Slideshare: Free ebooks to increase ebook sales.

Here's an interesting article from Mark Coker, the owner of Smashwords, regarding a study he did of e-book sales and the trends. Also, he wrote a book that he is giving away to help authors and publishers with e-book sales, too.

What questions does the study answer?

• Do authors who change prices frequently sell more books?
• If ebooks are immortal, how do sales develop over time?
• How do individual titles develop at a retailer?
• What's the ideal word count for ebooks?
• What word count do romance readers prefer?
• What word count do erotica readers prefer?
• What impact does price have on unit sales?
• How are Smashwords authors pricing their books?
• What are the most common price points?
• What price range earns the author the most money?
• What does the indie ebook sales distribution curve look like?
• What's the optimal price per word?  

 The answers are in this slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/Smashwords/how-data-driven-decisionhow-datadriven-decisions-might-help-authors-reach-more-readers

For three free ebooks, click here: http://blog.smashwords.com/2012/04/can-ebook-data-reveal-new-viral.html

Mother and son writing team Awake Agnostos.

About the Authors: Jennifer Paquette, a native New Yorker, has had an established and varied career in advertising and marketing, but her true passion has always been writing. She is most excited about her recently published novel, The Awakening of Agnostos that she wrote with her 15 year old son, Nicholas Perrotti. Of Greek heritage, they gave the legends of their ancient ancestors a bit of a makeover with a new twist on a timeless storyline. Jennifer has also published several short stories, articles and essays and has a vault of works in progress, including a memoir with her mother, a medical thriller, and a tell-all about the college application process.

About the book: A tale as old as time - the scorned wife finds a way to get even!!! Set in mythical times, Hera banishes her husband Zeus' mistress, Hercate to Agnostos. The only place on earth where Hercate has no magical power. She is trapped and makes a deal with Hera in order to get released. Will Hera double cross her or will the 'other woman' be punished for eternity?Hera, Zeus’ wife, banishes her to Agnostos—The Triangle of the Unknown—the only place on earth where the gods of Olympus have no power. Once imprisoned, Hecate stumbles upon a gateway to the center of the earth, and uses her discovery to bargain her way out of Agnostos. But the night after the Council meeting to decide Hecates fate, Athena is visited by a Titan who reveals the real story of the mysterious portal hidden beneath the waters of Agnostos. A god more powerful than the Olympians await them at the Earth’s core. To maintain their status as supreme rulers of Olympus, five gods must enter the abyss and fight this unknown god. Can the gods of Olympus learn to work together and save the Earth?

To find out, click here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Awakening-Agnostos-Myths-Olympians-ebook/dp/B00DSD2GFS/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

What's waiting for you in the NA Alley?

NA Alley is one of the go-to sites for New Adult writers and readers. If you want to give your NA book more exposure, read on.

Here is a timely announcement:

What's Spooky, Fantastical, and Coming Soon? Help Us Find Out!

 As the New Adult category continues to broaden, we at NA Alley want to make certain nothing falls through the genre cracks. While we definitely love our New Adult contemporary romances, we also recognize there's a lot of great NA fiction being written in paranormal romance, horror, science fiction, dystopian, and other popular genres--and many of them are coming out this Fall and Winter! 

We'd love to highlight them all individually by participating in your bloghops, cover reveals, etc., but there's simply no way we could honor all of the requests we receive in a given month.

So in an effort to share a little of the spotlight, we're conducting a call for authors of all of those books in 'other' genres coming out September 2013 - March 2014.

Adding your book to the list is as simple as completing the form below. We'll share the entire catalog here at the Alley in an upcoming blog post. 

And we figured what better time than October to share a few spooky, fantastical, and different New Adult titles, right? :)

For clarity--and to make sure we don't call your book something it isn't--here are a few questions to answer and definitions to remember BEFORE submitting the form:

Is your book New Adult? - This list is for New Adult books only. For a crash course, review our 'What is New Adult?' page. :)

What GENRE is your book? - Is it primarily adventure? Historical? Speculative? Suspense? Generally, what is the first thing it's listed under at retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.? Here's a handy Wiki-list of genres and subgenres to use as a general guide if you aren't sure.

What SUB-genre is your book?

Remember, we're looking for anything other than contemporary New Adult. (And for all you contemp folks, be patient with us. We'll be doing lots more to highlight you all in the future.) Using the link above, can you tell us where your book fits? (Urban Fantasy = Speculative; Regency Romance = Historical; and so on.)

When will the book be published? - Month & year are fine. We're specifically looking for titles coming available in the Fall/Winter release window, so September 2013 - March 2014. If you're close (August 29/April 1) go ahead and submit it.

Read the form directions, and that's all there is to it!

Click here for the form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Q9k3ahDFBlejpv4ddCjQj2ocyHBUyWBldbgNG5A9XCQ/viewform?embedded=true

Hope to read about you soon!  

Release party - giveaway - invite your friends increase your luck!

Invite your friends to the book release of "The Twistedly True Tale of Ruby Hood," by: Stephanie Greenhalgh, have your friends say that you invited them, and you may win the prize pack below! Join us ONLINE, 1-3 p.m. EST, Sun., Oct. 6, 2013, for the release of "The Twistedly True Tale of Ruby Hood" by: Stephanie Greenhalgh! Lots of fun, prizes and giveaways! Invite your friends! The person who invites the most people wins a great prize pack to be announced!

Synopsis: In the small town of Woodsville, self-assured Ruby Hood becomes tangled in more than traditional teenage angst. With the Homecoming Dance looming, everything at Woodsville High appears normal, but things are not as they seem. Ruby meets a cute boy with a lopsided grin, Dylan Hunter. She flirts shamelessly with the football star, Kent Wolf, and finds herself in a barrage of harsh verbal altercations with his stunning yet wicked sister, Kayla Wolf. Thankfully, she finds solace in her friend, Lilly Fair. Through a series of odd and painful events, Ruby discovers her true calling and the responsibilities that come with her new power and position. Despite her heartache and sorrow, will Ruby find the inner strength not only to protect herself, but also to keep the Wood safe at all cost?

You won't be in suspense long. The party starts tomorrow!   

He wants to draw a bat for you! He wants to draw a bat for you!

A sample of Steve's bat artwork

For October only - get your bats drawn at I Want to Draw a Cat for you! 
I can't resist watching his original commercial every time I visit his site: http://iwanttodrawacatforyou.com/
Maybe you saw the famous Shark Tank episode where Steve Gadlin got Mark Cuban to invest $10,000 in his cat drawing business.

***Even if you didn't and you are into vampires, bats and Halloween, you've got a treat coming. Steve is drawing custom cartoon bats for the month of October! If you like free stuff, he has giveaways on his Facebook page every week, sometimes even more often than that.
Find it here: https://www.facebook.com/iwanttodrawacatforyou
Or Tweet to him here: @CatDrawingGuy

Love Bites Anthology Submissions Deadline: Tuesday, October 1st.

Write More Publications really wants to see your contribution! So, bring it on! The deadline for "Love Bites," the New Adult Paranormal Anthology is Oct. 1 and is approaching fast. Please e-mail your submissions to writemorepublications@gmail.com with Paranormal Submissions in the Subject line. 

Here is more about what they're looking for.

New Adult Paranormal Anthology. Protagonists are 18-25 and the category tackles the age group between young adult and adult. Issues include college life, first jobs, etc. Since it's paranormal, it can include the fae, sprites, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, witches ... be creative. The deadline is Oct. 1. No explicit sex. E-mail submissions to writemorepublications@gmail.com -- Wishing you SUCCESS!

Rebecca Boucher in the spotlight!

 My favorite blog travel agent is also a writer. The first book of The Moon Series is coming in October.

Hunting the Moon

A year after the murder of her husband, Lilly Lawson is still plagued by nightmares that have pushed her back into her adolescent habit of cutting. Even worse, she starts to see and communicate with her husband’s ghost. When she goes to the sentencing for the man convicted of the crime, she finds herself captivated by the killer's brother. 

Daemon Kelly has returned to their small town after a long absence to care for his elderly mother. He also has to face the whispers regarding his brother's crime and his own alcoholism. When he comes face to face with the widow of the man his brother killed, he feels an intense need to protect her, but from what, he doesn't know.    

When the two fall in love it is anything but easy. Aaron Lawson is intent on coming back and claiming what is his. And the closer Lily and Daemon get to Aaron's ghost, the more they unravel the truth about why he died in the first place. Piecing together bits of ancient Celtic lore, can they find a way to help Aaron's soul find rest? 

About Rebecca: 

Rebecca Boucher was born and raised in Worcester Massachusetts. Her father instilled an early love of reading in her and encouraged her when she started to write. She attended a small Catholic High School. Then, Rebecca earned a degree in Criminal Justice from Quinsigamond Community College, but her love has always been writing. After the birth of her first child, she moved to a quiet little town on the edge of Worcester county, in the heart of Central Massachusetts. Living there has inspired her to write most of her current projects. In fact, local readers might recognize some of her locations.

When she is not writing, Rebecca is the mother to two boys, ages 10 and 13. Her youngest son was diagnosed in the Autism spectrum, and a lot of her volunteer time is spent raising awareness and promoting education for this cause. 

Want to know more? Click here: http://www.bbtourservices.com/index.html 
Visit her blog at  http://beccab8.blogspot.com/