first (and hopefully not my last) book signing!

i booked my first meet & greet (book signing) yesterday!!!!

i'm really hoping that i can find some other bookstores in specific areas (los angeles, san diego, reno) that i can do the same thing at! i'm going to look into that. right after i finish this blog post. :)

please keep spreading the word about In Dreams. it means the world to me that you all reading it and falling in love with the characters the same way i have. i am working on writing the follow up book to this one (although it takes place in the past- that in itself is a MAJOR spoiler!!!) tell your friends about the book, write a review on amazon if you can, write a blog post about it, post it on your facebook page!!! i know i keep asking you guys to help me out, but without word of mouth, this book will be dead in the water.

simply put- i can't do it alone.

i need you.

NEEEEEEEED.

:)

so yeah... book signing! september 10th from 1:30-3:30 at Copperfield's books in Petaluma, Ca. omg, what if no one comes? HAHAHAHAH

xoxo j

win a free copy of In Dreams!

candace, over at Candace's Book Blog is having a giveaway for my book, In Dreams! you can enter to win either an e-version of the book, or a signed hard copy! :)

head on over there and enter!!!!! i'm super excited to read the comments over there and see people excited for the premise of the story. thank you Candace!

also, i've just gotten my first review by someone who doesn't know me in real life!! I know that sounds weird, but all the other review (which i freaking LOVE LOVE LOVE by the way) have all been by people who know me. so they read my book and they can hear me saying the dialogue, you know? basically, i totally think they're all biased. lol

this review brought tears to my eyes because it touched me so much (and clearly i'm pathetic). seriously though, to read that she was touched the way i was when i wrote the book- it just means a lot. as a writer, i found how extremely personal the writing experience is. i'm in love with my characters... i love their story... they were born in a very deep part of me, so it's such a personal thing to put it out into the world. the fact that i laughed and i cried when i wrote the book- and that translated in my words to the reader... well, that's all i can hope for really. that i made a stranger FEEL something. so thank you alishia for the beautiful review. here's to many more! not from you alishia, but from other people! lol

have a great weekend everyone!

xoxo j

and a post on why i'm an idiot

I'm sitting here, smacking myself in the head. Okay, not really- because i loathe being hit in the face. More on that some other day. Or not.

I think when I first started this website, I just wanted to be able to give simple updates. Little blurbs about what was going on with the books I'm writing, where to buy them, etc. And so I made the comment section disappear. Because I felt like I could have dialogue with everyone on so many other places (goodreads, twitter, facebook)...

BUT HELLO STUPID. (that's me by the way, not you)

I WANT dialogue here on the blog. I mean, I tell y'all to come read my latest blog posts and then I give you no place to comment on them? No place to ask me questions pertaining to the blog post? No place to yell at me, give me feedback, tell me you want the book, tell me ANYTHING?!?!?!

see? IDIOT.

so now i've remedied that. and you guys, i tried... i really did... but i hate typing blog posts with capital letters. i don't think you have any idea how hard it was for me to write a whole book with proper capitalization. ha it's just not my thing. lower cases... i dig em. so yeah. all my blog posts will be in lower cases letters. unless you guys go nuts and tell me you can't read the blog posts anymore because it drives you absolutely nutballs, or something.

then i'll probably consider writing properly. but i won't like it. lol

omg, i've totally strayed from my original point. which isn't so shocking really cause my brain? let me tell you... it is all over the place. right now it's stuck on scenes of ryan gosling's hot self from the movie "crazy, stupid, love." if you've seen it, you KNOW what i'm talking about. rahr.

i'm meeting with someone at a local bookstore to get copies of "in dreams" on the shelves there. which is super exciting! and we're hopefully setting up a meet & greet as well. which is on one hand, SUPER exciting- and on the other, somewhat terrifying because what if no one shows up? i'll be sitting there all sweaty with anticipation and no one will come. rad.

have i mentioned enough how hard parts of this whole self publishing thing are? i'm really proud of the work i've done. i love my book cover and i honestly can't wait to design my other ones. i'm pretty happy with my website and the way each book has it's own color theme. as much as i love designing my website, it is ridiculously time consuming. and don't get me started on the book formatting for all the different types of books i offer (paperback, kindle, other e-formats). stuff takes forever. and then the hardest part is just waiting for people to buy your book, talk about your book, and spread the word. i mean, i can only talk about my own stuff for so long before my opinion doesn't matter, right? it's all word of mouth. i think for any indie author, we rely on word on mouth to help us get our product out there. i guess the hardest part is feeling like people AREN'T talking about it. i know the book just came out and i didn't expect an overnight sales explosion... it's just that the self publishing world is a hugely saturated market right now. especially for young adults. and don't get me wrong, i love love love that people are writing- and people are buying and reading books... it's just... i don't know- i guess i want everyone to love MY book(s).

which really can't be that much different than any other author out there in the world. okay, i'm shutting up now. really. :)

xoxox -j

don't forget that you can get e-versions of my book for only $2.99 right now (at smashwords and amazon)! no coupon code needed! spread the word, eh?

GET IN DREAMS FOR ONLY $2.99!

Right now you can get your e-version copy of In Dreams for only $2.99!

This is a limited time offer, so get your little tush's over to Smashwords and enter Coupon Code: NB75J at checkout!

And feel free to spread the word on facebook, twitter, goodreads, etc!

direct smashwords link is here!

xoxo j

Wow!

In Dreams has been out for 2 weeks already and I feel like things are just getting started! Thank you to everyone who has bought the book, downloaded it, or read it in some form or another. It means the world to me that people are reading this book and loving it just as much as I do. Really, how can you not love yourself some Cooper Donovan, or Austen?

If you're a fan on facebook, we're talking about which team you're on, so come on over and add your two cents! :)

To really make this book a success, everyone who reads it and loves it- has to tell people. Being a self published author is hard when it comes to getting the word out about your book. I definitely need YOUR word of mouth to help me reach as many people as possible. So if you've read the book and you told your friends, thank you. If you haven't, how can i bribe you too? lol

Hope everyone is enjoying what's left of their summer! In this house, summer's over and school is in! booooooo

Off to write!

xoxox J.

Buy Your Copy of In Dreams NOW! :)

The links below will take you to whatever version of the book you'd like to buy! First off, THANK YOU so much for buying a copy. If you like it, tell your friends... tell your neighbor... tell your enemies... tell the dog next door who reads... i need your help to make my book a success! traditional publishers do a lot of work for you, but self publishers need all the word of mouth they can get! :)

Signed Paperback Copy- In Dreams $10.99
click the buy now button above

Unsigned Paperback Copy- In Dreams $9.99


Kindle Version- In Dreams $6.99


Other E-Reader Versions- In Dreams $6.99


**Please note- for the signed copies you will be taken to a PayPal link. You do NOT have to have a PayPal account to buy a signed copy. Click the "Don't have a PayPal acocunt" button on the right hand side of your screen and you will be instructed on how to pay with debit or credit card.**