Did you ever wonder what my writing rituals were, or if I even had any? Janice Hally at Suite101.com interviewed me awhile back about my writing rituals and recently posted the interview. Check it out at:
Beth's Writing Rituals
There's a link at the bottom of the interview for seeing the complete list of three dozen authors that Janice interviewed, if you'd like to compare my rituals or your own with theirs. Have fun!
Monday, March 09, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
A Star in the Five Star Catalog
I just discovered that my upcoming release, To Hell in a Handbasket, is a star attraction in my publisher's spring catalog! Here's the scoop.
My publisher, Five Star, is part of the Gale/Cengage Learning corporation and puts out a catalog every three months listing its hardcover titles. These catalogs are mailed to library systems throughout the US and distributed at library conferences. The April-June, 2009 catalog features the covers of eight books on its front cover: 3 mysteries, 3 romances (which they call "expressions"), 1 western, and 1 science fiction/fantasy. To Hell in a Handbasket is the featured mystery for May!
In addition, Five Star offers a menu of ordering plans to libraries, one of which is the Five Star Choice 2 plan, where the publisher selects two titles out of all of those they publish that month, in all genres, and sends those to the library. To Hell in a Handbasket is the Five Star Choice 2 title for May, which means it will automatically be included in that ordering plan as well as the Mystery 3 and 4 ordering plans. All of this should translate into more library sales for me.
I'm excited and very gratified that my publisher honored my writing by selecting To Hell in a Handbasket as a featured title. To see the catalog in a PDF file, go to:
Five Star Apr-Jun 09 catalog
My publisher, Five Star, is part of the Gale/Cengage Learning corporation and puts out a catalog every three months listing its hardcover titles. These catalogs are mailed to library systems throughout the US and distributed at library conferences. The April-June, 2009 catalog features the covers of eight books on its front cover: 3 mysteries, 3 romances (which they call "expressions"), 1 western, and 1 science fiction/fantasy. To Hell in a Handbasket is the featured mystery for May!
In addition, Five Star offers a menu of ordering plans to libraries, one of which is the Five Star Choice 2 plan, where the publisher selects two titles out of all of those they publish that month, in all genres, and sends those to the library. To Hell in a Handbasket is the Five Star Choice 2 title for May, which means it will automatically be included in that ordering plan as well as the Mystery 3 and 4 ordering plans. All of this should translate into more library sales for me.
I'm excited and very gratified that my publisher honored my writing by selecting To Hell in a Handbasket as a featured title. To see the catalog in a PDF file, go to:
Five Star Apr-Jun 09 catalog
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Even Published Authors Get Rejections
My literary agent is still trying to place my whitewater river ranger mystery series with publishers, but given the current economic climate, it's been a very tough uphill climb. We just received a rejection from one editor who said:
"There’s a lot of good writing here but unfortunately given the economic climate that we are faced with I fear that this book would fall into mid-list hell."
A few weeks ago, another editor said:
"The concept for this series is fabulous and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the manuscript. Unfortunately, however, I'm going to pass."
When you are SOOOO close, the rejections seem to hurt even more. I have faith that the series will find a home, though, eventually. I had so much fun writing the first one, and I'm looking forward to writing more. This character is just itching to find another dead body. :)
"There’s a lot of good writing here but unfortunately given the economic climate that we are faced with I fear that this book would fall into mid-list hell."
A few weeks ago, another editor said:
"The concept for this series is fabulous and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the manuscript. Unfortunately, however, I'm going to pass."
When you are SOOOO close, the rejections seem to hurt even more. I have faith that the series will find a home, though, eventually. I had so much fun writing the first one, and I'm looking forward to writing more. This character is just itching to find another dead body. :)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
First Review for TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET
Advance review copies of my upcoming May release, To Hell in a Handbasket, have been shipping out to reviewers the past few weeks. The first review to be posted by an online reviewer has appeared, and she gave To Hell in a Handbasket 5 stars! Patricia Reid's review has been posted on Goodreads and Bestsellersworld, and she has submitted it to BooksnBytes. Here's a link to the full review at Bestsellersworld:
Bestsellersworld Review of HinH
Bestsellersworld Review of HinH
Monday, February 23, 2009
Blog Book Tours and Goodreads
I am in the process of planning my first blog book tour to promote the release of my second book, To Hell in a Handbasket. The tour will take place in the release month of May, and I hope to visit 10-15 blogs. To educate myself on how to do a blog book tour, I joined the blogbooktours yahoogroup, which Dani Greer moderates as a revolving series of 3-month classes to teach authors about blogging, social networks, and planning and conducting a blog book tour. I've learned an awful lot being a member of the group and tried to share what I already knew with the other participants.
Dani has a blog associated with the group, where she posts information that has come up in the discussions. Her latest post is from a message I sent to the group about my interactions on the Goodreads social network, which I've belonged to for some time. Go to: Blog Book Tours: Goodreads to read what I had to say about using Goodreads to promote your book. If you're an author who is interested in planning your own blog tour, there's a click-on icon on Dani's blog to ask to join the yahoogroup. But be forewarned, you are expected to be an active participant in the class!
Dani has a blog associated with the group, where she posts information that has come up in the discussions. Her latest post is from a message I sent to the group about my interactions on the Goodreads social network, which I've belonged to for some time. Go to: Blog Book Tours: Goodreads to read what I had to say about using Goodreads to promote your book. If you're an author who is interested in planning your own blog tour, there's a click-on icon on Dani's blog to ask to join the yahoogroup. But be forewarned, you are expected to be an active participant in the class!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Another Good Review for A REAL BASKET CASE
I recently received an email from Linda Peri, who reviewed my first novel, A Real Basket Case for the Cañon City Daily Record newspaper on Friday, February 13. She graciously sent me a copy of the review. I had visited with the Florence, Colorado library book club in January to discuss the book with them, and Linda is a member. Here's some of the nice things she had to say in her review:
"Beth Groundwater is an author to watch. Her very first mystery, A Real Basket Case, was nominated for a prestigious Agatha Award in 2007 and she has more books in the pipeline. She is a charming lady who loves visiting book groups and discussing her own as well as other author’s books.
A Real Basket Case has all the elements of a cozy mystery. Claire, the gutsy amateur sleuth, ... lives in Colorado Springs. We feel the crisp, cool air as she strolls through the Garden of the Gods. We taste the fine cuisine when her friends brunch at the Broadmoor. We feel the suspense build as Claire and her tracker friend, Deb, follow a drug kingpin’s limousine through Old Colorado City and we smell the tangy Italian food as she questions him at lunch. There is something special about a novel that takes place in these familiar and well-loved local settings and we can look forward to her next mystery, To Hell in a Handbasket, that will be published in May."
Thanks so much, Linda!
"Beth Groundwater is an author to watch. Her very first mystery, A Real Basket Case, was nominated for a prestigious Agatha Award in 2007 and she has more books in the pipeline. She is a charming lady who loves visiting book groups and discussing her own as well as other author’s books.
A Real Basket Case has all the elements of a cozy mystery. Claire, the gutsy amateur sleuth, ... lives in Colorado Springs. We feel the crisp, cool air as she strolls through the Garden of the Gods. We taste the fine cuisine when her friends brunch at the Broadmoor. We feel the suspense build as Claire and her tracker friend, Deb, follow a drug kingpin’s limousine through Old Colorado City and we smell the tangy Italian food as she questions him at lunch. There is something special about a novel that takes place in these familiar and well-loved local settings and we can look forward to her next mystery, To Hell in a Handbasket, that will be published in May."
Thanks so much, Linda!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Win an ARC of To Hell in a Handbasket!
For quite some time now, I’ve been running a contest for subscribers to my email newsletter. Each time another 100 subscribers sign up, I draw a random number from all of the subscribers and award a prize of two books. These are the best contest odds you're going to find anywhere!
In the past, one of those prize books has been an autographed copy of A Real Basket Case and the other has been a book by another mystery author of my choice. For my next draw of a winner, I will replace the copy of A Real Basket Case with an autographed Advance Review Copy (ARC) of To Hell in a Handbasket, to be released in May.
Be the first among your associates to find out what mystery gift basket designer Claire Hanover has to tackle in her second adventure, this time in Breckenridge, Colorado. Revel in winter sports, family crises, and shady characters lurking among the firs and pines! Make mystery ARC and first edition collectors envious!
To sign up for my email newsletter, go to the newsletter page at my author website:
Beth Groundwater's Newsletter
If you have already signed up and have been receiving copies of my newsletter, you are already entered into the drawing. However, if your email address has changed since you last signed up, you'll need to do so again. And even if you're a good buddy, don't assume I'll add you to the list. I do not automatically sign up friends and associates because that would be spamming; registering must be your choice. Don't worry about signing up more than once, my email service will weed those duplicates out.
I wish I could give an ARC to every one of my subscribers, but I only have a few ARCs, so only one subscriber will have the privilege of an early read of To Hell in a Handbasket. Good luck to you all!
In the past, one of those prize books has been an autographed copy of A Real Basket Case and the other has been a book by another mystery author of my choice. For my next draw of a winner, I will replace the copy of A Real Basket Case with an autographed Advance Review Copy (ARC) of To Hell in a Handbasket, to be released in May.
Be the first among your associates to find out what mystery gift basket designer Claire Hanover has to tackle in her second adventure, this time in Breckenridge, Colorado. Revel in winter sports, family crises, and shady characters lurking among the firs and pines! Make mystery ARC and first edition collectors envious!
To sign up for my email newsletter, go to the newsletter page at my author website:
Beth Groundwater's Newsletter
If you have already signed up and have been receiving copies of my newsletter, you are already entered into the drawing. However, if your email address has changed since you last signed up, you'll need to do so again. And even if you're a good buddy, don't assume I'll add you to the list. I do not automatically sign up friends and associates because that would be spamming; registering must be your choice. Don't worry about signing up more than once, my email service will weed those duplicates out.
I wish I could give an ARC to every one of my subscribers, but I only have a few ARCs, so only one subscriber will have the privilege of an early read of To Hell in a Handbasket. Good luck to you all!
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