VOZ #promo #SFF #fantasy

Posted on March 24, 2017 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Just a quick reminder that the Kindle Countdown deal is still running today.

The ebook is £1.99 / $1.99 today only.

TWO WIZARDS, 350 YEARS APART. CAN THEY SAVE THE REALM OF PALTRIA FROM THE DARK MENACE OF ZARUA’S PAST?

If you like epic, fantasy with a good helping of sword and sorcery, magic and a dash of romance, why not try this standalone fantasy. Plenty of reviewers have said its perfect for readers of mystery and those who have never read fantasy before.

Here’s the universal book link to your Amazon site Visions of Zarua (I’m very proud of myself creating this simple link and if you want to create one yourself, here’s how I did it in yesterday’s post ).

Have a great weekend everyone!

Visions of Zarua #Kindle #Countdowndeal – 99p/99c Today Only! http://mybook.to/VOZ

Posted on March 23, 2017 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Fancy trying out a new author of epic, dark fantasy? Today’s the perfect day to start with this standalone fantasy novel, Visions of Zarua for only 99p / 99c.

Two wizards, 350 years apart. Can they save the realm of Paltria from Zarua’s dark past?

Recent reviews

A Thoroughly Enjoyable Sword and Sorcery Based Epic Fantasy 28 December 2016

A dark story with many twists and great characters 17 December 2016

This is a dark fantasy novel that I loved 26 November 2016

brilliantly written fantasy, finished it and wanted more! 7 July 2016

A gripping fantasy with a strong premise and endearing characters 16 July 2016 Told through four unique perspectives, Visions of Zarua is an epic fantasy that follows three friends as they struggle to fight demons of the past threatening their homeland of Paltria. Moving between the past and present, the narrative unfolds at a brisk speed, never losing momentum, introducing an intricate world full of magic, intrigue and danger. In Suzanne’s deft hands, the premise transcends the normal stereotypes…

Amazon links

UK and US

You might also want to check out the reviews on Goodreads book page.

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 Kalesh 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 in time to save the Paltrian people from the dark menace of Zarua’s past?

***

Visions is also enrolled in KDP Select, so is free to read for any one with a kindle unlimited subscription.

If you get the chance to read it, I’d love your feedback. A short review on Amazon will help the book be discovered by other readers.

Thanks for reading and please share away. I’d love to reach out to new readers today.

#Mondayblogs KDP select, updates, reviews & competition news

Posted on December 19, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, so I thought it was the perfect time for a little update.

Review News

Firstly, Visions of Zarua had two reviews within hours of each other over the weekend! I’m suffering with a cold at the moment and these reviews were the perfect pick me up. See them on the Goodreads book page and Amazon UK.

One reviewer even said Paddren was one of her top five favourite characters of the year. That is amazing to hear and really makes me smile, thank you Karen.O.

Visions of Zarua has received some wonderful feedback over the last year with 17 reviews on amazon UK and 15 on goodreads. These reviews have been my inspiration to keep writing and I never tire of re-reading them.

New Competition

A UK only Goodreads competition will be running over the Christmas period. 22nd Dec to 1st Jan 2017.

I’m also about to set up a Rafflecopter giveaway, something I’ve not done before but we’ll see how that works out.

Next Book News

My first two beta readers reviews are in. The consensus is that The Lost Sentinel is almost ready to publish! There’s still a few tweaks and mistakes to rectify, but it’s pretty much complete. Then it’ll just need a professional edit and book cover.

Book 2 is written but awaiting the insertion of many, many scenes. I hope to start planning book 3 soon with a view to writing the draft during Nano next November. Scary to think of Nov 2017, but it’s good to have a plan.

One of my beta readers is really pushing me to approach agents before I self publish The Lost Sentinel. She thinks it’s a much stronger book than Visions of Zarua and the fact its book 1 of a trilogy might make it a better prospect for agents and publishers to consider. What do you think of switching directions?

I’ll be researching my options over the next few months. It’s exciting, but I’ve enjoyed self-publishing and I’m not sure I want to hand over control to others. There’s also the rejections to face again. Am I ready for that?

Reading challenge

I beat my 25 book target on Goodreads, which I’m really pleased about. There’s still time to get another book or two in and I’m hoping to post a review tomorrow of A Wedding in Cornwall by Laura Briggs.

There are plenty of book tags around that I’d like to have a go at, and maybe I’ll try to select my favourite book of 2016. It’s harder this year as I’ve read more books than I’m used too. 2015 my fav book was Ink and Bone’ by Rachel Caine.

KDP Select / Countdown deals & Amazon Ads

Well the exclusive publishing is not going well and Kindle Unlimited KENP has gone down to zero pages for the last two months. At the back end of October this was looking like an exciting new way of reaching readers, now I don’t know. I’m stuck with it until Feb 2017, after that it will be decision time.

The second Countdown deal didn’t go to plan. It worked in the UK and US, but seemed to start at different times. The Amazon Ads I’d scheduled didn’t work properly and the book price didn’t increase on the second day for some reason. This isn’t really an issue, but it just made my blog/tweets about it harder – I didn’t want to mention price in case it suddenly hopped up to 1.99. I made a few sales, but nothing to worry the bestseller lists!

I spent more on Ads with Facebook, Amazon and Goodreads than I made in sales. Still, it’s all exposure for the book.

Call for help

If you have Kindle Unlimited, don’t forget Visions of Zarua is free to read in the UK here and the US here.

I would really appreciate it of someone who has the facility would read a couple of pages and let me know when, just so I can check the pages read are being registered.

Also, I had this crazy idea that I’d like to hit 20 reviews on Amazon before the end of the year. If you have read Visions, would you consider posting a short review? It really does make my day to read them.

I’m sure I’ll post again soon, but if not before the big day…

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Visions of Zarua #Kindle Countdown deal 1 day left #fantasy #sale #fantasybook

Posted on December 10, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Good Morning world. Today you can still pick up my debut fantasy at a reduced price in the UK and US.

Be quick as the usual price resumed tomorrow.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Two wizards, 350 years apart. Can they save Paltria from the dark menace of Zarua’s past? Pick up Visions of Zarua and find out.

Please share this post and help me reach more readers like these lovely people who’ve left reviews.

thrilling and dark fantasy that really keeps you gripped from beginning to end!, January 27, 2016

Visions of Zarua | dark sorcery with slithering secrets, 8 April 2016

brilliantly written fantasy, finished it and wanted more!, 7 July 2016

A super fantasy read, December 4, 2016

Visions of Zarua 99p / 99c today only! #epicfantasy #darkfantasy #bookpromo #kindle

Posted on December 9, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

Want to bag a bargain before Christmas?

My debut, standalone fantasy, Visions of Zarua is 99p / 99c for today only via kindle countdown deals in the UK and US.

There are plenty of 4 & 5 star reviews on Amazon UK and US to help you make up your mind. Here’s a peek at the most recent…

This is a dark fantasy novel that I loved, 26 Nov. 2016 Visions of Zarua is set in the magical world of Paltria, where there are Wizards, mythical creatures and enemies around every corner. This is a dark fantasy novel, that I loved from the very first page…

How I love the fantasy genre that always makes me think back …, 4 Dec. 2016 How I love the fantasy genre that always makes me think back to childhood and reading fairy tales. It is where anything and everything is possible a place of wizards and witches. This is Suzanne Rogerson’s debut novel and oh my does she deliver the goods. Set back in medieval times the story is shrouded in mystery, spells and deadly mystical creatures….

Two wizards, 350 years apart. Can they save the realm of Paltria from Zarua’s dark past?

Blurb
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 Kalesh 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 in time to save the Paltrian people from the dark menace of Zarua’s past?

#Mondayblogs Call for help & advice with KDP Countdown Deals #indieauthors

Posted on December 5, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

I would like to ask for help and advice for my upcoming KDP countdown deal.

My second attempt at the countdown deals starts in the UK and US on 9th December – if I have set it up correctly this time!

Visions of Zarua will be 99p on 9th & £1.99 on 10th December.

It was a bit of a non event last time as I didn’t know what I was doing. Now I’m hoping to generate some interest via Amazon’s sponsored products & product display Ads. I will also have a Goodreads Ad and Facebook Ad running for those few deal days.

Are there any other free or cheap promo sites that will help me? I really want to draw some attention to the sale and make it worthwhile this time around.

Help from the blogging community would be greatly appreciated. If you could reblog and retweet my posts on those days I would be very grateful.

I also want to set up a Rafflecopter paperback giveaway in the UK before Christmas. I haven’t run one before, are there any tips anyone can offer?

Thanks in advance.

#WWWblogs 1 week to go with #KDPSelect – My thoughts & why I’m renewing #indieauthor #indie

Posted on November 1, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

The first 3 months

It’s been an interesting 3 months using KDP Select for the first time. So far the biggest impact has been having my book enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. The page numbers read has increased each month from 0 in Aug, 768 in September and 786 in October. The figures are modest, but they are still readers, that’s what matters most to me!

I’m always so happy when I check the daily report to see the line on the graph has moved up. Thank you unknown readers, whoever you are.

I’ve yet to see an increase in reviews or sales through KDP Select, but I’ll take this success and continue to be positive about it – after all I sold nothing through Smashwords and the various retailers after the pre-order buzz for Visions of Zarua.

So based on the small success of Kindle Unlimited, I’m going to renew for another 3 months. At least I no longer feel as if my book is completely lost amongst the thousands.

5 day free promo or Kindle Countdown deals?

The next question is shall I run a 5 day free promo or go with kindle countdown deals again? People seem to have mixed opinions on what works best. I suppose it depends on the outcome you require. I want to encourage readers to read and review my book, I’m not so interested in hitting Amazon’s best seller lists for free book downloads. That would be great of course, but my genre is too big to get near those rankings.

With the Countdown Deals at least I understand how things work this time around. I’ll make sure I run the UK & US deals starting on the same day! Thanks Terry Tyler for pointing that one out!

Amazon Ads

I’m also going to promote the Kindle Countdown deal this time, which I plan to do via Amazon Ads: Sponsored Product and Product Display Ad for the sale period and maybe a few days after as well.

My current Amazon Ads have cost me quite a bit with only one sale coming out of 64 clicks! I don’t understand why so many people have clicked on the Ad (which shows the book cover, tag line, cost and star rating) and not followed through. Maybe some of them have gone on to read it via Kindle Unlimited. I have asked Amazon if there is more data available regarding these clicks, and will let you know if I hear back from them.

Hopefully combining the Ad’s with the Countdown Deals will see a better return.

Other book sales sites

I want to try other sites that promote book sales, can anyone recommend any that aren’t too expensive?

***

I hope you’ve found my 3 month experiment with KDP Select helpful.

My other posts were 1 month in with KDP Select and 2nd KDP update

What are your thoughts and experiences on the scheme? If you have any tips to share, I’d love to hear them!

And of course, if you have read Visions of Zarua, would you consider leaving a review? Just a short one, letting other readers know what you think and what you liked / didn’t like.

#WWWblogs – My 2nd KDP Select update on Ads, Giveaways & a review request #indie

Posted on September 20, 2016 by suzannerogersonfantasyauthor

I had some great responses to my post a few weeks ago about my experience 1 month into Kindle Select. See original post here. There were many people who were struggling with it like me, and others who had advice to make the experience work better for you.

Here’s a quick update of my findings:

Stick with KDP Select – Most people believe KDP is the best place to sell your indie books as Kindle is the highest retailer of ebooks.
You still have to do ALL the marketing yourself – I had been naïve enough to think that once you went with Select, they would promote your book to all their unlimited subscribers.
Reviews – Once you hit a certain amount of reviews, Amazon does start to help you with promotion. This is one I’ll be looking out for with interest once I hit that magical number, whatever it is!
Countdown Deals – You can run them in the UK & US at the same time, but not if you put in different starts dates as I did. You NEED to promote Countdown deals yourself. Pay to advertise your sale on the many different book ad sites out there. I haven’t used any paid ad sites myself, but will be looking into this option. Any one have any recommendations?
5 Free book days per enrolment period – Best to do when you have more than one book published. Others have reported success with lots of downloads on their free days, and if it can help get those sought after reviews, all the better. I may hold off setting up my free days until my next book comes out though. Don’t forget to advertise.
Free Copies to reviewers – This one was a real issue for me, but I have since heard back from Amazon who stated a free copy of a physical product is permitted if the author states they welcome positive and negative feedback, and the reviewer states a free copy was received in exchange for an honest review.
Other ad options – There are other marketing options to try with KDP Select – I’ve set up several ad campaigns.

Sponsored products – You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, which is shown on the Amazon website when your selected key words are searched for. I’ve had this running a while and according to them I’ve had over 3k impressions but only 3 clicks. So far this hasn’t resulted in sales, but maybe the people who have seen the book cover a few times will get intrigued enough to click on it and find out more.

Product Display – This is where your book will appear on people’s kindles and Amazon.com when they search certain genres. I held off with this as you have to set a minimum budget of $100, but they only start billing you when people start clicking on your ad. Mine only went live today so I don’t know if it will help with sales.

And finally the big news, I’ve just set up my first ever Amazon.com Giveaway. Anyone in the US can enter for a chance to win my paperback. I’ve set it that they have to follow me on Amazon.com so we’ll see if anyone is interested and if this will help me get more coverage in the US.

If you’re in the US and want a chance to win a paperback copy, please check out the link here.

A note of caution for those wanting to set up an amazon giveaway – as per the set up rules the details cannot be changed once submitted. I misunderstood what the Welcome message was, I assumed it was once someone had clicked to enter. But it appears with the ad so would be much better suited as the blurb or tag line of the book. Now I have to plug my giveaway, the whole time feeling like a fool for getting something else wrong. (This indie author learning curve is a steep one, and never seems to end!)

UPDATED 4.40pm 20th Sept 16. I don’t understand the Amazon giveaway. It closed after less than an hour and a winner has been picked after only 57 entrants. I set it up to be 1 winner in 100. The upside is now I can redo it without my mistake on the Welcome message, not allow everyone to share the giveaway, set it up to have a higher amount of entrants. The downside is, I have to pay for another giveaway already, I thought this one would last a week!

Now over to you – Have I inspired you to try Kindle Select, or put you off trying it altogether? Have you any findings to share or tips on improving sales whether through KDP Select or other means? Maybe you’ve made some mistakes you’d like to share. I’d love to hear your views.

***

Finally my cheeky request.

I’m looking to reach that magic number of reviews on Amazon, I’ve read that it could be 20. I have 14 great reviews so far, and I’m really hoping to reach 20 reviews by the end of the year. I’ve been researching book reviewers and will be contacting some over the next few days, but I thought I’d also put the request out to you guys. If any of you are book reviewers and are interested in reading Visions of Zarua, please get in touch in the comments or via my ‘contact me’ page.

I’m also willing to take part in Q&A sessions and author interviews if anyone would like to feature an indie author on their blog.

I’ll leave you with the Amazon link here if you want to find out what the book is all about. Obviously its free if you’re a Kindle Unlimited customer (Amazon suggested I tell reviewers that!).

Thanks for reading.