Wednesday, February 29, 2012

I'm cheap, easy, and sometimes free! (In other words, win a signed copy of Believe it or Not)

Back in December, Amazon picked Making Waves for a special discount promotion. My sales spiked, and I did a little happy dance that may or may not have involved nipple tassels and a jar of maraschino cherries.

My publisher ran a similar promotion after that. It's a common sales strategy that makes a lot of sense in the months leading up to a new release – offer discounts on the author's last book to catch the eye of readers who might not have gambled on it at full price. If they enjoy that book, there's a good chance they'll go looking for something else the author wrote and ohlookiehere it's a new book coming out!

I had to laugh a couple months ago when someone made a snarky comment that my book must suck if it's on sale. Since I find it's not worth bruising my knuckles punching uninformed people in the ding-ding, I politely refrained from responding.

Suffice it to say, the sales are a good thing, and I'm thrilled Sourcebooks has launched a new one now that we're a week away from the release date for Believe it or Not. Right now, the Kindle version of Making Waves is priced at only $1.79. The Barnes & Noble Nook version isn't too shabby either at only $1.99.

If you have an eReader and haven't read Making Waves yet, now might be a good time to snap it up. If you've read it and enjoyed it, how about gifting it to a friend? Think of it like buying your pal a glass of wine, only at a quarter of the cost and with zero risk of hangover.

Tell you what...take advantage of this sale in one form or another, either by buying it for yourself, buying it as a gift, mentioning the sale on Twitter or Facebook, or accosting random strangers you see holding an eBook and offering to flash the body part of their choosing if they purchase the book. (I'll leave it up to you whether to flash the part or run away giggling).

Tell me in the comments what you did, and I'll enter your name in a drawing for a free signed copy of Believe it or Not. Contest closes at 5 p.m. PST on Thursday, March 1, and I'll announce the winner after that. Sound good?

Now go forth and spread the word that I'm cheap and easy. Write it on the bathroom wall if you must.

17 comments :

Matthew MacNish said...

For some reason, this showed up in my dashboard just now.

Jess said...

I'm in! I posted about the sale on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/jesshface/status/174886464482582528

abby mumford said...

my older sister is about two weeks away from the birth of her second child and had asked for some book recommendations so she could load up her kindle while she still had some free time. i recommended MAKING WAVES and upon reading this post, forwarded it to her and told her she has to buy it now.

i didn't offer to flash any body parts b/c (a) we're in two different states and (b) she has an unfair advantage seeing as she's preggers and has milk engorged body parts...however i did spread the word because there's nothing like pushing a baby out of your body to make you want to read about other people getting it on. :)

Linda G. said...

You were probably right (sadly) not to punch that idiot in the ding-dong. So, you want me to do it for you? I'm willing to risk my knuckles for the honor of a great book.

Jessica Lemmon said...

Yay! I posted this on my BFF's FB wall the moment I saw your post about the sale. ...extra points for doing it before I knew there was a contest? ;)

Stephsco said...

Oh cool! I've been meaning to download your book for awhile now but I've been catching up on print books I've already bought/acquired. This is a great opportunity and I'll download it from B&N tonight!

I always enjoy your blog, BTW.

Anonymous said...

You have been facebooked and twittered!!! Why does that sound so dirty minded when sent to you? Hmmm *ponders*

I already own your making waves book and have told friends for the last month to buy it. Wonder if any of them did....

Judy,Judy,Judy. said...

Facebook rec done! Happy to do it.

Deborah Blake said...

Is the new book coming out in print? because if it is, I'm running out to get a copy right now. I LOVED Making Waves!

Will be right back, as soon as I FB and Twitter the heck out of this sucker.

Congrats!

TAWNA FENSKE said...

Awesome, guys! Thanks for the support.

Matthew, something went wonky with my timing this morning. I usually set my posts to go live at 2:30 a.m., but I accidentally hit 2:30 p.m. for this one. Caught it early and fixed it, but that's the reason for the delay.

Linda, I always know I can count on you for ding-ding punching.

Debora, yup, BELIEVE IT OR NOT comes out in paperback March 6 (though I suspect it'll release a bit early like MAKING WAVES did).

Thanks so much for all your help spreading the word, guys! I sure do appreciate it!

Tawna

Anonymous said...

My friend recommended MAKING WAVES to me a couple months ago and I absolutely loved it. I'll be picking up a copy of BELIEVE IT OR NOT next week. Thanks for writing HILARIOUS stories.

erin said...

Ok... I blog stalk you (in a good way, I swear) and I know the second that something comes available. I had Making Waves, print, preordered months in advance and the instant that the e-book version went on sale, I snatched that one up to. Believe It Or Not has been preordered ever since it went live on Amazon and I'm currently reading Getting Dumped. So... now that I've written all that I wouldn't blame you if backed away slowly. Ummm... I love dogs?

Caryn Caldwell said...

Earlier on Facebook I commented on one of your posts to say that I've been trying to get a friend of mine to read your books. Well, I just sent her a gift copy. I've never done that before, but it was actually super easy and kind of exciting. I can't wait to hear how she reacts. She loves contemporary romantic comedies - especially when they're humorous - so I think she'll love yours!

Sierra said...

I have mentioned it on Facebook, as well as in emails to all my reader friends. :D

Oh, and I may have checked to see if my aunt would like it as a gift for her Nook. ;)

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to read Believe It or Not! Last week I sent my sister an amazon card and a list of recommended reads - with Making Waves in the top five. I just sent her an email telling her that now is the moment to act!

I also decided I should add an e-copy to my collection so I can reread when I'm on the go.
Give me a minute and I'll add a retweet of your contest tweet.
Laurel N
BTW - Me flashing body parts would not augment your sales unless used as a threat. Hmmm, I'll give it some thought. lol

Karen L said...

Lets see..... I had my book club buy your first book already and then we skyped with you. Then I told them all about your interactive one and we all bought it. THEN, I recommended they buy your new one when it is released. Does all of that count? I do want that cat-smelling book of yours!! Oh yeah, I also posted it on my facebook page.... I love your writing!

Karen
klawson5@oradrunner.com

Darin Burt said...

For Christmas, I gave each of the ladies in my office $2 so they could buy a copy of the book.

I also scratched this in the stall of the men's restroom: FOR A GOOD TIME, READ TAWNA FENSKE