When the audiobook of The Lost Sentinel came out last month I decided to go all in with the promo and set up not one, but two blog tours!
There is still plenty of time to join in the fun and get your free audiobook via audible. Join in the November tour with Audiobookworm promotions which runs 8-15 November 2020…
Or, if you need a bit more time to listen and review then you have a second chance to join in with Rachel’s Random Resources one day audible blitz on 17th January 2021.
If you want to check out The Lost Sentinel before you commit, here’s the Amazon link and Goodreads page where the ebook has plenty of reviews to help you decide if this might be just the adventure you’re looking for.
‘The narrator makes this book so much better! – I first read this book on Kindle and I loved it, But when I found out it was being made into an audiobook I was anxious to listen. I know a good narrator can make a great story into an excellent story that is exactly what the narrator did in this book.’
I can’t wait to share the tour with you next month, but until then have a great weekend.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy
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.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy
Last week my writing journey reached another milestone; the first book in the Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy came out in audiobook. A few years ago I never dreamt this would be possible. Thanks to the wonderful narrator, George Ellington, Tei, Brogan, Farrell and the rest of the gang are here for you to enjoy.
The first review is up on Audible
5 Stars – ‘I first read this book on Kindle and I loved it, But when I found out it was being made into an audiobook I was anxious to listen. I know a good narrator can make a great story into an excellent story that is exactly what the narrator did in this book…’ Janalyn on Audible.
Check it out on audible to read more of this review.
Don’t forget if you have bought the eBook then you can get the audiobook at a fraction of the cost. I know this great discount works in Audible and I assume it’s now working on Amazon.
Take a look at this trailer for a tiny taste of what’s in store.
We are both so proud of this audiobook and would love to know what you think. Plus, book 2 is half way through production so it wont be long before you can listen to the first two parts in the trilogy. If you do pick up a copy, we’d love you to share a quick review to help others decide if it’s the book for them.
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend everyone.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy
Yes, finally the audiobook is available and I’m really excited to share a sample of it with you now…
George Ellington has brought the characters to life and takes you on a magical adventure which I hope you’ll enjoy.
You can find the audiobook of The Lost Sentinel on Audible, Amazon and iTunes (link not yet available for itunes). And the great news is work is already going well on book 2.
I would love to get some reviews up, so if anyone is willing to give an honest review get in touch to discuss getting a free code.
Here’s the trailer I shared at the beginning of the week for another little taste of the book.
Thanks for stopping by. Let me know what you think of the audio sample and trailer.
With the audiobook due to go live any time now, here’s a trailer to give you a taste of the great narration by George Ellington.
I hope to be sharing the news of its publication very soon. You can check out the book on Amazon whilst you wait or see the reviews on goodreads.
I am now on the hunt for reviewers who are interested in a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review on Audible, Amazon etc. Please get in touch via the contact form or make your request in the comments.
The trailer was created by Laya and the link above will take you to her Youtube channel. You can also check out her website here.
The book tour for The Lost Sentinel ran from 6th to 12th of September. In case you’ve missed the details here was the line up…
Timy gave a great round up of the tour you should check out, but I wanted to do my own post to highlight the reviews and as my way of saying thanks to the reviewers involved. Please click the links to visit their blogs.
‘For those of you who enjoy romance and the like, I would definitely suggest giving The Lost Sentinel a read. Even as someone who almost never enjoys romance in a book, I was still able to see that it was written very well, and lead to some quite emotional moments.’
‘The magic system was really interesting and I love the idea that the island has magic that the Mystics must protect but the none magical people have forgotten and don’t look after the island ass they should. I really wish we had more stories where the land was actually alive with magic…’
‘I think this book would be a good read for those just getting into fantasy or who don’t read it often but sometimes want an escape from their usual reading as it gives you all the things we love about fantasy…’
‘THE LOST SENTINEL is a solid fantasy tale that reminded me of some of my most treasured fantasy comfort reads. The magic especially is very well done and spun with an alacrity that is hard to come by these days.’
‘A true fantasy is as good as the world it depicts. And this world is amazing! …the twists, the magic, the world make you loose yourself a little in this breathtaking fantasy.’
Wrap up interview with some asylum related questions that made me look at my book in a whole new way!
Plus there’s a song list I used whilst writing the trilogy and some super cool Youtube videos too, so be sure to stop by for a read and a listen.
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Thanks to Storytellers on tour and to all the book reviewers who took part. Being an indie author and reaching readers is really hard, so I appreciate your support in sharing my trilogy with your followers.
If these reviews have piqued your interest, this is the last chance to buy the box set trilogy whilst it’s on sale – Pick up the Silent Sea Chronicles for just £3.99 worldwide. Why not take a chance and let me know what you think. Amazon link.
Thanks for reading.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy
Today is the start of the Book Tour for The Lost Sentinel! Here’s the line up…
Thanks to Storytellers on Tour for organising everything. I’m so excited for the upcoming week and hope you can join all these great bloggers and instagrammers.
The Lost Sentinel, an Amazon bestseller, is book 1 in Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy. To celebrate the book tour, the complete box set is on offer for only £3.99 worldwide.
Here’s a couple of Ads I’ve been playing with.
I’ll be sharing more information about the book tour during the week, so please pop back soon.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy
It’s September and we’re into the last 4 months of the year – that’s scary! Like most people I think I’ll be glad for 2020 to be over.
To help me through I’ve decided to plan my writing projects for the rest of the year. I’m not setting huge goals, so hopefully I can stick to them.
First it’s always nice to look back and see what I have achieved this year (and gloss over the fact I had originally planned to have published two books by this time in 2020)!
Achieved in 2020
I finally set up my mailing list with Mailchimp. This is a task I’ve been putting off for years. I haven’t started advertising it yet, but if you want to join please follow the link here. I’m working on some free and exclusive stories for my mailing list subscribers set in the worlds of my novels, so there’s a great reason to join me.
My big news for 2020 is that the audiobook for The Lost Sentinel is coming very soon! We’re just waiting for approval from ACX and then it will be on sale through Amazon, Audible and iTunes. Watch this space for more info.
Last month The Lost Sentinel hit number 1 bestseller in several free categories in the US, UK and Canada. It was a pretty big deal for me and I shared a post about how it happened here.
What’s to come
I’ve been writing a romance novella that I hope to publish in 2020. It’s a departure from my preferred fantasy genre but it’s been keeping me sane during lockdown and I’m really excited about it. I have yet to have beta readers feedback so I’m not even sure how good the story is, but I do have my editor booked in very soon so I need to get on with it!
Those short stories for my mailing list subscribers need to be a priority after the novella has gone to beta readers.
I’m writing a spy story with a friend. We’re not sure how long it will be, but I’ve already suggested we publish it at some point. This will be my friend’s first self published book and it’ll be great to share a joint project with the world. Again, testing out a new genre is exciting as well.
I have other romance novella ideas that I hope to start drafting over the coming months, but I really must get back to my first love – Fantasy! Which leads me to…
My planned trilogy. If I can just get on with it I might be able to publish the complete trilogy in 2021. That is a big ask, but book 1 is almost complete (if I don’t end up planning any major rewrites) and book 2 only has about a 1/4 to go. Book 3 is another matter, but I’ll worry about that later.
There are always more projects in the back of my mind including the book of short stories I’ve been itching to put together and a non-fiction book on writing and self publishing that keeps rearing up and forcing my attention away from other things. These are ideas I’ll sort out one day, I’m just not sure when.
Other News
Silent Sea Chronicles has a blog tour running from 6th to 12th September. Run by Storytellers on Tour, there will be some fun Q&A’s and lots of reviews and promo posts hitting over the week.
I’m also planning an Audiobook 1 day event for The Lost Sentinel in the next few months with the help of Rachel’s Random Resources.
I’ve signed up for an online social media course to help me understand some of the platforms I’ve been ignoring, so hopefully I can learn a few tips to reach a wider audience.
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I think that’s about all I should consider for now before I dig myself an even bigger writing hole to get lost in.
Tomorrow I have a book post from a debut author to share and then I’ll be blogging about my reading plans for the rest of 2020. Thanks for stopping by.
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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.
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Suzanne Rogerson – Author of epic and heroic fantasy
Suzanne Rogerson Author 