Blogging at Write2Ignite!

I'm a guest blogger today over at Write2Ignite! You'll find tips to help you stick to your writing goals. Hope you'll stop by at http://write2ignite.com/2014/12/30/tips-to-stick-with-your-writing-goals/

Blogging at Write2Ignite!

Today I am blogging about being thankful for the gift of words over at Write2Ignite! Hope you'll visit at http://write2ignite.com/2014/11/26/being-thankful-for-the-gift-words/

Blogging Today at Write2Ignite

Today I am blogging at Write2Ignite. My topic is avoiding burn out. You can read the article at http://write2ignite.com/2014/08/06/avoiding-burn-out/

Guest Blogging Today at the Revamped Hot Author Report

My chum, Jamie, in Australia revamped her blog recently and allowed me to write a guest post titled, "Five Things You Didn't Know About Author C.C. Gevry." You can find it at http://www.hotauthorreport.com/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-author-c-c-gevry/

You'll also find our interview at http://www.hotauthorreport.com/interview-with-author-c-c-gevry/

Hope you'll stop by and pay us a visit.

Guest Blogging at Book Beat Babes

I was approached to guest blog at Book Beat Babes this month. Since the topic of pen names is very much on my mind right now, I decided to talk about why my decision to use a nom de plume didn't work and why I'm having A Christmas Kindness reformatted with my actual name. The article also includes a link to an article by Janet Kobobel Grant, founder of Books & Such Literary Management, who wrote an excellent article about pen names.

Hope you'll visit and share your thoughts at http://bookbeatbabes.blogspot.com/2013/12/cheryl-c-malandrinos-shares-her-costly.html

Little Shepherd VBT 2013 Day 17

My virtual book tour is almost over. Soon I'll be choosing a winner for that lovely set of 2 Little Shepherd mugs.

Today you can find me over at Tribute Books Reviews and Giveaways. Nicole is a great friend and a talented woman who runs her own publishing house. They publish young adult novels, so if you're writing for that market you should check them out.

I wrote up a post about the blessings of friends for this stop. This is a very special post. If you haven't checked out any other posts during my tour, I hope you'll read this one at http://tributebooksreviews.blogspot.com/2013/11/cheryl-malandrinos-little-shepherd.html

If you missed what Amada had to say about Little Shepherd at her ASC Book Reviews blog in October, she kindly reposted the review this month so it could be seen by those following the tour. I love this review. You can find it at http://ascphotosanddesigns.blogspot.com/2013/11/little-shepherd-review-on-my-correct.html

Hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Little Shepherd VBT 2013 Days 13, 14 & 15

The tail end of the week got busy because we are preparing for the church's annual Christmas bazaar and tag sale the Saturday after Thanksgiving, in addition to our daughter having a sleepover to celebrate her birthday. We had 12 giggling girls in our house last night. Not a lot of sleeping going on, either.

On Wednesday, my virtual book tour stopped by Abi's blog, 4 the Love of Books. Abi has always been so supportive of my writing. I am blessed to have friends like her who are willing to share news about my books. In this post, I share my five favorite Christmas carols. You can find it at http://myheartbelongs2books.blogspot.com/2013/11/little-shepherd-by-cheryl-c-malandrinos_20.html

Another wonderful blogger is Mason over at Thoughts In Progress. She's always open to hosting me. You can check out the video trailer for Little Shepherd along with her post at http://masoncanyon.blogspot.com/2013/11/little-shepherd-on-tour-and-giveaway.html .

On Thursday, I shared 5 Things about Me at Literarily Speaking. That post is at http://literarilyspeaking.net/2013/11/21/5-things-by-cheryl-c-malandrinos-author-of-little-shepherd/

Then on Friday, Cheryl from Cheryl's Book Nook reviewed Little Shepherd. You can read what she had to say at http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/2013/11/little-shepherd-giveaway.html

Follow my tour to see how you can win a set of 2 Little Shepherd mugs.

Little Shepherd VBT 2013 Day 10

Yesterday was a busy day for me because I attended the WriteAngles Conference today. I'm the registrar, so that meant I was finalizing everything for the conference so I could leave on time this morning. Here's a rundown of my virtual book tour stops for Friday.

My friend and fellow virtual book tour coordinator, Becky, featured me at her Paperback Writer Blog. She asked me to write an article titled "7 Things to Know About Christianity." I have to admit I found that topic intimidating. I hope you like what I came up with. You can find the article at http://paperbackwriter.rebeccaswritingsvcs.com/2013/11/15/7-things-to-know-about-christianity-and-the-little-shepherd-plus-a-giveaway/

Patty over at Broken Teepee featured my book trailer at her blog on Friday. She lives on a farm in Montana, raising goats. I order goat milk soap from her. It's the only soap I've used for years.I love following her blog because she's always featuring great products and shares some of the cutest pictures of her farm animals. She's also a fabulous cook. There are tons of recipes on her site. You can find her post for my tour at http://www.brokenteepee.com/2013/11/little-shepherd-by-cheryl-malandrinos.html

This post was actually featured on Thursday, but because I was looking at the wrong blog, I didn't find it. Silly me. I assumed one blog was running it and it was another. At any point, Joy over at Splashes of Joy was kind enough to a feature a guest post that I got to her late. I missed it when I was putting together guest posts for my tour. I was thrilled she was able to reschedule. It worked out well, anyway, because the guest post I wrote for her, "Finding Peace in a Busy World" is probably not what I would have originally written. You can find that post at http://splashesofjoy.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/puyb-and-cheryl-c-malandrinos-presents-little-shepherd/

Some of these stops have the Rafflecopter form to enter my giveaway for a set of 2 Little Shepherd mugs. I hope you'll check them out.

Little Shepherd VBT 2013 Day 7

Katniss Everdeen might be known as "The Girl on Fire," but I'm "The Girl Obsessed with Christmas." Considering how harmful fire can be, I think I have the better deal. Today at Jenai's blog, Bookingly Yours, I'm talking about the idea of how what became Little Shepherd wasn't originally intended to be for children. This has always shown me that God knows His plans and I'm simply following his lead. You can read this article at http://bookinglyyours.blogspot.com/2013/11/guest-author-cheryl-c-malandrinos-vbt.html

One of my fellow Guardian Angel Publishing authors, Janet Ann Collins, is also featuring my book today. You take a peek at an excerpt and click on over to view the trailer. That post is at http://www.onwordsblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/little-shepherd.html It would also give you  a chance to check out her wonderful books, many of which I've had the opportunity to read and review.

Little Shepherd VBT 2013 Day 6

It's a new week for the Little Shepherd VBT. Today there are two posts. I share the greatest benefit of virtual book tours at Marilyn's Musings. My answer might surprise you. You'll find my article at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-greatest-benefit-of-virtual-book.html

As many of you already know, I love to cook and bake. At Authors and Appetizers, I discuss a staple of Biblical times: bread. You'll also find my mother-in-law's recipe for Holiday Sweet Bread. The link to that article is http://authorsandappetizers.com/2013/11/holiday-bread-by-cheryl-malandrinos/ If you make this bread, I would love to hear how it turned out.

On another note, I would like to take a moment to thank all those men and women who have served this country, keeping us and those around the world safe and free. Happy Veterans Day.

Little Shepherd VBT 2013 Days 3 & 4

So, in case you haven't guessed, I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off; trying to promote four other books along with my own tour. It probably doesn't help that I manage so many blogs and contribute to others. I simply must put it all in the hands of the Lord and believe He'll work it out.

I have some special posts for you to look at.

At I'm A Reader, Not A Writer I talk about message-driven fiction and how the goal should be to empower children, not preach to them. You can find my article, "Share Your Message, but Don't Beat Readers over the Head with It" at http://www.iamareader.com/2013/11/little-shepherd-by-cheryl-c-malandrinos-guest-post-giveaway.html

Next you can move on to Sharon's Garden of Book Reviews where I answer her five questions. Then Sharon provides a lovely review that brought tears to my eyes. You can find this at http://www.garden-of-books.com/2013/11/five-questions-with-cheryl-malandrinos.html

Little Shepherd also picked up another glowing review at Margo Dill's Read These Books and Use Them! What I really like about the way Margo reviews books is that she provides ideas for book discussions and activities. You can find her review at http://margodill.com/blog/2013/11/06/little-shepherd-a-perfect-book-for-christmas/

My fellow Guardian Angel Publishing author, Donna J. Shepherd, asked me about a "topsy turvy" moment in my life. It took a while to choose one--since there are so many--but I hope you'll stop by and see what I have to say. You can find me at http://donnashepherd.blogspot.com/2013/11/topsy-turvy-moment-and-blog-tour-with.html

You'll also find chances to win a set of 2 Little Shepherd mugs if you visit these blogs. Good luck!

Guest Post: How to Tell if Your Book is Ready to be Published bu Jessica Jimenez

You’ve spent a long time pouring over your book making sure that every part is flawless. Your book has been sent to friends, old English teachers, and even a few editors. However, you haven’t taken the plunge and had it reviewed. This is the most crucial step because publishing houses will determine if they want your book based on these reviews. You need the review to be successful if you want your book to be printed and sold in stores. The following list will help you know if your book is ready to be officially reviewed.

1) Make It Typo-Free Your book needs to perfect – grammatically speaking. If not, then you run the risk of an editor closing the cover at the first typo or misspelled word. Ensure that everything is correct before you send it off. It always helps to have another person read your work because s/he can help you identify any redundant passages or phrases that are confusing for the reader. Your overall goal is to present the publisher with a hard copy ready to be sold. Even if s/he wants to make some edits, your book needs to be as close to perfect as you can get before you send it his/her way.

2) No Second Guessing If you’re second guessing a character’s development or any plot holes, then don’t send it to be reviewed. You need to work through these problems before the book is reviewed. If people have questions, then you need to be able to answer them confidently and knowledgeably. Someone who is unsure about his/her work won’t be able to sell it. Thus, any doubts over plot devices need to be quelled now if you’re going to proudly stand by your book’s content, no matter what.

3) Give it to Friends You should give your book to friends to read and review. If it resonates with peers, then you know you’ll have a good chance of selling it. However, you need to pick truthful friends who like to read that are in your target demographic. Don't send it to an under-critical relative because you want positive reinforcement!

4) Create a Substantial First Sentence Many publishers will give your book the first line test, and if it doesn’t pass, then it goes in the trash. In short, your book needs to capture the reader’s attention from the very start. If a publisher cannot sit through your material because s/he finds it dull, then there’s no chance that it’ll get put onto store shelves. Make your first sentence interesting and dynamic enough to get people wanting to read more. This is just the beginning of knowing if your book is ready or not to be reviewed. Ultimately, you’re the only person who knows the answer. As the author, you’re the one who knows the soul and essence of the book. If it’s ready, then you’ll be ready to promote and sell it to the highest bidder.

Jessica Jimenez writes all about social media, networking and the business of communications. Her recent work is on the Top 10 Best Online Masters in Marketing Degree Programs.

Guest Blogging Today at Write2Ignite!

I'm guest blogging today over at Write2Ignite! My topic is promoting Christian books in a secular world. Hope you'll stop by at http://write2ignite.com/

Blogging Today at Christian Children's Authors

I'm talking about anxiety, the Sandy Hook Massacre, and the Mayan calendar prediction today at Christian Children's Authors. Hope you'll stop by at http://christianchildrensauthors.com/2012/12/21/do-not-be-anxious/

Guest Blogging Today at GAP Family Blog

I'm guest blogging today at the Guardian Angel Family Blog. I share a sad, but sweet holiday memory from 1982. Hope you'll stop by: http://guardianangelfamily.blogspot.com/2012/12/holiday-memories-with-author-cheryl.html

Interviewed at Nancy Stewart Books

My fellow author, Nancy Stewart, interviewed me today at her blog, Nancy Stewart Books. Hope you'll stop by and leave a comment at http://www.nancystewartbooks.blogspot.com/2012/07/cheryl-malandrinos.html

Thanks for your support!

Guest Blogging at Strands of Thought Today!

I'm guest blogging today over at Strands of Thought, a blog run by talented children's author, Kai Strand. For the month of love, I am honoring those who have helped my writing career through the years. You can find my post at http://kaistrand.blogspot.com/2012/02/where-would-i-be-without-you-industry.html  I hope you'll stop by to learn of all the great people I've been blessed with.

Guest Blogging at The Steady Hand

April from The Steady Hand was kind enough to ask me to be a guest blogger this month. You can find my post that includes three quick and easy recipes for busy moms at http://thesteadyhandblog.com/guest-post-quick-easy-recipes-for-busy-moms/

Guest Blogging at Cafe of Dreams

Today I am guest blogging at Cafe of Dreams. I'm talking about my fun and serious goals for 2012. You can find me at http://www.cafeofdreamsbookreviews.com/2012/01/here-i-come-by-cheryl-c-malandrinos.html 

April is also running a wonderful feature this year titled, 365 Days of Great Authors and Giveaways. She plans to feature a new author every day of 2012 and there will be a giveaway each day. Don't forget to stop by her blog at http://www.cafeofdreamsbookreviews.com/ to see who she is interviewing.

Little Shepherd VBT December - Day 7

I am so excited. I am guest blogging at this beautiful blog titled, The Christmas Spirit. What a perfect blog for a Christmas lover like me.  Michelle wrote up a lovely review of Little Shepherd to go with my guest post about Christmas Spirit. I hope you'll check it out at http://christmasspirit-truebookaddict.blogspot.com/2011/12/sharing-joy-guest-post-with-author.html

I wanted to remind everyone that today is the big Facebook party. I'll be there starting around 4 PM Eastern if you want to drop by and see if you can pick up some great prizes. Details are at http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2011/11/20/pump-up-your-books-1st-annual-holiday-extravaganza-facebook-chat-party/

Thanks.

Cheryl