E's Review Contest

Hey frans, I'd been searching for a contest that would be easy for everyone to enter. I wanted something that was fun and yet took as little effort as possible. Let's face it, it's summer, and our time should be spent having summer fun.

That's when I came up with a really neat idea--a review contest. So... You're all invited to participate in E's Review Contest. Here's how it works. If you've ever posted a review of any of my books on Amazon, Amazon UK, B&N or Goodreads, all you need to do is send a link of the review to me at info@evanlowe.com under the subject 'Review Contest' and you're entered. Please, only place one review link per email. Each email will count as an entry. The object is to have as many entries as possible to increase your chances of winning.

If you've read all 5 of my books, you can have up to 15 entries (you cannot post on both Amazon US and UK sites). The more entries, the greater chance you have of winning. If you've read my books but haven't posted a single review (shame on you), now's the time to post reviews and win some awesome swag for your efforts. The contest runs from The 4th of July until Labor Day, September 2nd 2013. And if you haven't read me yet, hang on. There's something for you, too. The Grand Prize is an awesome Swag Bag similar to the one I gave away at LitFest Pasadena. Here's what this one will contain:

An "I Survived A Boyfriend From Hell" women's fitted tee in a size of your choice because let's face it, who hasn't survived a boyfriend or girlfriend from hell.

A Never Slow Dance With A Zombie giant coffee mug for that last cup of coffee before World War Z comes crashing down on you.

Publisher White Whisker Book's most recent release, the well-reviewed romantic thriller, Blood Drama, for you end of summer read.

I'm also including a $10.00 Amazon Gift Card along with other surprise goodies I won't yet mention.  Like I said earlier, this is an AWESOME swag bag.  If we have more the 100 entries I'll give away a consolation prize of one item from the swag bag (gift card included) to the second place contestant.  We'll hold the drawing on or around the 3rd of September doing it the old fashioned way--with a member of the White Whisker team drawing entries from a hat.  I will photograph the ceremony and post it right here along with the name of the winner/winners.

So what are you waiting for?  If you've read and reviewed my books start sending links.  If you've read but haven't yet reviewed them, now's a good time to start.  And for those of you who haven't read me, here's a FREE sample of the first four chapters of my Best Selling novel, Boyfriend From Hell: FREE SAMPLE HERE.  If you enjoy it, buy the rest of the book and enter to win.  Have a great summer ya'll.  Peace.

Marketing vs Relationship Building

This morning I happened to read Chris Brogan's piece on  marketing versus what he called "owning relationships."  It got me thinking about my own marketing efforts for my novels, and I thought I'd share a few thoughts with you today.  First, if you'd like to read Chris Brogan's piece on the subject click here: Marketing VS Owning Relationships.

I live in a pretty upscale community, but that doesn't keep us from having our share of homeless men and women looking for handouts on the street.  Some mornings, I like to take a walk and grab a cup of coffee before I start my writing day.  The walking along with the caffeine gets my creative juices flowing, and by the time I get into my office I'm ready to go.  Urth Caffe, a terrific and very busy  breakfast place, is on my walking route, and most days, standing near the cafe, I see George.  I see several what I call "regulars" during my walks, but I only know one of them by name.  George.  George seems to know everyone who passes by.  When he sees me approaching his face lights up.  "Hi, E!  How's the tennis game."  George is chatty and has learned several tidbits about me. George never asks for money.  He never has his hand out.  His cup is on the ground nearby and invariably people put money in it.  I know I do.  That's because George seems genuinely interested in me.

Homeless people have less than a minute to market themselves to passersby.  Most of them do it with signs or pleas for help.  George does it by relationship building.  Recently George told me he found an apartment.  He's out in front of Urth Caffe fewer days, doing day labor other days.  I know most of us are rooting for the day George won't be out there at all.  That's because George didn't just market his wares to us, he built relationships.

Late last year I decided the future of my marketing efforts was not in getting 10,000 or more Twitter followers or 100,000 Facebook likes.  The future for me was in relationships.  That's when I decided to start The 25.   I felt that by building relationships with fans and staying in touch with them, I gave myself the best chance at selling more books.  You can learn more about The 25 by clicking on the link.  If you're a fan and you'd like to join my little club, follow the link to find out how.

If you're an author who is in this for the long haul, you need to think beyond KDP giveaways, tweets touting your latest work, and blog tours.  It's not that you shouldn't do these things, but the market is glutted with authors on Twitter and there are over 6,000 free ebooks being given away on any given day.  When you find a fan, you need to cultivate a relationship with them. 

I have a friend who was touting their high number of Twitter followers.  I told the friend they're not really followers if you can't motivate them to do something, they're just names on a list.  To be successful, we need true followers.  Here's the test.

My novel Heaven Sent was due to come out on December 12th 2012.  I wrote to the members of my, then fledgling, The 25 urging them not to buy the book on that day.  I had a KND ebook of the day promo coming a week later.  I asked them to all hold off and buy the day of the KND promo.  I told them why I needed their help.  Some of you reading this are my loyal followers so you know what happened.  Instantly, I received tweets and emails from my fans telling me they had my back.  On the morning of the promo several fans bought the book and then  tweeted "I just bought Heaven Sent by @Evanlowe  #twofive"  You have no idea how gratifying it was to see those tweets.  Later that evening Heaven Sent made its first appearance on an Amazon Best Seller list.  I saved the screen shot and sent it to all members of The 25 with a thank you.

 

Heaven Sent

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,709 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
• #95 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teens > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy 

The book wound up spending several days on Amazon's Best Seller lists, and has appeared again several times since.  The fans who bought Heaven Sent on the day I asked or during that week are my true followers.  I asked them to do this three days before Christmas and yet, because of my relationship building, my frans (friend + fan) took time out of their busy days to buy my book. 

The lesson here is simple: if you want to build a career in writing, you need to build it around true fans. They're not easy to come by, but they're worth the effort.  So take your marketing efforts to the next level and go beyond marketing with relationship building.




Peace.

Guest Post--Debut Author Katlyn Duncan

Hey Everyone,

today I'm going to do something I rarely do.  I'm surrendering my blog for a guest post.  It's an incredibly worthy cause as my fran, Katlyn Duncan, is about to move from the ranks of reader of books to author of books.  That's right, this surrendering is in honor of Katlyn's debut novel, Soul Taken (Carina),  the first book in her The Life After trilogy.  Isn't her cover GORGEOUS!!!  Pub date is June 4th, but you can pre-order now by clicking on the link.  Congratulations on a job well done, Katlyn.

Want to know more about Soul Taken?  Here's the Amazon Synopsis:

After-life just got a lot more complicated

Maggie is a Soul Collector. It’s her job to transport souls from the Living Realm to the After – but during a mission to find a stolen soul, she ends up stuck in a teen mean girl’s body.

Trapped, Maggie’s soul is catapulted into Ally’s life – and the human world she hasn’t experienced for one hundred years. But, as a descendant of the most powerful beings in the After, Maggie must rescue Ally before the girl’s soul dies…

To survive, Maggie must uncover devastating secrets – because with one soul taken by a terrifying enemy, Maggie’s could be next!

 

And heeeere's Katlyn...

 

Why YA Paranormal?

Let’s start with the first half of that question. I write YA because I love to read YA. There is something about reading about first loves, coming of age, and the hardships of being a teenager. Now couple that with werewolves, vampires, shifters, ghosts, faeries, and every other paranormal creature out there and that is something that I am really interested in reading and in turn, writing.

I love that I can create a new world with new rules. I am the boss of my own story and can tell my characters what their limitations are. And I get to think up cool abilities for them. Their world is at my fingertips and I love every second of its creation.

For Soul Taken, I imagined the After Realm which somewhat mirrors the Living Realm. The native creatures of the After are called Caeleste and they look like humans but with a few significant differences. The human souls in the After Realm that I focus on are divided into two groups; Soul Collectors and Guard. Soul Collectors are given the ability to transport souls from one realm to the next, they are somewhat limited in their abilities but serve quite an important role in the After. The Guard are elite souls. They are hand picked and trained to protect important human souls on the Living Realm. I don’t want to spoil too much, so I will let you explore the realm I created while you are reading.

In closing, even though I love to read all genres, young adult and adult, I usually fall back on YA paranormal. I find I can fall into a different world easier than one exactly like mine when I am looking for an escape.

What do you love about the YA Paranormal genre? Do you have a favorite book/series? Sound off in the comments!

Thank you for having me on your blog today E!

Katlyn Duncan was born and raised in a small town in western Massachusetts. Her overactive imagination involved invisible friends, wanting to be a Disney Princess and making up her own stories. Her bibliophile mom always encouraged her love of reading and that stayed with her since. Even though she works full time in the medical field Katlyn has always made time for books, whether she is reading or writing them.

Katlyn now lives in southern Connecticut with her husband and adorable Wheaten Terrier and she is thrilled to finally share her stories with the world.

*

You're welcome, Katlyn.  It was a pleasure having you.  For those of you (like me) who must have Katlyn's new book you can pre-order it here:

Soul Taken Amazon  or here Soul Taken Amazon UK

Katlyn's Website
Twitter
Facebook Page

And here's a chance to win a copy of Soul Taken or a $50 gift card to an online book retailer of YOUR choice. This giveaway is open internationally. Enter below and follow along with the tour, counting down to June 4th!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Peace.

 

Awesome Swag Bag Winner!

In my last post I commented on the Awesome Swag Bag I was giving to the first person who came up to me at LitFest Pasadena and said the secret words.  That person was a The 25 member and fran, Annabelle Blume.  Here's a photo of Annabelle showing off her Awesome Swag. 

Stay tuned, because in the coming weeks I'm giving away a similar swag bag in a new contest--and you won't have to leave your homes to win it.

The reason this post took so long to post is because right after LitFest I took off for vacation in beautiful Cancun.

Please check back Thursday when fran and debut author, Katlyn Duncan, takes over my blog for the day.  Katlyn has her own giveaway scheduled.  So please check back, meet Katlyn, and perhaps even win.  And be on the lookout for more Awesome Swag from yours truly.

Peace.

Come See Me At LitFest and Win Big!

  

This coming Saturday, May 11th, I will be at LitFest Pasadena.  LitFest is a celebratory day of readings, performances, and panel-discussions featuring well-known and upcoming California authors, hands-on activities, good food, better books and family-friendly fun aimed at promoting the literary arts.  

I will be in the White Whisker Books Pavilion sharing signing and greeting duties with authors Christopher Meeks, Davis Scott Milton and Shelly Lowenkopf.  I know most of you won’t be able to make it to Southern Cal, and that’s too bad because I’m offering an awesome SWAG bag prize package to one lucky attendee.  The first person that comes up to me and says: “Hi, E. Did I win the awesome swag bag?” gets it.  It’s that easy. 

So what’s in the goodie bag?  Check it out:

First off I’m offering an autographed copy of The Fiction Writer’s Handbook, written by my USC professor, and the man responsible for my writing career, Shelly Lowenkopf. The Fiction Writer’s Handbook is the definitive volume to explain the words and phrases that writers and editors use when they talk about a work.  While this is a book for writers, I’m telling you it is equally interesting for readers.  It’s a hard book to describe, but one thing it’s not is an instruction manual. 

Also in the bag is a woman’s I Survived a Boyfriend From Hell fitted tee (cobalt color).  Every lady I know has survived a boyfriend from hell.  Now, courtesy of me, ladies can flaunt it on their chests.  I know Suze Barnett wishes she had one of these.

Next I’ve got the official I Want You Back! Coffee mug. This mug is for sipping your drink of choice while reading your book of choice.  I Want You Back! is my free novella available only to members of The 25.  To find out how you can join The 25 click on the link to read my post: The Power of Twenty five.

Finally I’ve got an autographed copy of Heaven Sent or Never Slow Dance With A Zombie, whichever you prefer.

I have only one, yes, ONE awesome SWAG bag, and remember, the first person who comes up to me and says: “Hi E, did I win the awesome swag bag?” gets it.  We’ll take your photo for the blog, and hand you the bag.  If the tee I have is not your size, we’ll order up one custom just for you.  I hope to have some conciliation gifts if more than one of you comes up to me. 

Tell all your family and friends in and near Southern Cal they need to come out this coming Saturday, May 11^th, to LitFest Pasadena for a day of food and fun while supporting reading. And while they’re there, tell them to stop by The White Whisker Books Pavilion to claim a neat prize from me.  I hope to see you Saturday.

Peace.

 

 

Fiction Train I: A Quest For Gifts

Yesterday I introduced you to my new The Fiction Train contest.  Below is the opening of our first story A Quest For Gifts.  Read the opening, jump in, and good luck.  I hope you win, but more importantly, I hope we all have fun.

If you don't know the rules please, please scroll down to the post just prior this one and read them.  Then jump in.  You have 90 days (or 30 entries) to participate in this story:

When Yolanda Thompson was in the third grade she bet a boy in her class twenty-five cents that she could put her entire fist in her mouth.  Upon losing the bet, Yolanda realized she should have tried putting her fist in her mouth at least once before making a wager.   But Yolanda had convinced herself that she could do it, had convinced herself that this, perhaps, was her gift.  She had to be gifted at something—right?  And thus began Yolanda’s quest for gifts.........

The Fiction Train

 

Back in the 70s the singing group the O’Jays recorded their hit song Love Train.

People all over the world

join hands

Start a Love Train, Love Train.

I loved that song. Yeah, I’m old. What of it?!?

Today I want to introduce you to a fun new opportunity to participate in an ongoing story with me on my blog.  I call it The Fiction Train.

People all over the world

join hands

I’m startin’ a fiction train, fiction train.

Hey!  I’m an author, not a song writer.  Get over yourself!

Here’s the origin of the idea.  I love writing openings.  I learned early on in order to grab readers you must have a good, catchy opening. Ever since I learned that lesson many years ago, I’ve been writing and perfecting openings.  I’ve been writing openings for over 20 years. I have openings up the ying yang.  Problem is, to complete a book or even a short story you need a lot more than an opening.  Here’s where you come in.  I thought we could have some flash fiction fun with some of my openings.  Tomorrow on my blog, I’m going to post the opening of a story; your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to continue the story in 175 words or less. 

Just author the next several lines of the story in the comments section at the bottom of the blog post. The person after you will read my entry and yours, and author the next several lines after yours in the comment section, and so on, and so on.  The story goes where it goes, and where it goes is up to all of us. 

You can author often, but there must be two authors between your last addition and your next addition.   And, of course, anyone can leave a comment about the story in the comments section, just open with *comment* so we all know yours is a comment and not part of the story.

30 entries over 90 days (hopefully a lot sooner) is the max.  When we get to 30 entries I’ll try to wrap it up and maybe start a new one.  Unless author 30 wants to wrap it up.  That’s up to you guys. The beauty of it is you can take the story wherever you like; create as many new characters as you like.  Just try not to write the author coming after you into a corner.

Prizes: I’d like to award a few prizes, but I’m not yet sure how we’ll pick the winner.  Maybe a random drawing.

The winner will receive a $50 Amazon gift card.  First runner up will receive a $15 Amazon gift card. 

3rd prize will be an ecopy of The FictionWriter’s Handbook by Shelly Lowenkopf.  This prize is being donated by my The Falling Angels Saga publisher, White Whisker Books (Lowenkopf was my fiction writing professor on the graduate professional writing program at USC.  I learned a lot from him—like writing a good, catchy opening).   If we don’t get 30 entries in 90 days I will end the fiction train and no prizes will be awarded.  That’s it.  It should be fun.

Rules: I only have a few rules so far.  1) no profanity.  I write YA paranormal and there will be minors reading my blog.  So let’s keep it clean 2) No erotica.  Pretty much for the same reason.  3) If I think your entry is offensive in any way I will delete it.  It’s up to my discretion. We’re trying to have fun here, not offend anyone 4) If you’re a minor, and you win, please have your mom or dad accept the prize on your behalf. 5) Word count maximum 175 words per entry.  Word count minimum 50 words per entry.  If your entry is longer or shorter, I will delete it. 6) You can write as often as you like, but there must be two entries between your last entry and your next entry. 7) There must be (minimum) 30 entries for prizes to be awarded.  There must be at least 10 entrants for prizes to be awarded. 8) Contest ends in 90 days or anytime after 30 entries at my discretion--basically when I think the story is getting boring.  If we don’t have 30 entries and 10 entrants in 90 days I will end the story and no prizes will be awarded.

That’s all the rules I can think of now.  I’ll come up with more if I find more are needed.

I’d love for authors, bloggers, agents, aspiring writers, friends as well as fans to participate.  We’re not grading you here; this is just for fun. So please tell your friends.

Credit: If you decide to start your own Fiction Train, please give me credit for originating the idea.  And if you discover I didn’t originate the idea, please let me know so I can stop taking credit for it.

People all over the world

join hands

join my fiction Train, fiction Train.

It starts here tomorrow. Peace.
*This contest has already begun