Find Your Lady Pirate Name

Posted July 23, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in blog / 0 Comments

What’s your pirate name? I love the trend of finding your different names–like pirate names, fairy names, dragon names. They’re quick bookish activities that take all of 30 seconds to complete, but they never fail to make me grin as I discover “my name” in these alternate worlds. Naturally, in writing Over Raging Tides, the thought of pirate names and different monikers that they might use occurred to me. What would my pirate name be? What would yours be? I decided to make an easy way to find out. Below, there’s a simple chart to find your lady pirate name. Simply use the month you were born and the first letter of your first name to put your new lady pirate name all together! Why lady pirate names in particular? Well, Over Raging Tides and my Lady Pirates series revolves around a crew of […]

2018 Prime Day Deals for Readers

Posted July 16, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in blog / 0 Comments

2018 Prime Day Deals for Readers Happy Prime Day! On July 16, 2018–A.K.A. Prime Day–there are a wealth of Amazon Prime deals to be found, but particularly for readers! Prime Day begins at 3 P.M. Eastern Time on July 16 and ends on July 17th at the end of the day. Below are some of the 2018 Prime Day deals for readers that I found! But hurry! These are limited time deals. They may not even last all of Prime Day! 2018 Prime Day Deals for Readers – Memberships Try a 30 Day free trial of Amazon Prime and cash in on the 2018 Prime Day Deals for Readers First off, most of the 2018 Prime Day deals for readers require you be an Amazon Prime member! I myself am an Amazon Prime member and let me tell you: between the exclusive […]

Developing a cover for Over Raging Tides

Posted July 9, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in Author business, blog / 0 Comments

As you may know, I’ve had the idea for Over Raging Tides for a long time. So much time, in fact, that I’ve had plenty of time to think over what I wanted out of developing a cover for it. I knew that I wanted both a ship and a feminine representation. The book was, after all about female pirates. Developing a cover on my own I tried developing a cover myself in my free time years and years ago by buying a couple of stock photos and tinkering in Photoshop. This is what I came up with when left to my own devices: And… you know, I actually liked it! The concept anyway. But I quickly realized that developing a cover for Over Raging Tides was outside of my skill set. Especially as I decided I was leaning towards developing a […]

Experimenting With Writing Via Dictation

Posted July 2, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Self-Publishing, Writing / 0 Comments

I’ve toyed with the idea of writing via dictation for a long time, but I finally gave it a shot recently. Why didn’t I try writing via dictation until now? The main reason? It was really cost-prohibitive for me. (Which isn’t going to be the case for everyone! And I found a couple of methods that fit my budget. More on the different methods of writing via dictation down below.) Secondly, I couldn’t imagine writing without physically putting words down on paper or screen. I imagine people felt the same way when shifting from pen and paper to typewriter to computer! So why try writing via dictation now? So many reasons! The first being that my writing progress on Through Fathoms Dark and Deep (Lady Pirates #2) was stalling. Traditionally, what has helped me break out of a writing rut has been to change things up! Well… […]

Organizing a Bookstagram Tour to Promote Your Book

Posted June 25, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Self-Publishing / 2 Comments

When I first saw the stunning cover for Over Raging Tides, I knew that I wanted it to be seen. What’s more, I knew that it had “Bookstagram tour” potential. The cover is indiscernible from many traditionally published covers, so I knew that a Bookstagram tour for it would pop on Instagram. To reach some readers, I needed Over Raging Tides to be seen on visual platforms. Engaged readers are increasingly visually oriented. Well–they likely always have been. We’re visual creatures, us humans! We enjoy beautiful things. We judge on cover appeal. In the case of Bookstagram, if the visual appeal of a cover is enough, a “Bookstagrammer” may be motivated enough to create a visually stunning Bookstagram post of your book. But I wanted to ensure that my book was seen by those avid readers. So I decided to pursue a Bookstagram tour. […]

Over Raging Tides Bookstagram Tour recap through Storygram Tours

Posted June 22, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Lady Pirates / 0 Comments

The Over Raging Tides Bookstagram Tour has concluded! One of the best ways to reach avid readers and book buyers these days is on Instagram, especially via dedicated “Bookstagram” Instagram accounts. So I knew that I wanted to be sure to have some sort of Over Raging Tides Bookstagram marketing aspect in my release and marketing plans for the first book in the Lady Pirates series. And I can’t thank Bridget and Kristen of Storygram Tours enough for coordinating the Over Raging Tides Bookstagram tour and the Bookstagrammers who hosted the crew of the Lady Luck on their feeds! I thought you may like to see all of the photos gathered in one place, so scroll down to see them all! You can also check out #OverRagingTidesTour on Instagram if you prefer. And please, give these talented photographers some follows and love! And Indie […]

Now Available: The Over Raging Tides Audiobook

Posted June 18, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in blog, Books, Lady Pirates / 0 Comments

Ahoy there, lovely readers! Exciting news! The Over Raging Tides audiobook is out now! The Over Raging Tides audiobook was produced by Victoria Boulton, who brought not only a stellar reading, but also her lovely British accent to the narration. Victoria created an immersive listening experience that wowed me– and I knew it would the second that I listened to her audition for the book. Many of the narrators who auditioned for the Over Raging Tides audiobook were undoubtably talented, but not the perfect fit for the story, like Victoria was. What’s more, Victoria went the extra step of messaging me before she recorded the audition to see whether I would prefer she read it in an English or American accents. Talented as she is, she’s capable of both! Once I heard her audition and confirmed she’d be available to record the rest of the […]

A Letter to Over Raging Tides on its Release Day

Posted March 20, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in Books, Lady Pirates, Self-Publishing / 0 Comments

It’s the release day of Over Raging Tides, book 1 in the Lady Pirates series! I have a bit of a tradition on this blog wherein I write a letter to my new book and characters on the day of a book release. I’m pretty fond of it at this point. I spend so long trying to get IN their heads, it’s not often that I get to talk TO them. So. Dear Grace– and Over Raging Tides, You guys and Over Raging Tides have lived quietly in the back of my mind for a while now. While the first scene of Over Raging Tides that I wrote burst into my mind with a bang, you were pretty content to wait your turn while I finished Elementals: The Threats of Sky and Sea series. That’s incredible to me in some […]

February 2018 Writing and Self-publishing in Review

Posted March 2, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in Self-Publishing, Uncategorized / 0 Comments

February 2018 Writing and Self-publishing in Review In the February 2018 Writing and Self-publishing in review report, there is not much writing to report! This month, with the release of Over Raging Tides about a month away, I focused on release prep and some marketing: Over Raging Tides: Early review copies sent to blog tour hosts Received edits from editor Made changes based on editor feedback Book sent to formatter Worked on interviews and guest posts for blog tour Reached out to Netgalley co-op to inquire about availability My other books: I’ve also made it a goal to get Threats of Sky and Sea to 100 Amazon reviews by the year’s end! So I contacted Xpresso Book Tours to set up a review query to reach out to her network of potential reviewers. And reached out also to the Netgalley co-op to inquire […]

Kinder and Gentler… MSD Strong

Posted February 22, 2018 by Jennifer Ellision in blog / 1 Comment

“Be kinder and gentler, because tomorrow is never promised.” I heard those words often during my time at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. I entered the school as a freshman in 2002 and graduated in 2006, so my time there has long since passed. It’s been a long while since I was even on campus (for a book club visit several years ago). Be kinder and gentler, because tomorrow is never promised. Those words have been shared a lot by my fellow Douglas alumni in the wake of the school shooting last week on February 14, 2018 that claimed the lives of 17 students and faculty members. Our former principal, Daniel Traeger, used to tell us to be kinder and gentler during our morning announcements every school day. It’s good advice. And even if they never heard his words, my […]