My plea to you...no headlock required

You know how I’ve made it a point never to put anyone in a headlock and scream “buy my book!”

It’s because I believe wholeheartedly that social media works best when sales pitches are kept to a bare minimum, and I try to be bare as much as possible.

But today I’m making the plea – BUY MY BOOK!

Or more specifically, pre-order it. Like, now.

See, books are judged heavily on the first week’s sales. Pre-orders count toward that week, which is why you see a lot of authors dancing topless in exchange for pre-orders in the weeks leading up to release day.

I’m not saying I think I have a snowball’s chance in hell of hitting the New York Times list my first week out, but I always believe in giving any long-shot my best effort. Even though I know odds are slim Daniel Craig will leave his new wife to make wild, passionate love to me, I still Fed-Ex him locks of my hair every week.

So here’s my plea:

1. Pre-order the Making Waves by Sunday, July 31. You can order at Amazon or Barnes and Noble or Powells Books or IndieBound.
2. Send an email to tawnafenske at yahoo dot com with the subject line “Hell yes I pre-ordered!” In the email, include either an electronic copy of your receipt, or if you already received the book due to Amazon's early shipment, a photo of yourself with the book.
3. Include your snail-mail address.

Follow those steps by Sunday, July 31 and I’ll mail you a signed Making Waves bookmark. Those of you reading the e-book version will find it makes a lovely coaster for a really narrow drink.

Everyone who participates gets the bookmark. In addition, everyone will be entered in a drawing to win a signed copy of Making Waves (hey, you can give your unsigned one to a friend) as well as a signed Advance Reading Copy of my second contracted romantic comedy, Believe it Or Not when it’s available. Not a bad package, right?

I said “package.”

So there’s my plea. No headlock required, right?

If you have any questions, leave ‘em in the comments. Otherwise, I’ll be over here hitting “refresh” on my in-box over and over and over and…

ADDENDUM

Holy cow, you guys! Um, talk about speedy response! Amazon is already showing limited quantities in stock (it said six copies just ten minutes ago, and now it says two). My amazing agent scrambled to touch base with the publisher and make sure there are plenty of books available. They've assured us there are, and that if anyone does happen to run out, printing more is a speedy proposition. So keep ordering, and thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!