It’s so nice to see authors taking the reigns of their marketing. What’s really great is when they learn how to tackle the press release.

Susan Mallery does a great job of promoting herself and her books while snagging attention thanks to a recent study that reports women who get married at 25 or older are twice as likely to stay married. How does Mallery relate her own books? She points out that the heroines in her book tend to be a little older.

She says “I believe women at this age have matured enough to know what they want in a husband, and are better at shrugging off the small stuff. Plus, they’ve been dinged up by life a little bit, and we’re all more interesting with scars.”

What’s more, she ties the press release to a holiday and what holiday is better at getting folks engaged than Valentine’s day. So kudos to Susan Mallery.

Help us spread the word about the workshop and you could win a free spot. A $30 value!

Sound good? Great!

How do you enter? Blog about the So Easy a Monkey Could Do It Workshop (make sure to include a hyperlink to this page: design.pixelwareinc.com/workshop/) and then come back here and enter the URL of your post in the comments below.

1. Contest ends September 25th at noon. Winner will be randomly chosen from valid entrants and posted here on this page.
2. URL entered into comments must direct us to the post, not the front page of your blog.
3. You may use a blog on facebook, myspace, bebo, blogger, wordpress, livejournal, etc. Or link to the workshop from a yahoogroup, website, or message board.
4. You may use the blurb above in whole or in part.
5. One entry per person.

At CataRomance.com we’ve spent the last 8 years celebrating category romance, supporting authors, introducing readers to wonderful new books and in general, being what we like to think of as an ambassador to category romance. May marks the 8th anniversary of CataRomance.com and we’d like to have a big, long party to celebrate. We’re looking for authors like you to help us celebrate this milestone by writing articles, sharing stories, submitting excerpts and book trailers.

Each day we’ll post excerpts, interviews, book trailers, and other articles written by category authors to keep readers coming back. We’ll also be giving away TONS of bookmarks.

We’re also looking for prizes to be given away each day from May 15th thru 30th. While the fun will take place mostly on CataRomance.com, we invite category romance authors from Harlequin, Silhouette, Steeple Hill, Heartsong Presents and Kimani to join the Readers’ loop as well and get involved.

If you’re interested, here’s what you need to do:

1. Fill out this form: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=cHYzXzNPMnJOaVA4eXcyMVNKVUpESUE6MA..

2. Use this form to submit an excerpt (you may submit more than one): http://cataromance.com/?page_id=186

3. Watch for questions and opportunities to participate on cataromance.com and the readers loop between May 15th – 30th. We’ll be asking authors questions, giving you opportunities to promote yourself and your books and covers. Sign up for the readers loop (home to 1100+ members): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CataNetwork-Readers

4. Also, please help us spread the word! Invite your fellow category authors. You can link to the front page of CataRomance.com where we’ll have a list of all Anniversary happenings so readers can participate. Tell your fellow authors, tell your readers, CataRomance.com is the place to be in the month of May! See http://cataromance.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/anniversaryparty.gif for a graphic you can use on your own site.

Optional opportunities: request an interview: http://cataromance.com/?page_id=184, request a review: http://cataromance.com/?page_id=183, become an affiliate author: http://catadesignstudio.com/?page_id=44, advertise for 24/7 promotion: http://catadesignstudio.com/?page_id=33

If you have any other ideas to make this event extra special, we’d love to hear from you. You can email Ally at alice@catadesignstudio.com.

Thanks so much,
Ally & Donna

http://www.cataromance.com
Celebrating Category Romance!
Reviews, Interviews, Excerpts & More

Happy Wednesday everyone. I have a new idea for all of you. Perhaps
you already do it.

Some of you may have heard of Wordless Wednesday’s before. In fact,
CataNetwork.com has hosted one or two. The idea is that you post a
picture to your blog on wednesday and let that be it. So get out your
camera and take a picture of your bookshelf, to be read pile, office,
pets, kids, whatever. And post that picture to your blog.

Then go to wordlesswednesdays.com and leave a link to your post.
Others can visit your blog to see what picture you’ve posted that
“says it all.”

Participating in Wordless Wednesdays does a few things for you.

1. Gives you something new and interesting to post once per week. And
posting a photo couldn’t be easier. You could even post a photo from a
past vacation or holiday.

2. Lets you participate in communities outside of romance communities
which will increase name recognition and possibly increase your
readership.

3. Gives you the ability to comment on others blogs and participate in
other Wordless Wednesdays. That’s right, many sites on the web host
their own wordless Wednesday. When you come across one, participate
and bookmark the link. Again, this allows you to do #2 above.

4. Provides links back to your blog, which is never a bad thing.

So, have at it. And watch this loop for future announcements about
Wordless Wednesdays on catanetwork.com

How would you like for your banner ad to rotate on 80 romance related/author websites? And would you like a little something free for your own website?

Our banner exchange offers an awesome opportunity for you to get your book in front of readers and offer your readers something new to see each and every time they visit your website.

Membership is free. All you have to do is stick a little piece of code in the bottom of your website. Each time your website shows off a banner in the exchange you get 1 credit. Each time you banner is shown across the exchange we deduct 1 credit.

Sign up right now and we’ll give you 1000 credits just to start. Use the coupon code: new08. (This coupon code applies to new exchange members only. Join our Author loop for occasional coupon codes for freebie credits.)

Current stats: 79 users have displayed 89 banners across our exchange a total of 327,356 times.

More Promo Opps: Use that same banner on one or more sites in the CataNetwork for even more exposure.