Fun with Self-Promotion. #photoshoot

I like the fact that most of Stephen King’s author photos include him wearing a t-shirt and sometimes a leather jacket.  They don’t always shows his pants, but I assume they are jeans except for the one photo I saw with him in a tux.  He is a good example of what the author business is really about.  It is about the writer being a good writer, and I am aspiring to that.  It doesn’t matter that my hair can’t be symmetrical!

Seriously, I have no business wearing a power suit for my author photos.  It is just not me.  I wore those briefly as a retail manager in the 1990s, at a time when I could still wear heels and pantyhose didn’t make me feel claustrophobic.  I also had a better waistline.  Twenty years later, sciatica sometimes bites (as well as robbing me of comfortable sleep), and I am not built like I used to be.  I also believe, in all my earned wisdom, that I deserve to be comfortable.  So, here are my most current author photos.  Sarah at Pace Photography did a great job, and we went to shadier spots when the sunlight and greenery made my eyes water; that’s also when we decided on some cool looks or fun shots.  We battled the eye bags and puffiness as well as my allergies.  The right lighting was everything.  Her pricing was quite reasonable!  This is who I am now.  My author photos were last taken in 2016; my hair was darker and longer and I look a bit different now.  Time to show the world, this is who I am, please read my book! 🙂

 2016 Photo.

 Would you like a free sample of my book, Detours in Time, with an exclusive chapter?  Go to this link:  Detours in Time Exclusive Sample

Detours in Time is now available in Kindle, paperback, and Audiobook!  Watch for a new installment in the series in Spring, 2020.

 Detours in Time in Audiobook.

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Weekend Coffee Share, 7/13. A Writer’s Life.

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, where the Florida temperature may tempt you to take your coffee iced, hosted by Allison at Eclectic Ali

Be sure to check out my flash fiction for this week (there is one, a quick read on one young man’s struggle growing up): Take a Hike #RDP

This week, I was fortunate enough to have lunch with a writer friend at Whole Foods Tuesday and lunch with a teacher friend on Wednesday!  I am passionate about writing and passionate about teaching, so both days, I was fueled.  Sometimes it doesn’t feel like much is going on with my writing, but I really do have a lot in progress and a lot of ideas in the hopper.

In fact, I wrote a Facebook post about this, as I really am working on a lot this summer, but I tell people, “No, I’m not working a summer job.”  People need to appreciate the work a writer does, though.  Here is the post:

I am a Writer Living the Dream, Edition 1~
1. Since I am an introvert (mostly), I am find staying inside a few hours this morning at my laptop, promoting the Undercurrents in Time Kindle and working on the next book, “Malachi,” a natural thing to do. I’ve posted on Facebook & Twitter about the promotion. Crossing my fingers. Sold 1 yesterday and 1 today.    Undercurrents in Time is the sequel to Detours.  You can check it out or order it here: Undercurrents in Time on Amazon

-1. Conversely, being able to sit so long at the laptop doing “book stuff” (which includes sometimes seeing what everyone on Facebook is up to), makes me stiff and causes lower back pain. So, I get up when it screams at me. I got up to type this, in fact. 
2. In my blog world on WordPress, I am promoting some other authors who are part of this online Book Club where authors or readers read and give reviews, sometimes getting reads and reviews.  I also plan to put more Flash fiction there in the next weeks; I am just itching to do so. It will be on my own schedule, though.  The blogs on other authors are for members of Rave Reviews Book Club and RWISA (an International Writer’s Association).  They are under the category of Authors Discovered and can be found by clicking that category to the right of the page or try clicking this link to see the most recent posts on the various featured authors:   https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/category/authors-discovered/
3. I’ve sent the first few pages of the work in progress “Malachi” to a writer friend for thoughts and ideas. I am not sure who I am marketing it towards, but it intersects with events and characters in Detours in Time Book2 (Undercurrents in Time).  Mom said, it’s really different, that I am “branching out.” This could only be a good thing, right? Though I’ve read it’s good to find your own niche, however, I want to do different things as well, and I don’t like formulaic advice. Gotta be me! I also have contacted two professional beta readers about this new manuscript. I have typed the whole book including the ending! Now, I just need to see if there are plot holes that I can’t see, as it is my own personal work of art. We aren’t that objective about things we create and love. I love all of my books and my characters, how could I not?
4. I sent a newsletter yesterday to 365 people who don’t seem to care. Each time I send one, 5-7 unsubscribe, but that happens when they may have signed up just to get a freebie. My freebies are only short stories or previews now. Learning as I go. Haven’t tried for new subscribers in a while, but I will soon.
5. This felt good, though: I chose a chapter that I think is quite interesting in “Malachi” that I will put through Calbri (not sure about the name) to put in BookFunnel as a free sample. I’ll let you know when it’s available!
6. With the writing of “Malachi,” I have interjected the character of Ellie from Undercurrents in Time. Lines come to me while I’m driving or brushing my teeth. I’m writing down bits here and there and then will develop my outline for the book to follow “Malachi,” starring Ellie, who is another unique character from Undercurrents in Time. They will both intersect in Ellie’s book as well (yet to be titled).
7. I anxiously await the narration to be done on the Detours in Time audiobook as I am hoping I will gain lots of new Detours readers/listereners in that way, and it should come out this fall, between Sept. and Nov. is the plan. I have decided on text for the audition for Undercurrents in Time as well so I need to set that up on the Audible production site.
8. When people ask if I am working this summer, I say no. I guess I love doing this stuff, but let’s be honest:  It is work. Call it a labor of love!

So, that pretty much sums up my week!  On Friday morning at 9:30 a.m., it was 80 with 88 degree humiture, and my dog and I couldn’t quite take coffee hour on the porch; we had to go inside.  I took him to the park Thursday around 10 and he was panting so much.  I need to start waking up earlier!  My summer Netflix habit has had me staying up until midnight watching Ozark, an awesome but dark show sort of like Breaking Bad but set in hillbilly country, and the first season of Outlander.  This is what teachers do in the summer, isn’t it?  I’m sure I won’t have much time once school starts.  Have a great week and enjoy what is left of summer!

Author Spotlight: Pamela Schloesser Canepa

From the blog of Eva Pasco

Source: Author Spotlight: Pamela Schloesser Canepa

#WeekendCoffeeShare: Out of Chaos…

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.

Happy Saturday, fellow bloggers.  What a much needed Saturday it is!  Work has been hectic lately, life has been hectic, even my writing has felt hectic.  Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share!  If we were having coffee today, on the 13th of May, I’d tell you:

Somedays work is really a challenge as we move closer to the end of the year.  However, I did something with my students to end out the week:  Collaborative Discussion.  I am pleased to say that I enjoyed it!  Yes, they’re still antsy because of Spring and the impending end of the school year, yes, I had to remind some of them to stop being silly, but they even made me laugh at some points.  I got to see that some of them have really grown in their thinking about our texts and in their self-expression.  That was priceless.

Life is, well, life.  I miss the A to Z Blogging Challenge, but I wouldn’t have time to blog every day anyhow.  I’ve had a hard time with my son turning 21.  I had to set some rules in writing for the household, which took some thought.  Still, I’m glad I did it.  It’s not easy seeing your child make mistakes or bad choices, and it’s also not easy standing back to see them fall flat on their face just to learn their lesson.  I had many years to teach those lessons, but he had two different households and two totally different parents influencing him.  I’ll go no further so as not to make this a venting session about my ex.  🙂

Writing.  I said it was hectic.  I regret not having time to enter the short story challenges here on WordPress.  It’s easy to meet other inspired writers that way, and it’s so rewarding to create a little world within 100-250 worlds.  I guess I miss that, too.  I’ll have to miss it because I’m working on editing my full-length time travel novel in the hopes of publishing it this summer.  It’ll be self-published, of course, because that is the way I do things right now.  Over the last month or two, I’ve read two books about self-publishing and promotion, one by Derek Murphy, which was very helpful and packed with ideas.  I recommend it.  The title is Guerrilla Publishing.

In the Writing/Author world, I have published a short story on Smashwords about a stray dog’s life until meeting his forever home called From Lost to Loved, A Stray Dog’s Tale for free download.  I have two freebie programs going on in the effort to get my name out there a little further.  One is a limited time Instafreebie where people can get my first novella, Made for Me, in digital form free when they sign up for my newsletter.  See it and sign up at https://instafreebie.com/free/UsMtE . The other is an Amazon giveaway of the e-book, Seeing Through Sampson’s Eyes, the darker, more dangerous progeny of Made for Me.  It only runs until about 9 p.m. tonight (May 13th), EST. This giveaway is aimed at getting more Amazon followers.  Plus, two more people will be reading my sci-fi, coming of age tale of a young woman whose dad wasn’t fully human.  Before tonight, you can enter at https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/35b50ae59e6ba24d

Why all of this at once?  I started the Amazon giveaway last night when I just had no energy for editing.  The brain must be in the right place, you know, and I was tired. When I am ready to release my full-length novel, I won’t have time for the rest of this.  These freebies can only help to get my name and my work out there.  I’ve had 74 entries for the Amazon giveaway since last night!  When I do the novel release, I may have to invest in a Twitter service for my other novels.  Plus, who knows if I may be editing and getting these last minute ideas for the novel right up until publishing?  I’ve never done so many stages of a novel for publication.  Some tell me this is how it’s really done.  I’m learning, though.  Now, I should stop talking about editing, and go back to actually editing!  I hope everyone has a great week!

The Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Emily at nerdinthebrain.com.  I urge you to write your own #weekendcoffeeshare.  Be sure to use the hashtag in your post, then visit Emily’s latest at http://www.nerdinthebrain.com/weekendcoffeeshare-the-one-where-im-off-exploring-wacky-stuff/  and add your own to her link-up.

*If you’re wondering about my “chaotic” title, it’s just something jumping around in my brain that hasn’t found a place to land.  I couldn’t hold it in, though.  It sort of needs to take root before becoming a full idea.  I hope it didn’t cause confusion or leave you disappointed in the details of my week.  🙂  Hectic/ Chaotic.  All different shades of meaning.

I’m Going to be on BlogTalk Radio..listen after the fact or during!

I’m going to be on another BlogTalk Radio show! Sat., 1/14, at 1:00 Eastern or 12 CST.  It’s all through the Rave Reviews Book Club. Check here for info: http://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordpress.com/rave-waves-blog-talk-radio/beyond-the-cover-with-host-

marlena-smith/                            Sat., 1/14, at 1 pm ET or 12 CST, tune in to Beyond the Cover BlogTalkRadio show, where I discuss my second sci-fi novella!  Use this link Saturday to access the online talk show: http://bit.ly/2iXj43u

Author Networking and Mutual Support, #RRBC

 

Want to know how I got to be on an online Blog Talk Radio program on Aug. 27th?  Or how I’ve worked my way up to 927 Twitter followers?  How about the author who has posted my author interview on her blog?  The truth is, it wasn’t all that difficult, and it wasn’t just because I published a book on Kindle.  It all happened thanks to the help of some powerful networking, a tool no indie author could really live without, especially if they want to stay the course in these sometimes lonely waters.  Let me tell you about Rave Reviews Book Club!

I imagine one could pay to have a PR company promote them.  There are many book promo. sites that will tweet for you.  I simply didn’t feel I could foot the bill for such a thing.  You may have heard me mention Rave Reviews Book Club before.  It is a grounding point for me as an indie author.  I truly feel as if I am not alone since finding this community of writers and readers whose main goal is to show one another reciprocal support.  Therefore, I may have joined this club in order to receive author support, but I remain, as my responsibility as a writer is to encourage other writers, to respect writing as an art, and to appreciate and promote other worthy authors, after all, I am still a reader and an appreciater of books and great Literature!

How does it work, you might wonder?  Rave Reviews Book Club requires a nominal fee once per year, and with that, you are a member!  Membership means you will get news of excellent books being published or going on sale, and as a writer, you will get to share your books and news.  Your requirement is to follow other members on Twitter, purchase 4 books by fellow members yearly and review them on Amazon, and to share/retweet fellow members’ news of their books.  In return, you will be supported with shares of your tweets and book information, you’ll have your book looked at, purchased and reviewed, and at some point, yours will be chosen as the book of the month.  This all means much more exposure, what every indie author needs.  Besides all of this, they have a blog talk radio show, a channel on Whatsapp (which I haven’t joined yet), and special programs such as the Back to School Blog party.  It is amazing just how many types of author support they provide!  I haven’t partaken in every little bit, but I just wanted to show that there are so many opportunities for networking and spreading news of your book at this club.  After a few months, I had been chosen as Member of the Week, which is a huge Twitter support storm, and about a month later, I was chosen to talk for a few minutes about my book on their Blog Talk Radio show, which was an exciting opportunity!

  A.M. Manay, @ammanay on Twitter, a talented fellow member, made this graphic and Twitter blasted it during my Member of the Week “reign.”

I’ve had the opportunity to read and review such excellent authors as Bruce A. Borders, author of Over My Dead Body, http://amzn.to/2d1w7Qw and J.R. Barrett, author of Winnerland, http://amzn.to/2d1uC4H.  By the way, I highly suggest you read both of them!  These are books I might not have discovered otherwise.

Another type of author support some of the members use is author promotion on their blogs.  Check out the site of Kim Cox, http://twitter.com/KimCoxAuthor, fellow published author and RRBC member!  This is the link to the author interview she posted on her blog for me: http://kimwrtr.wordpress.com/2016/09/17/the-writers-journey-guest-author-pamela-schloesser-canepa/

All of this support and the attitude of mutual encouragement are rubbing off on me.  I have decided to add a Book Reviews section to my blog and will post my reviews here on the blog in addition to Amazon or the author’s preferred site.  Please check back to see this feature on my page!

Are you interested in the policies and perks of the Rave Reviews Book Club?  I encourage you to visit their site and join up at http://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordpress.com/join-here/ and if you sign up, tell them Pamela Schloesser Canepa sent you there!  Yes, they even have perks for getting new members signed up.  I seriously love being a part of this Book Club.

Go now, check out Rave Reviews Book Club at the site above!

-Pamela

I’m being interviewed as an author on Blog Talk Radio! #ravereviewsbookclub

*This photo shows the most recent Blog Talk Radio Show, and the screen where you access the broadcast.  Use this weblink:   http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ravereviewsbookclub and click the ‘play’ icon toward the top of the screen (where I’m pointing). 🙂

On Saturday, 8/27, I’ll be one of the authors interviewed on Blog Talk Radio, an online talk show!  I’ll be talking about Made for Me and probably giving a mention of my sequels. It starts at 1 p.m. Eastern time, 12 noon CST, 11 Mountain time, etc.  Won’t you listen in?  Save this website:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ravereviewsbookclub and put this on your calendar.  It’s a 30-minute  show, and there will be a few authors, so I may only be talking for a few minutes.  That’s a great start for me!  You can listen in on your laptop/desktop while you have lunch.   What should I wear?  Wait, that won’t matter.  It could be my p.j.s for all you know…

I’m so excited!  This came about as a result of my membership in Rave Reviews Book Club.  Have I mentioned this Writers’/Readers’ club before?  Rave Reviews Book Club requires a nominal fee once per year, and with that, you are a member!  Membership means you will get news of excellent books being published or going on sale, and as a writer, you will get to share your books and news.  Your requirement is to follow other members on Twitter, purchase 4 books by fellow members yearly and review them on Amazon, and to share/retweet fellow members’ news of their books.  In return, you will be supported with shares of your tweets and book information, you’ll have your book looked at, purchased and reviewed, and at some point, yours will be chosen as the book of the month.  This all means much more exposure, what every indie author needs.  Besides all of this, they have a blog talk radio show, a channel on Whatsapp (which I haven’t joined yet), and special programs such as the Back to School Blog party.  I haven’t partaken in every little bit, but I just wanted to show that there are so many opportunities for networking and spreading news of your book at this club.  After a few months, I have been chosen to talk for a few minutes about my book on their Blog Talk Radio show.  I’m hoping some of you will listen in!

Again, to follow the broadcast, go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ravereviewsbookclub , at 12 p.m. CT (1:00 p.m. Eastern time) and listen!  The broadcast lasts about 30 minutes, and there will be other authors speaking, so please be patient, and you’ll get to hear my interview.  You can even comment on Twitter, or send in a question via Twitter using the hashtag #RRBCTagTeam245 .  Look who’s gone high-tech.  🙂

Are you interested in the policies and perks of the Rave Reviews Book Club?  Visit their site at http://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordpress.com/ and if you sign up, tell them Pamela Schloesser Canepa sent you there!  Yes, they even have perks for getting new members signed up.  I seriously love being a part of this Book Club.