Mythical Books: The Road That Leads To Home (The Sara Rhea Chronicles, #1) by Jaimie Hope

"When I opened this book I was looking for a description of Sara. Little did I know that the book would take hold and I wouldn't be able to put it down till I finished it. This book touched my heart in ways I could not begin to describe here without breaking down. There were times where I laughed out loud and other times where I had to wait to continue reading because my eyes were blurred with tears." - Goodreads, Julia

Description:

Sara's life was going along peacefully until she got the early morning phone call that changed everything. Now she finds herself heading back where she began, home. Not only does she have to deal with a difficult older sister and helping to keep the family's inn afloat, Sara has to work alongside her high school sweetheart who still looks as gorgeous as ever and her feelings that she saw all this coming. Her dreams and nightmares seem to come true right before her eyes. It has to all be a coincidence, doesn't it?

GUEST POST

Before You Sign On The Dotted Line Read This

For the past eight years I have been answering the interview question “Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?” with the generalized answer of, “Make sure you do your research on any publisher, editor or agent before handing over your manuscript.” I still stand by that answer, but after recently answering that question slightly different and more in depth I decided to expand upon it further.

My latest response included my warning about trusting businesses solely on reviews and testimonials. While I won’t say all are made up or biased, I have had enough dealings with companies in the Indie Nation to know how a good many are procured, through friends. However, this is not the only way. The other is quite rampant and one I am very familiar with, befriending the client.

You’re probably shaking your head in disbelief over what I just said, but it happens. I have experienced it on more than one occasion and through various stages in the publishing process. It is a hard thing to spot until it’s too late because for the most part, these people never try to force a friendship to progress too quickly. However, based on my experience, they are always around and they make it known. More often than not that plays right into the hand of a shady business person because the client appreciates feeling like a priority, which they do when they get fast replies to their messages. This sets the stage for the publisher or freelancer to suggest writing a testimonial to the client. It’s also been my experience that this also seems to pop up at a time where the publisher or freelancer is looking for public shows of support to quiet the naysayers and others trying to bring them down. The client gladly agrees to help out because the publisher or freelancer has been so nice to them and they believe the service they are getting is fantastic . I should also probably mention that this is obviously done for more than just the testimonial; repeat or ongoing business is the main goal. The reason I warn about testimonials is because it is the one thing people don’t stop to think about once they discover they were being taken advantage of.

What most people don’t realize until it’s too late is that once you put something out on social media it’s there to stay. Most companies won’t willingly remove positive testimonials from former clients. In fact, over the years I have been told companies have claimed my endorsement even after I spoke out about unethical practices I have uncovered. This is why it’s not enough just to read testimonials on a business’s website or Facebook page, contact the people that wrote them. Find out if the words still ring true.

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About the author:

Jaimie Hope was born November 3, 1976, in New York. It wasn't until high school, where she joined the newspaper staff, that she decided she wanted to be a writer. After graduation, the author went to college and received an Associate's degree in 1999. In 2002, she moved to Florida where she was an active volunteer in the local historical society and the Deltona Regional Library. In 2006, she moved back to New York where she released her first Children's book, The Adventures of Baby Jaimie. She followed it with a Young Adult novel, Bless The Broken Road. She also published her autobiography, Roll With It. She is planning to re-release book one of her New Adult Romance/Paranormal trilogy, The Sara Rhea Chronicles: The Road That Leads To Home and a new Children's Book series, along with releasing all her other self-published titles under her new publishing company, Back To Basics Publishing and Author Services in the fall of 2014.