Things to Do Before You Publish a Book Guest Blog and Giveaway with Sibelle Stone

When you’re considering taking on the job of publishing your book as an Indie (Independent) author, there are some steps you can take to make your job easier.

1. Think about how you will promote your book. Do you have a website? Facebook page? Twitter account? Have you ever contributed to any blogs? What listserv and professional groups do you belong to? Think early about the book promotion, because just putting a book on a distributers website could mean it will live a lonely life. Sad and ignored.

2. Create a timeline for the entire process. Begin at the end, the date you want to publish your book by. Build in at least one week for loading on distribution channels, (Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Smashwords are all distribution channels). Put dates on a calendar.

·         Rough draft - when will the book be ready to be sent to an editor. IMPORTANT NOTE: You really, really do need a good editor.

·         How will you get a cover? Have you searched  popular cover artist sites for samples?

·         Do you want ISBN numbers for your books, (some distributers require this, some not?

·         Realistically - how long will it take for revisions once you get the file back from your editor?

·         Complete revisions and send out to “Beta” readers. People you trust who will give you honest feedback and find all those little things you and the editor missed.

·         Once you’ve done another revision, you can begin the process of formatting the book.

READ the Guidelines for formatting very carefully.

                I start with the Smashwords guide, because it forces you to strip out all the Word formatting  in                order to submit the file. This will provide a cleaner copy to format for Pubit! (Barnes & Noble)     and Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

You will need to create some documentation when you upload the files to the distribution sites, so prepare a Word document with...

                A short blurb --this is something  like the “elevator speech” that sums up the book in just one    sentence.

                A long blurb -- this is the back cover copy that “sells” the book. Read a lot of copy so you can get               an idea of the rhythm of the words. Who is your hero? Who is your heroine? What brings them     together and what threatens them? Make the reader care right from the start.

                Make sure you have the cover art in the right format, and put it in an easily accessible file, as      you will need it.

Start thinking about how you will publicize the book after it’s released.

Whistle Down the Wind

Book One The Mystic Moon Series - Featuring the Glyndwr sisters

Elemental witches!

Genre: Historical romance with paranormal elements
Publisher: Moon Valley Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9839103-2-9
Page count: 360

Blurb:

Escaping from the persecution of the European witch hunts, a beautiful witch with the power to control the wind joins forces with a handsome Cavalier on a mission to save the King of England and the colony of Virginia.

Catlin Glyndwr is a tenth generation Mistress of Elements -- a hereditary witch who can call upon her elemental spirits for assistance in casting spells.

Accused of witchcraft in seventeenth century England, she faces the hangman. Even though she took a vow never to hurt anyone with her magic, if her true powers are revealed, she’ll be executed.

Sir Griffin Reynolds is on his way to the colony of Virginia, on a secret mission to locate Puritan rebels intent upon seizing the throne of King Charles II. When his best friend becomes deathly ill while interrogating a beautiful Welsh maiden accused of using magic to attack a local official – Griffin is forced to strike a bargain with her in order to save his friend’s life.

When Catlin and Griffin travel together on a voyage to the American colonies, they try to resist the pull of erotic sensuality that flares between them. It is a temptation they both soon crave. But danger lurks aboard ship and evil haunts Catlin. She must learn how her destiny is linked with that of the man who has vowed to protect her.

In a dangerous and unexplored world, where superstition exists along side the new discoveries of science, powerful elemental spirits are capable of assisting the magical adepts. But there is always danger in harnessing magic and a price to pay when one calls to the spirit world for help.

While Griffin tries to deny his attraction to Catlin, she works her own special magic on his heart and he discovers he cannot resist falling under her sensual spell.

Together, Catlin and Griffin learn that a journey of the heart requires courage, trust and the ability to believe in the astonishing gift of love.

Tagline: A beautiful witch discovers there’s more then one way to be wicked!

Short Blurb:

Whistle Down the Wind
By Sibelle Stone

Escaping from the persecution of the European witch hunts, a powerful witch with the ability to control the wind joins forces with a handsome Cavalier on a mission to save the King of England and the colony of Virginia while a dangerous stranger hunts them both. Book One: Mystic Moon Series.

Author Bio

Sibelle Stone is the pseudonym for award winning historical romance author Deborah Schneider. Sibelle writes sexy steampunk and paranormal stories, filled with magic, mad scientists, dirigibles, automatons, and creatures that would scare the panties off Deborah. In her spare time Sibelle enjoys dressing up in Victorian ensembles, modding play guns into something that looks a bit more sinister and wearing hats.

Author Bio: Deborah Schneider

A lifelong love of American history led Deborah Schneider from teaching high school to writing novels. Her first book, Beneath A Silver Moon won the Molly award for “Most Unsinkable Heroine” from the Heart of Denver chapter of RWA and was later a finalist in the New Historical Voice Contest in 2000. Her most recent release Promise Me won the 2011 EPIC Award for Best Western Romance. Her first steampunk story, No Ordinary Love was published in fall 2011. Deborah is employed by the busiest and best library system in the U.S. She’s received the “Open Book Award” from Pacific Northwest Writers and was named “Librarian of the Year” by Romance Writers of America in 2009.




Sibelle is giving away a copy of Beneath a Silver Moon -winner’s choice of format -either a free Ebook or a print copy- and a One $10 Starbucks Gift Card open to US Shipping- To enter fill out the Rafflecopter


a Rafflecopter giveaway