Guest Author & Giveaway: Vicky Dreiling featuring How to Marry a Duke

For an unpublished author I would think that selling your first book would be much like winning the lottery. Kind of like the Mega Millions drawing they had a few weeks ago that I didn't win :(  I'm over it, really...  Amyways, anytime there is a lottery drawing with a big jackpot I can't help but make mental lists of things that I would either like to do, buy, or give if I were lucky enough to win. It's hard not to dream just a little.

My guest today, author Vicky Dreiling, won her own sort of lottery when she found out her book How to Marry a Duke was going to be published.  She's here today to share with us some of her top things to do when you hit the publishing lottery :)  Read and enjoy!

TOP THINGS TO DO AFTER YOU SELL YOUR FIRST NOVEL

Top Five Things to do After the First Sale

1. Call everyone you know and squee in their ears (they’ll forgive you after their ears quit ringing)
2. Dance around the house (try not to trip over the mountainous basket of dirty laundry)
3. Make dinner reservations someplace special with a special person
4. Break out the bubbly –you earned it!
5. Wake up in the middle of the night, fearing you dreamed it (Nope – it’s real!)

Top Five Suggestions After You Get Your First Advance Check

1. Take the family to Disney World or …
2. Buy yourself something special you always wanted
3. Contact web designers and get estimates
4. Invest in an external hard disk drive storage device or get a subscription to an online storage service to ensure your manuscript is secure in the event of a computer crash
5. Save part of your advance for future promotional efforts

Top Five Suggestions After You Get Your First Revision Letter

1. Read the letter carefully and keep an open mind
2. The number of pages is not important; a detailed letter means you’ll have fewer questions
3. Get excited as you realize the changes will make your book even stronger
4. Invest in post-it notes and use them on the hard copy because the page numbers will change as you revise
5. If you have questions, call your editor

Top Five Things to Do When You Write Your Dedication and Acknowledgements 

1. Dedicate your book to someone special who supported you on this journey
2. Acknowledge your wonderful agent and editor
3. Acknowledge all your writing friends who supported you on your journey
4. Acknowledge your other family members (even if they don’t understand your passion)
5. Tear up a little as you write (you’re allowed because you worked so hard to get here)

Top Five Suggestions the Day Your Book Debuts

1. Go to a bookstore and take photos of your book on the shelf
2. Post the photos on your website, Facebook page and Twitter (everyone will love sharing your joy)
3. Get a bit misty-eyed when you receive congratulations from friends and readers
4. Take reviews with a grain of salt (focus on the positive ones)
5. Break out the bubbly once again – you earned it!

Tristan, the Duke of Shelbourne is a man with a mission: find a wife he can tolerate as long as they both shall live. Love is not necessary--nor desired. But how to choose among a dizzying array of wealthy-yet-witless candidates? Hire London's infamously prim and proper matchmaker. Then pretend she's not the most captivating woman he's ever met...

Helping a devilish Duke create a contest to pick his perfect mate is the kind of challenge Tessa Mansfield relishes. Her methods may be scandalous, but she's determined to find the notorious bachelor more than a wife--she'll bring him true love. Yet when Tessa watches the women vie for the Duke's affections, she longs to win his heart herself. And after a stolen kiss confirms Tristan's desire, Tessa knows she has broken a matchmaker's number one rule: never fall in love with the groom.

Read an excerpt

Congrats Vicky on your debut, and thank you so much for being my guest at Seductive Musings today!

Vicky is a woman after my own heart :) She considers herself a confirmed historical romance junkie and loves all things Regency (me too!).  After all who could not love an author that modeled her hero after Henry Cavill (as he appeared in the Tudors), and her heroine after Jane Austen's Emma.  You all know how much I love me some Henry and Emma!  I think we might be kindred spirits :)  If you'd like to learn more about Vicky and the books she writes you can find her at her website www.vickydreiling.com, her blog, on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

To celebrate the release of Vicky Dreiling's debut, How to Marry a Duke, her publisher, Forever Romance, would like to giveaway a copy of the book to three lucky Musings followers.  Here's how you can enter to win....

Ways to earn entries:

• Mandatory:  Vicky's hero in How to Marry a Duke is considered England's "most eligible bachelor".  Who would be your choice as most eligible bachelor today and why? (and if you want to include a link to a photo, be my guest....you all know how I love a good Muse) oh, AND leave a meaningful comment or question for the author. (good for 1 entry)
• Mandatory: You MUST be a Google Friend Connect (GFC) follower in order to be eligible to win (unfortunately an email subscriber, or subscription in Google reader, and a follower are not the same thing so make sure you are signed up as a follower if you'd like to win this book)
• If you have a blog, or even if you don't, you can earn extra entries by telling your friends. If they successfully enter to win and mention that you sent them you can each earn extra entries. You can blog about it with a link to this post, post it on Facebook, Twitter, email...or even word of mouth (good for 5 entries for the referrer and the commenter for each friend) . Please note that to earn the points they must mention your GFC name so that I can match you.
• Purchase any item from the Seductive Musings Amazon store by using this link, or the Amazon widget contained within this post and email a copy of your purchase receipt to me no later than the deadline to enter (email available in sidebar). Sorry purchases made prior to this date do not apply, and link contained in this post must be used. No faxes or snail mail copies are allowed. No purchases are necessary to win. (good for 25 entries, or 50 entries if a purchase is made from the featured author's available titles)

How to enter:

• You can choose to enter as many different ways that you want, but please place all of your entries in ONE comment 

Rules and disclaimers:

• This contest is open to US & Canadian addresses only
• You must be at least 18 years or older, or of legal age in your country
• The contest will end on January 22nd at 11:59 pm EST and winner will be posted after they have been selected
• Winner(s) will be selected using Random.org
• The winner(s) will have THREE days from the date they are posted to provide a mailing address. If you do not contact me within three days a replacement winner will be selected. NO EXCEPTIONS
• The book(s) will be mailed directly from the publisher or author and no substitutions are allowed
• Winners will be subject to one copy per household, which means that if you win the same title in two or more contests, that you will only receive one copy of the title in the mail
• Seductive Musings is not responsible for prizes that are not honored, distributed in a timely manner, lost, stolen, or damaged during transit 
• All giveaways are subject to change/cancellation without prior written notice

Good Luck!

*I am an Amazon affiliate and receive a small (and I mean very small) referral fee for purchases made using a link on this blog. I don't use Amazon to earn money, I use it because the widgets are cool, easy to use, and serve my purposes to showcase books & such with minimal effort, but most importantly they have great prices and offer both new and used items. As a book addict I love that I can find just about anything I want in one place. If you are going to purchase a featured book anyway, and you know you won't pay more by using the links on this blog than you would by visiting Amazon on your own, I will be eternally grateful for supporting this blog by using the links, and don't forget that the referral fees from your purchases will sponsor the "Reader Rewards" giveaways :)