Angel Killer Blog Tour: Guest Post and Giveaway with PJ Nunn

Hi, everyone!

I am pleased to participate in  PJ Nunn's Angel Killer Blog Tour hosted by Pump Up Your Book.

About PJ:

As with most things, PJ Nunn's career started out as something else entirely. She started out in retail then moved to property management. That led to teaching high school, then serving as a counselor and liaison to the local police youth services division. She also spent five years as chairperson of the Coryell County Child Welfare Board and spent years counseling abuse victims and serving law enforcement as a trauma counselor and consultant (something she still does today). When she moved to Dallas, a family illness caused her to leave a job teaching psychology at Dallas County Community College District to become a freelance writer, but found that a few favors she was doing for friends—writing press releases and setting up book signings—was better suited to her talents and her drives.

In 1998, she founded BreakThrough Promotions, now a national public relations firm helping authors, mostly of mystery novels, publicize themselves and their work. The business is thriving and PJ is excited about the release of her first novel, Angel Killer. PJ lives with her husband some of their five children near Dallas, TX.

CONNECT WITH PJ ONLINE: 

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Welcome to Darlene's Book Nook, PJ!

PJ has written a guest post, so I will now turn the floor over to her.

People Don't Buy Your Book Because It's Good
By PJ Nunn

Have you ever really thought about that? They might buy it because they’ve heard it’s good. But what does that really mean?

I’ve been a book publicist for more than fifteen years and have literally represented thousands of titles over the years. Some are out of print, some won the biggest awards and most fall somewhere in between. Still, I learned a long time ago that I don’t have to read a book to be able to sell it, contrary to popular belief. Why not? Because people don’t buy books based on what they find inside the book. We think if the author has talent and the book is good, it will sell. But seriously – why do we buy books?

We might buy a book because –

· It’s by an author we know

· We like the cover

· We like the title

· Somebody told us we’d like it

· We liked its prequel

· It’s on sale

· We read a review that was positive

· We like the topic

· We like police drama, or serial killers, or beach romance or whatever

· Another author we like gave it a blurb

The point is – the only way we’d know the book was good would be if we’d already read the book. Few people buy books they’ve already read. So it’s really important for us as authors to understand this and make sure that we are providing our potential readers with as many reasons to buy our book as we can.

How do we do that? Make sure the book description on the cover, on Amazon, Goodreads, our promo material and wherever else is text that really communicates not just facts but atmosphere of the story. Does it tell too much? Does it make you want to read more?

Don’t tell people how good it is, show them. Sometimes an excerpt or short scene is a better salesperson than a description. Use your text wisely.

If you’re making good use of Facebook pages and blog space, keep your voice true. For instance, I have two books out right now and they are from two different series. One is humorous and kind of campy. It’s written in first person and the protagonist has a sharp, sarcastic wit. The other is more serious, a little more hardboiled and the protagonist is a psychologist so there’s more thought taking place. If I’m promoting Private Spies, I’ll probably write in first person and keep the voice light and hopefully funny. If readers respond to that voice, they’ll like the book. But if they like that voice and pick up Angel Killer instead, it’s so different it may not appeal to them at all.

Personally I like both, but different moods are for different times. Do you have some ideas to share about what provokes you to buy a book?

Thanks so much for joining us today, PJ! 




One lucky winner will win a digital copy of PJ's mystery, Angel Killer.

Title: Angel Killer
Author: PJ Nunn
Paperback: 286 pp.
Publisher: Dark Oak Mysteries
ISBN: 978-1610090797

The death of a child is every mother’s nightmare. But what if the child has no mother? What if their little bodies are discarded like garbage and no one even seems to care that they’re gone?

Shari Markham, psychologist for the Dallas Police Department, knows what it feels like to be unclaimed and unwanted. She can’t turn away, even if it means demons dancing in her dreams at night. But when her relentless pursuit of information to help apprehend this madman gets a little too close, he turns the tables, warning her that his next scheduled victim will be her own three-year-old granddaughter, Angel!

Buy Link:
AMAZON

Book Excerpt:

Fog swirled around her, transforming everything into vague shapes and blurs. A small sigh escaped her as Shari parked her mocha Taurus next to the Grand Prairie squad car and got out. The sudden loss of heat prompted her to pull the front of her jacket closed against the damp air. Texas was never this cold in November. Sleep had been elusive. She’d just settled in when the jangling of the phone chased away warm, fuzzy dreams and replaced them with harsh, cold reality. Now the distant sound of thunder matched her mood and didn’t bode well for the crime scene. The sky, a creepy morning shadow with no delineation, met the ground while a fine mist settled on her without a single, discernible drop. Shari slammed the door and walked across the grass toward the officer securing the scene.

After more than a year as criminal profiler for the Dallas Police Department, she wondered if the time would ever come when she’d accept these early morning wakeup calls as typical rather than feeling as if she’d been thrown into a tornado. Emotional autopilot would kick in any minute though, separating her from the horrors to come and allowing her to function within the safe realm of clinical objectivity. At least that’s how it worked in theory.

“Morning,” she greeted the uniformed officer as he walked toward her, headed back to his squad car. He didn’t look any more cheerful than she felt. Nobody liked to work crimes against children.

 
To enter the giveaway, please complete the Rafflecopter entry form below.

This giveaway is open worldwide and will close at 12:00 AM 
on August 16, 2013.

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Tour Participants

Monday, August 5 – Book Featured at Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews

Tuesday, August 6 – Book Review at Miki’s Hope

Wednesday, August 7 – Character Guest Post at Moonlight Lace & Mayhem

Wednesday, August 7 – Book Review at The Self-Taught Cook

Thursday, August 8 – Guest Blogging at Inside BJ’s Head

Friday, August 9 – Guest Blogging & Book Giveaway at Darlene’s Book Nook

Friday, August 9 – Book Feature at Tales of a Book Addict

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Monday, August 12 – Book Review at Mary’s Cup of Tea

Thursday, August 15 – Book Review at My Cozie Corner

Friday, August 16 – Character Guest Post at Books R Us

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Monday, August 19 – Book Featured at Books R Us

Wednesday, August 21 – Book Featured at Confessions of a Reader

Thursday, August 22 – Guest Blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner

Friday, August 23 – Book Review at Literary Winner

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Wednesday, August 28 – Book Review & Guest Blogging at Jersey Girl Book Reviews

Thursday, August 29 – Book Review at A Room Without Books is Empty

Friday, August 30 – Book Review, Interview & Character Guest Post at Melina’s Book Blog

Friday, August 30 – Guest Blogging at Read 2 Review