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Friday, March 18, 2016

March Madness Free and Reduced Books

MARCH 18-20 ONLY here is a long list of deeply discounted, 99 cents, or free books ON KINDLE or PRIVATE AUTHOR website from some of my our members. Some are fiction and some non-fiction but all are clean reads. I hope you enjoy some of these. Curl up with a good book this weekend!





dead dreams ecover 600pixelsDead Dreams, Book 1 $0 for you! http://emmaright.com/dead-dreams-young-adult-teen-psychological-thriller/young-adult-thriller-offer  (It's $4.99 on Amazon) 2014 Reader's Favorite Gold Award Winner for YA Mystery Eighteen-year-old Brie O'Mara has so much going for her: a loving family in the sidelines, an heiress for a roommate, and dreams that might just come true. Big dreams--of going to acting school, finishing college and making a name for herself. She is about to be the envy of everyone she knew. What more could she hope for? Except her dreams are about to lead her down the road to nightmares. Nightmares that could turn into a deadly reality. 

Seventh Dimension - The Door, Book 1 FREE 2013 International Book Awards Finalist
The Door is the first book in the Seventh Dimension Series that combines contemporary, historical, and fantasy elements into a Christian "coming-of-age" story. A curse put on Shale Snyder, because of a secret, shrouds her with insecurity and fear. Following suspension from school, Shale's best friend isn't allowed to see her anymore and she feels abandoned by her family. When a stray dog befriends her, she follows it into the woods. There she discovers a door that leads to another world--a garden with talking animals, demonic underlings, forbidden love, and a king unlike any other.

Seventh Dimension - The Castle, Book 3 99 CENTS Foreword Reviews' 2015 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards Finalist
Haunted by a recurring dream of his missing father in a mysterious castle,17-year-old Daniel is captured by the Romans and finds asylum in the Temple. There he discovers a scroll that reveals his future concerning a wager between good and evil. But the stakes are raised when he witnesses the trial and crucifixion of Yeshua.

Keeper of Reign, Book 1, Reign Trilogy FREE From Award Winning, Best-Selling Author, Emma Right, comes this top selling fantasy for teens and pre-teens. This children fantasy promises adventure and mystery in a magical Kingdom called Reign.
Life couldn't get more harrowing for Reign's cursed inhabitants, the Elfies, a blend of Elves and Fairies. Or for sixteen-year-old Jules Blaze. Or could it? Jules, the heir of a Keeper, suspects his family hides a forgotten secret. It was bad enough that his people, the Elfies of Reign, triggered a curse which reduced the entire inhabitants to a mere inch centuries ago.

First Children of Farmington – stories of historical ethnic settlers of a typical Midwestern community. FREE
The Potawatomi Boy  Green Leaf's longs for a friend his own age he can play with, explore and fish with. When he meets a Luxembourger boy, Henri, Green Leaf is sure they could become friends. Green Leaf's mother says, "Friends learn to speak one another's words." But will Green Leaf learn to say his friend's words well enough to save Henri when he falls into danger? The German Girl - Huldah Hartz is a curious girl who loves to watch the butterflies and grasshoppers. The flowers around her new home are pretty, especially the ones that grow close to the dark woods, where Papa and Mama say she must not play. The French Girl  How can Marie fit in with her new friends?  When her neighbor Augusta makes a poor choice at the county fair, Marie must decide who is a true friend and what new customs to follow. The Irish Girl Who can Ann find for a grandfather? With so many aunts and uncles, why doesn't Ann Riley have a grandfather? Her friend, Katie Murphy, has a special grandfather who tells stories and remembers all the things he did at home in Ireland. When Katie's little sister tells Ann that everyone has to have a grandfather, Ann decides to find one of her own. The Saxon Boy - When John Klessig's father dies suddenly in the mid-1850s, Mama marries Mr. Ernst, who is very different from Papa. The Yankee Boy - How can one boy change the minds of his neighbors? When Matthew LaCraft's father gives up his ship, the Mary Jean, Matthew is going to have to stay home and go to school. Worse, it's a new school his father helped to build. Matthew would much rather go to school with the boys he knows in Boltonville. When a Potawatomi boy, Green Leaf, attends the new school, not all the neighbors are happy. What can Matthew do to help everyone get along? Will his plan work? 

Summer's Winter  FREE When Jeanine finally connects with film star Jamie Newkirk, the object of her obsession, will it be a dream come true? Or will she be pulled into his family's nightmare of secrets, control, and death? At age ten, preacher's daughter Jeanine fell in love with young movie star Jamie Newkirk and the character he played--Danny Summer. Jeanine believed God Himself promised Jamie would be part of her life--that he would rescue her from boring rural Georgia. But eleven years later, she's graduating college and about to settle into the dreary nine-to-five life with no word from Jamie or God.

Spiralling Out of Control The Spiralling Trilogy Books1 & 2 99 CENTS each Set in Australia, these novels contain adult themes Recommended reading audiences 15+ Temptation, depression, seduction, betrayal ... Not what Stephanie was expecting at fifteen years of age. Uprooted from her happy, all-girl high school life with a dream filled future and thrown into an unfriendly co-ed school, Stephanie spirals into depression. When charismatic high school senior, Jason notices her, Stephanie jumps in feet first and willingly puts all her faith and trust in him, a boy she barely knows

Spiralling Out of theShadow With her security tied up in great friendships, life for Tabbie was a breeze... until her best friend moved interstate. That's when the exposing reality hit her. Who was she without her best friend? Forced to stand on her own, Tabbie finds a new confidence and sees the world for what it really is, her new convictions enlighten her to see her friends through a different lens.  Is Tabbie strong enough to stay out of Stephanie's shadow when Steph returns? Can Tabbie be true to herself without letting her friends slip through the cracks?

The Right Person (Montgomery Lake High Book 1)  99 CENTS Chris Dunkin has lived a life of excessive partying since he was twelve. At fifteen, he is drinking more often and trying heavy drugs to keep himself high. But his dream of becoming a pro athlete is slipping away as quickly as his grades. Chris is empty inside, bored with the partying scene, and incredibly attracted to Courtney Angeletti. However, Courtney is Bryan Sartelli's girlfriend and is also the mayor's straight-laced Christian daughter. Chris sees inner strength in Courtney that he finds very attractive. 

When Darkness Tries to Hide: Montgomery Lake High #2  99 CENTS As Chris Dunkin arrives for his first year of high school, he enters drug-free with a new attitude and a Christian set of values. But it doesn't take long before he realizes that he was a whole lot more popular when he was the "life of the party." 

The Battle for Innocence: Montgomery Lake High #3  99 CENTS Within a dimly lit hospital room, Chantal Kagelli peers at her boyfriend Andy's blank face. The Battle for Innocence flashes back to that pivotal year when the characters of Montgomery Lake High were first introduced to the temptations, peer pressures, and internal-struggles associated with adolescence. 


The Aftermath 99 CENTS The Aftermath follows Jason Davids' journey of self-discovery, as he tries to overcome a destructive lifestyle. Jason, a high school freshman, has been caught up in drug use for the past two years. After a natural disaster strikes his town and lands one of his classmates in a coma, Jason feels responsible for the tragedy, attributing the magnitude of the accident to his own drug problem. As he tries to navigate through his mixed emotions, struggle with faith, and the influences of his older brothers and peers, Jason finds himself entangled in an enigmatic situation with a mysterious girl from his school.

The Forces Within  FREE Last month, when a tornado wreaked havoc on my hometown, I suffered a severe head trauma. I have since experienced something much more disturbing. During my recovery celebration, I came face to face with a force more powerful than any weather phenomenon-something darker than I ever dared to imagine. Twice this past month, I woke up in a world that I did not recognize. I heard things that didn't align with my memories-things that made me question my identity, my beliefs, and my own thoughts. I still cannot fully comprehend what happened to me or distinguish reality from illusion. Am I, perhaps, discerning an additional dimension of life that I was too blind-too jaded-too scared-to see before?

When God Speaks Free When God Speaks is a transformational book based on God's promises. If you commit to reading one devotional each day for 40 days and nights, you will come face to face with the faithfulness of God at the end of the journey. Anita takes you through her personal guide, you will not only be strengthened and encouraged in your faith, you will be challenged in the process. Joanne Ellison Teacher and Author Drawing Near to God Bible Study Series

 Get on Board and Stay on Board  Free "Get on Board and Stay on Board contains poems, articles, and short Bible studies. It is directed toward unbelievers and believers alike. It is designed to lead the unbeliever to faith in Jesus Christ, and then help him or her in a spiritual journey. Articles and poems in section one of the book clearly challenge unbelievers about their need for salvation and admonish them to prepare for eternity before it is too late by accepting Jesus’ offer of salvation through His shed blood. 

 Feed your spirit - A collection of Devotionals on Prayer  Free  Feed Your Spirit is a collection of devotionals on prayer. This book is a wonderful tool for Christians to develop a deeper relationship with God. "I really enjoyed the devotional - thanks again for sending it to me. I used it as a spiritual checklist for my prayer life and appreciated your vulnerability and the examples and symbols you provided within 

The King of the Trees(King of the Trees series, Book One) 99 CENTS What do an old wooden box, a jeweled pendant and some mysterious, green-garbed strangers share in common? When Rolin son of Gannon sets out to solve this riddle, his adventures take him worlds beyond the walls of his little log cabin. With the help of some grumpy griffins and a long-lost prophecy, Rolin and his newfound friends battle a sorcerer and his underworld army; deadly snake-trees; batwolves, dragons and other mythical creatures. On their perilous quest for the blessed Isle of Luralin, they must trust the King with their very lives. In the end, they learn that “The greatest help oft comes in harm’s disguise to those with trusting hearts and open eyes." 

My Fears Relieved: A Delaware Detectives Mystery Free It all began with a pocket knife which led to a mysterious inscription which led to a wolf. But there are no wolves in Delaware...or are there? It's up to the Delaware Detectives to find out. In book one, Abby and Jamie, along with their friends Scott and Phyllis, followed a trail of tantalizing clues to uncover a hidden fortune.


The Delaware Detectives Free What do the following have in common: a muntjac deer, a toilet, and a hairless cat? They are three key factors in uncovering a treasure that may or may not exist. But for Abby and Jamie Patterson, these items are essential ingredients to fulfilling their grandfather's greatest desire. Is the fortune real, or are the siblings following a path to nowhere as set down by an eccentric old woman? The quest is on, and time is running out.

Random Ramblings of a Raving Redhead Free Feeling overwhelmed by life? Grab a cup of hot chocolate and join me on a journey of personal experience combined with heartfelt encouragement and fun-filled observations. With a giggle here and a sniffle there, you’ll uncover new insights to lift your spirit, lighten your load, and comfort your heart. Each of the 111 short devotions contains life lessons with a Biblical perspective. 

What Happened To PrinceCharming? FREE What is a wife to do when she no longer recognizes the man she married? Within this book, you'll find the answer to that question along with Scriptural advice on making the most of your marriage. When you tied the knot, you made a promise to love your husband for better or for worse. I want to help you keep that promise!

The Lighthouse of Asaph: Unforgettable Christian Reflections 99 CENTS Roberto Ornan Roche's book "The Lighthouse of Asaph: Unforgettable Christian Reflections" is a collection of beautifully written devotionals/essays on the joys and struggles of daily Christian life. It is a very deep and thought provoking book that will touch the core of your soul. I found the book to be both encouraging and inspiring. There are some issues with the translation from the author's Spanish language to English. This should not be a deterrent in buying and reading the book. The depth and honesty found in the stories more than overcome these translation issues. This book is a faith builder.

Financial Empowerment:Realign Your Finances to God's Will 99 CENTS Read this Readers' Favorite award-winning title Financial Empowerment: Realign Your Finances to God's Will In this award-winning title, "Financial Empowerment", Pamela explores nine key areas of personal finance - creating wealth, tithing, saving, giving, investing, spending, borrowing, lending and planning. She examines the issues and misconceptions most experience in their finances and provides help with Biblical and practical solutions.

Blast of the Dragon's Fury (Andy Smithson Book One) 99 CENTS Winner of the Readers' Favorite 5 Star Award! Do you love dragons? Fire breathing dragons? Dragons bent on conquest? Shapeshifting seven-headed dragons? Then buckle up because this book has all manner of dragons! "I LOVED it! Totally hooked and want to hear more, especially about the dragons, epic fantasy & magic!" -- M. Tate, Book Reviewer

Power of the Heir's Passion (Andy Smithson Prequel Novella) FREE  When God Speaks is a transformational book based on God's prom
ises. If you commit to reading one devotional each day for 40 days and nights, you will come face to face with the faithfulness of God at the end of the journey. Anita takes you through her personal guide, you will not only be strengthened and encouraged in your faith, you will be challenged in the process.




Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Harmful Intent by Nike Chillemi Receives Five Stars from An Amazon Reviewer


Book Review of Harmful Intent by Nike N. Chillemi 

by Amazon reader Sharon Coleman




I loved this book. It kept me interested to the end. I loved the humor, romance, and comedy and was so refreshed that it was clean. No foul language, no X-rated scenes. 

Last, it was not the same predictable plot as many "Christian Romance" I have read. 

Thanks, Nike, for giving us a great, refreshing alternative to some of the stuff that is out there!



Nike N. Chillemi has been called a crime fictionista due to her passion for crime fiction. She is a member of Christian Indie Novelists (CHIN), American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), and the Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers. She is the founding board member of the Grace Awards, a reader's choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction. 

She was an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category and a judge in the 2011, 2012, 2013 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and romantic suspense categories. She writes monthly book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine.

Her recent contemporary detective story HARMFUL INTENT has garnered acclaim and has been called: sassy, witty, gritty, charming, and yummy. 



Thursday, March 10, 2016

Is It Worth Hosting a Book Launch?

"Taste and See" available for free at http://amzn.to/1RB4jtk
Article by Lorilyn Roberts



NOTE: This article was posted last year, but it's still relevant today. Hopefully I can help authors to make wise and informed decisions when it comes to book marketing.

Is It Worth Hosting a Book Launch?

Is it worth the financial cost, emotional energy, physical labor, and mental stress to host a cyber-book launch in today’s ever-changing, highly competitive book market world? If anyone were in a position to answer this question, I suppose it would be me. I lead a Christian book marketing network, the John 3:16 Marketing Network, and have been involved in many book launches over the past three years. In 2013, not counting the book launches I coordinated for other authors in the network, I hosted three book launches of my own:  One in March, one in August, and one in December. For the most part, I conducted the launches using the same methodology with each, with one significant difference for the December launch which I will explain later. Some of this will be technical because I want to give hard facts and real data. If you want to be encouraged, inspired, or challenged, read another one of my blog posts. If you want the raw facts, read on.

First, what did I do that was the same for each launch?  For all three launches, I had at least twenty reviews of my book. I advertised on similar sites, and I list some of those sites and point out the ones that were the most helpful below. I was featured as a guest blogger on eight to twelve blogs for each launch. I had a book trailer for each book. I posted on Facebook and used Twitter extensively. My followers were roughly the same on both accounts for all three launches. I have over 27,000 twitter followers on @LorilynRoberts and 19,999 followers on @John316Network. I’m not sure how many fans I have on Facebook—more accurate would be the number of people who saw my posts, and that was proportional to the Facebook advertising I bought. I advertised at http://bit.ly/Lorilyn_Fan_Page  and http://bit.ly/John316FanPage. To be honest, the $800 I spent on Facebook advertising I could never correlate to a spike in sales on Amazon. (Please note the figures I am giving are for sales from Amazon U.S. Kindle).

I also used Rafflecopter to promote all three book launches.

The launches were all sponsored by the John 3:16 Marketing Network. Authors in the network sent out Facebook and twitter posts promoting the books. In each case, other books by authors were being launched at the same time as mine. The launches ran from the 1st of the month through the 16th. I am including figures for the whole month on each launch because some of the promotions I ran did not occur until after the 16th.. With the August launch, I will include the September figures because they were significant.

There are a lot of variables in terms of which books are more successful than others, not even based on content or quality. I am assuming the books are good or else we wouldn’t be launching them. The books must meet certain criteria to be considered for a launch. Despite my experience and involvement in many launches, I realize now, painfully, that I can’t cookie cut a launch and tell an author, if you do A, B, and C, your launch will be successful. What works for one person may not work for someone else. In my case, all three launches yielded vastly different results. Let me give the figures, and then I will see if I can address some of the variables.

How many books did I sell with each book launch? I checked my KDP report from Amazon for the following figures.

In March, I launched a YA fantasy novel, Seventh Dimension – TheDoor.  

Free on Amazon Kindle


I sold 393 books for 99 cents in March. In April, one month after the launch, I sold 154 books. In May, I sold 104 books. In February, before my launch, I only sold 31 books. I did do some pre-launch promotions using KDP Select where I gave away several hundred Kindle copies of Seventh Dimension – The Door for free. Basically, as a result of my book launch, for 90 days following the launch I sold 651 books. Some of those books were priced at $2.99. I tend to raise the price after the launch to see if I can carry over the sales at a higher price point. Clearly, as a result of my book launch, I was able to sell more copies of Seventh Dimension – The Door than I had previously.  Before February, my sales had been dismal, so I won’t go back and give you those paltry figures.

My sales of Seventh Dimension – The Door, continued to be around a hundred each month, until December. For December, I have only sold 34 copies. Actually, sales of all my books are down for December.

Let me go to the second book I launched, Children of Dreams, AnAdoption Memoir


I had given away about 20,000 copies of this book on a couple of previous “free” promotions through KDP Select. But I had sold very few copies at $2.99. I had never listed it at 99 cents. So for the August launch, I reduced the price to 99 cents. In August, using the same promotions I had used before on Seventh Dimension – The Door, I sold 2,462 copies. In September I sold 1,694 copies, and in October I sold 856 copies.

There was one thing different about this launch, however. I was able to feature Children of Dreams on BookBub, but it wasn’t until after the official launch, so that meant the high number of copies I sold spilled over into October. The September 20th advertisement forced me to keep the book at 99 cents through September. To increase my chances of BookBub featuring my book, I reduced the price of Children of Dreams on Smashwords to 99 cents, and their distribution system reduced it to that same price on other sites as well. 

After BookBub featured Children of Dreams, however, when I raised the price back to $2.99 on Smashwords, the websites they distributed to wouldn’t, despite Smashwords and I both contacting the noncompliant sites. I ended up having to unpublish Children of Dreams from Smashwords to get the price back to $2.99 on all sites. Amazon wouldn’t increase the price, insisting they wanted to price match it to everyone else’s. 

The bottom line is I lost control of the price of my own book. I doubt that I will ever reduce the price of Children of Dreams to 99 cents again on Smashwords.  But I did sell about 1500 books through Smashwords as a result of the BookBub promotion. 

On Amazon, during that three-month period, I sold 3,012 books (again, I’m not including Amazon sales through Canada, England, et cetera).

For December, however, I haven’t even sold a hundred copies of Children of Dreams, so whatever spike I had in August from the book launch and BookBub promotion has run its course.

Now, this brings me to my third book launch for 2013. I launched a children’s picture book, The Donkey and the King. 

Free on Amazon Kindle

The launch ran from December 1 through December 16. A couple of my promotions ran after Thanksgiving, so I am including those numbers in the total. I am currently running a free promotion on this book that started the day after Christmas, so my official book launch numbers on this launch run from about November 26 through December 25. I sold 74 books at 99 cents.

I also spent more money on the December launch. With it being a children’s book at Christmastime, I thought I would probably sell more books and recoup my costs.  In reality, my December launch was a big disappointment compared to my previous two launches.

Where have I advertised on my book launches?  I will give all the places I advertised for The Donkey and the King because I paid for more advertising with this book than with the previous two books:

 http://tracker.kindlenationdaily.com/tracked-books (promotions at bookgorilla.com)

The Donkey and the King was featured on all the above sites. I submitted it to BookBub and ereadernewstoday.com and they declined to feature it. 

Now, a few comments are in order.  BookBub declined to feature my Seventh Dimension – The Door book also. They did feature Children of Dreams and that significantly impacted my total book sales.

If you can feature your book on BookBub I would recommend it.  While the fee was around $300, I made close to $2,000 in sales, so I covered my cost in advertising. The problem is BookBub is very selective about which books they will choose. If they accept your book, you are almost guaranteed to sell a lot of books. You aren’t just buying exposure, which is what I tell myself when I spend money for advertising that produces no measurable sales.

Ereadernewstoday.com declined to feature The Donkey and the King, though they did advertise Children of Dreams and Seventh Dimension – The Door. They take 25 percent of the profits, so I am sure they keep track of those books which sell well and those that don’t. They aren’t going to feature your book if they don’t think they can make money off your book. In each case, I did sell some copies as a result of advertising with them, but I don’t know what those numbers were. I only know I sold copies because they sent me a bill for their 25 percent fee afterwards.

Which sites out of the ones I listed above do I recommend besides BookBub?  The site I recommend as the best is http://www.fkbooksandtips.com/for-authors/. I have advertised on this site with six different books in six different genres at different times of the year and have always seen a significant spike in sales that I can directly correlate to their advertisement. Which other sites would I recommend?  Based on my most recent experience, none.

The fact is, since I lead a network of authors that promote book launches, right now I am reluctant to direct any launches for others or host my own launch. If I can’t come close to guaranteeing that an author will hit best-seller status in his main subcategory, then I can’t in all fairness recommend a book launch, must less charge for it.  And while the charge is not high, any amount seems unethical.

Now, that brings up one more variable. We have used the Rafflecopter for all the launches since April. Everyone would have a free opportunity to win the grand prize (by law this is required), and all a participant had to do was give me his email. That way, I could contact the person who won. I also used the Rafflecopter to build my opt-in list. For full disclosure (also legally required), I used the business model of Rafflecopter so that people knew they were opting in for my very infrequent e-zine. For each launch until December, I picked up about a hundred new subscribers. I also included a few options, like follow me on Facebook and Twitter, and garnered a few more fans.  But if you bought the books being launched, you would get ten chances to win whatever prize we were offering, which varied. One month it was a Kindle Fire. Another month it was a $100 Amazon gift certificate. 

For December, however, the Rafflecopter was handled differently. We had seven books launched and offered a $200 Amazon gift e-card. We used a mommy blogger service that featured our Rafflecopter prize on 25 mommy bloggers, all of whom had to have at least 2,000 followers. We did not feature buying the books on the Rafflecotper as an option. The options were for people to follower the mommy bloggers’ on Facebook, twitter, and their blogs, and in return, the mommy bloggers featured our books on their blog.

I know we had thousands of readers who saw our books on the mommy blogs. I had a few options I included for the network but I did not include any option as mandatory; e.g., that you had to sign up for my opt-in list.  My options were basically to follow the John 3:16 blog and my personal blog. And the coordinator for the mommy bloggers set up a link on Facebook so that prospective readers could follow us on Facebook.

The numbers were mindboggling on the social networking sites. Basically, we doubled our numbers on both blogs. I wished I had written down the exact figures before and after, but I didn’t think the result would be so dramatic. The followers on my blog at http://LorilynRoberts.blogspot.com were about 180 before the launch and they are now at 399.  On the John 3:16 blog at http://John316mn.blogspot.com, we have 500 followers. We had about 250 before the launch, and we picked up about 500 fans on Facebook. We also had more than 21,000 entries on the Rafflecopter, five times higher than the next highest number of entries on a previous launch.

I paid $100 for the coordinator’s fee. Based on the fans and followers we picked up, the cost was well worth it.  But how many books did we sell with all that exposure?  Well, I don’t know.  But my sales were dismal and only one author out of seven reached best-seller status. Her book was for young adults, and I can’t make the correlation that her success was tied to the mommy bloggers. I have a feeling her boost came from the promotion I sent out to my opt-in list on the last day when she reached best-seller status. My readership includes a lot of YA readers since I write in that genre also, but it’s hard to say. I am thankful that for all the work put into the launch by myself, Joseph Young—who handles the landing page—and the many authors in the network who contributed their time and effort into hosting and tweeting the December multi-author book launch, that one author reached her goal.

Who is the coordinator for the mommy bloggers that can work magic with social networking, even if all that tweeting and Facebooking doesn’t translate into book sales?  She is Bobby Anne. You can find her at www.BlogWithMom.com
and www.AdvertiseWithBloggers.com

I have asked myself many times, what can we do to make the launches more successful?  How can we guarantee success?  After all, that’s what the John 3:16 Marketing Network does, is we launch Christian books.

We already have a lot in place, with three years’ experience hosting book launches. An author has to have ten good reviews for starters. He has to have a good book cover and a well-edited book. I also make sure an author is ready to launch—does he have his book categorized properly on Amazon? Did she include relevant search words when she uploaded her Kindle book on Amazon? Is the Author Central page filled out with a bio, twitter feed, blog feed, and book trailer? Does the author even have a book trailer?  Hosting a launch is intense and requires a lot of preparation.

After my experience with the December book launch, I can’t guarantee even with a great book, advertising on professional websites, being hosted on many blogs by John 3:16 members, lowering the book price to 99 cents, having fifteen or more rave reviews, being featured on multiple blogs with large followers, and tweeting to thousands of twitter and Facebook users, that an author can sell enough books to cover his cost. And no businessman worth his reputation would recommend someone spend money on something with doubtful profits. Is it worth it?  The way the book market is now, I don’t think so. I know others will disagree with me, but I don’t come to this conclusion in a mindless vacuum. I have data to support it.

Today I can’t tell you how to have a successful book launch at a price most of us can afford. So I am not coordinating any launches until I do know. That means members in the John 3:16 Marketing Network can host their own launch if they are risk takers, try different approaches, and see what works for them.  I do recommend this:  You must individualize your launch.  I don’t think you can use a “one size fits all” style launch anymore.  I get emails in my inbox all the time, listen to how this author sold thousands of books and if you do what he did, you can, too, and you pay some exorbitant price to see how X author sold 10,000 copies of some obscure book of which I’ve never heard.

To be honest, sometimes I am tempted. Maybe they know something I don’t know. Hopefully I have become wiser—wise enough to know that whatever they did most likely won’t work for me, and there are no shortcuts or magic formulas to make my book fly off the shelf. If they sold so many books and made so much money, why do they want to charge for the information anyway? The reality is, I think the best way to sell a lot of books is to write a lot of books. And when I say a lot, I mean like twenty or more. And that means I need to write more and market less, and quit worrying about launching books. If I couldn’t achieve best-seller status on one of my books, how can I help anyone else anyway?

In the meantime, book marketing is changing every week. What works today may not work tomorrow. Advertising sites come and go. They are a dime a dozen now, it seems, and even if they aren’t expensive individually, you can spend a lot of nickels. I never set out to spend $800 on Facebook advertising. You get caught up in the moment, hoping that this time something magical will happen and those dollars will produce sales. While I can say I have never gone into debt advertising or selling books, I do regret some of my foolish choices and hope by being transparent and open, I can save you a few bucks by not repeating some of my mistakes.

My intent has never been to make money off marketing. I am not a marketing guru, but I do care about Christian authors. My goal with the John 3:16 Marketing Network has always been to provide an environment for authors to help each other—by being informed and sharing what works and what doesn’t. My advice right now is to save your marketing dollars and focus on writing.

I also don’t think it’s sufficient to be featured on a blog to promote your book. You need to be featured on a blog with followers interested in your type of book. And that takes research—a lot of research. If the blogger writes books, you might need to read one of his books before approaching him to host you on his blog. It has gotten that competitive.

If I sound too negative, I don’t mean to be. I am excited about the future as I have several books rattling around in my head that I can’t wait to write.  And once I am ready to market them, there will be new ideas to embrace and fresh paths to discover. And that makes marketing exciting and new all over again. As a person who gets easily bored with the status quo, I wouldn’t want it any other way.




My newest book Seventh Dimension - The City, A Young Adult Fantasy, Book 4 is currently featured on Amazon Scout - something knew I am trying for marketing. If you want to help me, you can click on "nominate" at bit.ly/LR_KindleScout. If Kindle Scout offers me a contract, you will receive a free Kindle book when "The City" is published. Also, you can read the first 5,000 words and tell me what you think - leave a comment here and even if I don't win a contract, I'll send you a free ebook when it's published.




To learn more about Lorilyn Roberts and her books, please visit her website at http://LorilynRoberts.com


Be sure to sign up for her email list for new book notifications and free and discounted offers. You can also receive a free ebook of her memoir Children of Dreams by joining her email list. Go to http://LorilynRoberts.com and click on the "sign-up now" button at the top of the screen.