Soren Paul Petrek is a practicing trial attorney with a passion for studying World War Two. He lived in England and France listening to people’s stories of struggle and sacrifice during the darkest periods of the war. Soren’s debut novel, Cold Lonely Courage was inspired by the true story of a young Belgian woman who helped countless Jewish children escape from the terrors of the Nazi regime. Soren lives with his wife, Renee and sons, Max and Riley, in central Minnesota.

You can visit Soren’s blog at http://coldlonelycourage.blogspot.com.

Cold Lonely Courage is Soren’s debut novel.

Welcome to Book Marketing Buzz, Soren.  Can we begin by having you tell us a little about your book?

The action begins during the German Blitzkrieg attack on France in the opening days of World War II. The heroine, Madeleine Toche races to the front to find her brother dying after his unit is destroyed as the Germans advance.  Crushed, Madeleine returns his body to her parents.

In the months that follow, Madeleine is raped by a Nazi officer.  Seeking revenge she kills him and flees to England to volunteer for  duty with Britain’s shadowy Special Operations Executive.  Trained as an assassin she clandestinely returns to France with Captain Jack Teach a veteran of the SOE ‘Dirty Tricks Department’.  They find themselves in love but are torn apart by duty and the insurmountable odds of survival.  Madeleine fights on  terrorizing the murderous Nazi elite always only one step  ahead of capture and torture.

Madeleine’s story is raw and driven.  There are no detours.  I engage the base emotions of my readers.  I want them to live the characters the way I did when I wrote them.  This is not an ordinary World War II novel.  Cold Lonely Courage tells the brutal truth about the violence people are capable of when called upon to defend themselves and their families.  The courage of women in war is marginalized and given subordinate consideration in popular fiction.  Many women don’t read novels about war because of it.  Cold Lonely Courage changes that.

What is the first thing you did to promote your book once your publisher accepted your manuscript?

My publisher and I sent out numerous press releases.

If you had to pick just one book marketing tool that you’ve used to promote your book, which would you say has been the most effective?

I believe internet marketing and exposure will reach more people than the traditional method of print advertising.  I am excitied to have embarked on my virtual book tour and look forward to meeting with readers, answering their questions and letting them know what’s coming next.

Do you do more promoting online or offline and which do you prefer?

Online has already overtaken most forms of advertising and I am excitied by the seemingly limitless possibilities it provides.  The vast majority of my promotion is now online.

Do you use social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to promote your books and have you had any success with it?

I have used facebook and Twitter is an aspect of my virtual book tour.

Do you own a blog and how often do you update it?  Did you set up your blog solely to promote your book and what is its effectiveness?

Yes,my blog is for the purpose of promotion and contact with my readers.

Do you recommend authors getting publicists to help them promote their books?  Do you have one?

I have a publicist assisting with the virtual book tour, Pump Up Your Book Promotion.

If an author prefers to do it alone rather than hire a publicist, where should they  start?

I believe they should investigate what online publicists have to offer, although in the alternative, entering competitions can have significant benefits. Cold Lonely Courage, won the Fiction Category in the 15^th Annual Writers Network Screenplay & Fiction Competition.  It was an international competition administered through Fade In magazine.  I was very pleased to hear that the Washington Post, just named Fade In the #1 movie magazine in the United States.  That type of exposure and validation is very difficult to come by.

Thank you for coming, Soren!  We wish you much success!

Thank you very much.

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