Lily knows exactly what she wants in life. To graduate, land a high-paying job, and forge her own way. Nothing will distract her.
Welcome to the April 23rd stop on the blog tour for Pursuit of Innocence by Bethany Rosa with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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Author Guest Post
Why did I become a writer and my journey to publication
I’ve dreamt about writing a book for as long as I can remember. A romance novel was not the book I had in mind throughout the years. Early in my life, I wanted to write a book about my childhood, and even later, it evolved into an idea to do a memoir. That thought is still around today, but tackling that one will take a few more years. The other book I wanted to write was a book on parenting. While raising four fabulous daughters, I wanted to share stories and advice with others. Parenting is stressful, and I wanted to help alleviate that stress from others having the same crazy thoughts I’d had.
So, how did I ever end up writing a romance? It came down to timing. I had read 250 romance novels the year before writing my book. I’d been reading primarily in the romance genre since a young age—everything from historical, mystery, steamy, paranormal, and everything in between. Needless to say, I was very familiar with the genre. It just so happens that I had a dream one night, and when I woke up, I knew it was the start of a story, so I wrote it down. It became the first 2800 words of my book, which ended up being chapters 22 & 23.
I wrote the dream down and then wondered what to do with it, so it sat there for a few months before I realized after my third daughter left for college that it was time. When I make a decision, I don’t do it lightly, and by the time I sat down to focus, I had finished the book in five months. The following eight months were my publishing journey.
The first decision, and one I wavered on, was whether I would pursue self-publishing or try to land an agent or publisher. After attending a Publishers Digest conference, I decided self-publishing was the route for me and dove right in. Finding an editor and beta readers was my first step and probably the most important. Grammatical errors make me cringe. Once this was secure, it was time to focus on the cover. I went through two unsuccessful cover artists before choosing to use a good friend of mine who is an excellent graphic designer. It was the best choice I ever made, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.
With the two first components out of the way, I began researching companies to format the book’s interior for print and E-book. That is the one thing I may change in my second book. I felt it was a lengthy process that should have gone a little smoother. A big thing I learned throughout is to get on these companies’ schedules early on and before you are ready. The wait times added many weeks to the road to release.
Knowing the book was almost complete, I started researching the publishing process on Amazon and other outlets. I was spending so much time researching that I didn’t have time for writing anymore, and I became frustrated. So, I decided to hire a couple of people to help. My daughter became my publicist and social media advisor, and I hired a publishing consultant to help me with the technicalities of the final steps, along with advice on the promotion and marketing of the book once released. With these final pieces of the puzzle, I was able to publish and promote the book, resulting in it becoming the number one best seller in Love Triangle Romances from day one on Amazon.
From beginning to end, it was a 14-month process. That’s not normal for first-time authors, but it is when you have a strong type A personality, and that’s me. It’s a work in progress, and I’m lucky to have Cassie, who is doing a fantastic job with the book promotion. Amazon is a hard nut to crack, and it likes to change book categories on its own without giving a reason.
I’m looking forward to the second go-round with book number two and seeing if the process goes even quicker.
About the Book
Pursuit of Innocence
by Bethany Rosa
Published 28 February 2024
Gallatin Publishing
Genre: Romance
Page Count: 370
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
“I’m done waiting around. You’re mine. No more games or pining over someone else when it’s me you want. You won’t remember his name after I get through with you.”
Lily knows exactly what she wants in life. To graduate, land a high-paying job, and forge her own way. Nothing will distract her. Until the ultimate playboy, billionaire Sebastian Dubree, barges in. Not to be overlooked, Lily’s longtime crush, Jackson, decides she’s worth the fight.
Reluctant to succumb to either, she quickly becomes a challenge to conquer.
Lily must decide between the familiarity of her childhood longing or the newly discovered passion ignited by the dominant CEO. But can she surrender without losing herself in the process, or will someone take matters into his own hands?
Boundaries blur between desire and resistance in this gripping coming-of-age romance, leaving readers yearning for more.
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK
Excerpt
“So, do you take all your new hires to lunch?” she asks in jest.
“Only the ones I’m trying to date.”
“You do this often, then. Oh wait, you don’t date. You’re a one-and-done kind of guy.” Ah, the feistiness I’ve come to look forward to.
“Exactly, so I guess you could say you’re my first… pursuit, that is. See, we each have firsts to give each other.” The look on her face is priceless. I think I just stunned her into silence, but alas, I should know better.
“Oh no, you can give me all the firsts you want, but you won’t be getting mine.”
“I intend to claim them all, Lily. Whether you’ve come to that realization is irrelevant because I plan to start soon.”
About the Author
Bethany Rosa raised four amazing daughters before fulfilling her dream to become a writer. Her goal is to ignite passion in readers through her erotically charged stories. When not immersed in writing, Bethany finds joy in life traveling the world alongside her husband of 25 years. Home is divided between the mountains of Montana and the Arizona sunshine.
Website | Instagram | TikTok | Amazon | Goodreads
Giveaway Alert!
A randomly drawn winner will receive a $25 Amazon/BN gift card.
a Rafflecopter giveaway| April 15 | tory richards | April 15 | The Avid Reader |
| April 16 | Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews | April 17 | Hope. Dreams. Life… Love |
| April 17 | Sandra’s Book Club | April 18 | Literary Gold |
| April 19 | Fabulous and Brunette | April 19 | Read Your Writes Book Reviews |
| April 22 | Dawn’s Reading Nook | April 23 | Westveil Pubishing |
| April 23 | Smile Somebody Loves You SSLY | April 24 | Iron Canuck Reviews & More |
| April 25 | Gina Rae Mitchell | April 25 | Romance Novel Giveaways |
| April 26 | Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read | April 29 | The Pen and Muse Book Reviews |
| April 29 | Wendi Zwaduk – Romance to Make Your Heart Race | April 30 | The Key of Love |
| May 1 | The Faerie Review | May 1 | Kenyan Poet |
| May 2 | Long and Short Reviews | May 3 | Welcome to My World of Dreams |
| May 3 | Author C.A.Milson | May 6 | Joanne Guidoccio |
| May 7 | A Wonderful World of Words | May 7 | Maggie Blackbird |
| May 8 | Two Ends of the Pen | May 9 | Novels Alive |
| May 9 | Hollies, Happiness, and Healing | May 10 | The Eclectic Review |
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We appreciate you hosting today – thank you!
This should be a fantastic novel. Thanks for hosting.
Thank you for sharing!
Sounds like a great read.