Paranormal Romance and Romantic Suspense Author Caridad Pineiro » tuesday tip

Tips for Spending Less

Caridad — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:29:12 +0000

If you’re like me, one of those things on the list of New Year’s resolutions was to spend less. Actually, I had already put that plan into place toward the end of last year with some nice results so the goal is really to continue that savings plan.

How did I manage to cut my spending last year? Well, here’s just a list of some of those things!

1. Brown bag lunch to work. An average lunch in Manhattan is about $6 so at 5 times a week times 48 weeks, that’s a savings of over $1400.

2. Skip the Starbucks and other fancy coffee in the a.m. Hubby now makes me my morning cup for the train and I rely on the office coffee pot for my other morning fix. With a typical latte at around $4 in NYC, that’s a savings of another nearly $1000.

3. Charge everything I spend. I know that sounds awful, but here’s why I do it:

4. Coupons. I always hold onto those Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons and only go when I have several of them handy. I also only go when I absolutely need something, which means my trips are generally geared around holidays, birthdays, etc. I also use online coupon sites such as coupons.com and pgeverydaysolutions.com for weekly specials and since I shop at A&P for my every day items, they have a clipless coupon system connected to my shopping loyalty card. That’s wonderful because if you are like me, you often will forget those coupons at home. Another big thing: Only buy what you would normally use and buy it in reasonable quantities. I read an article the other day that Americans throw out 40% of the food they buy. 40%!!! That’s a huge number.

5. I shop at Costco for the paper goods and other bulk items. I also buy their Kirkland name brand for things like toilet paper and dishwasher detergent. Just as good and generally cheaper.

6. I’ve cut back on dining out and when I do, I try to use restaurant.com certificates or those I’ve purchased at a discount from groupon.com. I also try to frequent local places and they often have online coupons available for discounts on dining.

This year I also plan on brown bagging breakfast to the office. I’ve got a stash of oatmeal and will find a way to make my eggs. Breakfast is important for helping with another New Year’s resolution: Losing weight and eating healthier.

Have you found some other ways to spend less? What will you do with the savings?

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A Tough Time in the Publishing Industry

Caridad — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:04:40 +0000

Everywhere I turn lately there is bad news in the publishing industry.

The NY Times reports that mass market sales have fallen 14% from 2008.

The AAP reported that while e-book trade sales rose, overall sales were down 11% with trade print sales down a whopping 36.5%.

The closing of Borders is surely impacting the market overall. With the loss of 399 locations and layoffs of 11,000 employees, there is certainly the affect on the publishing industry, but also the greater toll on those who may lose their jobs. My heart goes out to all my bookseller friends at Borders who were always so wonderful to me.

Add to all of the above the piracy situation. On a daily basis I get alerts pointing me to sites where my books are being stolen. In the past my practice has been to send the links to the publishers, but with more and more pirated materials, I am sure they are overwhelmed.

I finally took the step to send out my first take down notice to Blogger over a site that not only offered links to my book, but to dozens of other books. Google was quick to respond and the post with my content was taken down, but not the entire blog. Really? One look would have shown that this blogger had link after link after link to pirated materials and yet the blog is still up.

What’s sadder is that after reviewing the policies of many providers, which are compliant with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA ), it’s clear that authors need an easier way to locate offending materials and have them removed from these sites.

The Curtis Agency and E-reads recently announced a program to help combat piracy and it may be worth it to check it out.

Now there are some who say that pirating books actually boost sales. I’m not sure about that. If someone was unwilling to buy a book in the first place, what makes them suddenly decided to pay for a book? The proverbial tiger changing its stripes?

On that note, is all of the above enough to keep me from writing? Nah. I love it too much. But it certainly makes me consider that it’s time to try new things and new ways to share my stories with you.

How do you feel about what’s happening with print/e-books/piracy? I’d love to hear from you!

Photo Credit: Thanks to Intense Whispers Blogspot for the piracy graphic.

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To Blog or Not to Blog…

Caridad — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:12:18 +0000

That is the question. Sometimes it’s damn hard to find something to write about or in which you might be interested. It’s not a problem uncommon to bloggers who regularly write.

I even found an interesting article about IBM’s Blog Muse which helps bloggers get past blogger’s block.

Unfortunately, I understand the system is not readily available to all bloggers.

That means the rest of us will still have to decide whether to blog and what to blog about. Which leads to this question:

What would you like to see me blog about?!

I know you love those luscious men on Wednesdays and the excerpts from myself and friends on Wednesdays, but what about the rest of the time? What things would you like to see?

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To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish, That is the Question.

Caridad — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:03:45 +0000

It’s a brave new world out there in publishing and one of the hottest questions going around is whether writers should skip the traditional channels and self-publish and the question is not just limited to writers who have not been published before. Many traditionally published authors are taking advantage of new technologies in order to either release previously unpublished works or some of their back list titles.

The levels of success run the gamut, from some authors who are selling in the thousands to others who have had mixed results.

As a published author with some back list titles whose rights should revert shortly as well with some new materials I want to explore, there are a variety of options in order to self-publish. I can hire an editor and cover artist and upload the work myself. Or I can choose to pay a flat rate to someone to do that or there are even some agents who are getting into the gig and offering those services for a percentage of sales.

My initial response to the various ways: Maximize the income that’s to come to you by eliminating the middle man. It may be a hit up front for you to pay for editing and/or cover design, but why have someone get a cut of your pie if it’s not absolutely essential?

What if you haven’t been published before? Why would you want to self-publish rather than trying to sell via traditional means?

Today I have with me Dianne Venetta who I had the pleasure to meet as a result of the wonderful Brenda Novak Auction. I’ve asked Dianne here today to discuss her choice to self-publish and I’d love to hear from all of you as to what you think about this brave new world in publishing.

Hi Caridad and thanks for having me as your guest today, discussing the topic of self-publishing! As you and I discussed, this May I decided to brave this wonderful new world of digital books and launched my debut novel, Jennifer’s Garden. It’s a story about a female cardiologist and her quest for the perfect husband (does such a creature exist?) and the lessons she learned along the way to finding him. Easy as the breeze when there’s a sexy man involved, right?

But with no experience, no established audience, no Twitter friends or Facebook fans, one might ask why would I do such a thing?

For the simple reason that I could. Granted this doesn’t tell the whole story, but it does represent the single largest truth regarding self-publishing: without the introduction and subsequent explosion of e-readers, authors like me would never be able to self-publish. Sure I could have hired a company to format, design and print my books, but for a “nobody” like me that would have proved cost prohibitive. Besides, it’s never a good idea to spend boatloads of money without some idea where your customers will come from!

So I did it myself. (I am a do-it-yourselfer type!) I took advantage of the information available on the World Wide Web and went to work deciphering how to format my book correctly, what specs my cover needed to meet not to mention a host of other details. Next I had to expand my network of social contacts and begin the task of marketing and promotion, all while trying to actually sell the book, prepare the release of my second novel and organize my outline for writing the third in this series.

Whew! Anyone else tired? It’s a lot of work sliding down the front side of the learning curve. The good news? At least this bump on my back side is free. Imagine if I had to pay someone? I’d be broke and bruised!

But I’m not. Instead, I’m an indie author who is both willful and hopeful. Now mind you I would never have tried self-publishing if I hadn’t been told I had talent—and by people other than my mother. Editors from large traditionally run houses said my writing was good, I had a great voice, nice story—they just weren’t buying.

And why weren’t they buying? Obviously there were many reasons—not wowed, wooed or moved enough I imagine, but perhaps there was something more. Something I didn’t realize until I attended a workshop a while back. It seems for the last ten years I was trying to sell women’s fiction to romance publishers. Huh? My stories were romantic, they had HEA…who knew there were nuances between genres? Call me a slow learner, but rejection letters don’t come with a set of instructions! They simply state “no thank you” in the politest of terms.

Which is understandable. Agents and editors don’t have a lot of time but I do—gobs of it! And I have energy and drive to boot, two things I’m going to need in excess on this journey because whether you’re self-pubbed or not, a good chunk of the promotional work must come from the author.

Really? You mean I don’t just sign on the dotted line and stroll to the top of the New York Time’s Bestsellers List? Hmph. So much for my overnight smashing success story. But so be it I thought, and slipped on my positive attitude cap and went to work.

“Hello peeps! Calling all FB fans—I want YOU.” (Okay, I need you.) “Care to be a Bloomin’ Warrior? Prefer to be called a Bloomin’ Beauty instead? Great. Have I got the T-shirt for you and all you have to do is spread the word about my books!”

See. Now how difficult was that?

Tons actually, but that’s the reality behind self-publishing. From social networking to marketing and promotion, book signing and selling hard copies, the job of building an audience rests with you; you and your readers. Then, provided you’re a success and everything is working according to plan, you still have to write that next book! Readers have voracious appetites you know, especially romance readers and they’ll expect your next novel, tout de suite.

Ah…our load is heavy but our hearts are light. Exhausted, but light and bright as we shout, “Hold on, it’s coming, it’s coming!”

You see, as an indie author I need my readers more than ever because without them, I do not exist. My books are not sitting on the book shelves of the local bookstore calling out to passersby, “Pick me! Pick me!” They’re not stored away in some online bookstore, pining for that click of a mouse… And they never see the inside of a library (unless carried in by a loyal fan). In truth, without readers my books simply become non-existent. Irrelevant, if you will.

So snap to it and help me get this dream off the ground! Because in the end, after the last page is written, the cover painstakingly chosen and the formatting perfected, this is my most important reason for beginning a career as a self-published author. I’m following a dream, pursuing my passion. If no one else reads my books other than my daughter, I’ll be satisfied. Okay, that’s a lie. I’ll still write them, but I’d rather share them with everyone!

Also, don’t forget the DISCOVER THE LOST release party and contest is still going strong. Leave a comment on this or any of the blogs on my blog tour for a chance to win the grand prize and check out the contest page for additional opportunities to win!

Finally, don’t forget that on August 11 at 9 pm I will be hosting a live video event with Rachel Kramer Bussel. Drop by to discuss OBSESSED, Rachel’s latest erotic romance release and for a chance to win some goodies. We’ll be live and chatting, but also answering any and all questions you may have!

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Guest Blogging on Fitness and Writing

Caridad — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:38:15 +0000

As my regulars know, I’ve had an up and down battle with my weight for some time. I recently lost 30 pounds and am trying to continue on that trend by working out and eating right. It’s more than just about losing weight, however. It’s about being healthier.

My friend, Karen Katchur, is not only a writer, but has a M. Ed. in Health and Physical Education as well as twelve years of experience as a group fitness instructor. I’m blogging with Karen today about fitness and writing, so take a moment to drop by and leave your comments on what you do to try and stay fit. You can click here to visit with us!

Also, please come join the fun on June 9th as Lisa Renee Jones and I dish about what we love in our paranormal heroes, how to make the perfect man and our latest releases. We’ll also have a mess of goodies for you like gift cards, autographed books, t-shirts and more!

Paranormal Romance and Romantic Suspense Author Cgreat free widgetsWidgetboxMore info

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Tuesday Tips for Weight Loss

Caridad — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:51:39 +0000

As some of you may have noticed, I’m back to trying to lose weight and get healthier. Stress and other things made my weight balloon upwards to its own area code. So shortly after the New Year, I began a campaign to change my lifestyle by becoming more active and eating healthier foods. As of this morning, I’ve lost 30 pounds.

Yep, thirty (30) pounds and I’m very excited about that. I’m also excited by the fact that the way I am eating and working out now seems sustainable, which is the key to keeping off the weight. After all, it’s not about a diet, it’s about a lifestyle that you can keep up.

You’re probably asking what I’ve been doing? For starters I try to be more active every day. I’ve started wearing a pedometer and strive to reach 10,000 paces each day, not including my workout regimen.

That means walking to and from my office and getting up once an hour to move about. With the weather getting nicer, sis and I have even started taking a short walk at lunch hour.

I try to work out 5 to 7 times a week for about half an hour a session. I mix up doing cardio with weight training. The weights are important because they help strengthen your muscles and muscles have a higher metabolism than fat which means that you are regularly burning more calories to sustain that higher muscle mass.

Plus who doesn’t like sleek toned arms and legs? Here are some simple exercises you can even do at home to tone your arms!

What have I changed in my diet? Well my favorite food group – bread, rice and pasta (LOL!) is virtually gone. I try to limit those to once or twice a week. When I do have either bread or pasta, I make sure it’s whole grain bread or pasta. As for rice, I’ve substituted quinoa. I’ve even made a tasty Chinese fried rice by substituting the pre-cooked quinoa for the rice. Have also made something similar to a tabouleh salad with this grain. You can check out more recipes here.

We still eat beef, pork and chicken, but in smaller portions and I’ve also started eating a lot more shrimp and eggs. Both are high in protein and low in calories (but watch the cholesterol if you have problems with that).

As sides to all our meals – a big salad and more vegetables. Lots more. The key is to have lots of high volume foods with low calories. Greens of all kinds make wonderful side dishes or even a once a week vegetarian meal. Cook up some collard greens or kale with onions and mushrooms, add some chicken broth and cannellini beans, top with some chopped tomatoes and you’ve got a very filling and low calorie soup. You can even add some cheese to the mix for added protein. There are lots of nice lower fat cheeses out there now and we regularly put cheese in our salads as well.

As for dessert, we’re eating a lot more fruit and snacking on cashews and chocolate covered raisins.

Where do I go from here? Well, I’m going to keep on eating healthier and working out. My goal is to lose another 10 pounds by the RWA National Conference at the end of June. I try to set those goals in reasonable amounts because there is nothing worse than setting yourself up for failure by being unrealistic.

If you’re in the same boat as I am, I hope these tips help you! If you’ve found some good things to get healthier, please share them with us by leaving them in the comment area.

Finally, our Danger Women Writing Contest and Guest Blog continues with a visit from the RomCon folks and a giveaway of tickets to this year’s convention. Drop by the blog later and leave a comment for a chance to win!

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Einstein’s Theory of Insanity

Caridad — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:08:07 +0000

Albert Einstein was quoted as saying:

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

As I consider this very simple of Theory of Insanity which requires no advanced degree, abacus, slide rule or computer, it confounds me that I seem not to grasp the principle. In thinking about my life lately, I realize that there are certain things that I have been doing over and over, always expecting that somehow I’ll have a more favorable outcome.

But Einstein was right. Do the same thing. Get the same result. Always.

“So what to do?” I ask myself. Shake things up somehow? Try something different? I’m conservative by nature, so rocking the boat is not normally my thing, unless injustice is involved. I can’t stand to see people abuse power.

“So where shall I start making changes in my life?” I ask myself yet again this very cold not yet Spring morning.

Let’s start with the writing gig. So many changes are happening in the industry so quickly. The supposedly tried and true way of climbing the publishing ladder – the NYC print publishers – are taking a bit of a rocking lately with book store issues and the defection of writers like Barry Eisler to indie publishing.

Not that I recommend that approach to those who have not been previously published. Eisler had an established following, something which the average unpublished writer does not and before someone tosses out the Amanda Hocking story, just remember that for every Amanda Hocking there are thousands of writers who spend thousands of dollars self-publishing and get nowhere. Hocking is to be admired for her perseverance and determination, but ultimately she chose a six figure deal with a NYC publisher so that she could write instead of being a promotion machine.

But in the case of a published author, is the now titled “indie” publishing a viable option? And if it is, what is the price point for an indie book?

Would you spend 99 cents on such a novel? If you liked the work, would you then make the jump to pay $5 or $6 or even $8 dollars for the next work by that author.

I’d love to hear your thoughts as this writer considers breaking free from Einstein’s Theory of Insanity.

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Saving Money in Today’s Tight Economy

Caridad — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 12:59:57 +0000

I was in a shop a few months back and it had a cute little collection of hand-painted inspirational plaques. One of them caught my eye because it firmly invoked a belief I have. It said:

The most important things in life are not things.

Turns out it’s a quote from Anthony J. D’Angelo who is the founder of The Collegiate Empowerment Company.

While I used to collect a lot of things, I’ve discovered in recent years that some things are not only a waste of money, but create lots and lots of clutter. Which is why I’ve been trying to declutter my life lately. It’s worked in a number of spots. Sadly not in my office which requires a major clean out.

But having said that, when I need some thing, I’m mindful to check out prices to make sure I’m getting the most bang for my buck. Here are some of the places I’ve found useful for that:

These places help you compare prices:

These places deliver daily deals and coupons:

Groupon
RueLaLa
Gilt Groupe
Target Daily Deals (usually include free shipping!)

Hope these sites help you make the most of your money!

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Increasing Backlinks to Increase Website Traffic

Caridad — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:46:59 +0000

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts will tell you that one of the most important things you can do to increase website traffic and improve search engine listings is to increase the number of backlinks to your website.

What is a backlink? Backlinks are incoming links to a website. Backlinks are also one way that Google determines PageRank in order to assess the popularity of a website. (Did you know Page is actually the name of Larry Page, the inventor of the ranking algorithm?)

Wondering how your website ranks and how many backlinks there are to it? Click here for a nice backlink checker that also provides a ton of other info.

So how can you boost backlinks?

1. Exchange links to your website with others. List them on your links page in exchange for them linking to you. If you’ve got a book/author/writing related website to share, leave a comment with it and I’ll add you if you’ll add me!

2. Article submissions. Writing articles in your area of expertise or about topics of interest are a great way to create backlinks. E-zine Articles is a great way to do this. You can check out some of my articles by clicking here.

3. Social sites (Facebook, Twitter and Myspace) and social bookmarking are also great ways to create backlinks and it doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Applications like Hootsuite and sites like Ping.fm allow you to propogate multiple sites. Make sure to bookmark important pages on your site to Digg, Delicious and Stumbleupon, but also remember that “social” bookmarking is about being “social”. Share fun and interesting links as well via these sites.

4. Video submission sites are another manner in which to generate backlinks to your site and your uploaded videos.

5. Get listed at the various search directories like dmoz.org, Alexa, Google, Bing and Yahoo. This will assist in making sure that these search engines spider your site. This will help boost where you appear in their listings.

6. Guest blogs and comments on blogs also help create backlinks to your site. While every blog/website has a different method for leaving comments, try to use choose the method that allows you to leave your name and URL.

I will leave you with those tips for now, but I also invite you to drop by later today and visit with me at the Carina Press blog where I will be chatting about AZTEC GOLD and what inspired the story, including my own personal fear which influenced the herione’s character.

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Cheese Puff Olive Appetizers

Caridad — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:50:05 +0000

This weekend we had our holiday party at the fabulous Liberty States Fiction Writers and there were so many wonderful treats that the members brought to share with friends.

My friend and fellow author, Chris Redding, baked these tasty cheese puffs and has been nice enough to share the recipe with me! So here goes:

Ingedients:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

2. In a small bowl, mix together cheese, butter, flour and Worcestershire sauce. Knead the dough. Pinch the dough into small balls, flatten them in the palm of your hand, then roll each circle of dough around one olive. Arrange the wrapped olives on the cookie sheet.

3. Bake for 15 minutes until lightly brown.

Now just a hint to keep these light and flaky. You may want to first use a pastry blender to mix the flour and butter before adding the cheese and Worcestershire sauce. Also when kneading the dough, don’t work it too much or it will get hard.

Chris’s cheese puffs were flaky and totally delicious!! When not heating up the kitchen, Chris is firing things up with her new romantic suspense release, INCENDIARY, from Sinful Moments Press, a division of Lachesis Books. INCENDIARY hits shelves tomorrow, December 15.

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