Sword and Sorcery Romance with Complex Lore

[H.O.]

Hello vaginal fantasy hangout people,

I'm essentially using this thread to try and flog some free copies of my fantasy romance novel. Please feel free to tell me to get lost if you hate promotional blurb!

Anyway, what with me being a MASSIVE GEEK, I've written a fantasy romance series (now up to the fourth instalment), which is really very complex and convoluted. It includes a wilful heroine (though she would prefer to be called a hero), a reticent and overly restrained male protagonist (who would hate to be called a hero) and a very charming, young gentleman sidekick (who believes he is THE hero).

There are a few twists and turns and more than a hillock of problems for the characters to overcome. There's also the matter of their magic system, which has a tendency to kill them if they get too... erm... frisky! It's not a novel about abstinence, however. Oh no.
I hope it provides everyone with an entertaining read!

The book is FREE pretty much everywhere. I'm an unknown, so I suppose freebies are the best way to become a known.

Shopping destinations include: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, Diesel

[T.S.]

Hello H.O.

The best way to become known is--of course--word of mouth. Harry Potter books became a multi-billion dollar/pound industry that way. To start that spark, make a page for your book in Facebook or Google+ and a web page as well. If you product is good, people will talk and recommend it to others.

I have a challenge for you, and it will be difficult. Ready?

My dad's writers group has an exercise which they say is essential. Try to sum up your entire book, the theme, in one sentence. If you cannot do this, then something is wrong that needs to be fixed.

When they dropped this on me, it caused me great discomfort. Imagine me in a room with my dad and 5 grim-faced writers, all waiting for my answer. I struggled with a single sentence that could sum up my book's theme or purpose.

And as misery loves company, I challenge you--or anyone else--to suffer with me.

Try!

[H.O.]

One sentence, eh?

"The heir to a kingdom must save his people from succumbing to a demise of their own making, and he must do battle with his own feelings for a legendary warrior: a warrior who is very well-equipped to kill him."

I do happen to have a Facebook page, though it's about *me* rather than my book.

https://www.facebook.com/Hadleigh.O.Charles

[C.G.]

amazon.ca is actually charging $.99 but Kobo is free. (I paid the $.99.) ;)

[H.O.]

Oh, thank you!

How unfair of .ca to charge Canadians! Incidentally, if you ever come up against that with another book, you can 'tell Amazon about a lower price'. The link's usually somewhere on the book's sale page. Amazon will take a few days to check it out, but it can help you get a better deal next time :)

[C.G.]

Thanks - I'll try to remember that. Sometimes .ca is cheaper than .com, sometimes a bit more, but not usually much. The Canadian store only came online a couple of months ago so I used to be able to shop through the US one - for Kindle books only - but once I switched, they won't let me go back.

[Gene]

FWIW, I've taken part in some Absolute Write threads in which newbie authors have reported very little impact from having a Facebook page, or even advertising on Facebook. It's been observed that Facebook is not really a "destination market" for people looking for books.

[T.S.]

I'm sure your right, Gene. I mean, just because a billion people a day use Facebook is no reason to go through the minutes of hard work it takes to create a page for that which a new writer has labored--probably--years to create. I mean, especially since its free!

What was I thinking?

[H.O.]

No, it seems to act as more of a forum for existing fans (dare I call them that yet?!) or people who want to know when the next book is out.

Yeah, pay-per-click advertising has never done anything for me but lose money. I used to advertise on here, and had quite a few people "add" my book as a result, but I'd say only a handful of those have gone on to read it.

[Felicia, Grand Duchess]

We do encourage people to self promote their stuff but in a specific section called Creative Writing so please follow up conversations and linking there thanks!

[H.O.]

Whoops. I totally didn't see that. I'll head over there then...