The Impaler Legacy Omnibus 1 Year Anniversary Giveaway

It's been a year since The Impaler Legacy Omnibus was released. Since then, it's been part of a blog tour, received positive reviews, and it's been re-edited in January when my budget finally allowed it.

While the novellas and short stories included in the omnibus edition were first published separately, together they can be read as a stand alone novel. This was my first big self-published book, and after spending a whole year in the company of these characters, they will always hold a special place in my heart.

Yes, it's a book about vampires, but before you turn up your nose and move on know that there are no vampires in Romania, there's no Dracula, and the heroine doesn't fall in love with a vampire. This is not paranormal romance, YA, or erotica. It's a political thriller with vampires. Intrigued yet?

To celebrate the one year anniversary, I'm not dropping the price, but I'm offering you the chance to win free copies in a giveaway. Well, two giveaways actually. One is here on the blog, and you can enter it via the form below. The other one is taking place on BookLikes where you can find the book listed in the Paranormal/Fantasy/Action and Adventure categories. Both giveaways will be open until the end of March. Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Weight of a Wing Thunderclap Campaign

It's time to give Thunderclap another try, this time to help spread the word about The Weight of a Wing book release. (By the way, today I received the art work for the second book in the series, and it's gorgeous.)

So, if you have a Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr account, please go to the link below and join the campaign for free. If you do, a message announcing the new release will be automatically posted to your account on April 16.

Thank you!

2015 February Reading List

Between the Devil and Ian Eversea by Julie Anne Long – Well, yeah, once a year I do happen to read some romance too. I got tricked into getting this one because of the cover, silly me, and the story wasn’t that bad, though I didn’t care all that much for the heroine. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository 

What I Did For a Duke by Julie Anne Long – Of course I had to know what it led to the events in the book above, he he, and it was fun. Actually, it’s a better story than the other one despite the awful cover. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository 

Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky by Marissa Meyer – Rather fun, too bad it was so short. 3/5 stars

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – A bit too literary for my taste, and the sci fi element is way too weak. If I cared to read about Hollywood starts’ lives, I’d get a gossip magazine. I don’t need to get that type of info from my sci fi books. Hmpf. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository 

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman – Not quite sold on the central idea of the library, but other than that it was an enjoyable enough ride. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository 

Red Rising by Pierce Brown – Rather violent, but well written for a debut novel. It took me a while to get into it, still when the MC said he was enjoying the game, I realized I did too. 4/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository 

Delirium by Lauren Oliver – Sort of an Equilibrium focused on love. I prefer the Bale version. It occurred to me I’d rather read YA novels written from a boy’s POV. They tend to be less whiny and insecure. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository 

Hover by Melissa West – Finishing this series since the last book is out. Compared to other YAs, the tone of this series read very light despite the whole drama surrounding the characters, so when there was a sex scene, although tastefully done and glossed over, it felt more appropriate for a different type of book. And I never understood why they had to share a room at all. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository 

Collide by Melissa West – The last book in The Taken trilogy is a lot of running, fighting, killing, and kissing. The end game seemed idealistic, but naïve, and the big baddie needed more development. For teens, this might work, but as an adult, I had to shake my head several times. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository

A few thoughts on ebook piracy

Yesterday, it was a bittersweet day. I’ve been offline for a whole week due to health issues, and while trying to catch up with what I missed, I discovered two things: one, Amazon sent a check, which is good because meds are expensive around here, and two, I found my books on two ebook pirate websites. Bummer.

A couple of times a year, I check torrent sites and known ebook pirate sites to see if my books are there, and they’re not. It can only mean I’m not a big name yet so nobody bothers to pirate my work, and that’s fine. But when I find them on amateur-looking sites with bad design and copyright infringement report buttons right in the menu, it’s not fine. I don’t even know if the files are really there, it could only be a scam and I don’t have time to waste half a day cleaning viruses from my pc, but it still pisses me off. Because even if it’s all a lie, these people are using my name and my work to trick other people into falling for their game. And let’s face it, who does that for free? One way or the other, they’re making money out of it, and a little bit of it is made on my expense.

After the week I just had, I sure as hell don’t have the energy to chase after pirate sites and send copyright infringement notices to their host providers left and right. I will at some point, but not today. I’m not so sure those help anyway. Even if the files are removed, there’s no guarantee they won’t show up again next month, or if the site goes down, another one can appear over night. It’s kind of a lost battle if you see it this way, and people tend to say it’s free exposure and you’re not losing any sales. Well, I’m not so sure I agree with that either.

So, isn’t there anything we can do? Yes, there is, but this only works for me and other writers might not agree. Dear readers, if you can’t afford to buy my books, come to me. I’m still at the stage where I can use all the exposure I can get. I’ve already given away hundreds of free copies, a couple more won’t make me go broke. As I write this, you can enter the giveaway on LibraryThing to win a copy of Broken People, and you can download The Impaler’s Revenge for free from NoiseTrade. Yes, but they are free because I decided to do so and not because other people made that decision for me.

Let’s not make other people rich based on my work, okay? That’s money I’ll never see. Go directly to the source. You won’t have to worry about viruses and having your credit card information stolen, and I’ll have the satisfaction of making my readers happy. It’s not the best solution, someone still needs to pay those medical bills, but at least the bad guys will lose too. And that’s almost as good as a win. Come to me.

Cover Reveal: The Weight of a Wing by Ioana Visan

The Weight of a Wing
 (The Stolen Wings #1)

by Ioana Visan 

Alise has achieved the impossible. After her wings were chopped off, the fairy survived and now finds herself in the human world, once again hunted like prey by the sadistic Gorem.

Locating him with her help means that the two Guardians of Balance, Rafe and Vale, will not only be able to turn him in and make him pay for maiming her, but make him accountable for the deaths of other fairies as well.

Gorem has plans of his own for the rogue fairy. With the help of a wizard, Fabian, and an army of monsters by his side, Gorem will stop at nothing to recapture Alise.

With already so much on the line, Alise not only has to keep herself safe from harm, but will also have to protect her new human friend, Cassie, in the process.

Who will win the battle of good versus evil? Is capturing Gorem worth risking what remains of Alise's life?

Coming to your ereaders this spring! 

The Impaler's Revenge is Free on NoiseTrade

Hi, all! Is it spring already where you are? I'm waiting for summer actually, but meanwhile I've got a pressie for you. :)

During the entire month of March, The Impaler's Revenge, the first novella in The Impaler Legacy series, will be available as a free download from NoiseTrade. Well, you can also leave a tip, but only if you want to. :)

So, what are you waiting for? Click on the link and download the ebook now. Enjoy the spring!

My Experience with Amazon KDP Select

My first experience with Amazon KDP Select left me rather cold. I have several titles published through Amazon and other sellers, but until the end of last year, I hadn't tried the Select program before.

KDP Select at first glance:

- the up side:

1. you get two ways to promote your book: either give the book away for free for 5 days or use Kindle Countdown Deals.

2. the book is included in the Kindle Unlimited program, which makes it free to KU subscribers and you get some payment for the borrows, though smaller than the actual price. Apparently the borrows do affect the book rank, but I haven't noticed this happening.

- the down side:

1. for the entire Select term, the book must be sold exclusively on Amazon.

2. unless you uncheck the option, the Select term gets extended to the next 3 months by default, and once a new term starts, there's no option to end it. I guess you could make the book available via other sellers and let Amazon know so they remove it from the Select program, but since I haven't tried it, I can't swear there aren't other less obvious penalties.

I published Broken People towards the end of November 2014. It was the first book in a new sci fi series, so I thought I could give Select a try.

Promos:

Based on the premise that Kindle Countdown Deals needs too many marketing efforts and investments to make it successful, I chose the free days instead, which seemed easier. Since there are only 5 free days, I split them in two periods, 2 for Christmas and 3 at the end of January. Previous to the free days, I submitted the dates to a dozen of websites that post free Kindle books for free. During the free days, I constantly mentioned it on Twitter and posted in over 100 Facebook book related groups. The result was 800 free downloads the first time and 630 free downloads the second time. It did not affect the book rank, it brought zero sales, and it brought only a couple of reviews.

Kindle Unlimited:

It was a bust as far as I'm concerned. There were only a few borrows, way less than the number of sales.

At the end of the three-month period, I gave it a long thought, did the math, and decided not to continue with Select for this book.

Conclusion:

I think Select works for stand alone novels or the first book in a series if you want to attract new readers. Don't let the high number of downloads fool you. Few of those who downloaded the book will actually read it, and even fewer will take the time to write a review. When it comes to reviews, I feel LibraryThing ebook giveaways are better suited for this purpose. BookLikes also offers this option, but I haven't tried it yet. Goodreads still doesn't. You can, however, ask all those people whom you gave the book for free in exchange of a fair review to download it during the free days so their reviews will appear as verified.

So I will enroll in Select my next book, which is the first book in a new fantasy series due to be released this spring, but only for 3 months. If nothing changes, I'll pull it out at the end of the term and set it free into the world like I did already.

My Book Loving Valentine Multi-author Event

Hey, all! Ready for an extended Valentine weekend? Well, okay, I'm not really into Valentine's Day since this is an imported holiday in my country, but I know many people are so this weekend I'll be participating in a multi-author event on Facebook organized by Eyes on Books.

It will take place between February 13 - 15, and you can join it here. My time slot is on Sunday, 16 - 18 PM GMT. You're all invited to come and chat with me, and there will be some giveaways and nice surprises too.

Also, as a gift from me to you, The Impaler Legacy Omnibus will be discounted on Amazon to $2.99 (regular price $4.99). There's a nice love story in there, so hurry up and get it while you can.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The official description of the event is below:

My Book Loving Valentine –
Chat with Authors and Win Prizes in #Giveaways

What better way for a book lover to spend their Valentine’s weekend than with their favorite authors and the books they’ve written? 22 authors are taking part in Eyes on Books’ My Book Loving Valentine event on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/events/423499887808955/). On February 13, 14, and 15, you will have 13 hours of fun chats, games, contests, and new books to discover per day. 

The amazing authors you will hang out with, in order of appearance are: 

Day 1

Cheryl Headford, James Commissioner Gordon, Algenon Lusch, Karen Stivali, Layla Hagen, Teodora Kostova, Louise Lyons, Lily Velden

Day 2

Lisa Harris, Lily G. Blunt, Taylin Clavelli, Michael Thomas, Alina Popescu for Eyes on Books, Geoffrey Huda-Wakeling, J.T. Cheyanne, Author VL Moon, Lily Velden for Wayward Ink Publishing

Day 3

Algenon Lusch, Devika Fernando Author, LE Fitzpatrick, Ioana Visan, Aimee Brissay, Susan Mac Nicol, Kim Fielding, Alina Popescu

To make it even better, the Rafflecopter giveaways start early and end late! From now till end of day Tuesday (PST time), you have a chance to enter and win signed paperbacks, ebooks, swag and a lot of gift cards!

My Book Loving Valentine – Valentine’s Weekend Giveaway

~36 prizes~

(1) signed copy of a Michael P Thomas novel (winner's choice)

(1) ebook copy of either Conflicted (novel) or In Darkest Peru by Louise Lyons

(1) ebook copy of Tyrian's Mist, (1) of Love Life & Circumstance and (1) of Grand Slam from VL Moon and JT Cheyanne

(5) ebook copies of Broken People by Ioana Visan

(1) eBook of any Lily Velden title – winner’s choice

(2) $10 WIP gift cards

(1) Signed copy of Project X by Nephy Hart

(1) Ebook copy of Daring Adam (Taking Chances book 1) by Aimee Brissay

(10) Ebook copies of The Running Game by LE Fitzpatrick

(3) Taylin Clavelli Swag Pack inc 8 Gig USB Bullet, Hip Flask key ring, credit card mints, 3-in-1 Stylus pen

(1) ebook copy by Karen Stivali – winner’s choice (excluding anthologies or collections)

(1) Signed copy Pilgrimage by Kim Fielding

(3) kindle copies of Withering Hope by Layla Hagen

(3) ebook copies of The Edge of Hope (Bad Blood 1) by Alina Popescu

Giveaway link:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Book Loving Valentine – Book Buying Should Be Rewarded Giveaway

~16 prizes containing swag, signed books, and gift cards to buy more goodies~

(1) $20 Amazon gift card from Michel P. Thomas

(1) $10 Amazon gift card from Louise Lyons

(2) e-book sets of books 1 & 2 of the Crimson Nights Saga by VL Moon and JT Cheyanne

(1) Pack of any 2 Ioana Visan ebooks, winner’s choice

(1) ebook Kaleidoscope of Hopes by Devika Fernando

(1) Gift pack containing: novelty USB drive, pen, fridge magnet, bookmark, Dreamspinner gift card for any Lily Velden title (value $6.99)

(1) WIP Gift Pack containing: novelty USB drive, USB extension cord, 2 x pens, fridge magnet

(1) $5 Amazon Gift Card from Nephy Hart

(1) 1 ebook copy of Perfect Timing by Aimee Brissay

(1) Swag pack (including 2 signed books) from LE Fitzpatrick

(1) $10 Wayward Ink gift card

(1) Any backlist ebook OR a $5 Amazon gift card from Karen Stivali (anthologies excluded)

(1) Kim Fielding surprise swag

(3) kindle copies of Withering Hope by Layla Hagen

(1) $10 Amazon Gift Card from Alina Popescu

Books by these authors can be purchased from any reputable retailer – Amazon, AllRomanceEbooks.com, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, WaywardInkPublishing.com, Dreamspinner Press, any other publisher of these authors.

List of authors to buy from to be eligible for this giveaway:

MichaelP. Thomas

Louise Lyons

VL Moon  and JT Cheyanne

Ioana Visan

Devika Fernando

Lily Velden

Wayward Ink Publishing

Nephy Hart

Aimee Brissay

LE Fitzpatrick

Taylin Clavelli

Karen Stivali

Kim Fielding

Layla Hagen

Alina Popescu

Giveaway link:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Short Update

I'm quite pleased with the work I did in January. I finished two short stories for Romanian anthologies, despite two rounds of cold and the Euros being on. The short stories are both sci fi, around 15k words, and while they do include sex scenes, there's no actual love story, which is unusual for me. Oh, and one of them is a little gory too. The good news is one of the stories is a prequel to a space opera series that I've been planning to write for quite some time. The first step is done now, I just have to translate it sometime later this year, preferably when I'm not sick and drowning in tea. I must have drank more tea this month than in my entire life, and I don't even like tea!

Well, in other news, I survived the Euros without being exhausted as more colleagues were available to help with AS work. But several of my favorite skaters have retired, and I still have to find new ones to root for, so while there were a few good skates and nice surprises, the whole experience was rather meh. It was my second week of cold, and that might have contributed to my inability to enjoy it fully.

I did, however, manage to go through The Stolen Wings Prophecy #1 once more. I promise it's the last time I do it. It's the 6th draft for God's sake! The story won't get any better than this. To avoid temptation, I asked my editor to save me a spot in her schedule, so it looks like we'll have a book release this spring after all. It's an urban fantasy with a New Adult feel -- a lighter read compared to Broken People, despite the darker subject.

And, finally, I left the good news last. Starting with today, I'm working on book 2 in Broken People series. I have about 20 chapters plotted already, that's about half the book, and it's going to be good! Check out the word counter from the side bar to follow the progress. It will be updated weekly. The goal is to have the first draft ready in three months. *rubs hands* *The Nightingale Circus crew groans, packs their bags, and relocates on a different continent* Tee-hee! :)

2015 January Reading List

The Emperor’s Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne #1) by Brian Staveley – A bit too wordy, if you cut 25% of it, you’d still get a decent book, but the plot was solid. 4/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository

Promise of Blood (Powder Mage #1) by Brian McClellan – The magic system was interesting, and the plot was ok, although I would have preferred more politics and less actual fighting, but the writing didn’t flow (and you’ll hardly ever hear me complain about such things) and while the characters were  well done, I failed to care about what happened to them. 3/5 stars Amazon Bookdepository

Soul Ink by J. C. Nelson – It reads better than the first book in the series and it’s even more fun. I’ll never look at cherubs the same way again. Shudder. 4/5 stars Amazon

Fairest by Marissa Meyer – Quite a sad read and borderline absurd as no society like that one could ever survive. 2/5 stars Amazon

A reminder of my rating system:
1 star - you won't find any so it doesn't matter
2 stars - waste of time or unfinished book or both
3 stars - you won't be sorry about reading it, but you can just as well live without it
4 stars - it brings something special into your life
5 stars - brilliant, damn near perfect