I Need Your Help
The one where I try not to cringe while asking for help
My sales manager and my publicist have been talking. By sales manager, I mean me, lying in bed at 9:45 PM thinking, I should really figure out how to share my book with more people. And by publicist I mean me, sitting at my laptop doing mental gymnastics (because there is no way I would be doing real gymnastics) trying to figure out what in the world to tell my friends, family, and the entire internet about my new book.
I know this might seem like I’ve finally gone completely crazy. But unlike my update for December about my mental health woes, I’m actually sane. For now. Hopefully forever.
Let me return to the title of this post: I Need Your Help. Please excuse my attempts at indie author humor. The truth is, I truly am an author, a sales manager, a publicist, a social media manager, a book designer, an agent, and a financial advisor. (I need to fire my financial advisor. She’s terrible at her job.) The only tasks I outsource are book editing and cover design.
What does that mean exactly?
Oh friend, I am truly touched that you asked. You did ask, right? I hope so, because I deeply need your help.
This means that the people who hear about my books are the people who I am connected with on sites like Substack, FaceBook, and Instagram.
Annnnnd, people who hear about my book from . . . you.
Before you exit out of this post, I am not asking you to do anything with your social media. (Unless you want to.) Girl, I get it, those things can be time consuming and tedious.
No, what I am asking for is ARC readers. ARC stands for Advanced Reader Copy, meaning, I am trying to give away my book to more people. All the people who receive my free book need to do in return is write a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Preferably Amazon and Goodreads.
Reviews, specifically on Amazon, help my books be seen on the site. The more reviews, the more Amazon shows my book to more people. So yes, it feels cringe to ask this, but I truly need help getting more reviews.
The review can sound something like this . . .
“This book was not for me.”
“This book is not what I expected in the best way! Good gravy! That ending! What did I even read?!”
“Why is there a mythical Pegasus and a grave digging scene in this seemingly small town romance?”
Or the one I’m most hoping for . . .
“I just finished this book and I am in tears because I feel . . . seen.”
Any variation of these things would do, but mostly what I am trying to say is: if you receive an ARC copy of my book you do not need to spend even ten minutes on a review. It can be one sentence long. You are also not required to love my book. You can be one-hundred-percent honest. That’s what a good review is.
Silliness aside, this book is one of my favorites because it touches on a topic that is close to my heart: the loss of a loved one to suicide. But beside that hard topic is a woman trying to help her loved one regain his memories, magic that comes knocking on the door, the legend of a magical kiss, a kidnapping, fur-babies, a (gasp—how did I even write this) grave digging scene, a suspenseful ending where multiple people don’t make it out alive, and yes, a mythical Pegasus (sort of).
The ARC includes a book one synopsis, so you don’t have to read the first book to enjoy the second.
Friend, if you would like to be a part of my ARC team, please fill out the link below. And if you don’t want to, but you know someone who might, send them the link! Share it all over if you’d like.
And THANK YOU to those who have already signed up.
AND . . . if you plan on buying the book later and writing a review. THANK YOU!
Okay, I am done trying to convince you to want a free copy of my book. Thank you for reading if you made it this far.
When We Were Memories Book Blurb
Levi has the ability to bring things to life with ink and pen. Or so the woman who claims to be his girlfriend keeps telling him. The problem is, Levi can’t remember the last three months of his life, much less a magical skill. To discover if this ability is real, Levi writes something impossible . . . and then it comes knocking on his door.
Marigold is heartbroken when Levi can’t remember her. A threatening note and an attack leave her desperate to help him regain his memories and confront the person who is tormenting her. Could the legend of a magical kiss help bring back his memories?
Colton is back in town to help his mother heal from a car accident, not to confront ghosts from his past. But the memory of the girl he lost years ago is haunting him. When he coincidentally meets her sister, Colton must face his loss head on as he is thrust into a world of magic and memory.
Someone wants the mountain magic for themselves, and only a personal betrayal will reveal who is behind old mysteries and new threats.
Thank’s for reading! I am an indie author on a mission to share hope in dark places. There are parts of my story that have been dark, like when I struggled with anorexia, or how I’ve lived in eight different homes in the last twelve years, or how I wondered if I’d ever hold a baby of my own, or how I’ve seen a minimum of nine mental health counselors in my life for things like eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and OCD. But God has redeemed, or is redeeming every single one of those dark places. I want to share that hope in my stories. I’d love if you subscribed along for the journey.
Much love,
Shelbie Mae