Enjoy!
Saturday, November 17, 2018
OMG, I have published a lot of books lately....
So.... I've published a lot of books lately. And I've been really bad at keeping up with this blog. So I'm just going to make a monster post with all my recent books:
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Don't review my books
At the end of each of my books, I include a letter essentially BEGGING people to review my books. I heard this would help get more reviews on Amazon. I have written a letter to the readers from characters in the books, but that hasn't worked either. So now I'm going to try reverse psychology:
Why You Should NOT Review My Book
--You are here and your computer is alllllll the way over there.
--You forgot your Amazon password.
--If you write a review, someone might see it and think you're a loser with nothing better to do than review lame books.
--If you give me a lot of reviews, it might help me sell more books, and then I might get a big head.
--You are too busy playing with your fidget spinner.
--What if someone uses your review as a way to steal your social security number and then steals your identity? No, too much risk.
--You obviously can't think about doing anything else until you've seen the last season of House of Cards...... wait, Kevin Spacey did WHAT?
--You like the book so much that your glowing review will almost certainly be flagged by Amazon as a fake review and subsequently deleted. So all your hard work will be for nothing.
Is it working? Are you not reviewing my book? Don't do it! Don't go over to your computer to review my book right now! No! Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!
Why You Should NOT Review My Book
--You are here and your computer is alllllll the way over there.
--You forgot your Amazon password.
--If you write a review, someone might see it and think you're a loser with nothing better to do than review lame books.
--If you give me a lot of reviews, it might help me sell more books, and then I might get a big head.
--You are too busy playing with your fidget spinner.
--What if someone uses your review as a way to steal your social security number and then steals your identity? No, too much risk.
--You obviously can't think about doing anything else until you've seen the last season of House of Cards...... wait, Kevin Spacey did WHAT?
--You like the book so much that your glowing review will almost certainly be flagged by Amazon as a fake review and subsequently deleted. So all your hard work will be for nothing.
Is it working? Are you not reviewing my book? Don't do it! Don't go over to your computer to review my book right now! No! Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!
Monday, July 24, 2017
The secret to becoming a bestselling author
Years ago, when I was about to publish my first book on Amazon, I was chatting with an online friend of mine who had self-published about a dozen books. She had some success with it, so I asked her if she had any tricks or tips for me for selling books. This was her response:
"No tricks. Just writing lots of good books with great covers & blurbs."
I accepted the answer without further question. Clearly, she just published and was lucky enough to have sales. No tricks, right?
Except a couple of months later, I looked her up on Amazon again. And she had published a new short book called, I kid you not:
How to Sell Books on Amazon
And while I didn't purchase it, I read the sample in order to verify the book wasn't "Write good books" typed over and over and over.
Why are self-published authors so reluctant to divulge their "secrets"? Or do they actually have secrets? I have had a little bit of success with self-publishing and I don't think I have secrets. I run ads. I price books competitively. I discount books for sales. I make the first book of a series free. Those are my "secrets."
"No tricks. Just writing lots of good books with great covers & blurbs."
I accepted the answer without further question. Clearly, she just published and was lucky enough to have sales. No tricks, right?
Except a couple of months later, I looked her up on Amazon again. And she had published a new short book called, I kid you not:
How to Sell Books on Amazon
And while I didn't purchase it, I read the sample in order to verify the book wasn't "Write good books" typed over and over and over.
Why are self-published authors so reluctant to divulge their "secrets"? Or do they actually have secrets? I have had a little bit of success with self-publishing and I don't think I have secrets. I run ads. I price books competitively. I discount books for sales. I make the first book of a series free. Those are my "secrets."
Saturday, July 22, 2017
The Best Man: Finally here!
The Best Man is finally finished and available as an ebook only:
Kirby Matthews is sick of being single.
She’s sick of being the only single girl in a group of married couples. She’s sick of people patting her hand at weddings and assuring her that “you’ll be next.” She’s sick of having to stand up and catch that stupid bouquet. So when Kirby’s long distance boyfriend Ted pops the question, her answer is an eager “YES.”
Then Kirby meets Ted’s best man, John.
John is obnoxious, he’s opinionated, and he uses his disability as an excuse to keep everyone at arm’s length. But as the wedding planning proceeds, Kirby gets to know John better and realizes she’s never met any guy she’s connected with more—not in her entire life.
What do you do about your wedding when you’re falling in love with the best man?
Buy it now!
Kirby Matthews is sick of being single.
She’s sick of being the only single girl in a group of married couples. She’s sick of people patting her hand at weddings and assuring her that “you’ll be next.” She’s sick of having to stand up and catch that stupid bouquet. So when Kirby’s long distance boyfriend Ted pops the question, her answer is an eager “YES.”
Then Kirby meets Ted’s best man, John.
John is obnoxious, he’s opinionated, and he uses his disability as an excuse to keep everyone at arm’s length. But as the wedding planning proceeds, Kirby gets to know John better and realizes she’s never met any guy she’s connected with more—not in her entire life.
What do you do about your wedding when you’re falling in love with the best man?
Buy it now!
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
10 Writing tips
1. Read as much as you can. When you have a free moment, you should read. When you're eating dinner, you should read. When you're on the toilet, obviously you should read (because if you play with your phone, it could fall in the bowl). When you're asleep, you should put a book on your face to read by osmosis.
2. Always carry around a little notebook to write down ideas, and also to pretend to be a detective if the opportunity arises.
3. Listen to constructive criticism of your peers. Unless it's really stupid.
4. Don't use too many exclamation points! Seriously! Not every sentence needs them! Use! Them! Sparingly!
5. Write what you know. Especially if you're a space captain who fights zombies for a living and bangs beautiful aliens in your free time.
6. Don't write stuff that's boring. Write interesting stuff. Duh.
7. Make sure to write every day. Except holidays. And obviously not weekends. Or that day that comes between Tuesday and Thursday. And nobody can write on Mondays, for God's sake.
8. It's been said that anyone can write a book. But actually, I don't think that's true. After all, a rat can't write a book. A pig can't write a book. A beetle can't write a book. They don't even have opposable thumbs! So I suppose you can modify that to say that any human can write a book. But that's not true either. A newborn baby can't write a book. Hell, I don't think any baby could write a book. I'm beginning to feel like whoever said that anyone can write a book just didn't think the statement through very well.
9. Don't let anyone see what you've written until it's finished. Also, for the love of God, don't let anyone see your Internet browser history. Especially your parents. #life lesson
10. A good adage for a writer to follow is "show don't tell." It's also a good adage for a stripper to follow.
2. Always carry around a little notebook to write down ideas, and also to pretend to be a detective if the opportunity arises.
3. Listen to constructive criticism of your peers. Unless it's really stupid.
4. Don't use too many exclamation points! Seriously! Not every sentence needs them! Use! Them! Sparingly!
5. Write what you know. Especially if you're a space captain who fights zombies for a living and bangs beautiful aliens in your free time.
6. Don't write stuff that's boring. Write interesting stuff. Duh.
7. Make sure to write every day. Except holidays. And obviously not weekends. Or that day that comes between Tuesday and Thursday. And nobody can write on Mondays, for God's sake.
8. It's been said that anyone can write a book. But actually, I don't think that's true. After all, a rat can't write a book. A pig can't write a book. A beetle can't write a book. They don't even have opposable thumbs! So I suppose you can modify that to say that any human can write a book. But that's not true either. A newborn baby can't write a book. Hell, I don't think any baby could write a book. I'm beginning to feel like whoever said that anyone can write a book just didn't think the statement through very well.
9. Don't let anyone see what you've written until it's finished. Also, for the love of God, don't let anyone see your Internet browser history. Especially your parents. #life lesson
10. A good adage for a writer to follow is "show don't tell." It's also a good adage for a stripper to follow.
Friday, June 16, 2017
Asking a Friend to Review Your Book (A Play)
Act I
Friend: "I really enjoyed your book!"
Author: "Thanks! Would you mind leaving me a review on Amazon? It would help me out a lot."
Friend: "Of course!!!! I'd be happy to. I'm really busy now but I'll get to it in the next couple of weeks."
Act II (Two weeks later)
Author: "Um. I know you're really busy, but you mentioned you'd leave a review on my book. If you could just leave a quick review, that would be awesome."
Friend: "Oh right! Sorry, I totally forgot! I'm really busy but I'll get to it in the next few days for sure."
Author: "You don't have to write anything much. Just like a sentence or two, tops."
Friend: "I promise I'll do it."
Act III (Two weeks later)
[Author is browsing on Facebook and sees 10,000 posts from Friend.]
[Author hovers on post from Friend on Facebook: "So bored today. Nothing to do."]
[Author lets out sigh.]
Act IV (two weeks later)
Author: "Hey, just wondering if you had a chance to write that review.....?"
Friend: [never writes back again]
Friend: "I really enjoyed your book!"
Author: "Thanks! Would you mind leaving me a review on Amazon? It would help me out a lot."
Friend: "Of course!!!! I'd be happy to. I'm really busy now but I'll get to it in the next couple of weeks."
Act II (Two weeks later)
Author: "Um. I know you're really busy, but you mentioned you'd leave a review on my book. If you could just leave a quick review, that would be awesome."
Friend: "Oh right! Sorry, I totally forgot! I'm really busy but I'll get to it in the next few days for sure."
Author: "You don't have to write anything much. Just like a sentence or two, tops."
Friend: "I promise I'll do it."
Act III (Two weeks later)
[Author is browsing on Facebook and sees 10,000 posts from Friend.]
[Author hovers on post from Friend on Facebook: "So bored today. Nothing to do."]
[Author lets out sigh.]
Act IV (two weeks later)
Author: "Hey, just wondering if you had a chance to write that review.....?"
Friend: [never writes back again]
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
New Book: Forget You!
My new book, Forget You!, is now available on the Kindle! Please buy a copy today!
Maggie McDaniels feels like the luckiest woman in the world. She’s engaged to a gorgeous lawyer who also happens to be a great guy, and they're about to get hitched, have like a million babies together, and generally live happily ever after.
Then Maggie faints before she can reach the altar.
When she wakes up, it’s three years later and she’s forgotten everything since her wedding day. And it turns out her life isn’t quite as perfect as she imagined it would be—her career is circling the drain and her gorgeous husband is… well, a gorgeous jerk. Things only get more complicated when an eccentric colleague in a wheelchair claims that he and Maggie are far more than friends.
Will Maggie ever make sense of the mess her life has become? Or is she doomed to have her past forgotten forever?
Buy it now!
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Reviews of The Time Traveler’s Boyfriend
“Costa’s wild imagination and keen writing style will keep readers on
their toes as they breeze through this book which is quite an emotional
roller-coaster ride and guaranteed to produce giggles and possibly a
tear.” -Jaime A. Geraldi, The Romantic Times
“The Time Traveler’s Boyfriend is a sweet and utterly charming tale about the lengths that people will go to in order to help the ones they love.” -ReadingReality.net Review
“This was a book I picked up and read straight through and wished it weren’t ending.” -A Chick Who Reads Review
“Claudia tries to correct a bitter past and with ample determination, which I admired, and a lot of heart…I enjoyed how everything came full circle and the author didn’t dive too deep into the paradoxes that can often come with time travel. This book was a fun trip into a “what if” universe rather than a scientific theory or having too much butterfly effect. I’d recommend this to women looking for an easy, enjoyable read.” -The Reader’s Hollow Review
“Overall, this was a really cute story. You really grow to love both Adam and Claudia and really pull for them to end up together after everything that happens when Claudia revisits the past. I would definitely recommend this!” -LuxuryReading.com Review
“When I picked up this book, I didn’t expect much from it. Oh, I expected to like it. I wouldn’t have agreed to review it had I not. But I didn’t expect to like it nearly as much as I did! What I expected was a light romance, but the time-travel had me a bit worried. I’d tried to make it through The Time Traveler’s Wife a few years ago and just couldn’t, so I though I had something against time travel…What I got was so much more!” -Time 2 Read Review
“You guys, I loved this story. I normally do not like reading a story about a character almost 18 years older than me, but I absolutely could not help but love Claudia and Adam. I fell a little bit in love with 39 year old Adam when she recounted her time with him and 22 year old Adam when she met him while traveling back in time. I just.. I loved the characters.” -Book Marks the Spot Review
“The characters were likable, and I found that I was quite attached to Claudia by the end of it. If you’re looking for a quick, start-of-summer read, check this one out!” -Bound By Words Review
“The Time Traveler’s Boyfriend is a slightly more contemporary version of a classic format. Despite that, however, or maybe even because of it, it’s an excellent read, full of fun and flirtatiousness, and the fact that it is from a publishing house that focuses on love stories featuring characters with disabilities gives it a lot more depth than it would otherwise have had.” -Bibliotica Review
“…And speaking of aphrodisiacs, yes, there is some headboard rockin’. It’s fairly mild, but Costa wants you to know that a disability does not equate to not being able to be a lover.” -Cupcake’s Book Cupboard
“The Time Traveler’s Boyfriend is a sweet and utterly charming tale about the lengths that people will go to in order to help the ones they love.” -ReadingReality.net Review
“This was a book I picked up and read straight through and wished it weren’t ending.” -A Chick Who Reads Review
“Claudia tries to correct a bitter past and with ample determination, which I admired, and a lot of heart…I enjoyed how everything came full circle and the author didn’t dive too deep into the paradoxes that can often come with time travel. This book was a fun trip into a “what if” universe rather than a scientific theory or having too much butterfly effect. I’d recommend this to women looking for an easy, enjoyable read.” -The Reader’s Hollow Review
“Overall, this was a really cute story. You really grow to love both Adam and Claudia and really pull for them to end up together after everything that happens when Claudia revisits the past. I would definitely recommend this!” -LuxuryReading.com Review
“When I picked up this book, I didn’t expect much from it. Oh, I expected to like it. I wouldn’t have agreed to review it had I not. But I didn’t expect to like it nearly as much as I did! What I expected was a light romance, but the time-travel had me a bit worried. I’d tried to make it through The Time Traveler’s Wife a few years ago and just couldn’t, so I though I had something against time travel…What I got was so much more!” -Time 2 Read Review
“You guys, I loved this story. I normally do not like reading a story about a character almost 18 years older than me, but I absolutely could not help but love Claudia and Adam. I fell a little bit in love with 39 year old Adam when she recounted her time with him and 22 year old Adam when she met him while traveling back in time. I just.. I loved the characters.” -Book Marks the Spot Review
“The characters were likable, and I found that I was quite attached to Claudia by the end of it. If you’re looking for a quick, start-of-summer read, check this one out!” -Bound By Words Review
“The Time Traveler’s Boyfriend is a slightly more contemporary version of a classic format. Despite that, however, or maybe even because of it, it’s an excellent read, full of fun and flirtatiousness, and the fact that it is from a publishing house that focuses on love stories featuring characters with disabilities gives it a lot more depth than it would otherwise have had.” -Bibliotica Review
“…And speaking of aphrodisiacs, yes, there is some headboard rockin’. It’s fairly mild, but Costa wants you to know that a disability does not equate to not being able to be a lover.” -Cupcake’s Book Cupboard
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
New Book!
Buy it today!
Description:
Claudia’s geeky boyfriend Adam has just invented a time machine.
No, really—he has. She doesn't believe it either until Adam provides her with definitive proof that he does, in fact, have a functioning time travel device sitting in the living room of his Manhattan brownstone.
But instead of getting ready to accept the Nobel Prize, Adam has very different plans for his groundbreaking invention. He wants Claudia to use the machine to travel back in time and stop the accident that landed him in a wheelchair over a decade ago, and prevent the trajectory of events that he believes ruined his life.
When Claudia reluctantly agrees to become the first human time traveler, she knows she’s making a big gamble. If she succeeds, she could have the happy ending with commitment-phobic Adam that she’s always dreamed of. But if she fails, it could mean the end of the universe as she knows it.
Buy it today!
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Harvard Hottie
My short novel Harvard Hottie is now available for purchase or download.
When nerdy, unhip Ellie Jenson meets rich, handsome Luke Thayer the
Third as freshmen at Harvard University, it's Hate At First Sight.
Ellie loathes Luke's smirk and superior attitude, and decides if she
never sees him again, it will be too soon.
Fifteen years later, Ellie gets the surprise of her life: Luke is her new boss and owner of her company! But when Ellie discovers that Luke was paralyzed in an accident and is now in a wheelchair, she wonders if it's possible to be friends with this new, down-to-earth version of her former foe. Or maybe even more than friends, if Luke gets his way...
On Amazon
Free on Smashwords
Goodreads
If you have read it, I would love a review!
Fifteen years later, Ellie gets the surprise of her life: Luke is her new boss and owner of her company! But when Ellie discovers that Luke was paralyzed in an accident and is now in a wheelchair, she wonders if it's possible to be friends with this new, down-to-earth version of her former foe. Or maybe even more than friends, if Luke gets his way...
On Amazon
Free on Smashwords
Goodreads
If you have read it, I would love a review!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
Why I went indie
The Boy Next Door was published by Dev Love Press, a very small independent publisher run by Ruth Madison. This post explains why I am so happy I went with an indie publisher rather than the traditional route.
Monday, February 25, 2013
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