Liz Jasper

Conventions: I attend as many conventions as possible such as the annual Romantic Times Convention, BEA and since my books have
created a new genre in publishing merging it with country music…I attend the annual event known as the CMA Fest formerly known as
Fan Fair in Nashville. Any event you can make yourself noticed at – GO! Get the buzz going!

Faery Court Ball: I didn’t realize just how important an event like the Faery Court Ball at RT was until I participated in person this year. It
was as if my book was elevated to another level overnight. The readers, booksellers, media and even publishers could identify with who
I was. I donated a large amount of TIDES OF TIME books to this event and am so glad that I did. It helped with PR tremendously. The
following morning my daughter and I hadn’t been on the elevator two seconds when someone recognized me and mentioned it was
from the ball the night before. This lady received my book at the formal dinner.

EC/CP Events: It is extremely important to attend all EC/CP (or whoever your publisher may be) Events such as the Moulin Rouge Party
held at RT. This is also a good way to get you and your book noticed. When EC/CP asked for gift baskets, put one together…even if you
have to be creative and do it yourself. This helps gain readers and you can absolutely do one for an e-book.

Charities: I cross promote TIDES OF TIME with and help the charities near and dear to my heart. This way both parties get much needed
PR. The author most importantly earns money for the charitable causes.

Romantic Times: I have appeared on both the front and back covers of Romantic Times Magazine with accompanying cover story…also
a feature page in the February issue (the month after the print book was released). There was a considerable increase in both e-book
and print book sales due to the RT spotlight.

Guest books: Every convention, book signing or event I attend…readers sign a guest book with both their snail mail and e-mail addys.
While I’m very careful not to “spam” the readers…I do send out promotional materials. I have enough RT Magazines to autograph and
send out to the readers on my lists. This causes a buzz and gives the readers a little something special autographed by me.

3.        What, if any, promo activities do you consider absolutely essential when a book first drops? Why?

I feel the most essential promo activity to do when a book first drops is to make contact with all the online review groups. Don’t wait for
the publisher to introduce you – introduce yourself and your book by sending them an introduction, author bio, e-mail synopsis and any
marketing plans you have in place. The more reviews you get – the more other reviewers want to review you.

4.        What's the best promotion you've ever done?

The best promotion I’ve ever done has been teaming up with country crooner and Mercury Recording Artist Steve Azar to cross-promote
my book with his fan base and help the charities so near and dear to my heart…St. Jude Children’s Hospital and Support Our Soldier’s
America, Inc. founded by Kathryn Falk of Romantic Times. Here’s a little bio on my buddy, Steve:

Steve Azar, one of country music's most promising stars and prolific songwriters, began writing songs at a very early age. A Greenville,
Mississippi native, Azar was initially influenced by blues men like Eugene Powell and Sam Chapman when they would play behind his
dad's liquor store. He loved their sound so much that he was immediately hooked and knew that music would be his life's journey. By
the time he graduated college with a business-management degree, he was playing 200 shows a year and touring with two 28-foot
trucks and 10 men on the payroll. He was financially successful, but artistically unfulfilled, so he gave it up to become a better songwriter
and moved to Nashville in 1991. Within days after he arrived, Azar was offered three song-publishing deals and later, a major recording
contract with Mercury Records.

Azar launched a radio phenomenon with his self-penned hit, "I Don't Have to Be Me ('Til Monday)." The song not only topped the charts,
but has since received more than 3 million spins on the radio. Another one of his big hits was the Top 10 "Waitin’ On Joe," that also
produced a #1 video featuring Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman.

Lately, Azar has been touring across the United States and writing songs for his upcoming album, Indianola that will soon be released
on his own Dang Records. In addition to writing or co-writing every song on the new CD, including the debut hit single, "You Don't Know
A Thing," he produced and engineered the entire collection and also plays slide guitar, mandolin, acoustic and electric guitar on various
tracks.

Together we cross promote one another, while I’ve created a new genre in the publishing industry. He combines his rugged good looks
and sexy-toned voice with my down home style of country writing combined with cutting-edge/current events and romance.

Here’s some information on my charities and why I’ve chosen to cross-promote with them:

SOS America:

September 11th, the invasion of Afghanistan and the Iraqi War all have had a profound impact on me, as with millions of other
Americans. The images of our soldiers and families left behind are heart-wrenching.

Weeks after the war started, our family adopted a soldier. We wrote to him, mailed care packages and organized a letter drive from
school children for nearly a year. I can honestly say this was one of the most rewarding experiences of our lives, resulting in a life-long
friendship with his family. Our soldier made it home safely, but for countless others the outcome is not as positive. These folks
desperately need our help.

You can pick up any newspaper or turn to various news channels and see the plight of our soldiers and their families. As I’ve stated
many times in speeches and interviews…it does not matter what your opinion of the war is – we, as Americans should do our part of
help our service personnel and their families because they are a part of us – no matter what our political views may be. Our soldiers don’
t want to be away from their loved ones any more than we want them to be away.

When I was in college my roommate and I went to visit a wheel chair bound, Vietnam Vet. She was writing a paper on the War and he’d
agreed to be interviewed. I listened to him talk for hours about the war and seeing his buddies injured. Not once did he shed a tear while
talking about his experiences until he got to the part where he came home. When he spoke of the treatment from his fellow Americans
as he got off the plane, how he was spit on and called names…he cried. I’ve never forgotten this soldier.

Last Christmas my husband and I were having dinner out. It was a particular hard time financially for our family. We were conversing on
our plight when we looked over and saw a soldier home on leave. It was then that we focused not on us, but the soldier and what, if any
time he had left to spend with his family. On our way out we stopped, shook his hand and bought his dinner. Seeing this soldier’s smile
was far better than the tears from the Vietnam Vet I had witnessed almost twenty years earlier.

Therefore, when Kathryn Falk, Founder of Romantic Times Magazine approached me with her idea for Support Our Soldiers America,
Inc., I jumped at the chance to volunteer. Our family has donated bulletproof vests and sent books and supplies overseas. We have
taken part in Kathryn’s many benefits including the soldier retreat house and spa in Alvin, Texas.

If your authors would like to help a service person like the ones I’ve mentioned here today…the easiest way would be to hook up with
groups such as Support Our Soldiers America, Inc. You can visit RomanticTimes.com for more information. Even something as simple
as letters from school children puts a smile on some very worthy faces that miss home terribly.

St. Jude Children’s Hospital:

St. Jude Children’s Hospital was an easy choice for our family because of my personal struggles with Lupus, Anti-Phospholipid
Disease, Raynaud’s, Fibromyalgia and strokes.

I’m now 40, but having had these illnesses since early childhood, I’ve really only been plagued with the harshest stages since age 30.
When I look into the eyes of sick children at St. Jude…I can’t imagine being their age having to endure the pain I go through on a daily
basis.

I’ve experienced a great deal of what life has to offer like my first date, going to prom, getting married, having children, traveling, writing
books and meeting wonderful fans…but really how much of that can you do when you are a sick child? Sick children miss out on so
many pleasures we as adults take for granted.

Finally, while St. Jude does wonderful work at an operation cost of $1 million per day, with children plagued with cancer…I was
surprised to learn they also conduct research on auto-immune diseases. It would be my dream to raise enough awareness and money
to aid additional support to this area of the facility.

I pray that someday my story will be told to Montel Williams. His show garners enormous media attention, especially with his personal
story of living with MS and the prescription drug crisis in America. If everything works out the way I hope, maybe in the future, Lupus, MS,
Anti-Phospholipid Disease and other illnesses will become a thing of the past.

The cross-promotion between these charities and my book not only helps me grow a fan base, but allows me to donate much needed
money to these charities. Do you know it takes approximately $1 million/day to operate St. Jude. If my novel can go large scale and help
those kids…I’m there.

5.        Have you done any promotion you’ve regretted? C’mon, let’s hear the horror story.

Really…there is no such thing as bad promotion. Maybe classify it as “less yielding or desirable,” but nothing that I can say that I totally
regret. If you sell one book, that’s one more than you sold before. Probably the biggest thing I regret is seven years ago thinking that I
could do what other well-known authors do and that would be enough…it’s not. You have to make your own way.

6.        IYO, what’s the biggest promo bang for the buck?

This is going to come as a surprise to most of you, but the best promo bang for your buck won’t cost you a dime – just a large amount of
time at first. It’s on the Internet and everyone has heard about it…the “it” is MYSPACE!

I have had so much success with MySpace it has been mind-blowing. The Sonya Kate Childers MySpace site is just shy of 5,000 friends,
growing about 100 new fans per day. With a catchy themed site (done by a talented good friend of mine), combined with my marketing
theme of country music and charitable contributions…the site continues to grow by leaps and bounds, thus resulting in not only book
sales, but life-long friendships. Yes…I’ve developed some really wonderful friends through the site.

7.        When Raelene Gorlinsky told me I'd have to "develop an online presence,” I went straight to the kitchen, made a double batch of
chocolate chip cookies, and ate them. What have you done to get your name out on the web?

After I ate my own batch of cookies, peanut butter, not chocolate chip…I sat in a dark corner and really thought about a strategy and also
consulted with a few friends. I’m embarrassed to say these friends were a lot younger and more computer proficient than I.

However, I managed not only to put together a stellar MySpace site with an incredible network of friends complete with a legion of faithful
marketers, but also began making myself known to libraries, large/independent bookstore chains, review groups, readers, readers
groups, magazines, blogs, blogging groups, internet reader/writer groups and so on. It’s not hard…you just have to devote a lot of time in
the beginning to get to the level where you want to be. Did I mention that you have to devote a tremendous amount of time to get this off
the ground?

8.        Virtual book signing. Is it possible (even for those who don’t write paranormal)? Have you tried it?

I’m not sure what you mean by “virtual book signing,” but whether someone buys an e-book or print book from me, I always try and either
send them a little something that’s been autographed. It’s a little easier to do with a print book because, for example, with my MySpace
friends…I let them order autographed books directly from me or allow them to send books they’ve purchased via Amazon or Borders to
me, then I’ll sign and return them. With e-books, I try and send out autographed flats, magazines or bookmarks so the reader has
something.

9.        What do you do to keep your web site interesting?

I make sure that my websites are DIFFERENT from any other authors. As a new author, it is nearly impossible to separate yourself from
other authors…unless you offer something different and new. Therefore, I like to keep my websites very unique with a lot of “bells and
whistles.”

I also choose to spotlight different readers, readers groups, reviewers and review groups. This helps us cross promote one another by
working together. After all, they work hard for us, taking a little extra time to promote their sites is the least we can do.

Answering e-mails daily or as often as you possibly can…keeps the websites interesting. Readers, reviewers and other authors want to
know what’s going on in your life and with your book. This is hard to keep up with sometimes, but I feel it’s really important and this has
really worked for me.

10.        You've published your e-book – yay! Now, how do you convince Aunt Martha to buy it, even though she's never read an e-book
before? We can all cite the e-book advantages listed on the CP web site, but what do you tell people? Not just Aunt Martha -- we all
know she's going to buy it anyway-- but, say, your hairdresser, who can't help but be interested after you try out your blurb on her?

The biggest argument I get about e-books is from people that say “I’ve been working on a computer all day long and don’t won’t to look
at one when I get home. I just want to curl up on the couch with a good book and forget about the computer screen…” or “That’s too
complicated when I can go to the bookstore and pick up what I want and not have to figure out how to download it.” My answer, “Have you
ever heard of personal reading devices?”

Then I go on to explain the new technology that’s out and that they can still curl up on the couch with a good book and even lay in bed
next to their hubby without having to have a pesky light to read by. The device has it’s own built-in light.

Another good point is that with an e-book you have access to your favorite titles twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and you
NEVER have to trample out in any type of inclement weather to buy one. With the winter we all had last year…this seems to be a good
selling point.

11.        How do you think promoting an e-book is different from a promoting a print book? If your e-book has gone to print, are there
promotional activities you've had to add? Or plan to add?

I don’t see any marketing differences between the two types of books. My marketing plan was developed around both kinds of books. I
thought this would make things easy from a PR and marketing prospective. Also, each reader whether e-book or print would be able to
have the same perks.

12.        How do you know your promotion efforts are doing any good?

What I did was very unique. Going back to my partnership with country entertainer Steve Azar, there was a give-away offered on the back
page of both the e-book and print book for a special CD. The first 5,000 people mailing to me a paid receipt for TIDES OF TIME got in
return a CD recorded by Azar. Because the e-book was released long before the print book, I was able to get a good idea on just how
many people bought the e-book of TIDES OF TIME and was pleasantly surprised.

Finally, I provided addresses wherein both e-book and print book readers could contact me. Through cards, letters and e-mails, this
also gave me a good indication of how many books I’ve been selling.

13.        Do you have any advice for new e-book authors? Anything you wish someone had told you?

The next time you write a book, whether it be an e-book or print, be sure you write your marketing plan into the manuscript. I had a couple
of years to plan ahead and examine what the media was cover. That’s how I developed such a successful marketing campaign that was
unique to me. You have to set yourself apart from the well-established authors and the “easy” authors such as Paris Hilton and Pamela
Anderson. A new author has to develop a style and campaign all their own that touches the readers that is in their specific niche. Once
you can harness this…marketing is a piece of cake.