Jessica L. Tate: 2017

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Sweet & Steamy Giveaway ~ Hosted by Sunrise Author Services

Welcome to the Sweet & Steamy Giveaway,
hosted by Sunrise Author Services!

Hello! I'm pleased to be part of this amazing giveaway hosted by Sunrise Author Services. The grand prize for the giveaway is a $100 Gift Card to Amazon or B&N (winner's choice) AND a bunch of e-copies of books written by the authors in the giveaway!

Here are all the amazing authors participating in this giveaway:

Be sure to follow us on our social media pages:

Alexa Padgett ~ Twitter | Facebook
Alicia Kobishop ~ Twitter | Facebook

Brenda St John Brown ~ Twitter | Facebook
Charlize Starr ~ Twitter | Facebook
Cheryl Phipps ~ Twitter | Facebook

Chiquita Dennie ~ Twitter | Facebook
J. Saman ~ Twitter | Facebook
J.J. Bella ~ Twitter | Facebook

Jessica Sankiewicz ~ Twitter | Facebook

Julia Imari ~ Twitter | Facebook

Juno Chase ~ Twitter | Facebook

Kinsey Corwin ~ Twitter | Facebook

Lilly Avalon ~ Twitter | Facebook

Marie Landry ~ Twitter | Facebook

PJ Fiala ~ Twitter | Facebook
Mercedes Siler ~ Twitter | Facebook

R.M. Gauthier ~ Twitter | Facebook

Robin Laine ~ Twitter | Facebook

Sherri Hayes ~ Twitter | Facebook

Simone Leigh ~ Twitter | Facebook

Suzanne Jenkins ~ Twitter | Facebook

Tamara Ferguson ~ Twitter | Facebook

Taylor Marsh ~ Twitter | Facebook

What books could you possibly win?

A Brit on the Side by Brenda St. John Brown
Antonio and Sabrina Struck In Love by Chiquita Dennie
Behind Closed Doors by Sherri Hayes
Below the Beltway by Taylor Marsh
Beltway Betrayers by Taylor Marsh
Between Breaths by Alexa Padgett
Bittersweets Brenda and Larry by Suzanne Jenkins
Bittersweets Terry and Alex by Suzanne Jenkins
Christmas Miracle in July by R.M.Gauthier
Christmas Miracle on Valentine's Day by R.M.Gauthier
Christmas Miracle on Easter by R.M.Gauthier
Daddy's Bossy Friend by Charlize Starr
Mastering the Virgin: Friends (Book One) by Simone Leigh
Mastering the Virgin: Partners (Book Two) by Simone Leigh
New to the Game (D.C. Knights Book 1) by Juno Chase
Not Until Tonight by Jessica Sankiewicz
Reluctant Billionaire by Cheryl Phipps
Resist by Lilly Avalon
RUSE: A Billionaire Single Dad Romance by J.J. Bella
Securing Kiera's Love by PJ Fiala
Something in the Air by Marie Landry
Start Again by J. Saman
The Fine Line by Alicia Kobishop
The Girl in the Front of The Room by Mercedes Siler
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Marie Landry
Their Secret Desire by Julia Imari
Two Hearts' Christmas Wish by Tamara Ferguson
Unexpected by Lilly Avalon
Unwell by Robin Laine
What if We Break by Kinsey Corwin

$100 ~AND~ ALL THOSE BOOKS???
WHAT A GIVEAWAY!

How can you win? It's easy! Enter your email into the first Rafflecopter entry to subscribe to all the author newsletters. After that, you can gain MORE entries by following the authors on Twitter and visiting their fan pages on Facebook. Super easy, right??

Terms and Conditions: Open internationally. Must be 16 years of age or older to enter.

Giveaway begins on November 28th, 2017 and ends at midnight EST on December 5th. Winner will be selected within a few days after the giveaway ends and notified via email.

This giveaway is sponsored by 22 authors and hosted by Sunrise Author Services. All entrants will be added to all 22 author's newsletters as per the agreement with your mandatory entry. The gift card will be provided by SAS and the ebooks will be provided by each author once the winner is selected.

Thank you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck everyone!

Monday, September 25, 2017

A Switch to Kindle Unlimited!

Hello!!

I've decided to place both Now You Can See and Not Until Tonight on Kindle Unlimited for the first time. It isn't the first time I've used KU (I put all my Lilly Avalon books on KU a few times), but I've never done it under Jessica Sankiewicz/Jessica L. Tate.

So if you haven't had the chance to read either and you have KU, now's your chance to check them out for free! If you don't have KU, you can still get Not Until Tonight for only 99 cents and Now You Can See for only $1.99.

| Not Until Tonight || Now You Can See |

If Only We is still available on all platforms, but I am planning on switching it to KU at some point in the near future (possibly by the end of the year). I'm in the process of a few light edits to fix some errors I've discovered since publishing. Hopefully I'll be able to get to these soon and get the book reformatted, which I'm going to attempt to do myself, so wish me luck there!

Happy reading!

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

When Anxiety Takes Over and Becomes Something More

Let's start when my anxiety was first diagnosed. Initially it was a relief: I finally had a name for it. I began taking medication, which helped temper my anxious feelings and kept me from snapping at people as much. It didn't go away, and I knew it wouldn't, but I was feeling much better.

Fast forward to today.

It may not be as bad as it was prior to meds, but the ugliness of anxiety stares at my face with such disdain daily. It used to just throw me off, make me overly nervous and occasionally panic without warning.

But now? Now it drags me down into a despair I haven't seen since I was a hormonal adolescent. I struggled a bit with depression off and on in my teenage years. I may not have been officially diagnosed, but the symptoms showed up often. I managed to push through it, mostly due to the balancing of hormones once I reached adulthood and my own resolve to break out of my shell.

I'm not fully depressed to a point of no return, but it's there, hanging over me like a cloud. My motivation to do certain things has slowed down. I'll still get things done, there are just certain things I'll push back or ignore or forget to do because my mind is elsewhere. I seem to continually prefer the idea of a nap over cleaning the apartment or I'll binge watch Netflix instead of doing the dishes. Sometimes my desire to do something I love wanes and I don't find as much pleasure or joy in it. One of the worst things is I'll occasionally skip showering because I lack the energy to do it.

Another thing is that financial troubles weigh me down. I've been working a part-time slightly above minimum wage job for the last two and a half years. I switched to it because working in pharmacy was causing too much stress, plus I was being overworked and underpaid for the job duties I had. So I picked my current job because I needed one and I had to be somewhere with far less stress, even if the pay and hours were less. Unfortunately, it hasn't covered the bills as well as I needed them to and I'm now struggling to stay afloat.

Also, my creativity isn't what it used to be. Other than publishing my poetry compilation, my last published fiction book was in February of last year. That's a year and a half ago. Given the fact that I used to be able to publish one book after another (max of about six months in between), it's not normal. Once I wrote one, I was at least dabbling in the next one after it releases. While I have been writing when I'm inspired, it isn't remotely close to what it was doing before. And it's not just my writing--it's also almost any other creative outlet I once had. I put my bottle cap charm sales on hiatus on Etsy; I haven't used my adult coloring books in months; and I can't remember the last time I really danced. Plus, I stopped learning German every day and haven't gotten back to it for the last four months.

But...

I'm still happy. I still laugh. I still go to work on time. I'm not sad. I'm not wishing I was dead. I pay my bills on time. I don't gorge on junk food or starve myself. I don't sleep all the time.

However...

I know it's depression. It may not manifest in the most perfect way to indicate I must have it, but everything negative I've been feeling and dealing with point to it. Bold face. Underline. Highlighted.

I have anxiety and depression.

I never wanted to admit to either, and the only reason I admitted to the former is because it had started to affect my friendships and family. I didn't want the anxiety to take over and cause more problems than it already had. But depression? Really? A doctor once tried to diagnose me with it, but I knew I didn't have it.

At least, I thought I didn't have it. Looking back, I can see that I was a bit in denial, not to mention a bit afraid of the stigma. It's hard to avoid the stigma, even if you know in your heart of hearts that mental illness is real. It's when other people who don't get it are present that you fear the stigma.

I feared it back then, not only because I was afraid of what people would think, but also due to the fact that someone close to me didn't trust psychology. They were worried any therapist I would potentially talk to would manipulate me, make me believe things I shouldn't. Like, for example, place blame on my religion or convince me my troubles stem from how I was being raised.

Looking back I can see the folly in that. A good therapist won't tell you to leave your religion or place undue blame on someone or something without weighing all the facts. For teenage Jessica, though, she didn't trust therapy… but she did find psychology fascinating. Maybe because my subconscious was trying to get me to view it in an unbiased way and make me open enough to understand it and understand myself.

I wish I could've gotten help sooner, that I could've seen my mental illnesses for what they are and not be ashamed of them. Now here I am, coming to terms with my feelings and fighting battles that could've been prevented had I known better when I was younger. I should've trusted my instincts, realized the hurt and guilt I was pushing down was something I could face head on and move past.

But here's the thing: I can't beat myself up over the past. That's essentially making things worse. I have to forgive myself and forgive those who have hurt me, whether it was intentionally or unknowingly. It's all I can do. I can't go back and change anything, nor would I want to. Regardless of the pain I've experienced, I would not be me and I would not have the life I have now. Maybe some things could be better, but it would be at the expense of the beautiful life I'm living right this minute.

What it comes down to is reaching out for help and being brave enough to make the changes I need to improve myself. Some days I doubt my ability to do more, to get out of bed or off the couch, but I know I'm capable of so much more. I can't allow negativity to seep in and destroy my happiness or my dreams. And right now, anxiety and depression are tampering with my dreams, and I've been allowing it.

No more.

It's not going to be easy. It will be difficult, I will struggle. I may hit roadblocks and possibly crash... but I can't give up. I can't relinquish my control and let everything fall apart because it's hard. Life is hard. That's a given. We can't give up when life gets tough, we have to keep going, keep pressing forward.

I have so many dreams and future plans. Beautiful ones. I want to be ready for them. I want to accomplish them. I need to.

I'm writing this post because I can't keep running away from the facts. I need to face the anxiety, face the depression, and find my way again.

Thank you for reading and always know that I'm here to talk if you're struggling, too.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Now You Can See is now available in Paperback!

Good news, everyone! My debut poetry compilation, Now You Can See, is finally available in paperback.

I'm super excited to have this book in my hands after all this time. As I've said before, poetry was a first real writing love and I always wanted to publish my poems. And now that I have it's like achieving a childhood dream.

Now You Can See paperbacks will be available soon in my Etsy store and at the two author events I'm attending in October (Arch City in Columbus, Ohio and Glass City in Toledo, Ohio). I may also host a couple giveaways between now and the end of the year. We'll see.

In the meantime, it is available for direct ordering through the CreateSpace store and it will be on Amazon and other retailers within the next week or two (soonest on Amazon). If you really want them signed, just wait another few weeks for my order to come in and you can get a signed copy direct from me (along with swag). And while you wait, you can follow my Instagram for photos of the inside.

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

The Perks of Having a Patreon

Being a self-published author is great. You have full control of pretty much everything with regard to your book: the content, the cover, the blurb, the formatting, the editor, the betas, the promotion, etc. It's a good feeling to be hands-on with something so close to your heart.

Being a self-published author is also hard. You have to spend a lot of your time, effort, and money to get the book published. Even if you can do some of it yourself, there are some things you can't do, like professionally editing (which is something you should never skip). The expenses add up fast and you have to cross your fingers that once you release you can at least make your money back.

Back when self-publishing first became a thing (when ebooks were hot and prices were reasonable), the market was booming and the authors who started then are still around and are quite successful. As time went on, though, everyone who dabbled in writing decided they wanted a piece of that pie and began publishing. Some were great writers, some... well, their work wasn't that great. It was poorly edited, had plot holes, horrible grammar, and one-dimensional characters.

Because of these poorly written stories, people became reluctant to read self-published authors unless they knew the books were edited properly. People also became pickier with what they were willing to spend their money on. While a large number of self-published books were between $0.99 and $3.99, it adds up fast. You may be able to get 10 books for $10 or 3 books for $12, if some were familiar with the author they'd opt for only the ones they knew and had lots of high praise from other readers.

It's been several years since the ebook first gained popularity. While some people continue to find success, others are struggling to keep going. Those who are struggling face a difficult decision: publish new books or quit while you're ahead. Investing more money into a writing career (or side job) when you can't guarantee any profit is a tough one, especially since writing is an enjoyable creative outlet.

This has been something on my mind off and on for the last couple years. I like the benefits of self-publishing, but breaking into the market and gaining readers and fans isn't an easy feat when it's a saturated market. I have several people who enjoy my work and read everything I publish, but I'm not well-known or remotely close to bestseller status. Continuing to publish is becoming more difficult. I'd like to keep at it for the next twenty or more years, but affording even the minimum cost isn't something I can currently do.

When I heard of Patreon, I thought it was an excellent idea for creators and fans. I don't like to ask people for money for nothing, so being able to provide exclusive glimpses of my work for a minimal amount of money a month sounded like a good alternative. Not only that, but it may be the perfect way to help me to keep publishing.

I am personally putting forth effort into bringing in more money (potentially looking for a full-time job in the next few months, plus working part-time in the evenings as a personal assistant for authors), but having a Patreon will help immensely in getting funds saved up for future books. There are a few projects I have in mind for the next two years, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to not only write them, but share them with everyone.

So I'm reaching out to you, my dear readers. If you're able to contribute $1 or more a month to my Patreon, I would be eternally grateful. I currently have seven monthly tiers available ($1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $10, and $12) with various rewards.

Let me tell you about the two lowest tiers. The $1 a month level offers a lot: exclusive teasers, first look at all covers before the public, monthly updates, and other random updates throughout the month. The $2 level will give you all that, plus articles on publishing, writing, and other random topics that I'm inspired to take on. If you choose the $1 level, you'll be paying only $12 in one year; with the $2 level, only $24 a year.

Patreon is a wonderful thing and I'm glad it exists and that I have the opportunity to share special things with you before I share them with the public. Even if you can't contribute to my Patreon, you can still support me by buying my books and telling your friends about my books.

If you are interested in becoming a patron, first of all THANK YOU. Secondly, please visit my Patreon page and go over the reward tiers to decide which one you like. If you can't decide, consider following me on Patreon and come back later. I do share a few public posts, including a monthly wrap up for all the patron only posts available. Maybe after you see what kind of goodies I post you'll know which one you'd like to do.

So, thank you for reading this!

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Release Day for Now You Can See + Giveaway!

Hello everyone! It's release day for my debut poetry compilation, Now You Can See!

Buy on:

Amazon | B&N
Kobo | Smashwords

Add to Goodreads

Author Jessica Sankiewicz makes her poetry debut with a compilation of poems from her twentieth year. Now You Can See tells the story of a young woman caught between two worlds and her journey to reach some sort of clarity.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Here's a poem from this compilation to give you a feel for the other poems in this compilation:

Demolished

I feel like shattered glass

Broken into pieces

Large and small

Sharp and blunt

One for every hurtful memory

Every jab to my heart

Every numb feeling that has never gone away

Giveaway

Win a poetry gift set, including a notebook, colorful pens, washi tape, and chocolate, or an envelope of swag!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you all so much for your continued love and support! I'll be featured later this week on Stay on the Page with a guest post. Be sure to follow me on Twitter because I'll share the link on there, as well as any other guest posts or interviews I do in the next few weeks.

Have a wonderful day!! <3
Jessica Sankiewicz-Tate

Monday, April 3, 2017

Now You Can See Cover Reveal!

I'm pleased as punch to share the cover for my first poetry compilation today!

I'm excited to show you the cover for my debut poetry collection, Now You Can See. I wrote these poems years ago, but they still mean a lot to me.

Without further adieu, here's the beautiful cover, designed by Marie Landry!

Release Date: April 25th 2017

Author Jessica Sankiewicz makes her poetry debut with a compilation of poems from her twentieth year. Now You Can See tells the story of a young woman caught between two worlds and her journey to reach some sort of clarity.

Add to your shelf on Goodreads

Links for purchase will be available soon!

What do you think? Do you like it? I kinda love it. <3 <3 <3

<3 Jessica L. Tate/Sankiewicz

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Special Announcement, New Layout, and everything else

Hello friends!

It's been a very, very long time since I've posted to this blog. For starters, there hasn't been anything new to talk about. I haven't been writing as Jessica Sankiewicz since I wrote Not Until Tonight. But I have been writing... under a pen name. I announced last year that I had been writing as Lilly Avalon. The books written as Lilly are more contemporary (sexy) romance than the clean YA/NA that I write as Jessica Sankiewicz. I wanted to differentiate between the two, and keep them as separate as possible until I needed to. Last year when I went to my first author event, I announced it so people who may recognize me as Jessica would know I'm also Lilly.

I wanted to come on here and fill everyone in on what has been going on in the world of Jessica. The first thing is that I got married! It's been a whirlwind year and two months with Kyle, but we're extremely happy. We've both been staying busy by selling on eBay, plus my Etsy store. I dropped a day at work, which means I can dedicate more time to creative ventures and other projects (like, I don't know, keeping up with this blog, lol).

I actually have a few projects in the works. Here's one...

Jessica L. Tate, Poetry

One of the dreams I've had for years is to publish my poetry. It was always a pipe dream since poetry hasn't been a hot commodity since ebooks became huge. I still had been planning the possibility, at least so that I could hold a copy in my own hands. Recently there's been a rise in poets putting out compilations of their work. So I decided that it's finally time to put my work out there.

I'll be publishing the poems in smaller compilations under the name Jessica L. Tate, which is my married name. I have a Goodreads profile and my first compilation, Now You Can See, can be added to your Goodreads shelf. If you're interested in either beta reading or reading an ARC, you can sign up here for the chance. I also have an Instagram account for my poetry if you would like to take a look and follow.

New Layout

As you've probably noticed, this blog has gotten a new layout. I didn't want to create a separate blog for my poetry, so I chose to change up this blog to add it in as a side project to go along with my fiction writing.

Here's the old layout:

And here's the new:

It feels a lot lighter and fits the combination of both my writing ventures (minus the pen name, of course). I haven't changed anything with the tabs or links just yet to add in the poetry venture, but I'll get to it soon.

My Ko-fi and Future Patreon

I did some research and made some decisions on some new and future endeavors to help supplement/support my writing career. One that I've already signed up for is Ko-fi, which is basically a place where you can donate $3 to someone to help assist in their creative career, kind of like a tip. It's all voluntary, but definitely appreciated if you choose to send a donation that way.

I'm in the process of setting up a Patreon account, which is similar in the sense that the donations help support someone. However, if you donate through Patreon, you get something in return. Each account is different in how the individual person wants to have it set up. There are multiple tiers for monthly donations in increments starting at $1 per month (then possibly $3, and $5, and $10, and so on). For each tier, you get a specific reward. Like for a writer, it can be sneak peeks at upcoming covers, snippets of a WIP, or even exclusive short stories. There are other things offered, of course, but that's basically the gist of it.

I originally planned on launching mine mid-February, but since my husband and I had just moved to a new place and I didn't have enough time to work on the rewards, I figured it would be best to postpone. I'm hoping to have it launched by the summer if all goes according to plan and I have several rewards available to share with my Patrons. Once it goes live, I will let you know!

~~~~~

Right now that's about it! Once I have more details about my upcoming poetry book, I will let you know. Also, I will be announcing something else on Thursday, so be on the lookout!

<3
Jessica Tate (Sankiewicz)

Pages