S.L. Lewis's Blog, page 2
August 13, 2013
Preview of Book Two...
Wow, I am officially on a blogging roll right now!
Okay so I have released the cover, editing is ALMOST finished, so now I am able to give to you all the first three chapters of book two - The Guardian and the Rogue Shadow absolutely free :)
Just click the shiny little link button here: SLLEWIS.COM and go over to the website to download yourself the prologue, chapter one and two!
If you do have a read and fancy letting me know what you thought please do, either on here or on twitter @S_L_Lewis1 as I would love to hear what you all think!
Hope the few people that take the time to read my pitiful blog posts are all well and next up will be the release date which should be (famous last words) September!
Speak soon guys
Okay so I have released the cover, editing is ALMOST finished, so now I am able to give to you all the first three chapters of book two - The Guardian and the Rogue Shadow absolutely free :)
Just click the shiny little link button here: SLLEWIS.COM and go over to the website to download yourself the prologue, chapter one and two!
If you do have a read and fancy letting me know what you thought please do, either on here or on twitter @S_L_Lewis1 as I would love to hear what you all think!
Hope the few people that take the time to read my pitiful blog posts are all well and next up will be the release date which should be (famous last words) September!
Speak soon guys
July 24, 2013
Book Two Cover reveal!
Hey, so yeah... I know I'm pretty awful at this blogging stuff but have no fear I have returned with a gift!
For those of you that have been waiting for book two to FINALLY be released - the sequel to The Guardian and the Dream Crawler - I am here to say that it IS finished and currently being edited as I type. It's been a long time coming, I won't bore you with reasons, but now whilst I await the final edit I can at least reveal the official cover!
If you head over to SLLEWIS.COM you will be able to see it for yourselves right now.
Hopefully I will have the first three chapters available for you to check out soon, as well as an official release date, but until then I will disappear back into the ether once more.
Speak soon!
For those of you that have been waiting for book two to FINALLY be released - the sequel to The Guardian and the Dream Crawler - I am here to say that it IS finished and currently being edited as I type. It's been a long time coming, I won't bore you with reasons, but now whilst I await the final edit I can at least reveal the official cover!
If you head over to SLLEWIS.COM you will be able to see it for yourselves right now.
Hopefully I will have the first three chapters available for you to check out soon, as well as an official release date, but until then I will disappear back into the ether once more.
Speak soon!
April 17, 2013
End of my ABNA 2013 road...
So, at the end of last year I decided to throw The Guardian and the Dream Crawler into the ABNA 2013 competition and see what happens. Originally I intended for the book to be classed in the Young Adult category however, somewhere in the ABNA process, it ended up in the sci-fi, fantasy and horror category (yes that is a pretty broad category isnt it).
After roughly three months the original ten thousand novels were cut down to 500 quarter finalists and The Guardian and the Dream Crawler had made it! I was incredible proud and shocked that I had managed to get that far in a category I never intended to be in. But that would end up being the last stage for my entry as I didnt make the semi-finals (cut from 500 to just 25 novels).
I can't deny that I am disappointed, but I also can't pretend that i know for a fact my novel was better than those who progressed. To be honest, I didn't read any of the other books in the contest! So I'm sure they were stiff competition and ultimately the better books and authors progressed. Still, for my first novel, reaching the Quarter Finals is still a heck of an achievement in my book.
Now onto more relevant things, now that the fate of The Guardian and the Dream Crawler has been decided and I won't be receiving a publishing contract I will now be working hard to finish off book two. Whilst in the competition, and knowing that a possible publishing contract and editor could want to change a few things, I didn't want to make too much progress on book two. But now that that is settled I can move forward.
Seeing as book two is close, I think now would be a good time to reveal the title of the first follow up to The Guardian and the Dream Crawler. For those of you that read and enjoyed book one, you may be able to make a guess at what the title will lead to. For those who haven't yet... what are you waiting for??
The title for book two will be...
THE GUARDIAN AND THE ROGUE SHADOW
Next reveal will be the front cover so keep an eye out either here OR over at the website by clicking the link - my link text
Excited? I am!
After roughly three months the original ten thousand novels were cut down to 500 quarter finalists and The Guardian and the Dream Crawler had made it! I was incredible proud and shocked that I had managed to get that far in a category I never intended to be in. But that would end up being the last stage for my entry as I didnt make the semi-finals (cut from 500 to just 25 novels).
I can't deny that I am disappointed, but I also can't pretend that i know for a fact my novel was better than those who progressed. To be honest, I didn't read any of the other books in the contest! So I'm sure they were stiff competition and ultimately the better books and authors progressed. Still, for my first novel, reaching the Quarter Finals is still a heck of an achievement in my book.
Now onto more relevant things, now that the fate of The Guardian and the Dream Crawler has been decided and I won't be receiving a publishing contract I will now be working hard to finish off book two. Whilst in the competition, and knowing that a possible publishing contract and editor could want to change a few things, I didn't want to make too much progress on book two. But now that that is settled I can move forward.
Seeing as book two is close, I think now would be a good time to reveal the title of the first follow up to The Guardian and the Dream Crawler. For those of you that read and enjoyed book one, you may be able to make a guess at what the title will lead to. For those who haven't yet... what are you waiting for??
The title for book two will be...
THE GUARDIAN AND THE ROGUE SHADOW
Next reveal will be the front cover so keep an eye out either here OR over at the website by clicking the link - my link text
Excited? I am!
February 8, 2013
Book bloggers
I've been involved in this self-publishing adventure less time than most but along the way you gradually get pointed toward the importance of reviews. Reviews by anyone who buys your book is great, if they're all from people you don't know even better! But to really succeed, there is another avenue which is top of the pile for me.
In the wonderful world of the internet there is a place called Google, here there is a sentence that most of us self-pub authors have written - Reviewers for self published books FREE! This is where the real reviews are hidden. There are people in this world that like to read YOUR books in THEIR spare time, for FREE, and blog about them! Incredible huh? Not only that but most book bloggers offer you opportunities to advertise yourself for free too. Interviews, special blog posts and best of all after they've spent their spare time reviewing your book for their site they also post it anywhere else you want! Book bloggers are wonderful people who ALL self-pub authors should be very, very kind to.
Although I have been in this for a matter of months I have found a few fantastic book bloggers, three of which are on Goodreads too! A. L. Davroe, Melissa Mason and Angella Graff. The coolest things about these three are that, not only did they do all the above for me but they were also very helpful in what is my new part-time "career". Some book bloggers, not all, are also authors in their own right. So for them to not only deal with LONG review requests (some have books months and months in advance), give out helpful information and other services, but to also manage to find time to write themselves... I can only tip my hat to you guys.
I thought I had a demanding life but book bloggers certainly work hard. Not just at their site and own writing but also helping us self-pub authors get word out. I give thanks to those that have helped me so far and any I will meet in the future :)
In the wonderful world of the internet there is a place called Google, here there is a sentence that most of us self-pub authors have written - Reviewers for self published books FREE! This is where the real reviews are hidden. There are people in this world that like to read YOUR books in THEIR spare time, for FREE, and blog about them! Incredible huh? Not only that but most book bloggers offer you opportunities to advertise yourself for free too. Interviews, special blog posts and best of all after they've spent their spare time reviewing your book for their site they also post it anywhere else you want! Book bloggers are wonderful people who ALL self-pub authors should be very, very kind to.
Although I have been in this for a matter of months I have found a few fantastic book bloggers, three of which are on Goodreads too! A. L. Davroe, Melissa Mason and Angella Graff. The coolest things about these three are that, not only did they do all the above for me but they were also very helpful in what is my new part-time "career". Some book bloggers, not all, are also authors in their own right. So for them to not only deal with LONG review requests (some have books months and months in advance), give out helpful information and other services, but to also manage to find time to write themselves... I can only tip my hat to you guys.
I thought I had a demanding life but book bloggers certainly work hard. Not just at their site and own writing but also helping us self-pub authors get word out. I give thanks to those that have helped me so far and any I will meet in the future :)
December 19, 2012
Book two underway...
For those of you that have read The Guardian and the Dream Crawler and have wondered if/when book two will be released then this post is for you!
Book two of the Guardian Series is underway and will finished early 2013. I don't want to give an exact date because, if you knew me you'd know, with a busy home life and working week I don't know how much time I'll get to write!
But rest assured it'll be done, it's about halfway there and I'm getting the similar feeling of excitement writing this book as with The Guardian and the Dream Crawler!
I will be dropping the title of book two, sample chapters and book cover as soon as I have them over at www.sllewis.com so keep an eye out!
I hope everyone here at Goodreads and beyond has a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
Book two of the Guardian Series is underway and will finished early 2013. I don't want to give an exact date because, if you knew me you'd know, with a busy home life and working week I don't know how much time I'll get to write!
But rest assured it'll be done, it's about halfway there and I'm getting the similar feeling of excitement writing this book as with The Guardian and the Dream Crawler!
I will be dropping the title of book two, sample chapters and book cover as soon as I have them over at www.sllewis.com so keep an eye out!
I hope everyone here at Goodreads and beyond has a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
December 10, 2012
Update on Free promo
In my last blog I explained what had pushed me toward the KDP Select program and now, a few days since the program has finished, I am 110% happy with the outcome!
In total there were over 2000 downloads of The Guardian and the Dream Crawler most of which came from the USA (thanks guys). I also had a lot of downloads from the UK and surprisingly from Denmark, who seemed to really like the look of the book! Since the promo has ended, I was expecting to see that people only wanted the book because it was free BUT my sales figures have also jumped. My guess is this is because the book became more visible on the amazon free lists.
I ranked 3rd for adventure books and in top 20 for fantasy books and ALMOST broke into the top 100 for all ebooks. All this with very little promotion and zero money outlay so again, I'm very happy with the outcome!
For those who downloaded the book (I've seen a few people have added it onto their reading list with goodreads-thank you very much) I hope you enjoy the read and more importantly I hope to have the second installment of the series available as soon as possible in the new year :)
In total there were over 2000 downloads of The Guardian and the Dream Crawler most of which came from the USA (thanks guys). I also had a lot of downloads from the UK and surprisingly from Denmark, who seemed to really like the look of the book! Since the promo has ended, I was expecting to see that people only wanted the book because it was free BUT my sales figures have also jumped. My guess is this is because the book became more visible on the amazon free lists.
I ranked 3rd for adventure books and in top 20 for fantasy books and ALMOST broke into the top 100 for all ebooks. All this with very little promotion and zero money outlay so again, I'm very happy with the outcome!
For those who downloaded the book (I've seen a few people have added it onto their reading list with goodreads-thank you very much) I hope you enjoy the read and more importantly I hope to have the second installment of the series available as soon as possible in the new year :)
December 4, 2012
KDP Select Free Promo
When I decided to self-publish I was told by quite a few people that I should put my first book - my baby - up for free. I was shocked. Free? Really? Naturally after all the hard work I thought no, I believe in this book. People will buy it and hopefully enjoy it!
Few weeks down the line after trying to promote myself on Twitter and on this wonderful site, I had no more than a few nimbles. When you self-publish you quickly realise that promotion (unless you spend an awful lot of money) is the most difficult part. So I turned to KDP Select with amazon.
I created a free three day promotion for my book The Guardian and the Dream Crawler for the 3rd-5th DEC 2012 and after day one I have broken the 1000 mark... Did I ever envisage my book would reach 1000 people? Never. But it now has and that is quite simply amazing. I have had a few very nice reviews from people I've never met and currently my book is 4.5stars. My hope is that some of these readers leave reviews and when book two comes around they are hooked enough to want to buy it.
My number one goal was to have people read my book so I give KDP Select the big thumbs up. Oh, and in case you missed it, 3rd-5th DEC you can get my book The Guardian and the Dream Crawler absolutely free for your kindles. Join the growing number of readers :)
Few weeks down the line after trying to promote myself on Twitter and on this wonderful site, I had no more than a few nimbles. When you self-publish you quickly realise that promotion (unless you spend an awful lot of money) is the most difficult part. So I turned to KDP Select with amazon.
I created a free three day promotion for my book The Guardian and the Dream Crawler for the 3rd-5th DEC 2012 and after day one I have broken the 1000 mark... Did I ever envisage my book would reach 1000 people? Never. But it now has and that is quite simply amazing. I have had a few very nice reviews from people I've never met and currently my book is 4.5stars. My hope is that some of these readers leave reviews and when book two comes around they are hooked enough to want to buy it.
My number one goal was to have people read my book so I give KDP Select the big thumbs up. Oh, and in case you missed it, 3rd-5th DEC you can get my book The Guardian and the Dream Crawler absolutely free for your kindles. Join the growing number of readers :)
November 21, 2012
I have discovered two new things...
So after avoiding the website like the plague I have finally succumbed… I have an author page on Facebook. Yes, yes I know it all helps build this ‘Author Platform’ that many a blog keep chirping on about but for me Facebook was nothing short of soul destroying. HOWEVER… here I am. In the case of an author page it’s actually not so bad, there’s very little need to get too personal about things, it’s purpose is to promote The Guardian and the Dream Crawlerand try to help me reach more readers. When put like that it can’t be a bad thing.
I have also decided to pull my books from lulu, ibooks and B&N so that I can reap the benefits of KDPSelect! The main objective, if you don’t already know, is to allow ‘Prime amazon readers’ (those who pay monthly for this illustrious title) the opportunity to lend the book for a certain amount of time free of charge. The online version of a Library I guess. But just like an old school game show – THAT’S NOT ALL – it also allows you to promote up to 5 days out of every 90days to get the Kindle version absolutely free of charge. For my book I have chosen 12/03/2012 – 12/05/2012 as my 3 free days promotion.
Now I was sceptical at first, I mean I have worked hard on The Guardian and the Dream Crawlerand paid little bits here and there to get it to the final product so should I really be giving it away? Well there are many views on this but I think at the end of the day if I get a certain amount of free downloads it will boost the visibility of the book and if readers actually like it they may tell their friends! I guess it’s all about word of mouth for self-published authors, be it in the literal sense or through Facebook, Twitter, blogs etc. So for me, KDPSelect seems like a great idea and I will of course let you know AFTER the promotion if this was indeed the case.
So until I become a worldwide best-seller, given a lengthy and expensive book deal and known across the land, it’s back to normal life I guess, ha!
I have also decided to pull my books from lulu, ibooks and B&N so that I can reap the benefits of KDPSelect! The main objective, if you don’t already know, is to allow ‘Prime amazon readers’ (those who pay monthly for this illustrious title) the opportunity to lend the book for a certain amount of time free of charge. The online version of a Library I guess. But just like an old school game show – THAT’S NOT ALL – it also allows you to promote up to 5 days out of every 90days to get the Kindle version absolutely free of charge. For my book I have chosen 12/03/2012 – 12/05/2012 as my 3 free days promotion.
Now I was sceptical at first, I mean I have worked hard on The Guardian and the Dream Crawlerand paid little bits here and there to get it to the final product so should I really be giving it away? Well there are many views on this but I think at the end of the day if I get a certain amount of free downloads it will boost the visibility of the book and if readers actually like it they may tell their friends! I guess it’s all about word of mouth for self-published authors, be it in the literal sense or through Facebook, Twitter, blogs etc. So for me, KDPSelect seems like a great idea and I will of course let you know AFTER the promotion if this was indeed the case.
So until I become a worldwide best-seller, given a lengthy and expensive book deal and known across the land, it’s back to normal life I guess, ha!
