As you know previous winners of the giveaway were
FIRST WINNER ( random.org. ) is Amanda Theurich, and her book is Starling Lesley Livingston!
SECOND WINNER ( only this time rafflecopter.com ) is Merisha Abbott! One of the The Grimm Prequels!
Congrats to both.
The new giveaway starts back to back today with the same rules. Enjoy, and I wish you luck:)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
UPDATE: Winners are Cherie Charli and Trisha Anderson. Please check your emails inboxes! GONGRATS:)
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Giveaway: Free Kindle Book of your Choice
I've wanted to do this for a long time. The Grimm Prequels have been in the bestseller Amazon.com list for 3 months now, under the category of Spine Chilling Horror. That's 4 books in this category, each one is a novella, no more than 35 pages. To me, this has been most amazing -- I just started self-publishing 3 months ago. With all the typos and errors the short books were filled with before being edited, I can't be thankful enough.
So I am hosting a WEEKLY FREE GIVEAWAY on my blog until the end of the September. Each week, the winner will get a kindle gift book from me. And this time IT'S ANY BOOK OF YOUR CHOICE as long as it is under $10. I will be paying this from the revenue of the Grimm Diaries Prequels -- which isn't really much -- but i believe in good Karma.
I will not ask you to follow my blog or follow me on Twitter and all that stuff. This pure giveback to the world -- especially to the readers who have the knack to believe in indie authors and a good stories. Something I do believe in -- however cliched you think it sounds. And besides, when I was a kid reading books, I'd have loved this offer for myself :)
You will find out how to enter the gieveaway below. You could log in with your email or Facebook. All you're asked is to tweet about this giveaway so others get the chance to win, and write down the book you wish to win. Both actions are mandatory. There is a third action that is left for you choice.
I know some of my readers don't use twitter. If you happen to be one of them, just write a comment, explaining that on the blog, and i will see to add you in the giveaway. I think if you don't use twitter, it will be a good thing if you try to spread the word through word of mouth or facebook or goodreads.
the winner will choosing through random.org
a Rafflecopter giveaway
UPDATE: I picked a winner through random.org and also accidentally clicked pick a winner at Rafflecopter. So it's going to be two winner!!
FIRST WINNER ( random.org. ) is Amanda Theurich, and her book is Starling Lesley Livingston!
SECOND WINNER ( only this time rafflecopter.com ) is Merisha Abbott! One of the The Grimm Prequels!
Congrats to both winners. Please check your emails:)
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Mary Mary Quite Contrary ( The Grimm Prequels #5 )
Like usual, I have shifted Blood Apples ( Grimm Prequels #5 ) to become the sixth installment in the series. Blood Apples is dense and reveals too much in the Dreamworld, so I preferred to delay it a little for better rewriting.
Another reason is that I will replace it with Mary Mary Quite Contrary ( which is now number #5 ) you can check it out HERE
I did not want to put Mary Mary Quite Contrary in the Prequels. I wanted it to be a chapter in Snow White Sorrow. That's because it has one of the dearest revelations to me, and it's a lot darker than the rest. But since I am finally working with 2 editors which hopefully will enhance my work so we get rid of all those errors in the books, I thought I owe readers of the Prequels to know about the big stuff, because the editing will mostly postpone the release of Snow White Sorrow -- I don't want this special book to suffer from bad editing, because it seriously has potential -- at least I think so.
I haven't set a release date, but will soon and will create a goodreads event for it.
Mary Mary Quite Contrary is darker, and will sound different. What's most important about it is that it has a revelation that is explains an item that repeatedly appears in fairy tales but is never explained, and that it links Nursery Rhymes to the Real World to Fairy Tales -- which is basically what this series is all about. If you like Mary Mary Quite Contrary, you will like the rest that's coming even better.
Have to go now and keep writing Increscent. Doing my best to get it done ASAP.
So the the order of the series is as follows
1 Snow White Blood Red
2 Ashes to Ashes & Cinder to Cinder
3 Beauty Never Dies
4 Ladle Rat Rotten Hut
5 Mary Mary Quite Contrary
6 Blood Apples
7 Not yet named ( the final episode )
PS. the whole series will available in one book after the 7th installment. By this time, it will be edited by professionals and rewritten. And always remember that reading Snow White Sorrow does not require you to have read the Prequels. It's just gives heads up.
Another reason is that I will replace it with Mary Mary Quite Contrary ( which is now number #5 ) you can check it out HERE
I did not want to put Mary Mary Quite Contrary in the Prequels. I wanted it to be a chapter in Snow White Sorrow. That's because it has one of the dearest revelations to me, and it's a lot darker than the rest. But since I am finally working with 2 editors which hopefully will enhance my work so we get rid of all those errors in the books, I thought I owe readers of the Prequels to know about the big stuff, because the editing will mostly postpone the release of Snow White Sorrow -- I don't want this special book to suffer from bad editing, because it seriously has potential -- at least I think so.
I haven't set a release date, but will soon and will create a goodreads event for it.
Mary Mary Quite Contrary is darker, and will sound different. What's most important about it is that it has a revelation that is explains an item that repeatedly appears in fairy tales but is never explained, and that it links Nursery Rhymes to the Real World to Fairy Tales -- which is basically what this series is all about. If you like Mary Mary Quite Contrary, you will like the rest that's coming even better.
Have to go now and keep writing Increscent. Doing my best to get it done ASAP.
So the the order of the series is as follows
1 Snow White Blood Red
2 Ashes to Ashes & Cinder to Cinder
3 Beauty Never Dies
4 Ladle Rat Rotten Hut
5 Mary Mary Quite Contrary
6 Blood Apples
7 Not yet named ( the final episode )
PS. the whole series will available in one book after the 7th installment. By this time, it will be edited by professionals and rewritten. And always remember that reading Snow White Sorrow does not require you to have read the Prequels. It's just gives heads up.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
I Am Alive New Edition Soon
2nd UPDATE: I know this is confusing, but some readers didn't like that I pulled the book away from amazon.com, so I had to put it back. Still, there will be a newer edited version by the end of August.
UPDATE: I have unpublished the book I Am Alive today while it was had numerous rave reviews ( as much as bad ) and was in the paid bestsellers list of amazon.com in action and adventures, and girl and women section. Many of you have downloaded it for free, and I don't feel that others should pay for it until it's edited within the month.
It's my responsibility to admit that my book I AM ALIVE wasn't properly edited. Its grammar mistakes, spellings, and other things. If you have read my books before, you'd know that I never marketed the this book. Most of my readers know me for the Grimm Diaries.
I just had an opportunity to so provide the book for free on amazon kindle, and had the help of a couple of 2 major blogs to list them the days the book was free. And of course, word of mouth of the most kind and enthusiastic friends on the internet. ( whom I can never thank enough ) .I had no expectation that the book will be downloaded that much.
To make the story short, I hired a new editor, and a second edition will be available by the end of the month. The editor said it will take that long.
For those who were irked by this, I hope you'll find the second edition easier to read.
If you're only interested in the new edition, this post post ends here. If you want to know more about me and the situation and why this happened, read on:
Let me explain a couple of things. First of all I am an indie writer. I have a day job. I live good. Happy with what I've got. But I can't afford extra expenses like editors or marketers or all the other things a popular, traditionally published book gets. I am not trying to get anyone's sympathy, and I don't need it. I think I represent the majority of thousands of Indie writers who do their best to be read.
You have no idea of the millions of dollars spent on any of your favorite published books out there. Each book gets edited dozens of times by the best editors in the market, if not by more than three or four editors. Each book has a marketing campaign behind it that spreads the book all over the internet ( and the world ), making sure you won't miss how awesome this upcoming book is before it even comes out. Each book gets quotes from famous authors like Stephen King to shoot its sales to the roof. 5 star reviews from elite reviewers no indie writer can dream of even talking to ( I tried actually)
Readers might not know that there is a big team, powerful as the Avengers, standing behind the book you get and love.
Does that mean I blame them or anything? Of course not. It's the right way to do it. Most of the bestseller books on shelves right now are awesome book, and I am an avid reader to many. All I am saying is, I am just a 29 year old writer who found an opportunity through self-publishing. The only help I get is from sites like amazon and goodreads, and the awesome people who pick up a book to read, one that they don't know anything about, and one that wasn't marketed intensively toward them, and read it, like it, and even spread the word and advise you how to become better. This is an indie writer's only weapon. The writers' job is to find those and reach for them.
Most Indie writers work with their passion to make a book come out and be read. Remember, we have day jobs, and a life, and writing ususally doens't pay well. None of us has a sponsor who pays millions of dollars.
Does that mean that we don't want the reader to criticize, to point at flaws, and express their freedom to say how much this book sucked and that book was a bore? Not at all. You, as the reader, can do what you want and see right. All Indie writers would want from you is understand. Just understand. Just know that this is a self-published, self marketed by passionate writers, not the one whose job is only to write while there is a group of people that does all the other things for him. With all this technology around us, this is a new word of freedom of expression, and there is no better environment for the many starving and struggling artists outside that today.
Besides, as much as there are readers who get mad and complain, there is a huge number of readers who support us in the most amazing ways.
When I Am Alive hit number 30 in all amazon.com free kindle bestseller list this weekend, someone in a forum told me, "I hope this translates into real sales when the books isn't free anymore."
I replied, saying that was not the point because the real point was for the book to be read. I get about one email almost everyday from someone who read one of my books and liked it. I reply to each of those emails, and we even become friends, because you know what, this means to me so much I couldn't explain in words. ( I do also receive bad emails which I rather not talk about )
Since I started self-publishing three month ago, I hadn't been sleeping well. Here is what I do everyday: I go to my job. Instead of relaxing in the lunch break, I think about the outlines of the next book. I think about it when I am on my way home. I spend the afternoon writing, marketing, emailing, spreading the word, learning, re-editing, and above all reading. ( you can't write if you don't read enough ) So basically I have had almost not seen my friends and loved ones for the last three months. It's a lot to do on your own.
So why am I doing it? Because I love it. I have always been writing since I was sixteen. It's one of my passions. I have 12 books under my belt. 12. Of course none off them was cared for and enhanced by a troop of book marketing and editing Avengers, but they will, and they will come out. It just takes time.
Still, all of this is not an excuse for having a badly edited book. It's an explanation. I edited Snow White Blood Red three times, and it cost me, and still no one was satisfied with the editing. So I stopped.
Anyway, I can't express how happy I am. Because if I Am Alive, with all the hype about how badly it was written, and how much the grammar sucked, reached the bestseller list of amazon in the action and adventure genre ( that's not the free one, but the paid one ), about 40 steps behind legends like Hunger Games and Divergent, you have no idea what this means to me, and you have no idea what this means at all. It means that this book has potential. All it needs is to get edited properly. That's why this time I am hiring and editor and paying from my own little savings, because it seems that there is something to bet on here. I have had 4 short stories on the bestseller lists for three month. Each book is about 20 pages. That's something publishing houses look for.
The power of a book or the writer is not the work ( edited or not ) it's the readers. And i thank again all those enthusiastic readers who spread the word, accepted me as an Indie reader, and even told me where there was a spelling or a grammar mistake in my books. If someone deserves applause, it would be them. I am just the storyteller.
Anyway, I am not fond of writing posts like this where I explain myself. The only thing in the world I am fond of is having fun. That's what I try to do in my books.
So to let you know, I might pull I Am Alive from the amazon kindle shelves soon, and re-release it when it's edited again. If this happens as planned, it will remind me of super writers like Sarah J. Mass who I read about 4 years ago in Fiction Press, and everyone was crazy about her books. She was picked up by a major company and now her same book that she wrote in fiction press, edited and marketed, will eventually be a hot the bestseller soon. ( the book is called Throne of Glass, and it's awesome, like really awesome ).
Finally, I read a writing coach's blog a couple of days ago, and she said something that hit me. She said that there is difference between writing and storytelling. She said that she can teach you the best techniques of writing you'd master the language like no one did. But no matter what she teaches you, she can't teach you storytelling, because that is an art, if not a sole gift that no amount of courses can teach.
If a number of people like my books, then I am a storyteller. All I need is to learn some rules, and that is so easy and doable. You know why? Because I Am Alive :)
UPDATE: I have unpublished the book I Am Alive today while it was had numerous rave reviews ( as much as bad ) and was in the paid bestsellers list of amazon.com in action and adventures, and girl and women section. Many of you have downloaded it for free, and I don't feel that others should pay for it until it's edited within the month.
It's my responsibility to admit that my book I AM ALIVE wasn't properly edited. Its grammar mistakes, spellings, and other things. If you have read my books before, you'd know that I never marketed the this book. Most of my readers know me for the Grimm Diaries.
I just had an opportunity to so provide the book for free on amazon kindle, and had the help of a couple of 2 major blogs to list them the days the book was free. And of course, word of mouth of the most kind and enthusiastic friends on the internet. ( whom I can never thank enough ) .I had no expectation that the book will be downloaded that much.
To make the story short, I hired a new editor, and a second edition will be available by the end of the month. The editor said it will take that long.
For those who were irked by this, I hope you'll find the second edition easier to read.
If you're only interested in the new edition, this post post ends here. If you want to know more about me and the situation and why this happened, read on:
Let me explain a couple of things. First of all I am an indie writer. I have a day job. I live good. Happy with what I've got. But I can't afford extra expenses like editors or marketers or all the other things a popular, traditionally published book gets. I am not trying to get anyone's sympathy, and I don't need it. I think I represent the majority of thousands of Indie writers who do their best to be read.
You have no idea of the millions of dollars spent on any of your favorite published books out there. Each book gets edited dozens of times by the best editors in the market, if not by more than three or four editors. Each book has a marketing campaign behind it that spreads the book all over the internet ( and the world ), making sure you won't miss how awesome this upcoming book is before it even comes out. Each book gets quotes from famous authors like Stephen King to shoot its sales to the roof. 5 star reviews from elite reviewers no indie writer can dream of even talking to ( I tried actually)
Readers might not know that there is a big team, powerful as the Avengers, standing behind the book you get and love.
Does that mean I blame them or anything? Of course not. It's the right way to do it. Most of the bestseller books on shelves right now are awesome book, and I am an avid reader to many. All I am saying is, I am just a 29 year old writer who found an opportunity through self-publishing. The only help I get is from sites like amazon and goodreads, and the awesome people who pick up a book to read, one that they don't know anything about, and one that wasn't marketed intensively toward them, and read it, like it, and even spread the word and advise you how to become better. This is an indie writer's only weapon. The writers' job is to find those and reach for them.
Most Indie writers work with their passion to make a book come out and be read. Remember, we have day jobs, and a life, and writing ususally doens't pay well. None of us has a sponsor who pays millions of dollars.
Does that mean that we don't want the reader to criticize, to point at flaws, and express their freedom to say how much this book sucked and that book was a bore? Not at all. You, as the reader, can do what you want and see right. All Indie writers would want from you is understand. Just understand. Just know that this is a self-published, self marketed by passionate writers, not the one whose job is only to write while there is a group of people that does all the other things for him. With all this technology around us, this is a new word of freedom of expression, and there is no better environment for the many starving and struggling artists outside that today.
Besides, as much as there are readers who get mad and complain, there is a huge number of readers who support us in the most amazing ways.
When I Am Alive hit number 30 in all amazon.com free kindle bestseller list this weekend, someone in a forum told me, "I hope this translates into real sales when the books isn't free anymore."
I replied, saying that was not the point because the real point was for the book to be read. I get about one email almost everyday from someone who read one of my books and liked it. I reply to each of those emails, and we even become friends, because you know what, this means to me so much I couldn't explain in words. ( I do also receive bad emails which I rather not talk about )
Since I started self-publishing three month ago, I hadn't been sleeping well. Here is what I do everyday: I go to my job. Instead of relaxing in the lunch break, I think about the outlines of the next book. I think about it when I am on my way home. I spend the afternoon writing, marketing, emailing, spreading the word, learning, re-editing, and above all reading. ( you can't write if you don't read enough ) So basically I have had almost not seen my friends and loved ones for the last three months. It's a lot to do on your own.
So why am I doing it? Because I love it. I have always been writing since I was sixteen. It's one of my passions. I have 12 books under my belt. 12. Of course none off them was cared for and enhanced by a troop of book marketing and editing Avengers, but they will, and they will come out. It just takes time.
Still, all of this is not an excuse for having a badly edited book. It's an explanation. I edited Snow White Blood Red three times, and it cost me, and still no one was satisfied with the editing. So I stopped.
Anyway, I can't express how happy I am. Because if I Am Alive, with all the hype about how badly it was written, and how much the grammar sucked, reached the bestseller list of amazon in the action and adventure genre ( that's not the free one, but the paid one ), about 40 steps behind legends like Hunger Games and Divergent, you have no idea what this means to me, and you have no idea what this means at all. It means that this book has potential. All it needs is to get edited properly. That's why this time I am hiring and editor and paying from my own little savings, because it seems that there is something to bet on here. I have had 4 short stories on the bestseller lists for three month. Each book is about 20 pages. That's something publishing houses look for.
The power of a book or the writer is not the work ( edited or not ) it's the readers. And i thank again all those enthusiastic readers who spread the word, accepted me as an Indie reader, and even told me where there was a spelling or a grammar mistake in my books. If someone deserves applause, it would be them. I am just the storyteller.
Anyway, I am not fond of writing posts like this where I explain myself. The only thing in the world I am fond of is having fun. That's what I try to do in my books.
So to let you know, I might pull I Am Alive from the amazon kindle shelves soon, and re-release it when it's edited again. If this happens as planned, it will remind me of super writers like Sarah J. Mass who I read about 4 years ago in Fiction Press, and everyone was crazy about her books. She was picked up by a major company and now her same book that she wrote in fiction press, edited and marketed, will eventually be a hot the bestseller soon. ( the book is called Throne of Glass, and it's awesome, like really awesome ).
Finally, I read a writing coach's blog a couple of days ago, and she said something that hit me. She said that there is difference between writing and storytelling. She said that she can teach you the best techniques of writing you'd master the language like no one did. But no matter what she teaches you, she can't teach you storytelling, because that is an art, if not a sole gift that no amount of courses can teach.
If a number of people like my books, then I am a storyteller. All I need is to learn some rules, and that is so easy and doable. You know why? Because I Am Alive :)
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Increscent ( I AM ALIVE #2 ) cover reveal
First of all, it took me sometime until I settled on that beautiful word: Increscent. It's such beautiful, meaningful, and rare ( if you write it in your messages, your phone will insist that it's crescent )
the word is usually associated with the moon before it turns full, and it perfectly describes Decca in book 2.
I was going to call the book The World is Not Enough, but then this word found me.
And the cover took sometime to develop. I might add some sparkling stars or a fading Increscent moon to it.
as for the date, I am doing my best to bring it out on the 30th of august.
thanks for all those who supported the book and liked it with heart. I consider myself ten folds lucky with readers that do help me more than I try to entertain them.
Anyhow, it's Saturday, go out, have fun, fall in love maybe ... if not ... eat ice cream.
I consider myself a reader before a storyteller, and I have never done such good things to the writers I loved.
Ah, forgot, if you haven't read book one of I AM ALIVE it's HERE and Free at the moment http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085W8KIO/
and of course Increscent link is HERE on Goodreads, but it's not out yet.
again, go outside and fall in love, if not, eat ice cream until it happens.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Free Kindle 2 - day Promotion of I AM ALIVE ( a YA dystopian novel )
Until book 2 of the I Am Alive series comes out, ( August 30th )
Book One in the series is going to be available for FREE on
Friday and Saturday 07/27 - 07/28/2012 on kindle amazon.
I Am Alive is a young adult dystopian novel,
a bit different from the Grim Diaries, but total fun.
Feel Free to download it HERE
Enjoy your summer.
UPDATE: my book was kindly features HERE http://www.fkbooksandtips.com/ an awesome site for kindle books, updated daily.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Ladle Rat Rotten Hut FREE with previous Prequels
Ladle Rat Rotten Hut, ( The Grimm Prequels #4 ) is out. It will be free tomorrow the 25th of July on amazon kindle, including all previous part. It's basically a retelling Little Red Riding Hood, that connects some characters to the previous novellas.
Feel free to download it HERE
have to go sleep now:) Haven't had much in a couple of days * yawning*
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)