Zoe Who? It's Zoe Winters, of course

(Scott: Zoe and I have sort of played a little "Good cop, bad cop" on message boards, discussing the publishing industry. She is a firm believer in controlling everything, while I am willing to concede a lot for one big fat check. Her energy is exhilarating or exhausting, depending on your caffeine level, but she is never dull. Check out the "Zoe Who?" video series. She's also a gifted paranormal romance author who knows how to push the right buttons in an intimate scene. And meeting people like her is one of the real joys of the indie era. I'm off at her blog today, and since we're both giving away Kindles, hit us both!)





Stealing From Smart People (and Giveaway)


Scott and I are house swapping today. He's blogging over at my place, and I'm blogging at his. I'm in the middle of a week-long book blitz and blog tour to promote my latest release, "Blood Lust". And I'm giving away an Amazon Kindle (possibly two).


That possibly two part is the stealing from smart people thing. See, Scott is doing a big blitz, too (As I'm sure you've noticed). The difference is that his is a marathon and mine is a sprint. He's going to be doing this for 90 days. I don't have the stress-tolerance for 90 days of this craziness. About a week of crazy is all I can handle at a time.


So he asked me early on about doing a guest blog at my place and said I could do one at his. And I mentioned I was doing a blitz as well for my book. When I got the contest details of his Kindle giveaway, I saw that he was giving a second Kindle if he got into the top 100 of the overall Amazon Kindle store. And I thought... dude, that's smart! What more incentive can you give people to buy the book on Kindle than offering to double their odds of winning the grand prize?


So of course I swiped the idea for myself. As an indie, I'm always watching people around me. What they're doing. What's working for them. What isn't. What doesn't work for someone else might work for me. Or what works for someone else might not work for me. But I'll totally steal a great marketing idea from a smart person like Scott and try it to find out.


So I thought about the second Kindle giveaway idea. I wanted to make it a high enough goal that if I didn't get there, I could console myself with the fact that I only had to buy one Kindle prize, but that if I DID get there, I wouldn't care that I had to buy another one, lol. So I picked "top 25 in the overall Kindle store."


That's the first page of overall Kindle bestsellers. Getting there, even for an hour or two to me was worth a second Kindle giveaway.


Bestseller lists on Kindle aren't about vanity or being able to say: "Hey, look how awesome I am." It's about more exposure and visibility. The goal is first to get as high in sales ranking as possible, then to see how long you can stay there, then keep repeating that. Each time hopefully you'll spike a little higher briefly, as well as stay a little higher, longer.


So that's what I'm doing this week. If you'd like a chance to win a free Kindle, check out my blog for contest details. There are multiple ways you can enter. And some of the options allow you to enter multiple times.


I'll also be giving away a signed print copy of Blood Lust to a commenter in the comments section here.


And now the obligatory Blood Lust description...


It’s all about the blood...

Comprised of three novellas, Blood Lust gives readers a snapshot look at the world of the Preternaturals Series. (Future installments of the series will be novels.)


KEPT:

As a cat therian (shifter), Greta's blood is already sought after to enhance spells and potions, but due to a quirk of her birth, her blood is potent enough to kill for. When her tribe plans to sacrifice her, Greta must ally herself with Dayne, the dangerous local sorcerer, and the only person strong enough to protect her.


CLAIMED:

For a vampire, Anthony isn't a picky eater, but he's drawn to Charlee's blood more than any other. Like a fine wine saved for a special occasion, he's denied himself this pleasure. But one night, high from the potent magical blood of another, he claims his prize and loses control. Ashamed of almost killing the one woman who means anything to him, he wipes her memory of the event. When Charlee awakens with complete amnesia, Anthony is the only one who can clean up the mess he's made.


MATED:

Because of the vampiric blood that has run through her veins since birth, Jane has been a target for vampires who resent a human being "kindred." She's forced to disguise herself as a vampire groupie to appease them and safeguard her life. When she's abruptly given to Cole, the leader of the werewolf pack, to satisfy a gambling debt, she discovers the blood running through her veins has a far greater impact on her destiny than she ever imagined.

Print and ebook copies are available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. (other retailers coming soon.)

Buy links are available from my blog (The top stickied Amazon contest post.)

You can find me here:

Author Website
Author Blog
Twitter

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