The First Review is In!

I try not to check Goodreads obsessively, but I do want to post the first official Cross My Heart review, especially since it's (gasps) five stars! Among the writing community, it's known that Goodreads Readers are a tough crowd to please, sometimes. This makes my first review (from Alex) even more exciting.

So without further ado:

"I snuggled up on the couch and read this book in a day. I couldn't put it down! Immediately I was intrigued by Parker. He was so mysterious, I wanted to know what his deal was. His secret. And I must say I was surprised. It's not often that I'm completely blind-sided by a plot twist but that was the case in cross my heart.

I also loved Jaden. She was so driven, her goals so clear that in some ways I envied her, the way she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life. But having said that, life isn't always perfect...

The family dynamics were interesting and felt very real as did the friendships and relationships. Speaking of relationships, this book certainly satisfied the romantic in me. Overall this is just a wonderful, wonderful book and I recommend it to anyone who loves a good romance. Not just for young adult readers!" 

This review alone makes those 75 agent rejections worth it. Now I need to find some ice cream to celebrate!

Yes, I'm totally up for ice cream at 9am.

KK

P.S. I've double posted for the day, so if you missed my weekend sales/stats update, scroll down. (Or, if you clicked directly on this link, go back to my main page and then scroll down.) :) 

First Weekend Numbers

I know how much indie writers love to crunch sales numbers (it's the only time we liberal arts majors like math), so I thought I'd post the first week/weekend sales stats for Cross My Heart.

The BN Nook link went live on Tuesday, March 15th. So from March 15th to March 20th (Tuesday through Sunday), I sold 33 books for Nook and Kindle.

Twenty-eight of those copies were sold for Nook. I don't know what it is about the battle between Nook and Kindle, but some authors have explosive sales on Kindle and nothing for Nook. I seem to be the opposite. The remaining five of those CMH sales were for Kindle, and one was for Kindle UK.

I'm not quite sure how to get the Brits' attention, yet. :)

At any rate, I am *very* pleased with the numbers, and the fact that readers seem to be enjoying it (based on the ratings). 

The Guardian is still selling steadily, too. I'm on pace to break 100 overall sales for the month, but am cautiously hopeful. 

KK

YA Indie Spotlight: Ben White

Hi Everyone!

For this week's YA Indie Spotlight I'm pleased introduce Ben White.

Ben is on the blog promoting his YA Fantasy novel Miya Black, Pirate Princess I: Adventure Dawns.

This novel is priced at $0.99, and is the first in a series.

SUMMARY

For Princess Miya Black, home is Clover Island, a tiny dot of a place not even named on most maps. Founded fifteen years ago by her parents, ex-pirate Tomas "Boots" Black and ex-princess Lilith "Lily" Brightburn, it's a place for second chances and new beginnings. It's there that Miya was born, there she grew up, and there she now lives, spending her days riding with her best friend, practising swordsmanship with her fake uncle, sailing with her father, and avoiding book lessons with her mother. To Miya it's the best place in the entire world, and she knows how lucky she is to have it.

So when her home is threatened Miya doesn't just sit around around sulking. She's the princess of Clover Island, with the blood of pirate legends running through her veins, and she'll do whatever it takes to protect her kingdom.

RATING: A mild PG for minor violence and mild swearing (damn, hell, bloody).

(This rating leads me to believe that this could be a good choice for some middle grade readers, too.)

ABOUT BEN

I'm Ben, Benjamin Joseph Kuniyoshi White if you're not into the whole brevity thing, Ben White if you're somewhere in the middle, and I write books. Books about pirate princesses, books about would-be greatest superheroes, books about gloomy girls bashing zombies about with baseball bats. Most of my books would fall squarely in the sub-sub-genre of 'Girls Kicking Arse', and if you had to choose a section of the library to put them in, Young Adult would be the safest bet.

I live in Nelson, New Zealand with my wife and two busy young daughters, and in pretty much every spare moment I have, I write.

Readers: You can find Adventure Dawns on Amazon.

Check out Ben's author page while you're there. You'll find the second Miya Black book and a few others there, in addition to the paperback links.

Thanks for stopping by, Ben!

KK

CROSS MY HEART is Here!

The links are live! CROSS MY HEART is officially available for Nook and Kindle. It's actually been available for Nook for about 24 hours. I'm kind of floored at the response so far, especially since I've barely done any promotion.

That's great news for "newbie" indies, though. You don't need to be established or have a following to be successful. Put your work out there and let the readers find you. They're looking. Trust me.

KK

It's Coming!

I literally just hit the submit button for my latest YA novel: Cross My Heart.

It's currently in processing for both Nook and Kindle. 

Part of me is relieved. I love this story. I've been working on it (off and on) for more than two years, and I feel like a weight has lifted. 

The other part of me is convinced I sent the sorriest, most pathetic book ever out into the world. But I'm a writer, and we're neurotic like that. 

At any rate, I will return with details as soon as the links go live.

KK

YA Indie Spotlight: Michelle Muto

Hi Everyone!

I'm very pleased to have YA author Michelle Muto on the blog today. Michelle is promoting her newest YA urban fantasy novel: The Book of Lost Souls.

Isn't this cover beautiful? This book is hot off the presses and priced at $1.99. How can you beat that?

SUMMARY

When teen witch Ivy MacTavish changes a lizard into her date for a Halloween dance, everything turns to chaos. And when no one is powerful enough to transform him back except Ivy, it sparks the rumor: Like father, like daughter. Ivy has heard it all before - that her father, who left when she was seven – was involved with the darkest of magic.

Making the rumors worse, someone uses an evil spell book to bring back two of history's most nefarious killers. Ivy's got a simple plan to set things right: find the real dark spell caster, steal the book, and reverse the spell. No problem! But she’ll have to deal with something more dangerous than murderous spirits that want her and her friends dead: the school’s resident bad boy and hotter-than-brimstone demon, Nick Marcelli. Nick’s offering Ivy more than his help with recovering the missing book – he’s offering her a way to ditch her scaly reputation as a lizard-lover. Demons are about as hard to handle as black magic, and as Ivy soon discovers, it’s going to take more than a lot of luck and a little charm if she wants to survive long enough to clear her status as a dark witch, get a warm-blooded boyfriend, and have her former date back to eating meal worms before the week’s end.

RATING: PG-13 for very mild language (the b-word), some thematic violence.

Link for Nook

Link for Kindle

About Michelle:

Michelle writes young adult urban fantasy and young adult horror. She loves scary books and funny movies, sports cars, chocolate, and changes of season. Michelle lives in NE Georgia with her husband and two dogs. Currently, she is preparing to release a second book and is busy writing her next novel.

She blogs here.

I hope you'll check her out!

KK

Cover Reveal!

I have to admit, this kind of makes me nervous. But I did promise that I would reveal the cover of my newest ebook (Coming Soon! As in: ideally in the next two weeks, soon). For those of you who prefer realistic YA contemporary over fantasy/paranormal: this one's for you. Again, I want to thank Gemma Hart over at Deviant Art for letting me use her beautiful image.

So, without further ado:

ABOUT CROSS MY HEART:

True love can blossom in unexpected places. This is Jaden pretending not to notice. . . .

Jaden McEntyre and Parker Whalen are a wrong fit from the start. Jaden is driven and focused; Harvard Med School within reach. Parker has a past—a reputation—and the rumors about his mysterious habits abound. So there’s no reason why, when they're assigned to work together on a project in English, they should discover they have anything in common, or even like each other; and they definitely shouldn't be falling in love.

As they bond over Edith Wharton’s tragic novella, Ethan Frome, the “bad boy” vibe Parker plays begins to dissipate. Soon, Jaden finds herself shedding her own “good girl” image: sneaking around to be with him, confiding in him, and ultimately falling hard for this leather-wearing, motorcycle-driving loner who plays into the rebel stereotype.

Still, Jaden can't shake the feeling that there's more to Parker than he's letting on. He's hiding something from her, and discovering the truth means reconciling the Parker she's grown to love with the person he really is. Because it's possible that his life inside the classroom—everything Jaden knows—is one, massive lie.

More details to come!

KK