Wednesday Ramblings

I'm not sure where to begin.  I have so much I want to share with you.  But first I have to thank you.  Those of you who have purchased Boyfriend From Hell and/or Earth Angel have made my year.  That's right, you've made my year and it's just March 21st.  As we launch into spring I can tell you that I have already exceeded my sales projections.  I thought 3-5000 books would be a fair start for my new career as an indie author. 

While Never Slow Dance With A Zombie sold close to 40,000 copies in its first year, I am now with an indie White Whisker Books, and we are both learning as we go.  After a rocky start, sales for me really picked up in January where I sold nearly 900 books.  Not a big deal for some, but for me it was amazing.  Again I have to thank you guys--not just for buying the books, but for reviewing the books and blogging and tweeting, and retweeting about them.  In February I sold just over 400 books, and this month so far I've sold around 2000.  Yes, two thousand.  I know I'm not setting the world on fire.  But to me it is a vote of confidence that most of you who have read the books have enjoyed them.

Over the next few months I will be moving away from The Falling Angels Saga to launch my new series Hollyweird.  Hollyweird is about fifteen year-old necromancer Kristine Golden.  She is a bi-racial girl who lives in Hollywood--the same community I live in.   The series a bit darker than my Falling Angels series, but just a bit.  I wanted it to be somewhat like a Raymond Chandler novel, set in the sleazy environs of Hollywood, but with some YA paranormal and romance.  The stories take place within my community, so lots of landmarks are mentioned.  If you ever visit Los Angeles every place in the book (with the exception of the family diner)  exists.  You can see them for yourself.

The first book in the Hollyweird series is entitled: The Zombie Always Knocks Twice.  It's being published by a brand new publisher, Water Street Press, run by Lynn Vanucci.  Lynn and her team are going to be in the Southern Cal area from Thursday to Saturday meeting their SC authors and shooting videos of each of us for their website.  How exciting. My agent, Toni Lopopolo  and I will be having dinner with Lynn Thursday night.  I plan to take photos of the dinner and of the video event and post them here.  So check back and see me trying to get my new publisher drunk ;-)

Also at the dinner will be Shelly Lowenkopf.  Shelly is my raison d'etre.  He is a publishing industry vet and guru.  Shelly was my grad school professor at USC.  The man who turned me into an author.  I need to do an interview with Shelly here because he has so much to share, and you need to hear it.  I owe everything to him.

Okay, enough about other people, back to me  ;-)   I hope those of you who haven't yet read The Falling Angels Saga will give it a try.  If you're not sure it's for you, there's a free sample of Boyfriend From Hell available on the homepage of my website  http://evanlowe.com/ Just scroll down to Boyfriend From Hell Free Sample.  For those of you who are already fans of the books, I hope you will check out The Hollyweird series.  I am very proud of this first book.  The second book in the series should be out next spring, right behind Heaven Sent, the third book in The Falling Angels Saga.  That's right, you're going to be hearing from me regularly.

One other person I'd like to thank before I close (I feel like I'm at the Academy Awards and they're starting to play the music) is publicist Roxanne Rhoads.  She organizes all my blog tours, but the first blog tour back in August is what got thing going for me.  Thanks, Roxanne. If you're an author looking for a publicist, and you want a real person not some publicity drone, My girl Rox is for you.  Aside from the tour, she has exposed me to so many cool people and marketing opportunities.  You can check her out at Bewitching Book Tours.  She'll treat you special, even if you don't tell her I sent you.

But Like I said earlier, enough about other people.  Please follow me on my journey to publication.  Those of you who enjoy the Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge their will be a new one next week.  If you are an indie author struggling along, please read my The Way I See It posts right here on this blog.  I am not an authority on marketing, but what I say in these posts is what I have done to sell my books.  If you are a fan, please tell others about my books.  This is how I earn my living.  I need all the help I can get  :-)  If you're a fan of my blog but haven't yet read me, why don't you try a sample.  I am sure you will like it. 

Oh, one more thing, fans; please leave a brief comment below saying you are a fan and why.  You have no idea how much this helps sales.  And finally, finally, are any of you going to Comic Con this year?    I didn't go last year, but I am planning on going again this year to be on a panel where I'll be talking about The Zombie Always Rings Twice.  If enough of you are going let me know--I will take you all to dinner and get you into a special Comic Con VIP night club event.  And if you go to the event, remember, my drink of choice is tequila. Thanks again for being my frans.  See you Tuesday for the Challenge.

Peace.