50 Shades of #FanFiction

When Christine Nolfi, bestselling author and awesome sauce, suggested I write fan fiction for the Lei Crime Series (#LeiCrimeKW), my first reaction was – but I don’t do 50 Shades of Gray! ☺ (If you’re not aware, the latter started off as fan fiction.)

Once I got past my knee-jerk reaction, I bought Blood Orchids, the first book in Toby Neal’s amazing series. To help with my research, Toby generously offered me free copies of the rest of the series – both ebooks and audio. Toby’s books are meticulously plotted police procedurals, so it was no hardship to read/hear them. I was hooked!

I needed a character to build a story around, so I chose Wayne Texeira. He’s fresh out of prison and ready to get on with his life. He just has a little problem with anger management. Something about this rough around the edges, yet honorable, man appealed to me. I decided to give him something to look forward to – a love interest who is also a very capable woman (no wishy-washiness for me).

I also decided to throw Texeira bang in the middle of suspicious deaths (because, really, what’s a murder mystery without bodies?) – and Valley Isle Secrets (link and cover coming soon!) was born. Toby Neal and her band of Lei Crime Kindle World writers (me, included) are doing a joint book launch for multiple books in this series.

But, really, what’s a book launch without readers? So I’d like this chance to invite you to join our Facebook party on Dec 28, 2015.

Thank you, Christine Nolfi, for suggesting #LeiCrimeKW to me. And thank you Toby Neal for inviting me to be a part of your writing world and, of course, for writing this fabulous series!

Guest Post: How I Became a #Bestseller in horror on #Amazon India

When I published my debut book via Amazon, something incredible happened. Within a week of its release, it shot to the #1 slot of Amazon India’s New Horror Releases. When Rasana Atreya ma’am approached me to write about what I did to achieve such a stupendous feat, my first reaction was to say that I did nothing. But then I paused and thought about it. I figured I must have done something right because even today, it continues to show up within the top ten new releases of the list. And so I agreed.

And then I sat back and thought about it. What did I do? The simple one-word answer would be ‘marketing’. But that does not even begin to cover everything I did. It required hours upon hours of working on a plan and approaching people and shouting about my book from the rooftops- figuratively. The thing is, I am a very shy person, almost reclusive, so for me to step out of my comfort zone and sell my product was not easy. But I had to grit my teeth and do it.

One marketing gimmick that worked favorably for me was a series of posters that I designed for my important characters. While the book has an ensemble cast, I chose six of the most important characters and made individual posters, and gave a brief four-line blurb to each of them. These posters managed to garner quite a bit of curiosity.

Another important aspect that I worked hard on was the blurb of the book. I read somewhere that writing the blurb is tougher than writing the story itself and I could not agree more. A blurb is essentially a 100-150 word summary of your book that is not only interesting, but is also crisp and has to hook the audience. Simple enough right? I was about ready to tear my hair trying to get the perfect one, but trust me when I say this, it is worth all the effort and more.

The other thing that worked to my benefit was the cover. Although I provided the basic idea, I had the cover professionally designed. It did cost me quite a bit but it definitely managed to build the intrigue. But the most important thing to remember, is that the content is king. Marketing, blurb and cover may make the audience pick up the book but it is the content that will move them to write the review.

Finally, before closing, I’ll share one little secret, if you can guarantee the sale of a minimum of five books on the day of the release, it will give you a boost that you can then bank on to carry it forward. From there on, it requires steady and continuous effort to maintain our sales. As of now, I am approaching bloggers and trying to reach to a wider reader base through them.

So go on, choose your audience and pitch your book to the best of your ability and then, let the chips fall where they may.

Blurb

Liam’s life has become a waking nightmare. He’s plagued by constant headaches and is hounded by inexplicable events bordering on the insane. He is convinced that his vindictive ex, Lily, despite her vehement denials, is the one sending him disturbing packages. The only bright spot in a life gone berserk is Aliana, the woman Liam has loved ever since he saw her in a parking lot. But a shocking revelation about her leaves him questioning everything he knows.  As Liam plunges deeper into the twin abysses of unbridled love and unexplained insanity, he has to do all it takes to stop his life from spiraling out of control.

 

About The Author

Aindrila first penned a short story, of a princess defending a fortress, as an 11 year old. Glad that it was out of her system, she threw that piece of paper away.

 But over the years, her imagination kept tormenting her with story ideas, until she decided that it was time to finally let them out.

She now writes full time, mostly horror-fantasies, filled with complex and anguished souls, fighting monsters within and without.

She is fascinated by Indian and Greek mythology, animes, high fantasy novels, and paleontology, all of which have found their way into her stories as subtle tweaks to the backdrop. 

‘I See You’ is her first published story.

Links to Buy: Amazon.com / Amazon.in / Pothi.com