DESERTED is ON SALE for $.99!

Get it while it's desert-hot!

The desert can be dangerous...especially when you've been deserted.

Seventeen-year-old Kara is done spying on people for her father, the wealthy and morally corrupt businessman Dr. Ellison. Last summer, when her father’s project literally blew up, she fell hard for one of his victims: Leo, the hot musician who made her question her family’s rules. Now Leo’s clear across the country, and Kara’s ready to reinvent herself in Las Vegas.

Of course her father has to mess up that plan, too. He claims a rogue environmental group wants him dead because of his latest alternative energy business venture, and that he needs Kara back on his payroll as the only one he can fully trust. With nowhere else to turn, Kara sends Leo a distressed text message – just before she’s kidnapped, a bargaining chip of the vigilantes who are determined to end her father’s moneymaking plans.

Leo is battling the pains of his last run-in with Dr. Ellison but he wastes no time hopping a plane to Vegas to rescue Kara. As he struggles to find her, the pair tries to learn all they can about the project Dr. Ellison is directing in the hopes of using the information to free Kara. Because if there’s one thing they’ve learned from Dr. Ellison, it’s that no risk is too big when it comes to fame and fortune, life and death.

This link goes to my website's book page

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Thanks, readers, for your years of support!

Deena

Win Two YAs! (or I'm Not Above Bribing Readers for Reviews)

Tip of the Day: Get ready for WriteOnCon 2014, the free online kidlit writing conference August 26-27. I'm excited to check out the buzz again this year!

I want to start with a huge THANK YOU to all A2A readers who have read BLACKOUT or DESERTED! I am so grateful for the support and excited to work on book #3, which I never thought I'd say. (Me? A trilogy?)  I plan on releasing an unrelated YA contemporary novel this winter, and then Jenny and Zak's story in August 2015.

To celebrate other summer 2014 YA novel releases, I want to give away two of them that I loved:

 

THE FOURTH WISH by Lindsay Ribar is the sequel to THE ART OF WISHING but it also stands on its own. Why did I love it? Because Margo loves Oliver, a genie, regardless of the exterior form he takes. Margo is a positive, uplifting character who is fun to follow through her own transformation.

THE BRIDGE FROM ME TO YOU by Lisa Schroeder is by our very own former A2A contributor! Why did I love it? Because the love story is sweet and non-angsty, and the dual povs from both Lauren and Colby are expressive and connected, but also unique.

All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a review on Amazon or B&N for BLACKOUT, DESERTED, or both, and leave the link to the review in the comments! You'll get one entry for each review you write and post below (for a total of 4 possible entries). Enter in the Rafflecopter below between 8/18-9/18. Sorry, open to U.S. mailing addresses only.

For links to the books on Amazon and B&N, go to www.DeenaLipomi.com.

Happy Second-Half-of-August!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

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Gift or Curse?

Tip of the Day: Um, uh.... Be kind to chickens. They come from broken homes. (That's one of my mom's favorite jokes. I suppose it also qualifies as a tip.) ;)

We self-pubs seem very focused on the raw numbers. How many ebooks we sell. How much we make per month.

It's almost an obsession. We have access to data our trad pub friends are dying to see. Or so they think....

Sometimes I think it's a curse to know exactly, on a minute-by-minute basis, how I'm doing. I made an announcement on Facebook about a new book and within minutes, I knew how many people jumped over to Amazon to buy it. You'd think that would be great. It's really not.

In the beginning, I was super-focused on my sales. I checked about nine thousand times a day. Now I check once a day, in the morning, and enter the numbers into my spreadsheet. I used to check every sales outlet every day. Now I only check Amazon (though iTunes is coming in a very close second lately - thanks, Australia!).

Many writers say this can help you market better. They say it can help you keep track of what matters to readers. They say lots of things.

I say it simply drives us insane. Don't get me wrong, I love the business side of self-publishing. I grew up in a family business and owning my own corporation is very fulfilling. But sometimes I think too much information at our fingertips is more distracting than advantageous.

It makes us proud at times, but it can also make us horribly insecure. A couple months ago, when my sales fell off of the Amazonian cliff, I panicked. I tried everything in my marketing toolbox to bring sales back. It worked - a bit - but I never did get back into the high sales I'd had earlier in the year. It's fair to say I was a smidgeon depressed for a couple of weeks. Now? Meh.

It took some time, but I remembered I didn't get in this business to rake in cash. I did it because writing is the ONLY career I've ever wanted with all of my heart. I wanted to write something other people might like. I've done that. Maybe that should be enough.

Happy Friday!!!!

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber