N.D. Iverson's Blog, page 2

I'm Alive And So Is Book 3

To those of you who are waiting for This Would Be Paradise: Book 3, I say: don't worry, I have not forgotten about it or left it to rot. Life has been hectic these last couple of months with buying my first home, family matters, personal and health issues, and well, you don't really want to hear anymore of that do you?

Excuses aside, I am chipping away at Book 3, having gotten myself a little stuck with it at first. I can say (don't worry, no spoilers :P) that it picks up only a week after the incidents at the end of Book 2 and dives right into the action by chapter 1. Perhaps if I'm feeling in the mood (get your head out of the gutter!), I may post a teaser snippet on here ;).

If you are ever curious about the status on Book 3, you can check out my 'In The Works' page for a word count update or even the side of this blog has a word meter to track my (glacial) progress. I *promise* to be good and update it every time there's a big change!

I know this isn't the news some of you wanted to hear, but hey, it's news at least! Right?

*Hey! Who threw that pointy object?!*

99¢ Promo Line-Up

I got the idea to document my promo line-up from Kboards Writers' Cafe. I don't quite feel confident enough to post it there, so my blog is the next best thing. I will reduce the price for the first book to 99¢ on Amazon and all other retailers a couple days in advance to make sure the price change is properly reflected when the promotions start.

April 14th (Thur)- Betty Book Freak ($12 USD)
April 15th- BookRaid (Free)
April 18th (Mon)- FKB&T ($30 USD)
April 19th- BKnights ($15.75 USD)
April 20th- Book Barbarian ($15 USD)

Total Cost: $72.75 USD (significantly more in CAD...)

April 22nd - Change price back to $2.99 

Here's hoping that it helps drum up sales for the sequel, which was just released April 3rd! Once I get the results, I will update this post to include sale numbers.

This Would Be Paradise: Book 2 Now Available!

This Would Be Paradise: Book 2 is now available for purchase! All the links are on the books page of this website.

​I will be running a 99 cent promo on the first book starting mid-April to help boost the second book. If you haven't quite decided on purchasing a copy for yourself, why not pick it up during the discount promotion? At 99 cents you can't go wrong ;).

Fussy Librarian Promotion Review

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I signed up and paid (~$11 USD) for a spot in the Fussy Librarian's eBook newsletter. On the day of the email blast I didn't see much of a difference, but the next day I sure did. It ran on January 24th and by the end of the day on the 25th, I sold the most books I ever have in a single day.

​I suppose this could be due to the majority of people not opening their emails until the next day (coincidentally the 25th was a Monday, so maybe people were trying to kill time at work by sifting through their emails). Or, it could have just been a case of right time, right place - who knows. I'd really like to get the stats on how many people clicked the Buy link for my book in the email, but I don't believe the Fussy Librarian has a way of monitoring that.

My verdict? I will definitely be using them again!

TWBP 2 Cover Reveal

I finally got a professional cover made for This Would Be Paradise: Book 2! Dave did a wonderful job putting up with my nitpicking. If you're in the market for one yourself, please check out his website: http://www.limelightbookcovers.com/

Resources for Those Self-Publishing (Sharing is Caring!)

Some of you out there may be considering self-publishing, if so I'd like to give you a head start by sharing the talented people I hired and the helpful resources I used for my first book's release (I did a lot of digital digging for this information!):

​
Book Cover (eBook and print): Kit Foster at http://www.kitfosterdesign.com/ (~$300CAD)

​ Editing: Rob Bignell at http://inventingrealityeditingservice.typepad.com/inventing_reality_editing/ (>$300CAD)

​eBook Formatting: I did this myself using the Amazon guide. https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A17W8UM0MMSQX6 ($0)

The Actual "Publishing": I used Amazon (depending on your book price, they either give a 70% royalty on each sale or 30%) and Draft2Digital (I used them because they post to all the other major eBook retailers PLUS Createspace and they take 10% of your royalties for this service). http://www.amazonkdp.com/​ and https://www.draft2digital.com/

​ Reviews: I signed up on Wattpad and used that as a medium for posting my work to gain readers and get those readers' feedback to better my manuscript. From there, I've gotten wonderful fans, some of which left reviews when the polished version went up for sale (there are some really great people on there willing to help out indie authors). Don't let the over-abundance of One Direction FanFiction scare you of though, I promise there is real writing buried beneath! https://www.wattpad.com/user/N_D_Iverson ($0- you should never pay money for a review!)

​ Promotion: Book Blog tour by Goddess Fish Promotions- ($90USD) The tour hasn't run yet since it's scheduled for mid-February 2016, so I will update my blog when it's over to report my experience. http://www.goddessfish.com/Awesomegang- Honestly I'm not sure what I got for this promotion. It cost me ($10USD) and it only appears that they added my book information to their website. Don't waste your money on this one.The Fussy Librarian- ($19USD) My book will be included in their targeted email blast to people who like the genre my book is in. This runs January 24th 2016, so I will let you know the results. http://www.thefussylibrarian.com/Goodreads- It's free to post your book on their site. You can use it for ratings, reviews, and it's a great sales tool (if you have a good rating that is :P). I plan on running a book giveaway on there once I get the paperback version of TWBP up and running. https://www.goodreads.com/author/program​                 
I hope this list saved you time, it certainly would have saved me hours of searching. If you have any other helpful resources you'd like to share with the rest of us, please do (unless it's spam, because then I shall have to feed you to the Rancor!).

Some of the Best Book to Movie Adaptations

Fight Club. This has to be one of the rare cases where the movie was better than the book. So many great quotes and one of my favorite movies! Drive. Ryan Gosling doesn't talk much, but he really doesn't need to. Actions speak louder than words! Silence of The Lambs. This whole series is amazing, even the prequel. Not so much a fan of the TV show Hannibal though. The Lovely Bones. Okay, this one was sad and somehow the movie was sadder than the book. Kudos. So there was my list, do you guys have any book to movie examples that you feel were done right? Please comment below!

Wattpad Block Party Winter Edition 2

Hey guys! So I was asked to return to the Wattpad Block Party again by the hard working @KellyAnneBlount (she organized this event herself!). This time around I will be giving away a free E-Book copy of This Would Be Paradise (the prim and polished version), so please go check it out: https://www.wattpad.com/192448658-wattpad-block-party-winter-edition-ii-giveaway/page/3

That also leads me to say I have some exciting news about the first book coming soon... So keep an eye or two out ;)

TWBP Now Posting!

After a long six months, TWBP Book 2 has now started posting! The preface and chapter 1 are both up and I will be posting a new chapter every Wednesday. 

There will be plenty of new and old faces in this book, along with numerous bad guys and of course, zombies! So be sure to check it out. (If you click on the picture to the right, the link will bring you there.)

Wattpad Block Party!

So guess who has been invited to be in the author line-up of the Summer Edition of Wattpad Block Party? Indeed it is I. There will be awesome giveaways and posts everyday for the whole month of July! I personally will be posting on July 18th and will be giving away a chapter dedication in TWBP 2 to one winner. So please make sure you go checkout this amazing event hosted by @KellyAnneBlount on Wattpad. 

Here is the link: http://www.wattpad.com/story/39411900... or just click on the picture to the left to be taken there. I have a character within a character interview planned. Confused? Well, just make sure you checkout my post on July 18th to see what I have in-store for Bailey, Chloe and Taylor ;). I would love all the support I can get!