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5 Reasons I Won’t Buy Your eBook

Published by Kelly on March 5, 2012

Maybe it’s just because I’m a big cheap-o, but I am pretty selective about what I will and won’t buy for my Kindle. Granted, I still buy more books now than I ever have, but I got to wondering what the formula was for me moving on to the next book on the digital shelf, and I think I’ve got it figured out…

5. Your product description sucks.

I know as much as anyone how hard it is to talk about your own work and summarize what could very well be a decade’s worth of blood, sweat, and tears into a 2-paragraph blurb that will make me want to buy it, but you’re a frakking writer. Think outside the box or something. If your product description has all the punch of a 200-year-old sea turtle, I’m gonna move on. Oh, and if you describe your work as a Hitchcockian thriller, at least spell Hitchcockian right (yes, I actually saw that one). As a Hitchcock, this offends me greatly.

4. Your book cover sucks.

If your book cover looks like it was created in Microsoft Word, uses Papyrus font, or clip art (yes, I have seen clip art), you probably need my money so that you can hire a real designer, but I’m still not gonna give it to you. Also, if your book cover is a romance that explores no territory beyond rippled chest and heaving bodice or a thriller that doesn’t go beyond crime scene tape and a bloody knife, I’m pretty sure I already know everything I need to know. Pass.

3. Your price sucks.

I don’t care if your ebook price was set by the publisher, if it’s more than about $7, I’m not buyin’ it. If your ebook costs more than your paperback or even worse, your hardcover, then I’m really not buyin’ it. There’s absolutely no reason for an ebook to cost that much. If you’re big enough that your publisher is charging more than $8 for your ebook, I can probably get it at my library.

2. You told me to in your Twitter Auto-DM.

“Thanks for following me! I know you’re just gonna love my sci-fi fantasy adventure novel! Go buy it right this minute!” Um, no. Did it ever cross your mind that maybe I don’t particularly like sci-fi? Or fantasy? Or novels, even? I could be an attractive porn star who wants to be your “friend” for all you know. And guess what… I don’t know you. I don’t know jack about your writing style or if it would be my cup of tea. Why don’t you let me trade some tweets with you and let me decide for myself. If I like your snarky wit, I will buy your shit. But you auto-DM me, I’ll never give you or your work the time of day.

1. Your reviews suck.

Yep. Reviews matter. If I read in your review that your book is filled with point-of-view shifts, verb confusion, and spelling errors, I’m going to run in the other direction. If you manage to pull off a brilliantly interesting product description but 17 out of 20 people say your book is boring, I’m going to be inclined to believe them. On the other hand, I’m not going to be turned off by a couple of honest, but bad reviews. I understand that my book isn’t for everybody, so if a negative reviewers talks about painfully introspective and action-lacked your book is, I might just open up my wallet for you.

Take heed, authors. Oh, and thanks for following me! I just know you’ll love my book…

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Support Four Debut Authors and Snag $125!

Published by Kelly on November 27, 2011

I am working with a handful of other writers on a promotion for four debut authors I follow. Scratch your back, you scratch mine, you know how it is 🙂 If any of these books floats your boat, pick up a copy.

Four books. Two Days. Great Prizes.

With this contest, there is something for everyone and it’s SO simple to be in on the winning!

On November 28 and/or 29, purchase 1 or all 4 of the debut author’s books listed here. Then forward proof of purchase (the receipt Amazon sends you will do just fine) to : motionsrider@yahoo.ca and get up to 4 entries into a draw for a $100 Amazon gift card!

It’s that easy, no reviews, no hoops to jump through. Just a great .99 book or two. Or three or four. AND, if the person who wins the $100 Amazon Gift Card has purchased all 4 books, an additional $25 Amazon Gift Card will be awarded to the winner!

On top of that, 2 random commenter’s picked from 2 of our participating blogs will receive $5 gift Amazon gift cards. So, be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think of the promo, the books, or the authors.

Winners will be chosen randomly, one entry per person, per book.

All winners will be announced on December 7th on Wringing Out Words

“Between” by Cyndi Tefft

It just figures that the love of Lindsey Water’s life isn’t alive at all, but the grim reaper, complete with a dimpled smile, and Scottish accent.

After transporting souls to heaven for the last 300 years, Aiden MacRae has all but given up on finding the one whose love will redeem him and allow him entry through the pearly gates.

Torn between her growing attraction to Aiden and heaven’s siren song, Lindsey must learn the hard way whether love really can transcend all boundaries.

“Until Dawn: Last Light” by Jennifer Simas

When darkness falls, whose side will you be on?

For the past six years, Zoë has been anything but “normal.” Struggling to accept her immortality and thrown into a war that’s been waging in the shadows for over a thousand years, Zoë must now become who she was meant to be, joining the other Chosen to save what’s left of humanity. When the endless night falls over the Earth, will she be able to save the one man who reminds her of what it is to be human, or will it be too late?

Until Dawn: Last Light is a story of death and despair, love and longing, hope and hopelessness, and the ability to survive and keep going even when it seems impossible – when you want nothing more than to give up.

“The Kayson Cycle” by Jonathan D. Allen

A stranger enters a dying town and makes a desperate plea…

The Kayson Cycle introduces the Kayson Brothers, a pair of faith healers who once wowed crowds in a traveling show but went their separate ways after a night in which a healing took a dark turn. Jeffrey Kayson disappeared into the wilderness and William Kayson, wracked by guilt, moved to the failing mining town of Calico Hills to build a nice, quiet life – one that has lasted for over ten years.

His quiet, predictable life crumbles when a mysterious stranger walks into his tavern bearing a proposal to find his long-lost brother and do the one thing that William has sworn to never do again – have his brother heal a woman. William soon learns that he can’t escape his family – or his destiny.

Includes an exclusive sample chapter of The Corridors of the Dead. Please note that this is a Kindle Single, and around 6,000 words in length.

“Sundered” by Shannon Mayer

A miracle drug, Nevermore, spreads like wildfire throughout the world allowing people to eat what they want, and still lose weight. It is everything the human population has ever dreamed of and Mara is no different. Only a simple twist of fate stops her from taking Nevermore.

As the weeks roll by, it becomes apparent that Nevermore is not the miracle it claimed. A true to life nightmare, the drug steals the very essence that makes up humanity and unleashes a new and deadly species on the world that is bent on filling its belly. Locked down within their small farm home, Mara and her husband Sebastian struggle against increasingly bad odds, fighting off marauders and monsters alike.

But Sebastian carries a dark secret, one that more than threatens to tear them apart, it threatens to destroy them both and the love they have for each other.

Now Mara must make the ultimate choice. Will she live for love, or will she live to survive…

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My life with Kindle: Part 1

Published by Kelly on December 26, 2010

Apparently the Santa in my life thought I was just nice enough to deserve a brand new Kindle for Christmas. Eventually, maybe, I would have gotten it for myself, but it really is a very thoughtful gift and so far, I love it. It’s also important because it will probably be the first format I publish my novel in, and as writers, we’ve got to get with the program.

My favorite feature on it so far is the ability to download a sample of a book before buying the whole thing. I decided to try this feature out on a writer I follow on Twitter who has done a shitload of self-promotion and whose persistence I figured warranted my no-cost 30-minute (40 if you count the part where I stopped to reheat my leftover Christmas ham) perusal. On Kindle, his book’s list price is $5.99, which is about 3 times what I typically pay for a book, and since I had the option to try it before buying, I leapt at the chance.

I was THIS close to buying the book after the sample, and it wasn’t even that good. Still, it had enough good moments to make buying the book a weighty decision in my mind. I know the sample will sucker me into cracking open the wallet for much better written books in the future.

It also gave me a little confidence boost. After all, this guy isn’t some schmo who self-published in his basement. He’s a guy that got picked up by an independent press that does their business mostly in ebooks. He was trying way, WAY too hard to imitate Tucker Max but did so badly. He overused metaphors and even did some shifts in tense in the same sentence – things even a lowly barely-published writer with a BA in Creative Writing from a state school could pull off. If this guy can get accepted by an independent book publisher and charge $5.99 for his work, then I probably can, too.

New Year’s Resolution to follow…

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