Giveaway on Goodreads starting Saturday March 1!!!

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   

     

          Gypsy's Quest
     
     

          by Nikki Broadwell
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends March 10, 2014.
         
         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         
     
   
   

      Enter to win


And if you're partial to e-books Gypsy's Quest is a Kindle countdown beginning on March 1st and going through the 5th!

Giveway/contest

Review of The Moonstone:
"This book strikes straight out of the heart of traditional fantasy, carefully combining many elements from ancient culture and modern fairy-tales. Broadwell's sources are a well-crafted mix of Celtic mythologies, Gaelic rooted language, life observations, and fantasy themes."
                                                                              Richard Bunning

For any of you that love a good read, enjoy fantasy and a story of redemption please read on--

The Moonstone begins the journey into a fantastical world, peopled with humans and other beings never before seen...accompany Finna and her mother to the Glass Mountain for the momentous celebration to bless Finna's baby...but don't forget to bring your armor since  danger lies around every corner!

Twenty-four years have gone by since Finna's child was born and now Maeve must unravel the secrets of her heritage. Her Tarot card readings point to a dark and frightening future. Join Saille, the Willow on a voyage of discovery as she comes face to face with a destiny she did not choose!

To win a free paperback copy of Saille, the Willow you must come up with the names of four gods or goddesses who play a part in The Moonstone. And if you would like a half off copy of both paperbacks, merely tell me the name of this series and where it takes place.

The first ten people who can answer either question will win!

And if you are partial to kindle, both books are on Amazon for only .99 during the month of December!

The Moonstone
Saille, the Willow

Happy Holidaze!

Covers, KDP and other brain-rotting endeavors...

Book II of Wolfmoon Trilogy, Saille, the Willow, now has a cover. Yay! I spent an extra $400 for it but in the long run I think it's worth the money. If I had hired an illustrator I'm sure the cost would have been considerably more. My original intention had been to have wolves next to her and have her emerging from the tree but now all I want is an engaging cover that grabs a readers attention. And the red dress, uplifted eyes and slightly scathing look are all in keeping with the story. The pale skin of this version will be darkened slightly. Even though the vampire genre is very popular right now, I didn't want this look for Maeve.

 How many of you Indie publishers have used a book cover of either your own design or paid an illustrator? These costs all add up and I know if I lived in  'Practical World' I would be tearing my hair out because of the lack of money coming in. And yet I have to remind myself that Book I has only been live since February. And...I also must admit that making money is not my main objective. WHAT? Not your main objective?...how can that be in this world where money is king? Of course I would love to make some money just like the next person but ultimately I want my books SEEN, READ and ENJOYED--nothing more, nothing less. I like them and I think others will too if they can find them and if they enjoy reading fantasy.

More about the finding part: I'm trying to do another KDP select giveaway for The Moonstone,  but am having a hard time getting my author/amazon/KDP select webpage to work they way it's supposed to. When I finally found my way to 'manage promotions', and a rectangular icon came up, the little button I was supposed to click on was dim...then I noticed that in tiny letters it said that if it was dim it meant I needed to clear the last promotion before I started the next one. How do you do that? I looked all over, went into the FAQ and did not find the answer. And so I sent yet another message off to KDP. Does anyone else have trouble with this stuff or is it just me?

Without meaning to I found out that Amazon will automatically sign you up for another 90 days on KDP unless you tell them not to--well, that was a shock to begin with. Not only had I thought my 90 days was not anywhere close to being over but I also assumed that when it was over, it was over! (how fast three months can go by)  So now I'm faced with another dilemma--to giveaway or not. I thought I might publish on Smashwords after this, but now...is it worth another 90 days stuck on Amazon? This time I've already promoted The Moonstone for the dates in question on two different e-reader websites I was told about--one is ereader news and the other is Pixel of Ink...maybe because of that I'll get more downloads...but in the long run will this help sales? Yes, I know... I said I didn't care, but...

Goodreads and other marketing tools

I just finished my ten book giveaway for "The Moonstone" on Goodreads and over a thousand people entered! I had some trouble setting it up since for some reason my profile was missing several key bits of information and at the very end, when I got the finished notice to approve, I thankfully noticed that the country listed for the giveaway was Denmark! (luckily it wasn't too late to EDIT)  Thanks to the group threads I was able to navigate my way through the electronic maze...I am also impressed by the efficiency of the Goodreads staff--they randomly select the winners and then send a copy of their names and addresses to me for mailing the books...AND, I have noticed that many people now have my book listed as 'to read' so I think the promotion was definitely worth it.

With the success of this one I am now ready to embark on the Kindle giveaway on Amazon. So far I've listed my dates for June 1-5. I sent an e-mail to find out what I need to do to promote this and await Amazon's sage advice...I'm assuming the recipient must have a Kindle and can then download off the website but how do people find out about this wonderful event?

Being a newbie to all the social media marketing possibilities, I am unable to take in a lot of information people share. I find that I need things spelled out step by step. But if the list is too long I will walk away.
Every time I manage to accomplish something on the computer I am thrilled and delighted and it leads me a tiny bit further into the secret world that so many people gad about in with ease. But ultimately for me this way of marketing is far superior to giving a talk at a bookstore. To even get to that point would require hefty amounts of pre-promotion and self-selling, something I am REALLY not good at.

So a big thank you to the Goodreads staff and all the people who entered the giveaway. I so appreciate your interest! And those who won--I hope you love the book! And don't forget, Book II, "Saille, the Willow", will be out at the beginning of July if not sooner...