I Learned a lot at My Writer's Retreat

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Last weekend was my semiannual Women's Writers' Retreat at a campground in rural Missouri. It was probably the most educational retreat to date.

If you're a regular Ozarks Maven reader, you know I have a new steamy paranormal romantic suspense novel, Sally's Secret Legacy, being released on September 20, 2023. Promotion is a subject with which I've often struggled.

With time to dedicate to my writing and everything that goes with it, I decided to create some ads on BookBrush and Canva. I only have the free accounts for each one, so my access is limited. I figured out how to create a nice ad on BookBrush and then upload it to Canva to add text. If there's a way to add text on BookBrush, I couldn't figure it out.

This first ad came out really nice. As you can see, Sally's Secret Legacy e-book is available for pre-order until September 20, 2023 for only $1.99.

In the midst of creating some nice ads, one of my Ozarks Maven readers told me she hasn't been receiving any of my emails. That sparked a deep dive into my website that lasted several hours and accomplished next to nothing. I finally figured out that her email account doesn't like my email account, but it will accept messages from one of my other accounts. It will be a tiny bit of extra work, but I can certainly email my blog posts to her from the other account.

After I figured that out, I tried to add a link to website for my new book. That didn't work out very well at all. I ended up watching several Wix tutorials to try to figure out how to do that. After a great deal of research, I figured out how to add and move things around on my website. I'm pretty excited with the result. Please feel free to check it out at https://www.margaritestever.com/.

I couldn't leave Moonbeams and Ashes out, so I created an ad for my first book, too.

Then I had the idea that I should decorate my book tables at my upcoming signings with wolves because Sally's love interest is a werewolf. That meant falling down an Amazon rabbit hole in search of adorable wolf decor.

Oh, I could spend days shopping for that wolfy stuff! The funny thing is that I didn't buy any wolves over the weekend because I want to check out my local flea market, Rangeline Antiques first. They usually have some beautiful wildlife figurines there.

To celebrate my new book release, I have two public book signings scheduled so far. I will be signing books on October 7, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at The Joplin Writers' Faire being held at Joplin Public Library in Joplin, Missouri and Always Buying Books in Joplin, Missouri on October 21, 2023 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

I would love to see you at one of my book signings, even if it's just to say hi.

Here's another ad I made. I can't figure out why it's blurry, but I really like it. I may try with this design again.

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