#BLOG TOUR with @SilverDaggerSxx 3rd Nov - 3rd Dec

I was approached recently asking if I wanted to put my books on a blog tour. Since I recently given up on paid advertising, etc, I agreed to let Silver Dagger feature the books. What do I have to lose after all? I have given copies of my eBooks for free. Time will tell whether it is successful.

What is helpful is if any of you visit the pages and comment - especially those of you who have read my books. So, if you have time, do you mind going to these sites?

Host site - SILVER DAGGER

Tour Dates & Sites...

Nov 3rd- kickoff at the Silver Dagger Scriptorium

Nov 8 - Romance Reviews Today Blog

Nov 10- Don't Judge, Read

Nov 14- Cheshire Cat's Looking Glass

Nov 15- Lisa Loves Literature

Nov 16 - Mel's Shelves

Nov 17 - Author's Blog

Nov 21st - Travelling Through Pages - review 

Nov 22 - Mello & June

Nov 23 - Rainne's Ramblings -

Nov 25 - Bound 2 Escape

Nov 30 - Cat's Reviews

Dec 1st - Kronicles of Korthlundia

Dec 2nd - The Booklandia - review

Thank you for your support. I know that there are many more books out there and appreciate you taking the time to support mine!

Enjoy the rest of your day,
Vanessa

I need your help!

I NEED YOUR HELP! Pretty please...

I have never been in the top 100 with my free eBook, HYBRID, in the USA. I am SO close today at no. 103! Please help me to get there and download it now. It would mean a lot to me.

Thank you SO much

#USA https://www.amazon.com/Hybrid-Evolution-Trilogy-Vanessa-Wester-ebook/dp/B0081EV8Z8

If you are in UK please help me get there too - currently at no. 620

#UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hybrid-Evolution-Trilogy-Vanessa-Wester-ebook/dp/B0081EV8Z8

I paid for a promotion yesterday and it has gone really well compared to other times. This might be down to the new covers? I hope so...

Either way, I refuse to let go of my baby.

<= Find out more about my trilogy, THE EVOLUTION TRILOGY

LET'S GET DOWNLOADING... Woo hoo

The end of #Amazon Price-Match?

I got this from Amazon today...

"We recently noticed the digital list price for the title(s) listed below is higher than the list price of the same book listed on Amazon.com or another website. 

Hybrid: The Evolution Trilogy (ID: B0081EV8Z8) is listed on Amazon.com at $3.45 and at $0.99 on BarnesAndNoble-US

According to our pricing policy, your book should be priced no higher than the list price on Amazon.com or any other sales channel for either the physical or digital edition of the book. Please adjust the list price for the above book(s) within the next 5 business days. If the price isn’t updated within 5 business days, we may remove the book(s) from the Kindle Store, at which point you will need to republish the book with an updated price.

To republish an item and update the price, locate it in your KDP account and open Step 2, ‘Rights and Pricing’. Enter an updated price, click the rights confirmation check box, then click ‘Save and Publish’.

For more information on our list price requirements, see section 4 on our Pricing Page below:

https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=200634500

Thanks for your understanding."

Does this signal the end of price match? I have amended my price for Hybrid, but they have not said anything about my other book which is perma-free. There are many books out there which are free via other retailers and get price-matched by Amazon.

Does anyone know what is happening?

If they do, I have a feeling there will be a lot less books on the free charts from now on. Or, the FREE promo available via being exclusive to Amazon will finally work?

Just sharing my thoughts...

Vanessa :)

FIRST DATE *~New Cover*~

I have made a new cover for FIRST DATE, which is currently *~FREE~* to download via Amazon!

What do you all think? Enjoy :)

Lose yourself in a collection reminiscing on first love, regret, and passion.

In FIRST DATE, when Alice gets invited to a ball, on Christmas Day, she is bowled over. No-one had ever asked her out on a date before, let alone invited her to a ball. However, the bubble bursts too soon. It turns out she is filling in for an ex-girlfriend. Even so, she puts on a brave face and heads for the ball. She can have a good time even if it does not lead to love. A ball is still a ball after...

In CARELESS CUPID, a mission becomes harder than expected... you are not supposed to fall in love with the person you are trying to help.

In THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY, Rachel might get a lot more than she expected on her big day. A stranger from the past flushes out feelings she had put aside. A lost love is hard to forget...

FIVE STAR REVIEWS:

“...a lovely little bite size treat easily devoured in a single sitting.”

“It is young love so fresh & new with all the trappings of heartache & embarrassment that can go with it.”

“This is Chick-Lit with a twist, and a squeeze of class. The style is comfortable, fluid and at ease with itself.”

“…delightful shorts, each approaching love from a different angle. The first reminds us all of how tumultuous young love or “infatuation” can be, never knowing how your heart truly feels until it's forced to decide. The second was my favorite because it threw a bit of otherworldly interest into the mix. I loved the idea of a cupid sent from above to help us out. And the final short reminds us that what once was can never be again. This book was a great way to spend some down time without having to get embroiled in complicated subplots and character analysis. Easy beach or before bed read!”

~*Book Recommendations*~

I have not been blogging very much due to several reasons. Time is the biggest culprit. I feel guilty if I am blogging when I should be writing. I have also been reading a lot recently and have now hit 50 books this year! My Goodreads target is 100... I think I'll make it!

I have to admit I was a bit blown away by "THE DUFF" - I loved both the film and the book and did not mind the fact they were so different.

Very different takes on the same theme. I admit that I'll never be to old to relive the drama of growing up!

Read on to find out more about the books I recommend. For full reviews visit my Goodreads page.

Click on the Amazon links to download...

DARK PLACES

THE DUFF

ARRANGED

TEARS OF ENDURANCE

Bargain Reads - Under £1/ $2

STORM

~*FREE*~ Reads

WAY OF THE WOLF

THE NIGHT PORTER

LAST CHILD

Bargain Reads - Under £1/ $2

STEP BROTHER FALLEN

~*FREE*~ Reads

LONG TIME COMING

LESSONS IN LOVE

SOMEONE ELSE'S FAIRY TALE

THE LITTLE THINGS

Bargain Reads - Under £1/ $2

THE AMERICAN DREAM

NINE LIVES

Thanks for reading and let me know what books you recommend in the comments. I am happy to review if I enjoy! 

All the best,

Vanessa

p.s. In case you have not read my debut novel yet, please take a look and review if you enjoy. Thanks a lot :)

HYBRID *~FREE eBook~*

Amazon  Smashwords   KOBO  Barnes& Noble   iTunes  

Find out more about me, how I wrote The Evolution Trilogy, and more, on my blog... http://www.theevolutiontrilogy.blogspot.co.uk/

I would also love some more likes on FACEBOOK

Blogging blues...

I have not had much motivation to blog recently... by the time I've caught up on Twitter, Facebook, emails, etc I try to knuckle down to the reason I started all this - WRITING FICTION!

It is very easy in this day and age to get lost in the frenzy of social media and lose focus. I know, I have done it a lot.

Also, after you have a few books out it becomes a bit of an obsession to keep checking your rating and to see how many sales (or lack of) you have made. I find the issue of selling, especially on Amazon, fascinating.

I have recently began to understand the power of "buddy" sales and can see why a book like Fifty Shades went viral after a massive following online spread the word. This is the key to sales for any unknown author who has been published via a small press or self-published! You need readers...

Readers are easy to find if you interact with them on a daily basis. They will rally around you, protect you, and most importantly review.

Help! I'm stuck up here...

However, if, like a lot of writers, you have been focusing on the craft and not engaging with your potential audience then, regardless of how fantastic your book is, the truth is you might not make many sales. This is not important if you are happy with your finished product and you just wanted it out there. If you wanted to be a bestseller... you might be in for some disappointment.

I recently wrote this simple fact.

In order to sell books you have to be visible.

In order to be visible you have to sell books.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

So, my advice is this... if you want to sell books join a book-club on Goodreads and start to make contacts. Do it because you love books - after all, what writer doesn't?

I have met some amazing people online. I have to think of the positives not the negatives! I hope you do too...

All the best,
Vanessa

P.s. I have also finished my novella - click on this link of you want to know more => EMILY

FIRST DATE is now FREE

When a book does not sell you can do one of two things (in my humble opinion)... despair and pull your hair out OR make it FREE.

Think happy thoughts... sales DO NOT MATTER! 

After, pulling far too much hair out for too long I have decided to go for option two!

My novelette FIRST DATE has great reviews, but it just did not sell. After I ran a free promotion I did get some sales but then they vanished into thin air.

I added three short stories to make it a bigger collection and still that did not do the job. Ultimately, it was only priced at 77 p so any sales were frankly silly money! This is why it is logical to give it away. I want readers to enjoy my story.

For those of you who want to know how I did this, basically you make it free with another distributor (in my case smashwords) and then Amazon price match it! Smashwords distribute to other retailers so I get more exposure... win-win! Maybe?

Since HYBRID has gone FREE permanently, I see regular sales of COMPLICATIONS, RETURN, and the BOXSET. I have readers! YAY! I have had amazing feedback (and some not so great... let's not talk about that too much).

Anyway, to celebrate I have designed a brand new cover with Gibraltar in the backdrop (yes... that is Morocco in the distance! I took this picture whilst on the cable car). After all, FIRST DATE is set there... it is based on my real date when I was an innocent teenager!

I would love to know what you think of this new cover... and if you read my little collection please leave me feedback!

Thanks so much and have a great weekend! :)

Vanessa :) xx

AMAZON - FOR KINDLE OR KINDLE ENABLED DEVICE
SMASHWORDS - FOR ANY DEVICE
BARNES & NOBLE - FOR NOOK (The two reviews on here were given to me before I updated and tweaked the stories - I do listen to negative feedback and took on board the comments!)
ITUNES - FOR IPAD

FIRST DATE is FREE

At the end of 2012 I started writing a short story for one of the anthologies I was doing and it got so long I decided to publish it separately.

FIRST DATE is an adaptation of my real first date... most of it (apart from the end) is more or less what happened. I have changed the names around of course.

I have had some great reviews for it, but I find that selling short stories is not an easy task. There are so many other collections out there!

To make it a more worthwhile read, I have added three short stories from other anthologies I have published.

At the moment, it is FREE for 3 days and then I will remove it from KDP and also publish it on smashwords to give it a wider audience.

So, this might be your last chance to get it FREE before it reverts to a whopping 77p or $0.99!

So please, enjoy and share with friends.

Have a great day,
Vanessa

Click on the link for Amazon Worldwide

=> FIRST DATE (Love & Regrets) <=

Lose yourself in a collection reminiscing on first love, regret, and passion. In little bite size treats...

In FIRST DATE, when Alice gets invited to a ball on Christmas Day she is bowled over. No-one had ever asked her out on a date before, let alone invited her to a ball. However, the bubble bursts too soon. It turns out she is filling in for an ex-girlfriend. Even so, she puts on a brave face and heads for the ball. She can have a good time even if it does not lead to love. A ball is still a ball after...

In CARELESS CUPID, a mission becomes harder than expected... you are not supposed to fall in love with the person you are trying to help.

In THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY, Rachel might get a lot more than she expected on her big day. A stranger from the past flushes out feelings she had put aside. A lost love is hard to forget...

In PRECIOUS, different generations appreciate the timeless value of a book.

FIVE STAR REVIEWS:

"... easily devoured in a single sitting."

"It is young love so fresh & new with all the trappings of heartache & embarrassment that can go with it." 

"This is Chick-Lit with a twist, and a squeeze of class. The style is comfortable, fluid and at ease with itself." 

"...delightful shorts, each approaching love from a different angle. The first reminds us all of how tumultuous young love or "infatuation" can be, never knowing how your heart truly feels until it's forced to decide. The second was my favorite because it threw a bit of otherworldly interest into the mix. I loved the idea of a cupid sent from above to help us out. And the final short reminds us that what once was can never be again. This book was a great way to spend some down time without having to get embroiled in complicated subplots and character analysis. Easy beach or before bed read!"

Happy Birthday to ME!

Just a short post to tell you all it's my BIRTHDAY today! Woo hoo! :)

I NEED A LOT MORE CANDLES...

Off to see The Lion King in Southampton!

Hope you all have a brilliant day...

Vanessa :) xx

A gift to you (and maybe me) since in a dream world today I get 10,000 downloads!

Enjoy HYBRID for FREE

Amazon 

Smashwords

Find out more about the trilogy at www.theevolutiontrilogy.blogspot.com 

10,000 TWITTER FOLLOWERS

I can't believe it! I have over 10,000 followers on Twitter!

Since I joined in March 2012, when I published HYBRID for the first time online via smashwords, I have tweeted over 60,000 times (oops - that's a lot of promo tweets!), posted over a 1000 photos/ videos, and favourited over 14,000 tweets (so much good stuff out there...)! I am currently following over 7000 people (unless they are robots - not sure sometimes!) and have made many online friends.

In times like this it is good to reflect on success not failure. I recently worked it all out and this is where I stand on the trilogy!

I have sold over 300 copies of HYBRID, and given away over 15,000 copies via Amazon! I have given away over 1000 via smashwords!

I have 26 five star reviews, 19 four star reviews, 7 three star reviews, 2 two star reviews, and 1 one star (still sulking over that one) for HYBRID via Amazon.

I have sold over 450 copies of Complications, 200 of Return, and 30 of the entire Trilogy via Amazon. Considering Return was published November 2013, and the entire trilogy was published on May 2014, this is not bad. Not fantastic, but pretty good! Apparently, the average indie author sells 100 copies per annum so I am happy with this. I am an unknown author after all so any sales are brilliant!

All the sales figures are for eBooks, they do not include paperback sales.

To celebrate this milestone, I have decided to let you have the three novels of my trilogy for FREE! That's right, the entire trilogy is now waiting to be downloaded via smashwords... hurry & download, the clock is ticking!

***OFFER ENDS 31st JULY***


HYBRID

COMPLICATIONS

RETURN

In return, all I ask is that you consider leaving me a review on smashwords and if you would be so kind on Amazon or Goodreads.

Reviews really do make all the difference and in the USA in particular I have been stung several times by the reviews left for HYBRID. I personally think that if you don't have anything nice to say or realise it is not your preferred genre it is best not to review. You think about it...

Saying this, if a review is constructive I will use it to become a better writer. I do listen to advice when given.

Click down below to go to the amazon site where you live.

HYBRID

COMPLICATIONS

RETURN

ENTIRE TRILOGY - BOX SET

In 2010, I was just a stay-at-home mum who kept busy helping others. Now, I still do as much as I can to help, but I have found something that keeps me happy too. Life moves so fast and it is up to us to make it stop so that we can leave our footprint.

The past few months have been interesting as I have found it hard to stare at the screen for a long time after my lazer eye surgery, but I am hoping to get my writing back on track asap! I hope to share some more of my writing with you very soon. Until then, enjoy this trilogy, soak in the summer sun, and relax.

I look forward to hearing from you all and appreciate the support you have given me to date!

Keep smiling,
Vanessa :)

My first Kindle Countdown deal...

*** Promotion running from 4th July - 10th July via Amazon.com only***

LINK => VISIT AMAZON & DOWNLOAD

It seemed apt to start my first ever KDP Countdown deal on the 4th July! 

Amazon gave indie authors like me the freedom to publish books to the masses, and earn much higher royalties (yes, I can now buy a sandwich AND a cookie! Ha ha).

There has been a lot of mixed press since I first published HYBRID in 2012 about the downfall of books! I have read both sides of the story from different perspectives, but the bottom line is if people buy more books and read more then going digital is a fantastic thing to do.

When music first went digital there were a lot of skeptics, but now sales are at an all-time high! It takes time for consumers (us) to adjust to the new way of things. Ultimately, there is room for everybody. I still buy CDs and DVDs, AND I download digital copies of music and film. I now also buy paperbacks AND download ebooks. I like both.

Some readers now only download to kindle... that is their choice & this promotion is aimed at the Kindle market! If I could offer paperback deals I would, but it's not possible - I'm sorry!

Ultimately, we readers have so much choice and freedom to choose now. I understand that even this promotion might be a hard sell. Why pay when there are so many other books to choose from for free? The bottom line is we will pay for what we want to read - and I hope you choose to read my Trilogy.

Let's be honest here... 3 full size novels at $6 is cheap! With this Kindle countdown deal you get them all on the first 27 hours for only $0.99! Awesome, right? 

So what else can I say to convince you to give my trilogy a chance? Not much, but I have been extremely chuffed today after receiving the most amazing feedback from THE BOOK FAIRY.

She certainly is my fairy... with perfect timing, since the promo starts tomorrow and I had no reviews when I went for it.

Enjoy, I certainly did!

Thank you for visiting my blog,

Vanessa :-) 

MY BOOK FAIRY review for THE EVOLUTION TRILOGY

"I've left the reviews on each individual book, but I downloaded Hybrid for free and borrowed the books in the trilogy format from the Kindle library, which I would suggest for anyone wanting to read the entire trilogy. I've rated each individual book at five stars and although I am sad to be finished with the trilogy, I think it was absolutely amazing.

The Next Evolution of Humans - The review of Hybrid (The Evolution Trilogy)

"This is a story that could be considered a paranormal romance, but it’s so much more than that... You spend the first half or so of the story learning about Caitlin and Steven and watching their relationship develop. Then there is an unexpected turn of events, which sets the baseline for the remainder of the story. You see Steven taken away from everyone he knows and everyone he loves, no one knows who he is, or that he exists. You come to learn about the next evolution in humankind and their trials and tribulations, their wants and needs and the story leaves you wanting for more. All of the main and supporting characters are well built with complex personalities which brings the story to life. You can feel the pain they feel and understand their feelings from excitement, fear, love and lust to sorrow and uncertainty about the future. I couldn't put this book down and read from the start to about 63% in before I stopped and by the time I was about 80% done I knew I’d be buying the remaining two in the trilogy."

Evolution Doesn't Come Without Change... - The review of Complications (The Evolution Trilogy)

"The characters and story had me enchanted from day one and the plot unfolded at just the right pace. This isn’t your typical paranormal or vampire story, but it will keep you on your toes and isn't full of “fluff”, but has a lot of deeper issues going on in the sidelines along with the main plot. When I found out this was the authors debut trilogy I couldn't believe it. I can’t wait to see what else Vanessa writes in the remainder of this trilogy and beyond."

Can Change Come Without Sacrifice? - The review of Return (The Evolution Trilogy)

"Once again Vanessa has created a flawless story, I didn't notice any grammar or spelling errors, which means there either were none or I was so absorbed into the story I didn't see them, which is a HUGE deal to me. I loved the entire trilogy and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a paranormal story with a twist and some romance. I am impressed that the scenes that could have quickly turned these books into erotic were kept "clean" and "classy" while still bringing all of the emotion of the action between characters."