Craves The Angst: BLOG TOUR with GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY - PARKER (Face-Off Series #1) by Jillian Quinn:

TITLE: Parker
SERIES: Face-Off Series
SERIES PLACEMENT: #1
AUTHOR: Jillian Quinn
AGE GROUP: Adult
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: February 15, 2017
PUBLISHER: Penn Publishing
PAGES: Approx. 203
TOUR COORDINATED BY:
Xpresso Book Tours

BOOK BLURB:
Former collegiate athlete and successful sports agent, Charlotte “Coach” Coachman, is a straight shooter who has a very strict policy—no dating clients. The loves of her life are coaching little league basketball and managing the careers of her players, leaving no room for men.

Coach hasn’t met an athlete she couldn’t handle and a deal she couldn’t close—until she meets Alex Parker—the NHL’s most notorious bad boy both on and off the ice.

Alex is the best defenseman in the league, breaking records along with hearts. He’s made a name for himself as a womanizer, and after a scandal involving the owner’s granddaughter, Alex is traded to Philadelphia. Still reeling from the loss of his father, Alex is on a downward spiral, drowning himself in booze and women, until Coach takes him under her wing.

She might be attracted to the sexy hockey star, and certainly not immune to his charms, but Coach can see that Alex needs her help, and coaching players is what she does best. Now that the lines are blurred and the passion between them is too strong to deny, Coach has to decide if Alex is worth making an exception to her rules.

Purchase at AMAZON

GUEST POST with JILLIAN QUINN...

We asked Jillian to talk with us about five things she'd never do again. Here's what she had to say...

5 Publishing Mistakes I Will Never Make Again

#1 List my books on NetGalley

This is one of my biggest regrets. I made the mistake of listing my first novel, Corrupt Me, on NetGalley and had very little return. For the cost, the listing is not worth the money. Their newsletter marketing is also not worth the money. What I learned is that most of the people who request and receive a copy will not review the book. I also did not pay enough attention to what genres the users preferred and where they post their reviews when I approved the requests. Because of my bad experience, I will never use NetGalley again as a means for reviews, especially now that I know a better method for networking with bloggers and readers. I would not recommend the site to other authors.

#2 Host giveaways without proper marketing

I ran a few giveaways on my blog without proper structure and support. They all failed miserably. I had very few entrants, and while I should have learned from my mistakes once I became an author, I repeated some of the same mistakes. Going forward, I plan to structure the giveaways better and make them easier to enter to allow for more participation. Harder giveaways have less results, and I think making them easier to enter and less complicated is easier for both parties in the long run.

#3 Hire a personal assistant without having the proper structure and foundation.

I hired a personal assistant a few months ago because I had no idea how the indie community works and thought that by having a PA my life would be easier. Sadly, that was not the case. I ended up paying for services I never received and did most of the work myself. I ended up with more work, which led to less writing and more stress. I have since hired a new PA who understands my schedule and needs and is a fan of my books. My recommendation to other authors is to choose an assistant who understand you and your work and the same goes for a PR firm. They are marketing not only your books but selling your brand as an author. I learned the hard way and am now in good hands.

#4 Overpay for book covers

I paid a lot of money for the cover of Corrupt Me, which has a beautiful cover, but after having my publicist tell me it’s not a “Kindle cover” and for me to work on having another one designed, made me rethink for entire stance on covers. I have since found a wonderful graphic designer who is reasonably priced. I highly recommend having a designer make a professional cover, teaser graphics, and a social media kit. All of these things represent an author’s brand not just their book and are important. Nine times out of ten the cover is what sells the book when I’m browsing through my Kindle.

#5 Not interacting enough on Facebook

I had no idea how Facebook worked for authors and readers. There is a whole other world out there, apart from the usual posts from friends and family, that I had no idea existed until I made an author page and account. But the reader and author groups are the best places to hang out. I was initially afraid no one would want to talk to me when I published my first book, so I sort of remained in the background, afraid I was bothering an author if I reached out to them, and I found that both authors and readers are very receptive to new authors if you take the time to engage. I would recommend connecting with readers and authors to new authors because no one wants to be sold a product. When I buy a book from an author that interacts with their fans, it usually has a lot to do with their personality and how they come across online. Colleen Hoover is a perfect example of engaging with readers and writing non-promotional posts that are both funny and interactive.

** Corrupt Me and Parker are both available now to read for free through Amazon with Kindle Unlimited and also available in paperback. If you like steamy professor-student taboo books, Teach comes out on April 5th. Thank you for having me on your blog.

Thank you Jullian! What an insightful list! Wishing you much success with Parker. I'm looking forward to reading it. <3 - Hazel

ABOUT THE AUTHOR...

Jillian loves Mafia men, sports, bad boys, dirty talkers, strong female characters, and books with plenty of heat, all of which you will find in her books. As a lover of all things bookish, she has a serious book hoarding problem and runs a book blog in her free time. When she's not reading, writing, or blogging, she's obsessively fangirling over hockey players and can be found wherever she can catch the next hockey game.

Connect with the Author...
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