This Blog Content Has Been Moved - Update Below

This blog has been moved along with quite a few other blogs. The complete list of my promotional blogs and the links are listed below.

Update January 23, 2009 - I have made some major changes to the blogs I'm offering and I am updating this list to reflect those changes. These changes should make it easier to find information and give additional exposure to every one who submits information about their books and themselves.

ANY published author is welcome to submit these questions and answers to promote their books. To use any of these blogs - click on the link, click on "how to submit" in the top corner of the blog and follow the instructions. I ask that you send the questions and answers as an RTF file. It is also good to send a jpg file of your book cover - no PDF files for the cover art. When you complete the interview, send to nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com with the interview title in the subject line and I will add you to the list for that blog.

I have divided the blog lists for fiction and non fiction books to make it easier to find the ones you need. I've added several new blogs lately - so if you've been here before - there are some new options.

Two quick updates -

The print edition of Book Promo 101 is complete and available. The print book is oversize 8" x 10" and the layout is gorgeous. The manuscript for Book Promo 201: Promote Online With Web 2.0 is with my publisher and will be available in early 2009 -- there will be updates posted. If you would like details about the contents of this book, visit http://www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_201.htm

I offer a wide array of promotional services to authors. Feel free to take a look at the possibilities and contact me with questions. If you are interested in something that you don't see listed, let me know and we can talk. For a list of these services visit - www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm

I offer a wide assortment of virtual book tour options and the current list is located at http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/04/virtual-blog-tour-options.html - there are a number of options and price ranges or we can talk about other options. I'm also planning to add more services in late winter and early spring 2009. If you would like to be added to my mailing list to get the latest updates, send me a message at nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com

Promotional Blogs for Fiction Books

Share your furry writing companions - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-submit-information-about-author.html

http://itsallinthesetting.blogspot.com/ - Details about story setting.
How to Submit – http://itsallinthesetting.blogspot.com/2007/07/its-all-about-setting.html

Animals in Your Book - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/

How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-submit-your-book.html

Villains in your book.- http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit – http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit_7729.html

Heroine in your book.- http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit_134.html

Hero in your book.- http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit.html

Best Friend - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit_28.html

Share Book Details - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
How to Submit – http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-to-submit.html

http://frombookstomovies.blogspot.com/ - From Books to the Movies
If a movie was made about your book, which actors and actresses would play the main characters? This is your chance in case a movie of your book and it can be a lot of fun.
How to Submit – http://frombookstomovies.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-submit.html

Interview a Male Character - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-submit_6392.html

Interview a Female Character - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-submit_1859.htm

In Detail With Nikki Leigh - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
Give potential readers more information about you and your background.
How to Submit – http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-to-submit.html

Before I Was Published - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
Tell us about what you did before you were published and especially include anything that relates to your books and your writing.
How to Submit - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2008/02/tell-us-your-story.html

http://currenteventsinbooks.blogspot.com/- Can you tie a topic or element from your book with current events? This is the place to submit them. Send them to me and I'll review them.
How to Submit - http://currenteventsinbooks.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-submit.html

Do you have interesting promotional ideas and suggestions that you would like to share with other authors? http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com

How to Submit - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-submit-your-promotional.html

http://judgebookbycover.blogspot.com/ - Share your book cover.
How to Submit – http://judgebookbycover.blogspot.com/2007/07/judge-book-by-its-cover.html

http://startatbeginning.blogspot.com/ - Share your First Chapter
How to Submit – http://startatbeginning.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit.html

Promotional Blogs for Non-Fiction Books

Share Book Details - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
How to Submit – http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-to-submit.html

Share your furry writing companions - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
How to Submit - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-submit-information-about-author.html

Animals in Your Book - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/

How to Submit - http://fictionalcharactersindepth.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-submit-your-book.html

In Detail With Nikki Leigh - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
Give potential readers more information about you and your background.
How to Submit – http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-to-submit.html

Before I Was Published - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com
Tell us about what you did before you were published and especially include anything that relates to your books and your writing.
How to Submit - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2008/02/tell-us-your-story.html

http://currenteventsinbooks.blogspot.com/- Can you tie a topic or element from your book with current events? This is the place to submit them. Send them to me and I'll review them.
How to Submit - http://currenteventsinbooks.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-submit.html
Do you have interesting promotional ideas and suggestions that you would like to share with other authors? http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com

How to Submit - http://authorpromotion.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-submit-your-promotional.html

http://judgebookbycover.blogspot.com/ - Share your book cover.
How to Submit – http://judgebookbycover.blogspot.com/2007/07/judge-book-by-its-cover.html

http://startatbeginning.blogspot.com/ - Share your First Chapter

How to Submit – http://startatbeginning.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-submit.html

I reserve the right to refuse to post any submissions, but so far I haven't needed to turn anyone away. I did edit a couple of first chapters to maintain a PG-13 rating for my visitors. That could be one of the reasons why some have such a long waiting list. All the blogs are listed on my Blogger profile which is located at - www.blogger.com/profile/00985309338453728557.

Nikki Leigh
Author of the Book Promo 101 Series
www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Author Promotional Services - www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm

CL Talmadge - Before I Was Published

I decided to be a writer when I realized, in my late teens/early twenties, that I had no other discernible skill except writing. That pretty much narrows one's career focus. Also, since the age of 13, I had been
day-dreaming about this love story between in prince in peril from his father and the woman he loves who has mysterious healing skills and
abilities. I wanted very much to write the story.

My writing career began in 1976, when I was hired as associate editor for the oldest weekly newspaper on Long Island in New York, The Suffolk County
News.

From there I went on to report and copyedit for several daily newspapers, including the Las Vegas Sun, the Orange County Register, and the Dallas
Times Herald. I then became an editor for Adweek/Southwest, an advertising-marketing weekly trade publication. While at Adweek I picked up freelance assignments for Business Week, Forbes, and the business section of The New York Times, among other media.

I left fulltime journalism in 1989 to write a nonfiction book about a method of emotional and spiritual healing resolution that I ended up self-publishing in 1999. I did odd freelance writing gigs, but was not very good at developing a network of contacts to find more steady assignments.
Two years later I became a staff writer for a broker-/dealer, a job that lasted until I was laid off in 1994.

I returned to freelance writing and added freelance pr to my resume as well-all the while still thinking about the story from my teen years, which by this time had grown to include four generations of women. I finally started writing in earnest in 1998, and a decade later have published the first three novels in what grew to be the Green Stone of Healing(R) epic
fantasy series.

I am close to completing the fourth book, and hope to publish it in 2009 while working on Book Five.

CJ Scarlet Tells Us What Led to The Kindness Cure

It is said that each of us is fighting a heroic battle. My name is CJ Scarlet and this is my story. Since 1990, I have lived with Lupus and Scleroderma, both autoimmune diseases that left me with constant pain and debility. When I was told in 2002 that my disability had progressed into a life-threatening heart condition, life as I knew it ended with a sickening thud. My family quickly dove into denial, leaving me with no one to talk to about my fears. I was terrified!—of pain, of debility, of dying—and yet there was no one I could turn to for comfort and wisdom.

I spent the first year after my diagnosis completely freaking out, growing more isolated and angry as each day passed. Author Steven Levine says that most people die an “Oh, shit!” death—one of total shock and terror just before the car crashes or the heart attack turns deadly or the kidneys begin to fail. I was afraid that would be me. I went through the traditional stages of grief: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, and depression, but couldn’t move past them to the acceptance phase.

Part of the problem was that I had a dark past, marred by a series of traumatic events and tragic mistakes, and my death sentence felt like an apt ending to an unfulfilled life. Desperately ill, I struggled to make the best of my remaining time, but my overwhelming fear and misery overrode my attempts to be happy and robbed me of hope.

Then I had the opportunity to meet with a Tibetan lama for advice. I poured out my tale of woe, expecting the lama to shower sympathy and compassion on my deserving shoulders. Instead, he told me with loving ferocity to stop feeling sorry for myself and start focusing on the happiness of others. I argued that I was too sick to help myself, let alone other people, but the lama insisted. Although I had been a victims’ advocate for years, I had been so focused on my own suffering, that I had become oblivious to the needs of others. So I began as I could, with small acts of kindness, such as saying a prayer when an ambulance passed by and letting people go ahead of me in the checkout line at the grocery store. I bought a tank of gas for a woman whose husband had lost his job so she could get to work the next day. I spent long hours on the phone with a friend who was going through a difficult time. I did everything I could within my limited abilities to think about and act for the happiness of others. I also began to practice an ancient prayer technique called Tonglen (that I teach my clients) that helped me to transform my fears and anger into gratitude and peace, and even decreased the pain I experienced.

Gradually, I noticed that every time I did something nice for someone else, I felt a small rush of happiness. At the physiological level, the “happy endorphins” my body created in response to each act lowered my blood pressure, regulated my breathing, and reduced the stress chemicals that were so deadly to me. I began to notice that I had less pain and more energy.

I graduated to larger acts of generosity—co-signing on a car loan for a young woman so she could secure a job and volunteering at the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina. I became even happier, and the happier I became, the better I felt, until I reached a state of such emotional healing that it no longer mattered whether I lived or died—I was happy regardless of the obstacles I encountered or how much time I had left. In fact, if someone had offered me one more day to live feeling as I did at this point or ten more years feeling as I did before my diagnosis, I would choose that one precious day. Finally, I had reached the stage of acceptance and I was loving my life, every precious moment of it.

Then the most amazing thing happened; my condition began to reverse itself and today I feel better than I have in 20 years! I still have periods when I am laid low by my illness and I experience some cognitive impairment, but my happiness point is set so high now that I am unfazed by them. I will still die one day, as we all will, but the “when” is less important to me than the “how.” I am determined to die with the words, “I love you” on my lips and with the glow of joy and gratitude on my face.

Reaching such a stage of joyful acceptance is not only possible for you, but even more likely than for a person who is not facing a life-challenging illness. The fact is, your illness can be the gift that sets you free to live a life—and die a death—overflowing with happiness and gratitude.

For More Information

See What It’s All About - http://www.thekindnesscure.org/video

We Invite You To Join the Kindness Cure Social Network And Share The Progress of the Kindness Cure - http://www.thekindnesscure.org

For full details about the Kindness Cure Virtual Tour - http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/10/cj-scarlet-is-starting-kiss-revolution.html

Mark Tewart Author of How To Be A Sales Superstar

Mark’s own words -

“For the last 15+ years I have been a professional speaker, trainer and consultant.

I work with multiple organizations in various industries in helping them to increase their sales to explode their bottom line profits.

My areas of expertise are sales, sales marketing, sales management, sales motivation and creating a superstar life.

I entered the sales field at nineteen and became one of the youngest executive managers in the country at twenty seven.

I have spoken to thousands of audiences, published hundreds of articles and newsletters and have been interviewed in numerous magazine and newspapers as well as appearing on a top ranked satellite training network for several years.

I am also the founder and President of three other companies that are involved in the fields of products sales, insurance and real estate.”

Mark’s Accomplishments and Credentials – His Qualifications to Write How to be a Sales Superstar
• Spoken to over 2,000 audiences since 1993
• Professional Member of the National Speakers Association
• President and founder of 3 successful companies
° Seminar, Speaking, Training and Consulting company
° Software company
° Direct Response Sales Event Company
• Markets and performs over 100 seminars per year
• Had top ranked TV show for several years
• Published Hundreds of Articles
• Published numerous training manuals
• Created and sold thousands of videos and audio products
• Moved from entry level sales position to General Manager of a multimillion dollar company by the age of 27


Mark Tewart is a renowned expert on sales, sales marketing, sales management and creating a high performance life. Mark is a motivational speaker, consultant, coach, entrepreneur and owner of four businesses, and author of "How To Be A Sales Superstar - Break All the Rules and Succeed While Doing It" published by Wiley which is available in book stores and Amazon. Mark has spoken to over 2,000 audiences in the last fifteen years. Also, Mark has published hundreds of articles in numerous trade magazines and authored numerous books, audios, videos and online training materials. Mark has had a top ranked Satellite TV show and been interviewed by magazines, newspapers, radio and TV shows across the world.

Mark Tewart’s websites include: www.marktewartlive.com, www.marktewart.com and www.howtobeasalessuperstar.info

To read the first chapter of How to be a Sales Superstar and to receive several FREE bonuses from Mark Tewart, visit www.marktewartlive.com.

Full tour details are posted at http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-be-sales-superstar-by-mark.html

This book can be ordered on http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0470300965

Before Tony "Tony Nap" Napoli Was Published

Tony shares some of the details about his life before he wrote My Father, My Don - if this piques your interest, that is a clear indicator that you should buy the book. All of the details about his life before he was published are in My Father, My Don.

Tony "Tony Nap" Napoli

My mother encouraged me as a young teenager and close friends encouraged me to write my book. I explain this in detail in chapter 2 of my book My Father, My Don. As I got older, I built up more and more reference material for my autobiography, without realizing it. Some of those friends were Wiseguys and some just regular guys I grew up with. My reputation was one of being an exciting and intriguing type of guy. The type of guy who was able to get away with things that would get others stuffed in the trunk of a car. That's because they didn't have a father like mine.

I lived a very gangster and mob type of lifestyle. What's the difference between a gangster and a mobster? A gangster gets no respect, A mobster is a connected guy, who belongs to a crime family. If he's a Made Guy, also, known as a Button Guy, and if he has a title like Capo, he gets more respect from his crew and the people on the streets who are aware of it. But most of the Made Guys didn't have a blood line like me. My father was the number one guy for all five families, in the New York area. Their father's were regular Joe's and probably hard working men, most of their lives. My father would say to them and me, "the toughest guy I ever met, was the guy who goes to work 8-10 hours a day to support his family." They knew he was talking about their fathers.

My Father, never let me get involved with him and his crew in the number business. He always told me that I was above that. He schooled me for Casino type operations. Legal or illegal, it made no difference to me. As long as he wanted me, I was there for him. Until one day on my 26th Birthday when I did something that caused him to dismiss me from all activities. I was forced to change my name and disappear for thee-and-a-half-years, by his orders. All the information I'm about to tell you is listed in chapter 17 of my book.

I worked over a Cop who just happened to be a Captain of the police department in Burgen County, New Jersey. He tried to shake me down thinking that my father, who was on the lam for more than three weeks, was done away with. I knew better, because I knew where my father was hiding out in the Jersey shores till the heat died down. It was because of a killing that happened in his neighborhood, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. I couldn't tell the crooked cop all this, and I knew I would have to handle my own problems till Dad came home. This bastard cop was also on my father's payroll. He was looking to burn the candle from both ends. The cop lived and my father came back shortly after the beating.

By my Father's orders, till the heat on me died down, I was on my way to no mans land. While traveling, I found a carnival in Memphis, Tennessee. that was looking for boxers to fight spectators for a dollar a round. It was a form of entertainment, a part of their side show. I jumped at the opportunity, because I was running out of cash. I had to eat, and couldn't call anybody for help. I struggled for those three-and-a-half years as told in chapter 18 of my book. I hitchhiked along Route 66 across the country from New York to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and changed my name to Tony Reo, I often thought of past times when I always had a pocket full of money. How things changed. I thought “look at me now, wearing the same clothes day after day.”

I left the Carnival to work for farmers, pulling broom corn, hauling hay and picking cotton. I just didn't give a dam anymore. I thought of the times when I had my own Loan Shark business, and spent almost every day at the local race tracks. All the show broads I used to romance and spend all kinds of money on.

When you get to chapter 19, losing my Mother was a big blow to me. That's when my father found me in New Mexico, and brought me back home to New York. He told me how my mother died of cancer and that all was forgiven. In chapter 21, The Prince of Vegas, tells of how my father set me up as a casino boss in Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada. That's when I partied with celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Vic Damone, Sammy Davis, Dean Martin, Eddie Fisher and other well known people. I was involved in hiring the entertainers for the Palace as well as overseeing the Casino operation. I became a complete out-of-control alcoholic.

Again, my father came to my rescue, working over guys that were supposed to be connected in different states. After two years of that, I was ordered back to New York where I met the love of my life, Laura. She stayed by my side through thick and thin, for the past 38 years and after the death of my father, by natural causes, she encouraged me to find sobriety. It's been a big part of my life for the past 15 years. Yes, because of her, I found a better way in life.

My Heritage and my Writing By Shobhan Bantwal

I was born and raised in a large, conservative Hindu family in a small town called Belgaum in Southwestern India. I was the black sheep of the family, the only tomboy and hellion in a family of five girls. My four sisters were angels—good little Brahmin girls with the perfect mix of academic achievement, modesty and deportment. Needless to say, I single-handedly gave my parents every gray hair they possessed, but they were wonderful parents and to a large degree I owe everything I am today to them. The most valuable things they gave me were an outstanding education and the love of reading.

An arranged marriage to a man who happened to live in the U.S. brought me to New Jersey several years ago.

My Indian heritage became the natural basis for my writing. As an Indian-American woman, I straddle two distinctly different cultures, both equally rich, both with their share of woes and quirks, yet both equally intriguing.

When I started to write, I decided to base my first story in India, and use my hometown as the backdrop. I gave it a fictitious name so as not to offend its denizens, but I had a perfect town with all its gossip and conservatism and color and sharp contrasts to draw upon for my stories. My characters are not based on any real people, but I could easily picture them living in my hometown, doing the things I did when I was growing. Even the convent, which my protagonist in my second book uses as a safe haven, is fashioned after the parochial school I attended as a young girl.

THE DOWRY BRIDE, my first book, was released by Kensington Publishing in September 2007. THE FORBIDDEN DAUGHTER, released in September 2008, is my second book and the one I am touring to promote at the moment. Information about my books and other writing is available on my website: www.shobhanbantwal.com

For more information about Shobhan Bantwal’s virtual tour, visit – http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/09/forbidden-daughter-by-shobhan-bantwal.html

The Forbidden Daughter can be ordered at: http://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Daughter-Shobhan-Bantwal/dp/0758220308

Lillian Brummet - Before She Was Published

Dave and Lillian met and married 17 years ago in Kelowna, BC – the southwestern province of Canada, located just North of the US State of Washington. Sadly the couple are unable to have children, but they have always had several cats and dogs that they adopt from the SPCA to continually share their home. Gardening is the Brummet’s hobby of choice and you can often find them playing in the dirt. www.brummet.ca

“I grew up in a broken home; my mother was married 4 times and 2 of those men found me too attractive, unfortunately. Sadly there were no rule books at the time to help families deal with situations like this and I found myself on my own and on the street at the age of 13 -1/2. I stayed out of the government system by working the same jobs I always had up to then, such as working for nurseries and babysitting and yard chores and the like while going to public school. Soon, though, I found out how different I was from others at school and I just didn’t fit in anymore. So I stopped going to public school for a few years. At age 15 I was caught living on my own and was taken to a foster home where I was given the option of working part time, having some independence still, but going back to school to get my grade 10. Which I did, but when I soon was on my own again by choice this time, more due to my discomfiture with family activities and bonding than anything else. At 19 I went back to school and eventually received a university level of grade 12 (meaning some of the highest available courses in maths, sciences, etc). Eventually I took several other college courses that lead to a career in the field of hospitality management in my mid-twenties. On the side, I helped run my mother’s market garden and my husbands drum teaching business. To say I was on over-achiever is not an exaggeration. I had this drive in me to not let the past be forever torturing me and holding me back.

When I was growing up, teachers often commented on my writing ability - and honestly, English was one of the few classes that kept me going to school when I was first on my own. I used poetry as a healing tool, a way to get the pain out where I could examine it. Eventually, prodding from friends lead me to enter a contest and then another and another… I never did win a grand prize, but my work did appear in five hardcover anthology books and several publications throughout North America. I also had the honor of attaining "Editor's Choice Award for outstanding Achievement in Poetry", not once – but twice. These small achievements and praises gave me some confidence in the quality of my work.

But what prompted me to write as a career began with a bad car accident – a three-car pile-up and I was in the middle. After a year of full-time physiotherapy, followed by a year of trying to get back to operating my business and continuing therapy, I realized I was never going to be able to continue that work full-time.

At that point Dave and I were feeling like our lives were going the wrong direction. I knew that with the injuries received from the car accident, I was not able to continue to run my business and having a full-time job elsewhere was not looking like a possibility due to chronic pain issues. I mean, we worked hard for our careers and to have it just taken away like that was really shocking – of course, I’m grateful for it now. At the time, however, I looked back at my life in disgust because I felt all my efforts, work, pain… it was all for nothing. No one would notice and no lasting benefit was left behind. I questioned why I survived the life I had only to have these things happen – and I questioned the value of my life. This was the trigger that helped me realize that I just couldn’t live like that any longer. Dave and I had several heart-to-heart discussions about the meaning of our lives, what was important to us and how we mean to use the time we are given. I even wrote a short poem about it:

LOCOMOTION

Locomotion keeps me moving through the confusing compulsive waves of life.
And, lost in this rush, I consume and exhaust myself for the unknown.
Feeling awfully tired, I pause - and look in at my routines in disgust.
And a desperate yearning to escape beyond the maze, and into self-sufficiency arises.

Right around this time, my husband was taking a writing course and I began taking it alongside of him. Soon, our submissions were accepted and sold and a free-lance career began, which later developed into our career as authors.

We embarked on a freelance writing career in 1998, and began publishing our column “Trash Talk” in 1999. Although we stopped writing this column at the end of 2006, it continues to be picked up by publications around the world. This column was developed into our first book Trash Talk (2004), which we soon followed up with a collection of my poetry in the book Towards Understanding (2005). Our most recent book is Purple Snowflake Marketing, which was released in 2007 – we are excited to announce that this author’s marketing plan guide will be released as a 2nd edition in late 2008 with just under 200 additional resources and information for authors to use in their promotion plan.

We also write articles dealing with gardening, yard, pets and outdoor adventures. Dave is the editor, proofreader, photographer, graphic designer, diagram and image creator and website managing half of our co-writing relationship. While I do the research, data entry (typing), office work, handle most of the marketing and interacting with publishers and media. We work very well as a team for live marketing endeavors from interviews to book events – with Dave being the speaker while I am the assistant, events go quite smoothly.”

www.brummet.ca