Issue 78 - Thank You for the Blurbs
TOP OF MIND
Blurbs. You see them on the back of books. You see them in movie ads. And now, here they are in my newsletter. They’re everywhere! Not really, but a few kind folks have blurbed my next book, Resist.
J.V. Hilliard, author of the Amazon-bestselling Warminster Series, said, “Lee Schneider’s Resist is a clever novel that captures a world steeped in artificial intelligence and climate disruption that could soon be our own.”
J.V. has one of the best published bios I’ve ever read.
Born of steel, fire and black wind, J.V. Hilliard was raised as a highlander in the foothills of a once-great mountain chain on the confluence of the three mighty rivers that forged his realm’s wealth and power for generations. His father, a peasant twerg, toiled away in industries of honest labor and instilled in him a work ethic that would shape his destiny. His mother, a local healer, cared for his elders and his warrior uncle, who helped to raise him.
When you’re a fantasy writer, even your bio can be a fantasy.
Karen Kinney, author of Doorways to Transformation: Everyday Wisdom for the Creative Soul, and The Reluctant Artist: Navigating and Sustaining a Creative Path, wrote, “Resist is a fast-paced, mind-bending tale of a future controlled by technology and the steps we must take to regain and preserve what makes us truly human.”
Here’s Karen’s bio:
Karen Kinney is an award-winning author, internationally-exhibited artist, and teacher. At her core, she is a mystic and guide, channeling wisdom through her creative work. For over 20 years, she has practiced and studied contemplative spirituality and this is the basis from which her creativity is birthed. She uses a multitude of mediums as vessels for inspiration, truth, connection and beauty.
I’m celebrating these blurbs, and more coming in, after laboring away in a digital cave to get the book written. Resist, the second book of a trilogy, was a challenge to write, because it needed to work on its own. You can appreciate it without having read the first book. The third book of the trilogy is proving to be much easier to write. (Editor’s Note: Lee is at the promising beginning of writing the third book, a stage where every draft is fantastic. He’ll come back to reality later.)
PREORDERS ARE PERFECT
Preordering a book on Amazon helps the book succeed. Why? It establishes the book in the popularity rankings before the actual release. Based on these early rankings, Amazon decides how often to show your book in those critical “you may also like” sections and sidebars on the Amazon site. Books that are available for preorder can have an advantage over immediate releases. If the book has a running start in preorders, Amazon is more likely to show the book on its “hot new releases” pages. If you would like to boost my book, please preorder it.
Robin Sloan, a sci-fi/fantasy author whose work I admire, has published three novels, and his most recent one is available for preorder. (I preordered it!) He convinced me to do that because I liked his first two novels, and also because of how he framed writing a series, or a trilogy of books. When a fiction writer announces that they’re writing a series, readers feel that they’re going along for the ride. In these days of indie publishing, readers know that as they read the first book, the writer is already working on the second, and as they read the second, the writer is already at work on the third. That’s the case with me and you, and you can take that ride with me if you preorder Resist. The ebook is $9.99 on Amazon.
Thanks for reading,
Lee
REFERENCES
DISCLAIMER
Typos, yes, sometimes.
