Advance Promotion Thru Good Reads Giveaway

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How cool is this?  Just so you know -- the image above is a possible cover for my novel.  First I will look at the two designs created by the CreateSpace team.  The beautiful image by Daniel J. Frey above is definitely a strong contender, which many have admired.

Anyway, I am doing a Book Giveaway on Goodreads.com.  Probably 20 paperback copies of THE PROSPECT OF MY ARRIVAL.  I think they giveaway will be May 15- June 15 (the book should be published by August 1, 2011 or sooner).  This is a great way for hundreds, thousands, of voracious Goodreads folks to browse the jacket copy for my novel, see the cool cover, read the opening two chapters of the book, and then sign up to win a free copy of the book.  By the way, I have a $2500 package with Createspace for editing and design.  I actually won it as part of the 2008 prize in the Amazon contest when I made it to the Top 3.  The Createspace editor referred to PROSPECT as an "award-winning debut novel."  It's true I did get to the Top 3 of 5000, and I won a laptop and plasma TV, and a trip to New York to meet the Amazon and Penguin folks.  Penguin editors chose if for the Top 100 books, then again for the Top 10 books.  Do you think "award-winning" is a fair descriptive of my book, or is it misleading?

As for the self pubbing process, I just got my the editor's version of the promotional copy.  Their change were overall very good.  Cleaner copy, simplified sentences.  In a few case, I'm tweaking the copy back toward the original but overall I think they made good suggestions.  I'm sharing this self publishing journey for others who are considering it or curious how it works.  The tweaked jacket copy is below.  Hope you like it.  Does it make you want to check out the book?

"Thanks to a scientific breakthrough, a human embryo is allowed to preview the world before deciding whether or not to be born. The embryo, named Prospect, is given a starter kit of human knowledge and its consciousness is inserted into a synthetic twenty-year-old body. What will he make of the modern world with its rising tide of mean-spiritedness, senseless violence, and over-the-counter solutions? He meets a range of people to help him decide, from a greeting card writer with a knack for sympathy cards "because there's so much in the world to be sorry about" to his parents whose first child disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Battling over the soul of Prospect is a scientist who sees an opportunity to help the human race evolve -- and a businessman who is more interested in creating something marketable than something remarkable. Sprinkled with humor, The Prospect of My Arrival is a cautionary tale exploring the triumph of imagination, the limits of modern science, and the perils of losing one's sense of wonder."

DISCUSSION TOPIC:  Would you/have you ever done a Goodreads giveaway?  How does my self pub journey so far compare to yours?





Goodreads Book Giveaway





The Prospect of My Arrival by Dwight Okita



The Prospect of My Arrival


by Dwight Okita



Giveaway ends June 15, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.




Enter to win


Comments

  1. Caitlin VincentMay 3, 2011 at 8:09 PM

    I think if you quoted the CreateSpace editor, then it would be fine to call it award winning. The premise for your book is really, really interesting. I'm going to enter the Goodreads giveaway now...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dwight OkitaMay 3, 2011 at 9:03 PM

    Thanks for your thoughts, Caitlin. And for liking my premise! I should mention that the giveway on Goodreads.com starts May 15 and goes to June 15.

    ReplyDelete

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