Ripley Patton's Blog, page 39

Over the Rim is HERE!

My new YA fantasy novella is now on sale for only 99 cents HERE FOR KINDLE.

Get your copy of this Award-Nominated Contest Winner NOW.

Coming in March: My New YA Novella

 

I am thrilled to announce that I am releasing my young adult fantasy novella, Over the Rim, as an e-book in March.
Over the Rim was first published in Andromeday Spaceways Inflight Magazine in 2009 (issue #42). It went on to be nominated and short-listed for the Sir Julius Vogel Award for best novelette/novella of that year.
Then, last year, I entered it in the SpecFicNZ “A Cover’s Worth a Thousand Words” contest, and it won first place, earning me an amazing cover design by Kura Carpenter Design as the prize.
And here’s a blurb to whet you appetite:
Mike Abbot doesn’t want a family trip to Crater Lake National Park, or a puppy, but his dad seems to have forgotten his son is seventeen, not seven. None of his dad’s efforts are going to fix what is broken, or restore what they’ve lost, but Mike is afraid if he points that out he might lose the only parent he has left.
When Mike takes the puppy out on the trail around the crater early in the morning to do its business, a strange sign rises up out of the fog to warn him:
Keep animals leashed at all times. Pets have been known to vanish over the rim .
And when the dog does just that—vanishes over the crater’s edge—it seems the universe and the strange world nestled outside of time on Wizard Island have plans for Mike that will change both worlds forever. 

Watch for it on Amazon in March for only .99.

 

GHOST HAND Giveaway Quiz

Want to test your Ghost Hand knowledge and have a chance to win an e-book copy, a SIGNED paperback copy, or your very own tiny GHOST HAND?
(ability to pickpocket the soul not guaranteed:)
Then just head over to Lili Lost in a Book and check out the new GHOST HAND Giveaway she’s running for me. Answer five questions about Ghost Hand, and you’ll be entered to win one of the great prizes.
But don’t delay.
The Giveaway ends February 24th.

FREE DAY RESULTS

Thanks to all of you who helped spread the word about the FREE DAYS for Ghost Hand FEB 14-16 on Amazon Kindle. The results FAR exceeded even my wildest expectations.
I was hoping for 5,000 downloads. 10,000 was a pipe dream I’d heard thrown around by those who are considered “made” in the self-publishing industry already.
So, when the final tally was 11,554 downloads, I was kind of blown away. I also cracked every international market Amazon has including: India, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Canada and Brazil.
Of course, not everyone who downloads a free book will read it. And not everyone who reads it will like it. But the fact that my book is now in that many reader’s hands is pretty awesome. Sales have steadily increased since the free days ended and Ghost Hand is now ranked #34 in Amazon’s Paid Fantasy Series list.
The Ghost Hand ebook has now returned to the still-economical price of $2.99, and I believe it is worth every penny.  And the paperback will be on sale for $10.99 until the end of February. Please keep spreading the word to friends and family if you’ve read the book and liked it. And don’t forget, you can give e-books as gifts to anyone with an e-reader. It’s as easy as sending an e-mail.
Now, after all this energy spent giving book one a good send-off into the world, I will return to the joyful grind of writing book two, Ghost Hold.

Ghost Hand is FREE Feb 14-16

Yes, it’s true. I am giving away Kindle e-book copies of Ghost Hand on Amazon February 14-16. So spread the word and get your copy if you haven’t already.

 

 

But why am I doing this?
1. Because it is Valentine’s Day and International Book Giving Day, and because I can’t think of a better way to show someone love than to give them a book.
2. Because I want to get Ghost Hand into the hands of as many readers as possible. A first book is like a calling card, a way to garner an audience and a fan base for a writer career lasting years to come. I am convinced that once people read the first book of the series, they’re going to want to read the rest. So, this is my personal investment in my readers and my future books.
3,  Giving my book away free, if it is downloaded by enough people, will push it up the Amazon ranking charts and into their promotional mechanisms, thus resulting in more free exposure and downloading of the book. And that will eventually manifest as future sales. Giving my book away free is not a foolish endeavor. It is a proven marketing strategy for the self-published and Indie authors.
How can you help? Simply spread the word to anyone you think might enjoy Ghost Hand. Not many people would be bothered by the offer of a free book.
Let’s see how many copies we can get out into the world together.

35 Books, Each for a Buck

 

Bestsellers * Award Winners * Hot New Releases

30 authors offering 35 titles at an amazing 99¢ price (limited time offers)

.99 on AMAZON NOW

AMAZON UK

Paperback only $10.99 for a limited time

Savor the Savings

Titles by Category:

Young Adult

 

Ghost Hand  by Ripley Patton (paranormal)

Defy the Stars by Stephanie Parent (romance/verse)

Seen  by Heather Sutherlin (fantasy)

Sally Singletary’s Curiosity  by JM Cataffo (fantasy/mystery)

Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry (contemporary)

Duplicity (Spellbound #2) * 1st book NOW FREE! * by Nikki Jefford

 

New Adult/Upper Teen: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

 

Treason (Grimoire Saga #2) * 1st book NOW FREE! * by S. M. Boyce

The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear by M. Pax

ReVamped by Ada Adams

Troll Or Derby, a Fairy Wicked Tale by Red Tash

Neverlove by Angela Brown

Flight (The Crescent Chronicles, #1) by Alyssa Rose Ivy

Vaempires: Revolution and Vaempires:Zombie Risingby Thomas Winship

What Kills Me by Wynne Channing

Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter by Nikki Jefford

 

New Adult/Upper Teen: Contemporary Romance

 

Preservation (Preservation, #1) by Rachael Wade

The Unloved by Jennifer Snyder

Make It Last by Bethany Lopez

My Paper Heart by Magan Vernon

 

Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Horror

 

Day of Sacrifice Omnibus by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Fall for Me by K. A. Last

The Forever Girl by Rebecca Hamilton

Reunion by Jeff Bennington

Red Fox (Experiment in Terror #2) * 1st book FREE! * by Karina Halle

Guardian of Fate by L.J. Kentowski

Ember’s Curse by Gena D.Lutz

FEARLESS by Tawdra Kandle

 

Science Fiction and Fantasy

 

Perfection Unleashed by Jade Kerrion

To Ride a Puca by Heather McCorkle

 

Contemporary Romance and Chick Lit

 

The Reunion by Elizabeth Aloe

The Game Changer by Marie Landry

Broken and Mending by J.B. McGee

a See full hop list with book covers at Shop the Hop.

Ghost Hand Give-Away, Interview, and Rave Review

Over at LOLA’S REVIEWS, I’ve just done an interview, and Lola asked some great questions about Ghost Hand and the future PSS Chronicles books.
She was also nice enough to run a rafflecoptor give-away for me. Go HERE  and scroll down to the bottom of the page to enter. You could be the lucky winner of a free electronic or paperback copy of Ghost Hand. And don’t forget to tell your friends to enter too.
BEST REVIEW EVER:
And over at LILI LOST IN A BOOK , Lili has given me the BEST REVIEW EVER. She read Ghost Hand in one sitting, LOVED my cover, and was swooning over Marcus.
My favorite quote from the review was probably - ”I just love the world Ripley created! It’s so imaginative and, as crazy as it sounds, it kinda makes me want to live in this world (especially if Marcus is there!)”
So, go check out these sites and let them know you were there with a kindly comment.

Ripley’s Interview on People You Should Know Radio

Listen to internet radio with People You Should Know on Blog Talk Radio

How to Write Book Two

Planning to write a series or stuck in the thick of it?
A stand-alone book is one thing, but there are some unique questions an author must ask themselves when writing a series.
I’ve only just begun the second book of my PSS Chronicles series, so I thought I would blog about this topic while it was still fresh in my mind.
Now, whether your first book ended in a cliff-hanger or has a full story arc of its own like my YA paranormal thriller Ghost Hand, the fact is, you are continuing that story in book two. You will be using many of the same characters, presumably the same world, possibly the same setting, and many of the plot components of book one will need to be expanded in book two. Here are some questions you should consider before launching straight into that second book.
POV:   Will you use the same point-of-view character or characters for book two?  When answering this, keep in mind that fans of book one may be disappointed if you switch POV characters, particularly if book one was from one POV or in first person. They got to know and love being that character, and they’re probably picking up book two to be that character again. You don’t want to lose readers you gained in book one by changing the POV they loved.
Story Time-Lapse:  How much time has elapsed in the story since book one? Does the story start up the minute after the first book left off? In most series, time has elapsed between books, and the reader must quickly be brought up to speed without the author doing too much telling or info dumping. Try to start the second book in a place of action, and let the characters slowly fill in, through internal thought or dialogue, what has happened since the last book.
Book Time-Lapse:  How much time has elapsed since the writing of the first book? If you are writing your second book directly after the first, then there is much less chance readers will have forgotten anything major from book one. However, if you are writing the second book years after book one, then you must take into consideration that readers may not remember much of it.
Marketing Questions: How is marketing the second book of a series different than marketing the first?
Book Two Covers:  If you’ve done it right, the first book of your series will have a distinct look, style and brand. Be sure to keep this same brand for the cover of subsequent books. Use the same designer, illustrator, cover model, and colors, if at all possible. If that isn’t possible, be sure to have your new cover designer looking at the first book cover and trying to match it. I also think it is very important to clearly mark the second book as the second in a series. Most people don’t want to buy a book or pick it up at the library, only to find, when they get home, that there is a book they should have read before it.
Shelf-Life: Try to imagine yourself as a reader or book buyer going into a book store or library and finding the second book of your series. Book one is all sold out, so all they have to go on as a selling point of your series is book two. What crucial information should be in and on that book for you to sell a book to that person that day? First, there should be clear information directly in the front of book two on where that buyer can get book one for themselves, both as an e-book and in print. Preferably, this would include a short hooking blurb about book one. This makes it more likely that they will buy book two that day, confident that they will like and can get book one soon. Second, the first chapter of book two should have a strong hook, something that even someone unfamiliar with the series would find interesting, rather than confusing. Ideally, you want book two to do much more than sell itself; you also want it to sell book one, and any subsequent books of the series.
Two-Directional Marketing: Most importantly, don’t forget to market book two to all the fans who read and loved book one. You already have an audience, and your job is to keep it, and build it. So, don’t forget to market back towards the audience you have, and forward to the audience you hope to gain.  
Bringing the Reader Up to Speed:  There are several different approaches that can be used in a second book to bring readers up to speed on the story.
The synopsis method: One way is to have a 1-2 page synopsis of the first book at the beginning of the second book, but I do not recommend this. You want to sell your first book, not just your second book. Why would a reader/buyer bother seeking out your first book if they can read a summation of it right there in book two. Plus, this kind of synopsis can’t help but dumb down the wonderful plot and twists of your first book and make it seem dull in comparison. The most you should use in your second book is the hook or cover blurb of the first book, along with some glowing review blurbs.
The info-dump method: This is where the writer uses the characters and the first few chapters to tell the reader what happened in book one. Again, this is not recommended because you want the reader/buyer to need to read book one so you can sell it too. Not to mention that info-dumping annoys the reader and impedes good storytelling.
The integrated method:  It takes skill and some thought, but the ideal scenario would be to integrate just enough information from book one to make book two understandable and interesting. This info should be sprinkled subtly throughout the first few chapters of book two as it builds to its own unique story arc.

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Ripley on the Radio

I’m very excited to announce that I’m going to be on the radio next week and you can listen in live.
The program is called “People You Should Know.” My online interview with David-Matthew will be on Thursday from 9:00 am to 9:30 am Pacific Standard Time, and HERE’S the direct link for listening.
I hope to “see” you on Thursday over the airwaves.