Category: Blog

DARK WIZARD on sale!

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

Need a good beach read, whether you have beach or not? Dark Wizard is on sale this week for only 0.99¢!!

In The Witcher meets The Selection…

***

She ran from him… but couldn’t escape her heart.

“Dark Wizard is one of my top reads ever.” ~ NY Times Bestselling Author Darynda Jones

“Dark Wizard will be on my keeper shelf for freaking ever.” ~ NY Times Bestselling Author Dana Marton

“Jeffe nailed what it is to write a fantasy romance. Fabulous!” ~ USAT Bestselling Author of Radiance, Grace Draven

“…utterly compelling…clicked Buy right at the end of the sample and just kept reading and reading because this book is so good, with such a rich world and characters. I’m so glad I picked it up…now can it be June already so I can read more?” ~Amazon reviewer

Lord Gabriel Phel wants one thing: to rebuild the shattered fortunes of his people and restore his ruined house to its former station in the Convocation’s highest tiers of elegant society. Fortunately, through a wild chance of birth, he was born with powerful wizard magic, the first in his family in generations. If he can obtain a familiar to amplify his magic, a highborn daughter he can marry, to be mother to his children, he’ll be that much closer to saving his family. With her by his side, he can ascend to such a position of power in  the Convocation that he can destroy it forever.

Lady Veronica Elal, captive in her tower, has only one way out. To her bitter disappointment, she will never be a wizard. Instead, through a twist of fate, and despite her expensive Convocation Academy education, Nic is doomed to be a familiar like her mother. Forced to participate in the Betrothal Trials, she receives a wizard suitor for one night each month. Whichever man impregnates her will bond her to them forever. With no choice but to serve the one who wins her, Nic has one hope for control over her life: a wizard she can manipulate.

Gabriel Phel seems like the perfect choice for Nic’s gambit—he’s desperate and untutored in wizardry—but within moments of meeting him, she feels the bonds of magic tying them together. Afraid of losing her will to the compelling wizard who touches her heart like no other, Nic does the unthinkable: she runs. Pregnant and alone, Nic eludes monstrous hunters, searching for a safe haven. But when Gabriel catches up to her, their adventure has only begun.

Nebula Pride

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week – in honor of Pride Month – is to promote LGBTQ+ Artists, Authors, or Creatives. Since I’m fresh this morning from attending SFWA’s Nebula Awards last night (online, natch – though next year will be in person again!), and since the awards ceremony was funny and moving and simply an amazing celebration, I’ll share about that. Come on over!

The Wrong Way to Promo Your Book

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

I’m catching up on All The Things, so I expect to be shipping out books in the next couple of days. For all of you who’ve ordered paper books from me – they’re coming!! If you WANT to order signed books from me, now is a really good time to do so, because you’d actually get it in a reasonable amount of time. Check out the store here.

So, I talked about this on my podcast yesterday, but if you didn’t listen, here’s a written-up version of what not to do as an author shilling your books.

I accepted this friend request on Facebook, you see. For some reason, I’ve been getting a TON of Facebook friend requests lately. The obvious spammers and scam artists are fairly easy to spot. The ones I really waffle over are the authors who seem to be friending me just to promo their book(s). With (most of) those, I accept their friend request and then brace myself for the promo private message (PM).

With this guy, it didn’t take long. Before I unfriended, blocked, and deleted – which IS what I’ll do if you PM me book promo, I saved this message for a lesson on What Not to Do. I changed the book titles, not because this dude is innocent, but because I have no desire to call him out and I’m not giving him any stinking press. Otherwise, all capitalization, etc., is his.

Here’s the message :

I have received thousands of reviews on novels X X, Y’s Y and ZZ On A Z’s Z. NONE more precious than the one I received today from this 96 year old WORLD WAR II VET! Be hard to imagine flying a TBM Avenger off the USS White Plains CVE-66 back in the day.

❤️

Hi Mr. Author Spammer Guy, Just started reading your “Ys Y” again. At 96 a good story is just as interesting with the tenth reading as it was the first. 🌈 I see why Burt Reynolds bought the film rights to your first novel X X.

(Link I ain’t never gonna follow, which only goes to his Facebook page anyway.)

Let’s break this down, shall we?

  1. First of all, don’t do this.
  2. I feel so strongly that no one should promo books this way that I’m making it #1 *and* #2. Don’t do this.
  3. “I have received thousands of reviews on novels X X, Y’s Y and ZZ On A Z’s Z.”
    Congratulations? I really don’t care. If you have so many reviews, why are you spamming me?
  4. “NONE more precious than the one I received today from this 96 year old WORLD WAR II VET!”
    I don’t care a) how precious it is to you, b) today, like actually today or is this meant to make me think, I don’t know, that this is fresh and relevant?, c) why do I care how old this guy is?, and d) why are you shouting at me about WWII vets?
  5. “Be hard to imagine flying a TBM Avenger off the USS White Plains CVE-66 back in the day.”
    a) this is not a sentence, b) I can’t imagine this at all as I have no idea what these words mean, c) what is a TBM Avenger?, d) isn’t White Plains in New York?, and e) I don’t know what CVE-66 means either.
  6. ❤️
    No.
  7. Hi Mr. Author Spammer Guy,
    Why are you including the salutation? It doesn’t make me think it’s real.
  8. Just started reading your “Ys Y” again. At 96 a good story is just as interesting with the tenth reading as it was the first.
    Ten readings, really?? If you’re going to make up reader letters, let’s go for something more modest. Like second or third, to be generous. Also, what is the freaking deal with tell me the age twice???
  9. 🌈
    Somehow, I don’t think this rainbow is an homage to Pride Month. Why is it there?? We will never know…
  10. I see why Burt Reynolds bought the film rights to your first novel X X.
    I mean… Why is this reader who loves Y’s Y enough to read it ten times suddenly pivoting to mention the movie rights to X X? Especially when we know that *that* option is going nowhere since Burt Reynolds, may he rest in peace on his adorable ass, passed away in 2018, THREE YEARS AGO. This isn’t exactly a hot commodity in Hollywood. And how does this 96yo (important detail!) reader even know about Burt and his pre-2018 option purchase of the book that he hasn’t read nine times already? This just proves that being a fiction writer doesn’t make you a good liar.
  11. (Link I ain’t never gonna follow, which only goes to his Facebook page anyway.)
    You linked me to your Facebook page because why? Cuz, you know, your profile, right there on the Facebook PM goes right to…. your Facebook page!
  12. Don’t do this, people.

 

 

Author Coaches – How to Spot the Phonies

Jeffe Kennedy / / Blog

This week’s topic at the SFF Seven is whatever is on our minds. Now that The Promised Queen has been out for nearly a week, I’m once again reminded of the many, many scavengers that begin circling the sparkling and hopeful fresh meat that is a new release.

So, as a general warning, remember that there are a LOT of people out there looking to make money off of authors. Come on over to find out how to spot the bad ones.