Tuesday 31 July 2018

Book Marketing With Images

I've decided it's high time I started promoting some of my other books on social media again. I've been promoting Memoirs of a Guardian Angel every day since April, and I think whoever was going to see it has seen it by now (whether they've bought it is, of course, a different matter).

But the way I used to promote them, especially on Twitter, was boring. So I've taken some inspiration from the wonderful Tallulah van der Made (née Habib), who did the cover for Memoirs. She also gave me a collection of beautiful images, with quotes from the book, to use when promoting it.

With that in mind, I've started creating "Quote Images" for my other books, which you should start seeing me using over the coming weeks. They're not nearly as spectacular as Tallulah's, but I don't think they're half-bad.

I have four so far. What do you think? (Click on an image to visit the book's page on my website)





By the way, feel free to share these images on your favourite social media channels!


Tuesday 24 July 2018

Do you shop at Exclusive Books or Loot?

Here's some amazing news for you: the paperback of my Urban Fantasy novella, Memoirs of a Guardian Angel, is now available in South Africa, from Exclusive Books and Loot.co.za.

Click on the images to buy it:




Memoirs of a Guardian Angel has received multiple four- and five-star reviews on social reading site, Goodreads, so don't miss out.

In case you missed it, here's a quick blurb:


Do you believe in Guardian Angels?

Have you thanked your Guardian Angel today?

I never did... now I wish I had.

Now I understand the hard work and difficult situations they face every day. That car that veered off course, the knife that slipped or even the close call when you nearly tumbled from a tree.

It wasn't good luck that saved you, it was me.

My name is Adam and I'm a guardian angel.

Saturday 21 July 2018

Book Review: Transient by Zachry Wheeler


This book was awesome! It reminded me so much of True Blood that it made me half want to watch that series all over again.

It concerns vampires in the distant future, except that term has fallen out of favour of late, and most people use "eternals" instead. But these are real vampires, not the sparkly, hunky, romantic vampires we've been so exposed to since the release of Twilight.

The story takes a while to get into. It opens pretty much in the middle of the action, and backstory is given in bits and pieces throughout, so it keeps you interested and curious; I only figured out what was really going on about 25% in.

Editing-wise, it's near-perfect. There are a few WTF moments which disrupted my immersion, but those are few and far between, and shouldn't be nearly bad enough to detract from your enjoyment.

There really isn't much more to say about it without regurgitating the plot, so I'll just reiterate what a fantastic story it is. If you like real, blood-sucking vampires, you should love this book.

My Review: 4 / 5 stars

About the Book

The year is 2578 and immortals control the world. Brutal wars and endless genocide have reduced mankind to a handful of mountain tribes. In order to survive, humans infiltrate the eternal society as transient spies, hoping to uncover a means to regain control of the planet. 

Jonas is a young transient deep undercover in downtown Seattle. He lives underground, works at night, and drinks his daily blood rations, just like any normal eternal. He is a model spy, but also an apostate among extremists, torn between ideologies (as well as lovers) from either side. 

Allegiances are strained to the breaking point when Jonas bears witness to a violent death that rocks the eternal civilization to its core.

Click here to find out where you can buy the e-book.

Tuesday 17 July 2018

Results of my BargainBooksy promo

I got a BargainBooksy last week for Memoirs of a Guardian Angel, which ran on Monday. The book was discounted to $0.99 for the duration. Because of technical issues, the BargainBooksy e-mail only went out on Tuesday, so I set the price back to $1.99 on Wednesday.

I thought you might be interested in how it did.


The promo cost me ZAR531.04 ($40), based on the exchange rate at the time of this writing. Here's what I made in Book Sales this week, in ZAR:

Heaven and Earth

  • Amazon (USD) - R4.65

Memoirs of a Guardian Angel

  • Amazon (AUD) - R3.45
  • Amazon (EUR) - R8.68
  • Amazon (GBP) - R5.09
  • Amazon (USD) - R144.09
  • Barnes & Noble - R15.67
  • Google Play - R12.62
  • iBooks - R7.84


Total Sales: R202.09

I included Heaven and Earth in this report, because it may have been buy-throughs from people who bought Memoirs.

One of the things I noticed is that I made far fewer sales on each of the non-Amazon platforms, but made more money per sale--twice as much, in some cases. Amazon's royalty rate is pathetically low.

I knew I probably wasn't going to make my money back on this one promo, because it's a long tail. As more people finish the book they bought, and recommend it to their friends, or buy-through to my other titles, that'll hopefully come with time. Still, I had it in my head that I would make about 75% of my money back. As it stands, I made just under 40% back in sales.

I did, however, get a five-star review of Memoirs on Goodreads, and you can't put a price on that! ;-)

Tuesday 10 July 2018

Do You Read Flat White Magazine?

Flat White Magazine is an online lifestyle magazine with a focus on South Africa, published by my good author friend, Christine Bernard. It's really good, and if you haven't read it yet, you really should.



The July/August 2018 issue is chock-full of recipes, travel, things to do, and author interviews. Including a wonderful interview with yours truly!

I'm so grateful to Christine for interviewing me for this issue (see pages 31-32 for my feature), and was really happy for how it all turned out.

Flat White magazine is completely free to read online. Click the cover image above.

Tuesday 3 July 2018

The Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale is in Full Swing



The Smashwords Summer/Winter sale is in full swing.

Every year, from 1--31 July, the e-book retailer runs a massive sale, with books discounted anywhere from 25% to 100% off!

This year, I have three books in the sale. Click on the covers below to view them on the site:

A Petition to Magic

Price: $1.04 (25% off)

Stingers

Price: $0.99 (50% off)

Memoirs of a Guardian Angel

Price: $0.99 (50% off)

Want More? 

Even if none of those books strikes your fancy (or even if they do, but you're just looking for more), click here to see the rest of the catalogue. There are literally thousands on sale!

Book Review: Sticky Fingers by JT Lawrence


I love short stories, and seeing as I'd just come off the marathon read that is 11.22.63, this collection was just what the doctor ordered.

As most such collections go, though, this one was a mixed bag.

The first story, Bridge Gate, would easily get five stars from me. It was poignant and emotional--actually having me almost tearing up by the end.

I have a friend who reads a lot of e-book samples, and will immediately stop and refuse to buy the book, if he finds just a single editing issue. I couldn't help thinking of him as I read this story; the first half of it contains quite a few, but they're all deliberate. I wonder if he'd actually take the time to catch the joke, or if he'd give up way too soon.

The last story, Escape, is similarly good, but for different reasons. You kind of figure out what's going on quite early into it, and because of that, you think you can predict the ending. But you can't.

I quite liked the story about the pigeons too, but aside from these three, none of them were particularly memorable. They were good... just not that good.

The one about the review of the holiday resort started out quite funny, but quickly became silly. And I struggled to reconcile what exactly was happening. At first, it seems like a guy's making a public review on a public website. The establishment responds to the review, he responds, and so on. After the second reply, it starts looking like a private e-mail conversation instead. Was it ALWAYS a private e-mail conversation, or did it start in public but become private? Or is it private from the beginning?

Either way, the ending, while I can understand the attempt at humour, doesn't make sense. That doesn't look like any non-delivery report I've ever seen coming from a mail server. And his e-mail address/domain name doesn't work, either.

I guess, being in IT, these things just bother me a bit too much.

Grey Magic, which I know is insanely popular (popular enough to warrant a spin-off novel-length work, apparently) wasn't really my cup of tea, although the ending made me chuckle. And the titular story, Sticky Fingers, was amusing, but predictable.

The editing of the whole collection was great. Almost flawless, in fact (which is what brought this review up from three stars to four), except for one little niggle. I know that times are changing, and I'm just being an old fuddy-duddy, but I kept screaming at my e-reader: "Alright is not a word! All right?"

My Review: 4 / 5 stars

About the book

Alternate cover edition for B01F6FAQZC

Diverse, dark-humoured, and deliciously bite-sized, this compelling collection of 12 short stories by JT Lawrence include:

'Escape' -- a story about a suicidal baby who knows he was born into the wrong life, and has to get creative to take measures correct the mistake, much to his mother¹s horror.

'The Itch' -- a story about an intense, uncontrollable, unexplainable itch that lands the protagonist in a mental institution.

'Bridge Gate' -- In this poignant and charming short story, a daughter yearns to connect with her absent father through the letters they exchange. She's not put off by his pedantic corrections of her writing, despite the slow reveal that he is less than perfect himself.

'The Unsuspecting Gold-digger' -- a woman gradually poisons her husband so that she doesn't have to break his heart.

Click here to find out where you can get a copy.