Introducing, Emma Jackson.

This week I’m thrilled to be able to introduce you to Essex Life Magazine’s book reviewer, Emma Jackson. I thought it would be really interesting to find out more about how she chooses books to review, what the pressures of her job are and what surprises her about the books she’s sent to read. I’ve been lucky enough to have two of my most recent books reviewed in this wonderfully glossy and popular magazine, so I asked Emma if she could share some insights with other authors, to help with their writing journey.

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1-How did you become a book reviewer for a magazine?

I was very lucky when I became a book reviewer, I had emailed a few magazines and the Essex Life was one that got in touch and I’ve been doing it for about four months.

 

2- What are the biggest pressures you face in your job?  

The biggest pressures I have in my job is reading and reviewing three books in a month as well as holding down a full time job and doing my coursework!

 

3- Do you have to read genres you don’t enjoy?

I’ve actually been lucky with the genres as I’m happy to read anything. I struggle more with history but I’ll still give it a go.

 

4- What makes a book stand out to you?

The books that stand out for me is when the front cover catches my eye with the captions on them, it gets my attention and and I’m instantly intrigued with the book.

 

5- What would make you put a book down and stop reading it?

The only things that make me want to put a book down is if it’s slow pacing and doesn’t flow, or if it’s got too much swearing in it. I know sometimes it’s if a character is portrayed that way and I understand that bit if it’s for the sake of it I’ll put it down. 

 

6- Have you got any tips for other writers for submissions to magazines? 

When you submit your submissions to a magazine, my tips are to write it and leave it for a couple of days, then go back to it and do the finalizing. Make sure that the guidelines, word count and genre etc are what they’ve asked for. 

 

7- How do you find time for other writing projects?

Finding time for my other writing projects is a nightmare! Though I did get told to spread my work out a bit and to set an alarm so I’m not over doing it.

 

8- What are your plans for your future writing career?

My plans for my future writing career would be to write and sell my own book/books and to carry on book reviewing.

 

9- Have you ever been really surprised by a book?

I’ve been surprised by many books but the ones that surprise me the most seem to be rom-coms as I’m not a particular big fan of them. 

 

10- What qualities do you look for an author to be showcased in a magazine? 

The qualities I look for in an Author to be showcased in a magazine is someone who is genuine, friendly and approachable. 

Not only do the book reviews Emma writes go in The Essex Life Magazine, but  she very kindly puts them on her Facebook page which is called Loulousbookpage. They also go on goodreads and Amazon. You can also find Emma on Twitter: Emma-Lou @loulousbookpage

BookLove.

There has been so much in the news recently about reviews, if they are genuine, if they are necessary, if they are too time consuming to bother with! From the point of view of an avid reader and author, I love reviews. As a reader, I check reviews out to see what others have thought of a book before I buy it. As an author, if someone takes the time to tell me that they love my work and that my words have made them feel such emotion that they have either laughed so much that they almost forgot to put their baby to bed, or cried as they were touched by what a character has gone through, then that brings tears of happiness to my eyes and makes the hard work of bringing a book to publication worth all of the effort involved.

Here are some of my favourite reads from my kindle at the moment. I have read and reviewed all of them. Click the book covers to go to their Amazon pages.

Forest Dancer - Susan Roebuck  The Alternative BOOK COVER PERFECT AND READY TO GO.  23795601_10155733805585761_2671210338236614755_n

Microsoft Word - Natalie Ducey..docx  Awen 2  All This Time by Kim Cox

 

Here are a few of the reviews for my books recently:

If you love me, I’m yours.

‘Nobody writes like Lizzie Chantree. If You Love Me, I’m Yours is another total triumph. The author effortlessly pulls together a colourful, eclectic and unforgettable cast, frames them in the exciting world of art, and weaves another wonderful story. A brilliant example of contemporary romance packed with depth, edge – and life lessons.’

—–

‘I was attracted to the book by the description of three friends with issues to address and the pretty cover – and I’m not a lover of the colour pink normally!

What a lovely, well-written, funny, romantic tale about the life-changing decisions each character needs to make to bring happiness and fulfilment. Reading about Maud’s parents lack of encouragement for what she really wanted to do in life, struck a chord with me. I felt rather sad for her, as she must have been crushed as a child, and continued to be controlled by her mother, who dictated everything from how she must dress to what type of man she should date, and who was still constantly disappointed that Maud was not ‘perfect’. Is it any wonder she has low self-esteem and does not believe in her own ability?

I loved the quirky Dot, whose need to fit in with her own family, makes her present herself in an over-the-top, ridiculous way. The polar opposite of Maud. These two needed each other’s friendship to instil confidence and find balance, in order to reveal their true selves. And of course a little romance doesn’t hurt. Bring on the men, who also have issues to overcome before they can be truly happy.’

I really enjoyed reading this book, and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a contemporary romance.’

 

Ninja School Mum:

‘Lizzie Chantree’s books are like fine wines – they just keep on getting better! As always the main characters fizz and entrance, with underdogs and divas, harassed hunks and devilishly attractive but flawed rogues… The espionage aspect helps the seemingly workaday schoolyard environment along famously with catty cliques and beastly little brats, as well as adorable, yet still edgy kids.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading one of Lizzie’s books yet – treat yourself! She gives Jilly Cooper a run for your money in the racey stakes, coupled with the knowing charm of Jane Austen, in hilarious settings with characters that show contemporary chick-lit romances can hold their own when it comes to ballsy, brash behaviour!’

—–

‘Now I will fully admit I don’t usually read a book unless it contains a vampire, shifter or the fay. Well I loved this book it is beautifully written and you really feel an insight into the lives of these women. It is well paced and a great read xxx loved it xx’

—–

‘I LOVED this book!!

It was brilliant, so well written and heaps of fun! The plot is great and I nearly woke the baby up laughing when I was reading it in bed – such a brilliant pick me up for when you are feeing down. Skye is a brilliant character!

It has ups and downs and takes you through a wide range of emotions to give an excellent all round story – no hesitation in giving it 5 stars!!’

 

 

 

 

 

Good reviews.

I thought I’d write a post on the importance of reviews. We all get bombarded with requests for reviews from practically every service we use, or anything we buy. It can be quite annoying, but the way people buy things has changed. Most of us check the reviews on a product or service before we buy. We don’t know the reviewer, but we often listen to what they have to say.

For an author, one of the best ways to make your work more widely recognised, is to have lots of lovely reviews. Peer recommendations are by far the most popular way for people to try new books. If you love a read and post a review on Litsy, Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook and Pinterest or LinkedIn, then that is a strong indicator that it’s something you feel your friends or colleagues might enjoy too.

As an author of romance books, I write them to make people smile. Having a reader send out a tweet or post on Litsy like the ones below, makes me want to rush to my computer and keep writing. It means so much to have readers tell others that they loved the story and when they post it online and let me know, I then share it with my followers on Twitter @Lizzie_Chantree and across social media too. Once an author has over 30 reviews, Amazon shares it to a bigger audience. Over 40 and the 50+ reviews and it goes much further, so by posting those reviews and sharing your thoughts, you are actually a very big part of an author’s journey and are helping them to be able to write more books.

 

3 tips for posting reviews:

  1. Don’t forget to not only post your review on Amazon.co.uk, but to copy and paste it to Amazon.com and to other countries Amazon is registered in.
  2. Share your reviews on social media and notify the author, so that they can share the review too. They might feature you on their blog or Facebook etc and give your own blog/page a shout out, like I’m doing for the wonderful reader here (I hope she doesn’t mind!). If you like reading, join up to Litsy and give her a follow there, as she posts some fabulous news about books.
  3. Reviews don’t have to be very long. A couple of sentences that take minutes to write are enough. Using keyword like romance, or humour, for a romance novel helps other readers find the review.

5 star review!

I was thrilled to see my book, Ninja School Mum given a 5 star review on author, Suzanne Burke’s website. It is such an amazing feeling to find out that you have made someone smile and that they have enjoyed your work. Not only that, but Ninja School Mum was on six of Amazon’s best sellers lists today! A big thank you to everyone, like Suzanne, who are sharing posts and telling others they have enjoyed the read. It really helps other book lovers find my stories and means a lot to me.

Check out the full post here: 

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Litsy.

Hello everyone. Happy new week. I’m working with my publisher on the cover design for my latest book this week, as well as beginning a completely new manuscript, which is exciting but oh so daunting!

I have just joined a readers and authors group called Litsy. Fellow authors told me about it and I would highly recommend it to people who love books. It is a community where people express their opinions on their latest reads, chat to authors and talk to each other about what they love or don’t like about their current reads. They post pictures of books and bookshops, which is like candy to an avid reader and they are so welcoming. It is a phone app and not available on computers. This is what Litsy says:

 

Where books make friends.

Litsy is a place to share and discover your favorite books with your favorite people.

The Litsy community is a groundswell of passionate readers, authors, celebrities, and more. Share bookish moments with Quotes, Reviews, and Blurbs. Measure Litfluenceto discover your “bookprint” in the world. Explore recommendations from readers, not algorithms.

Oh yeah, want to organize your reading list? Our app has stacks for that, too.

It’s fun.  It’s simple.  It’s all about the book.

 

The people registered there are called Littens and they are so supportive of writers and anyone who is really passionate about reading. I set my account up two weeks ago and have already talked to lots of book lovers there. My account is Lizzie Chantree if anyone wants to pop by and say hello.

The day after launch.

I finally launched my latest book with my first ever Facebook party last night. I had 86 guests and seven prize winners. It was so much fun and the party over ran and lasted three hours!

I ran a competition for readers to post a picture of their copy of Ninja School Mum and had great response and saw some photos I will cherish. Some of the photos are below.

I have now changed my launch page on Facebook to a team networking group for creatives. Join in if you’d like to. We will all be talking about new marketing ideas for our work. There are just under 300 members so far, so it’s a great place to chat about your ideas.

Today I am also very excited to have been invited back to the blog of wonderful author and amazing supporter of others, Jan Hawke. Jan has read and reviewed Ninja School Mum and the review almost made me cry happy tears! Check out Jan’s blog post and review here.

Isabella Ninja pic  Marje. Ninja Pic  Louise Ninja Pic  FullSizeRender-6.jpg  FullSizeRender-8  FullSizeRender-15

Day 2. Blog Tour. Ninja School Mum.

Today’s stop on my blog tour is with author Alice Castle and her wonderful blog. We talk about invention, first jobs and being a romantic!

Check out Alice’s post for my blog tour here: http://www.dulwichdivorcee.com/meet-the-author-lizzie-chantree/

 

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Meet Thea, one of my main characters in Ninja School Mum. She is a new mum and looks after her niece for her bossy sister during the school day. She feels very overlooked by her family and although she used to have a responsible job, she now finds it hard to remember a time when anyone actually noticed her at all.

Just before a book goes live…

Women dancing

It’s exciting times here, as my latest novel is being published by Crooked Cat Books in Jan 2018 and it has just gone on pre-order. I have never had a book with pre-orders before, so it’s another learning curve for me. Seeing the book available makes me jump around the room, but I have had to send many responses to people who have not bought a book this way before and don’t realise that it still means the book is delivered on the release date, wirelessly for an ebook, or through the post for a paperback.

What has astounded me, is how nerve-racking it is to have a book on pre-order. The book still has Amazon rankings and you are on the edge of your seat to see if anyone likes the book blurb enough, to give a new story a try and then hopefully leave a review at the end for others to discover the book. I’ve said this before, but leaving a review for a book you’ve enjoyed is like handing an author a rainbow. Novels can take months or years to write and a few words of kindness in return can send authors dancing in the street and hugging strangers! Maybe that’s just me?

I’d love to hear how you all found having books up for pre-order. Was it great fun, or a whole heap of stress?

Here is the blurb for my new book Ninja School Mum. Let me know what you think. The story is about a single mum who has forgotten how strong she is, but she’s never come up against anything as tough as playground gossip at her son’s school and the hierarchy of the other school mums!

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Book blurb: 

Obsessive-compulsive school mum, Skye, is a lonely elite spy, who is running from her past whilst trying to protect the future of her child. She tries hard to fit in with the other parents at her son’s new school, but the only person who accepts her unconventional way of life is new mother, Thea.

Thea is feeling harassed by her sister and bored with her life, but she suspects that there is something strange about the new school mum, Skye. Thea has secrets of her own and, although the two become unlikely friends, she hesitates to tell Skye about the father of her own child.

Zack’s new business is growing faster than he could have dreamed but, suddenly, he finds himself the owner of a crumbling estate on the edge of a pretty village, and a single parent to a very demanding child. Could he make a go of things and give his daughter the life she deserved?

When three lives collide, it appears that only one of them is who they seem to be, and you never know who the person next to you in the school playground really is.

Book link: Click here:)

 

 

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