I've wanted for some time to provide readers of my novels with a way of receiving updates via e-mail when new books are released or when special offers and promotions occur, but it's been hard to find a decent provider of this service that doesn't send annoying spam mails at the same time. Let's face it, nobody likes spam e-mails!
However, I've done it. My news letter will only be sent when a new book is about to be released or when something special happens like a "free" book offer on Amazon ( one is in the pipeline for next year, bargain hunters! )
If you'd like to sign up, then just click the link below. It takes only seconds, and it means you won't have to monitor my blog, Twitter feed or Facebook page to keep up to date with new releases.
http://eepurl.com/KoP8T
Merry Christmas to all my followers! :)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
REVOLUTION!!
One of the greatest things about the incredible rise of e-publishing is that it allows authors to publish books that otherwise would probably never have seen the light of day. Since the enormous success of Eden I've decided to edit and release other titles that were unable to attract offers from traditional publishers, as there is no good reason not to do so as long as the content is up to standard.
So, this month, I will be releasing my thriller Revolution to Amazon for Kindle. This book was the last that I wrote before beginning work on the manuscript that became Covenant, the debut in the Ethan Warner series.
When a journalist goes missing in the wilderness of the war-torn former-Soviet state of Mordania, friend and former colleague Megan Mitchell is compelled to search for her. Thrown into the conflict between the democratic Mordanian Government and an uprising led by the ruthless General Mikhail Rameron, Megan must strive to locate her lost friend and avoid becoming a pawn in a dangerous game.
As American diplomats struggle to strike lucrative oil-deals with the Mordanian government while it remains in power, and the United Nations tries to protect the capital city Thessalia's safe-haven, a lone reporter reveals footage of the carnage within the country. In a rush to avoid American intervention, rebel forces start protecting villages and citizens inside the war zone, and a revolution begins: now, the news is not just reporting on the conflict, it is actually controlling it. With every report, the conflicting forces attempt to gain favour in the eyes of the world watching on their televisions in their millions.
Megan pushes herself to the limit in order to rescue her friend, but she is captured by rebel forces and abducted deep behind enemy lines, and there she discovers the horrific truth behind the conflict, and that nothing reported on television is ever as it seems...
Revolution will be released for publication around December 19th, 2013.
So, this month, I will be releasing my thriller Revolution to Amazon for Kindle. This book was the last that I wrote before beginning work on the manuscript that became Covenant, the debut in the Ethan Warner series.
When a journalist goes missing in the wilderness of the war-torn former-Soviet state of Mordania, friend and former colleague Megan Mitchell is compelled to search for her. Thrown into the conflict between the democratic Mordanian Government and an uprising led by the ruthless General Mikhail Rameron, Megan must strive to locate her lost friend and avoid becoming a pawn in a dangerous game.
As American diplomats struggle to strike lucrative oil-deals with the Mordanian government while it remains in power, and the United Nations tries to protect the capital city Thessalia's safe-haven, a lone reporter reveals footage of the carnage within the country. In a rush to avoid American intervention, rebel forces start protecting villages and citizens inside the war zone, and a revolution begins: now, the news is not just reporting on the conflict, it is actually controlling it. With every report, the conflicting forces attempt to gain favour in the eyes of the world watching on their televisions in their millions.
Megan pushes herself to the limit in order to rescue her friend, but she is captured by rebel forces and abducted deep behind enemy lines, and there she discovers the horrific truth behind the conflict, and that nothing reported on television is ever as it seems...
Revolution will be released for publication around December 19th, 2013.
Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Marketing "Holo Sapiens"
So, once again I find myself about to start a promotional run for a new independent novel, and I couldn't have hoped to have been in a better position. Checking Amazon UK's stats this morning, Holo Sapiens is already #14 in the Post Apocalyptic category, with Eden just ahead of it at #7.
This is fabulous news - less than 2 weeks after its launch and Holo Sapiens is already featuring prominently on the store ( and at the 3,300 position in Kindle UK overall ). Once again, this is with no publicity other than here on the blog and on Facebook and Twitter, and a single industry blogger's review ( featured in my previous post ).
The story in the USA is different, however. With a launch at a different time of year, the remarkable set of circumstances that saw Eden rise to the top 1,000 position in just a few weeks no longer exist. Holo Sapiens moves between the 70,000 and 200,000 positions, which obviously means that the novel cannot be seen by many potential readers yet.
Fortunately, this time around I'm more savvy with the marketing and have already pre-booked my advertising campaign. This falls on the 11th, 12th and 13th of December. The first day is a one-day banner with popular e-book forum KBoards. The second and third are both one-day promotions on Kindle Nation Daily, for the Kindle Fire and ordinary Kindle respectively.
The idea of this campaign is not to propel Holo Sapiens into the Amazon Top 100 or anything ( although that would be nice! ) but merely to sell enough copies of the book to rise sufficiently in the rankings to get some visibility. From there, I'm hoping that the book's professional look and intriguing subject matter will sustain a decent ranking, generate regular sales and start the ball rolling.
Just like Eden, there's a long way to go, but I'm confident that the book is good enough to succeed even against the huge competition created by the Christmas season. I'm planning advertising for 2014 also, but I recently learned an interesting and valuable lesson over at KBoards: summer is, by and large, a low-selling period for most independent authors. This contradicts what I would have instinctively thought, that the holiday season would be a good time for people to be buying books to read on the beach etc. My only conclusion is that people do read books at the beach, but not so much on their Kindles - they buy paperbacks for their holidays.
The BIGGEST selling periods for independent authors seems to be post-Christmas, with many saying their sales spike during Boxing Day ( presumably as Kindles are received by countless people as gifts ). January and February are also big months for many self-published authors.
With this in mind, Eden's success was even more surprising during the summer of 2013, so I'm hoping that the more favourable marketing conditions of winter will help Holo Sapiens rise in the ranks over the next few months...
This is fabulous news - less than 2 weeks after its launch and Holo Sapiens is already featuring prominently on the store ( and at the 3,300 position in Kindle UK overall ). Once again, this is with no publicity other than here on the blog and on Facebook and Twitter, and a single industry blogger's review ( featured in my previous post ).
The story in the USA is different, however. With a launch at a different time of year, the remarkable set of circumstances that saw Eden rise to the top 1,000 position in just a few weeks no longer exist. Holo Sapiens moves between the 70,000 and 200,000 positions, which obviously means that the novel cannot be seen by many potential readers yet.
Fortunately, this time around I'm more savvy with the marketing and have already pre-booked my advertising campaign. This falls on the 11th, 12th and 13th of December. The first day is a one-day banner with popular e-book forum KBoards. The second and third are both one-day promotions on Kindle Nation Daily, for the Kindle Fire and ordinary Kindle respectively.
The idea of this campaign is not to propel Holo Sapiens into the Amazon Top 100 or anything ( although that would be nice! ) but merely to sell enough copies of the book to rise sufficiently in the rankings to get some visibility. From there, I'm hoping that the book's professional look and intriguing subject matter will sustain a decent ranking, generate regular sales and start the ball rolling.
Just like Eden, there's a long way to go, but I'm confident that the book is good enough to succeed even against the huge competition created by the Christmas season. I'm planning advertising for 2014 also, but I recently learned an interesting and valuable lesson over at KBoards: summer is, by and large, a low-selling period for most independent authors. This contradicts what I would have instinctively thought, that the holiday season would be a good time for people to be buying books to read on the beach etc. My only conclusion is that people do read books at the beach, but not so much on their Kindles - they buy paperbacks for their holidays.
The BIGGEST selling periods for independent authors seems to be post-Christmas, with many saying their sales spike during Boxing Day ( presumably as Kindles are received by countless people as gifts ). January and February are also big months for many self-published authors.
With this in mind, Eden's success was even more surprising during the summer of 2013, so I'm hoping that the more favourable marketing conditions of winter will help Holo Sapiens rise in the ranks over the next few months...
Monday, December 02, 2013
Awesome review for Holo Sapiens.
I was hugely excited to read this review of Holo Sapiens by respected industry blogger Kate Atherton on her blog "For Winter Nights". It really encapsulates so well the atmosphere of the novel.
For Winter Nights
For Winter Nights
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