Alexandra Sokoloff's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-unseen"

Okay, the Nookers have guilted me into putting some of my newly re-acquired backlist up for THEM. So at least for the next few weeks, here you go:



For Nook: $2.99
On Amazon:  $3.99

Five troubled college students left alone on their isolated campus over the long Thanksgiving break confront their own demons and a mysterious presence... that may or may not be real.

Bram Stoker & Anthony Award Nominee for Best First Novel.

"Poltergeist meets The Breakfast Club as five college students tangle with an ancient evil entity. Plenty of sexual tension... fast pace and engaging plot."

     -- Kirkus Reviews



For Nook:  $2.99
Amazon:    $2.99

A Boston District Attorney suspects his wife has made a terrible bargain with a mysterious hospital counselor to save the life of their dying child.

"Some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre."

      -- The New York Times Book Review




For Nook:  $2.99
Amazon: $2.99

Two psychology professors and two exceptionally gifted students move into an abandoned Southern mansion to duplicate a controversial poltergeist experiment - unaware that the entire original research team ended up insane... or dead.

Based on the real life, world-famous parapsychology experiments conducted at Duke University by Dr. J.B. Rhine.

"Sokoloff keeps her story enticingly ambiguous, never clarifying until the climax whether the unfolding weirdness might be the result of the investigators' psychic sensitivities or the mischievous handiwork of a human villain." -- Publisher's Weekly


I have to say this Nook thing is a bit of an experiment.

One of the amazing things about e publishing is the sheer control authors now have over pricing and venues, and the infinite flexibility of choices we enjoy (or dread, depending on your point of view!). We can change the prices of our books literally overnight, and play with where we choose to make our books available, to determine what is the most profitable for us.

And when I say profitable, what I'm really talking about is exposure.

There's an ongoing and vehement debate about the effectiveness of e publishing for Nook. The big problem is that Amazon is so incredibly effective at marketing that enrolling in the Kindle Select program, which makes your book exclusive to Amazon for three-month periods at a time, has been for some time now more profitable for authors than making books available on multiple platforms (including Nook).

The two reasons for this are:

1) The ability in the Kindle Select program to promote your book for free for five days of those three months, an incredible marketing spike, and -

2) Any book enrolled in Kindle Select is made available in Amazon's Lending Library, and authors are paid a certain amount per borrow (about $1.70 for a $2.99 book, but it fluctuates.)

So the math that authors are being forced to do is - "Can I reach more readers and make more money with Nook sales or with borrows from the Amazon Lending Library?"

And the answer seems to be - "It depends on the book."

Thus my experiment this month, because I really don't know. My goal is to have the most people read my books as I can reach, and I'll choose whichever path is getting my books to the most readers. And the only way to find that out is just to try.

So I'm trying, and I'll report back on how all this goes.

Authors never used to have to think about this, by the way. Our publishers did all of this - or DIDN'T do it, as often seemed the case! - and we had no control or input whatsoever over or into the various strategies.

Now it's up to us to research, analyze, experiment, and go with the best strategy for whatever our goal is in publishing.

It's a lot of control, and a lot of responsibility.

And a lot of authors I know are freezing up at the sheer overwhelm of the increased demands, and not jumping in to this brave but chaotic new world.

I'm trying not to freeze up, even though it really is kind of annoying, alternating with terrifying, to have to make business decisions like this instead of just concentrating on the free-form creativity that writing is. I really HOPE that having my books up on B&N for Nook will prove viable; I hate the idea that anyone with an e reader would not be able to instantly download any one of my books any time they wanted one. After all, instant gratification is the very essence of e reading, isn't it? It sure the hell is for me.

But if my goal is the most readers I can get...

Well, we'll just have to see, won't we?

The fact is, with e publishing, we GET all of those numbers. And the numbers are very telling, and they don't always tell what we want to hear.

So how about you all? Authors, what are you finding on the Kindle Select vs. multi-platform question?  Is Nook paying off for you, or are you sticking to Select? Anyone trying Kobo's new program?

And readers - how many of you actually ARE Nook readers? If you are, are you supporting the Nook platform by buying a lot of Nook books? Are you aware of how agonizing a decision this is for authors?

Any insights greatly appreciated!

- Alex

Earlier this week I blogged about author collectives as a rising method of book promotion. Here's another fast-growing approach: group sales events, in which a group of authors will join forces and drop prices on their books for a limited time, then cross-promote the event so that they're able to reach a new group of readers through each other's FB and Twitter followers and general buzz about the event. I'll blog more in depth about the details of setting an event like this up, but for now, here's the list of books.  My parapsychology thriller The Unseen is already up for 99 cents if you want to grab it; all of the other books will be listed at 99 cents by midnight tonight.  So browse away and grab some deals!



We love our readers, and that's a fact. So a group of us writers are coming together to say a big thank you to everyone.

For four days over the US Labor Day weekend, we are offering our books for 99¢ to say a huge thank you to all the readers who’ve supported us over the years. Elle Lothlorien, who has coordinated this labor of love, says, “We’ve had such amazing support from readers over the years. They’ve posted reviews, friended us on Facebook, helped us procrastinate on twitter and sent emails telling us how much they appreciate our work. As a little thank you for all that love, we
wanted to give something back to them.”

From this Friday, August 31st through Monday, September 3rd, all of these books are 99¢ on Amazon.com. Click on any of the titles to go straight to Amazon, where you can also spread the love to your friends through Amazon’s ‘give as a gift’ button.

Scroll down for all books, listed by genre.


Horror, suspense and mystery - not for the faint-hearted:

THE UNSEEN by Alexandra Sokoloff



A terrifying novel of suspense based on the Rhine parapsychology experiments at Duke University


After experiencing a precognitive dream that ends her engagement and changes her life forever, a young psychology professor from California decides to get a fresh start by taking a job at Duke University in North Carolina. She soon becomes obsessed with the files from the world-famous Rhine parapsychology lab experiments, which attempted to prove ESP really exists.

Along with another charismatic professor, she uncovers troubling cases, including one about a house supposedly haunted by a poltergeist, investigated by another research team in 1965. The two professors and two exceptionally gifted Duke students move into
the abandoned mansion to replicate the investigation, unaware that the entire original team ended up insane... or dead.

THE DEVIL IN THE WOODS by Heather Graham



In
this novella by NYT bestseller Heather Graham, Christina Hardy and Jed Braden
(The Seance) head down to Miami to help out when there's a death in a friend's
family. But the old family residence, in a little known overgrown area of the
beach , was filled with legends, especially that of a "devil in the
woods." Strange events begin to occur, and the group is left to wonder if
the stories they told around campfires on dark nights as children might have
some essence of truth. Is murder always committed by men, or does a demon lurk
in the mangroves and the water, and prey upon the unwary?






THE GIN PALACE by Daniel Judson



Declan “Mac” MacManus, some-time PI turned full-time
Southampton cabbie, has had to endure much in his young life: the loss of
family and friends, grave bodily injuries at the hands of ruthless enemies, and
the knowledge that more than a few lives have been shattered by the decisions
fate has forced him to make. But nothing of what Mac has encountered—and
nothing of what he now knows about his own mysterious past—can compare to what
awaits him in the heart-pounding final installment of The Gin Palace Trilogy.
On a cold winter night, a troubled woman enters Mac’s cab and within moments
sets into motion a series of devastating events that will test the young
MacManus to his very soul. As he chases down leads, and his losses once again
begin to mount, Mac finds himself dangerously close to a line he swore he’d
never cross. And when one utterly unbearable loss threatens to transform him
into an avenging angel, it is an unlikely ally—a stranger stalking him like a
shadow—that may very well be the difference between Mac’s final act of
self-destruction or his ultimate salvation.





DEEDS OF MERCY by M.P. McDonald



In No Good Deed: Book One in the Mark Taylor Series, Mark
Taylor discovers first hand that no good deed goes unpunished when the old
camera he found during a freelance job in an Afghanistan bazaar gives him more
than great photos. It triggers dreams of disasters. Tragedies that happen
exactly as he envisions them. He learns that not only can he see the future, he
can change it.



In
Deeds of Mercy: Book Three, an unexpected visitor from Mark's past brings him
unwanted attention from the authorities. Unable to decide who is friend and who
is foe, Mark becomes a fugitive from the law, but with thousands of lives at
stake, he is forced to put aside his fear of capture, and instead, seek help
from his pursuers.





Here's some great chick lit/women's fiction:







THE FROG PRINCE by Elle Lothlorien



It was his pheromones that did it.
With one sniff, sex researcher Leigh Fromm recognizes that any offspring she
might have with the mysterious stranger would have a better-than-average chance
of surviving any number of impending pandemics.





But when Leigh finds out that the handsome “someone” at her
great aunt’s wake is Prince Roman Habsburg von Lorraine of Austria, she
suddenly doubts her instincts—not that she was intending to sleep with the guy.
The royal house of Habsburg was once completely inbred, insanity and impotency
among the highlights of their genetic pedigree. (The extreme “bulldog
underbite” that plagued them wasn’t called the Habsburg Jaw for nothing.)




It doesn’t matter that his family hasn’t sat on a throne
(other than the ones in their Toilette) since 1918, or that Austria is now a
parliamentary democracy. Their lives couldn’t be more different: Roman is
routinely mobbed by paparazzi in Europe. Leigh is regularly mocked for having
the social skills of a potted plant. Even if she suddenly developed grace,
charm and a pedigree that would withstand the scrutiny of the press and his
family, what exactly is she supposed to do with this would-have-been king of
Austria who is in self-imposed exile in Denver, Colorado?







ONE PINK LINE by Dina Silver

Can the love of a lifetime be forever
changed by one pink line? Dina Silver's tender, absorbing novel, One Pink Line,
is the warmhearted, wry story of love, loss and family, as seen through the
prism of one singular, spirited young couple who find themselves in a
predicament that changes the course of their lives, and those closest to them.




Sydney Shephard, a sweet-tempered, strong-natured college
senior is young, in love with an exceptional man, and unexpectedly pregnant.
Faced with a child she never planned for, she is forced to relay this news to
her neurotic mother, relinquish her youth, and risk losing the love of her
life. Then there's Grace, a daughter, who believed she was a product of this
great love, grows to realize her existence is not what she assumed, and is left
with profound and puzzling questions about who she really is.



Spanning generations and every imaginable emotion, One Pink Line reveals how
two points of view can be dramatically at odds, and perhaps ultimately
reconciled.






BUILD A MAN by Talli Roland

Slave to the rich and the rude,
cosmetic surgery receptionist Serenity Holland longs for the day she's a
high-flying tabloid reporter. When she meets Jeremy Ritchie -- the hang-dog man
determined to be Britain's Most Eligible Bachelor by making himself over from
head to toe and everything in between -- Serenity knows she's got a story no
editor could resist.



With London's biggest tabloid on board and her very own column tracking
Jeremy's progress from dud to dude, Serenity is determined to be a success. But
when Jeremy's surgery goes drastically wrong and she's ordered to cover all the
car-crash goriness, Serenity must decide how far she really will go for her
dream job.



And Talli's other books, The Hating Game and Watching Willow Watts are also 99¢ for these four days.




SINGLE IN THE CITY by Michele Gorman

Take one twenty six year old American, add to
a two thousand year old city, add a big dose of culture clash and stir




To think Hannah ever believed that Americans differed from
Brits mainly in pronunciation, sophistication and dentistry. That’s been the
understatement of a lifetime. She lands upon England’s gentle shores with no
job, no friends and no idea how she’s supposed to build the life she’s dreaming
of. Armed with little more than her enthusiasm, she charges headlong into
London, baffling the locals in her pursuit of a new life, new love and sense of
herself.




ROMANTICALLY CHALLENGED by Beth Orsoff


Being single is tough enough without
constantly being asked, "When are you getting married?" Julie Burns,
a 32-year-old Hollywood entertainment attorney weary of being asked about her
marital status and informed of the dismal statistical reality regarding the
matrimonial chances for a single woman of her age, decides to put more effort
into her search for a decent man. She is willing to try just about everything,
except giving up her standards (for more than one date). The results are
disastrous and hilarious. Urged by her friends, she gives a schlemiel she meets
on an airplane a chance as well as trying dating services, blind dates, and
speed dating. How can a cute, intelligent woman with a great career fail to
meet the man of her dreams? Her friends claim she is just too picky, but Julie
is just looking for a man with a future.







WENDY AND THE LOST BOYS by  Barbara Silkstone


When a deathbed promise to a friend
leaves Wendy Darlin, feisty Miami real estate broker for billionaires, trapped
on a super-yacht with Ponzi-king, Charlie Hook, she’s forced to join him on a
quest to recover his hidden treasure. Along for the danger-filled adventure are
an undercover SEC Investigator, who kindles a spark in Wendy with his ‘Johnny
Depp’ eyes and Hook’s young female helicopter pilot who befriends Wendy as they
sail the high seas, one step ahead of modern day ruthless pirates.


 



THE MERRY-GO-ROUND by Donna Fasano

When Lauren divorces her husband, she
has one thought on her mind...stepping off the merry-go-round. However, her
life quickly turns into a three-ring circus: her hypochondriac father moves in,
her ex is using her shower when she’s not home, and her perky assistant is
pushing her out into the fearsome dating world. She also has to decide if the
dilapidated barn and vintage merry-go-round she was awarded in the divorce
settlement is a blessing or a bane. As if Lauren’s personal life isn’t chaotic
enough, this slightly jaded attorney is overrun with a cast of quirky
characters who can’t stay on the right side of the law. What’s a woman to do?
She can allow life to spin her in circles forever. Or she can reach out and
grab the brass ring. 



THE FRENCH ROSE by Lyn Armstrong






Paranormal/psychic suspense:








THE UNSEEN by Alexandra Sokoloff



A terrifying novel of suspense based on the Rhine
parapsychology experiments at Duke University





After
experiencing a precognitive dream that ends her engagement and changes her life
forever, a young psychology professor from California decides to get a
fresh start by taking a job at Duke University in North Carolina. She soon
becomes obsessed with the files from the world-famous Rhine parapsychology lab
experiments, which attempted to prove ESP really exists.

Along
with another charismatic professor, she uncovers troubling cases, including one about a
house supposedly haunted by a poltergeist, investigated by another research
team in 1965.  The two professors and two exceptionally gifted Duke students move into
the abandoned mansion to replicate the investigation, unaware that the entire original team ended up insane... or dead.



THE FOREVER GIRL by Rebecca Hamilton






"Whatever
you do, fight."

 Sophia's family has skeletons, but
they aren't in their graves.



At
twenty-two, practicing Wiccan Sophia Parsons is scratching out a living waiting
tables in her Rocky Mountain hometown, a pariah after a string of unsolved murders
with only one thing in common: her.



Sophia
can imagine lots of ways to improve her life, but she'd settle for just getting
rid of the buzzing noise in her head. When the spell she casts goes wrong, the
static turns into voices. Her personal demons get company, and the newcomers
are dangerous.





BET YOU CAN'T FIND ME by Linda Prather



Imagine
a killer who can kill at will from a distance. No gun, no weapon. Nothing more
than a thought.

Catherine
Mans has the ability to see and hear what others can’t. With the help of
Homicide Sergeant Cody Allen, she’s turned that talent into a successful
profession as a psychic consultant.

But
Catherine’s past is coming back to haunt her. Someone is threatening the lives
of everyone she loves.



Nine
bodies have been discovered, and Catherine is the FBI’s prime suspect. To
prove her innocence, she must unravel the secrets of her past, and answer the
challenge of a deranged psychic.

Bet
you can’t…FIND ME!







Fantasy/sci-fi:







STUPEFYING STORIES AUGUST 2012 ANTHOLOGY edited by Bruce Bethke



Edited
by award-winning writer Bruce Bethke and featuring stories from 12 outstanding
American, British, and Irish authors, the new "Weirder Homes &
Gardens" edition is filled with all-new tales of the fantastic, funny, and
frightening things that can happen in that most mundane of places: the home,
and attached garden. Includes "No Onions" by M. Bennardo, "The
Growing" by Sylvia Hiven, "Family Magic" by Michele Winkler,
"Mission Accomplished" by Peter Wood, "Helen Went Beep" by
Erin Entrada Kelly, "The Prototype" by Judith Field, "Colorful
Caps" by JC Hemphill, "Lifesource" by Barbara V. Evers,
"The Centaur Bride" by Eric J. Juneau, "Rooting for You" by
Michael Heneghan, "Security" by Chris Bailey Pearce, and "The
Garden" by R. L. Bowden.



And young adult:

 



THE TOADHOUSE TRILOGY by Jess Lourey



Aine (pronounced "Aw-nee") believes herself to be a
regular teenager in 1930s Alabama, but when a blue-eyed monster named Biblos
attacks, she discovers that the reclusive woman raising her isn't really her
grandmother and that she's been living inside a book for the past five years.
With her blind brother, Spenser, she flees the pages of the novel she's called
home, one terrifying step ahead of Biblos' black magic. Her only chance at survival
lies in beating him to the three objects that he desires more than life.



As
she undertakes her strange and dangerous odyssey, Aine must choose between a
family she doesn't remember and her growing attraction to a mysterious young
man named Gilgamesh. Only through treacherous adventures into The Time Machine,
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Tale of Two Cities, and the epic Indian saga The
Ramayana will she learn her true heritage and restore the balance of the
worlds... if she can stay alive.