Friday Fireworks Blog Hunt

UPDATE: The Friday Fireworks is still going on! But, my individual winner is: HC Harju! You won a copy of Infatuation and the dog tags. Please email me at Contact@melissaschroeder.net! Be sure to get your answers into Heather for the Firework Hunt!

Hey, everyone. Today is the day of the Friday Fireworks blog hop!!! I am so excited that Heather allowed me to be a member of such a great group of authors. Look at this list:

Participating Authors - Blog Links:
Heather Long
Virginia Nelson
Saranna DeWylde - post not live, okay to skip
Delilah Devlin
Lissa Matthews
Jenn LeBlanc
Wendi Zwaduk
Kris Cook
Missy Jane 

SUMMER IS ALMOST HERE!

This time of year is big in the Schroeder household, and it was growing up. Being a military brat, this was the beginning of a few events that shaped my summers. Memorial Day of course started it all off, and my Dad always had a 4th of July party at the house. Where my folks lived in Texas was in perfect viewing spot to see the base fireworks. So, it worked out without the fuss. But the one thing I always loved was Open House. I am not sure if it happened in the summer all the time, but I remember Open House at Sheppard as one of the best times. At that time, there weren't vendors brought in. Instead, they had every squadron working their own booth and allowing them to have their own choice food. We always had Italian food, yeah surprise there, but I loved wandering the food booth area trying all the different types of food. I grew up in an international community as an Air Force brat, much like my heroine in Possession: A Little Harmless Military Romance, Samantha, and my next heroine, Amanada, also grew up as a brat in the Army.

I think growing up that way gives you a different sense of the world. It can be tough and let's be honest, it sucks sometimes, but there is a particular privilege to it also. After I realized that Amanda was also a military brat, it made think about how much I had in common with both women. Completely different personalities for both of them, and neither are really like me. Still, the three of us have that connection of a childhood that only those of us who grew up in it understand.
But I am I digressing as usual, lol.

So, back to the chubby girl's dream of trying all the different foods. I think that it was one of the best memories of a base coming together. You had an area with a lot of more traditional ethnic (at the time, remember, this was the 70's and 80's, and in the middle of nowhere TX where Pizza Hut was ethnic for some people) like Italian and TexMex, but then you also had a corner where a lot of the Asian spouses cooked up the best food. It was was where I had my first taste of lumpia and seaweed (before it was fashionable in the rest of the US).

Oh, and there were planes and crap there, lol. Yeah, I did mention I was chubby, right? Ha! Anyway, I did love it, and every time I think of it, I get warm fuzzies. Not just because of the food, but it was the true meaning of military community. Different cultures, religions, ethnic backgrounds, but we all sort of make up a family. One I am proud of to this day.

Okay, so I have rules for the blog hop, AND I have rules for a prize I am giving away.  Let's do the blog hop rules because that is the big SHINY FIRE.
~~~~~~~

Rules:
10 Authors. 10 Questions. 10 Easy Answers.
You will go from blog to blog gathering questions about each author. There will be a
hint and a link that will lead you to the answer.

In order to be entered to win the big prize, a Kindle Fire, you will need to send your
answers to Brandy at bray829@gmail.com SUBJECT: Friday Fireworks

You must include all 10 questions with answers.

Winner of the big prize will be drawn and announced on Heather Long's blog. Any
prizes offered individually on the author's page will be taken care of by that author.

And here is my question:


Melissa Schroeder: What is the name of Delilah's fan driven on going free read?
(Hint: Check out her 'extras' at delilahdevlin.com )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now for my prize. A SIGNED print copy of Infatuation and the coveted dog tags for Infatuation, Possession AND Surrender! Just answer this easy question in the comments:
What is your favorite summertime memory?  I will pull a name SUNDAY at 8 pm EASTERN US TIME!!! So get your answers in. That is on THIS blog, but make sure you hop around and get your name in the pot for that FIRE. I LOVE MINE.

Guest Post: Lissa Matthews

A few months ago, I decided to self publish Masked, a short male/male story. It was originally a free read on my website and through one of my publishers. I took it, expanded it, got a cover for it and put it up for sale at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, All Romance eBooks, and a few other places. It didn't too bad, but it didn't do great. I wasn't disappointed though. Readers kept and still keep asking for more.

I chose to start out self publishing with something I didn't normally write for a few reasons.

One, I had the story and could work on it and get it up in a relatively short period of time.

Two, I wanted to try my hand at the male/male genre with a bit of a larger audience because it is one that I want to write more for.

Three, I needed the experience and to get some of the process down because I knew I would be exploring more self publishing in the future.

This little series became a bestseller at All Romance eBooks within a few days of release. Talk about thrilled!

See, writing is my job. I love it. I get frustrated by it. I get even more frustrated by publishers and their processes. There are ups and downs just like in any job and you kind of learn to go with the flow, but one release a year at a publisher isn't going to do me any good as an author trying to make a living. I've decided that the way to deal with this issue is, self publish AND still publish with those who've been good to me as well as perhaps trying out some new ones.

I'm not making the level of money as some of my fellow author friends are in self publishing, but success doesn't necessarily need to be measured in dollar signs. I have loyal readers, a steady income, the freedom to work from home and work for myself, and the ability to learn something new almost every day. There's freedom in self publishing that one doesn't have with a publisher, from story length and content to cover art and releasing as many or a few books as one might want to in a calendar year.

There are drawbacks as well. Most books aren't going to sell a huge number of copies. If you don't already have a built in audience that you can bring with you and build upon, the marketing and gathering of readers becomes a full time job in and of itself. Lucky for me, I still had a few readers hanging around waiting for me to release something, anything after an almost year hiatus of no book releases at all.

And yes, I do think having a built in audience from having published with a publisher or three, helps. A lot. Not everyone agrees. That's the great thing, though. There are guidelines as far as how to and how not to, but the process from beginning to end isn't going to be the same for everyone, the measuring stick for success isn't going to mean the same thing to everyone, the journey isn't going to be the same for everyone, and we do have to allow for that.

Some things remain constant. Having a good story. Finding editors. Reading up on the process and talking to others who self publish. Experimenting with tags and keywords and titles and prices and lengths. Hiring a good cover artist. Promoting and guesting and interacting with readers and other authors and industry professionals. Also, knowing what your end game is, what it is you're looking to accomplish.

I am glad I tried it and I will continue to explore it. In fact, I just self published a free read: Committed: An Erotic Valentine's Tale. I wanted to give something a little hot and naughty to my readers, something quick, something to let them know I am still, as always, thinking of them.

 I will also continue to write for my publishers. They bring something incredibly valuable to my continuing growth as an author. I definitely want my cake and I want to devour the whole thing, too!

Now, for a the shameless promo.

I had a release from Samhain Publishing in December that needs a little more press. ;)

Blurb:
One rope. Three days. And two hearts on the line.
Justin has had enough. Ella, the woman who healed his broken heart, has been cancelling on him for two months straight. Sure, she’s busy with her job, which has her traveling far and wide. But that never stopped her from sharing nights of trivia, long conversations and blazing hot sex—until now. Truth to tell, he misses their easy friendship, the way her sighs fill his ear as he fills her body.
What he can’t figure out is, what’s changed?
At work, Ella finds it easy to talk to rooms full of strangers. Once back at her lonely apartment, though, she’s back to her painfully shy self—until Justin. Their chance meeting grew over the months into a year-long affair, but she can’t shake the feeling that rejection and pain are just around the corner. Best thing to do? End it now, before their intimacy digs too deep.
Suddenly he’s at her door with a length of neon-green rope and a naughty proposition, daring her to say no. Just how good could it be? There’s only one way to find out…
Warning: The sheets are tangled, the hat is crumpled, and the jeans are worn low on the hips. The cowboy is hot, determined, and helpless in the face of bunny slippers. Readers may need extra batteries to get this one out of their system.

And coming later this month through self publishing will be the third book in my Blue Jeans and Hard Hats series, Forever In Blue Jeans. I'm still working on the finer details of the blurb, however here's a tiny little teaser and the cover for you to drool over.

One steamy night. Five years fallen between. And the sparks are still electrifying...

~lissa

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