Book Launch Guest Post by Brittany Lewis, Author of Reunited (The Zion Series Book 3)

New on Amazon US and Amazon UK

Just as Katie's life is settling into a new normal after leaving Zion and the birth of her son, she is given news that will forever alter her reality. Meanwhile, the moment that Michael has so desperately wished for, but never thought would come has finally arrived. He must make the hardest decision of his life, and if he doesn't choose correctly, 

he could lose everything, forever.

My latest novel, Reunited, is the third book in my Young Adult series, The Zion Series. This series is about a family that was born and raised in a very strict, cult-like community. One of the children decides to risk everything and leave the community before her baptism. Her parents go with her, leaving their other child, Katie's twin brother behind. 

The first two books go through the struggles each of the teenagers face, one trying to build a life in mainstream society, and one trying to rebuild a broken life within their old community. In the third book, the family is briefly reunited, and once again someone risks everything and makes a very grave decision, one that they may never be able to come back from, but it isn't who you may expect…

Many new authors frequently ask me for tips on how to further their writing career. The most important thing that I can tell you is to be persistent. Do your best to write every day, even if it's only for a few minutes. I understand how busy life can get. I have two young children, and my husband works two jobs and is in school full time, our house is always busy. 

But even just setting a timer for fifteen minutes, staying focused during that time, and using that time solely for writing will eventually add up and make a big difference. I normally try to alternate my days between writing and marketing. Obviously if you don't have any books written yet, your main focus should be writing that first draft. 

It took me three months to complete my first novel, but I wrote a little bit every single day for those three months. After your books are written and you send it off to an editor, you can begin self-promotion by creating an author page and a website. 

I built my mailing list organically over time, by offering free short stories. If you write a short story that is 1,500 words, and split that up into a daily word count goal of 500 words, that isn't very much writing that needs to be done each day (maybe two short paragraphs a day) and you'll have finished your first short story in just three days. 

You can use some free editing websites such as www.paperchecker.com to edit it and start asking people if they would like to read it. If they say yes and they enjoy it, you can let them know that you will be writing more short stories in the future, and let them know that if they join your mailing list, they will get your new short stories as well. 

This has worked pretty well for me. Another reason I really like using the short stories is because you can save them all and after you have a good amount (20-50 stories) you can compile them into a  new book. 

Later, I moved on to offering free promo codes for my audiobooks in exchange for email addresses. Another great way to build your email list is by doing newsletter swaps with other authors after your book is released. 

Brittany Lewis

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About the Author

Brittany Nicole Lewis from North Carolina is the best selling author of  Finding Freedom (The Zion Series Book 1), her YA Zion series and her works of poetry. Brittany enjoys helping women and teens who suffer from depression and anxiety and she regularly donates copies of her books to ministries Find her on Facebook and Twitter @BLewis2008.