Happy weekend everyone. I hope you are all doing well and at least the sun is shining in Surrey for a change!
I just wanted to share the news that the first two books in Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy are 99p until 24th February.
‘I highly recommend checking this one out. It’s addictive, fast-paced, with some really fantastic world-building. I can’t wait to continue in this series!’ Goodreads Reviewer
This is just a super quick reminder that the box set returns to full price at the end of the weekend. Usually £6.99 you can pick up the complete trilogy for only £2.99 worldwide.
Fabulous Saga… it’s well written and utterly magical! (Amazon) Shelley Clarke
Tei has magic in a world where people like her are persecuted and forced into exile. Whilst fleeing their home, her father is attacked and his deathbed confession reveals a dangerous secret that will change her life forever.
Tei’s homeland, the magical island of Kalaya, is dying and without a Sentinel to restore the magic, it’s only a matter of time before all life is wiped out.
She must join the exiles in the search for the lost Sentinel, but they are not the only ones after the missing guardian. Sinister Masked Riders are on their trail and time is running out.
Tei must risk everything she loves to save Kalaya, but is she ready to make that sacrifice?
1396 pages of magic, adventure and intrigue.
This epic fantasy box set contains: The Lost Sentinel – Book 1 The Sentinel’s Reign – Book 2 The Sentinel’s Alliance – Book 3
Praise for Silent Sea Chronicles…
This is a story about war, magic, and destiny, which you cannot miss. Following the characters during their journeys has been incredible… (Goodreads) Sofia – A book. A thought.
Love this series!!…The Sentinel’s Alliance is an epic conclusion to a fantastic series. (Amazon) Jessica Belmont
What an epic journey this trilogy has been…There are some terrific battle scenes, with massive shocks, and mouth dropping moments that I just hadn’t seen coming, all delivered with Rogerson perfection. (Amazon top 1000 reviewer. Vine Voice) Susan Hampson
Rogerson has managed to craft together a fantasy trilogy that is simultaneously complex and quick. So many layers and twists are woven throughout the books and yet it never feels too heavy, the pace moves at a determined clip and action holds one’s attention captive. (Amazon) Angela – Pooled Ink Reviews
I hope everyone is well and attempting to make the best of a bad situation. 2020 has been hard and the hopes for a normal Christmas for many in the UK have been taken away at short notice. I’m sad not to be able to spend the day with my parents but completely support the decision. All we can do is look forward to a time when things can get back to normal.
I’m determined to keep positive and part of that for me is making plans to start publishing again in 2021. Very soon I will share these plans with you; I find it helps to record my goals, hoping by some miracle that telling the world will somehow make me stick to them!
Over the festive period I also want to share the books I’ve enjoyed in both fiction and non-fiction. I’ve smashed my target of 15 on Goodreads – I think by the end of the year I’ll have doubled that target.
For now I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I’ve also decided to discount my Silent Sea Chronicles box set to £2.99 worldwide for the rest of the year.
‘This is an amazing and epic fantasy trilogy, which will take you on an exciting, gripping and emotional journey!‘
Tei has magic in a world where people like her are persecuted and forced into exile. Whilst fleeing their home, her father is attacked and his deathbed confession reveals a dangerous secret that will change her life forever.
Tei’s homeland, the magical island of Kalaya, is dying and without a Sentinel to restore the magic, it’s only a matter of time before all life is wiped out.
She must join the exiles in the search for the lost Sentinel, but they are not the only ones after the missing guardian. Sinister Masked Riders are on their trail and time is running out.
Tei must risk everything she loves to save Kalaya, but is she ready to make that sacrifice?
1396 pages of magic, adventure and intrigue.
This epic fantasy box set contains: The Lost Sentinel – Book 1 The Sentinel’s Reign – Book 2 The Sentinel’s Alliance – Book 3
I’ve been so busy editing my new project and reading how-to books on writing a series that I’ve completely forgotten to share some great events that are taking place at the moment.
Firstly, Visions of Zarua is on sale for a limited time at just 99p worldwide on Amazon.
With the audiobook also out, you can get a huge discount if you purchase both. An audiobook for just £2.99 is a bargain! Audible.
I’m also excited to announce that the first audiobook tour will be taking place in November with Audiobookworm. Here’s the tour link to check the details and sign up.
The audiobook has only been out a few weeks and we’re eager to see what listeners think, so if you fancy a free review copy why not sign up and join in the fun in November.
Here’s a sample of George Ellington in action…
If November is too soon to commit to listening and reviewing fear not, there will be more opportunities in January 2021 in the form of a 1 day blitz with Rachel’s Random Resources. More details on this to follow.
And I’m excited to say the production of book 2 The Sentinel’s Reign is coming on really well, fingers crossed we can get it out before Christmas.
I hope to share news of my new project very soon, so watch this space.
***
Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy
Last week I did something I said to myself at the start of my indie career that I would never do, I gave away a book for free.
I’ve done a fair amount of 99p deals and sales drops, but to set it to free and then pay to advertise it didn’t make sense to me.
But being the start of a trilogy it can be good business to give away book 1 for a limited period. If people enjoy book 1, they will hopefully go on to buy and read books 2 and 3. And, all going well I’ve gained a new, avid reader for future books. Still it is a risk and can be an expensive one too.
My Tactic
I set book 1 to free for the full 5 days allowed in my KDP Select 3 month period. Then I set book 2 and 3 to 99p each for the 7 days allowed starting on the same day as the free 5 day promotion.
I stacked ads for each day to maximise the reach of my free book offer. This was great for achieving downloads but it has meant I’ve no idea what ads were any good. (List of ad companies further down in this post).
I did use the tactic of using the biggest hitter for my genre (Book Barbarian) in the middle of the promo period, which helped me reach no.1 in the US. See more on this below.
The Results
Downloads of The Lost Sentinel over the 5 free days 10th to 14th August = 3862
Purchases of books 2 and 3 over the 7 day KDP free days = 143
KENP – pages read through Kindle Unlimited since 10th August to date = Over 5K
Reviews and Ratings. So far I’ve received a 4 and 5 star review, and a 5 star rating. I’m hoping to see more popping over over the coming weeks. I’ve also gained a few new followers on BookBub which is always good.
Amazon 5 Stars. Captivating… ‘I’ve been reading fantasy and SF for over fifty years. I recognize a born story teller when I read one. Suzanne Rogerson held me spellbound. The author is destined to become a legend.’
Goodreads 4 star – ‘Very interesting premise… The world building was amazing. The lands of Kalaya and Tei’s powers of astral projection were so vividly described that it was beautiful to read about it. Tei’s journey and the twist in the end added to the enjoyment of the story. Liked it.’
The Cost
I spend a few hundred pounds setting this up and have so far earnt back nearly half of what I laid out in advertising costs. That’s not bad, especially if it continues to help people discover my books and they keep reading them through Kindle Unlimited. Who knows maybe in time it will have broken even.
This experiment wasn’t so much about the money, but about reaching readers. I’m happy to have been able to reach 3862 new ones across the world!
The BIG BIG Benefit
The Lost Sentinel reached No.1 in three countries and in some cases held the spot for two/three consecutive days.
No. 1 best seller in US – Categories = Romantic fantasy, Woman’s fantasy fiction, Action and Adventure Fantasy, New Adult and college fantasy. At various times The Lost Sentinel held spots 2 and 3 in Epic fantasy, Sword and Sorcery and Coming of Age Fantasy.
The top sales rank it reached across all free kindle books in the US was 83 and it reached no. 4 in the top free fantasy books. That really made my day.
No. 1 best seller in UK – Categories = Low Fantasy, Fantasy Adventure Fiction, Contemporary Fantasy and Action and Adventure Fiction. It also reached no.2 in Coming of Age fantasy and Epic Fantasy, and 3 in Sword and Sorcery.
The Lost Sentinel also reached No. 4 in all free fantasy books and was no 5 in all sci-fi and fantasy free books in the UK.
No. 1 best seller in Canada – Categories = Coming of Age Fantasy. Placed 2nd in Epic and 3rd in Sword and Sorcery.
Top sales rank of all free books 29. No. 4 in top free fantasy books in Canada.
No.2 in Australia for Epic fantasy and 73 across the whole of free books in Australia.
As well as these four countries, The Lost Sentinel was also downloaded in Brazil, Germany, India, Netherlands, France, Spain, Japan, Italy and Mexico. I achieved high rankings in many of these countries too.
I’ve tried to do some research to understand the numbers but all I can find out is that there could be around 6 million ebooks available on kindle. I don’t know how many of those are free at any one time, but those are big numbers and I’m so proud to see my book reaching such heights.
Would I recommend running a free book promotion?
100% yes. But I would only do this for book 1 in a trilogy or the start of a series and I would wait until the rest of the books are available to hopefully encourage follow on sales and read throughs.
A Warning
Watching the downloads come in and getting to No 1 is quite addictive, so don’t plan on doing much else whilst your promotion is running.
It’s a heady experience, which means the come down is hard. When it’s all over you’re left feeling deflated. And it is a shame to see the ranking disappear after the free promo is over. My advice is to take screenshots so you can look back and say it really did happen!
Would I change anything?
I wish I’d booked more ads for the last day of the promo period. After all the excitement midway through, the last day felt like a let down with dwindling sales. It would have been great to go out with a bang.
Ad companies I used in my free promo.
Note – I can’t say for sure where the downloads came from. I’m just providing you with a list of the ad companies I used. There are so many to choose from that you should do your research and learn from trial and error.
Day 1 – Just Kindle Books, Book Reader magazine, Pretty Hot books (119 free downloads, 8 sales)
Day 2 – FKBT, Awesome book promo, James H Mayfield VA services (551 free downloads, 15 sales)
Day 3 – Book Barbarian, BK Nights (1291 free downloads, 57 sales)
Day 4 – Book Runes, Awesome gang, eReader IQ, Book Cave (1426 free downloads, 31 sales)
Day 5 – Book Doggy (475 downloads, 24 sales)
Day 6 and 7 after the free promo ended. 8 sales.
A big thank you to Bklnk.com This is a great resource to check what categories your books are in and their rankings across Amazon in the US, UK and Canada.
***
Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy
This has been a mad week with some strange happenings, not least the heatwave that’s gripped the UK. I’ve reached a huge goal seeing The Lost Sentinel hit best seller status in 3 countries – US, UK and Canada and in a number of categories.
You can grab your own free copy here. Plus the rest of the series is on sale for only 99p each.
I won’t go into more details about it now, I’ll save that for a follow up post next week where I’ll analyse my results, share the data, as well as my formula for reaching No. 1 in various Top 100 free ebook lists.
Right now this is just a quick reminder that the book will go back to full price at midnight tonight and I will lose my no.1 status (sad face!). But I can now call The Lost Sentinel a best seller, and I think that also means I can call myself a best selling author?! BEST SELLING AUTHOR!!! Cue happy dance!
Once this excitement has died down there will be more great things coming up. In September, starting on 6th, there will be a blog tour for Silent Sea Chronicles and for the first time The Lost Sentinel will be featured by bookstagrammers on Instagram.
I’m also hoping the audiobook will go live on Audible, iTunes and Amazon very soon. I can’t wait to see what people think of George Ellington’s brilliant narration of book 1.
This is my last chance to persuade people to pick up The Lost Sentinel for free so here goes…
Tei’s homeland, the magical island of Kalaya, is dying. Without a Sentinel to restore the magic soon all life will perish. Tei must join the exiles in their quest to find the missing Sentinel before mysterious masked riders catch up with them. The price of success threatens to destroy everything Tei loves; is she brave enough to make the sacrifice?
Thanks to everyone for their comments and shares over all social media platforms. I appreciate your help. Best selling author, Suzanne Rogerson, over and out!
I wanted to type that title in full caps to shout about how happy I am this morning. To see my book baby in a no.1 position in the US is amazing.
Finally I’ve worked out a way to share the screenshots.
First the big one – No.4 in the top 100 across all fantasy books in the US!
I’ve also hit No.1 best seller in 3 categories Actions and Adventure Fantasy, Romantic fantasy and New Adult fantasy as per below.
This more than makes up for the fact I only had 3 hours sleep, what with the heatwave, a puppy stealing the bed (she also manged to kick me straight in the eye!) and a cat meowing half the night for god only knows what reason.
I also reached No. 2 in Coming of Age Fantasy and Epic Fantasy, and it’s No. 3 in Sword and Sorcery.
Finally it’s wonderful to see that The Lost Sentinel is currently at position 83 in the Top 100 Free Kindle chart!
I know this is fleeting and within a few hours things will change, but for now I’m going to enjoy it! Hopefully this buzz will get me through the rest of the day on such little sleep.
Don’t forget to pick up your free copy of The Lost Sentinel if you haven’t done so already. It’s only free for 2 more days.
***
Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy
If you’re looking for a bargain this week, why not check out Silent Sea Chronicles? The Lost Sentinel – Book 1 in the series is free for 5 days and the rest of the trilogy is on sale at only 99p / 99c each.
All my books are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited but this is the first time I’ve ever used the 5 free days advertising option and I’m really excited to see how the experiment plays out.
I’d love to see my books climb up the rankings and you can help by downloading your free copy of The Lost Sentinel and sharing news about the sale.
The Lost Sentinel is free 10th to 14th August, while The Sentinel’s Reign and The Sentinel’s Alliance are 99p / 99c from 10th to 17th August. With the whole trilogy for only £1.98 / $1.98 this is a sizzling summer bargain you won’t want to miss.
‘THE LOST SENTINEL contains plenty of action, intrigue, and challenges throughout, making this a thrilling fantasy adventure… it whisked me away to someplace magical, alluring, and dangerous.’
‘…this story bowled me over, it was an absolutely outstanding epic fantasy and the kind of writing fantasy authors should be aspiring to.’
‘What an epic journey this trilogy has been…There are some terrific battle scenes, with massive shocks, and mouth dropping moments that I just hadn’t seen coming, all delivered with Rogerson perfection.’
Blurb
Tei has magic in a world where people like her are persecuted and forced into exile. Whilst fleeing their home, her father is attacked and his deathbed confession reveals a dangerous secret that will change her life forever.
Tei’s homeland, the magical island of Kalaya, is dying and without a Sentinel to restore the magic, it’s only a matter of time before all life is wiped out.
She must join the exiles in the search for the lost Sentinel, but they are not the only ones after the missing guardian. Sinister Masked Riders are on their trail and time is running out.
Tei must risk everything she loves to save Kalaya, but is she ready to make that sacrifice?
***
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On 16th June 2017 I published The Lost Sentinel, book 1 in Silent Sea Chronicles.
Amazon reviews of The Lost Sentinel
‘Epic fantasy at its best.’
‘The start of an adventure that will hook you in’
‘An alluring and dangerous quest of fate’
It was so exciting to release book 1 into the world and even better to see books 2 and 3 follow; The Sentinel’s Reign in 2018 and The Sentinel’s Alliance in 2019.
Amazon 5 star review of The Sentinel’s Reign – ‘After reading The Lost Sentinel, I was invested in these character’s lives and as before beware of heartbreak. There were times that I was in mourning and then as I was continuing the story, I wanted to fist pump the air. This story will flip your emotions and as the story intensifies with the pending danger, I could not put this book down. As I finished this story I felt physically drained as if I had been there following them all.’
Goodreads 5 star review The Sentinel’s Alliance. – ‘This has been a fantastic finale to the trilogy, it’s had everything that made the first two books to good and then some. All of Suzannes brilliant world building skills are still shining through…’
The best moment, apart from receiving such brilliant reviews of course, was seeing the whole trilogy come together last year in the box set; Tei’s journey was complete. There can be no better feeling than seeing all your years of hard work released into the world like this!
Amazon 5 star Review ‘What an epic journey this trilogy has been, such a huge pleasure to read all three books…’
Amazon 5 star review ‘Phewee, just finished Book Three, I read all three books one after the other and now I’m at a loss. I hope Suzanne writes more about this world and its characters, it’s well written and utterly magical!’
Now I’m ready to announce the next stage in The Lost Sentinel’s life. There’s going to be an audiobook!!!
I’m so excited that production is underway by talented narrator George Ellington. He’s already produced a number of audiobooks for various authors so it’s great to be working with him on The Lost Sentinel. I think the trilogy audiobook is going to be epic!
In previous years I’ve had blog tours and reviews to help me celebrate each annual milestone, so today feels a little weird that it’s just me and this little post. You can help me spread the love by sharing and tweeting about this. Thank you.
Tei has magic in a world where people like her are persecuted and forced into exile. Whilst fleeing their home, her father is attacked and his deathbed confession reveals a dangerous secret that will change her life forever.
Tei’s homeland, the magical island of Kalaya, is dying and without a Sentinel to restore the magic, it’s only a matter of time before all life is wiped out.
She must join the exiles in the search for the lost Sentinel, but they are not the only ones after the missing guardian. Sinister Masked Riders are on their trail and time is running out.
Tei must risk everything she loves to save Kalaya, but is she ready to make that sacrifice?
The full list of bloggers taking part in the audiobook blog tour can be found on Audiobookwormpromotions.
Don’t forget to celebrate the tour I’ve reduced the ebook to 99p! If you purchase the ebook you can get the audiobook for a huge discount! Here’s the universal link you’ll need to see the book on Amazon or direct on ACX and itunes.
A dark and thrilling fantasy that will keep you hooked from beginning to end!
Two wizards, 350 years apart. Can they save the realm of Paltria from Zarua’s dark past?
An ancient darkness haunts the realm of Paltria. Apprentice wizard Paddren is plagued by visions of a city on the brink of annihilation. When his master dies in mysterious circumstances, the Royal Order of Wizards refuses to investigate. Helped by his childhood friend, the skilled tracker Varnia, and her lover Leyoch, Paddren vows to find the killer. The investigation leads Paddren down a sinister path of assassins, secret sects and creatures conjured by blood magic. But he is guided by a connection with a wizard from centuries ago – a wizard whose history holds the key to the horror at the heart of the abandoned city of Zarua. Can Paddren decipher his visions and save the Paltrian people before the dark menace of Zarua’s past is unleashed?
Suzanne Rogerson Fantasy Author 