Book Launch: Coming home 11 years later was the worst thing she ever did

When I ran out of Poca eleven years ago, I never planned on seeing the confines of this small town again. Now, it’s mocking me. The very thing that drove me to run away at seventeen is what’s pulling me right back into Poca’s prickly embrace: my abusive, alcoholic mother.

Mom doesn’t want me here any more than I want to be here, but her failing health has meSierra by Lee Dawna trapped. Making matters worse is the rage my high school boyfriend, the love of my life, has built up over the years since I fled Poca. I couldn’t handle telling Conner goodbye or letting him know where I’d gone. Now he thinks that after I returned, I murdered the local bar owner, Mom’s unyielding alcohol dealer, by burning Rusty alive inside his own home.

Luke is the only other true friend I ever had in Poca and he’s followed in his stepdad’s footprints, becoming a member of the police force. A position he can use to help me. Or frame me. Conner took Luke’s wife and now Luke might be using me to get even.

The only clue I have to go on to find Rusty’s murderer and clear my name is the mysterious diary I found hidden away. But the unknown author is a twisted self-professed arsonist with ties to Rusty, my mother…and me.

My head and heart are aching, and long-buried secrets are coming to light. Poca has a murderer in its midst. One hiding just below the surface.

You know what they say—if you want the truth, dig for it. That’s exactly what I plan to do.

Read Sierra by Lee Dawna

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Book Launch: Can reality TV turn pretend lovers into true love?

Nothing’s real on reality TV―or is it?

Everyone knows Kell Simmons manages the Matthews brothers, the three hottest stars in Hollywood: action hero Ryan, romantic lead Ash, and sports star Jonah. But no one knows that she’s hopelessly in love with one of them.

When Ryan’s surprise engagement to a fan just about breaks Kell’s heart, Ash, himself unhappily in love, lends his shoulder to cry on. All this is great fodder for the brothers’ very own reality TV show, and soon the days of their lives are filled with scripted dates, fake drama, and real heartache―all in front of a camera.

As the brothers’ popularity skyrockets into the stratosphere, Kell finds herself wondering how much, if any, of the spotlight she wants, if it means foregoing real love for fun and games on TV.

Read Managing the Matthews by Haleigh Wenger

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Draft2Digital Acquires SelfPubBookCovers.com, World’s Leading Premade Covers Marketplace

July 24, 2023—OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA.—Draft2Digital (D2D), LLC, which powers the publishing businesses of 260,000 indie authors and small presses, today announced the acquisition of SelfPubBookCovers.com (SPBC).  For the last decade, SPBC has operated a pioneering marketplace for premade book covers at selfpubbookcovers.com where indie authors have purchased thousands of original, one-of-a-kind cover designs from thousands of professional cover designers.

“Conventional cover design procurement is unnecessarily difficult and time-consuming for authors and artists alike,” said Kris Austin, co-founder and CEO of D2D.  “With the acquisition of SPBC, we’re excited to introduce a better way for authors and artists to collaborate on the perfect cover design.”

SPBC will operate within a newly formed D2D division, Author Success, headed by Nick Thacker.

“Our mission at Author Success, as it is with SPBC, is to help authors efficiently procure the highest-quality essential publishing services for the least cost and effort,” said Nick Thacker, vice president of Author Success at D2D. “Just as authors have always been a key constituency of D2D, with the SPBC acquisition, cover artists are also now a key constituency we seek to serve at D2D.  We want to help every professional cover designer in the world to participate in, and profit from, SPBC’s unique premade covers marketplace.”

The acquisition of SPBC follows D2D’s March 2022 acquisition of Smashwords. SPBC joins D2D’s growing suite of tools and services that help reduce the cost and complexity of essential publishing functions for book production, distribution, marketing, and business management.

How SPBC Works

For authors, SPBC makes it easy to find and purchase the perfect cover at a great price.

For artists, SPBC makes it possible to serve more authors with more cover designs in less time. SPBC virtually eliminates the time-consuming back-and-forth iterations necessary with conventional custom cover design. The artist’s customer is always thrilled because authors finish off their own cover and only purchase what they love.

Cover artists upload their original premade cover designs to SPBC along with recommended font treatments for the author’s pen name and title. For discoverability, artists tag each image with keywords to reflect the types of book categories, genres, and themes for which the image would be suitable.

Authors visit SPBC and can search thousands of artist portfolios at once using various keywords and categories to find the perfect one-of-a-kind cover image for their book.

The author applies their own pen name and title to the image using SPBC’s simple online tools. The author can either adopt the cover artist’s recommended font treatment and positioning, or the author can make adjustments. Authors only purchase once they’re 100% satisfied. The author retains future access to their one-of-a-kind book cover, should they ever wish to update their typography. Authors have unlimited typographic changes to their covers- at any time- at no additional cost.

What’s Coming Next

The acquisition has been completed. The services of SPBC are fully operational and available today to authors and cover artists at https://selfpubbookcovers.com. SPBC will operate as an independent marketplace outside of D2D, serving all authors, publishers, and cover artists.

SPBC co-founder Rob Sturtz will remain with the company during a transition period.

Over the next 12 months, D2D will operate the business as it is, introducing more D2D authors to its services while working closely with the artist community to help them develop their businesses on the platform.

D2D plans to introduce a major refresh to the marketplace in late 2024 or early 2025 that will enable improved cover image discoverability and workflows.

About SelfPubBookCovers.com

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in New York, SelfPubBookCovers.com (SPBC) operates a pioneering marketplace for premade book covers. The business was co-founded by the New York Times and USA Today bestselling hybrid author Shoshanna Evers (later known as Shoshanna Gabriel) and her graphic design artist father, Rob Sturtz. The company was an early pioneer in premade covers, and over the years developed a number of unique enhancements that remain industry-firsts to this day, such as the ability for authors to finish off their covers with self-serve tools that allow customized typesetting and placement of cover text. Sadly, Shoshanna, who was the inspiration behind the company, passed away unexpectedly in 2021.

About Draft2Digital

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Draft2Digital is the world’s leading publishing platform for self-published authors and independent presses. The company offers a broad suite of tools and services that reduce the complexity of operating an indie publishing business. D2D’s tools and services streamline ebook and print publishing, distribution, metadata management, marketing, and publishing business operations. Following its acquisition of indie ebook pioneer Smashwords in 2022, Draft2Digital now serves more than 260,000 authors and publishers that collectively publish, distribute, and manage over 900,000 books worldwide with Draft2Digital. Visit Draft2Digital at https://draft2digital.com or follow on Twitter @Draft2Digital.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Kevin Tumlinson, Director of Marketing & PR

kevin.tumlinson@draft2digital.com

or

Jim Azevedo, Corporate Communications Manager
jim.azevedo@draft2digital.com

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From the Despair of Grief to a Life-Changing, Daring Adventure

You can’t outrun grief, but you can try.

Former television anchor Dawn Picken was living the suburban dream in Spokane, Washington with her husband and two small children when disaster struck. Sean landedLove, Loss and Lifelines: My Year of Grief on the Run by Dawn Picken in intensive care with a mysterious illness later identified as necrotizing fasciitis-“flesh-eating bacteria.”

The community rallied around the family, and a virtual army of friends, relatives, and strangers provided what Dawn didn’t even know to ask for: babysitting, meals, cleaning, makeup (someone stole her good stuff) and a shred of sanity in the form of time out.

After months of false hope and heartache, Sean died, and the pandemonium died with it. What now? Brushing aside advice not to make drastic changes in the first awful year after a loss, Dawn rented out her house and packed six suitcases to travel the world alongside companions too young to appreciate a fine wine or a beautiful sunset.

When life has already handed you a massive shit sandwich, what’s another preschool tantrum during an extended holiday?

Deeply felt and often funny, Love, Loss and Lifelines is for people who have lost a loved one and picked themselves back up—or not. It’s for people supporting those who have lost a loved one. This medical tragedy/traveler’s tale is smeared with tiny greasy handprints while showing a young widow’s voyage through the messiness of grief, the baggage of loneliness, and the joy of rediscovered love.

Read Dawn’s memoir

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Can Grimoire magic create the perfect Christmas, or will Scrooge ruin everything?

It’s Humphrey’s first ever Christmas with Grimoire Society of Dark Acts, and the society is bringing their friends together on Christmas Eve while they decorate the house and the (enormous) tree. Carmichael has a special surprise planned this year, one that will wow the whole group, but Scrooge is being a Scrooge and won’t cooperate. What will the group get up to the night before Christmas?

Read Christie Stratos’s new Christmas short story, with Victorian Christmas traditions, lighthearted warm fun, magic, and all your favorite Dark Acts characters! Her Patreon is pay what you wish—and it’s worth it just for this wonderful Christmas short story!

A Very Grimoire Christmas by Christie Stratos

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Book Launch: What gift can make Jacob and Skylar’s first Christmas together the sweetest?

After an eventful fall term, Skylar and Jacob are finally together and getting ready to spendSnowflake Kisses by Jordon Greene their first holiday together.

It′s an extra special holiday for Skylar though. It′s his first Christmas with the Grays as part of a real family, and he′s both nervous and excited. Could this be the Christmas he finally feels like he truly belongs?

Jacob is looking forward to spending the weekend with his boyfriend, but right before the trip his anxiety kicks in. He hasn′t found Sky a gift yet, and he′s freaking out! There are so many things he could get but only the most amazing will do for his Skylar. Will Jacob be able to find the perfect gift in time?

Read Snowflake Kisses, a Noahverse story

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Book Launch: Are these superpowered teenagers heroes, villains, or liars?

After saving their hometown from a rampaging monster, Expanding Cracks by Ben PickRachel, Tracy, and Derek are
wary of the extra attention. Some praise them, others fear them, while many think the fight was an elaborate hoax. Buried under mountains of schoolwork, they’re failing to find the balance in their lives.

Cracks to the void continue to open, allowing more destructive monsters to breach their world.

Can they stop these otherworldly attacks and fix the devastation they caused or will they be revealed to be fake heroes as their world crumbles?

Read the second book in the Into The Void series

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Book Launch: ‘Tis the Season to solve a Lily Rock cozy mystery prequel!

The last thing Officer Dixie Jones wants to do over winter break is take an assignment in the Podunk town of Lily Rock. But if locating a missing baby Jesus statue for the'Tis the Season by Bonnie Hardy Christmas tree lighting ceremony is what she needs to do to land the big city assignment of her dreams, that’s exactly what she’ll do.

As soon as Dixie arrives in town she realizes there are worse things at play than stolen decorations. Mysterious emails. Biker gang activity. A deadly fire.

One thing is clear, there is more to Lily Rock than meets the eye.

As the countdown to Christmas continues, many begin to worry if the tree lighting will take place at all. Realizing she’s become attached to the charming town and its residents, Dixie is determined to give them the merry celebration they deserve.

Can she unravel the mysteries before sleigh bells ring? Or will an exposed secret cause her to have a blue Christmas?

Welcome to Lily Rock Holiday Mystery is a prequel spin-off series to the Lily Rock Mystery series. Enjoy fresh adventures with the characters you love!

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Book Launch: When there is no one left to turn to, revenge is the only answer

Some of us die long before our hearts stop beating.

Tessa believes she’s the reason a serial killer is targeting the residents of her small town. Allof Hinton’s victims have some connection to her and if that’s not enough, her cousin Smother by Lee DawnaGary, leader of the local charter of the notorious Leidolf biker club, has assigned the man she hates most to be her bodyguard—her ex-boyfriend, Warren.

Adding to the tension of the already stressed town is the presence of a rival bike charter. They may be in town to help root out the killer before the next gruesome murder, but values are clashing and control of Hinton’s club is at stake. No one can be trusted. A charter war is on the horizon and it will only take an ember to set it ablaze.

Gary’s right-hand man, the sadistic Chopper, has a close relationship with Tessa that makes him more protective of her than ever. When he metes out brutal revenge on her behalf in front of the entire town and media, the spark of war is lit. But it’s Tessa’s own explosive secrets that are the catalyst that blows everything up, setting in motion a deadly blaze of events no one is prepared for.

Broken trust, shocking betrayals, and volatile secrets rock the Hinton charter as their small town is brought to its knees.

When there is no one left to turn to, revenge is the only answer.

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Book Launch: Who Knew A Vicious Goose Could Bring Two People Together?

Easton Belle is living his college dream: living with his best friend, underage drinking,This I Promise You by Jordon Greene and Kabob Dàniel working part-time at a local pet kennel, and running a successful social media campaign to keep a hardline theist out of Congress. However, that dream never included his horrid choice in men causing an unhealthy need to be wanted and his multiple sclerosis with its unpredictable symptoms. He also never expected to accidentally end up at a frat party that leads to a crazy drunk call and maybe the best days of his life. As long as this guy doesn’t find out about his illness, maybe it’ll be different this time.

Paul Acre doesn’t know what his dream is. All he’s ever really wanted was to get as far away from Kansas City as possible. So he did. But running away from the demons of his past doesn’t stop them from catching up to him when his new roommate, Huxley, and the annoying AF man-child who smells like spicy citrus challenge his entire perception on life. Then he gets a random call at 2 am from a number he doesn’t know, and a drunk voice he recognizes demands a knight in shining armor come to his rescue. But can he trust his thoughts and feelings? After all, trust is a weakness that’s hurt him far too many times.

Read This I Promise You by Jordon Greene and Kalob Dàniel

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