Free ebooks | JOANNE WADSWORTH

First Frost, A Lyrical Press Anthology — FREE At Amazon!

by Joanne Wadsworth | Nov 12, 2013 | Author Blog, Highlander's Captive

FIRST FROST IS HERE — FREE AT AMAZON!

FIRST FROST has just released. This fantastic ebook is FREE, compliments of Lyrical Press’s authors. Please feel free to check out the excerpts below to see if this is something you might like. The nine novellas within this book cross a wide range of romance’s sub-genres, and the reads are listed from sweet to steamy. If you grab a copy of FIRST FROST, I truly hope you enjoy the read. I certainly had a ton of fun writing HIGHLANDER’S CAPTIVE specifically for this anthology. My novella is the second story in and forms part of my Highlander Heat series, so make sure you check it out. Here’s a look at First Frost.

FIRST FROST

A Lyrical Press anthology

Melt away the chill with a warm romance, or turn up the heat with a more steamy story, without raising your utility bill…compliments of Lyrical Press’s authors.

Pick up your FREE copy of FIRST FROST AT >>> AMAZON

A Keeper
Contemporary sweet romance by Charlotte McClain
Some things are worth keeping. Some guys are keepers.
Dina Paxson has a few days before going back to work on the cruise ship to straighten out a billing snafu at the storage facility. Paul Hanover is baby-sitting the facility for his mother when Dina comes in. She’s a little odd, but in a way that makes him want to know more about her. Too bad his need to know conflicts with her desire to be a little more anonymous.

Highlander’s Captive
Historical romance by Joanne Wadsworth
His mission is to capture. Hers is to turn the tide.
Julia MacLeod is held captive by a Highland warrior, a man whose deep-seated honor may just turn him into becoming the captured instead.

Ripe for Trouble
Contemporary romance by Autumn Piper
Are they ready for love this time around, or just ripe for trouble?
When Ivy Leeds takes a job in her hometown, few things have changed…but Ridley, the bad boy of her graduating class, has cleaned up his act. Or so everyone else thinks. After hearing him and his friend practicing pickup lines, she has her doubts. Ridley Tucker can hardly believe his eyes. Ivy, the president of the Brainiac Club, has returned to town. Some things never change—she’ll barely give him the time of day, and she still looks as fine as she did that night at Prom, when they almost… Well, when he blew their chances forever. Or…did he?

In His Embrace
Contemporary romance by Wendy Ely
When life’s glow threatens to die in a person, love’s light guides the way.
Tori expected Friday to be completely ordinary: a quick goodbye to her best friend who was going away on a business trip for the weekend, a routine checkup at her doctor’s office, and the rest of the day filled with work. But she was wrong. Ben’s hand rested on her hips a little longer than usual during their goodbye, igniting sparks she’d tried to ignore for years, and then her tests came back abnormal. Scared and alone, she wishes for one person’s hand to hold–Ben’s. He is trying to make it back before her next doctor visit, but can he?

Keep the Fire Burning
Fantasy romance by Daisy Banks
A flame of passion turns into an ever-burning fire of love.
Devastation unites a Prince and a village maiden and together they discover the sweet fire of the flame of love.

May I Have This Dance
Paranormal romance by Toni Kelly
The right partner makes all the difference…in love and dancing.
Tired of hiding who and what he is, half-demon Sebastian Reyes is determined to find happiness. Easier said than done, though—his true identity could drive away the only woman he loves.

Slip the Skin
Paranormal romance by Tera Shanley
His curse is her cure.
Just when Linden Ashby finally accepts her impending doom, a handsome stranger gives her another chance at life. But will it be at the expense of her soul?

Like Autumn Leaves and Campfires
GLBT erotic romance by Elle Parker
Mysterious neighbors, scheming wives and bar fights. This was not Dino’s idea of a relaxing vacation.
All Dino Martini wants is to enjoy his vacation with best friend turned boyfriend, Seth Donnelly. But when he stumbles across a mystery, it feels like business as usual. If Dino wants to spend his time focused on Seth instead of fighting in bars, he might have to get back to work.

Three-Way Tie, a Neighborly Affection short
BDSM erotic romance by MQ Barber
Strong knots hold love fast.
Henry gives his submissive lovers a day filled with the best kind of tension.

Pick up your FREE copy of FIRST FROST AT >>> AMAZON

Don’t forget if you want to drop me a comment, make sure you do. I love hearing from you guys.

And lastly, if you’d like to read one of my books from my thrilling Young Adult Fantasy Romance series then by all means, check out the book links below to pick up your copy of PROTECTOR or WARRIOR.

Buy PROTECTOR (Book One) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / iTunes / Kobo

Buy WARRIOR (Book Two) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / iTunes / Kobo

TAKE CARE.

Free Ebooks — Do They Capture New Readers?

by Joanne Wadsworth | May 13, 2013 | Author Blog

Cute. 🙂

Authors and publishers have offered free ebooks as a way to capture new readers for a few years. But does it really work? This marketing strategy is one of many used in our industry, and it’s rather intriguing. As a reader, I’ve certainly downloaded my fair share of free ebooks over this past 14 months while I’ve had an ereader. To begin with, I thought wow, this is cool. I get to try out new authors and see if I like their work. My intention was, if I did, I’d go on to buy more of their books.

The only problem with this, is that more and more free ebooks keep coming out. There’s an endless stream. Another problem is, some of those freebies were just plain awful. If I got a couple of chapters into the story and it didn’t capture me, I simply deleted it and began another. I hadn’t invested any money, so no harm was done. Only this got a little monotonous. Of the fifteen free ebooks I’d downloaded, only two were any good. Those are terrible odds, and in a way puts me off from downloading another from an author I haven’t heard of.

As a bonus though, because I’d received them for free, I wrote reviews for those two authors and posted them on Amazon. I felt obligated to ensure they received some sort of compensation for what they’d freely given. Although, I can’t help thinking is what happened to me the same for other readers? To answer my question, I checked out what authors and readers are saying about free ebooks. This information has come from a number of sources, from other authors and readers I’ve chatted to, as well as from reading responses within various group threads on Goodreads.

Here’s the overall feeling on free ebooks.

The power of free ebooks seems to be dwindling because of the flood of them this past year.

Readers are more apt to give a new author a try when they can read their book for free. They’ll happily buy other books if there are any.

A couple of authors mentioned that some of their free ebooks made it into the hands of readers who don’t enjoy the genre they write. They then left bad reviews stating so, but then that’s the risk an author takes.

Many readers said they’re more committed to reading an ebook they purchase, over one they receive for free. Freebies get put to the bottom of the pile.

Readers also found where a free ebook in a series became available, if they liked it, it hooked them into buying other books within the series.

Authors did report that they sold more books for a short time after their promotion, but then their sales dropped away again and back to normal levels. Because of this, they felt giving away free ebooks is something that should be done once they had a backlist. This marketing strategy would then see those readers who enjoyed their books, perhaps buying others they had available. (Of course, we all know there are some authors who’ve seen incredible success from “free ebooks,” and in some cases, it’s launched their careers.)

Also, a number of readers said after reading some terrible free ebooks, they’re learnt to check the reviews and the current average rating of any future freebies before downloading them. (This is exactly what I did this month. I’ve downloaded only one free ebook in May, and it’s from an author I know can deliver a good read. I too checked out the current star rating, and once satisfied, downloaded their free ebook.)

One author who experienced a huge boost in sales said she’s glad she gave away free ebooks. It was incredibly effective for her. She was there not long after the KDP select program began and that’s when she saw her success. She did state though, that Amazon have now tightened their algorithms surrounding their lists, and that means a free ebook falls far quicker after its free days. It’s not as effective as it was when she first began.

Lastly, the underlying point which really came through, was readers truly enjoy when they discover a new author from a free ebook. They go searching for other books they’ve written to buy more, but again that author needs to have a backlist to reap the benefits.

Interesting, isn’t it? Publishers and authors will certainly continue to use free ebooks as one of their marketing strategies, but I believe they’re starting to get more savvy on exactly what works and doesn’t work. As an author or reader, what do you think of free ebooks? If you’re an author, have you given ebooks away for free? Did you find success? Was it all you hoped for? Will you try it again? You know me, I love hearing from you. Drop me a comment and let me know how you feel about free ebooks? I’m all for authors supporting authors, and sharing all that important information.

Take care, and I’ll catch ya next week.