Where's Zack, the Reading Quest, now Available for Ereaders

Where's Zack, the summer reading quest at New Christian Books Online Magazine, is now available as an ebook. The interactive reading lesson centers around an adventurous 13-year-old, Zack, who first disappears in Lost in the Woods: A Bible Camp Mystery by Cheryl Rogers. 

Zack is missing for 30 hours before being rescued by a helicopter as a hurricane approaches the Gulf Coast. Then he disappears AGAIN, this time on his family's summer vacation. Readers guess where after reading six articles about very real vacation places, along with six short stories about Zack in those places.

Where's Zack? A Reading Quest is available in multiple ereading formats including epub, mobi and pdf. It retails for 99 cents and can be purchased from the New Christian Books Online Store and other e-retail outlets. It is suitable for 10- to 14-year-olds -- or anyone who loves a mystery.

In Lost in the Woods, Zack attends Living Water Community Church, where he participates in the youth fellowship, The Boy's Den. When its leader, a former New York gang leader, plans a back-to-nature retreat, Zack is eager to join them. But the adventure is more than any of them bargained on, as they battle no-see-ums, a bout of food poisoning, and bad weather from the impending storm.

Rogers decided she wanted to become a writer as a child, although she didn't realize what she was supposed to write about until she came to know the Lord as an adult. After succumbing to a severe immune disorder, Environmental Illness, Rogers surrendered her life to God and was healed.

"It is my desire to encourage others to seek God early and stay connected to His Word," Rogers says. "I know the emptiness we can feel without having God in our lives -- even if we attend church and pray. So I hope to help others learn about the biblical path to salvation, and encourage them to surrender their lives to Him."

A former newspaper reporter, Rogers publishes New ChristianBooks Online Magazine to connect the readers and writers of Christian fiction and nonfiction for all age groups. It features new book announcements, excerpts, Bible-based living columns, digital book news and other features.

She has written a number of ebooks including Just Like Jonah Wail Tales, a short story collection featuring modern Jonahs; The I Can See Christian Storybook Treasury, a collection of stories aimed at defeating doubt about God as children grow; Fast Track to Victory, A Christian Guidebook, a 40-lesson, nondenominational devotions book teaching the Bible truths we need to truly love and forgive others; and Trees Walking, A Guide to Truly Loving and Forgiving Others and Ourselves, an ebook based on Mark 8: 22-26 and the author's personal experience.

John 3:16 Marketing Network September Showcase and Book Launch

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Three Prizes - click on arrows!

Cell Groups – A Great Way to Learn Book Marketing on the Web

The newest way to educate authors on marketing their books is being introduced by the John 3:16 Marketing Network. If you are a member, go to [private link, John 3:16 Members only] to get started. The first step is to fill in your name for the cell group in which you want to begin. If you are inexperienced at social networking, or if you are new to the network, I would recommend you start in the “Review Cell.”

The order of the groups will be the same for everyone, but where you start will be different:

Standard Cells

·                     Reviewers

·                     Bloggers

·                     Special Activities (Facebook, Pinterest, Rafflecopter, HootSuite, Marketing Research and writing blog pieces for the John 3:16 Marketing Network Blog)

·                     Twitter (Will learn how to use Tweet Adder 4), Lorilyn Roberts will teach.

·                     Q&A and Mentoring – for Those Who Want to Excel at Marketing.

Alternate Rotations:

·                     Book Launch

·                     Sabbatical

Permanent

·                     Prayer Cell

Let me give you an example of how this will work. If you start out in the “Twitter Cell,” the next cell (after four months) that you would rotate through would be “Q&A and Mentoring New Members.” Then you would go to “Reviewers,” followed by “Bloggers,” and “Special Activities.”  Then your rotation would start over. During that rotation, if you wanted to do a “Book Launch,” you would rotate into that group for four months After those four months, you would return to your regular rotation.

After two rotations, or eight months, I will encourage people to rotate off and take a four-month sabbatical. This will work well if you have a major writing project going on or other things in your life that need to take priority, though none of these rotations should take a significant amount of time. You are doing these things anyway, and now you can learn how to do them more efficiently. That is why I came up with this, to train authors in how to become better at marketing. After you rotate through all the rotations, you will have a pretty good handle on marketing, and you will have developed many relationships along the way, which is very important for an author. As I have said in the past, writing is a solo journey, but you can’t effectively market your book without the help of others.

Each cell will have anywhere from 12 to 18 members. Your first responsibility in the network is to those people in your cell. For example, in four months, in the review group, you would be expected to review some of the books of the authors in your cell. I don’t want to say how many because it won’t be the same for everybody, but what you can do comfortably. Everyone has a different comfort level. Each cell will have a leader and a co-leader that will be responsible for the cell. The leader after four months will rotate off and into another cell. The leader will pick the co-leader, and when the leader rotates off, the co-leader will be the leader for the next four months, and he or she will pick a co-leader to lead the next four months when he or she rotates off.  The leaders and co-leaders will spend eight months in a group instead of four months. The idea is to develop leadership skills within the network which will help you to be on the other side of helping authors—you always learn more when you lead, and everyone needs to learn how to be a leader.

We will not grow as a network unless we develop a leadership team. We are limited by my time and my own experience, and we can do much more if others step up and assume some of the responsibility. You can add this to your resume, and mostly, you can learn and grow and feel used by God.

Now, if some of you just don’t want to participate in the cells, you have two options. You can just be inactive, which means you are out of the loop on everything. Or you can pay a $5 membership fee which will be put back into the network for book launches and other benefits to members. For example, you want to host a book launch through the network, but you don’t want to rotate through all the cells – maybe you feel overwhelmed with other commitments right now. You can either start out with a four-month sabbatical, or you can pay a $5 a month membership fee. However, I would strongly discourage anyone to take a four-month sabbatical and then do a book launch. That is not a good way to build relationships in the network, and as I said, marketing is all about relationships.

As far as participation, after four months on the first rotation, if a member has not adequately participated, per the leader, then the leader will need to let me know so that I can talk with that member and see what the issue is so we can help him or her. We want you to be an active member. Otherwise, I have to ask, why did you join the John 3:16 Marketing Network?

You have an opportunity to learn a lot rotating through the cells, not just from me, but from others. You have an opportunity to give back. The biggest issue with the network right now is only a few people are participating. I truly believe it’s because people don’t have a job, or they don’t know what to do or how to do it.  I can’t expect people to tweet for book launches if they aren’t on Twitter. I can’t expect people to host people on their blog if they don’t know how to upload stuff on their website. Recently I asked some people to host me – two people didn’t know how. Two people didn’t know how to open my document. Two people didn’t know how to upload pictures to their site. So here is an opportunity to spend four months and become a better blogger, for example. You will be responsible in the blogger group for hosting people in your cell on your blog.

Now, suppose someone in the “Blogger Cell” wants people in the “Twitter Cell” to twitter for him? It will work just a little differently, because you are in different cells. You will exchange “services.” For example, you would offer to host some in the “Twitter Cell” on your blog in exchange for them tweeting for you.  That way you get crossover, and more help, and it’s not one person doing all the work. There is an exchange, and hopefully this will help everyone to get more involved.

Now, I will be first to say I haven’t worked out all the details.  But we won’t start this until January. We have the next four months to get all of this worked out. Right now you are signing up for what cell you want to start in for JANUARY. If you would be willing to be a leader for a cell, let me know. I will be leading the "Twitter Cell," but the other cells are open for leaders.

“The Prayer Cell”:  This is a non-rotating group—which means it’s a one-year commitment. The idea is you are committed to praying for the members in the network. I would love to see our once-a-month prayer meetings return. This would be a great opportunity for our pastors in the network, particularly if they don’t want to rotate through the other cells, but anyone can be in this group. Members of the network would direct their prayer requests here, and I hope that maybe we can have a once a month email with prayer requests and praises.  Our connection here must be centered on Jesus Christ. That is what makes everything else possible.

Let me know if you have any questions. Make sure you go to [private link, John 3:16 Members only] and in the document put your name and email in the empty block underneath the cell you want to start in. Each person’s entry should be on a separate line. That way, I can easily go down the list and import those names into other documents. Again, if you have any questions, let Lorilyn Roberts know.

If you are interested in becoming a part of our dynamic marketing network, you can listen to Lorilyn Roberts on a CACC Spotlight at http://lorilynroberts.com/john_3_16_marketing_network.html

A Taste of Friday: Stolen Woman by Kimberly Rae

Stolen Woman

Kimberly Rae

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (April 30, 2011)

 

Prologue

 

Asha shivered despite the intense heat. Why had she never considered the brutal fact that she, too, might get caught? Stolen. Sold. Bartered over like one of the pieces of blood-dripping meat in this filthy market.

Someone was following her.

Back home she would not have noticed, but weeks in India had taught her to be wary. All the noise and clamor along the busy Kolkata street could not distract from the shadow that appeared, then retreated whenever she turned to find its source.

The person following her was not very good at the game of stealth. That fact, however, did not make the predator any less dangerous. Who was it? And why was she the target?

Slipping around the nearest corner, a whisper of wind teasing her shawl out behind her, Asha dodged a wandering goat, then turned quickly down an alley to the left hoping to lose whoever was on her trail.

She was already late. But better to make Rani wait than to put her in even more danger.

If that were possible.

Could there be any danger worse than what her friend had already experienced? Sixteen-year-old Rani had traveled to the city following the promise of a well-paying job only to find herself deceived, stripped of all freedom, stolen from all that gave her dignity or hope.

Stolen and sold. Asha could not stop her body from trembling.

She flattened a shaking hand against the wall. Edging forward inch by inch, she angled her head to glimpse around the corner without revealing her face.

Was he gone?

She desperately wanted to remain where she was, clinging to the remote feeling of safety that curled around her in the small, dark corner where she hid. But how could she stay, avoiding risk, knowing that doing so would abandon a friend to the evil of the night while she remained untouched?

Asha’s whole body cringed. What a bad choice of words to think.

Mark had warned her about this. Mark. Just the thought of his lean, contoured face, muscles tensed along his jaw as he tried to convince her to keep away from the very street she was now traveling, gave Asha a sharp pain near her heart.

She should have listened. Should have asked for his advice . . . his help.

Why had she been so stubborn?

“God, help me,” she whispered. Summoning all her courage, she stood and stepped back into the alley, casting a wary eye in all directions before continuing toward the rendezvous point.

Was that Rani waiting beside the mounds of colored spices for sale?

A sudden glimpse of a following shadow stopped Asha cold. Her heartbeat shot up and she broke out in a cold sweat. She had not lost her predator after all.

A quick, desperate look left and right revealed several narrow, shadowed pathways through shanties and market stalls.

Should she run, leaving Rani to think she had not come? Should she meet Rani and quickly tell her they should go separate ways? Surely the public arena of the open marketplace would protect them as they spoke.

However, Asha knew with certainty that once they separated the predator would follow Rani, forgetting about her.

Tears stung her eyes. She took a deep breath.

She would run.

Turning to the left, she quickly chose the closest path. Three steps would carry her, and hopefully the person following after her, into a different section of the market, away from Rani’s watchful eyes.

One step. Two. Asha took one glance back at her friend, her eyes full of regret, when Rani saw her. Rani’s eyes lit up in recognition. She smiled.

Asha’s spirit groaned in defeat. Now what could she do?

She could not keep the fear and confusion from her features. She could tell the moment Rani saw it, too. It was as if Rani’s face immediately transformed from a woman holding on to a shred of hope to a child terrified of the monsters under her bed.

Or worse.

I’m so sorry. Asha wanted to say it out loud but could not get her lips to move.

When the shadow came closer then stopped only a few feet away, she closed her eyes, wishing all of it away. Wishing she could go back to that morning and change the choices that had brought her here into this web of danger and fear.

No, she would have to go farther back than that. Before meeting Rani. Before meeting Mark. Even before her arrival in India.

She would have to go back six weeks ago, to the day of her flight.  To the moments before she left home, when she kept an important truth from her parents. To the first time she decided it was okay to deceive in order to do good.

That first deceit had begun a pattern, a trail that had led her to this moment, this foolish choice to do things on her own without help.

A choice that might destroy her and the friend she wanted so desperately to help.

Waiting for the follower to approach, grab her, and possibly cart her off to a lifetime of slavery, Asha’s mind took her away from the marketplace and back, flashing scenes across her closed eyelids, rewinding through the choices she had made.

Back to the beginning.

To the day she left for India . . .

 

Kimberly Rae’s suspense/romance novels on international human trafficking and missions (Stolen Woman, Stolen Child, Stolen Future) are all Amazon bestsellers. Find out more at www.kimberlyrae.com

 

What is the Second Thing You Want on an Amazon Book Launch After Hitting #1

 

 

Once you hit #1 in a subcategory on Amazon, what is the next thing you want to achieve?

 

While many authors gave good answers to this question on the private forum, no one came up with what I was looking for. Once you hit #1 or rank very high in a subcategory, assuming you also have that subcategory as one of your search words (and you better if you don’t), you want your book to appear on the first page of Amazon’s search results for your book’s subcategory. That’s how buyers find your book when they have never heard of you or your book!

For example, in three years, I have never been able to get Children of Dreams to come up in Amazon’s search engine for “adoption” books—I gave up because it was so far down in the pile, I got tired of going to the next page looking for it.

I am now on the fifth page of Amazon’s “adoption” search. My goal is to get to the first page. Who will make it to the fifth page looking for a good book to read? I still have a ways to go to reach that goal. That’s out of almost 3,000 books. If I search for “adoption books,” another one of my search words, I come up on the second page of about 600 books.

Even though I hit #1 in “adoption” and “mother” books, because Children of Dreams didn’t rank for a LONG TIME in any subcategories, I need it to rank higher for a little longer to get Amazon to list it on the first or second page of a search for “adoption” books.

Children of Dreams has been out three years and after the first year, I didn’t do anything with it. I was working on my Master of Arts in Creative Writing and building the network and writing other books. A few months ago I decided to do a more professional book cover. This was a “test” to see if I could bring back an old book. When Children of Dreams was originally published, there was no Kindle market because few people owned Kindles. There was no KDP Select – there really wasn’t anything except the print version of books. All the original book launches launched printed books.

So I decided to launch Children of Dreams – a three-year-old book. I got to #1 in “adoption” books and “mothering” books, which translated into about 350 book sales in about four days. 

That’s better than I did with print books. I have never been able to sell many print books on Amazon.

So, to summarize, what you really want after a launch is for your book to be found in Amazon’s search engines by people looking for books in your genre. Because I haven’t quite achieved that yet, I am going to market Children of Dreams heavily for one more month. It’s the time element that plays into it—how long it’s ranked high in a subcategory.

For example Seventh Dimension – The Door  has remained consistently in the top 100 books for Christian fantasy ever since my launch in April. There are over 5,000 books in Christian fantasy, For a while it was the number one listing for Christian fantasy book searches, and it wasn’t just on my computer. A friend of mine who is an I.T. specialist did a Christian fantasy search of my book on his iPhone and The Door came up #1. Now it’s #4 because the ranking has dropped a bit. I need to do some advertising to pump it back up. Of course, then you need to know where to advertise. I have some good advice I will share about that if you do a book launch.

The day Emma advertised on one particular site that I recommended, Keeper of Reign hit #2 in Christian fantasy. I would imagine she hit #1 this week because of the blog tours she is doing.

I am not talking about big bucks to have a successful launch. I spent a total of about $300 on my launch. Emma, I think, spent a bit more, but it’s not like the thousands I spent when Children of Dreams first came out and I hired a publicist, did some traveling out of state for TV appearances, and was hosted on several radio shows. With all of that time and expense, I sold practically no books. That soured me on spending a lot of money on book launches. The social networking works with Twitter, Facebook, blog tours, and Google Plus, and then placing your book on some smaller, less expensive advertising sites can really pay off. Some of those web niches have very dedicated followers.

I am hoping BookBub will feature my book next month. It’s on the pricy side, $280 for a listing – but they only take a few books and they have statistics to justify their prices. They turned Children of Dreams down for August for adoption books but told me to resubmit for September in the inspirational category. I just did that tonight. They would not accept my Seventh Dimension – The Door book with all the good reviews and awards – so it is HARD to get BookBub to list your book.

If they accept Children of Dreams for September, I expect my ranking to be high on Amazon. I also have a few other things I am doing that I didn’t have time to do in August—mainly because I still hope to get on the first page of the Amazon search engines for "adoption" books. That is the best advertising there is– people searching for books similar to what you write, and then Amazon sends buyers to your book. Amazon wants to make money, so they won’t send customers your way if you haven’t sold many books in the last few months.

Emma’s book Keeper of Reign is listed as #9 in Christian fantasy on an Amazon search. If she stays in the top 100 for a while, Amazon will send buyers to her book. Eventually you want the advertising to carry itself – without you propping it up or spending more money. It has happened with other books in the network, like Bob Saffrin’s books and The Glimpse. We have had many successful launches. 

Hopefully these ramblings on my launch this last month will be helpful. Comments and revelations on what has worked for you are welcome.

 

. 

 

 

 

 

 

A Taste of Friday: Emma Right, Keeper of Reign

Emma, is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? 


I want to empower young readers with the message, that if they seek the truth (the Ancient Books in Keeper of Reign) they will find wisdom and answers to life's problems. It doesn't mean the answers are going to come easy, but persistence will pay off. So seek wisdom and it will help each person to live triumphantly; in essence, to reign in life.

Watch the trailer:

Here are three short excerpts from Keeper of Reign:

Excerpt 1:

Jules said, “We need a plan. Let’s check what’s missing.” He rushed to the hearth and pried the loose brick to the side. He reached his arm deep and thought he felt the soft nap of the pouch but then he jerked his hand back out and sucked on his finger.” Ouch!” 

Ralston said, “We can’t afford to lose your pouch—maybe the only way to buy things if we have to look for Mom or Dad.” 

Jules glared at him. 

Ralston said, “What’s wrong?” 

Jules reached back into the hole, this time less enthusiastically. “Something sharp.” When he pulled it out he stared at the shard of glass in his hand. “Hold this, Rals.” 

Ralston held the sharp edge gingerly. “Is it yours?” 

“Would I put something sharp like that to cut myself up?” Jules then brought out his pouch, and sighed. He gave its contents a quick peek and slipped the soft pouch into his cloak pocket. 

“It’s a good thing the burglars missed that,” Ralston said. “Should we toss this?” He passed the shard to Jules who turned it over. 

“Some words here.” He read, “‘—ook within.’ What’s that mean?”

Excerpt 2

A blood-curdling scream pierced through the cold evening air and all five children jerked and stared at each other. The scream appeared to have come from the dark forest. Was someone in trouble? Or was it just some- one trying to scare them?

“Wh-–at was that?” Bitha grabbed Tippy’s hand and tugged at her, but the little girl, her face indignant, squirmed and pulled away.

“No–o!” A series of ear splitting protests came from Tippy and she shook her head vigorously. Her eyes, the rims red, locked with Jules. “I want the gem! It’s mine!”

Arms on her hips, Tst Tst said, in a sinister whisper, “If we don’t leave now, Gehzurolle will kill us!”

Tippy slumped her shoulders, let out a sob and opened her mouth as if wanting to protest but at the last minute she only stepped aside. “All wight!”

“We’ll give the stone another try. Ralston, you wedge it with that stick and I’ll pull.” Jules glanced at the sky and thought he saw a dark blob in the blue far away. Must get away quickly. The meadow is too bare for a good hiding spot.

Nausea swelled up from the pit of his stomach and a shiver crept up his back. The last time he had such a feeling was right before his grandpa left on that trip. “Rals, hurry! Pull!”

Excerpt 3:

In the yonder forest, perched on a cypress, Whisperer watched the group with what could qualify as disappointment on his crooked face with his crooked lips. His efforts had failed. This sort of fowl tactics worked umpteen times before when his master ordered him on some mission.

Now he considered other prongs of attacks. The ifs and what-ifs, the whisperings, he could float in the wind. Whisperings that wafted down and instilled fear to all who heard him. This was one assignment he could not afford to blunder. Too much was at stake.

He debated over his options, his heavily lidded eyes darting from tree to tree. For a second he determined to strike the bumbling boy again, but he decided against this. He would wait for Beta and re-evaluate the problem with the latest update.

Whisperer pursed his crooked lips, his breath a gray tube of smoke that swirled toward its goal: the clouds. First softly, then more intensely, he blew. But his gaze never wavered from the struggling, lanky lad with his sister on his back.

Beta had better find that Book, or he would find a suitable punishment for the servant.

About the Author:

Emma Right is a happy wife and homeschool mother of five living in the Pacific West Coast of the USA. Besides running a busy home, and looking after their five pets, which includes two cats, two bunnies and a Long-haired dachshund, she also writes stories for her children. She loves the Lord and His Word deeply, and when she doesn't have her nose in a book, she is telling her kids to get theirs in one.

Emma worked as a copywriter for two major advertising agencies and won several awards, including the prestigious Clio Award for her ads, before she settled down to have children.

Visit Emma Right at her home site and sign for her blog feed and newsletter and blog for tips and ideas about books, homeschooling, bible devotions, and author helps from self-publishing to book marketing. For the latest events. Follow Google Plus  and Twitter. She'd love to hear from her readers.

Buy the book:
 Amazon Link

Connect with Emma:

Website

Blog

Facebook Author page

Facebook Fan page

Google Plus

Pinterest

Twitter

Amazon authorpage