Nancy's Notes From Florida

Epcot Festival of the Arts
February 24, 2020

We visited Epcot International Festival of the Arts at Disney World in Orlando. The tram let us off directly in front at the entrance instead of making us detour like last time due to construction. There was plenty of that going on inside the park. I liked how the baggage inspection is now in a shadier location with fans and multiple personnel so the process goes quicker. Spaceship Earth was open but the whole rest of the central portion of Future World was sectioned off due to remodeling.

We made our way around to the Land and watched the new film Awesome Planet. The scenery depicted was awesome indeed, including simulated flashes of light in the auditorium to accompany lightning on the screen and a sprinkle of water on my wrist when the screen showed rain. The film made me want to go right out and sign up for a conservation effort. We need to preserve our beautiful home planet so it’s safe for future generations.

At World Showcase, we turned left toward Mexico. Along the way, we stopped at the Pop Eats booth and sampled the sous-vide chicken roulade ($6.75). The dish was artistically presented and very tasty.

sous vide chicken

Next we tried the red wine-braised beef short ribs ($8.00) at Germany. The meat was very tender, accompanied by a dollop of mashed potatoes and broccolini. It was really good but didn’t leave much room in our stomachs for more.

braised beef short ribs   Germany pavilion

I’d seen a dessert I wanted back at Pop Eats, so we returned there after making a full rotation around the lake. My husband got the cookie with strawberry filling ($4.50). I had the almond frangipane cake ($4.50) as I’m a fan of rainbow cakes. This was nice and moist. I’d ordered the popping bubbles cocktail as well. This champagne drink has gel pearls that burst in your mouth with extra flavor ($10.50).

desserts

There were other dishes I might have liked to try, but I got too full. Plus, it was hot out with temps in the eighties, and I was beginning to wilt. After a very long walk to the exit, we boarded the tram to the parking lot and headed home to relax in our air-conditioned condo.


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Amelia Island Book Festival Author Expo
February 21, 2020

The last day of the events I participated in at the Amelia Island Book Festival included an all-day Author Expo where we displayed and sold our books. The event was set up in a middle school gymnasium. We’d been assigned booth numbers prior to our attendance, and people were standing by at the curb to check authors in and assist carrying their stuff to the booths. We also received a ticket voucher for a box lunch.

  

Guests started streaming in starting at 10:00 am. Various celebrity authors gave talks during the day, and there was always an influx to the marketplace when these authors came in to sign books. I enjoyed meeting readers as well as other writers.

   

Dinner was at Brett’s Waterway Café downtown at the marina. We had a lovely view of the water as we dined on jumbo shrimp cocktail and stuffed flounder. This was a fitting conclusion to our weekend on Amelia Island.

     

A variety of interesting restaurants and gift shops, historic buildings and museums, state parks and boat rides are only some of the things you can do on the island, aside from lounging by a hotel pool or hunting for shark’s teeth on the beach. It’s worth a long weekend during one of their monthly festivals to relax, dine, shop and stroll along the beach. Amelia Island is north of Jacksonville nearly to the Georgia border and then east toward the beaches. Plan ahead so you can make the most of your time while there.


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Amelia Island Book Festival Writers Workshop
February 19, 2020

On Friday at the Amelia Island Book Festival, I headed out of town in early morning and pouring rain to present my “Developing a Mystery Series” workshop. This event was held on a college campus about thirty minutes inland in the town of Yulee. A brief introduction by the day’s organizers at 8:00 am led to two workshop tracks, one on craft and one on the business of writing. Coffee and muffins were available to attendees.

I set up my book table out in the hallway by the check-in desk. At the allotted time, I gave my presentation to the group. Then I manned my table until lunch, which was a lovely buffet.

 

Bestselling author Sandra Brown gave the luncheon speech, talking about her career and about how the industry has changed.

The event concluded by 1:30 pm. I drove back to our hotel for a rest. The weather had cleared somewhat but was windy and cool. We went for dinner a block away at the beach to Sliders Seaside Grill. I ordered grilled shrimp that came with hush puppies and other accompaniments. We retired early as another big day was ahead tomorrow.


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Amelia Island Book Festival Authors Reception
February 17, 2020

We arrived on Thursday for the start of the Amelia Island Book Festival. There was an author reception sponsored by The Book Loft in the downtown historical district. We parked in a free public lot by the historic post office building and strolled along Centre Street to browse in the shops. Here you’ll find boutiques, souvenir shops, homemade fudge and olive oil specialty items, along with numerous restaurants and a tavern or two.

Amelia Island Post Office   

The independently-owned bookstore held the party upstairs and tempted us with appetizing hors d’oeuvres and glasses of wine. A crowd ensued and we made some new acquaintances. The event made me feel welcome as a guest author, and I looked forward to the next day of writing workshops.

 

GIVEAWAY

One More Day! Enter Now to win all 6 books in Booklover’s Bench anniversary giveaway: https://bookloversbench.com/win-six-free-books-february-2020/

Booklover's Bench Giveaway


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Are Blog Tours Worthwhile?
February 3, 2020

Blog Tours can gain exposure for your new release on sites with a different readership than your own. If anything, readers might be prompted to go look up your book if the post piques their interest. Name recognition and exposure is the goal more so than selling books. You want to expose your work to new audiences. A blog tour can be an important tool in your marketing and book promotion arsenal.

Are Blog Tours Worthwhile

Another huge benefit is that you’ll gain reviews. The tour hosts, if this is what they offer, may post a review on their blog sites, Goodreads, Amazon, and in some cases on BookBub.

Decide if you want to book your own virtual blog tour or if you’re rather hire a tour organizer. You can also do both if you have a list of bloggers you can approach on your own. How do you find these people to start? Check out the blog tours of authors who write in the same genre. Go to each site and look for contact information and submission guidelines. Some will do reviews. Others will offer interviews or spotlights. Begin a list of possible sites with these details, including if there’s an online submission form. If you want to cast a wider net, consider a Bookstagram tour or look for YouTube  Book Vloggers or podcasters that will host you.

To arrange a virtual tour yourself, send a query to the host. Mention your book title and details, the release date, a short book description with buy links, and if you have digital or physical advance reading copies available. On your list, jot down the date when you sent this query. If you get no response and several weeks have passed, send out a reminder letter. Also note down when you get an answer and the date you send the ARC to the host. Keep meticulous records, because you’ll use the same people again for the next book if they follow through. When they do post a review or host an interview, write the date and add the link to your notes.

Once you’ve been accepted by the hosts, write your blogs. What do you write about? My advice is to scribble down topics as you are writing your work-in-progress. Subjects can relate to the research you had to do, to the writing process itself, or to the reason why you were inspired to write this book. Another popular item for a post is a character interview or a “day in the life” essay by your protagonist.

At the end of each post, put your book blurb and buy links; plus an author bio with links to your social media sites. Send an author photo and book cover along with your post to the host.

To attract readers, offer a grand prize drawing from all commenters during the tour and/or do a giveaway on each site.

Publish your tour schedule on your website and broadcast it on your social media. Create an eye-catching graphic and use it to make this an event. Post it as an event on your Facebook author page and with your Appearances on your website. Use these sites to create memes: BookBrush, https://bookbrush.com or Canva, http://www.canva.com

Be sure to show up the day of the posting on each site to answer comments. Thank the host for having you on her site.

If you’d rather hire a tour organizer, you’ll get the benefit of their network of hosts and their publicity on your behalf. You’ll also perhaps get a graphic you can use to publicize the event. Decide if you want to do guest blogs, interviews, spotlights, or reviews.

Here are some tour host companies:

Great Escapes – http://www.escapewithdollycas.com/great-escapes-virtual-book-tours/

Partners in Crime – http://www.partnersincrimetours.net/

Goddess Fish Promotions – http://www.goddessfish.com/

Bewitching Book Tours – http://bewitchingbooktours.blogspot.com/

Xpresso Book Tours – http://xpressobooktours.com/

Historical Fiction – http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/

Enticing Journey – http://www.enticingjourneybookpromotions.com/p/welcome.html

Give Me Books – https://givemebooksblog.blogspot.com/

Audiobookworm Promotions – http://audiobookwormpromotions.com/tours/

To summarize, follow these steps:

  • Solicit Hosts or Hire a Tour Organizer
  • Decide Topics
  • Write Blogs
  • Send Posts to Hosts or Tour Organizer
  • Offer Prizes to Commenters or a Grand Prize for the Tour
  • Publicize Schedule
  • Thank the Hosts
  • Tally Results
Are Blog Tours Worthwhile? #blogging #bookpromotion Share on X

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Follow my Virtual Book Tour March 11 – 18 

Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour

 

Booklover’s Bench Giveaway, Feb. 1 – 18

It’s our group’s anniversary at Booklover’s Bench and we’re celebrating by gifting six mysteries to one lucky winner! We founded our site in Feb. 2013, so we are seven years in the running and still going strong. You can rely on Booklover’s Bench for great reads and monthly giveaways. CLICK HERE TO ENTER

Booklover's Bench Giveaway

 


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