As you can tell from the title of this post, the topic today is free books. Two things have triggered this. First, I gave away two .pdf copies of my newest book, Dragon Guard, away on Twitter this week. I'll talk more about that in a minute. Second, I'm giving away my self-published novel, Ghost Betweens, for free on Amazon for the Kindle for the next five days. My reasons for doing this are more than simply I have five promotional days left for this selling period. I'll get to that after I talk about Dragon Guard.
As I said, I ran a contest to give away two free .pdf copies of my newest novel, Dragon Guard, which is a Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy story. I did this spur of the moment, so I didn't know what sort of response I would get. Turns out, not much but more than I expected. Let me explain. I received my .pdf file of the novel from my publisher, Hunt Press, late last week. I decided to give away two copies of it to anyone who retweeted a post I made. I didn't make a blog post or anything else; I simply did this on Twitter. Plus I only ran the contest over the weekend. Turns out, this didn't work out so well for my normal followers. I believe I had three people retweet it, and I gave plenty of chances for people to do so. That was a bit disheartening. But, as I said, I also got a much bigger response than I'd hoped. One of my tweets ended with two simple words: Free Book! I didn't hashtag it (for those of you on Twitter, you know this is how you get non-followers to see your posts), but I still got the post picked up by a number (about 30) of people who were, judging from their Twitter descriptions, big compers - people who love to enter contests for free stuff. I don't know if one picked up on this and it spread through their ranks or if it was on a contest list somewhere, but I had a bunch of people retweet to enter the contest that way. That was awesome for me! After all, they're potential new fans if they enjoy the story, right?
Anyway, I'm happy with how it turned out. Two people got a .pdf copy of my book, and I'm hoping they'll really enjoy it. If I hadn't put those two magical words ("Free Book!") in one of my tweets, I would have had a lousy turnout for my contest. But that is mostly my fault. I did simply run it as a spur-of-the-moment thing, and I didn't publicize it very well. In the future, I'm sure I'll have another such contest, but this time I'll give some heads-up to create some buzz for it. I'll post it on my blog and other sites. I'll keep it going for a full week so I get both weekend and weekday tweeters. This knowledge is probably the best thing that came out of this experience for me. (Though I hope the book is read, possibly reviewed on Amazon or anywhere else, and talked about by those who won. That would be an even bigger win for me!)
My second point in this post is my releasing of my self-published book, Ghost Betweens, a Young Adult Paranormal Adventure, free for then next five days (starting Thursday and running through Monday). The reason I'm doing this is because of Dragon Guard. I'm hoping people will download Ghost Betweens, enjoy it, and decide they'd like to give Dragon Guard a read. I'm confident readers just need a reason to pick up Dragon Guard, and when they do, they'll enjoy the heck out of it. I'm also hoping people will review Ghost Betweens on Amazon. I have 6 reviews right now (3 5-stars and 3 4-stars), and I'd love more. More reviews not only mean future sales for Ghost Betweens, but I'm hoping it rubs off on Dragon Guard, too.
So, if you have a Kindle, please download Ghost Betweens these next five days. Read it, review it, and pass the word on. If you don't have a Kindle, get yourself a Kindle App. It's free, and you won't miss out on great free promotions like this one. I hope you enjoy Ghost Betweens, and I hope it's a gateway drug to Dragon Guard!
Kindle Link to Ghost Betweens (Free Thursday April 11 - Monday April 15)
Kindle Link to Dragon Guard (Not free, but about the same price as a large value meal at a fast food joint, and much healthier for you!)
Showing posts with label contest entry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contest entry. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Thursday, July 8, 2010
#fridayflash--Happy Birthday, Facebook Friend
Happy Birthday, Facebook Friend
by Eric J. Krause
She'd been on Facebook for just over two years, and she loved it. She'd originally joined because it was the big thing in the bike club her and her husband, Ron, belonged to. It was a great way to get news on upcoming excursions and other club events, as well as keeping up on the juicy gossip.
Not long after, old high school friends began friending her. She hadn't seen most of them since graduation, so it was super to find out what they'd been up to. Every time she logged on, she had fun catching up with them all. Sometimes through conversations in various posts, but usually just by reading various musings or, even better, by checking out the pictures people posted.
When her birthday rolled around, she discovered something else wonderful: all the Happy Birthday wishes. Each one was pretty generic, but that was okay. They all made her smile.
Except one. Oddly enough, it was the only one that included any sort of personalized touch. It asked her if she remembered how much fun her fourteenth birthday part at Crazy Rivers Water Park had been. It had been a blast, but who was this asking? Edmon Lonevie? She couldn't remember him, and she certainly hadn't friended him. Instead of a photograph of himself, he had a picture of a wall of flames. It looked neat, but obviously did nothing to jog her memory of who he was.
After pondering the mystery for a minute, she went back to reading other birthday wishes and forgot about Edmon Lonevie. In fact, she'd forgotten all about him until a year later when the birthday greetings poured in again. She ate up all the generic ones from her friends, but blanched at the personalized one from the man she couldn't remember.
"Happy Birthday, Crystal! I hope today is as special as the new Sentra you got for your Sweet Sixteen!"
Who the hell was Edmon Lonevie? Sweat broke out as the memory of his post last year returned. She'd have remembered someone with that strange name. Wouldn't she?
She clicked on his profile and found she was his lone friend. The only two things he'd posted were her birthday wishes. Her breath rasped and sputtered as she started to hyperventilate. This was . . . it was creepy.
A few deep breaths brought her under control. She clicked to send a private message to this Edmon character, whoever he was. She'd be polite, of course. You didn't catch flies with vinegar, after all.
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember you. Did we go to high school together?" She could have checked her yearbooks, but they were tucked somewhere in a box in the garage. It'd probably take half the day to find them.
She got an almost instant reply. "Of course you don't remember me. You asked not to."
"What does that mean?" She got another reply right away.
"Please. Do you really believe your family could afford to rent out a water park for the day? In the middle of summer?"
"I always figured other parents chipped in."
His answer came back so fast they might as well have been on the chat function. "How about the car? Your dad drove a beat-up truck, and your mom had to take the bus to work."
"They scrimped and saved?" It sounded lame even as she typed it.
"And Ronald. Your precious Ronald. Be honest. You married him for his looks. Do you really think he has enough on the ball to bring home a six-figure salary? What is it he does again?"
"He's a consultant," but she didn't hit send. Instead she held down the backspace key, erasing that sentence. Yeah, he was a consultant, but what did that mean? It pained her to admit she had no clue as to what her husband did. Instead, she went back on the offensive, yelling at him. "WHO ARE YOU?"
A message didn't zip back at her. Instead, his profile picture, that of a wall of flames, extinguished, and a man with slick, jet-black hair, a pencil-thin mustache, and a pointy goatee walked into the frame. But profile pictures couldn't move on Facebook. Not that she'd ever seen.
"Remember me now?" It wasn't typed.
She shook her head. The voice came from the screen, not her speakers, which were off anyway.
"I must've made the memory cleanser a bit too strong. No matter. I'm just here to wish you a happy birthday. By my calculations, you have fifteen more before your fiftieth, when you turn possession of your soul over to me."
Tears streamed down her face, and her throat clenched. Somehow she managed to croak out, "Are you the devil?"
He chuckled. "No, sorry, you're not that important." He reached out of his profile pic and smacked his typed name. The "E" and "D" of Edmon switched places, showing the word "Demon," while all the letters of Lonevie jumbled and spun, eventually stopping with the spelling, "Evil One."
Before she could say anything, he said, "See you in fifteen years," and snapped his fingers. She sat staring at all the Happy Birthdays on her Facebook wall. Something seemed off, but she couldn't figure out what. The birthday wishes seemed in order. Just nice, benign greetings.
----------------------------------------------------
This story is a contest entry for Deanna Schrayer's blog, The Other Side of Deanna. The theme is "birthdays." Check out the rules here.
by Eric J. Krause
She'd been on Facebook for just over two years, and she loved it. She'd originally joined because it was the big thing in the bike club her and her husband, Ron, belonged to. It was a great way to get news on upcoming excursions and other club events, as well as keeping up on the juicy gossip.
Not long after, old high school friends began friending her. She hadn't seen most of them since graduation, so it was super to find out what they'd been up to. Every time she logged on, she had fun catching up with them all. Sometimes through conversations in various posts, but usually just by reading various musings or, even better, by checking out the pictures people posted.
When her birthday rolled around, she discovered something else wonderful: all the Happy Birthday wishes. Each one was pretty generic, but that was okay. They all made her smile.
Except one. Oddly enough, it was the only one that included any sort of personalized touch. It asked her if she remembered how much fun her fourteenth birthday part at Crazy Rivers Water Park had been. It had been a blast, but who was this asking? Edmon Lonevie? She couldn't remember him, and she certainly hadn't friended him. Instead of a photograph of himself, he had a picture of a wall of flames. It looked neat, but obviously did nothing to jog her memory of who he was.
After pondering the mystery for a minute, she went back to reading other birthday wishes and forgot about Edmon Lonevie. In fact, she'd forgotten all about him until a year later when the birthday greetings poured in again. She ate up all the generic ones from her friends, but blanched at the personalized one from the man she couldn't remember.
"Happy Birthday, Crystal! I hope today is as special as the new Sentra you got for your Sweet Sixteen!"
Who the hell was Edmon Lonevie? Sweat broke out as the memory of his post last year returned. She'd have remembered someone with that strange name. Wouldn't she?
She clicked on his profile and found she was his lone friend. The only two things he'd posted were her birthday wishes. Her breath rasped and sputtered as she started to hyperventilate. This was . . . it was creepy.
A few deep breaths brought her under control. She clicked to send a private message to this Edmon character, whoever he was. She'd be polite, of course. You didn't catch flies with vinegar, after all.
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember you. Did we go to high school together?" She could have checked her yearbooks, but they were tucked somewhere in a box in the garage. It'd probably take half the day to find them.
She got an almost instant reply. "Of course you don't remember me. You asked not to."
"What does that mean?" She got another reply right away.
"Please. Do you really believe your family could afford to rent out a water park for the day? In the middle of summer?"
"I always figured other parents chipped in."
His answer came back so fast they might as well have been on the chat function. "How about the car? Your dad drove a beat-up truck, and your mom had to take the bus to work."
"They scrimped and saved?" It sounded lame even as she typed it.
"And Ronald. Your precious Ronald. Be honest. You married him for his looks. Do you really think he has enough on the ball to bring home a six-figure salary? What is it he does again?"
"He's a consultant," but she didn't hit send. Instead she held down the backspace key, erasing that sentence. Yeah, he was a consultant, but what did that mean? It pained her to admit she had no clue as to what her husband did. Instead, she went back on the offensive, yelling at him. "WHO ARE YOU?"
A message didn't zip back at her. Instead, his profile picture, that of a wall of flames, extinguished, and a man with slick, jet-black hair, a pencil-thin mustache, and a pointy goatee walked into the frame. But profile pictures couldn't move on Facebook. Not that she'd ever seen.
"Remember me now?" It wasn't typed.
She shook her head. The voice came from the screen, not her speakers, which were off anyway.
"I must've made the memory cleanser a bit too strong. No matter. I'm just here to wish you a happy birthday. By my calculations, you have fifteen more before your fiftieth, when you turn possession of your soul over to me."
Tears streamed down her face, and her throat clenched. Somehow she managed to croak out, "Are you the devil?"
He chuckled. "No, sorry, you're not that important." He reached out of his profile pic and smacked his typed name. The "E" and "D" of Edmon switched places, showing the word "Demon," while all the letters of Lonevie jumbled and spun, eventually stopping with the spelling, "Evil One."
Before she could say anything, he said, "See you in fifteen years," and snapped his fingers. She sat staring at all the Happy Birthdays on her Facebook wall. Something seemed off, but she couldn't figure out what. The birthday wishes seemed in order. Just nice, benign greetings.
----------------------------------------------------
This story is a contest entry for Deanna Schrayer's blog, The Other Side of Deanna. The theme is "birthdays." Check out the rules here.
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