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Saturday, July 6, 2013

The Orange Moon Affair Book Tour: Guest Post and Giveaway with AFN Clarke

Hi, everyone!

I am pleased to participate in the Book Tour hosted by Orangeberry Book Tours for AFN Clarke's The Orange Moon Affair.


About AFN:

AFN CLARKE is the son of a British MI6 operative, pilot, sailor, screenwriter, father of four who’s lived all over the world, served in the British Army and recovered from the physical/emotional traumas of war.  His bestselling memoir CONTACT was serialized in a British newspaper and made into an award winning BBCTV film.  He’s insatiably curious, loves heated discussions and has a rascally sense of humor. He now writes fiction of various genres – thrillers (The Orange Moon Affair and An Unquiet American); human drama (Dry Tortugas), humor/satire (Dreams from the Death Age; Armageddon), horror (Collisions) with more coming soon.

CONNECT ONLINE WITH AFN: 
Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter



Welcome to Darlene's Book Nook, AFN!

AFN has written a guest post, so I will now turn the floor over to him.



Reviews Are The New "Gold" In Publishing Currency
By AFN Clarke

You’re an Indie author, you just finished a new book and you know the only way to sell it is to promote it. But you’re also told by successful authors that without 10–15 reviews promotion is a waste of time and money, as most readers won’t buy a book with few reviews. But how can you get 15 reviews, without promotion and sales? It’s a circular and exasperating predicament.

Here are a few tips to building those prized reviews quickly (what I suggest for Amazon can be replicated on most other ebook retail sites):

1. Give your book away for free to boost readership and reviews.

Offer a free pre-publication edition of your book to family and friends in return for a review. Make the offer 1-2 months before publication – the moment it appears, your readers can post reviews.

Alternatively, whatever your book’s final price, launch it at something like 99 cents. Offer to gift your book for 1 week to those in your social networks in return for a review (Email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ etc). The Gift A Copy button is under the Click To Buy button on Amazon. Yes, you pay for each book you gift, but that sale registers in Amazon’s algorithms, increasing your book’s ranking and visibility. The resultant reviews aren’t Verified Purchase Reviews, but better than nothing. Never demand a review, request one politely and ask for an honest review – the whole purpose is to increase the number of genuine reviews for your book.

Giveaways are another way to get your book out there to readers quickly for free in the hope they will post a review. Ask any reputable author/reader website to work with you on a giveaway or contact sites like Freebooksy, BookGoodies, Free Book Dude, The Frugal eReader.

2. Request reviews through the author community

Established author/reader websites are great places to request a review including: Author Marketing Club; World Literary Café; Book Tweeting Service; BookGoodies; GoodReads; Zwoodle Books; The Kindle Book Review; Facebook; Kindleboards.

3. Create a virtual blog tour.

Well-known bloggers reach thousands of readers that you could never reach alone. Reputable websites like Orangeberry Book Tours (OB) offer an amazing selection of virtual book tours through their extensive blogger network. The cost is very reasonable and the service excellent. For me, OB is a busy author’s dream-come-true. Just the 7-day tour for my politically provocative thriller An Unquiet American yielded great results. I’m now in the middle of a longer tour for my latest book The Orange Moon Affair – the first in a new thriller series – and while it’s already doing well with 4.9 Stars on Amazon, my guess is that once the 30 day blog tour is over I will have at least 25 more reviews and thousands more readers who will have heard of my book, and many who’ve hopefully bought it.

The key is to keep working with people/service providers who can help you go viral – to leverage what you do, expand your promotion efforts exponentially and get you out to tens of thousands of readers.

4. Ready to promote?

Once you have a decent number of reviews I recommend you read the Author Resources section of The Kindle Book Review and follow Jeff Bennington’s tips for effective marketing. Also read Jim F. Kukral’s The Ultimate Digital Promotion Handbook at the Author Marketing Club. Start promoting using their recommendations and slowly build your own expertise.

5. Track your results

Before you do any of the above, enroll your book(s) in Kindle Nation Daily’s eBookTracker and track your Amazon pricing data and sales ranking. Note when your sales ranking rises - in response to reviews? Advertising? Specific promotions? Price changes? It’s a great way to determine what works and what doesn’t.

May you win the “gold” and have the greatest of success!
Thanks so much for joining us today, AFN!


One lucky winner will win a digital copy of AFN's Thriller, The Orange Moon Affair!


SERIES: Thomas Gunn, Book #1
AUTHOR: AFN Clarke
PUBLISHER: Clarke-Books LLC
PUBLICATION DATE: April 20, 2013
FORMAT: Kindle Edition, 256 pages
GENRE: Thriller
ASIN: B00CGL2Y6Y



The Orange Moon Affair - by the bestselling author of Contact - is the first book of a compelling new thriller series, an action-packed conspiracy with a hero and heroine you hold your breath for. If you enjoy the action of Robert Ludlum, the intensity of Brad Thor and the international intrigue of Daniel Silva, then this book's for you!

Ex-British Special Forces soldier Thomas Gunn is drawn back into his old life of international intrigue and danger following the murder of his billionaire father. The deeper he digs the more complicated the puzzle becomes until he finds himself working for MI5 uncovering a global conspiracy that puts the freedom of the western world at grave risk. His unlikely accomplice becomes his girlfriend Julie who constantly surprises him with her loyalty, insight and abilities and whose actions directly affect the outcome of the plot in a significant and unexpected way.

While traversing the globe being shot at, shot down and losing loved ones - a haunting question tears at his soul - was his father really at the heart of this evil conspiracy? Or was he a pawn in a larger more insidious game that even he could not control?

Seeking the final answer could cost Thomas dearly, ripping from him all that he most loves and cherishes and leaving him questioning his past, his future and what kind of person he is or wants to become. The final outcome depends on him. Or does it?

As a former Captain of Britain's elite Parachute Regiment and son of an MI6 operative the author brings his own unique and eye-opening experiences to the character and exploits of Thomas Gunn, as well as an unsettling blurring of the lines between fiction and reality when exploring the ruthless abuse of power and position for personal gain.

Buy Link:


To enter the giveaway, please fill out the Rafflecopter entry form below. 

This giveaway is open worldwide until 12:00 AM CST on July 13, 2013. 
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Tour Participants:

28th May – Book Feature at Peace from Pieces
29th May – Twitter View with OB Book Tours
30th May – Twitter Blast with OB Book Tours
31st May - Book Review & Guest Post at Mommy Adventures
1st June – Author Interview at The Bunny’s Review
2nd June - Twitter Blast with OB Book Tours
3rd June – Book Review & Guest Post at Brainy Books
4th June – Book Review at Nobody Important
5th June – Author Interview & Book Review at Creating Imaginations
6th June – Book Review & Guest Post at Mind to Mind
7th June – Author Interview & Book Review at Books on the Open Range
8th June – Book Review at Need to Stop Reading
9th June – Guest Post & Book Review at Journey’s thru Books
10th June – Author Interview & Book Review at Reading the Dream Life
11th June – Book Feature & Book Review at Farm Girl Books
12th June – Guest Post & Book Review at Working for Books
13th June – Book Review at Page Turning Books
14th June – Guest Post & Book Feature at Gimme the Scoop
15th June – Author Interview & Book Review at Books & More
16th June – Book Review at Non-Stop Reads
17th June – Guest Post at Books are Magic
18th June – Author Interview, Book Feature & Guest Post at Talisman Book Publishing
19th June -Orangeberry Sidebar
20th June – Author Interview & Book Review at Up In Smoke
21st June – Guest Post & Book Review at Life Altering Reads
22nd June – Book Review at A Novel Design
23rd June -Author Interview & Book Review at High Class Books
24th June – Book Review at Paws on Books
25th June – Guest Post & Book Review at Book Professor
26th June - Orangeberry Book of the Day
27th June – Book Review at Reading Away Life
28th June – Author Interview & Book Review at Living Books
29th June – Book Review at Imagination in Books
30th June – Guest Post & Book Review at UnEnding TBR Pile
1st July – Author Interview & Book Review at Authors Going Places
2nd July – Excerpt & Book Review at Love Books
3rd July – Book Review at A Zoo of Books
4th July – Book Feature & Book Review at Pastime with Books
5th July – Guest Post at Book Connoisseur
6th July – Guest Post at Darlene’s Book Nook
13th July – Author Interview at The Reading Cat
14th July - Tweet Me A Storm with OB Book Tours
20th July – Excerpt at Gentleman Reads
27th July – Author Interview & Book Feature at My Reading Problem
3rd August – Guest Post at Aspiring Books
21st September – Book Review at Bookworm Babblings
23rd November – Guest Post at There Will Be Another Sunrise

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