people rather than letting my fingers do the talking. (More verbal communication and less electronic) LOL

Exercise more! This is a tough one for me that’s why I’m not setting a specific goal trying for 3 times a week.

How about you? What resolutions will you make for 2018? Did you make your 2017 goals? Or if you don’t make resolutions, why not. Leave your answers in the comments, please. Welcome to 2018, what I wild ride it may be!

Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged 2018 goals, Authors, Long Term Goals, New Year, Resolutions, Word Count, writing by Tena Stetler with 4 comments.