Promoting Outside the Box
By
Jannine Corti Petska
When my Italian medievals began to sell, I looked for a way to promote them using an Italian theme. And what's more Italian than biscotti? I buy mini biscotti at Cost Plus World Market. I can't recall how many are in the box, but it's probably about 3 dozen. They're around $12 for a box. I buy small plastic bags found at Michaels in the craft section and the cake decorating section. (Walmart sells them, too.) I slip one biscotti into a bag, fold the top over (you can also get bags that seal like a sandwich bag.), then attached a business card (see photo) with a staple. You can also attach bookmarks or postcards. I found that people love snagging a bag. They are very popular at conferences.
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| Biscotti Promo Bags |
SURRENDER TO HONOR
Book 2
Italian medieval series
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| Surrender to Honor |
Blurb
Prima Ranieri seeks retribution for her family's death and loss of home and land. Her plans go awry when the heir to the powerful Massaro family returns home. After only one glance, Prima's attraction to him undermines her furor toward those she blames for her plight.
After a fifteen year absence, Antonio Massaro returns to Palermo to find a war raging between his family and the evil Falcone. His refusal to accept his rightful position as the head of the Honored Society carries serious consequences. The welfare of the people of Palermo is at stake. But one look at the beautiful woman Prima has become costs him his heart. She's a deadly distraction...one that jeopardizes her life as well as his own.
Excerpt
Setup: Prima and Antonio are out for a pleasure ride and stop in an orchard. Prima sets Antonio straight on the matter of her marrying.
“Think you age is on your side?”
She bristled. “I am not yet beyond marriageable age, or hindered like an old
hag. But do tell, why must I have a husband?”
“You need a man, Prima, for you are like a wild horse before it is captured
and tamed.”
“Such an insult! I’ll not be compared to an animal. And neither must I be captured or tamed.” She jerked on Amica’s reins, startling the horse. Antonio held the leather lines, preventing the horse from bolting.
“You act as if you are the only person ever to lose family. This bitter revenge you
carry will one day turn you into a mean and spiteful old woman. Give up your fight. Marry and have children.”
“And bring them into a world of greed and senseless killing? I’ll not birth a son who is expected to rule and dominate solely because he is a man. And I’ll not birth a daughter who will be forced to bend to a man’s will simply because she is a female. Marriage is not a path I favor. I want the freedom to choose how I ride a horse and to decide on the clothes I wear.”
“Those ideas will bode ill for you, Prima. You alone cannot change a society.”
“No, but I alone can choose my path in life; and no man will ever take that away from me.”
The Wild Rose Press Buy Links
Waiting out the rain, Milo Everhart takes stock of her widowhood and the handsome man standing in the door to the bar. Little does she know she will meet that man again and again under both passionate and terrifying circumstances. 
