I've noticed some authors lately saying that Amazon "cancelled" the preorders on their book. (Disclaimer: I have no way of knowing what actually happened, I'm just commenting on what I've seen publicly.)

The way I understand it, this actually cancels all the preorders that had come through before their release date, so authors end up losing out on all that income. What the heck, right?

Tbh, lots of questions went through my head: What is going on? Is this happening a lot? Is this a trend?? SHOULD I BE WORRIED???

Alignment is kind of a buzzword right now. (But that’s not a bad thing. Keep reading to find out why.)

You’ve probably seen a ton of “experts” use it. You’ve maybe even heard them say you need it. And honestly, you do need it, especially as an author.

But what does it mean to be “aligned” — especially on social media, where you probably spend a lot of your time as an author? And why does it even matter when all you want to do is write and sell books?

Let’s break it down.

Live Authentically

Being aligned simply means you’re living your life authentically, as your truest self. Easier said than done, I know! So I’ll go over some tips on how to do it below.

That’s right — Honestly Always You is finally out in the world! This book took me 11 days to draft but over a year to edit (that ratio is pretty standard for me 😂), so seeing it in the wild is just the best.

Keep reading for all the details!

Since my upcoming book comes out SUPER SOON (August 24th, 2021!), let’s talk about the setting of Honestly Always You. It may surprise you!

The Location

You might not know this, but Honestly Always You is set in Orlando, Florida! When I was researching colleges for The Secret of the Codex, the University of Central Florida kept coming up (they have one of the best anthropology programs in the country). So while there is a mention of the theme parks we know and love, the book focuses on Mandy and Justin on and around the UCF campus. (With a Montana cameo. If you’ve read the Codex series, that’ll sound familiar. 😉)

Keep reading for a bunch of inspiration pics so you can really picture the setting for yourself (and some hints at how the pics relate to the story).

So you know you need to market (read: talk about) your book, but you’re not sure what you need in place to actually do it. You need the book marketing essentials, right? The things you can put in place to ensure that getting the word out about your books goes smoothly.

So let’s talk about it! Here is a list of the essentials you’ll need to have (or do) to get your book marketing off on the right foot.

Book Marketing Essentials

Let’s chat about the must-haves of marketing your book. Here are some things you need to either know or have in place before you get started.

Need some online book marketing ideas for your next book launch? Or how about some ideas while you’re still working on the first draft?

You’re in the right place.

No matter where you are in the writing process, you CAN talk about your book online. And you should! The more you talk about it, the better chance readers will have to find it — and fall in love!

Ready? Keep reading for 30 online book marketing ideas you can do RIGHT NOW to tell the world about your amazing book.

That’s right —The Prophecy of the Codex, the second book in the Codex series, is live TODAY!

You can order the ebook here or grab the paperback!

So to celebrate, I thought I’d show you some beautiful inspiration pics and give you the synopsis in images and captions. I even included some snippets from the book! Always feel free to refer back here while you’re reading the book to really immerse yourself in the story.

Enjoy!

Happy Thursday!

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? (If you’re not familiar with it, November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, where thousands of writers around the world attempt to write a novel in the month of November!) If you are, you may be in the midst of Preptober! (Get it? Prep + October?) Well, to get you in the writing mood before November 1st, I’ve got something really fun (and helpful) for you!

This weekend, starting tomorrow, I’m doing a Writing Webinar Blitz: three live webinars in three days. 😱 It’s gonna be so crazy, but with me moving next week (check out that announcement here), I wanted to get them out to you!

Check them out!