March 14 - International Time Travel Day - Free eBooks

International Time Travel Day is March 14th and a bunch of my author friends and I are celebrating it with free ebook giveaways. Keep reading! :-)

By no coincidence, it is also the birthday of Albert Einstein, author of the “space and time bend" theory.

Join 12 Time Travel Authors across North America as they celebrate International Time Travel Day with great giveaways!

More info on Cheryl Kaye Tardif's blog.

The KDP Select Experiment: Part 1 - Mission Impossible?

On December 21 I blogged about the huge carrot Amazon was dangling in front of authors--the opportunity to share in a $500,000 pool via the new KDP Select program. I mentioned that I wasn't happy with some of the conditions of this program or with Amazon's obvious ploy to monopolize the industry. Regardless of the smile on my face in the pic to the left, I don't like being backed into a corner. However, I recognize from a business perspective they're doing what most successful businesses attempt to do--destroy the competition.

The exclusivity clause still bothers me, even now that I have enrolled two of my titles into the program. It bothers me that those with other ereaders outside of the Kindle won't have access to these two titles--DIVINE INTERVENTION and THE RIVER. But from a business perspective I'd be remiss in my duties to completely ignore or overlook what Amazon is offering. I still think Amazon could have taken away the exclusivity clause and still have a ton of interest. It would have been "fair" to everyone else. But big business rarely ever plays fair.

You can read about the first steps I took and follow my experiment at: http://cherylktardif.blogspot.com/2012/01/kdp-select-experiment-part-1-mission.html

You may want to follow my blog or subscribe to the feed.

Summer Reviewer Giveaway - July 1-August 31

A special announcement from Imajin Books:

This July & August, we hope you'll join us for our Summer Reviewer Giveaway. No, we aren't giving away reviewers (though I'm sure some authors would LOVE to have their very own). We're rewarding reviewers!

We think reviewers are special. They take the time to read our books and then post their thoughts about our titles on blogs, websites, Facebook pages, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari etc. And it's time they get some real appreciation. So we're giving away ebooks to reviewers.

And our reviewers will be entered in a draw for a Mystery Prize worth at least $120.

Here's how it works:

• Borrow an Imajin Books title (ebook or paperback) from a friend or lending site, or buy from your favourite retailer. 
• Then post a review on Amazon, B&N or Goodreads. Only reviews posted between July 1, 2011 and August 31, 2011 qualify.
• Email us with the links to your reviews.
• You'll receive 1 free ebook of your choice (from our titles). No obligation to review your ebook prize.
• 1 Mystery Prize valued at $120 (minimum) will be given away to one lucky winner.
• Anyone, anywhere, 18+, can enter this giveaway. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. No cash value.
  
• Imajin Books authors, their families and any subcontracted associates of Imajin Books are excluded from this contest.
• All prizes will be awarded after September 1st and before September 3rd. The Mystery Prize may take up to 4 weeks to be received.

Check out Kindle Nation Daily for everything Kindle

If you were one of the lucky ones who found a Kindle ereader under the Christmas tree this year, I invite you to visit Kindle Nation Daily for everything Kindle. Kindle Nation is run by Stephen Windwalker, a Kindle enthusiast and author of Kindle Free for All and other books about Kindle ereaders.

What you'll find at Kindle Nation Daily:

• Kindle News
• Kindle Bestsellers lists
• eBook of the Day
• eBook Sales
• Free eBooks
• Articles on Kindle ereaders
• Kindle Accessories
• Quick links to Kindle on Amazon
• Kindle Apps for other devices
• Publishing info
• Kindle Contests & More

You can have all this information at your fingertips by visiting Kindle Nation Daily now.

Click here to have Kindle Nation Daily pushed directly to your Kindle 24/7 with a subscription to the Kindle edition

Cheryl Kaye Tardif

P.S. My $0.99 Kindle (and Smashwords) ebook sale is still on. This sale ends January 10th, 2011.

Last Day to Enter to Win Books for a Year!

If you haven't already entered the contest to win a copy of every book Second Wind Publishing will release in 2011, click here and leave a comment on the Second Wind Blog. That's all you need to do to! (Besides keeping your fingers crossed, that is). Here is some added inducement (all these books are scheduled to be released in 2011 -- click on a cover to learn more about that book):

Haven't a Clue about Cluculz

My blog tour is really starting to heat up! Lots of activity, more than I'm used to, that's for sure. To start out, I am a guest at the blog of my good friend Joylene Nowell Butler author of Dead Witness. We first met when she submitted a character interview to my Pat Bertram Introduces . . . blog. Usually I have to twist people's arms to get them to send me an interview to post, but she voluntarily responded to a link I left on a discussion on Facebook -- which impressed the heck out of me -- and now here we are, a year later, virtually visiting in Cluculz.

Where is Cluculz? you might ask. Good question. It's 67 km west of Prince George and 32 km east of Vanderhoof, in central BC, Canada. I had to Google it, which was fun since it fit right into the theme of my guest post -- writing about places you have never been. So, come to Clucluz, listen to the loons, and don't forget the mosquito repellent. Click here to find the guest post at Cluculz Lake.

As if that weren't excitement enough, today is the debut of my writing column -- ASK PAT. Way cool! Since it's in an ezine, there's no place to leave questions and comments, so I've set up a special blog post for that purpose. You can find it here: questions and comments for ASK PAT. If you have a question you'd like me to include, be sure to let me know. If you have an answer you'd like me to include, let me know that, too. I certainly don't presume to have all the answers.

And there's more excitement! (I'm trying to sound like an info-mercial.) Tomorrow I am a guest at Reviewers Roundup on Facebook. Glenda Bixler, you, and I will be having a live chat about blog tours, my books, writing in general. So if you are a member of facebook, please pop in to the discussion between 3:00pm and 5:00pm ET tomorrow. It should be a lively chat. What's it called? What else: Blog Tour 2009.

Don’t forget, my books are available in all ebook formats at Smashwords. Even better, you can download the first 30% of each book free. And speaking of free downloads, stop by Second Wind Publishing for a free ebook sampler or two. One sampler includes the first chapters of all Second Wind’s romances, the other sampler includes the first chapters of all Second Wind’s mystery, adventure, maitstream novels. The first chapter of A Spark of Heavenly, More Deaths Than One, and Daughter Am I are in the Mystery Sampler.

If you'd like to do a character interview for my Pat Bertram Introduces . . . blog, you can find the instructions here: Character Questionnaire.

Dialogue with Pat Bertram

The Internet is such a wonderful place. Today, day five of my blog tour, I am in Florida with author Nancy J. Cohen talking about dialogue. Virtually speaking, that is. Physically, I am in Colorado, listening to leaves falling like rain. In Florida, it's a sunny day at the beach. At least I hope it is. I sure would hate to get caught in a hurricane while I'm visiting!

Yesterday someone commented that a virtual book tour seemed like a lot of work and asked if I would do it again. My first inclination was to say, "No way!" It's too much work for such seemingly meager results, yet I am meeting people out of my normal circle of connections, which is always a good thing. I am getting to talk about my books, which is fun. And it's a challenge, not just setting up the book tour, writing the articles, and promoting the tour, but figuring out how to make the same basic comment a hundred times and yet make each time seem fresh and new. So, would I do it again? I don't know. Ask me in six months when my next novel Light Bringer comes out. My goal (silly me!) is to be so well known by then that the book will just fly out of Amazon's warehouse as soon as I announce its publication. It could happen. And oh, by the way, I just bought London bridge. :)

So, please join me in Florida to dialogue about dialogue at: Nancy J. Cohen's Notes from Florida

Don't forget, my books are available in all ebook formats at Smashwords. Even better, you can download the first 30% of each book free. And speaking of free downloads, stop by Second Wind Publishing for a free sampler or two. One sampler includes the first chapters of all Second Wind's romances, the other sampler includes the first chapters of all Second Wind's mystery, adventure, maitstream novels. The first chapter of A Spark of Heavenly, More Deaths Than One, and Daughter Am I are in the Mystery Sampler.

Free Ebooks!

Free ebooks! Just stop by the Labor Day GiveAway at the Second Wind blog before September 12, 2009, mention the name of a Second Wind book that you'd like to read, and you might win an ecopy. http://secondwindpub.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/labor-day-giveaway/

Now is your chance to read More Deaths Than One or A Spark of Heavenly Fire!

More Deaths Than One: Bob Stark returns to Denver after 18 years in Southeast Asia to discover that the mother he buried before he left is dead again. He attends her new funeral and sees . . . himself. Is his other self a hoaxer, or is something more sinister going on? And why are two men who appear to be government agents hunting for him? With the help of Kerry Casillas, a baffling young woman Bob meets in a coffee shop, he uncovers the unimaginable truth.

A Spark of Heavenly Fire: In quarantined Colorado, where hundreds of thousands of people are dying from an unstoppable disease called the red death, insomniac Kate Cummings struggles to find the courage to live and to love. Her new love, investigative reporter Greg Pullman, is determined to discover who unleashed the deadly organism and why they did it, until the cost — Kate’s life — becomes more than he can pay.

Labor Day GiveAway ends September 12. http://secondwindpub.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/labor-day-giveaway/