Indie Romance thread--announcements, questions, pitches!

[Dana Taylor]

Hi Writers and Readers--

We're  two years old with over 100,000 reads on this thread. Amazing! We've developed a fun little community for romance writers to share their books, latest marketing ploy, samples, triumphs, frustrations and high hopes. It's also a good place to throw out a question and get some quick answers. One of the beauties of being "Indie" is there is infinite room for success. We aren't jockeying for book contracts or agents. We just want to reach our readers--and the world is full of them!

So, feel free to jump in, browse through the titles here for authors to sample, share your thoughts.


Happy to have you here--

Dana Taylor
Book Luvin' Babes
www.bookluvinbabes.wordpress.com

[lkcampbell]

Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to promote. I have 4 romance novels on Amazon Kindle. All are $1.99 or less.

http://www.amazon.com/Front-Page-News/dp/B002C75J00 - Front Page News is a contemporary romantic suspense novel set in a small town newspaper. When journalist Jess McElroy changes jobs, she gains a stalker. As the danger to Jess increases, she grows closer to her new boss Parker Montgomery.

http://www.amazon.com/Gold-Star-Wife-ebook/dp/B001LF3TRE - Gold Star Wife is a World War II-era romance. In the summer of 1946, war-widow Janet Lewis takes a vacation and finds the last thing she expects—a new love.

http://www.amazon.com/A-Soldiers-Love-ebook/dp/B001F0PUMW - A Soldier's Love is a World War II romance. Katie McNeill finds herself caught between two very different men. One is a dashing army officer named Ron Miller. The other is a spoiled young man who wants more from Katie than she's willing to give. Sunday, December 7, 1941 changes all three of their lives forever when innocence is lost and the future becomes uncertain.

http://www.amazon.com/A-Different-Tune-ebook/dp/B001EYVBOA - A Different Tune is a World War II-era romance. When Scott Riley returns home from the war in the summer of 1945 he has one aim—to meet the girl of his dreams. Cassie Wright has been his penpal throughout most of his war experience, but Cassie has different plans for her future than what Scott envisions.

[Kristie Leigh Maguire]

Thank you for asking, Dana. 

I have 4 romance titles up at Amazon Kindle that you might like.

My latest is Second Chances ($2.99), a contemporary romance with a cowboy theme. Desert Heat and Cabin Fever ($3.99 ea) are books 1 & 2 in the Affairs of the Heart series and are sensual romances. No Lady and Her Tramp ($3.99) is an adult romantic comedy.

[MariaESchneider]

Both Executive Lunch and Catch an Honest Thief have a romance subplot (They are cozy mysteries).  Sage is romantic in many ways, but it isn't your typical romance...not with a 55 year old gardener as the heroine!  

Links are at the bottom if you're interested.  

I'll check out Princess Robin this afternoon (although I am in a not reading state at the moment.  I'm doing edits on Executive Retention, the next in the series, and I don't read at this stage...)


Maria

[mamiller]

Dana, you're a sweetheart.  Your Valentine present has now turned into a Valentine present for everyone!   

I have two romantic suspense novels to share.  Both are $1.99

WIDOW'S TALE


Every night Serena stood on the deck of O'Flanagans Tavern, searching Maine's rugged coast for a sign of her husband's body. Though he was pronounced lost at sea, Alan Murphy still haunted her as only his malevolent spirit could. In the loft above her tavern, Serena hears footsteps pace across her living room floor, yet when she turns, no one is there.  Alan would not let a little thing like death stop him from tormenting her. If she could just find his body, surely this torture would stop.

It had been ten years since Brett Murphy saw his sister in-law, although the separation was by design, to avoid temptation. Now Brett was in Victory Cove, not to declare his feelings for Serena, but to discover the truth about his brother's death. In doing so, he must battle Serena's ghosts, both real and contrived.

VICTORY COVE


Megan Summers thought that she was safe in the remote coastal village of Victory Cove. For a year she hid in seclusion, preparing for the battle ahead by building her own target range and practicing adaptability in the darkened halls of Wakefield House. But, today a stranger appeared on her doorstep. Was he it? Was he her executioner?

For Jake Grogan, his trek to Victory Cove started out with a cryptic letter from a woman who after thirty-five years of silence identified herself as his mother. He was told to locate Wakefield House, the home of his grandmother. Jake found the sinister residence on the outermost crag of the ocean, but the woman who answered the door was not elderly. She was young, attractive, and looked like she would do about anything to get him off her doorstep.

Jake Grogan came to Victory Cove to discover his past. Megan Summers came to Victory Cove to escape hers. Inside Wakefield House their lives collide, and on the edge where land and sea meet, they wage a battle and struggle to survive the night.

[Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake']

We have other genre threads, but I think this is the first one for romance.  Thanks for starting it. 

If you like historical romance, then Ariana's Pride is for you (see link in my siggy). I think the book trailer will give you a good idea of what goes on in Ariana's life.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA_rpNyKYv0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA_rpNyKYv0</a>

[ellenoc]

Thanks for starting this thread.  I am right now in the process of going over and re-editing the first book I ever wrote, a historical romance set in Colorado in 1885.  It's my impression that romances like this are considered out of style now and there isn't a lot of market for them.  Am I right about that?  Even so, my thought is I'd rather put it out there than have it go to the dump on my computer hard drive, never read by anyone, when I kick the bucket.  I'd appreciate hearing anyone's experiences.

[mamiller]

Thanks for starting this thread.  I am right now in the process of going over and re-editing the first book I ever wrote, a historical romance set in Colorado in 1885.  It's my impression that romances like this are considered out of style now and there isn't a lot of market for them.  Am I right about that?  Even so, my thought is I'd rather put it out there than have it go to the dump on my computer hard drive, never read by anyone, when I kick the bucket.  I'd appreciate hearing anyone's experiences.

Hi Ellen.  I don't write historical romance, but the words 'out of style' referring to Historical Romances, seem to always come out of the mouths of some big publishing house and never directly from the reader's mouth.  I think there is definitely a market for it.  Let the reader decide what they want to read, not the big ole' publishing house saying, "This is what's 'in'.  This is what's good for you."   

And yes...we will ALL be rich and famous after we pass on. 

[ewalden]

Try, The Third Kiss by Heather Killough-Walden http://www.amazon.com/Third-Kiss-Dorians-Dream-ebook/dp/B0039IT43O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1267560427&sr=8-2. It is #4 in Vampire Romance at the moment and is priced at $1.00.   The whole first chapter is posted here on the Book Bizarre at http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,20718.0.html Product Description: An ancient Roma foretelling speaks of vampire kings one day dreaming of the women who could bear them children. These children would be powerful vampire warriors and treasures to their kingdoms. Their mothers would become queens. However, a thousand years have passed and not a single vampire has dreamt of anything at all, much less of salvation through companionship. And then, in a massive master bedroom in a mansion upon sprawling estate grounds in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the French vampire king awakens from a slumber ripe with visions of a young American beauty. Julian Adalard, the ruthless ruler of his people, has dreamt of his queen. At once, he sends his bounty hunter to retriever her. However, the bounty hunter is not only a skilled hunter and an unwilling servant to the king – he is also Julian’s brother, Dorian Adalard, and the prince of his people. And he, too, has dreamt of the young woman. Emma Rose Nekoda doesn't know she's been ear-marked as America's French vampire queen. She's a free-lance photographer, traveling from South West to Deep South for a long-awaited photo shoot. However, the bayou has more in store for Emma Rose than she’d anticipated. Amidst the marshy swampland and sticky heat of an old world steeped in magic, she will fight for her freedom from one gorgeous vampire brother to another – and in the process, kick off a world-wide war between vampire factions striving to become the first to develop an army of warrior offspring.

[Carol Hanrahan]

A Romantic Adventure.
Two brothers.  One unforgettable summer.

Nick Lawson and his brother John have been dumped for the summer with their aunt, out in the middle of the country, to bale hay. 

Not his idea of a great summer. 

But then, he never could have predicted the adventures, dangers, and romance that would unfold around him in the
quiet countryside.

Thanks for starting this thread!

[sierra09]

Wonderful thread to find. My first novel in the Celtic Evil series is a paranormal/romantic suspense. Link's in  my signature.

[Herc- The Reluctant Geek]

It's a romance, but steeped in philosophy and stuff. Actually, there is more stuff than philosophy, but how often will one get the opportunity to use 'steeped' in a sentence?

Anyway, Love, Lust, and Petty Crime is $1.99 on Smashwords and Amazon, but you can have it for FREE using coupon KU63A until 15 March, 2010. It's at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/8196

Cheers

Harclubs

[Atunah]

I have always loved reading romance novels, especially historical ones. I never have and never will give a hoot about what some consider not of style anymore or whatever else snide comments come our way. Romance readers know of what I speak  .

Great thread and I am going to check out some here when I get around. My TBR is looking like Mount Everest at the moment. But I am very much looking forward to discovering new romance authors. A lot of my old favorites either don't write at all anymore or they stopped writing romance novels for whatever reasons. They probably have been told they were out of style too 

Keep on writing, there will always be readers for romance.

[Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake']

I have always loved reading romance novels, especially historical ones. I never have and never will give a hoot about what some consider not of style anymore or whatever else snide comments come our way. Romance readers know of what I speak  .

Great thread and I am going to check out some here when I get around. My TBR is looking like Mount Everest at the moment. But I am very much looking forward to discovering new romance authors. A lot of my old favorites either don't write at all anymore or they stopped writing romance novels for whatever reasons. They probably have been told they were out of style too 

Keep on writing, there will always be readers for romance.

Absolutely true.  Just go over to the Amazon romance/historical romance forums.  There are always people looking for western and medieval romance recommendations. 

[Dana Taylor]

Thanks for starting this thread.  I am right now in the process of going over and re-editing the first book I ever wrote, a historical romance set in Colorado in 1885.  It's my impression that romances like this are considered out of style now and there isn't a lot of market for them.  Am I right about that?  Even so, my thought is I'd rather put it out there than have it go to the dump on my computer hard drive, never read by anyone, when I kick the bucket.  I'd appreciate hearing anyone's experiences.

I did the same thing!  I'm sitting on a historical that goes from Colorado to the Oklahoma Land Run and was told nobody wants to read that era anymore.  Yet, I'm always looking for the older books that are from those days!  That's the beauty of being indie.  Write want you want--just make sure it's good!

Dana

[ReeseReed]

My novella, Childproofed, is a chick-lit romance.  It's a quick read, so if you're looking for something short to break up your longer reading, give it a try!  The link is in my siggy (sorry, I'm horribly challenged technologically and can't for the life of me figure out how to post a cover link).

Reese

[Dana Taylor]

This response is terrific.  I'm going to cuddle with my Kindle tonight and start seeing what ya'll have created.

Dana

[BrassMan]

There's Distant Cousin, also part adventure and a wee bit science fiction. It's been quite popular on the Boards, and there are four books in the series so far, three having been subjects of Book Klubs. They're budget priced.

Kindle Boarders Comments may be seen here: http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,10102.0.html, or check the blog below for excerpts, photos, maps, recipes, and so forth.

[LCEvans]

My book, We Interrupt This Date, is chick lit/light romance.

[JennaAnderson]

Hello - thanks for the opportunity to post.

Healing Touch is a romance novella - perfect for quiet afternoon.

Just .99 

http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Touch-ebook/dp/B0030ZRN5M

Jenna

[EllenFisher]

Oh, yay, a thread for romances!  I have two indie romances, In the Mood (novella, ninety-nine cents) and All I Ever Wanted (full novel, $1.99):





Both are light, humorous contemporary romances.  I also have three other romances available through Samhain Publishing.

Thank you for starting this thread!

[DonnaFaz]

Hi, everyone!

I'm a romance author, too. My book is The Merry-Go-Round.



And even MORE exciting news...I ordered a Kindle last night. I can't wait for it to arrive.  I plan to check out the books listed here. I already have Jenna Anderson's Healing Touch and Karen McQuestion's Easily Amused on my Kindle app for PCs. 

~Donna~

[Dana Taylor]

Competing with the Harlequin machine and such is daunting.  Does anybody have any marketing tricks that have worked particularly well?

Dana Taylor
Visit: ThePrincessRobinBlog.blogspot.com

[mamiller]

Competing with the Harlequin machine and such is daunting.  Does anybody have any marketing tricks that have worked particularly well?

Dana Taylor
Visit: ThePrincessRobinBlog.blogspot.com

I tried writing VICTORY COVE and my website in the dirt on the side of my car....it didn't work out very well    So I keep plugging away.

[Kristie Leigh Maguire]

Competing with the Harlequin machine and such is daunting.  Does anybody have any marketing tricks that have worked particularly well?

I wish I did but unfortunately I don't. All I know to do is to keep plugging away at it.