Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 6/14/20 Only Scandal Will Do ~ Not Your Usual Duel

Posted on June 14, 2020 by Jenna Jaxon

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors!

 

 I’m continuing with snippets the first of my House of Pleasure books, Only Scandal Will Do.  I’ve gotten the rights back to this, my first full length novel, and I’m planning to re-release it at the end of the month! Here’s the new cover I just revealed this past week!

 

BLURB:  

He has the woman of his dreams, but what price will he have to pay to win her heart?

Kidnapped and sold at auction in a London brothel, Lady Katarina Fitzwilliam squelches an undeniable attraction to the masked stranger who purchased her, pits her wits against him, and escapes him and the scandal that would ruin her life.

Unable to resist temptation at The House of Pleasure, Duncan Ferrers, Marquess of Dalbury, purchases a fiery beauty. She claims she’s a lady, but how can she be? No lady of his acquaintance in polite society is anything like her. Then he discovers she is who she says, and that this latest romp has compromised her reputation. He knows how that is. One more scandal and he’ll be cast out of London society, but he needs a wife who’ll provide an heir to carry on his illustrious family’s name. He seeks out Katarina, intending only to scotch the scandal, but instead finds his heart ensnared. He’s betting their future he’ll capture her heart, but does he have what it takes to win the wager?

I begin my snippets for Scandal well into the book. Lady Katarina Fitzwilliam has been kidnapped and sold at auction in a brothel, The House of Pleasure. She escaped her purchaser, Duncan, Marquess of Dalbury, only to be discovered by him some days later at a ball. He wishes to marry her, but she loathes him. Now he’s afraid they will both be ruined by the incident in the brothel and has forced her brother to defend her honor in a duel. However, Kat, who has learned excellent skills with a sword from her brother, has insisted on defending her own honor in a private duel with Dalbury, the stakes the highest of all:  marriage. If she wins, he abandons all hope of having her, if he wins, she marries him immediately. In this snippet, I’ve skipped ahead to the point just before the duel is to commence. We are still in Duncan’s POV.

EXCERPT:

At the weapons table, he selected his blade and began to prepare. Katarina had retired to her end of the room and waited in a relaxed stance; she held the sword naturally in a gloved hand, her grip sure, as if with long hours of practice.

He watched the snug cut of her breeches hug her calves and thighs as she executed a series of practice lunges–if only he could strip off that garment to feast his eyes on the smooth, creamy flesh of her lean thighs, trace the curve of her sleek calf with a reverent hand all the way up to…

His breath caught in his throat, stifling the harsh rasp of his panting. With Herculean effort, Duncan dragged his gaze away from her siren’s form. He pulled on his gauntlets, reached for his sword–and stole another glimpse of her–damn, how in hell was he to focus on the duel with such a distraction before him?

Cursing under his breath, he looked over his shoulder. Katarina now stood between Dr. Pritchett, who had arrived just after Tommy, and Matthews, seeming relaxed and calm. She raised her head and, catching his look, sent a dimpled smile his way.

And now to finish the scene :

Damn the woman! He’d wager she could fence just fine in skirts and had donned this outlandish costume merely to distract him. The idea of her cold, calculating nature steadied him, brought him back from the brink of a muddled disaster. He’d show her. He would give her the five minutes he’d promised himself, then a swift cut to her arm and his torture would be over.

Now completely composed, he affected a careless air as he walked to the center of the ballroom where chalk lines delineated the combat area to await his opponent. Katarina embraced Matthews, making every hair on Duncan’s head stand on end. “That is not the usual method to acknowledge a second, Lady Katarina,” he hissed as she took her stance across from him.

“But this is not the usual duel, is it, Lord Dalbury? I will not be offended if you do likewise and embrace Lord Trevor before we begin.” Her eyes were wide in false innocence.

Hah! He would not take that bait. “Shall we commence, my lady? To first blood?”

“To first blood, my lord.” She became quiet and grave. “I wish us both bon chance.”

Beauty, strength, integrity. The perfect woman. “I as well, my lady. You are ready?”

In response, Katarina raised her rapier into position and nodded her head. Duncan took a deep breath and raised his weapon to hers.

Due to time constraints, I won’t be able to put Only Scandal Will Do up on pre-order but it will release on June 30 with what would have been the pre-order price of .99. Come by my blog for the release party!

And don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There’s some fantastic snippets to be read.

 

Posted in Historical Romance, House of Pleasure Series, On Only Scandal Will Do, Promotion, Weekend Writing Warriors | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Cover Reveal! Only Scandal Will Do

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Jenna Jaxon

A short while ago I got the publishing rights for two of my House of Pleasure books returned to me. I’m terribly excited to tell you that Only Scandal Will Do, my first full-length romance novel, and the second book of the series, Only Marriage Will Do, will be re-released this summer as indie titles by Jenna Jaxon. 🙂

Only Scandal Will Do will be released on June 30, and as I just got the final cover copy from my editor, Danielle Fine, I wanted to share this one with you today.

Isn’t this fabulous? I wanted the new covers to reflect the steamy nature of the novels, set in the wild and wicked Georgian period, where men were often one sword fight away from death or dishonor, where women were more than dainty damsels, and where love and lust could drive them both to the edge of reason. What do you think? Does this cover promise all that?

As I’m in the process of re-editing the book, I won’t have time to put it up for pre-order (I don’t think), but it will go on sale on June 30 at what would have been the pre-order price of .99. I also will need to create a new blurb for the book, so watch for that during my release party on June 30, along with excerpts, prizes, giveaways, and more!

Better stay tuned to my blog.  It’s going to be a scandalous summer!

Posted in Cover Art, Cover Reveal, On Only Scandal Will Do, Promotion | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Writer’s Eye: Writing with a Plan ~ Part 3: Branding

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Jenna Jaxon

The Writer’s Eye

When I first began writing, I blogged a lot about the craft of writing and my thoughts on writing, pretty much as I went along. When I learned something, I shared. Then life with two careers got very busy and I stopped blogging in favor of writing novels. Now I want to get back to sharing my experiences in writing. Thus, my new weekly post, The Writer’s Eye.

This week, continuing with my “how to plan for your career in writing” topic, I’m touching on the subject of branding.

Over the years, I’ve been given a lot of good advice on branding myself, from the importance of it to how to do it. I’ve taken workshops at various conferences on branding and today will share some of that wisdom with you.

The first and major thing an author needs to do to brand themselves is to decide on your genre/sub-genre and write those books exclusively. This will help your readers identify you as a writer of thrillers, or romantic suspense, or historical romance. You want readers to immediately associate your name with the genre/sub-genre you write. Some authors, Lisa Kleypas and Nora Roberts for example, succeed in writing multiple genres, but beginning authors may want to stick to one until they are well-established (like Lisa Kleypas) before switching to another genre.

Another major thing to be addressed while branding yourself is your use of a pen name. If you wish to use a pen name for your writing, you need to establish it from the very beginning, again so fans will identify this name with your writing. If you wish to write in a separate genre, you can use a different pen name to do so, however, take into consideration that you will have to have separate websites, social media accounts, and marketing plans for your second identity. You may also find you won’t be able to have an author photo for your second pen name, unless it is your image altered in some way. This is a good deal of work, but if you are energized by writing both contemporary and erotic romances, you should seriously think about taking different names for each genre/sub-genre.

And speaking of author pictures, this will also help with branding yourself if you can at all get a picture of yourself out to the public. When I first began writing I was also teaching at a private university and I was afraid of students finding out my identity as a writer of steamy historical romance. So I adopted a pen name (I also thought my real name wasn’t the best to associate with historical romance) and did not allow my picture to be known until my print series was about to come out (I thought I might get it on the back cover). At that point, I had a big identity reveal, did a professional photo shoot to get the best photo of me I could. This is now the only photo officially associated with me.

There are many other things an author can do to brand themselves. One of these is to have a logo created that you can then put on your blog, your correspondence (in the signature block), your swag. Again, have this image reflect your genre and you or your public persona.

Last year I had Patricia Green of Gadzooks Graphics create my logo that is now on most of my publicity (blog, business cards, swag pens, etc). The lavender color and the images of a rose and a sword are all part of branding myself so these things will be linked with my name in the minds of readers.

The final way to brand yourself that I’ll talk about today is branding yourself through your book covers. Your book series can brand you instantly with your genre both from the distinct style of the series from the similarity of the covers within the series. With my self-published works, I have complete control with regard to the book covers and each one of the series has a distinctive look that hopefully says immediately “historical romance” and “Jenna Jaxon.” A couple of years ago I had my medieval series re-covered to blend better with my other series. The original covers were in a very medieval style, while my sweet Regency series was much lighter and airy looking.

 

 

 

 

 

The fonts were different, and readers could have that assumed they were written by different people. The new covers took the same style as the Handful of Hearts series, and so help brand me as the author. Now all my indie covers have very similar fonts and styles, so you can usually spot a Jenna Jaxon romance easily. My newest upcoming series, House of Pleasure, will keep the same type of font, however the covers to this much sexier series will have a darker theme, with couples on the covers, the men bare-chested, and the setting a bedroom. Hopefully, it will signal to readers the steamier nature of the books while aligning them still with my other writings.

Thanks for stopping by The Writer’s Eye this week! Next week I’ll go on with another topic of interest from this writer’s eye.

Posted in On Writing, The Writer's Eye | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Medieval Monday ~ An Excerpt from To Weave A Highland Tapestry by Mary Morgan

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Jenna Jaxon

Welcome to Medieval Monday, a blog hop for those who love a medieval romance. Over the next weeks, 10 other medieval romance novelists and I will share snippets from one of our works. I haven’t been able to share snippets with these wonderful authors for a while, but I’m so glad I’m back!

Our theme for this session is Nature, and today I’m hosting Mary Morgan’s To Weave A Highland Tapestry.

 

 

BLURB:

Do they dare unravel the past for a future of love?

Patrick MacFhearguis, hardened by battles won and lost, desires what he can never have—peace within his heart and soul.  Yet, the ever-meddling Fae weave a new journey for him to conquer—a task this highlander is determined to resist.

When skilled weaver, Gwen Hywel, is commissioned to create a tapestry for the MacFhearguis clan, she embraces the assignment. While seeking out ideas, she finds herself clutching the one thread that can alter the tapestry of her life and heart.

A man conflicted by past deeds. A woman with no family of her own. Is it possible for love to unravel an ancient past, in order to claim two badly scarred hearts? Or will the light of hope be doused forever?

EXCERPT:

He swayed in his stance, and Gwen frowned.

Concern overrode her angst, and she moved toward Patrick. “They told me you are with fever. Should you be out in this frigid air? Especially without a coat?”

The man wiped a hand over his brow. “Frigid air?”

“Cold, frosty, chilly? Do you understand now?” This continual lack of understanding my words only confirms my worst fears.

A smile curved the corners of his mouth. “Aye. Good Highland air.”

Follow along next week on Sherry Ewing’s blog here: https://sherryewing.com/blog/

BUY LINKS:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | APPLEBOOKS | BOOK PAGE

Thank you so much for sharing that excerpt, Mary. Hopefully, I’ll be seeing everyone on Mary’s blog today as well for my snippet from Time Enough to Love.

And see you next Monday for more excerpts on Medieval Monday.

The Time Enough to Love medieval romance series by Jenna Jaxon

Posted in Medieval Monday, Medieval Romance, On Time Enough to Love | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 6/07/20 Only Scandal Will Do ~ “Do You Not Recognize Me?”

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Jenna Jaxon

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors!

 

As we move into June, I’m shifting the first of my House of Pleasure books, Only Scandal Will Do, because I’ve gotten the rights back to this, my first full length novel, and I’m planning to re-release it at the end of the month! I’ll have a cover reveal on my blog the end of this week, when the book goes on pre-order, so I’m putting up a picture of the heroine instead.

 

BLURB:  

He has the woman of his dreams, but what price will he have to pay to win her heart?

Kidnapped and sold at auction in a London brothel, Lady Katarina Fitzwilliam squelches an undeniable attraction to the masked stranger who purchased her, pits her wits against him, and escapes him and the scandal that would ruin her life.

Unable to resist temptation at The House of Pleasure, Duncan Ferrers, Marquess of Dalbury, purchases a fiery beauty. She claims she’s a lady, but how can she be? No lady of his acquaintance in polite society is anything like her. Then he discovers she is who she says, and that this latest romp has compromised her reputation. He knows how that is. One more scandal and he’ll be cast out of London society, but he needs a wife who’ll provide an heir to carry on his illustrious family’s name. He seeks out Katarina, intending only to scotch the scandal, but instead finds his heart ensnared. He’s betting their future he’ll capture her heart, but does he have what it takes to win the wager?

I begin my snippets for Scandal well into the book. Lady Katarina Fitzwilliam has been kidnapped and sold at auction in a brothel, The House of Pleasure. She escaped her purchaser, Duncan, Marquess of Dalbury, only to be discovered by him some days later at a ball. He wishes to marry her, but she loathes him. Now he’s afraid they will both be ruined by the incident in the brothel and has forced her brother to defend her honor in a duel. However, Kat, who has learned excellent skills with a sword from her brother, has insisted on defending her own honor in a private duel with Dalbury, the stakes the highest of all:  marriage. If she wins, he abandons all hope of having her, if he wins, she marries him immediately. In this snippet, the duel is about to commence. We are in Duncan’s POV.

EXCERPT:

“Lord Manning, may I make known to you Viscount Trevor, my second. Lord Trevor, you have already met Mr. Matthews, but will you be so kind as to introduce me to your friend here, Manning?” He gestured to the young man he had come up behind, but who had not turned to greet him, “I did not know you were bringing another witness.”

“I would say we have already been introduced several times, Lord Dalbury,” said the youth, finally turning. “Do you not recognize me, my lord?” Katarina smiled merrily as she tugged on her shirtsleeves, easing them down under the coat sleeves.

Duncan’s mouth slackened with shock–the well-fitting garments that, from the back, had hidden her form showed absolutely every one of Lady Katarina’s lovely curves. His attention kept straying to the fawn colored breeches, neatly buckled below the knee, thank God–what would he have done if she had shown her knees? The breeches hugged her hips–her hips!–defining the curvaceous body he remembered so vividly.

And now to finish the scene :

He forced his eyes up, relaxing somewhat at the coat that resembled a lady’s riding costume, although it was a man’s garment: a sleeved waistcoat, in cherry-red worsted with silver buttons down the front, over a plain linen shirt, with no evidence of stays–sweet Christ, her breasts would be unconfined during the duel. What if he injured them?

Her magnificent auburn hair was pulled back from her face, but he’d seen no evidence of locks down her back when he approached her. “What have you done to your hair?” His uneasiness at her costume became full-blown panic. God, had she cut her hair for the duel?

Only Scandal Will Do should be available for pre-order by the end of the week. Come by my blog for the cover reveal!

And don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There’s some fantastic snippets to be read.

 

Posted in Historical Romance, House of Pleasure Series, On Only Scandal Will Do, Promotion, Weekend Writing Warriors | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

The Writer’s Eye: Writing with a Plan ~ Part 2: Promotions

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Jenna Jaxon

The Writer’s Eye

When I first began writing, I blogged a lot about the craft of writing and my thoughts on writing, pretty much as I went along. When I learned something, I shared. Then life with two careers got very busy and I stopped blogging in favor of writing novels. Now I want to get back to sharing my experiences in writing. Thus, my new weekly post, The Writer’s Eye.

This week, continuing with my “how to plan for your career in writing” topic, I wanted to touch on the need to promote both yourself and your books.’

Promotion should begin even before you have a published novel or novella. As an author, you need to consider how to get your name out to the public so that when your first book appears, your audience will already know who you are, what you write, and be ready, even eager, to buy your work. This can be done in several ways.

I created this blog, Jenna’s Journal, just after I began writing and have been posting to it at least once a week every year since. It’s a quick and easy way to get your name out there and let potential readers and writers of your genre get to know you. You don’t need to post every day of the week (you need to be writing your books too, you know) but once or twice a week will help keep your name out to the public. If you can join a weekly blog hop, this will help get your name out there, as well as joining readers and writers groups who you can then inform when you have a post. You can write about your life, your writing, about writing itself (like this post), or include excerpts of your WIP or finished works. This is an easy way to keep your name out there, especially if you link your blog posts to Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

 

 

And speaking of Social Media, the various platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn) are great places to visit and make your presence known. I post mostly to Facebook and Twitter, and I have plans for upping my game on Instagram as well. Actively pursue followers on these platforms (and on Bookbub as well once you are published) to get your name out there, make friends, and hopefully fans.

Once you have published a book, you’ll need to include that in your promotional plan and set a budget you can live with for each book. Take advantage of all the free publicity you can find—ask to be interviewed by fellow authors, ask for reviews of your book from fans and from genre specific websites. For example, The Romance Reviews has a website section where you can ask to have your book reviewed. They also have a logo advertising the website and if you agree to put it on your blog, they will give you a Headline Ad each month in exchange for posting their link. There are many free/low fee advertising tools you can avail yourself of: book signings, swag (promotional gifts), Facebook groups, writers groups, free advertising sites (Awesomegang comes first to mind, but there are others), and special interest groups based on your sub-genre.

When it comes to paid advertising, you need to find out which companies work best for you and your genre. Do a Google search for free and paid book promotion services and then research the ones you think fit your budget best and will give the best ROI (return on investment). The mother lode is the Bookbub ad, which is a mailing service that for a substantial fee, will send your book promotional ad out to its genre specific mailing list. Historical romance has a list of over 1 million readers and cost almost $700 dollars for the ad. However, the ROI for this service is huge. Almost everyone reports that book sales (even on books on sale) make back the initial investment and then some. Plus, the number of sales can create a great ranking of your book on Amazon. One of my earliest Bookbubs sent my book to #17 on Amazon. Other advertising sites that have a good return (at least for my promotions) have been Robin Reads, ERNT (E-Reader News Today), E-Book Hounds, Reader’s Alley, and Kindle Book Review.

When you have a new book coming out, it can be beneficial to arrange a blog tour where the book it set up to be placed with a particular number of blogs over a course of days that promote your genre. The service I most often use for this type of promotion is Goddess Fish. They can also arrange things like a one-day Book Blast, where the book is promoted on a number (perhaps 30) blogs all on one day (usually release day), as an immediate shout out about your book.

The list of promotional opportunities and companies goes on and on. My best advice to you when promoting your book or yourself, is to keep your ROI in mind. Keep in mind that promotions can be exciting, but if they end up costing more than you will make back on them, they are probably not the best investment you can make.

Next week I’m on to branding, which is another arm of promotion.

Until then, have a great week and keep writing!

Posted in On Writing, The Writer's Eye | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Medieval Monday ~ An Excerpt from Night of the Owl by Judith Sterling

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Jenna Jaxon

Welcome to Medieval Monday, a blog hop for those who love a medieval romance. Over the next weeks, 10 other medieval romance novelists and I will share snippets from one of our works. I haven’t been able to share snippets with these wonderful authors for a while, but I’m so glad I’m back!

Our theme for this session is Nature, and today I’m hosting Judith Sterling’s Night of the Owl.

 

BLURB:

True love transcends time.

PhD student Ardyth Nightshade has renounced men and pursues her twentieth-century career with single-minded focus. When fate whisks her to medieval England, she meets her match in a man whose passions mirror her own. Can she sacrifice ambition for a love she never sought?

Hugh, Lord Seacrest confounds all who know him. He refuses to marry without a meeting of minds and hearts, and no lady has even approached his ideal…until Ardyth. But she’s an odd one, with unique skills, shocking habits, and total conviction she needs no man. She also harbors secrets, and in the midst of rumors, plots, and murder, trust is fragile.

A woman outside of her time. A man ahead of his. They must take a leap of faith to forge a bond that will shape history.

EXCERPT:

He burst out laughing.

Her brow crinkled. “What?”

“ʼTwas your choice of words. I’ve never heard anyone speak of food as though ʼtwere a person.”

“Oh, I have a deep admiration and affection for cheese.”

He grinned. It seems I have a rival for your affections. “As have I.”

Follow along next week on Cathy’s blog: https://www.cathymacraeauthor.com/bits-n-bobs-author-blog

BUY LINKS:

Amazon https://www.amzn.com/B07YCX3R2B

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Owl-Novels-Ravenwood-Book-ebook/dp/B07YCX3R2B

Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/night-of-the-owl-judith-sterling/1133653973

Apple Books https://books.apple.com/us/book/night-of-the-owl/id1482587240

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/night-of-the-owl-1

Thank you so much for sharing that excerpt, Judith. Hopefully, I’ll be seeing everyone on Judith’s blog today as well for my snippet from Time Enough to Love.

And see you next Monday for more excerpts on Medieval Monday.

The Time Enough to Love medieval romance series by Jenna Jaxon

Posted in Medieval Monday, Medieval Romance, On Time Enough to Love | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Weekend Writing Warriors ~ 5/31/20 To Woo A Wicked Widow ~ “I Suppose You’ll Find Out”

Posted on May 31, 2020 by Jenna Jaxon

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors!

 

To begin May off fresh, I shifted to the first of my Widows’ Club books, To Woo A Wicked Widow, because all the e-books of the Widows’ Club series are on sale this month!

BLURB:  

Lady Charlotte Cavendish is still the spirited girl who tried to elope in the name of love. That dream was thwarted by her father who trapped her into a loveless, passionless marriage. But now widowed, Charlotte is free to reenter the giddy world of the ton—and pursue her desires. For hardly your typical widow, she remains innocent to the pleasures of the flesh. Yet her life is finally her own, and she intends to keep it that way . . .

Nash, the twelfth Earl of Wrotham, is beguiled by Charlotte at first sight—and the feeling is mutual. When he receives her intriguing invitation to a house party, the marriage-minded lord plans to further their acquaintance. But even he cannot sway her aversion to matrimony, and only with great restraint does he resist her most tempting offer. For unbeknownst to Charlotte, the misadventures of the past are revisiting them both, and bedding her could cost him everything—or give him everything he ever wanted . . .

I began my snippets last week well into the book. Nash, the Earl of Wrotham, is in the midst of trying to stop a gang of robbers who are terrorizing the countryside. Lady Charlotte, with whom he is falling in love, has suddenly come to visit him at his house–a scandalous thing for a lady–even a widow–to do. Charlotte has also asked Nash to call her by her first name, which is another somewhat inappropriate thing suggesting she wants a more intimate relationship with him. They continue their flirting until Nash mentions an incident with a tenant and the conversation turns serious. In today’s snippet, which picks up immediately after last week’s snip, the conversation takes another very different, very serious turn. We are still in Nash’s POV.

EXCERPT:

“That is appalling–I had no idea they had gotten so out of hand.” She looked indignant rather than frightened, which concerned him not a little.

“In fact, when you leave, I’ll send one of my grooms with you–only one person to protect you is not enough any longer,” Nash said and patted her hand, “I want to keep you safe, Charlotte.”

Her gaze suddenly plummeted to her lap, where her hands now twisted in her skirt. What did that mean?

“Charlotte, what’s wrong?”

She sighed and her hands stilled. “I suppose you’ll find out anyway.”

 “Find out…were you attacked on the way over?”

“No, but…I rode here alone.”

And now to “finish” the scene and the book for now (I’m moving to another book in June):

“Alone?” His blood froze. “Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”

“No, I didn’t. The grooms mentioned a gang of robbers, but I didn’t think they would attack in the daytime.” Her voice rose, petulant.

“Obviously they will attack whenever they please.” He couldn’t believe she had been so stupid. “You were lucky you were not robbed or worse.”

“Well, I wasn’t, so there is no harm done.” Charlotte pulled her hand from his grip and stood. The light had gone out of her eyes.

Nash rose as well, scowling. “There might very well have been. I know you have been told you should always ride with a man present. Every girl is given that instruction from the schoolroom.”

She rounded on him, her formerly gray eyes now a furious green. “I am not a girl, I’m a woman. A woman free to make her own decisions. If I want to ride to London without an escort, I can do it. No one can tell me what to do and not do.”

“Well, perhaps someone should!”

To Woo A Wicked Widow

 is available for the last time at .99 today on Amazon.

In fact, the whole Widows’ Club series of e-books is on sale only through TODAY! Check them all out here on Amazon.

And don’t forget to check out the rest of the Warriors here. There’s some fantastic snippets to be read.

The Widows’ Club series by Jenna Jaxon

Click on the covers to purchase via Amazon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Historical Romance, Promotion, Regency Romance, The Widow's Club, To Woo A Wicked Widow, To Woo A Wicked Widow, Weekend Writing Warriors | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments

New Review of Much Ado About A Widow

Posted on May 30, 2020 by Jenna Jaxon

I’ve been promoting my Widows’ Club series all this month because Kensington put the series on sale for the entire month, so I hopefully got some new readers.

This morning I was sent notification of this fabulous review of Much Ado About A Widow! I don’t know the reviewer, but I am very excited about her review first, because she loved the book, and second, she listened to it on Audible and mentions that experience in the review as well.

Here’s the link to her review:

Book Review – Much Ado About A Widow

If you want to check out more about Much Ado About A Widow, here are the links to Amazon, B & N, Google, Apple, and Kobo. The e-book edition is on sale for $1.99 through Sunday, May 31.

Have a great Saturday, and hope to see you tomorrow for Weekend Writing Warriors where I’m posting excerpts from Book 1 of The Widows’ Club series, To Woo A Wicked Widow.

Posted in Much Ado About A Widow, Promotion, Reviews, The Widow's Club | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Writer’s Eye: Writing with a Plan ~ Part 1

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Jenna Jaxon

The Writer’s Eye

When I first began writing, I blogged a lot about the craft of writing and my thoughts on writing, pretty much as I went along. When I learned something, I shared. Then life with two careers got very busy and I stopped blogging in favor of writing novels. Now I want to get back to sharing my experiences in writing. Thus, my new weekly post, The Writer’s Eye.

I’ve been writing historical romance for just over 10 years now, and up to now, although I wanted to make it my full-time career, it just wasn’t monetarily feasible. Now, however, being a shiny, new retiree, I’m finally able to make that dream of being a full-time writer a reality.

And the first thing I had to do when I realized I was going to be doing all this writing was develop a plan for this career that is now front and center.

The plan goes beyond “how many books can I write this year,” which was always my biggest concern in years past, although that is obviously a big part of the plan as well. But writers who want to make this a career, have to plan for other aspects of the job as well.

Writers need to make a plan that takes into consideration three things: how many books you will write in a year, how you plan to promote those books, and how you will market yourself or brand yourself to help with those promotions.

For today I’m going to talk about step 1, how to gauge your writing for the coming year.

Know from the beginning that every author writes at a different pace. Some produce 5-6 books per year, some only one. It takes Diana Gabaldon three years to produce a book for her Outlander series.

As you write, you will come to know your normal speed for finishing a book, although that speed may change over time. But knowing that it takes you 8 or 10 or 12 weeks to complete a first draft will help you plan not only for the writing, but for lining up your beta readers, your editor (if you are self-publishing), and your funds to pay for editing, marketing, and promotional opportunities. If you know you can only pay for editing for three books this year, then plan to write those three books scheduling in time to polish them through several drafts.

When trying to gauge how many books you may realistically write in a year, take into consideration things like family events (birthdays, vacations, celebrations) that may keep you from writing, whether you are working additional jobs, and how much actual dedicated time you can devote to writing every day. Be realistic, especially if you have hard and fast deadlines for your editor. If you are prone to writer’s block, take that into consideration as well. Don’t make promises (even to yourself) that you can’t keep.

I also find that actually writing down on a calendar, when I expect to have drafts or books done, helps keep me on track. Especially now when every day seems like Sunday. I usually plan to write a chapter, or 3,000 words a day and I base my writing schedule around this unit. But I also know that “life” happens, and I really won’t get the first draft down in 30 days, so I build in some extra days so if I get called away from the computer for a day or two, I still won’t blow my deadline (or be forced into a marathon writing session). As I said above, once you know your own rhythm of writing, you’ll be able to better gauge how long a novella or novel will take you to write, to revise, to polish. To do this successfully, it really does take some discipline, but be confident you can rise to that challenge.

If you have any questions or comments on planning your books, I’d love to hear them! Next week I’ll be back with The Writer’s Eye and take up Planning Part 2: Promotion.

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