Today I have a guest post as part of the blog tour for Not Myself Today, organised by Rachel’s Random Resources.
Before Muriel’s post, here’s what the book is about…
High school soccer star Lindsey Anderson was at the top of her game with graduation approaching and a full-ride soccer scholarship offer in her hand. Then she dropped dead on the soccer field, only to wake up in the body of a teenage sex-trafficking victim. No one believes who she really is. Not even her dad. Chased by her new body’s drug-dealing pimp and rabid parapsychologists out to dissect her, Lindsey searches to get her body and her life back before graduation day. Can her BFF and the high school nerdy boy she detests help save her life?
Purchase Links ~ Black Rose Writing | Amazon UK | Amazon US
Giveaway
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*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
Knowing Who to, How to, and Where to Market Your Book
By Muriel Ellis Pritchett
I write women’s fiction. Specifically, I write fun books about feisty older women who have been wronged and have to pull themselves up out of the muck—often getting a bit of revenge in the process. With a fan base of older women readers, I know how to market my books to them on social media. I reach many readers on Facebook through Muriel’s Fiction for Women.
My third book, Rotten Bananas and the Emerald Dream—released November 2019—is about three women living in the Villas at Kensington Grove retirement community. At the Villas, they have the best of everything; the Villas is the perfect place to live. Yet something is missing—excitement and adventure. So, they sign up for a Caribbean cruise and cross paths with a stowaway, smugglers, an assassin, a hunky spy, and kidnappers.
I researched retirement communities for nine months and interviewed dozens of residents, whose funny stories on living in a retirement community brought my book to life. Where did I do my big book launch? In a local retirement community. Sixty or seventy seniors showed up to hear me speak and buy copies of my book afterwards. And because my book was banana-themed, their chef made and served Bananas Foster to everyone.
Before I put together a plan to market my YA paranormal, Not Myself Today, I needed to know who my readers would be. Because Not Myself Today is a dark read—Freaky Friday meets Stephen King—I worried about marketing it to young high school teens. I talked to young teens and their mothers, and asked them to read Not Myself Today. What did they think of my book? Was it too dark for young teens? Did they feel uncomfortable reading about a 14-year-old sex trafficking victim? Would they recommend it to other teen readers?
Another deciding factor on how to market my Not Myself Today was reading reviews after the book went live on NetGalley. Below are quotes from early reviews that came in from librarians, media specialists, and high school teachers:
“This was an interesting twist on the body swapping theme, with the main character waking up in the body of a sex trafficking victim. That definitely took the concept in a dark direction. This book is not a lighthearted tale of mixed up identities, but rather a suspenseful tale that deals with drug dealers and prostitution… I’m guessing (hoping) that there is going to be a sequel.” —High School Librarian
“Not Myself Today is a book that should be in every high school library. Despite the supernatural elements, it touches on and covers subjects that are very relevant to society today.”—Media Specialist
“Not Myself Today is like a mix of a thriller and Freaky Friday… I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed Not Myself Today. I was pulled in from the beginning. The book discusses an important issue, sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is not the main plot of the story, so it is brought up in a way that is not overwhelming, but enough to get the point across how serious of an issue it is in the United States.”
—Goodreads Reviewer
Based on the reviews and on results of interviews with high school teens, we decided it was safe to market Not Myself Today to high school teens and to young adults. But how would we reach our target readers during a pandemic? Where high school teens and young adults hang out—on social media.
My PR/marketing team and I started working social media very hard on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. My book and I will be featured in the September issue of Uncaged Book Reviews. In addition to experiencing my first book blog tour with Rachel’s Random Resources, I’m looking at virtual book launches, book signings, and book clubs. And my daughters, who insisted that I write a book that they would read—meaning fantasy or paranormal—have offered to promote Not Myself Today to their friends on their own social media.
About the Author
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Muriel Ellis Pritchett graduated from the University of Georgia and began her journalism career while living in Japan and Germany. Her journalism career included playwriting, editing and writing for magazines and newspapers, and working in public relations, university relations, and media relations.
After retiring, Muriel’s family doctor recommended she get a hobby. So, she began writing fun fiction about feisty older women who had been wronged and had to pull themselves up out of the muck. But her award-winning fourth book, Not Myself Today, is a change in genres—a YA paranormal thriller. It is scheduled for release September 24, 2020. Her first three “fruity” books, fun romance for older women, are Making Lemonade, Like Peaches and Pickles, and Rotten Bananas and the Emerald Dream. She is currently working on another “fruity” book, titled Sour Grapes and Balmy Knight.
When not writing, Muriel loves cruising all over the world, eating good Belgian chocolate, and spending time in any Disney park. Her favorite Disney attractions are SOARING at Disney World’s EPCOT in Florida, Alice’s Curious Labyrinth at Disneyland Paris, Journey to the Center of the Earth at DisneySeas in Tokyo, and Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland in California.
Social Media Links ~ Facebook | Twitter | Website | Instagram
betweenthelinesbookblog.com 
This sounds intriguing, Cathy. Waking up in the body of a sex trafficking victim would be very bad.
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It definitely would, Robbie
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