Thursday, August 12, 2010

Straight to E-book

A few years ago, I never thought I’d be part of the e-book revolution. I was so focused on my print books and publishing the traditional way, that it never occurred to me to go straight to e-book.


But then I wrote several romantic suspense novels that I thought were awesome. My agent thought they were awesome. My crit group thought they were awesome. Only thing was, they were not dark enough (not a good thing in serial killer romantic suspense world) to sell. My suspenses center around Mexican legends and specific motives, not sociopathic murderers. Wrong time, wrong place.


They never did sell.


I tucked them away (on my hard drive) and moved on.


Fast forward a few years. I moved wrote my Lola Cruz Mystery series, and am working on my NAL Dressmaker’s Mystery series. But those romantic suspenses have never let go of their grip on me.


See, I just love them.


Enter e-publishing. Diversion Books, to be exact. A chance for these books of mine to be published and find a potential readership. They’re going to be released in a few short weeks! If you have an e-reader, look for them! They take place in a small ranching town called San Julio along the San Julio River. The first is called Cursed and the second one is called The Chain Tree.


One problem I’m running into is how to promote these books on my own site, Books on the House. See, from what I understand, Amazon doesn’t allow gifting of books so I can’t give away copies of it! I can’t even buy copies and give them away by giving them to someone else to upload (a MAJOR flaw in their e-book selling division, if you ask me). I don’t know about Borders or Barnes & Noble’s e-book divisions. I think I can gift books with the Nook, but not having an e-reader myself, my knowledge is woefully deficient.


So, I need your help...desperately! What can I give away when I feature my new romantic suspense e-books on Books on the House that people will want? And can I gift e-books? Maybe I'm wrong.


Help!!

3 comments:

  1. Misa,

    My publisher gives us author copies of the eBooks just like print publishers do. They give them to us in every format we could need so when we do a giveaway the winner can let us know what format they need.

    Maybe you can get them from your publisher.

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  2. Yes, every digital publisher I have worked with gives me author copies to use as prize awards.

    As for promo'ing, hit the blog circuits, have other e-authors blog with/for you, interact with the digital reader on forums and loops.

    And most other print book marketing works as well with a little adaptation.

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  3. Huh, I haven't heard or seen the details of the contract yet. It's all happening very fast! Thanks for the help, ladies!

    I still have to think of a giveaway to with the copies I can [hopefully] give away, so if you think of anything, let me know!

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