It’s Almost Time! Starts Tomorrow!

December 26, 2015 / lisaemme / Leave a comment

The first ever Crazy Canuck New Year’s Blog Hop runs from December 27th to January 2nd.

Did you get a new reading device for the holidays? Perfect timing! Join in on the hop and find some great Canadian authors to load up on your Kindle, Kobo or iPad.

Check back here tomorrow for my blog post. I’ll be sharing some of my favourite Canadian fantasy authors with you and of course, you will have the opportunity to get in on the fabulous Grand Prize which includes:

Digital copies of a book from each participating author including:
Altering Authority by Ashley Dooley
Dead and Kicking by Lisa Emme
Something in the Air by Marie Landry
Magic Resistant by Veronica DelRosa
The Naughty List by Cori Vidae
Firefly: Ice Born by P.M. Pevato
Thirteen by Shannon Peel
Enemy Within by Marysol James
Questing for a Dream by P.D. Workman
Vice by Rosanna Leo
Lakeshore Secrets by Shannyn Leah
Guarding Midnight by Kacey Hammell
3013:Renegade by Susan Hayes
The Raven Room by Ana Medeiros
Alien Next Door: Complete Series by Jessica E. Subject
Slow Ride Home by Leah Braemel
One Gold Heart by Sadie Haller
Unconditional Devotion by Kayleigh Malcolm
Festive Persuasion by Charlene Roberts
Two $10 gift cards for Chapters-Indigo

And don’t forget to visit ALL of our participating bloggers and authors!

Lisa Emme	PD Workman
Ashley Dooley	Shannyn Leah
Marie Landry	Susan Hayes
Shannon Peel	Kacey Hammel
Veronica DelRosa	Ana Medeiros
Cori Vidae	Jessica Subject
Amie Stockton	Kayleigh Malcolm
Marysol James	Romarin Demetri
Natasza Waters	Sadie Haller
PM Pevato	Leah Braemel
Marie Johnston	Charlene Roberts
Rosanna Leo

What’s Next? Kobo Next!

December 26, 2015 / lisaemme / Leave a comment

Marketing your own book is hard, especially when you really don’t know what you are doing. I’ve experimented with a few things. Some were moderate hits, most misses. The next big thing is Kobo Next and starting today, Dead and Kicking is being promoted by Kobo as “your next must-read”.

I was very excited to get accepted into the Kobo Next program. Kobo Next is a curated list, as selected by merchandisers, of some of the best titles available on Kobo. For the next two weeks Dead and Kicking will be promoted by Kobo, displayed on the main page for at least one week and remain in the carousel of featured books for the next several weeks. Kobo presents these titles as “hidden gems that are poised to become the next big thing…” and they promote them throughout the month in various banners and emails. Hopefully this will get Harry’s series some much needed exposure on Kobo. Perfect timing with Tooth and Claw coming out in a little over a week.

Kobo Next

We Have Your Results and the Test is Positive!

December 21, 2015December 21, 2015 / lisaemme / 3 Comments

(Pssst! Looking for the Jingle Book Blog Hop? Click here.)

So about a month ago, I told you about my experiment to improve my sales on Amazon. Basically, I moved my book, Dead and Kicking, from a category that had tens of thousands of other books listed to one that fit my book but had a significantly smaller number of books listed. The idea behind this is to improve a book’s ratings and by improving the ratings, increasing sales. The lower rank a book has, the easier it is for readers to find and therefore buy.

Here’s what I mean:

Before I made the change to Dead and Kicking‘s category, it was ranked (at that particular moment) #5740 out of 307,344 books in the Parnormal & Urban category on Amazon.com. A person would have to be really persistent to go through the Amazon top seller’s list twenty books at a time to get to 5740, so basically unless a reader knew to look for it, they weren’t going to find Dead and Kicking.

After the change, I noticed an improvement in my rank almost immediately. The next day in fact, Dead and Kicking was ranked #140. Not too shabby. And it only improved from there, breaking into the Amazon.com top 100 in just a couple of weeks.

Things were even better on the Amazon.ca side of things. The day after the change in category, Dead and Kicking sky-rocketed to #27! That meant a reader only had to decide to click over to the next page once and my book would be visible in the top sellers list. Three days later I hit lucky #13 on the list. In other words it was on the top screen in the list so it would be immediately visible to a prospective buyer.

So did a better rank equate with increased sales?

YOU BETCHA!

I wish I could say it was a dramatic increase, but it wasn’t. It was a noticeable change, however, especially on Amazon.ca where my book was ranking higher.

As you can see from the graph below, sales were pretty steady before the change (the left side of the green line). I was making sales but the numbers stayed pretty consistent. After the change (as indicated by the green line), I saw steady growth in sales and momentum is continuing to build.

Increased visibility = increased sales

The other thing I noticed immediately after the change is that my rank didn’t fluctuate as dramatically as it did when it was in its original category. When Dead and Kicking was first released, the rank would jump all over the place from the thousands to the hundreds and back again over the course of an hour or two. With the new category, the fluctation is much slower and the rank usually stays constant for several hours at at time, if not the entire day. That isn’t to say it doesn’t fluctuate at all, but the up and down swing is much shallower.

On Amazon.ca where my rank has been the best, there is a steady momentum towards the top five. Hopefully it’s only a matter of time before it hits #1! It was #4 all day yesterday 🙂

So, the moral of this story? Pick the categories for your book carefully. It does make a difference!

The Jingle Book Blog Hop Continues

December 19, 2015December 18, 2015 / lisaemme / Leave a comment

Get in the holiday spirit by hopping along with me on the Jingle Book Blog Hop. Check out my post on Christmas Spirit for all the details. Don’t forget there is a Grand Prize giveaway for a $25 Amazon Gift Card. I’m also offering a chance to win one of five digital copies (epub or mobi) of Dead and Kicking. Just comment on the original post and your name will be entered in the draw. Sign up for my mailing list (here) and get an extra entry to the draw.

Jingle Book Blog Hop and Giveaway

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 / lisaemme / 20 Comments

To help get you into the holiday mood, I’m participating in the Jingle Book Blog Hop, hosted by Fire & Ice Book Promos. Join me on this hop around the internet as fellow writers and bloggers share their ideas on Christmas Spirit. There is also a Jingle Book Blog Hop Grand Prize giveaway where you can win a $25 Amazon Gift Card (see the ‘Enter to Win’ link below).

Christmas Spirit

Christmas is a great time of year whether you are religious or not. What better time to don the holiday spirit and spend time with friends and family? With our hectic lives and busy schedules, it might not always be easy to get into the swing of things, so here’s a few ways to kick things off.

Watch a Christmas movie. There are plenty to chose from including:

A Christmas Story
The Polar Express
Elf
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
How The Grinch Stole Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Christmas Carol
It’s A Wonderful Life
Miracle on 34th Street (my personal favourite – the original 1947 version)
The Santa Clause
Home Alone
Frosty the Snowman
Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer
White Christmas.

Call a friend or loved one. Say hi to someone you haven’t spoken with for a while. Maybe they need help getting into the spirit too.

Read a Christmas themed book. You can’t go wrong with classics like How the Grinch Stole Christmas or A Christmas Carol, no matter what age you are. For the younger set, one of my favourites is Auntie Claus by Elise Primavera.

Decorate! Ornaments, Christmas cards, popcorn strings, lights, garland. Visit the dollar store if you’re on a budget.

Send out Christmas cards or email greetings. You have to send a letter to get a letter, my Gramma used to say. What better way to get into the holiday spirit than to lift someone else’s? And, who knows? You may just get a card in return.

Buy a countdown/advent calendar. Did you know they have ones with chocolate in them? They even have ones with alcohol (check out this Whiskey Advent Calendar)! I realize it’s already partway through December, but think how much fun it will be to catch up!

Listen to Christmas music. Yes, I know the malls are filled with muzak, but there are a lot of great Christmas songs out there. Here’s a few to listen for:

Merry Christmas Everybody – Slade
Wonderful Christmastime – Paul McCartney
I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday – Roy Wood and Wizard
Walking in the Air – Aled Jones
Do They Know it’s Christmas? – Band Aid
I Believe in Father Christmas – Greg Lake
Rocking Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
White Christmas – Bing Crosby
Happy Christmas (War is Over) – John Lennon
Sleigh Ride – Pentatonix
Step into Christmas – Elton John
Mistletoe and Wine – Cliff Richard
Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord – Boney M.
Fairytale of New York – Pogues and Kirsty MacColl
A spaceman came Travelling – Chris De Burgh
Last Christmas – Wham!
All I Want For Christmas is You – Mariah Carey
Jingle Bells – Bing Crosby (other versions exist too)
Christmas Lights – Coldplay

Be generous. Donate time or money to those in need. Volunteer at your local food bank or soup kitchen. Give to a local charity that collects to help make Christmas better for those less fortunate.

Say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to everyone you meet. Even if they don’t celebrate, they will probably return the greeting with a smile, and you should too!

Bake some treats. We all have a favourite treat that we only make on special occasions. No time like the present to dust that recipe off. In fact, I’ll share one of mine. When I was a kid, we called this “Christmas Slice” because you only ever saw it at Christmas.

Nanaimo Bars recipe

Looking for the perfect gift for the reader in your family? There’s still time to order them a copy of Dead and Kicking, book one in the Harry Russo Diaries. In fact, there’s no better time than now to read Harry’s first adventure, with book two, Tooth and Claw, set for release on January 5, 2016.

As part of this hop, I am offering a chance to win one of five digital copies (epub or mobi) of Dead and Kicking just leave a comment below and you are automatically entered. Sign up to my mailing list (here) during the duration of the hop and get an extra entry. Everyone who signs up will also get a sneak peek at the first chapter of Deadlocked, book three in the Harry Russo Diaries.

Available in all digital formats!
Amazon
Kobo
iTunes
Barnes & Noble

Also available in print!
Chapters
Createspace
Barnes & Noble
Amazon

What’s a girl to do when her date is D.O.A?

Angharad ‘Harry’ Russo is just your ordinary twenty-something, with one exception – she’s a witch with an out of the ordinary gift. When her blind date goes sideways and she ends up face to face with a dead body, her life starts to go sideways too.

Harry soon finds herself right in the middle of the mayhem, dealing with Cian Nash, a homicide detective that is as aggravating as he is sexy; the biggest, baddest vampire in town; and a parcel of pesky zombies that keep popping up everywhere. It’s all connected to her date’s unfortunate demise, or is there more to it than meets the eye?

What people are saying about Dead and Kicking:

…I can’t wait to read more.
–KaleidoscopeHeart Book Reviews

I have to say, there just aren’t as many new Urban Fantasy series out there as there used to be, so it’s kind of exciting for me to find one that I enjoyed. I read this debut by Lisa Emme in one sitting.
-Jen, Red Hot Books

5 stars….I read the whole thing in one go, I loved her characters and her story line, I was completely engaged…
–Jen Winters

Read an excerpt from Dead and Kicking

Coming Soon!

Available for pre-order Now. Check your favourite online retailer!
Amazon
Kobo
iTunes
Barnes & Noble

Available in print January 2016

Jingle Book Blog Hop Grand Prize Giveaway.

Follow this link to enter the Grand Prize Giveaway and continue on the rest of the hop.

Enter to Win!

And don’t forget to check back on December 27th for the Crazy Canuck New Year’s Blog Hop. Fill your new devices with Canadian authors with a chance to win a fantastic grand prize!

Do You Pin?

December 14, 2015December 14, 2015 / lisaemme / Leave a comment

Have I mentioned I have a Pinterest account? I’ve created boards for the first two books in the Harry Russo Diaries as well as for my upcoming romantic suspense, Home Again.

There are sneak peeks, some of Harry’s wardrobe choices and other props. Want to know what kind of Harley Nash drives? What does the infamous McQueen dress look like? There’s even a board for Harry’s store, Contain Yourself. And let’s not forget some of Harry’s favourite recipes, or at least one’s she hopes to convince Isaac to try!

Stop on by and follow me. I’ll be adding new boards as the series progresses. Visit me on Pinterest!

Cyber Monday Sale

November 30, 2015 / lisaemme / Leave a comment

Last chance to get in on the Cyber Monday Sale on Kobo. Savings now available on Amazon too (thanks to their price matching). Find out why it’s been hitting the Amazon bestseller list. Get your digital copy of Dead and Kicking today!

bis-sale-sign

Black Friday – Cyber Monday SALE

November 27, 2015November 26, 2015 / lisaemme / Leave a comment

So my sales on Kobo have been, well frankly, abysmal and since Kobo has this handy little feature where you can mark your book for a promotional sale, I’ve decided to give it a try and jump on the Black Friday, Cyber Monday band wagon.

From today until Monday, I have marked down the price of Dead and Kicking (on Kobo only). If you haven’t had a chance to get your digital copy, now’s the time to do it.

A Needle in a Haystack

November 25, 2015November 23, 2015 / lisaemme / 1 Comment

As promised, I’d like to tell you a bit about the experiment I’m trying on Amazon to see if it increases my sales (as touted by the free video series by Nick Stephenson that I watched – more details and sign up here).

Amazon is basically a huge search engine. In fact, it is the second largest search engine on the internet next to Google. To increase your sales on Amazon, beside having lots of helpful (as determined by Amazon users that read the reviews and mark them as helpful) positive reviews, you need your book to filter to the top of search results so that people can actually find and buy your book. And that’s the hard part.

The trick is to figure out what category and keywords that result in a smaller search results base best fit your book. For example, I orignally placed Dead and Kicking in the category “Science Fiction & Fantasy -> Fanatasy -> Paranormal & Urban”, a category that yields almost 39,000 results. Talk about a needle in a haystack!

So after watching the webinar, I spent an hour or so exploring categories on Amazon to try and find a better fit, i.e. a category that still applies to my book but that has less competitors. I finally settled on “Mystery & Thrillers -> Suspense -> Paranormal” which only has about 3000 books listed. Much better! What makes it even better still, is this happens to be a category on Amazon that will then use your keywords to further filter the genre. So, by adding Vampires as a keyword, suddenly the results set is 730 titles. Use the keywords Werewovles & Shifters and it’s reduced even more to a much more manageable 509 titles. The chances of a reader finding my book just got a lot better.

Will this have a noticeable result on my sales? I sure hope so. It’s too early to tell right now, but I will definitely keep you posted.

You’ve Published Your Book – Now What?

November 23, 2015November 23, 2015 / lisaemme / 5 Comments

Well, it’s been a little over a month and a half since Dead and Kicking was released. So, what have I been up to? Mainly stalking my book on a regular basis on all the online retailers and trying to learn the ins and outs of marketing.

So far, I can’t really say I’ve learned all that much…

Really the only thing I can say for certain.

It’s basically been trial and error and hit or miss. I’ve tried a couple of things in the way of promotion, but as of yet nothing has really paid off. Luckily, I’m starting small – $10 promotion type things. I have another one coming up in December with the Fussy Librarian, which I hope will result in sales. I guess we’ll see.

Being able to even try the Fussy Librarian promo hinged on getting reviews. Something that continues to be difficult. It’s hard when you know your book is out there but don’t get any sort of feedback. I’ve sold several hundred books by this point, but the reviews are coming in at a trickle. What does that mean? Does it mean anything? Beats me.

I’m truly thankful for the reviews I have so far. If you took the time to write a review and posted it somewhere, I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate it. If you could take the review and post it to a few other places (like Kobo, Barnes & Noble and iTunes where I really need some reviews), I’d appreciate it even more. Reviews are so important in getting you exposure and, of course, the more exposure you have the more books you will probably sell.

lisa emme

urban fantasy and romance author

Marketing