Experimenting With KDP Select

As I'm still in the early stages of my journey into hybrid publishing, I ran into a perfect excuse to do some experimenting.

You see, my second Brides of Prophecy novel, IRONIC SACRIFICE, has been finished, polished, and raring to go for awhile. And between readers wanting to know what happens next and having the cover come together a lot quicker and easier than I'd expected, there was little reason not to release it...Except for one big reason.

My traditionally published historical paranormal romance, ONE BITE PER NIGHT, releases in August, so all of my time must be dedicating to promoting that one and I am hella excited. That one is extremely special to me for many reasons.

However, IRONIC SACRIFICE is ready and people want to read it! Also, I'm pretty broke with having to go part time while my son's on summer break.

So I discovered a compromise. KDP select is a deal Amazon has where your book gets a little bit more push and you're able to run specials and discounts not available to you with regular KDP. The catch is that it has to be exclusively on kindle for 90 days.

I decided to try it and let the kindle users get the book early, but I'm not going to celebrate it's official release and do the fun promo until October.

So Kindle readers: Here's the blurb on IRONIC SACRIFICE:

"Jayden Leigh wants to commit suicide. Her clairvoyant powers have become so intense that she lost her job and home. Death is the only way to make them stop. Opportunity presents itself when she comes across a sinfully handsome vampire ready to make a kill. Jayden begs for him to take her instead. A blissful death in his arms, or the visions ravaging her mind? She'd gladly take the vampire.

Razvan Nicolae is captivated and amused by the beautiful seeress who sacrifices herself for a stranger. Killing such a pleasing asset doesn’t interest him. If he could get her powers under control, she just might be the key to finding his missing twin.

Controlling her visions and working for a seductive vampire? Razvan’s offer is like a dream come true. But her dream turns into a nightmare when a mad vampire cult leader seeks to exploit Jayden’s powers to stop an ancient prophecy.

As Jayden finds herself at the center of a vampire war, she realizes that the biggest threat isn’t losing her life, it’s losing her heart."

And you can get it Here!


Non Kindle readers: Stay tuned because I'm going to be doing a bunch of fun stuff in October!     

News For My Fellow Metalheads and Horror Fans... and BRIDES OF PROPHECY fans...

I know some of you follow my blog for my horror movie and metal related posts (I'm so sorry I haven't done any in awhile. I'll have to make up for that soon.)

 

Anyway, after hearing all about my romance novels, I am please to announce that I had a short story accepted into the heavy metal horror anthology, AXES OF EVIL II: RISE OF THE METAL GODS.

AXES OF EVIL I is HERE!

So Metal!!!

I am beyond excited because I wrote the story years ago, and though it won 1st place in the Idaho Writer's League state competition, I really didn't find a home for it. It was too short, and it wasn't a romance.

So it languished on my hard drive until the awesome Alex Johnson sent me the invite to submit a story to a heavy metal horror anthology. I was all, "OMFG, I HAVE a story about a metal band in a haunted church!!" So I immediately bought the first AXES and went to polishing up the tale.

I was worried that the story, which I now call "Tesemini" (It's the Kootenai word for Spirit Lake, Idaho, the place where the story takes place) would not be accepted because it really isn't that scary. 

First off, it's kind of a prequel to WRENCHING FATE (Brides of Prophecy, Book 1) and the characters were already who they were. One of them is biologically incapable of fear. 

Second off, many of the stories in Axes I are delightfully gory, but you can't get very gory with ghosts.

Mine kinda has a Scooby-Doo feel so I just rolled with it.

So when the editor, Alex S. Johnson, emailed me and let me know that the story was accepted, I was all, "No way, really?"

He said, "I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was an instant hit with me. It wasn't Friday the 13th scary for sure, but it did have ghosts, possession and, most important, METAL. And I was smiling all the way through."

YAY!!!

So to my fellow horror fans check out AXES I and look forward to reading my story in AXES II

Fans of my Brides of Prophecy series, check out WRENCHING FATE and look forward for more adventures of Rage of Angels in AXES II!  I'll keep you all posted.

 

Early Hype For ONE BITE PER NIGHT!!!

                                                    

Due to all the delays and pitfalls with this book, I'd begun to fear that it would never get out to readers. Then, at last my glorious ARCs arrived in May. 

Naturally, I then started fearing that everyone would hate it. That Publisher's Weekly would crucify it, that readers would revile it, or worse.... be bored.

A couple weeks ago, my 1st review appeared on Goodreads. The moment of reckoning was at hand. Then another came in. The first was FIVE STARS!! The second was four! 

Then, last weekend Publisher's Weekly posted their view on my book. I was almost too scared to click on the link because they can be mean sometimes. (They were pretty nice to me with BITE ME, YOUR GRACE, though they threw in a bit of snark).

Publisher's Weekly LOVED IT!!!

They said, " Following her promising debut (Bite Me, Your Grace), Ann hits her stride with solid writing, a tasty dash of originality, and realistic relationships that zing with sexual energy. A strong sense of fun mixed with a little feminism keeps things lively and light, while the well-developed story keeps eyes on the page."

Squeeeee!!!!

Further excitement ensued when readers are already reaching out to me on twitter and facebook to rave about ONE BITE PER NIGHT. 

And even better, my local bookstore enthusiastically welcomed me back for another signing (August 16th 1pm to 4pm at the Coeur d'Alene Hastings) and will help me make it even better than the first one.

So I am beyond thrilled that ONE BITE PER NIGHT is receiving positive reception and hope that its enthusiasm continues when hits the shelves August 5th.

For now, it's available for Pre-Order!

 Amazon

Barnes & Noble

RT Recap Part 4: The last day.

Saturday was the day of the Giant book fair. Holy Literacy, Batman! There were a ton of people! I'd forgotten to bring a bag for the books and shirts I got, which turned out to be a huge mistake. The lady at the checkout said that I could just take my purchases back to my room and come back with a bag. Nope, didn't work. By the time I made it back, the fair was open to the public and there were lines of hundreds of people stretching out through the entire floor of the hotel. I can't handle crowds, so I popped a Xanax and fled with my tail between my legs... which turned out to be a good idea because apparently things got so packed that those who got in couldn't get out. I heard that the signing made the Guinness Book of World Records.

At least I got to get books from Ashlyn Chase and Kresley Cole. So I got my book collection boxed and mailed home, then I soaked in a warm bath and dressed up for the evening. By the time Jess escaped the mobbed signing (I think she sold out all her books) we were famished. We finally got to go to Oceana's, a place she'd been raving about since I arrived.

Our server was like the coolest guy ever. For an appetizer, we split an order of BBQ shrimp. Holy hell, check out the size of those things!!!

Then I had red fish covered in creamy crawfish sauce. I didn't get a picture because I fell upon it like a ravening beast.

Our server was also a bad influence. He talked us into getting drinks. I had my 1st Hurricane and Jess got this crazy yum Bananas Foster cocktail.

So I was a little giddy when we showed up at the private party that my publisher, Sourcebooks threw. There were drinks there too. I got permission to bring crashers. I had to show my editor, Deb Werksman, the cover of the anthology Jess wrote for: "The Real Werewives of Vampire County." She loved it. I also got to talk with Deb and my associate editor, Susie Benton, about book 3 in my Scandals with Bite series. This is Rafe's book. Rrrrrrrow!

I also bounced around and chatted with Ashlyn Chase, whom I'd been dying to meet in person and introduce to Jess, as well as Terry Spear, Elizabeth Staab, and others.

Sourcebooks also made cool placards with our book covers! Here's mine and I totally took it home and will set it at my table for my first book signing.

The party wrapped up quicker than I would have liked, but we had another one to go to: the Fantastic Day Party. There were more free books. I picked up DUKE AT MIDNIGHT by Elizabeth Hoyt and OMG, it's like a Regency Batman! And apparently there are a ton more books in the series. So while I was jumping up and down to my new friends saying, "OMG, REGENCY BATMAN!" They nodded then pointed at another table. "Oh yeah? OCD Werewolf!"
And that's how I was introduced to the fabulous Shawntelle Madison.

I was then delighted to meet Dorothy Shaw and Kimberly from Book Obsessed Chicks, and Joy from Joyfully Reviewed, who thankfully wore bunny ears so I could recognize her. I took pictures with all  them and we talked books until we were dying on our feet. 

Jess and I then took off and considered going to the Harlequin party but we were starving and tired so we went to Popeye's, which I'd never had before. I decided that I like KFC a bit better but Popeye's had superior biscuits.

Then we went straight to bed because I had to catch the airport shuttle at 4:55 AM.

RT RECAP Part 3: Day 3... The Man-Candy and Food Porn Edition

After staying up so late on Thursday, I slept in on Friday. Jess and I had a quick breakfast before she went to some agent and editor pitches, which I'm proud to say, landed her a ton of requests for her new exciting project... which unfortunately I can't tell you about.

So I went back to pursuing one of my primary goals of the conference: meeting people. I ended up running into a few agents and editors myself, including Margaret Bail, who used to be one of my critique partners ages ago and is now an agent. It was a blast to meet her in person. Somehow I ended up with a few requests for my metal romance. I also got to see my local RWA chapter buddy, Rebecca Zanetti.

And now for another crazy fan-girl moment: Just as I was heading up to an awesome panel on vampires, I ran into Shana Galen again... and of course I didn't have the book I wanted her to sign... and she was on her way out the door to leave!! Eeek!  But, she graciously waited while I raced up to my hotel room and signed it for me and gave me a hug. Fan-girl squee!!

So I ended up late to Jess's panel but I still got to participate in plenty of the fun and I got to meet Caridad Pinero! On our way back to our room we shared an elevator with Charlaine Harris, which was totally sweet.
Jess and I had a quick lunch. Daisy Dukes was full so we went next door to another place that was pretty good too. I had shrimp n' grits again.

We did a bit of sight-seeing and picked up more hard cider before going to an awesome Avon book signing. Among the highlights were Jess getting to meet Kim Harrison and I got to meet Janine Frost and Lisa Kleypas. Lisa loved the title of BITE ME, YOUR GRACE so much she had me write it on a napkin for her. (I'd run out of business cards). 

After the signing we joined Paige Prince, Elise Hepner, Charity Hendry, Jackie Morgan and Casey Harris Parks for dinner at the Palace Cafe. 

And now it's time for some food porn. I had turtle soup which turned out to taste like chili with elk burger. I'd expected turtle to taste like calimari or something. I also had blue crab claws which were tiny, but delicious. And then I had creme brulee for my first time. OMG, heaven in my mouth. Aside from the excellent food, we had a wonderful time discussing crazy stories about our craft and the industry.

I'd thought that we were then going to attend the RT party of the night, but instead some dude dressed up in a police uniform gathered us up and escorted us down Bourbon Street to a bar called OZ. On the walk I met book reviewer, Jo Lacey Wood who turned out to be a fellow Megadeth fan. We sang "Sweating Bullets" on our way there. 

Then we sat at the bar and talked books and watched everyone dance. I also had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with 2 charming actors: Zac Bostrom and Eric Carpenter. I told them that they should totally be cover models. 

"People keep telling us that," they replied.

Gee, I wonder why.

And then the stripper showed up. It was my first male stripper. Needless to say, I was delightfully amused by his outrageous costume and antics. The guy was even doing ballet poses. I was only able to get pictures of him from the back view, but due to the PG-13 rating on my blog, maybe that's for the best. 2 more strippers arrived and though they were nice eye candy, the first guy eclipsed them with his funky craziness.

You guys won't believe how he looked from the front.

Sara Humphreys showed up and bought me a drink. ::Fan girl squee:: We chatted a bit and showed off our muscles (hers from working out, mine from turning wrenches). 

Then the noise became too much for Jess and I and we went back to the hotel. I hung out in the lobby with a few more nifty people and got a few hooked on hard cider. I then finally got to hang out a bit with my other fellow RWA chapter buddy, Shoshanna Evers. We had so much fun talking about the convention that I tripped over a palm tree when walking her back to her hotel. She was really worried but I turned out okay.