Showing posts with label indie books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indie books. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

12 Days of Review Requests 2015 Starts Tomorrow

Happy Wednesday, everyone! It's that time of year again, and I'm gearing up to take you all on a wild ride for a chance to win a book review and some great prizes. This is a long post. But you need to read it all. I know what you're thinking: Why would I compete for a review when I can just send my book here, there, or yonder and get one? Well, let me tell you why a book review by me is different (and totally worth it).



Why a Book Review by Jo Totally Rocks

I always buy the book I'm reviewing. It's just good manners. I've had many Indies offer to give me copies for review, but then I feel like a louse if I can't finish them for one reason or another (usually bad writing or formatting is the issue). So, I buy them myself. Booyah! Sale for you.

There's one thing you don't get from a lot of reviewers, eh? Most I've seen want you to send them a copy of the book for review. But what does that get you? Well, when they post that review to Amazon, it gets you nothing but words and stars (and a disclaimer saying the book was gifted). If your reviewer buys your book, it's shown as an Amazon verified purchase. Score!

Moving on...

In addition to the review showing shoppers I've actually spent money on your book, I start by telling the customer why I picked up the book, where I got it, and sometimes say a little word about the cover art, and then break the review into three parts:

1. From a Reader's Perspective - This is where I break down my review into plot, character, pacing, structure, and consistency in the first section. Those items are given a total of four stars to be awarded or redacted. Part two includes a look at grammar, punctuation, redundancy, and niggling things like that. My reviews are thorough.
2. From an Editor's Perspective - In this section, I outline where the book could use a little work if it needs it and what I liked and disliked about the structure, grammar, and punctuation. Books I've worked on have won awards. Yes, really.
3. Rating - I break the star rating down so potential buyers can see I'm not blowing smoke. I then go on to say who might like the book. I do NOT go on and on with filler about the plot, they can get that from the description. I never post spoilers.

See some of my reviews here.

My tastes:
I've read books in every single genre on the planet. Yes, really. I enjoy most of them. So don't be shy no matter what you write. I get into books that are well written. Next week, I'll be listing some of my favorite reads of 2014; you'll see the wide range of stuff I've read and liked.

Where I post reviews:
Everywhere I can find your book. Goodreads, B&N, and Amazon are my top three. But wait! It gets better! I also curate a review magazine on Flipboard with over 2,000 regular readers, and has enjoyed over 87,000 shares of articles I include. My review also goes in there. Keep reading, there's more! Yes, really! I post to two blogs. This one and one over on Tumblr. Each has at least 200 followers (this one has more) and I have a huge list of people who subscribe by e-mail. Add to that, I'll be pinning your book covers with a link to the Amazon page over on Pinterest. At the end of the year, I'll be making a YouTube video (with awesome music) highlighting my favorite reads, as well as recapping here on the blog. I also have a large number of people on Goodreads who follow my reviews. So, you get plenty of bang.

Why does this matter?
Because I market your review to the people who read books. I make it really easy for them to buy your book by linking things. That market is those who are hungry for something new and exciting. People looking to snag the next great unknown author. I've spent a lot of time building trust with my readers and most of them love me. You should see the fan mail. :) The keyword is: Trust.

So, now that you know how all this is going to help you, I bet you're asking what's in it for me, right? I would be. If you aren't, you might want to think about why...

I'm getting to know new authors, building relationships, and becoming a recognized authority on what's good and what sucks in the literary world. So, yes, there's something in it for me. Hey, at least I'm honest!

What I don't do is use affiliate links or make money off your book in any way. I don't want someone thinking I gave your book five stars so I could make a buck off their purchase of a crappy book. Got it?

I do expect you all to give my page a like on Facebook, a follow on Twitter, an add on Google+, a follow of my YouTube Channel, and an entering of my fan-dom on Goodreads (or a friend request). Why does this matter? Because if you don't see the review, you can't share. Those who share their own review and the reviews of others will get preferential treatment during the next round of selections. I pay close attention.

Now for the rules and requirements!
I told you this was going to be long.
  1. There's a place on each Rafflecopter entry form where you need to put the link to your book on Amazon. Do it. I export them as excel documents and go to the links from there.
  2. Your pitch goes in the comments. Moderation will be turned off during this event. No ugly captchas, either. If you aren't nice, I reserve the right to delete your stuff. DO NOT put your link in with your pitch. I'll remove the entire thing.
  3. NO affiliate links and do not shorten your links. I understand the need to make a buck, but really? I'll remove them/ignore them. Please only give me the basic link with the ASIN.
  4. I announce one review winner per day. You may pitch more than one book to me.
  5. DO NOT review my books. Please. Feel free to read and love them, but if I'm reviewing yours, don't review mine. I'm not a swapper *grin*
  6. Comments will be closed at 8am for the previous day's post. This is when a new post will go up. If you can't comment, you're on the wrong post.
  7. BE NICE. Don't goad, harass, or annoy the other authors pitching their books (or myself).
  8. DO feel free to buy some of the books and read/review them. We're all in this together. It's a party, guys!
I reserve the right to block you if you don't follow my rules. They aren't hard.

AUTHORS, go to the corresponding day on the rule page to find where to pitch your book. Updated with which day we're currently on each morning. Thank you!

DAILY LINKS and RULES PAGE
can be found HERE
This is for you, not me. I update that page so you can get to the entry form and post for the corresponding day.

**Kindly remember, there's no guarantee your book will be reviewed by me. You will get a purchase if your sample interests me, and I'll try my best to read it. But if I find I can't give it more than 2 stars, I won't write the review. I've had a few I couldn't finish and it led to me not giving a review.**

Here's the Rafflecopter that'll run for the duration of the event (there will also be a daily one, so be sure and go to that day's page to pitch your book):

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck! See you all tomorrow.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo 

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Giveaway - Yakimali's Gift - Print

Happy Thursday, everyone! I can't believe there are only FOUR days left until the awesome fun begins here on the blog. That's right, it all starts on Monday, December 8, 2014. I'm so excited to find some new authors, see some familiar faces, and hear some awesome book pitches. *squeals*

Anyway, that's not what today is about! Today is me telling you about a giveaway IBGW has going on for an awesome print book.

Here are the details:

Title: Yakimali's Gift
Author: Linda Covella
Genre: Young Adult Historical Romance
Length (print): 226 pages
Buy Links: Amazon paperback $13.35

Synopsis:
It's 1775 in Mexico, New Spain, and 15-year-old Fernanda Marquina, of Spanish and Pima Indian ancestry, can't seem to live up to her mother's expectations or fit into the limited female roles of her culture. To escape, Fernanda grabs any opportunity to ride the horses she loves. At a greater cost than she could ever have imagined, her dream of adventure in faraway lands is realized. With her family, Fernanda joins Juan Bautista de Anza's historic colonization expedition to California. On the arduous four-month journey, Fernanda makes friends with Feliciana, the young widow Fernanda can entrust with her deepest thoughts; Gloria, who becomes the sister Fernanda always wished for; and Gloria's handsome brother Miguel, gentle one moment, angry the next and, like Fernanda, a mestizo--half Indian and half Spanish. As Fernanda penetrates Miguel's layers of hidden feelings, she's torn between him and Nicolas, the Spanish soldier hoping to win her heart. But propelling Fernanda along the journey is her search for Mama's Pima Indian past, a past Mama refused to talk about, a past with secrets that Fernanda is determined to learn. The truths she discovers will change the way she sees her ancestry, her family, and herself.

If you want to see more, including screenshots of the interior and full wrap cover, you can visit the original post over on the IBGW blog here.

Here's the Rafflecopter entry form:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What do you think? Love the pretty? Did you enter?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Twelve Days of Christmas Day Ten

Happy Saturday, everyone! Seeing as this is a twelve days of Christmas event, I do hope you all realize there are only two days left. Entering your book for consideration will be closed tomorrow. When I post day twelve, it'll only have a rafflecopter entry form to win the prize for that day. It's a big prize, so be ready for that one! If you missed the master list of prizes, check out this post. As always, before we get to the announcements, I'll list the books up for consideration thus far!

Renee Novelle Reflections Amazon Kindle $0.99
Marc Nash An Eye For An Eye For An Eye Amazon Kindle $2.99
Robin Murphy Federal City's Secret Amazon Kindle $2.99
*Rebecca Trogner The Last Keeper's Daughter Amazon Kindle $7.99*WINNER*
*Scott Marlowe The Five Elements Amazon Kindle $2.99*WINNER*
S.G. Night Attrition: the First Act of Penance Amazon Kindle $4.98
Niramisa Weiss The Liar Amazon Kindle $9.60
*L.K. Evans Keepers of Arden: The Brothers Volume 1 Amazon Kindle $2.99*WINNER*
Kimberley Clark The Species Within (Battles in the Dark #1) Amazon Kindle $2.99
Elle Todd The Elect Amazon Kindle $2.99
Ginette Atcheson The Legacy: Fate Amazon Kindle $0.99
Jay Allan Storey Eldorado Amazon Kindle $3.99
*Sarah Mäkelä The Witch Who Cried Wolf Amazon Kindle $0.99*WINNER*
Doris Schneider Borrowed Things Amazon Kindle $4.95
Cat Brown Awakening (The Dark Rituals Book 1)  Amazon Kindle $0.99
Christina Marie Morales Ambience Amazon Kindle $0.99
*Felicia Tatum Masked Encounters Amazon Kindle $0.99*WINNER*
Molly Taggart Roots that Clutch Amazon Kindle $2.99
Stephanie Erickson The Cure Amazon Kindle $2.99
*Peprah Boasiako The Hitman Amazon Kindle $0.99*WINNER*
Massimo Marino Daimones Amazon Kindle $2.99
Felicia Tatum Mangled Hearts Amazon Kindle $1.99
Beem Weeks Jazz Baby Amazon Kindle $3.99
*C.S. Janey Surrender To You Amazon Kindle $2.51*WINNER*
Judy Goodwin Heart of the Witch Amazon Kindle $2.99
Jerrie Brock Something Taken Amazon Kindle $2.99
Heidi Angell The Hunters Amazon Kindle $4.99
*David T Griffith The Bestiarum Vocabulum Amazon Kindle $3.99*WINNER*
Kathy Garlock Gone for a Soldier Amazon Kindle $2.99
Molly Taggart Off Target Amazon Kindle $2.99
Emily Street The Velocipede Races Amazon Kindle $3.99
Heidi Angell Elements of a Broken Mind Amazon Kindle $4.99
Edward M Wolfe Devon's Last Chance Amazon Kindle $0.99 
S.G. Daniels The Druid's Doorway Amazon Kindle $3.99
Vardan Partamyan The After/Life Amazon Kindle $0.99
Tina Brescanu Destined Union Amazon Kindle $4.99
Liney Westlund Stella's Saga: Book One Amazon Kindle $2.99
Beth Deitchman Mary Bennet and the Bloomsbury Coven Amazon Kindle $3.99
Gloria Manjarrez Train to Nowhere Amazon Kindle $2.99
Eric A. Maskell The Veil Amazon Kindle $2.99
Skylar Hamilton Burris The Strange Marriage of Anne de Bourgh Amazon Kindle $2.99
Erin McDowell Dark Luminance Amazon Kindle $3.99
Gloria Manjarrez Finnegan's Quest Amazon Kindle $4.99
Emily Street and Beth Deitchman The Painted Dog and Other Stories Amazon Kindle $2.99
Heidi Angell Angel's Dance Smashwords --Set your own price.--
Gloria Manjarrez Emperor's Hostages Amazon Kindle $2.99
J.S. Marlo Cold Sweat (Heart & Endurance #1) Amazon Kindle $4.99
Gloria Manjarrez That Other Kind Amazon Kindle $2.99
Tamar Hela Feast Island Amazon Kindle $2.99
Chris Harrison We Are Toten Herzen Amazon Kindle $3.05
*Thaddeus White Sir Edric's Temple Amazon Kindle $2.99*WINNER*
Michele Cooke Dead and Buryd Amazon Kindle $3.99
Skylar Hamilton Burris A Greater Sound By Far Amazon Kindle $2.99
J. S. Marlo Unscripted (Duty Bound Series #1) Amazon Kindle $5.49
Kay Camden The Alignment Amazon Kindle $4.99
Gloria Manjarrez Long Pig Smashwords $1.99
H. L. Carpenter Jack and The Fountain of Youth Amazon Kindle $2.25
Rusty Henrichsen Emmettville Amazon Kindle $2.99
J. S. Marlo Salvaged Amazon Kindle $5.49

If you entered and your name doesn't appear in the above list, you forgot to do something on the Rafflecopter OR you sent me a print only book (which I cannot sample). Only those authors with three entries on the excel form made it into this list. If you only left your book pitch and link in the comments, I didn't pick it up. You gotta fill out the whole form.

Remember, every book that's pitched stays in until the end! I also don't go in order. Keeping you all guessing 'til the end is my fun time. I'll announce a new choice every day. If you're an author, be sure you're following along each day to get a new way to join me on social media (this will matter when your review goes up). You can enter a book each day if you come back and fill out the new Rafflecopter form.

Suggestions for new topics on my help page were:
  • How about: Writing what you don't know?
  • A specific blog about programs to use to convert your books to ePub and mobi...I'm trying Calibre but it's not very user friendly. Also, maybe a blog specific to the bad guy. How to make him complex. Sorry if these were listed and I missed them. I'm going to have some fun reading those tips today!
  • Scrivener reviews
  • Old and New when trends should just die out and how not to fall victim to one in your writing
  • It appears complete. I run into so many comma errors in other's writing that I get confused and always have to remember what I learned in school. Your short articles are great reminders. Some writers get so carried away with saidisms, they enter the realm of hilarity. I'm delighted to see you referred to an article on those. Wait, do you have something on the use of hyphens? Or the use of capitals? Or American versus British spelling?
Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll be blogging about those soon!

Winners from yesterday:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations! You've all won a Mystic bookmark! I'll be in touch today to find out where to send your prizes

Now it's time to announce the author added to the review list!

The Elect by Elle Todd

Your book has been shared, tweeted, pinned, and added to my Goodreads TBR list for this contest.

From now until day 12, these books will be recognized with an * after the title when I do my rundown.

I chose this book because the writing is spectacular, the characters interesting, and I love a good high school paranormal novel!

**Kindly remember there's no guarantee your book will be reviewed by me. You did get a purchase and I'll try my best to read it. But if I find I can't give it more than 2 stars, I won't write the review.**

Now, time for the entry form for today! You're entering to snag a copy of The Bird by ME!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good luck to everyone!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Friday, November 8, 2013

The Writer's Voice - On Book Banning and Failed Opportunities

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm calling out some folks for some crazy stuff that happened back in October. If you all remember, there was a huge upset with Kobo taking down a bunch of self-pubbed titles when an outcry arose over a few books that were pointed out as being completely inappropriate. Remember, these are my opinions. You have a right to your own. But grab your fiery temper and read along. See if you agree with a lot of these points. Let's get going!

Now, from what I understand, a couple of books were called out as being inappropriate and this caused a ripple of fear to spread through the publishing world.

I'm not going to judge if any book is appropriate or not in this post, but I will say that anything involving child pornography in any form is not something that should be encouraged. On the same token, I'd rather have someone reading about committing those acts than actually taking part in them. But where's the line? I'm positive I'm not the right person to draw one. If we take the books away, do those people then seek to act on their desires in other ways? As a mother, that scares the ever-loving shit out of me.

For all else, to each his or her own. Judge not lest ye be judged is something I live by.

Those business had every right to pull whatever they felt they needed to in order to protect themselves. However, here in the good old U.S. of A, we have a little thing called freedom of speech. Many men and women of our armed forces have died to give us that right (and to maintain it) throughout the years. It's not something to be sneered at. A huge shoutout to those who protect my freedoms; without which I couldn't write this blog post.

While I understand the move on the part of the businesses involved in the massive removal of self-published books, I can't help but wonder at their thought process.

Why? Because, not only did they manage to remove the offending titles (which, again, I'm not 100% sure was right or wrong), they also removed books that were and are "safe" as far as the restrictions on age go. I hobnob with authors of children's books that were taken down. Those folks were outraged (and rightly so) because they felt the bond between them and their publisher was fractured.

Trust was lost.

Booksellers that are brick and mortar have long been in a precarious position where falling sales have caused the closing of a ton of bookstores. That's not an opinion; it's a fact.

An opportunity was lost by those bookstores by watching and not saying a word.

Truth be told, Indie authors are now nervous. If their books can be pulled down without rhyme or reason, how can they be expected to keep publishing with the same companies, never knowing if their revenue stream will be cut off tomorrow?

Why oh why didn't someone jump forward (even Mark Coker of Smashwords) and reassure Indies or give them something they can put their trust in? If a brick and mortar bookstore approached me tomorrow and told me they'd carry my books (even if just digitally) with a seal of approval that guaranteed I'd never be removed from their platform, I'd jump on it. Even if it meant removal of my titles everywhere else.

I'm human. I want security.

Now, it remains to be seen what titles will be banned from booksellers. In my opinion, Smashwords was so on top of it, it's crazy. They had a system to keep age 18+ books out of the hands of kids. But Smashwords also dropped the ball when it came time to offer reassurances to their authors. Get on it already!

But the biggest loss, in my opinion, is by the brick and mortar stores. They need a healthy author/reader/customer base that keeps growing.

What do you think of the recent actions by Kobo, Amazon, and some others? Were you one of the authors? How did it impact you?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo