Hobnob Offer, Earth is Ours

I am anxious to see how this Hobnob with Authors group works out. To get it started I will offer up five (5) copies of "Earth is Ours" for review. This is a Fantasy and the first of a trilogy. Yes, the second books is also available and the last is soon to be released. Details can be viewed through my profile page.

What should be the procedure to request them? Is it best to request through my profile messages or in here so everyone can follow? Sadly, I only have five to give away, so not everyone will get one.

Do you send to France? (I am not fussed about surface mail, it's fine by me).

here is a touchstone to the work Earth is Ours

I would suggest you make life as easy as possible for potentially interested readers, and post all the details you can here. And interested readers should post here too. You get to choose based on whatever criteria you want whom to offer the copies to. I wouldn't think first come first served it the best approach though.

What sort of fantasy? Urban, Dark, YA, epic, low?

What market are you aiming at? What well known books would you think it's most like? (ie if you liked Tolkein you'd like this?)

Both of the exisiting reviews, and the tagcloud indicate it's SciFi rather than fantasy, perhaps you'd care to comment on that too. So far it's not sounding like my cup of tea.

Gary,
I am a Fantasy fan but not much for Science Fiction and I think there is a big difference between the two.

I've seen on other threads you can post pictures in talk I myself don't know how its done but I'm sure theres instructions somewhere.

I would suggest a picture and a description of your book that will help you reach the right reader.

Thanks for being the first to take the plunge!I think this wil be a great group for putting readers like me in touch with authors and introducing your books to new readers.

I love sci fi and fantasy, and don't have a problem when they mix it up, either! I'd love a copy, sounds like fun!

ETA: I just read the reviews, and oh yeah, I want it.

I would be interested in reviewing your book. I love Science Fiction and think it would be grand to review.

I'm not a fantasy fan, either, but I'm glad to see you take the plunge, Gary. I've long been advocating for a safe place on LT for book promotion by authors. My vision was also to keep promotional spam by authors out of other threads.

If I were an author this is what I would do*:
1. Post a picture of the book cover at the top of the thread (if you need help with uploading the image, just ask).
2. Describe your book in a way that entices others to want to read it. It actually may be to your advantage to not "keyhole" a book into a specific genre, but it would be appropriate to suggest "if you like fantasy...".
3. Be *very clear* if the book is hard copy or an e-book.
4. State where requests should be made (for some, it may be to a blog or to an email address).
5. Post an end date for requests (although you don't have to stick by it if you get very few responses in the beginning).
6. Let others know when the giveaways are complete and you have no more books to offer.
7. Let the requestors know by when (what date) you hope to see a review (again, this should not be a hard and fast rule).
8. After you receive the reviews (or lack thereof, which I hope not), post a response to your request and let other LT authors know how pleased (I hope!) or how displeased (I hope not!) you were in the completion of this process.

These are my ideas only. I hope you take some, discard some, but ulimately work things out on this and toerh threads to make "Hobnob with Authors" a win-win situation for everyone. It can be as good as you want it to be - with your energy and creativity!

*P.S. I don't mean to highjack your thread, but I'm so excited that this is actually taking place finally. I hope my suggestions are helpful to you and other authors.

3. Be *very clear* if the book is hard copy or an e-book.

I would add "3a: if an e-book, specify the format"

I should have waited. :( I excitedly looked over the authors connected with this group and started looking for books to acquire. Earth is Ours is one of the ones I ordered. (and I am currently reading one of the ones I ordered after seeing this group)

I read the reviews, and it sounds like a book I'd really enjoy reading!

1> Fantasy and Sci-Fi are not my kind of thing, so I wouldn't be the best one to review your book. I do, however, wish you much success with this and look forward to hearing how it turns out for you.

Gary, I would be very interested in your book and here is a link to instructions on how to "dress up" your give-away.

html code for posting pics and such

Great response and good questions. This is an on-going experiment, and hopefully, beneficial to those that follow. Learn from my mistakes.

# 4 (What sort of fantasy?)

It has been called by some reviewers as Epic Fantasy. Others group it in the SciFi category, but I consider it fantasy with only a touch of SciFi. Think: "Conan" on "The Planet of the Apes", romance of "Love Story", battles of "The Lord of the Rings"; while exploring the vast differences of the sexes of "Men are from Mars - Women are from Venus".

(What market are you aiming at?)

I would have to say older YA and adult, due to some sexual content and both male and female. "Earth is Ours" seems to have a strong appeal to female readers, judging from comments and reviews. You might want to follow the LT link to Amazon for more reviews.

# 8

I have followed your posts in other threads. Yes, you have been refreshing in your support. It is appreciated by many.

You make some good points. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to post a book cover picture here, but it is a great idea.

# 9

Good point. "Earth is Ours" is in hard copy. I understand it is available in e-book format now, but I haven't confirmed that fact.

#17 - It was talked about in the other thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/86569#top

Posts 79, 87, & 88 explain it really well!

# 10

Thanks Mike. You are making Hobnob work.

Gary, I fixed the coding for posting an image of your book cover. Go to this thread and see post #98. Mark it a favorite by clicking on the message number, and the bar will turn yellow so you can find it again.

# 19

SqueakyChu ... much thanks for helping me post the cover art. "IT WORKED!"

Strong work, Gary!!! Love the cover art! Many good wishes towards your give-away!

Just got in for the evening.

Yay!! You did the cover art. It looks nice up there. :)

Hi SqueakyChu! I'm fairly new to this forum and would like to know how to upload an image to a post. I'm not terribly technically savvy. Your help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Gary. I'd be very interested in reading and reviewing your book. It looks and sounds fascinating. When do you plan to close your offer and make your choices? Thanks

Gary - good luck with this offer! I hope things turn out well for you.

Squeaky, great response. I think it would be helpful to have as much detail as possible here, rather than having to do a lot of clicking to read links and then try to navigate back here.

If you are not going to do a simple first-come-first-served basis, you might want to add a deadline for requests. That way, you won't be tempted to hand them out immediately and end up missing a great potential reviewer. I would also suggest putting that in the thread title (Requests open until 4/15/2010 or something similar). That will give you some time to look at reviews and libraries and pick your best candidates.

Hi, Olivia,

To post an image of a book, follow the directions on message number #98 of this thread.

Or a link directly to #98 to save scrolling.

Dear Gary

The signed copy has been received today in Normandy safe and sound! :-)
Now, on with the reading...

Thank you Sonia. Good to know it made it there. I hope you enjoy it.

Gary

"Earth is Ours" was my first book. Since writing this first book I have written four additional books, two of which are sequels to "Earth is Ours".

Although this first book won "Best Fantasy/SciFi" and received numerous 5 Star reviews, I have received some negative reviews. As a result, I have reworked this first edition, making corrections and improvements.

You may wonder, "Why bother? It was your first book, and not everyone will like it." Well, the criticism bothered me. I have learned much writing four additional books. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, I have two sequels. "Target Earth" is the first published sequel, and "Earth's Dragons" comes out next month. Both are complete stories with prologues that allows these books to stand-alone.

I am seeking reviewers for "Target Earth", but I would prefer reviewers that have read "Earth is Ours". I might also be willing to offer a few additional copies of "Earth is Ours".

Gary - I'd be glad to review the sequel, if you'll have me!

Gary, I'd love to read Earth is Ours (and Target Earth for that matter). Gladly post a review.

# 33

Thanks Beth. I would be happy to send you a copy of Target Earth. I still have your mailing address, and it will be in the mail shortly. I know you will provide a review. As you have probably figured out already, I hope to offer you a review copy of "Earth's Dragons" when it is available. They keep getting better. (Smiling)

Thanks, Gary. I can honestly say I'm looking forward to it! :-)

Thanks tcgardner (Chris),

We have shared many reading experiences, and I would be pleased to send you a review copy of "Earth is Ours". Please send me a private message on my profile page with your mailing address.

Gary

I have read Earth is Ours and am now reading Target Earth.

As a reader (and a female), I prefer fantasy over sci-fi. I was a little unsure if I'd like Gary's books. I did find a preview of Earth is Ours online and started reading. That preview convinced me that I had to read more.

I'm not really sure how to categorize this series. I want to say fantasy, but there's also a bit of sci-fi in it - aliens, computers, etc. What I can tell you is I found it to be a very interesting mixture and both a captivating as well as an enjoyable read.

Thanks tweezle. I am glad you are enjoying the saga. I certainly enjoyed writing it.

Gary

I approved the galley for Earth's Dragons today, and it should be out soon for those that have been following the series that began with Earth is Ours. For those that haven't, this third book in the series has an extensive prologue and can be read out of sequence. Each book is a new and complete adventure. The characters took me in a completely new and surprising direction ... a direction that made it exciting to write, and I believe it will be exciting to read.

Writing a trilogy or series often becomes difficult, because the reader and the writer doesn't want more of the same; the characters must grow and the adventure needs to be new and more exciting than the last. Sometimes it is difficult to top the climax of the previous story, but my characters develop and excel in this. Telling THEIR story has been a wonderful ride for me. I hated for it to end, but it must. I can't imagine topping the climax of Earth's Dragons.

I am so very pleased to get my first review of Target Earth. Five star is good, right? Thanks tweezle. Please take a look.

Now I am curious to know what inbookmark said to get flagged and even removed from LT. (Laughing)

I think I was the first to flag it... along the lines of "now the earth is ours, you must buy our handbags, and shoes, and handbags, and shoes, and shoes and handbags, and since we are aliens with many hands and even more feet we have lots of each..." only it was less context sensitive than that!

I am very pleased to announce the release of Earths Dragons, the third book of the Earth is Ours series and finale of the saga. This third book comes on the heels of the re-release of the Target Earth, the first sequel. I will offer review copies of Earths Dragons to those that have reviewed any of my previous books in this series.