Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Thank you

My sister got an email from Amazon that said -
Based on the books you read we think you will like this one.
- That is not an exact quote, Amazon worded it better.
This is what she saw!

-This is my BOOK!-

Then, she posted a picture of her email on
Facebook for everyone to see!
Haha!
Things like this are so much fun! 
I love unexpected promotions!

For my sister,
Thank you for sharing this with me and so many others!
ALSO
Thank you, Amazon, for making my book available to so many!

Atleah, Book One in the Gurruffallo Series, is available at:

Trinket Holder, 
Book Two in the Gurruffallo Series, 
available
December 2016!
Sandra Gough, Author

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Thursday, October 20, 2016

Surprises

I love surprises involving Atleah!

Yesterday, I typed into the Windows 10 'Ask me anything' bar at the bottom of the screen 
the name of my book,
Atleah,
and hit the search button. 
Now, Windows 10 uses bing and Microsoft, 
where I usually us Google and Chrome. 
I did not expect much to happen but, 
SURPRISE!


There I am! 
Three search results near the top of the page!
Yes, I clicked on all three.

This is Book Daily which offers a preview of my book along with my 5-star review!


This is Pretty-Hot.com. They show my book and tell something about it.

This is Awesomegang. They also show my book and tell something about it.

I thought when my free promotion expired the ads would expire too,
that is why seeing them was such a surprise!

Everyday I learn something new in regards to advertising for
Atleah, Book One in the Gurruffallo Series,
and every time I get tickled pink and want to share it with everybody!


Available:
https://www.createspace.com/6279653

https://www.amazon.com/Atleah-Gurruffallo-Book-Sandra-Gough-ebook/dp/B01LYID4PP/


I decided to change my
author picture 
to this one. 
It fits better, in the space provided, on the back cover of a book than my original picture did.


Trinket Holder, Book Two in the Gurruffallo Series 
coming soon
December 2016!
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Friday, October 14, 2016

Reviews

Two weeks ago I got my first review on Amazon!
It was my birthday!

I had no idea a review would affect me the way it did. I was at home and it was near bedtime for my boys. I checked my e-mail and looked at Facebook and Twitter and Kboards and last, but not least, Amazon.
I typed in my books name, Atleah, in the scroll bar, and my book came up at the top of the list with a 5-Star review. 
Wait... What? 
Oh my God! 

I clicked on it. Sure enough a 5-Star review! It was short, just a few simple words, but oh my God! I jumped up, laptop in hand, and raced through the house to my boys' rooms to show them. They were excited too and immediately began talking about movie rights. 

I'm thinking, Whoa! 
To much to soon, guys.
Chill! 
Baby Steps! 

It was such an amazing feeling to share with my boys, and I have wanted to send out a thank you but I have struggled with what to say. I never knew that a review would mean so much. It really makes all the hard work worth it! My kids are still impressed. One of my boys had to do a school project about himself and his family. He found the book cover for Atleah online to print out, and he placed it on his project, with the 5-Star review.  




 Atleah, Book One in the Gurruffallo Series
is available at:
https://www.amazon.com/Atleah-Gurruffallo-Book-Sandra-Gough-ebook/dp/B01LYID4PP
https://www.createspace.com/6279653


Look for 
Trinket Holder, Book Two in the Gurruffallo Series 

Coming December 2016!
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Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Author Pictures

So, I realize this is something I should have done before my first book, 
Atleah, Book One in the Gurruffallo Series, 
was released, but I like to do things backward!

I finally sat down and went through 
photo, 
after photo,
after photo 
to pick my Author Picture
Yea!

And then there were EIGHT:
Photo 1
Photo 2




















Photo 3
Photo 4














Photo 5
Photo 6




















Photo 7


Photo 8
























To be honest, I was not sure I liked any of them...
I did not know placing a picture on the back of a book would be so difficult.
It is not that I thought the photos were bad, I just don't like photos of myself.
I like when a photo is able to show secrets about the subject in them, maybe I don't like pictures of myself because I already know all my secrets. 
There's a thought!

I finally enlisted the help of my sisters. 
They always have wonderful opinions and good insights! 
We all agreed on one photo!
My next book, 
Trinket Holder, Book Two in the Gurruffallo Series, 
will include my new Author Photo:



I love black and white pictures. This one stands out to me. There is another black and white in the crowd, and I may incorporate it later, but for now, my author photo has been chosen!

  


Available:




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Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Bricks

I received this private message on a social media site.

"I read your book and it was cute, actually from the 
time Rhonnie and Marc started going through Meleseus' 
room I could not put it down, but what do 
the bricks on the front cover have to do with the story?"


Well, the bricks represent more how I felt at the time the cover was made. 
- Stuck between a rock and a hard spot! - 

My original book cover idea had been the profile of a girls face towards the top of the right side of the book, she would have long, red hair and big green eyes, and she would be looking at the Amulet in the bottom left corner. I drew it out. I worked on it obsessively. I tried several different layouts but it always looked like every other cover I had seen that had somebody looking at something. 

I wanted something different!

I was off to the drawing board again but I was stuck. I could not think of anything that would not resemble another book in some way. I just didn't want a person on the front of my book! Then, I saw the Talon Series covers by Julie Kagawa and they are unique. 
They are their own. 
They are the skins of dragons. 
They are beautiful. 
Amazing!


So, I had a new thought! Why not a landscape, some rolling, green hills or a field? The more I tried to incorporate a landscape the more I saw other book covers in my cover and I was once again stuck searching for new ideas. A picture that would cover the whole cover had become my goal.

I seemed to be smooshed up against a brick wall by a giant boulder!

As I thought about my cover and how I was never going to publish my book because it would never have a cover, that brick wall became more foreboding. I began drawing pictures of bricks, nothing fancy, just color swaps here and there, and a new idea formed. Atleah, the book, is named after the castle in the book, why couldn't my brick wall represent the structure of Atleah? Why couldn't those bricks that had taunted me be turned into my book cover?

Before long the bricks had formed a wall, and that wall formed a cover for my book! I did not stop there. After the stress I put myself through with the first cover I began to struggle with the look of the next cover until I realized I can use my bricks again! I can combine my books into the Gurruffallo Series by their covers! 

Once I figured out what I was doing and what all I could accomplish with my bricks, the idea of a cover no longer bothered me. I like my bricks and they mean something to me because they represent more than the castle walls of Alteah, they also represent my struggles.

I hope this answers your question! 

Atleah can be found at:

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Monday, September 26, 2016

FREE on Amazon!


Atleah is FREE on Amazon! 
Offer ends 9/27/2016.
https://www.amazon.com/Atleah-Gurruffallo-Book-Sandra-Gough-ebook/dp/B01LYID4PP

Through one of the promotional deals Amazon provides to their customers, Atleah is FREE! As a reader I have taken advantage of these offers many times and am very excited that others have the same opportunity with my book!
     
Soon Atleah will not be an only child as Trinket Holder will join her on shelves. Trinket Holder is the second book in the Gurruffallo Series and will take readers to a new world as they follow Rhionan and the other immortals to a land of magical creatures and deities that will forever change her future.

For more amazing book offers please check out: 
www.askdavid.com
www.readfree.ly
www.frugal-freebies.com
www.awesomegang.com
www.pretty-hot.com
www.addictedtoebooks.com
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Friday, September 23, 2016

Thoughts from the Author

So, as a new author self-publishing a book, it is a very interesting experience. For one, I have read all these articles about what to do and what not to do, and some of the dos contradict the don'ts. Everybody's different outlook and opinion of the self-publishing process is entertaining! I understand different things work for different authors and genres and I love all the foresight that has been left for people like me to pick up. I am enjoying myself learning new things every day that I would never have guessed were part of writing and publishing a book!  

On my own, I have learned that to self-publish a book you have to belong to several social sights. The book sights are the most important, but Facebook and Twitter are ideal for getting the word out. Everybody is on one or the other, or both!

Trying to get reviews and ratings, an essential part of any online book, takes time and patience because the book has to be bought and read first. Book bloggers are a tremendous asset to authors and their stories. Book bloggers spread the word to a wide variety of  readers that the social sights sometimes miss.




This book has been my baby for the last few years. She even has brothers and sisters that are soon to join her!




Atleah looks slightly different than I imagined her to look. The cover on the left is the one in the public eye. The cover on the right had been the original, but the fonts could not be matched up for printing. 

One day that may change!  

I have also learned how to make ads for my books! 
I figure if I am capable of doing it myself than I might as well!
The picture was drawn with charcoal. 
As much smudging as I did, my hands were a mess but the overall product was worth it!

The last couple of days I have logged onto a website for the first time. Some of you may be familiar with it, but if you are not it is packed full of books of every kind and the inhabitants of that site are extremely nice. So if you're looking for a new book or people who love to read as much as you, check out http://www.kboards.com/

A good place to look for bargain books is:
http://www.readfree.ly/
Atleah sample:

Purchase:

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