Monthly Archives: February 2016

New Release! The Arrangement 21, the NYT Bestselling series by HM Ward

The Arrangement 21 by HM WardThe final 3 installments of SEAN FERRO in THE ARRANGEMENT. Grab it now! Series ends with book 23.

THE SERIES WITH OVER 12 MILLION COPIES SOLD
Volume 21 in the New York Times Bestselling Arrangement Series

The sexy billionaire lying next to me just asked the one question I’ve been longing to hear. Sean Ferro is finally there, ready to marry me. All I have to do to live happily ever after is destroy my enemies, kill my brother, and try to lose myself in the process.

As it is, I feel like I’m coming unhinged. Past sins press against my mind, demanding to be dealt with, but I can’t open the floodgates. I can’t let those demons see the light of day. My actions are so far beyond shades of gray that I worry I’ll destroy everyone around me – Sean included.

I never thought it would be difficult to say yes to the sexy, naked man lying in my arms. I want the happily ever after, but I’m not sure I have what it takes to get there.

Genre: New Adult Romance
This story unfolds over multiple volumes approx. 125 pages each.
~The Arrangement Vol 1-21 are on sale now.~ 23 books total in this series.


BUY IT NOW

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Motorcycle man and Spray Start Car Girl – Teaser trailer for THE ARRANGEMENT series
Ooooh! Aaaaah! Swooooon!
Disclaimer: H.M. Ward is not responsible for screen damage due to lickage


AR21_Pinterest_AvailableNow_Take1

What other people are saying about THE ARRANGEMENT 21:

“Intensely erotic.” – Debi G.

“Wicked hot with a touch of tenderness” – Cary M.

“Preorder this bad boy right now!” – Marissa 

“Sean definitely takes Avery to her limits and it is hot and disturbing at the same time.” -Stacy H.

How to be a kickass reviewer, the quick tutorial

Screen Shot 2016-02-24 at 12.33.07 PMWith recent talk about the perm ARC list and what it takes to be shoulder tapped, I thought I’d take the time to dish out the dirt on what makes a reviewer go from okay to AMAZEBALLS!

One of the things that make authors cringe the most in a review, are spoilers. So I’m going to focus mostly on that.

So what is a spoiler?

Great question! It’s information that reveals the ending of the story. That’s easy to avoid.

The harder spoilers to avoid, and that are too often seen in reviews, are when people reveal various events, plot twists and unexpected information that come out throughout the book, mostly elements that may have surprised you or that have a profound impact in the story. This is the kind of thing that you wouldn’t want to share in a review because it diminishes the reading experience of others.

The best way to keep this from happening is to pretend you’re talking to someone about your favorite book. Tell them what you liked about it and how it made you feel.

It’s your experience with the book that people want to know. Is this good? Yes? Okay, why? You can be a blabbering mess of excitement without being able to put your fingers on specifics and that speaks so much more clearly to readers than anything else. When someone is flabbergasted by a book and they slam it on your desk, bug-eyed, and say READ THIS! You know it’s a damn good book. You want to channel that excitement into your review. The goal is to sound like you, talking to a bud about a book.

Example: The relationship in this book really spoke to me. The characters had a deep connection and I could feel her pain.

How can I tell if it’s a spoiler? What if I’m not sure?

Here are 3 quick questions to ask yourself:

  1. Is it included in the book description? Yes? Then you are safe.
  2. Be vague. You don’t have to spell everything out. A review is YOUR reaction to the book. It’s not cliff-notes.
  3. Don’t post specifics about things that left your jaw on the ground. (see rule #2)

Should I post spoilers?

Try to avoid it if you can. The whole point of a review is to help another reader find a book they might like. If you have a review-a-phobe that is afraid of spoilers and scanning the page between her fingers, it’d be nice if your review will help her. People who don’t mind so much won’t care.

Why are spoilers viewed as a bad thing?

My books are made to make you giggle, gasp, and experience the story. If you know what’s coming, you read the book differently.

Are there ways to post a spoiler and hide it?

YES! So happy you asked! On Goodreads, there are two ways of doing so. You can choose to hide you entire review by clicking a box or you can add some very easy coding to your review to hide a specific section that you may suspect would dampen other readers’ experience. Here’s an easy graphic to show you how to hide your spoilery review on Goodreads:

How to hide a spoiler on Goodreads

Here is an example of what you review will look like if check that box at the bottom:

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If you really, really, really want to know what the spoiler is, then you have the freedom to do so by clicking on “click here” and see what the person had to say.

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On other sites that don’t let you use coding, so I wouldn’t recommend putting spoilers ANYWHERE ELSE until they can support hiding it like Goodreads.

So, if I’m not retelling the story in my review, what AM I writing?

You’re telling other readers why this book was amazing by giving your emotional reaction.

For example:

“I love the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning because it’s dark, gritty, and is flowing with tension. That tension is why I read. It can be conflict, immortals, or sexy tension and I’m in love!

Mac isn’t a pansy. She’s the type of girl I can relate to, which is a big deal. I’m tired of stories with airheads that are TSTL. If you don’t know what that means, TOO STUPID TO LIVE. Dear God! Please give me a chick with a backbone! Even if she’s a dumbass, I want a spine. This series has one heronie, no wait, it has several kick ass women.

What about the dudes? Hot men. Dark, mysterious men that are too sexy to live…swoon. They fall into the alpha range for the most part. Confident, strong, and sexy.

And this. I HATE it when I read a book and the character doesn’t learn. How many times can you do the same thing and still put your hand in the fire? Learn, damn it! This characters learn and grow. Some shrink, but they change. Their lives throw them into situations that have repercussions and watching them play out is like watching a fire. It’s hot, desperate, and read to consume everything in it’s path.

If you liked Demon Kissed, you’ll totally love this series. Think Apocalypse. Think dark knight. Think so freaking awesome! It moves at a fast pace and has a plot to engage you and characters that leave you thinking long after you put the book down. I loves that!”

Giving them a frame of reference is SO helpful! Dudes, that’s how I found the Fever series in the first place. It was a Demon Kissed reader who pointed it out. SCORE! Think about another book like this one that you liked and clue people in. It’s so hard to find a good book and that’s what reviews are all about!

STRIPPED by HM Ward only 99 ¢ Today! (Jonathan Ferro)

Get book 1 on sale today and be ready for the upcoming sequel in April

S1_ipadminiNEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY BESTSELLER

There are some relationships that destroy your faith in people. They make you jaded and hard, irrevocably changing you forever. I wish I could say that I hate her, I wish I could walk away and never look back, but I can’t… I have to save her.

The woman who stole my heart and crushed it in her hand disappeared from my life 3 years ago. So when I see her at a bachelor party, half naked, rolling around on the floor with another stripper, I’m shocked. I have to know what cracked Cassie Hale’s picture perfect world that landed her in this hellhole, and I hope that I’m not so bitter that I can’t help her escape.

A FULL LENGTH NOVEL. BOOK 1 OF 2.
1 DAY SALE PRICE ¢99 (reg. $5.99)
SEQUEL COMING APRIL 4th (pre order available)

99¢ TODAY ONLY! GRAB IT NOW!

Amazon     Nook     Kobo     Apple


COMING APRIL 4th! STRIPPED, vol.2.

The FINAL volume in the series
PRE ORDER NOW!

Stripped2_ipadminiAmazon     Nook     Kobo     Apple


 More Ferro books coming at you soon! Eeep!

The Grass Takes Time To Grow! Don’t Pee On It! (How to build a fan base for new authors)

I know several people who wrote a book and have virgin status when it comes to selling that sucker. They ask me lots of questions, and some pretty not helpful preconceived notions. Everyone hopes to rise like a shooting star, sign a million dollar deal, and then jump up and down. The truth is, it doesn’t work like that. You’re more likely to be struck by lightening five or six times than have that scenario occur on your first book. Even the superstars that did shoot straight to the top took 6-9 months getting there. That’s a significant amount of time.

I hear new authors asking for an easy way to gain visibility and they turn to KU because they don’t know what else to do. That’s a major mistake. Consider the limitation put on your book by restricting it to one platform. You miss out on what’s going on elsewhere.

Some people think the other platforms are too small to matter, so they don’t even consider it. But I’m pretty sure if you became a Kobo rockstar, you would feel it. I mean, #1 bestseller at Kobo is still more sales than most people ever dream about. At one point in my career, B&N led my sales because that platform took off. With each platform you’re on, you are given the chance to be a superstar. Why the hell limit it to one? Also, if you take off on another site, odds are Amazon and the rest will follow. It’s not like, ‘DAMN! I hit #2 on Nook!’ No one says that. Holding a top 10 slot on Nook is enough to break into 6 figures ON ONE SITE.

Back to the virgin authors who are deciding how to proceed: Don’t limit yourself. Visibility is about exposure, so give yourself as much as possible in a tangible, measurable way. If you really want to try KU, go ahead, but do it with a sister story or something that you know is a loss leader. I’ve had zero luck with KU lending more visibility, which was bad for me to discover (b/c I shot my sales in the head), BUT IT’S GOOD TO KNOW. It means you can be successful without KU.

You can organically make your own fandom. I did. You can too. But you have to work for it. AND IT TAKES TIME. The first three years I was writing, I was doing good as a midlister and happy to stay there. I gave up on being more and then it happened. Part of hitting it big and not being a one shot wonder is building your fan base. IT’S TIME CONSUMING. It doesn’t happen over night. And growth is exponential, so it starts so damn slow. I mean it’s like watching grass grow. For the longest time your yard is a few seedlings that might vanish over night, but one day you have a grassy lawn! More people come because you get easier to see. Then you have a big ass jungle that you have no idea how to manage. True story. That’s a real problem.

The issues author’s face change over time, but there’s a path. At the start it’s finding readers. There’s no magic bullet, and it’s not riding on luck (my luck is usually pretty sucky, so hooray!). It’s planning, plotting, research, failure, and then do it all over again. Determination goes a long way. So does knowing the basics before you jump in.

MY BASICS:

  1. Most authors will only sell about 200 copies of their title. Ever.
  2. Most people have about 200 friends on Facebook.
  3. Most people have confined social circles and it takes effort to move beyond them. I’m shy. Believe me, I know.
  4. Your debut novel is the one that friends and family will buy to be supportive.
  5. Book 1 is where the most people will watch to see if you take off or fail. If you’re shy about it, you shoot yourself in the head.
  6. You HAVE to OWN it. You wrote a book. We should be like, ‘bring it on b*tch!’ but most of us are too timid to even say we wrote something. The first thing I did when I finished my first novel was make a facebook page. I told everyone. It made me sick to my stomach. Public failure is nauseating, but shyness has no place here. How can ppl read your book if you won’t admit you wrote one? You can’t act like it sucks either. No one wants to read self-professing suckage. So grow a backbone. Own it.
  7. Use the train wreck theory to your advantage. Everyone loves to watch stuff go up in flames. It’s human nature to rubber neck and stare. Likewise, we are inspired by people who try. We share hope when we succeed. If you fail? Do it again. That’s what I do. People like to see others that won’t stay down. It makes them want to try harder too. Tenacity is contagious. If you don’t have any, go follow Hugh Howey. That dude makes me want to buy a boat and sail away. 🙂
  8. By book four, you’re on your own and if you didn’t break that social wall, you’re screwed. That’s why you can’t just write the next book. You HAVE to engage with people. That can be online or in person, but it’s the kiss of death to be stuck in 200 land. I avoided that obstacle before I published my 1st title. I made sure that 200 number was behind me from the get go. That’s not possible if you hide, so stop hiding!
  9. READ. Holy mother of frig. Pick up a book. Read a blog about selling, business, something! You can learn ANYTHING online. You don’t have to stumble around in the dark wondering what ROI and P&L means or why it should matter to you. It should if you’re here to make a living and put food on the table. I go on reading binges about every 9 months. It lasts about 6 months, or until I’ve exhausted new information. Right now I’m in that phase. Yes, it’s time consuming, but at the end of the day no one cares more about your books than you do.
  10. Do the math. So, book 1 is likely to sell 200 copies. You paid $600 for your cover and $1400 for editing, plus another $100 for formatting. And another $100 for paperback proofs. If you only sell 200 copies, you need to net $11 per book. We have a mathematical problem here. You’re upside down. I have my own staff and do just about everything in-house at this point, but book 1 was me and hubby. We used skills we had and called in favors for the rest. It cost me $200 to publish. It made it possible to turn a profit by the 2nd week that title was out. So did the price. At that point there was no KU to fathom, but math is math. Less than 1/2 a cent per page vs. 99 cents vs. $3.99 or $4.99? This is the part that gets trippy. Most people admit they can’t sell. They don’t know how to market. It’s Greek.

With pricing, it’s simple – the lower your price point, the higher your volume HAS TO BE. There are tons of threads in here about it.

  • At 99 cents, you have to sell 340 books to make $100.
  • At $2.99, you have to sell 50 books to make $100.
  • At $4.99, you have to sell 30 books to make $100.

If you have no clue how to do mass sales, why assume you can? It’s hard for me and I know how to sell. SELLING MORE IS ALWAYS HARDER THAN SELLING LESS. There’s an assumption that ppl will buy cheap stuff if they see it, that it’s easier to sell. It’s not. It’s harder to sell because you already have your product priced as low as it can go, so there’s no way to promo it. You can’t do a 1 day sale, a new reader event, a coupon code – nothing. It’s like hobbling up to the starting line of a marathon with a zombie chewing on your ass. You can’t go 26 miles like that! Even if you knock him off, you’re hemorrhaging and bleeding all over the place. Yes, that happens with books. You can help a title or shoot it in the spine and have it hobble along until you repair whatever you did. The zombie on my ass is KU 1. I knocked the thing off, but a year later and I still feel it.

You’ll make mistakes. We all do. Be ready for them. Plan C, D, Y – they’re all coming your way and it’s not a bad thing. Keep getting up. Don’t stay down. And for the love of God, don’t pee on your grass before it’s a lawn. You have to be patient and intentional. There’s no way around that part, so lets do this! Indies rock! Keep on truckin’.

HM Ward is on WattPad with New Secret Stories! Shhhhh!

HM Ward NYT Bestselling author Wattpad

News! I’m heading over to Wattpad to post some stories I’ve been working on for the past few years. Sometimes things don’t turn into a novel, or they don’t fit in with the stories I’m currently telling, so they end up in my orphan pile file on my computer.

If you’re thinking that these are sub par tales, guess again. DAMAGED was one of the titles pulled from the orphan folder. I had no intention of ever publishing it. I had no idea people would react the way they did to that book. I took a lot of chances with it–a turkey in a bra? who can pull that off? swing dancing? a nice guy? it was whack for what was out at the time.

Long story short, there are many more stories like it just sitting in my folder. Some are Ferro. Some are paranormal. Some are weird. And some are hot. It’s a schmorgisboard of reads, baby!

So, grab the app or come over on your computer and click FOLLOW.

New Release! OVER YOU, a modern day Pride and Prejudice by HM Ward

Over YouGet ready to swoon over Mr. Darcy all over again.

A contemporary retelling of Pride & Prejudice by New York Times bestselling author H.M. Ward and L.G. Castillo.

Charming. Sexy. Rich. William Darcy is the triple threat that should make any woman twerk on sight. He’s everything a woman could want—a beautiful billionaire with sad eyes and a crooked smile. Woman try to lick him on sight, he’s that yummy. Well, unless that woman is Beth Bennet. Her panties don’t drop for anyone, unless there’s love, so a guy like Will Darcy doesn’t stand a chance.

Being shoved up the socialite ladder in New York City chafes so Beth goes to college as far away as possible, but when her father gets sick she finds herself right back where she started—stuck together with a bronzed god who hates her.

The prideful will fall to ruin.

Their prejudice will be their undoing.

And William Darcy will be the first to fall, Beth is certain of that.

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Type: Novel (page count TBA), Standalone, No cliffhanger
Based on: Jayne Austen’s Pride and Prejudice


BUY IT NOW!

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Over YouWhat other people are saying about OVER YOU:

“These two authors teaming up and writing this story is brilliant!” – Jennifer Lessard

“Lots of angst and drama. Outstanding!” – Cheryl

“Keeps you on your toes wanting more.” – Sandra

“Bursting with love for family, friends, and for your true love.” – Daisy

“It’s exactly what you’ll want to read on Valentines Day!!!” – Cassandra Cole