Marketing Monday - Sleeping Ugly

I wrote last night so, of course, I overslept.  It's a fine wire to walk, but I'll sacrifice on the side of marketing if I have to.  In the same vein as the book I'm writing - paranormal mystery - comes today's offering - Sleeping Ugly.  Now, this one is a lot more 'not safe for work' than the one I'm currently writing, but it's fun to read and it was a helluva lot of fun to write.  Enjoy!

Starting today, SLEEPING UGLY - a snarky, paranormal mystery - is absolutely free. Get your copy now! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GM24Q48

Warning: this story of a supermodel struggling under an ugly curse is rampant with foul language and bad attitude, and it's oh, so much fun.

Marketing Monday - Series Bonanza - A Model Curse

I'm trying something different today.  I'm marketing an entire series.  My A MODEL CURSE series definitely hasn't gotten the love it deserves, so all three books in the series are free starting today and running through Friday.  It's snarky.  It's got a heroine who breaks the rules by being slightly unlovable.  Although, frankly, I do love her, but that's because I know her and she's really a good person deep down.  She's shallow and vapid and self-absorbed, with a foul-mouth and bad habits, but she's also got a big heart.  Once you read the books, you'll see how she got the way she is and how she grows to show her real beauty.  

The book is written in a very conversational style - my conversational style - so don't come into this with your Strunk and White in hand.  It's for fun.  It's for escape.  Oh, there is a deeper message behind it all, but I don't beat you over the head with it.  If you get it, great.  If not, I hope the ride is still enjoyable.

Anyway, enjoy.  The books are free, so why not try them?  What have you got to lose?

Marketing copy:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MTFRD71
A MODEL CURSE - the entire series - is free for a limited time. Now through Friday, get the whole damn, fun, snarky, paranormal suspense story totally free. (They're always free with Kindle Unlimited. This is so everyone can play.)

Umm, Yah

Well... It seems I screwed up.  And me, never being one to hide a screw up, am here to tell you about it.  

Remember yesterday's post?  The one where I lamented being so distracted by life that I forgot to set up a freebie for Monday Marketing?  Umm, yah.  About that.  It turns out I did set up a freebie and THAT was what I forgot about.  I learned yesterday afternoon when I saw I'd gotten orders but no monies, and discovered that SLEEPING UGLY is in fact free through Friday.  

First, yay for moving books with no marketing whatsoever.  Second, I can only blame my messed up brain and stress overload.  I do have failsafes against this.  Usually, I set a book for free, then write it in my date book, then I note it on my big 'sales spreadsheet'.  I didn't do the last two things.  Derp.  Hell, I haven't looked at my date book in weeks, so there's that.  Total fall down on my face thing.  

I guess the point here is... Don't be me.  

There are a lot of balls in the air when you're a self-pub, and I dropped one.  I'm not really kicking myself too hard.  Shit happens.  Still, after yesterday's post, I do feel a bit of a fool.  

And now, before I forget again...

Now through Friday, SLEEPING UGLY is free.  (Always free with Kindle Unlimited.)  Get your copy of this snarky, NSFW, paranormal mystery today!  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GM24Q48

When a curse strikes a supermodel, all hell is gonna break loose.

Marketing Monday - Sleeping Ugly

Hello, and welcome to Marketing Monday with your host, B.E. Sanderson.  Today, we'll be marketing a most wonderfully snarky paranormal mystery... SLEEPING UGLY.

It's the story of a supermodel on the verge of greatness who, through no fault of her own*, gets cursed and every night at midnight, she turns butt ugly.  How can this possibly happen every night?  Well, that's the brilliance and the evilness of the curse.  She gets better looking throughout each day until she's her beautiful self again at around 11:59 p.m.  Then WHAM... ugly.  Which super sucks because she can't even pretend to be someone else or people will notice she's getting better looking throughout the day and throw her in some kind of laboratory as a study subject.  

*Well, maybe it's a little her fault.  She's kind of bitchy, foul-mouthed, and self-absorbed, and she did sleep with someone else's husband... But, he's estranged from his wife, so that totally doesn't count, right?

Anyway, now she's got to get this damn curse taken off and maybe along the way, she'll learn something about herself.  Even bitchy models can maybe get a second chance.  

Starting today and going through Friday, SLEEPING UGLY is totally free.  (It's also free with a KU subscription, but this is for everyone else.)  Pick up your copy of this snarky, fun, paranormal mystery today!  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GM24Q48

There's supposed to be a cool marketing graphic here, but Blogger is being a turd.  Just imagine one, okay?

Marketing Monday - Sleeping Ugly

 Sleeping Ugly... I resemble that title this morning. Blerg.  You might've already heard the story of how this book came to be, but for those who haven't...  Way back when I was a teenager, I stumbled out of my bedroom one morning and there was my middle brother, who was home on leave from the USAF.  He took one look at me and, without even a 'how do you do' said "You're not Sleeping Beauty, you're Sleeping Ugly."  Ah, brothers.  Flash forward a few decades and that memory floated to the surface followed by the idea for this book.  

Anyway, Sleeping Ugly is on freebie starting today and going through Friday.  You know the drill. 

Now through Friday, get SLEEPING UGLY absolutely free.  (It's always free with KU. This is for non-subscribers.)  Get all the snarky goodness of this paranormal mystery today!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GM24Q48

Pretty Graphic for Sleeping Ugly

I know you know that SLEEPING UGLY is free right now, but I just wanted to post this graphic I made because I think it's pretty.

I splashed that sucker all over FB this morning, so if you've got any critiques, it's too late for that now and you will only harsh my morning.  

I'm sure some of you know exactly how hard it is making marketing graphics :cough:Silver:cough: but for the rest of you, this isn't just a matter of POOF there it is.  You have to find just the right background and just the right text to go with it.  Even then, you have no clue whether it's actually grabby to anyone but you.  (Unless you're already a marketing genius... this is for the rest of us.)  I've made graphics I thought we're really da bomb, and when I look at them later, I'm all like :sad trombone noise: so there's really no telling.  

One thing I have learned is that it all seems to go better if you have a graphic to splash rather than just letting the link in the text populate a clickable image.  That seems a little counterintuitive - like I would've thought that having a larger space to click would be more attractive - but in my experience, it's true.  More people click through and buy with a graphic and a link, than with just the link and its clickable image.  :shrug:  Also, some groups won't actually let a post without an image go through.  They're auto-blocked.  :additional shrug:

Anyway, I just wanted to leave this out there for anyone who might be contemplating this marketing plan.  Learn from my mistakes and all that.  And look at my pretty graphic while you're at it.  And get a copy of the book, then buy the rest of the series, okay?  

Monday Marketing

Okay, so SLEEPING UGLY is free this week.  Thursday is Halloween, after all, and this book would be a perfect read for the holiday.  

Unfortunately, I am not in a marketing frame of mind today.  I'd like to be able to tell you all the awesome things about this book, but this morning's marketing attempts were more like 'here's a book, buy it'.  I don't expect great things from this.  Maybe tomorrow will go better.  

This book was fun to write.  Readers have told me it's fun to read.  I mean, she's a super model who's been cursed to turn ugly day after day (she gets prettier throughout the day, so yeah, at the stroke of midnight she's butt-ugly again - every day - which sucks for her), and crazy things happen to her because she had NO CLUE magic was real or anything before all this happened.  And she's always relied on her looks, so she's kinda screwed. It all works out... well, not all of it in this book.  It's all worked out by the end of the series.

Anyway, go buy it.  Grab a cup of coffee and read to your snarky heart's desire.  

Oh, and in case you didn't already know... Silver James' latest book - MOONSTRUCK MAFIA: BOSTON - is now available for you to buy and love.  This book is epic and amazing!

Freebie Friday

Hi Everyone. It's morning here and you know what that means? Well, beside the fact that I am a half-awake troll, mainlining coffee and fending off overactive kitties? It means SLEEPING UGLY is free starting today.

Looks aren’t everything… And curses aren’t real… Yeah, right.

(Go here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GM24Q48 )

Sunday Update - Week 17

First, let's get something out of the way.  Ugly and the Beast went live last night.  Any errors, flaws, gaffs, screw ups, etc. are entirely mine.  It's $2.99.  Sleeping Ugly is 99c right now here in the states and should be comparably priced elsewhere in the world.  And will be through the end of the month.

Yeah, so umm, last week.  Well, it was pretty much devoted to getting UatB out into the world, so loads of proofing and editing and formatting, etc.

If you stopped by yesterday, you'll see I didn't read much last week because of the above.

Since I was launching a new book, I had to update my spreadsheets to reflect a new book in the month of May, which was tedious to the max, but needed to be done.  It's done.  Which is good because I had my first sale last night, too.  (Umm, it was me.  I always buy a copy of my books when they release.)

I did get some exercise last week.  Unfortunately, I gained back some of the weight I lost, too.  I blame that on it also being the week for my shot.  I always gain weight right before I get my shot.  No biggie.

Today, I have to do all the after-pub things - updating blogs and Goodreads and Pinterest and backmatter.  I have to add the series info to Sleeping Ugly's Amazon listing, too.  And marketing!  Blerg.  I'd forgotten how much stuff is involved in a book launch.

In local news, there seems to be a whole new flock of free range guinea hens wandering the neighborhood.  They've taken to visiting our yard.  And they ARE the silly, noisy, rusty-windmill birds I've been hearing since the newish neighbors moved in last year.  :shrug:  They amuse me.

I don't think I baked anything of note last week.  The week is a blur.  I need cake.  Maybe today I'll make some.

So, what's been up with you?

Randomosity

It's Tuesday.  Yeah, I probably don't have to tell y'all that.  You're probably well aware.  Me?  I need a reminder from time to time.

Today the sale ends for Blink of an I and begins for Sleeping Ugly.  SU will be on sale through the end of Monday and the sale for the A Dennis Haggarty Mystery series will begin at midnight PST on Tuesday the 23rd.  That last one paid has advertising attached.  An ad will go out on Friday the 26th.  Fingers crossed.  I'll post more about the SU sale tomorrow on Outside the Box.

I'm back to work on Ugly and the Beast.  I have a page and a half of notes left to input, then I'll start all over again making new notes and fixing other things.  No promises about when it'll be available for publication, but at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel.  The long, long tunnel.  Actually, it's more like a rat hole, but there's a light.

Yesterday, I finished a book so damn good that I had to buy the sequel.  At full price, which ought to tell you something.  And I started reading it right away, which also ought to tell you something.  I almost never read books in a series back to back, but I couldn't help myself.  It's already delivering on the promise made by the first book.  If you're into fun and snarky urban fantasy, go forth and buy a copy of Necropolis by Shane Simmons.  I haven't been this excited about a new urban fantasy series since I picked up Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire.  There's only two books in this series right now, which will be fine if he wraps it up right.  :fingers crossed:

I'd like new readers to get excited about my books like that.  And, you know, write reviews so other readers can see how excited they are.

Well, I suppose I should get cracking and do something positive this morning.  This stuff isn't going to do itself.  Have a great day and I'll see y'all tomorrow.

Sunday Update - Week Derp

The Big News is... SLEEPING UGLY IS LIVE!

Which means I edited my brains out last week. 

Nothing much else went on. 

:collapses:

Seriously, though, I busted my hump and I got it out on the 18th like I said I would.  I still haven't gotten links up in all the places, though.  I'll do that today. 

I did little reading.  I only really got one day of active in and that was yesterday morning when I couldn't look at another crutch word to save myself.  No fishing.  No gardening.  The house is a pigsty.  I've neglected Hubs and the cat. 

But it's done.

Now, I have to format it for print and go over Unequal again to clean it up a bit for AWE. 

I might even finish that book I was reading today. 

What were you up to last week?

Oh, and the book is for sale at $2.99 or free with your Kindle Unlimited subscription.  Be warned: It's totally snarky.

Here's The Deal

Okay, here's the deal.  I'm going through Sleeping Ugly line by line and making it better.  (I hope.)  Adding stuff, rewording stuff, deleting stuff.  I already input my editor's pink suggestions throughout, but I felt like I needed to knead this book some more.  Work in some of the more major changes she suggested and just generally go over it again. 

I spent my weekend writing time and yesterday's time doing this.  And I'm on page 39.  With two days left before the deadline I set to send this back to her for final edits.

I will have this to her on Wednesday.  If I have to sit at this computer and pour over the manuscript until my eyes go wonky.  If I have to eschew reading and television and life.  If I end up with brain mush afterwards.

I can't skip everything.  Today's my shot day.  I need the shot, so I'll be taking some time off for that trip into town. 

And I will continue to exercise, because when I don't exercise I feel like a toad.

And I will do any work the pay-job sends over.  Because PAY. 

I may be up late tonight and tomorrow night doing this, but it's kind of par for the course if I want you to be able to read the best book I can create for you.  Break out the coffee, baby. 

Sunday Update - Week 27

Well, hello again.  Welcome back.  Grab a cup of coffee and set yourself down a spell.

In the writing sphere, I finished the pretty pink, line by line edits on Sleeping Ugly on Friday, as scheduled (which felt like a major win for me lately - hitting a deadline).  Next up, the deep content suggestions my editor made.  And some tweaking of my own.  Still on target for having this ready no later than Wednesday.  I'm looking at an August 29th release date.

I'm currently working with my cover artist for SU's cover.   We've got some good ideas and a cool cover model picked out.  I'm sure she'll make it awesome.

I read 7 books last week, too.  Crankin' and spankin'.  And no DNFs.  Yay.

And I got a boatload of work from pay-job.  I'll have that done by Monday morning.  

On the activity front, I did 5 out of 7 days (6 if you count watering the gardens as something active).  Still no more weight lost.  But shot day is Tuesday, so fingers crossed that helps.

We're still only seeing one fawn.  Little Prince has two almost solid stripes of spots down either side of his neck, so it's easy to confirm that every time we glimpse a fawn, it's him.  I picked up another water pan for the deer.  It's been so hot and so dry they're chugging the water down and we have to fill the one pan we had three times a day.  So, I got another one.  They're still getting used to the newness in the yard, but Little Prince wet right to it and drank his fill. The others will get there, too.

This weather is crapping out my gardens, even with the every-other-day watering I'm doing.  Rain!  We need Raaiinn!  We had thunderstorms roll through yesterday evening and not a freakin' drop.  Bleh.  It's supposed to get a tad cooler next week, so there's that.  Too little too late probably.  =o\

Well, that's all from me, folks.  What's up with you?

Sunday Update - Week 19 (I Think)

May, glorious May, wonderful May... 

Okay, so you may have seen where I finished reading through Sleeping Ugly and was stuck at a crossroads as to what to do now.  I'm still working on the plan, but what will probably happen is I will send Sleeping Ugly off to the editor on June 1st and then write like a madwoman for the month of June on the next book, tentatively called either Ugly and the Beast or Cinder Ugly, so that I can have it ready to send to the editor in August when she finishes the edits for SU.

As you can see, I did some brainstorming this week and that's what I came up with.  I still have no idea what the next book will be about, but I did write the first paragraph in my handy dandy notebook.  So I got that going for me.

I finished the read-through, note-taking thing for SU and started to input edits.  If I keep my head down and work, I can do this.

Other than that, I did some reading.  I finished a book I can't review yet, so I'm not going to talk about that until next week (after it releases).  I also read a book I picked up on a whim that was loads of fun and a checkmark in my 'new-to-me, underappreciated author' goal.  Yesterday, I started a John D. MacDonald crime novel.  It's really good so far. 

And I did a boatload of weeding and gardening this week.  Well, it was kind of more prep than actual gardening.  I pulled my dead/dying azaleas and then dug up those two beds in anticipation of the arrival of my new hydrangeas.  Let me tell ya, there were a lot of rocks in those beds.  I don't remember there being that many rocks when I transplanted the azaleas there five years ago.  I pulled all the big rocks out and left them in a pile because I have a plan for them.  Which I'm supposed to start today but I'm so darned sore I may put that off 'til tomorrow.

I also went fishing once.  Caught about a half dozen little bluegills.  It was fun, but it don't put fish in the freezer.  Ya know?

Other work was light last week.  Only one spreadsheet and some computer support stuff.  Which is why I had so much time for gardening.

Thanks to the gardening and its general workout, I lost another half a pound.  And I got active 6/7 days last week.

Oh, and Happy Mothers' Day to all them what has kids.  I don't expect anything celebratory will happen today.  The Kid might call.  I'll call my mom.  Hubs will call his mom. 

This coming week holds both my birthday and our anniversary.  Hubs wanted to bake me a birthday cake, but I told him not to.  I've been doing so well on my 'get healthier' thing, I don't want a cake to ruin it.  Which it would.  I'll probably make an applesauce-walnut coffee cake instead, which is chock full of health and goodness.  If the heat lets up enough to make me want to turn on the oven, that is. 

Ugh, what is it with the early heatwave crap this year?  We went from having the furnace on to having the AC on.  So much for the two weeks of low electric bills we usually get this time of year.  Bleh.

Okay, I think that's it for me.  What've you been up to?