Terra Harmony's Blog, page 8

War – What’s it Really Good For?

I’ve recently exchanged stories with another great indie author, Pavarti K Tyler. Her serial novel, ‘Two Moons of Sera’, is similar to my work in that it is ‘elemental’ driven. ‘Two Moons of Sera’ is set in a world with water-cultures, earth-cultures, and mountain/lava-cultures all at war with each other.

Pavarti graciously shared a guest post with me on her ideas of war and its implications in ‘Two Moons of Sera’:

Conflict is at the heart of every good story.  A love triangle, a misunderstanding, an argument, no matter what it is, the conflict is what gives us something to sink our teeth into when we read.  We take sides (Team Jacob!), we feel the tension and fear and desperation of the characters as we read, hoping for resolution.  And what better conflict that a real live, bonifide war?

The Illiad is the most memorable story in history, not because Paris and Helen lived happily ever after behind the fortress wall of Troy but because Ulysses, Agamemnon, Achilles and Menelaus all fought for the honor and reputation of their people.  Hector was respected across the battle lines for his fearless courage in the face of nearly certain death.  Its War that shows what a people are truly made of.  War makes hero and shames the losers.  Who remembers the names of the Trojans?  I bet I’m the only one.  You know why?  They didn’t win.

In my serial novel Two Moons of Sera (Vol 1 is available now on Amazon and Vol 2 will be released in March) the main story is set on a world where the two dominant races are at war.  The Sualwet, a waterborne race which can came on land is battling the earth dominant species, the Erdlanders.

Sualwet and Erdlanders are genetically related but that’s as far as it goes.  It has been a millennia since the two species were close enough to interbreed and as their evolution has continued it has made the specialization of each species pronounced.

The Sualwet live beneath the water.  They have evolved to breath through their skin, absorbing oxygen directly.  With no body hair and webbed feet the Sualwet live in a tight community bound together by responsibility and mutual benefit more than emotion.  Barely recognizable as human, the Sualwet have wide, dilated black eyes and have not had a live birth in 300 years.  Until Sera that is.

The Erdlanders on the other hand are a deeply social species, almost pack driven in their need to have a community and mate.  Despite their social community the Erdlanders are having fewer and fewer children.  In an effort to continue their race The Counsel has set up camps where the young and fertile are kept until they Match and procreate. This has lead to highly specialized jobs, creating a class system where the most fertile and intelligent rule over everyone else.

In their effort to find a solution to the decreasing population the Erdlanders have been experimenting of Sualwet prisoners, attempting to solve the genetic link that allows the Sualwet to breed but not them.  For generations the Erdlanders and Sualwet have fought.  The Sualwet tactics are precise and cruel, leading to the deaths of thousands of Erdlanders.

This is the backgrop for SeraFay’s life.  Ostracized by her mother’s Sualwet family due to her inability to stay below the surface for more than a few hours at a time and the hair growing upon her head, SeraFay and her mother live in a small cove, undiscovered by both species.  The war is a distant thought as Sera grows up, something she reads about in books her mother is able to salvage for her from the sea.  Nothing but bedtime stories her mother tells her, she can’t imagine the kind of devastation war can cause: until it lands on her small beach.

So which are you?  Erdlander or Sualwet? What side of the war will you fight on?

‘Two Moons of Sera’, volumes one and two are now available on Amazon.

About Pavarti:

Pavarti K Tyler is an artist, wife, mother and number cruncher. She graduated Smith College in 1999 with a degree in Theatre. After graduation, she moved to New York, where she worked as a Dramaturge, Assistant Director and Production Manager on productions both on and off Broadway.

Later, Pavarti went to work in the finance industry as a freelance accountant for several international law firms. She now operates her own accounting firm in the Washington DC area, where she lives with her husband, two daughters and two terrible dogs. When not preparing taxes, she is busy penning her next novel.

Author of many short stories, Pavarti spans genres from Horror and Erotica all the way to Fantasy. Currently Pavarti is hard at work preparing for the release of her upcoming novel Shadow on the Wall, a Muslim Superhero Literary Fiction.

Connect with Pavarti:

My blog is all ages: http://www,fightingmonkeypress.com

My tumblr is 18 only: http://pavartidevi.tumblr.com/

My Fan Page needs your likes: https://www.facebook.com/#!/FMPress

My Twitter likes friends: http://twitter.com/#!/PavartiKTyler

My Google is random: https://plus.google.com/?gpinv=JFSVnKSj7Uk:FdjR-3NCJW8#me/posts

The Beauty of Pollination

Do we take pollinators for granted?

As a whole – yes. Our use of systemic pesticides is killing them. We depend on pollinators for over 1/3 of the fruits and vegetables we eat. As filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg mentions in his TED introduction of this video, pollinators are like the canary in the coal mine; if they disappear, so do we.

Take four minutes to watch this video, and discover (or re-discover) the beauty of pollination:

What a wonderful job Schwarzberg did! Only he could make the common housefly and bats look so beautiful!

My favorite part, by far, has to be the slow motion butterflies. Although the bats are a close second. What’s yours?

 

Team Building at its Finest

Since joining the self-publishing community, I’ve come across a great group of people whose support and help rival that of the Mormons (I know this because I lived in Utah for two years).  Small press and indie authors alike have been large contributors to what small success I’ve had so far, and I couldn’t be more grateful.  One great resource is Ashley Barron, author of the Love + Family Series, a short story collection, and the upcoming Priya novel, Ava.  She graciously agreed to do an interview for my blog:

Q: You have a large presence as a blogger and on twitter.  A lot of your posts involve interviewing other authors.  What has this done for you?  Why did you choose this route?

Thanks for having me here today, Terra!

When I first set out on this journey, I didn’t know anything about the role of social media in self/indie publishing. I started my blog in June 2011, got a few posts out there, and soon realized no one but family and friends were reading it. In July 2011, I followed the advice of a smart man I like to call ‘The Godfather,’ and joined Twitter.

What a difference! Twitter opened a whole a new world for me, and for my writing.

All those links to people, information, and ideas inspired me to get serious about this process of self-publishing. I was open to learning, and I knew I had a long way to go, so I reached out to a few authors and asked if I could interview them for my blog. I’m an outgoing person, the type who likes to know everyone in the room, but even a more reserved personality would find many opportunities to form friendships on Twitter.

So don’t be shy! Put a little effort into it, take a few risks, and enjoy the rewards.

My first interviews were with Michael Hicks, Jon Merz, Chicki Brown, Richard Jay Parker, and Melissa Foster. I knew that each of them had sold a lot of books, but I didn’t yet have the context to understand the stunning significance of that achievement. Richard is the only one of the five who is traditionally published, but he works his social media with all the vigor and focus of an indie.

Forming these relationships early in my development was very helpful. As the interviewer, I was able to ask them questions that were of interest to me, personally. All five of those authors were supportive, prompt, and receptive. For a newbie writer, there is no greater encouragement than that of an author who is, in every respect, miles ahead, and who takes the time to stretch out a hand to help others move forward.

It’s team building at its finest.

As I say on my blog’s “About Me” description, I’m not on this journey alone. Nor would I ever want to be. I’ve learned from others, and now I’m passing on my own learning to help shine a light on the joys and challenges of the business end of self-publishing.

Q: The interview by author Stacy Eaton on your main character was an interesting twist, and a great way to introduce your novel.  Talk about generating interest!  Tell us more about your novel and the Priyas. 

Thanks! I adore Stacy Eaton! She is so motivated, so outgoing, you can’t help but catch the fever. She kindly offered to host an interview with me on her blog, and she gave me the option of responding as me, Ashley, or as my main character, Ava. I think I shocked us both when I chose Ava’s voice.

It was a fantastic exercise in getting to know more about a character I thought I already knew inside and out. Some of the answers “Ava” gave surprised me. I highly recommend doing one or two character interviews. I’m looking forward to future character interviews with the other Priyas.

The Priyas are the main characters in my romantic thriller series about a group of women who’ve grown up together in Washington, D.C. The first book is Ava, and there is a funny scene in it, a flashback, where readers get to learn how the Priyas named their secret society. Come to think of it, I might pull that chapter out and post it on my blog.

Bonner, the second novel in the series, has a planned release date of December 2012. I say “planned” because I had originally thought I would be releasing Ava in September 2011. When that didn’t happen, I rescheduled it for February 2012. Guess what? That didn’t happen, either.

I wasn’t ready. I didn’t feel as though all of the pieces were as evolved, as strong as they needed to be to support a book launch.

Remember, becoming a self-published author may begin with writing the book, but I would estimate that a completed novel accounts for only about twenty percent of the checklist. Your blog, your social media, your promotional materials (interviews, guest posts, free short stories, etc.) make up the remaining eighty percent.

If you skip any of the steps, you’ll have to go back and fix them at some point. Build them into your plan sooner rather than later. Yes, there are exceptions, always, and if you are one of them, a straight-to-number-one-make-it-into-a-movie self/indie published author, I sure hope you’ll do an interview on my blog.

Seriously though, for an author, marketing is all about building a readership. There are tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of people out there, readers, who want to know about your book. Get out there. Find them. Give them materials—links to your social media, samples of your work—both for themselves and to pass on to people they know who might be interested in your writing style, your genres, your plots.

Along those lines, always remember to reciprocate when a fellow writer or author gives you an opportunity. Always.

Q: Your novels are set in Washington, D.C. (as are you, I gather). Tell me about your experiences with the area and why you love and/or hate it!

There is a line in one of those old Judy Garland musicals, Meet Me in St. Louis, where a character asks the rhetorical question, ‘Wasn’t I lucky to be born in my favorite city?”

That’s precisely how I feel.

DC is an exceptional town. Everything is here, just on a smaller scale than in the big cities like New York, Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, etc. Growing up, my brothers and I were constantly packed into the car and taken on day trips to museums, historical sites, plays, farms, restaurants, gardens, anything within driving distance that my parents felt would add value to our minds, hearts, and worldview.

The neighborhood in which I grew up is uniquely multi-cultural. We have Embassies, the World Bank, and the IMF here in DC, and spending so much time in the homes of neighbors from places like India, Greece, Iran, England, Argentina, and Germany was a glorious way to learn that we are all as alike as we are different.

The story of the Priyas could only be told here in Washington. Whatever you think you already know about this town, and its layers, the real twists and turns extend far beyond any one person’s ability to uncover. That makes it a ripe setting for fiction.

The idea of buried secrets is an underlying theme in the Priya series, with arcs that travel through several books at a time. The main theme, of course, is love. I write about love, first, last, and always.

Q:  Coke or Pepsi?

Tea! Hot tea, cold tea. Ice, no ice. Black, green, chai. Milk, no milk. Sugar, more sugar. My only requirement is that the cup or mug must be large. Very large.

Q: How long did it take you to build your current number of followers?  What techniques have you found to work the best?

I’ve been blogging for ten months and tweeting for nine months. I have invested real time in building up my Twitter community. I believe the authors, writer, and readers on Twitter are among the most engaged book lovers I’ve ever encountered.

At the very beginning, during my first week in this online world, I created a marketing plan. It wasn’t perfect; I look back at it now and realize how far I’ve come. But it was a starting point, a place to focus, to gather ideas and track results.

I cannot stress this enough: you need a marketing plan.

You need to know where you are now and where you want to be next month, in six months, a year. You need to update your marketing plan at least every few weeks. Why? Learning happens that much faster when you immerse yourself into a new culture, a new community. You will likely make changes to your marketing plan, some small, some large. If you stick to your plan, you will achieve some or all of your goals—as long as the goals are set in realistic increments, naturally.

One of my goals is to reach 10,000 Twitter follows and followers by the time I launch Ava, the first novel in my Priya series. It is working out that way, I’m happy to report.

One thing to note: I don’t generally follow people who don’t follow back. I don’t use auto-follow, either, as I’m interested in the exchange of ideas, not a one-way subscription to your tweets or mine.

When you walk into to the “room” on Twitter, give a shout out to a few people, whether you know them or not, and get the ball rolling. Ask a few questions, offer a few answers. Retweet. Original tweet. Share a favorite quote, a corny joke, a cool picture.

Engage.

Ultimately, you are the one responsible for your own experience. You make your own success. Your attitude, your preparation, and your willingness to open new doors, and take new risks, will determine the level of your achievements.

It’s simple, really, and so unbelievably hard.

Q: If you can, share with us some of the best hints/tips you have learned from interviewing authors.

There are so many talented, giving, motivated, supportive members of our community. If one of the self/indie published authors you admire is a step in front of you, or fifty steps in front of you, read their interviews. Pay attention to their blog posts, their quotes. Ask to interview them for your blog, so you can get to the heart of the areas that you find most interesting, most helpful.

Here is great advice from some of the self/indie published authors I’ve had the honor of interviewing for my blog:

Terra Harmony:

“I learned a lot by publishing my novella first (formatting, marketing, etc.) that would have been hard lessons learned in a full length novel.”

Beth Elisa Harris:

When writers decide to publish, the game changes. That pure time spent writing the first book will never happen again, when your creative juices gush and there is no expectation beyond writing the next sentence. Once you decide to let others read what you wrote, you graduate to authorhood. The time you spend shifts to marketing and promotions. I think this reality is a shock for new writers, and it’s true whether you’re independent or traditional.”

R. S. Guthrie:

“Start working on your marketing NOW, regardless of where you are with the book. If you are not finished with the book yet, even better. You can’t get a large enough head-start on the marketing but you will always be behind, so work on it now.”

Micheal Rivers:

“Your cover is just as important as what is written on your pages. The cover will have a great influence on a lot of buyer’s choice, it tells who you are. Edit, Edit, Edit, and then edit until its’ perfect. Nothing will turn away a reader faster than a boat load of mistakes.”

Deborah Batterman:

“‘If you build it, they will come.’ This is not meant as glibness so much as a testament to tenacity and the belief that, yes, doing what I love is its own reward, and the incredibly gratifying reviews and responses to my collection continue to hearten me.”

Carl Purdon:

“As much as you think you can find your own typos, you can’t. After initially publishing, I probably uploaded corrections over a dozen times when my readers pointed them out to me. It was a very humbling experience and one I hope not to repeat.”

Q: For us readers, what can we expect from you next?

Ava debuts in a few weeks! It’s a moment I’ve been working toward for years. Literally. The day my first novel debuts will be a serious marker in my life, and a small celebration is planned. I might insist on reading a few pages aloud, with limited staging and full drama, just to annoy my brothers. That’s a temptation I’ve never been able to resist. Though, admittedly, it’s been duly reciprocated.

Also, I’ve just released the next short story from my ‘Love + Family’ collection. I have made ‘The Birthday’ and ‘Famous’ free in order to give readers an opportunity to sample my work.

A standalone novel is in development for 2013. One morning I sat down at my computer to work on the Priya series, and, before I knew it, was writing a whole new book. For me, becoming witness, storyteller, to the natural birth of an entirely new set of characters is my rarest and most prized moment as a writer.

 

A big thanks to Ashley for taking the time to do the interview, and for all the time she puts in interviewing other authors and sharing their wisdom with us!  Please be sure to connect with Ashley on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords.

Something for Everyone

Although it isn’t my intent to regularly post reviews here, I’ve come across several ‘must shares’ in the past few months.  My list of top three reads so far in 2012 includes something for everyone:

YA Fantasy

Angelfall by Susan Ee

As a self-published author, her book has had amazing success.  With a 4.39 star average on almost 4,000 ratings on Goodreads, this is a must read for anyone who loves YA fantasy, and even for most of those who don’t!  Not usually a fan of YA books, there is a certain element of horror that really spikes up the interest level for me.  Word of caution, this is not for anyone squeamish to blood and gore.  This book has a great concept, great dialogue and character development and is very well written – a page turner for sure. I cannot wait for the sequel!

Click here to see my review on Goodreads.

Favorite Quote from Book: “We now play a permanent game of I-am-crazier-and-scarier-than-you. And in that game, my mother is our secret weapon.”

 

Fantasy with Elemental Magic

The Five Elements by Scott Marlowe 

I originally added this book because of the similarities to my own with elemental magic. I was curious to see another author’s spin on it. And boy, did my head spin. I could barely put the book down. I was immediately sucked into this new world, research on elemental magic completely forgotten.  The writing is sophisticated (not the ‘I did that’ and ‘he did this’ style that seems to be all the rage these days), the twists were amazing, and the pacing, character development, and dialogue were perfect! Scott is another self-published author with great potential.

Click here to see my review on Goodreads.

Excerpt from book (this sets the scene for the final climax): The folk of Norwynne fled from a land gone mad. Leaving behind what possessions remained to them, they abandoned the remnants of hearths and homes to flee into the night with only the clothes on their backs and their children held or dragged behind. They ran screaming and crying and praying beneath a sky turned crimson with blood-red clouds that spewed liquid drops of fire. The earth cracked, and convulsed, jarring some from their feet even as streaks of lightning, a score at a time, turned night into day. Tornadoes swirling with flame touched down everywhere, one coming too close to a fleeing group so that men, women, and children were sucked into the vortex and not see again.

 

Romance/Erotica

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

LOTS of buzz about this traditionally-published series, and the reviews are mixed.  The writing style is simple, shorter sentences but the content is definitely for mature audiences only.  Reading from the viewpoint of the MC, a recent college grad who experiences her first romance and sexual experiences, we witness all the nitty-gritty nuances of sex. And the author did not sugarcoat anything here, making for a very believable experience.  I loved the MC’s internal thoughts, and the e-mail exchanges between her and the protagonist were a riot. I’ve only read the first of a series of three, and will eventually get to the other two, but for now, my libido needs a rest.  (Pretend I’ve inserted a smiley face here – how the heck do you do that on WordPress???)

Click here to see my review on Goodreads.

Favorite Quote from book:

“Why don’t you like to be touched?” Ana whispered, staring up into soft grey eyes.

“Because I’m fifty shades of fucked-up, Anastasia.”

Two Great Blog Hops and a chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card

Hope everyone had a great Earth Day yesterday! If the day completely slipped your mind, don’t worry. It is never too late to do something for Mother Nature!

Now, I want to do something for you. I am currently participating in two great blog hops. Every person who enters will receive an e-copy of my novel, ‘Water‘, and a chance at a $25 gift card (that is two gift cards, one for each hop). Click on the images below to enter each hop, and don’t forget to follow the linky for other great giveaways!

April 22nd, 2012 is Earth Day

I am an eco-fantasy author, and today is Earth Day.  My immediate thought is – crap, I should really do a blog post about this.  But honestly, what can I tell you today that will make a difference tomorrow?  Probably not much.  We’re all mostly aware of the declining quality of our planet’s ecosystems.  A large part of that is due to the lifestyles to which we’ve become accustomed; and it is something we, as a whole, are unwilling to change.  As individuals – yes, lots of us can do something small here and there.  But the main shift needs to happen at a higher level; with politics.

What I can tell you to do is petition your government at the local, state, and national levels to center their campaigns around environmental issues. Then you need to vote accordingly.

Longer term change needs to be our focus.  In recent research for my books, I have come across another long term solution – permaculture. Permaculture is a philosophy of ecological design that develops sustainable human settlements and agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems. It draws from several disciplines including organic farming, agroforestry, sustainable development, and applied ecology.

Farm and pasture land take up over 1/3 of the world’s ice-free land surfaces.  These are areas that have been cleared of natural vegetation.  This is why permaculture is so important.  Permaculture works with natural ecosystems to grow food and support life, instead of against it.  Many predictions, including those by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), show that by 2040 Europe, the America’s, and China will not be able to sustain food growth.  This theory, along with others that predict we cannot change global warming, tells us we need to adapt the way we go about growing, processing, and distributing food.

Well, that was a mouthful. Some food for thought, so to speak, for Earth Day.  By this time next year, the final book of the Akasha Series will be released and I can hopefully focus on the larger message I hope to convey with the series.  Wish me luck with that!  In the meantime, Google ‘Permaculture’ and find out what you can do to help.  Here is a great clip on Actress Ellen Page’s experience with permaculture on the Ellen show (I love Ellen  – both of them):

Sunshine Blog Award

I was nominated by Alexia Smit for a Sunshine Blog Award! Love that chic – thanks Alexia!

So, here are the rules…

1.  Include the award logo in your post or on your blog

2.  Answer 10 questions about yourself – you can use mine or make up your own

3.  Nominate 10 – 12 other wonderful bloggers

4.  Let the other nominees know they are nominated and include links to their blog

5.  Link the person who nominated you

Let the fun begin…

1.  What book are you currently reading?

Just finished Angelfall by Susan Ee.  What a surprisingly awesome read!

2.  Vampires or werewolves?

That is a tough one.  It's a tie – can I just go with mermaids here?

3. How many books have you read so far this year?

Only nine under my belt so far, but in my defense, can I add how much I've written? Upwards of 30,000 words. Not to mention the 50,000 or so I've edited…have I redeemed my lack of reading yet?

4. Who is your favorite character in a book you've read?

Because she is so fresh in my head, has to be Penryn from Angelfall .  I'd like to think I would definitely kick ass like her during an apocalypse.

5. Heels, sneakers, flip flops or clogs?

Flip flops, but my feet are bare probably 80% of the time.  A luxury of working from home.

6. What's your dream vacation?

A trip around Eastern Europe – Romania, Bulgaria, maybe Croatia, followed by a tour of Wales, Scotland and Ireland!  Sorry spawn 'o mine – no kids allowed.

7. Who is your favorite author?

Diana Gabaldon, hands down.  She has a huge following with her Outlander Series.

8. Favorite book/series?

Hunger Games, for sure.  Also Gabaldon's Outlander Series, oh – and can't leave out Divergent by Veronica Roth.  Can't freakin' wait for Insurgent!

 9. Why do you enjoy reading?

 Reading for me, serves two purposes.  Research and escape.  I do believe my writing craft gets better with every book I read – there is so much to learn from these great authors!  Reading also gives me a break, let's me escape into another world leaving me better prepared to deal with mine.

10. What is your favorite quote from a book?

"We now play a permanent game of I-am-crazier-and-scarier-than-you. And in that game, my mother is our secret weapon." From Angelfall. Have I mentioned how much I love that book?

 Here are my nominees:

Jennifer @ Can't Put it Down Reviews – Very active book review blogger, editor, and awesome lady and friend, who I'm sure is rocking the 'I Am Water' t-shirt from my store right now!

Mindy @ Forbidden Reviews  – Somehow finds the time in her busy life to blog a variety of movie and book reviews – and all happen to be right up my alley! Mindy is very enthusiastic about the industry and worth the follow!

Scott @ Scott Marlowe Books – amazing, relatively undiscovered author (if you are an Amazon Prime member, be sure to borrow 'The Five Elements' for free).

Susan @ Susan Ee – because I feel as though I haven't justified Angelfall enough.

Komal @ The Review Girl  – Wonderful reviews, great giveaways, and awesome writing tips.  Enough said!

Steph @ Starry Night Book Reviews – Beautiful imagery on the blog – I'm all about the pictures!

Cami @ My Reading Addiction – If I had to classify a perfect reading machine – it would be Cami.  There is a new book review up practically daily.  Must. Follow. Cami.

And I know the following were already hit with the Sunshine Blog Award, but I just couldn't – for the life of me – leave them off my fav's list!

Ritesh @ Ritesh Kala's Book Reviews – One of the best and well-organized book review blogs I've seen to date!

Natasha @ Dreamland: A Teenage Fantasy  – Another great blog with eye-catching imagery.  I could get lost in it for hours!

Tina @ Martina Bookaholic – Awesome reviews in both German & English.  With a new posting almost daily, this is one busy girl.

My KDP Select Experience

I've been MIA from my blog for awhile. A romp around Canada is to blame – but totally worth it! We caught a myriad of rainbows at Niagara Falls, found out that Montreal natives don't like kids (or at least don't like my kids – can't necessarily blame them), and absolutely fell in love with Quebec City! Anyway, before that, I enrolled 'The Kindred Curse Anthology' in KDP Select and ran some of my first free promo days. In true indie spirit, I'd like to share my experience.

I chose two free days toward the end of March, a Wednesday and Thursday because I was told to do at least two days in a row, allowing time for word to get out. Since Fridays and Saturdays are big ebook buying days, I wanted my book back at normal price by then. As far as advertising, I took the following steps:

-          Posts on Facebook, Twitter, my blog and Google+

-          Asked several book review bloggers to spread the word, or at least retweet/share my updates

-          Created ads for Goodreads and Facebook

-          Set up a Goodreads event and invited all my friends; at least one friend invited all her friends as well

-          Registered at Pixel of Ink

-          Posted announcement on the Kindle Boards

-          Registered for posting at All Things Kindle Facebook Page

-          Registered at YourBookAuthors.com

-          Registered at Snickslist.com

-          Registered at www.dianekidman.com

-          Posted on Facebook's Indie Exchange

-          Asked the following Twitter services to Tweet my book: @DigitalBkToday @kindleebooks @Kindlestuff @KindleEbooksUK @KindleBookKing @KindleFreeBook @FreeReadFeed @4FreeKindleBook @kindle_promo @writersRT @TweetTheBook @kindlebookreview  @indieauthornews

-          Added 'free', 'kindlefreebie', etc. to my tags on the Amazon page

Quick disclaimer; not all advertising worked. For example, I know Pixel of Ink didn't get around to posting my book – I'm sure they have plenty to post so it is hit or miss with them.  It is really hard to say what worked and what didn't.  The only solid evidence I have is from my Goodreads Events; some people that responded 'yes' left a comment that they downloaded it. I have not seen any new reviews of the book, and have not seen a jump in sales for any of my other books.

I'm hesitant to post exact numbers for fear of violating any of Amazon's policies, so let me just say the total number of free downloads was above 1,000 but below 2,000. Personally, I was hoping for a number in the tens of thousands. The number of buys after my free day promo ended is still in the single digits.

So far, KDP Select for me has been a wash. I keep wondering if it is because the type of book I have – a vampire short story anthology, for adults only. Perhaps the first novel of the Akasha Series would do better as more of a traditional fantasy. I have another free day on April 15th coming up, and then again on the 18th and 19th. I'm going to back off the usual social media this time around – no twitter, no facebook, no Goodreads, and try a few different things. One is advertising at World Literary Café.

If ever I would enroll my eco-fantasy series in KDP Select, I might put some more money in my advertising. For example, running a giveaway on Twitter for anyone who retweets my updates for a $25 gift card, and doing a separate but similar giveaway on Facebook. There are several other advertising opportunities that cost, but I'm waiting to hear what works for other authors.  I just wish the enrollment period wasn't so long!  Even if it were only 60 days, instead of 90, I'd be more willing to enroll my books.

I'd love to hear from you! Authors – what has your experience been with KDP? Readers – where oh where do you find new books (and more specifically – free books) to read? Please comment!

FREE March 28th and 29th on Amazon

The Kindred Curse Anthology is set to the very low price of….FREE March 28th and 29th on Amazon.  Click here to pick up your ebook copy.

With an average of 4.25 stars out of 17 ratings on Goodreads, and an average of 4.6 stars out of 8 reviews on Amazon, this is a CAN'T MISS FREEBIE!

Synopsis:

A disease passed to each new generation of descendants attracts vampires. Pieces of family history and the secrets to survival are lost as the lineage progresses. The Kindred Curse Anthology of prequels lead you back in time, revealing the root of a dynasty's plight and a beginning that ultimately transcends the family's end.

Consisting of five short stories, each subsequent book in this anthology is written as a prequel to the prior. The matriarch of the family, Anna Sprengel, survives a vampire poisoning. Her tainted blood is passed down to each new generation, morphing into deadly auto-immune diseases. However, no descendant can escape the magnetic pull they have toward vampires – and vampires have toward the family. Loosely based on the true story of the foundations of the Order of the Golden Dawn, Anna foresees the destruction of the world, and joins forces with a vampire in order to prevent the total loss of both races. But every member of the family in each generation must play their part. Constantly on the run from vampires, their instincts for self-preservation overcome even their kindred bonds. Anna is no longer around to ensure the prophecy is carried out by her family, but her vampire cohort, Xavier, is. Even if he can overcome the sensual pull toward Isabelle, fulfillment of the prophecy remains precarious as the future of both races is at stake.

Be My First Chapter Beta Reader

I am currently undertaking the daunting task of reading my entire novel out loud to myself.  As I've discovered with my vampire short story series, and even the second book to the Akasha Series, 'Air', this method works wonders for catching hard to spot grammar/spelling mistakes and awkward sentences.  Although 'Water' has been on the market since September 2011, I haven't yet put it through this process.  I have vowed to have this done by the time we go to Canada for our kid's spring break trip (better get a move on because that is next week). Anyway, by the time I finished reading the first chapter out loud, I decided it needed a complete rework.

Whether you have read 'Water' yet or not, I would very much appreciate your input on the short 637 word excerpt below.  Does it grab your attention? Do you want to find out more? Does the dragon analogy work? If you have read 'Water', should I just stick with what is already there? Please leave your comments and thank you!!!

Chapter 1: Avalanche 

I leaned forward.  The board strapped to my boots responded.  Slicing through the fresh powder, I made a sharp curve to the right.  A quick glance uphill showed the wave of snow had almost tripled in size, and it was about to catch up to me.

More than anything else, it was the noise that pumped me full of adrenaline.  Like the roar of an angry, unrelenting dragon; breath stinking of the earth churned up in its path.  The entire right side of the unmarked backcountry trail was a wall of thick trees, impossible to break through.  I pulled my toes up, arching back to the left side of the trail.  But I wasn't going to make it.  The dragon's spittle pelted me on the back of my neck, sending chills down my spine.  Instead, I pointed my snowboard straight downhill and put all my weight on my forward leg, hoping to outrun the beast.

I willed my board to go faster than I ever dared before.  The avalanche was faster.  The dragon opened its mouth wide, closing in on me from both sides and overhead, blocking out the bright blue sky and the trees to the side of me with its gray jaws.  The slope beneath me cracked and slithered forward, like the monster's forked tongue.  As the force of nature dropped over me, I closed my eyes and threw my arms around my head.  My screams were lost deep inside the creature.

Completely engulfed, I moved with the dragon.  The whole of the trail had transformed into its body; an agitated, unstoppable river of churning snow and debris.  The world became darker and darker, the snow heavier and heavier.  Flashes of light were few and far between.

When I gasped for air, I was sometimes rewarded with a clear breath but more often than not I sucked in a mouthful of snow.  Hacking to rid my throat of the slush, I came to the awful realization that I was drowning on dry land.

My hands, flailing for something solid to hang onto, finally caught hold of a tree.  Small as it was, it held fast against the merciless rush of snow.  I fought against nature, literally holding on for my life.  I wrapped myself around the trunk as two large branches just above me ripped away and disappeared in the churning white waves, along with my screams.  I squeezed so tight the rough bark scratched at my arms and cheek.  The scent of pine was strong, and I inhaled deeply as though the scent alone would keep me tethered to the tree.  I willed the roots to be strong.

They were, but I was not.  My grip started to loosen as my tired muscles and numb fingers were unable to hold on against the rushing snow.  I lost the stable trunk and returned to the tumble of snow.

I came to a halt just like the rest of the debris of the Canadian mountainside.  A small air pocket had formed, allowing me to spit out the coppery taste of blood.  Suffocation couldn't be too far off, encased in an immobile block of ice as I was.  Feeble attempts at movement proved useless.  Silence settled in on me as I heard the last of the snow come to a halt above me.  Tolerating its crushing weight because I had no choice, I was left as I always was – alone.  Most of the time I preferred it that way; people were nothing but annoying.  But annoying or not, having someone who at least knew of my vacation plans would have been welcome.

As the numbness slowly receded, pain returned to one hand.  I wiggled my fingers.  They were free, possibly above the surface.  I grimaced.  Great – at least the wolves would find me.  Closed casket for me.