perfectionistwannabe

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The Book Influencer: How to Boost a Book to Bestseller Status

It’s been some time since I did a book influencer post. Today, I am going to share a technique that helps boost a book onto the bestseller list. All it takes is one post. This is how to influence people to buy books. Now, I need to preface this by saying there is a difference between reviewers and influencers. Reviewers review books and post their reviews on various sites. Influencers review…

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Editor's Letter: 2025 Brings a Call for Change

Happy New Year! I hope all of you had a great holiday. I just wanted to share some updates. I will be writing more (until I am forced to stop). Our world is changing. I’m going to need all of you to pay attention, because we are in danger. As we roll into 2025, a lot of things are changing. In America, our entire world changes. Some would say we are moving into unprecedented times. I say we…

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Book Review: Temple of Swoon

For fans of Jo Segura’s “Raiders of the Lost Heart” comes her next romance, a spinoff standalone called “Temple of Swoon.” Segura’s sophmoric novel returns to the Indiana Jones inspired world of strong female archeologists working hard to prove themselves in a field ruled by men. Along the way, they find some heat and romance with a side of adventure. In “Temple of Swoon,” Segura creates a…

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Book Review: We Love the Nightlife

Interview With the Vampire is buzzing everywhere right now. Between the TV series to the thirty-year anniversary of the movie, it makes sense that a book in the spirit of everything we love about Louis and Lestat would surface. But this time, it tells a tale between two women. We Love the Nightlife by Rachel Koller Croft has those Anne Rice vibes from beginning to end. It even has similarities…

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The Most Anticipated Horror Book of the Summer: Horror Movie

It is rare that I come across a book that surpasses all others. A diamond in the rough, so to speak. Of the hundreds of books I peruse each year, I may come across one, maybe two books, each year that sit with me long after I’ve turned that last page. These are the books I take my time with. I don’t rush through them over the course of one or two days. I take over a month to read that book. It’s…

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Joan He's Kingdom of Three

Joan He’s Kingdom of Three duology concludes with the release of Sound the Gong. This tale is a re-imagining of the Chinese mythological tale of the Three Kingdoms. It begins with Strike the Zither where we meet Zephyr, an orphan who took fate into her own hands to become one of the leading strategists in the kingdom for the warlordess, Xin Ren. Under Xin Ren, she seeks to create alliances with…

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Book Review: The Stranger I Wed

Harper St. George brings to us a new spicy Gilded Age romance series with The Stranger I Wed. Pub Date: April 23, 2024 Synopsis New to wealth and to London high society, American heiress Cora Dove discovers that with the right man, marriage might not be such an inconvenience after all. . . .Cora Dove and her sisters’ questionable legitimacy has been the lifelong subject of New York’s…

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Book Review: An Enchanting Case of Spirits

An Enchanting Case of Spirits by Melissa Holtz mixes a little bit of sleuthing with spirits who have unfinished business.

An Enchanting Case of Spirits by Melissa Holtz mixes a little bit of sleuthing with spirits who have unfinished business. Sprinkle a little bit of romance on top, and we have this new spirited mystery from Berkley Publishing. Synopsis When a fortieth birthday celebration leads to a ghostly visitor, four friends find themselves navigating surprising mysteries and spiritual hijinks, in this…

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Book Review: Indian Burial Ground

Nick Medina is back with another Native American horror story steeped in folklore and mythology in his new novel, “Indian Burial Ground.” Medina, author of “Sisters of the Lost Nation,” takes us back to the rez to talk about two issues that plague Native Americans – alcoholism and suicide. In his Acknowledgments, he explains: These two themes, along with Missing and Murdered Indigenous People,…

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Book Review: Something Kindred

Something Kindred is a new coming-of-age story of a young Black girl returning to her roots, to a town filled with ghosts. Echoes. Synopsis Magical realism meets Southern Gothic in this commanding young adult debut from Ciera Burch about true love, the meaning of home, and the choices that haunt us.Welcome to Coldwater. Come for the ghosts, stay for the drama.Jericka Walker had planned to spend…

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The Book Influencer: Is it OK to sell ARCs?

Is it OK to sell ARCs? I contacted publishers to find out if it is OK and what they suggest we do with the ARCs when we are done.

This is a topic every reviewer and book influencer has asked at some point. If you Google this question, you will find people doing a deep dive into the ‘legality’ of it, instead of just asking the publishers directly, “Is it OK to sell ARCs?” So I asked this question for you. For those who do not know what an ARC is, it is an acronym for Advanced Reader Copy, or galley. These books are gifted…

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The Book Influencer: Vetting the Books You Share

For those in the Bookstagram community, there is always one drama or another when it comes to what we share on Instagram. It becomes difficult deciding which books to share, especially during the age of cancel culture. You don’t want to be caught on the wrong side of the conversation. For some book influencers, we get the luxury of deciding which books we will share. Others feel like they must…

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9 Things Women with Perimenopause Need to Know

Are you new to perimenopause or menopause? Let's talk about it. Here's what I'm doing that works for me as I venture into menopause.

For women growing older, we learn quickly that as our bodies change after our child-bearing years, the health care industry is no longer interested in helping us. They can’t explain what is going on with our bodies. They tell us to go plant-based, exercise more, and drink more water. They make very little to no recommendations as our hormonal levels plummet, and we start to feel the side effects…

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Book Review: Becoming Madam Secretary

For those who love historical fiction and American politics, I have a new book suggestion for you that releases on March 12, 2024, called Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray. Publisher: Berkley Publishing Synopsis She took on titans, battled generals, and changed the world as we know it…New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating and dramatic new novel…

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Christie's is Auctioning Off Elton John Memorabilia from His Peachtree Road Atlanta Home

If you are in NYC, head to Christie’s in Rockefeller Center to see all of the items heading to auction from Elton John’s Peachtree Road home in Atlanta. You will find jewelry, costumes, furniture, tableware, luggage, a Bentley, and lots of artwork and photographs. And the Versace…a lot of Versace. So much Versace. Christie’s also has a pop-up shop filled with Elton John Memorabilia for those…

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Theater Review: Between Two Knees

I don’t know who is on the Tony Awards committee, but whoever you are, I need to you to see this. I need you to vote for Between Two Knees. It may make you feel a little uncomfortable (especially, if you are white), but by the end of the show, you’ll feel a little differently about how you approach the subject of Native Americans. You know, that race of people that everyone seems to ignore when…

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Editor's Letter February 2024: Decolonize

I’ve been working on two book projects for the last eight months. Both books center around an Indigenous man and an Asian American woman. I know a lot of writers were shocked to learn that I’m working on two books at once, but one is the buffer book to help me emotionally get through the main book…the horror romance book. Yes, I had to add horror to that story, or I just wouldn’t be interested…