Nadia Lee's Blog, page 18
September 29, 2012
Destiny Entwined is Free on Amazon (Finally!)
Destiny Entwined, a short erotic paranormal romance, is finally free on Amazon. You can grab a copy here.
In addition to Amazon, it's free from the following retailers:
All Romance eBooks
Diesel eBooks
iBooks US
iBooks UK
iBooks Canada
iBooks AU
Kobo Books
Smashwords
Sony
© 2008 - 2012 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for News from Nadia Lee to receive emails about her new releases, fun contests, giveaways and appearances!
Books Available by Nadia Lee
The Last Slayer , an Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Carnal Secrets , a Contemporary Romance
Destiny Entwined , an Erotic Romance
A Happily Ever After of Her Own , a Paranormal Romance
How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook: 3rd Edition
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Related posts:
Destiny Entwined Is Free
Now You Can Sample DESTINY ENTWINED on Nook
DESTINY ENTWINED and CARNAL SECRETS Available for Preorder
September 28, 2012
The Recent "Do You Feel Discriminated Against" Survey
Not too long ago, the city where we live sent out surveys to a bunch of foreign residents to see how they like living here. The whole survey was rather long and involved, but one of the best questions was: Do you feel discriminated against?
I thought the question was rather timely since Hero Material and I have been trying to find a bigger place to live for the past six months. Our apartment is currently about 600 sq-ft (slightly less than 60 sq-meters), and it's just not big enough for a family of three.
Anyway, in August (or was it July?) we went to a real estate agency to inquire about the availability of two rental homes advertised. They were in good locations, and the asking rent was reasonable. But the landlord (both were owned by the same guy) refused to even consider us because we were not Japanese! Never mind that Hero Material and The Boy have green cards (permanent residency), and I have a spouse visa. Never mind that we have sufficient income to pay the rent. Never mind that the language is no barrier.
Just the fact that we aren't Japanese was enough to get us rejected sight unseen by the landlord over the phone!
So of course we answered YES to the "Do you feel discriminated against?" question. Then we specified why ("When trying to rent a place to live"). I also wanted to check "I cannot describe when, but I feel discriminated against nonetheless" just because I've been feeling rather annoyed about the whole incident, but Hero Material decided that maybe it was too vague.
With the falling population in this country, you'd think that the government would encourage citizens to be more open-minded and welcoming to immigrants. But I guess they're happy with their shrinking serfs taxbase.
© 2008 - 2012 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for News from Nadia Lee to receive emails about her new releases, fun contests, giveaways and appearances!
Books Available by Nadia Lee
The Last Slayer , an Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Carnal Secrets , a Contemporary Romance
Destiny Entwined , an Erotic Romance
A Happily Ever After of Her Own , a Paranormal Romance
How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook: 3rd Edition
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September 19, 2012
Destiny Entwined Is Free
Destiny Entwined, a short erotic paranormal romance, is free from the following retailers. Go forth and download. Thanks! (I'm update the post when Amazon makes it free too.)
All Romance eBooks
Diesel eBooks
iBooks US
iBooks UK
iBooks Canada
iBooks AU
Kobo Books
Smashwords
Sony
© 2008 - 2012 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for News from Nadia Lee to receive emails about her new releases, fun contests, giveaways and appearances!
Books Available by Nadia Lee
The Last Slayer , an Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Carnal Secrets , a Contemporary Romance
Destiny Entwined , an Erotic Romance
A Happily Ever After of Her Own , a Paranormal Romance
How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook: 3rd Edition
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Related posts:
Pulling My Titles from Kobo Books
DESTINY ENTWINED: On Sale Now!
Now You Can Sample DESTINY ENTWINED on Nook
August 14, 2012
New Cover: Carnal Secrets
Revenge is sweet...
Self-made billionaire Alex Damon wants his pound of flesh from the people who ripped his family apart. When he discovers that his enemies' daughter is working at his company -- most likely spying for them -- he decides to start by seducing her.
Natalie Hall is stunned at the personal interest from the CEO at her company. Vulnerable, with an already bruised heart, she wants to avoid any involvement, but she can't deny the desire he arouses in her.
...but passion is sweeter...
What should've been a straightforward eye-for-an-eye unravels as her unflinching loyalty and gentleness start to thaw his cold intent. But caring for her is unthinkable...since he plans to use everything in his power to ruin her, her family and everyone else she holds dear.
All Romance eBooks
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Apple iBooks US
Apple iBooks UK
Apple iBooks Canada
Apple iBooks AU
Barnes & Noble
Diesel eBooks
Kobo Books
Smashwords
Sony
I've been wanting to update the Carnal Secrets cover to make it edgier and sexier for a while, but just never gotten around to it after The Boy was born. Finally I got some time to focus on the matter, and Jaycee from Sweet 'n Spicy Designs did a great job. 
Note: It's probably going to take about a day or so before all the major retailers update the cover (Sony, Diesel and Apple may take longer).
© 2008 - 2012 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for News from Nadia Lee to receive emails about her new releases, fun contests, giveaways and appearances!
Books Available by Nadia Lee
The Last Slayer , an Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Carnal Secrets , a Contemporary Romance
Destiny Entwined , an Erotic Romance
A Happily Ever After of Her Own , a Paranormal Romance
How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook: 3rd Edition
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
Related posts:
Available Now: CARNAL SECRETS
Review: Carnal Secrets
A Happily Ever After of Her Own and Carnal Secrets - Now There Are eBooklets!
August 10, 2012
Themify Themes Are On Sale - 50% Off!
As many of you know, I love WordPress, esp. backend stuff, but I'm not as great at designing themes.
So I outsource my themes and/or buy premium WordPress themes from professional designers. Out of them all, Themify has been the best in terms of selection, ease of customization and support. (I cannot say the same of the other site where I bought a few themes.)
Currently Themify has a big 2nd anniversary sale. Enter coupon code happy2 when you check out, and you get 50% off on all themes and club memberships. It's a great deal since Themify's usual promotions and discounts are for 30% off.
This means you can pick up their themes for less than $10/each. ($19.95 for 2 -- buy 1 and get 1 free deal. Trust me you'll have a hard time deciding which two to get because they're all great. I picked up four themes from Themify.)
P.S. The sale ends on Monday August 13.
© 2008 - 2012 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for News from Nadia Lee to receive emails about her new releases, fun contests, giveaways and appearances!
Books Available by Nadia Lee
The Last Slayer , an Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Carnal Secrets , a Contemporary Romance
Destiny Entwined , an Erotic Romance
A Happily Ever After of Her Own , a Paranormal Romance
How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook: 3rd Edition
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
No related posts.
August 2, 2012
Ashwyn: Cinderella Retold with an Erotic Twist Is Out!
My erotic retelling of Cinderella, Ashwyn, is out today. This is very exciting to me personally, since I love the original Cinderella. It's probably one of the most enduring and popular fairy tales, not just in western culture, but in eastern as well. My version also has a small dose of Scheherazade in it, and one of the pieces of music I listened to while writing it is Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. :-)
Ashwyn: Cinderella Retold with an Erotic Twist
A long time ago, an evil witch cast a spell on the beautiful Ashwyn, creating a Shroud that made her not only virtually invisible but utterly forgettable as well. She needs a champion to break this curse. But it isn't easy to find a man who is strong enough to both give her carnal pleasure and see through the Shroud to remember their time together the morning after.
She's almost given up hope until the Prince of the Realm shows up at her keep. Not only does his mere presence make her skin tingle, but he doesn't seem to want to leave.
Can he be the one she's been waiting for?
Length: Novella
You can buy it from the following retailers. (It'll be on Kobo soon -- hopefully by Friday.)
All Romance eBooks
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
Excerpt:
When night descended and the full moon rose to the pinnacle of the heavens, the day's festivities died away. Ashwyn rolled her shoulders, aching from long hours of working in the pit. She didn't usually have to bury, dig up, turn and then rebury so many glazed chickens and ducks, all of which were stuffed with sun-dried rosemary, thyme, sage and other spices. But then again a prince of the Realm didn't usually spend the night at her father's keep.
The poultry roasting in hot embers was a specialty of the northern region. Ashwyn's aunt Morgan was determined to outdo herself, trying to impress Prince Lucien. Now that she had a lord for her new husband and a keep full of servants to satisfy her every whim, she had only one remaining goal: to marry her daughters off to wealthy men of power. Prince Lucien certainly met the requirements.
In her cramped and dingy chamber, Ashwyn scrubbed herself with a small piece of rose-scented soap she'd filched from her cousins. Her tiny bathtub was half-full with lukewarm water that had long ago turned a dull pale gray with ashes. She wanted every fleck of them gone from her body before she presented herself to Lucien. For the last ten years she'd toiled in the pit like a slave, but she still had her pride.
After donning a royal blue dress that brought out her eyes, she moved along the dim corridors. Not many knew the secret passages, but Ashwyn's mother had given her a map before passing away. With it, Ashwyn was able to slip in and out of guest chambers unnoticed by the guards. The coldness of the stones seeped into her slippered feet, and she thought she could smell the cinders in the narrow hall.
Or was it her? Horrified at the idea, she raised her hand and sniffed it. A faint floral fragrance from the soap remained. Satisfied, she hurried on. The sooner she saw Lucien, the sooner she might be able to break the spells her aunt had cast across the vast land her father owned.
Tonight the Shroud lying over the castle felt stifling, like a blanket of hopelessness. It was Aunt Morgan's curse, brought upon Ashwyn at her mother's death. It ensured that none who saw her recognized her, and the more people who beheld her, the stronger the spell became. Getting someone alone was thus her best chance, though she had clandestinely bedded many a visiting nobleman over the past ten years and none had been able to retain the memory of her the following day. If Lucien could free his mind and vision from the Shroud, he could be the one to help her break the unnatural hold her aunt had over the keep and its people.
So though she was afraid he might turn out to be another disappointment, she had to try.
The door to Lucien's chamber gave at a slight push. The hinge didn't even creak.
The chamber was the largest and most sumptuously appointed one in the entire keep. Nothing less would do for the prince. A thick and intricately patterned carpet covered the stone floor. The scent of ripe apples was so heavy in the room, Ashwyn imagined she could taste their sweet juice. A low fire crackled in the hearth, its light dancing with the shadows.
Ashwyn crept toward him. He must've been very tired, for he lay under the crimson silk sheet, his chest quietly rising and falling. He'd been fighting off bandits along the northern border earlier that day.
Are you the one?
So many men had passed through her father's keep, many of them peers or royalty. Most were men of valor as well. With no prying eyes around, they'd seen through the Shroud easily enough when she appeared in their chambers. The blue dress she always wore on the first night stoked their desire, for it bore an enchantment to arouse men. So they'd loved her with enthusiasm. But the next day, surrounded by the press of castle life, they'd been unable to recognize her.
Is it worth the disappointment?
Her true champion would not only see through the Shroud and desire her, but he would also cherish the memory of her, refusing to leave until the curse was broken. But so far, none had proven able. Her heart crumpled every time a man she'd longed to be her champion turned an unrecognizing eye toward her in the presence of others. As though that weren't enough, she experienced a virgin's pain every time she lay with a new man--part of her aunt's curse--though it had to be said that they always soothed her and gave her pleasure before the night was over.
She took her own wrist and dug fingernails into it, leaving small half-moons in the skin. The pain centered her. She couldn't give up. It wasn't just about her. Father was married to Aunt Morgan. How the woman had managed to lure Father into wedlock was a mystery, but she was a powerful witch. A curse must be clouding Father's faculties.
The firelight turned Lucien's hair to a coppery gold hue. Ashwyn stood by his bed and took a couple of deep breaths, gathering her courage. He smelled like fresh pine and the crisp northern wind. It reminded her of a happier time, when she'd been the beloved daughter of the keep's lord. She'd met Lucien, a mere boy back then, and he'd been so courtly and kind, not only to her but to everyone, regardless of rank or wealth. But now there was another scent underneath--a clean masculine musk that turned her mouth dry and made her lips tingle.
She leaned down. Her curls spilled over her shoulder and brushed his strong chiseled face. Lucien's eyelashes flickered, then suddenly swept upward. Brilliant green eyes stared at her, their pupils dark pools. They seemed to call out to her soul...
All Romance eBooks
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
Coming up next is the sequel to A Happily Ever After of Her Own. More of a traditional fractured fairy tale than A Happily Ever After of Her Own, the story features the frog prince who was very hopeful about his prospects at the end of Melinda and the Beast's adventure. It's tentatively scheduled for this winter. (Writing with a 13 month-old boy is lot more challenging than I expected.)
Thank you and I hope you enjoy Ashwyn.
Have a lovely August!
© 2008 - 2012 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for News from Nadia Lee to receive emails about her new releases, fun contests, giveaways and appearances!
Books Available by Nadia Lee
The Last Slayer , an Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Carnal Secrets , a Contemporary Romance
Destiny Entwined , an Erotic Romance
A Happily Ever After of Her Own , a Paranormal Romance
How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook: 3rd Edition
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
Related posts:
Ashwyn Cover Reveal
July 30, 2012
Ashwyn Cover Reveal
Squeee!!!!! Robin Ludwig did an incredible job.
A long time ago, an evil witch cast a spell on the beautiful Ashwyn, creating a Shroud that made her not only virtually invisible but utterly forgettable as well. She needs a champion to break this curse. But it isn't easy to find a man who is strong enough to both give her carnal pleasure and see through the Shroud to remember their time together the morning after.
She's almost given up hope until the prince of the Realm shows up at her keep. Not only does his mere presence make her skin tingle, but he doesn't seem to want to leave.
Can he be the one she's been waiting for?
Length: Novella
Release Date: August 1, 2012
© 2008 - 2012 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for News from Nadia Lee to receive emails about her new releases, fun contests, giveaways and appearances!
Books Available by Nadia Lee
The Last Slayer , an Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Carnal Secrets , a Contemporary Romance
Destiny Entwined , an Erotic Romance
A Happily Ever After of Her Own , a Paranormal Romance
How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook: 3rd Edition
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
Related posts:
Cover Reveal: The Last Slayer
Evolution of a Serial III: The Cover Art II
Evolution of a Serial II: The Cover Art I
July 24, 2012
DOJ Antitrust Treble Damage Math Examples
I thought it was cool that Courtney Milan talked about what kind of damages (treble damage) could be imposed on the Settling Three if they fought and lost.
I thought maybe the concept was still a bit vague for some to grasp without a concrete example or two, since antitrust isn't something you see on TV all the time, so here is some basic hypothetical math (simplified for easier understanding; the actual calculation may have other variables involved):
Hypothetical Scenario One:
Big Pub prices all its ebook editions of HC cover releases at $12.99.
If Amazon had been able to discount, many of those ebooks would've been sold at $9.99, since Amazon sold all major bestsellers at $9.99 before the Agency stuff.
So the difference between the agency price and the pre-agency price is $3. That is the harm that's been done to ebook buyers.
Since this is a price-fixing case, which makes it antitrust, the treble damage rule applies.
So the publisher pays $9 for every copy of an ebook sold that Amazon would've discounted (as in, all of its major bestsellers that were released as hardback or trade during this time).
Let's see if these damages are affordable for this publisher.
Under the agency model, the publisher gave 30% of its cover price to ebook retailers.
30% of $12.99 is $4.20.
So the publisher received $8.79.
Out of that, the publisher paid 25% to its authors ($2.20). So the publisher netted a total of $6.59 per ebook.
Forget the attorney's fees or the rent, utility, employee salaries, etc. Let's even assume that all those are $0. Even then the publisher loses $2.41 on every e-book copy sold at $12.99 that would've been discounted to $9.99 under the wholesale model.
Hypothetical Scenario Two:
Big Pub prices all its ebook edition of MMPBs (mass-market paperbacks) at $7.99.
Amazon routinely discounted those to $6.39 (about a 20% discount), regardless of their bestseller status.
The difference between $7.99 and $6.39 is $1.60.
If you triple this amount, it's $4.80 (the treble damage for antitrust).
The publisher received only $5.59 from ebook vendors. Out of that, it paid $1.40 to the authors, which leaves the publisher with $4.19.
So no matter what price you use, the publisher is set to pay more than it ever made on ebook sales under agency if it loses the price-fixing case. And no, they can't say, "We're too poor to pay, so give us a break." It doesn't work that way.
That's why some aren’t willing to fight the lawsuit -- because a settlement does not require them to pay damages that can destroy them (ie, will probably bankrupt them).
You may wonder why the other three are fighting. Maybe Penguin and Macmillan think they have a real chance at winning and so are willing to risk it. As for Apple, it has more money than it knows what to do with, so it's probably not a big deal to lose. (And e-book sales was never its main business.)
© 2008 - 2012 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for News from Nadia Lee to receive emails about her new releases, fun contests, giveaways and appearances!
Books Available by Nadia Lee
The Last Slayer , an Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Carnal Secrets , a Contemporary Romance
Destiny Entwined , an Erotic Romance
A Happily Ever After of Her Own , a Paranormal Romance
How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook: 3rd Edition
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July 19, 2012
Why I'll Never Buy a Laptop from Toshiba. EVER.
I cancelled my order from Toshiba. I won't be getting their custom made laptop due to their ridiculous phone order verification process for all orders. Even if I CALL to order, they have to do the phone verification "due to fraudulent orders."
Firstly, why even have an online order page in that case? The whole point of buying stuff online is that I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO A PHYSICAL STORE OR TALK TO YOU ON THE PHONE.
Secondly, why have the phone order option available if you have to do the phone verification for phone orders too? I don't know anybody who wants to talk AGAIN to verify their order. It's beyond silly.
Thirdly, insisting that the phone verification system's purpose is to fight fraud is insulting. This assumes that all people who order computers from you are fraudsters. Besides, I can name several reputable online retailers who do NOT do this and still make money. (cough-Amazon-cough-Apple-cough-MegaEggs-cough-Victoria's-Secret-cough-Sephora-cough-wine.com-cough-Godiva-cough)
Finally, Toshiba's lack of customer service lost my loyalty and business forever. When I emailed their support center for the update on my order status (because it was still set to "shipping status to follow"), nobody responded for over 2 business days, despite the fact that their website CLEARLY STATES that they respond all order-related inquiries in 24 hours. When I asked the service rep why the order status wasn't set to "waiting for phone verification" she said, "I don't know." When I said the custom-made laptop wouldn't arrive on time (since they so kindly screwed around for a week!), she said, "We can expedite the shipping IF YOU PAY EXTRA."
Their rep insisted that their phone verification system is not only normal but standard for all orders, and that they did nothing wrong by not disclosing that on their website or explaining such an outlandish and cumbersome system (so that people who don't want to be bothered w/ such BS can go elsewhere and not waste their time), and that it was just too bad that they never responded to my email inquiry.
So I told the rep to cancel my order, and not even bother trying to sell me anything else on their website since they don't have anything I want to buy, not with their ridiculous "phone verification system."
After hanging up with Toshiba's so-called customer support, I went to a company that truly values my business (and money) -- Amazon -- and bought a Samsung laptop for $120 less than what Toshiba wanted for theirs.
© 2008 - 2012 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for News from Nadia Lee to receive emails about her new releases, fun contests, giveaways and appearances!
Books Available by Nadia Lee
The Last Slayer , an Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Carnal Secrets , a Contemporary Romance
Destiny Entwined , an Erotic Romance
A Happily Ever After of Her Own , a Paranormal Romance
How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook: 3rd Edition
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
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July 12, 2012
Never-ending Revision & Tweaking
Recently, I happened to look at two blog posts on related themes -- the ability to endlessly revise, tweak and change your published story on KDP, PubIt, etc. if you self-publish.
One posted on Dear Author was written from a reader's point of view, who basically does not like this practice at all.
Another is posted on The Passive Voice, written from the point of view of mostly writers who have self-published, whether or not they have traditional publishing experience.
I can't imagine trolling the web for reviews and endlessly tweaking and revising my books, reformatting them and re-uploading them over and over and over again. Firstly, it's unfair to ask my readers to re-read the book they've read once just because I revised it. (That's what betas and critique partners are for.) Secondly, I have other books I need to work on.
I guess in a way it's really tempting to revise when you get a lot of less-than-flattering comments on some particular aspect of your story. But that's supposed to be done before you publish and charge people money, not after.
I have, however, re-uploaded my books before, and it was due to some improvements I made in formatting, to update my bio, etc. So no, my readers don't have to re-read my books to get the latest version of the story.
And now, excuse me while I go try to progress in my work on my works in progress.
© 2008 - 2012 Nadia Lee. All Rights Reserved. Visit nadialee.net for more great content.
Sign up for News from Nadia Lee to receive emails about her new releases, fun contests, giveaways and appearances!
Books Available by Nadia Lee
The Last Slayer , an Urban Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Carnal Secrets , a Contemporary Romance
Destiny Entwined , an Erotic Romance
A Happily Ever After of Her Own , a Paranormal Romance
How to Format Your Manuscript for Kindle and Nook: 3rd Edition
This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator or via the BlogBurst network, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us so we can take legal action immediately.
No related posts.
