Quest - Series Conclusion - Kindle Giveaway of 100 copies - Enter Now!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Quest

by Dakota Banks

Giveaway ends March 31, 2026.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Don't miss the giveaway of 15 signed paperbacks of Quest, the finale of the Mortal Path series. Only a few days left!

The end of the Goodreads giveaway of 15 signed paperback copies of Quest: Mortal Path Book Four by Dakota Banks is just days away! Open to US and Canadian residents. Quest is the long-awaited finale of an epic urban fantasy/action-packed/romantic/thriller series featuring Maliha Crayne.

She's a 300-year-old assassin who made a deal with a Sumerian demon to save her life from an unjust death sentence.

After centuries of killing at his command, she's turned rogue, now attempting to balance the scale of lives taken with lives saved.

Get your entry in by the deadline, January 28th. Enter here.

Giveaway - 15 Signed Paperbacks of Quest, Mortal Path Series Finale!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

    Quest 
    Giveaway:
    Starts January 16, 2026
    Ends January 28, 2026

    See giveaway details
    at Goodreads.

     15 signed paperbacks!
      by Dakota Banks

Mythology-based,
Urban fantasy/thriller,
Series finale!
Open to US and Canadian Residents

    Enter Giveaway

Win DARK TIME in an Amazon Giveaway

Win 1 of 50 free ebooks of DARK TIME: Mortal Path Book One by @DakotaBanks! Yes, 50! No purchase needed. Limited time Amazon Giveaway of this supernatural action thriller. 

“Sometimes you just need a kick-ass former demon’s slave to tackle life’s problems. Especially one wielding a whip sword….Not to be missed!” – James Rollins 

Enter: http://amzn.to/2hAQGSj

Win a Mortal Path Swag Bag!

Check out my post about the fourth book in the Mortal Path series, Bloodletting, on the Supernatural Underground Blog. You can win this terrific Mortal Path Swag Bag (tote bag, three signed paperbacks, calculator, bookmarks, magnets, and pens) just by commenting on Supernatural Underground.

The last day to enter is Wednesday, March 5, 2014. International entries welcome, but an international winner will receive a $35 Amazon Gift Card rather than the swag bag. Go for it!

Free Review Copy of Honor's Journey

Author DB Ayers (a very close friend of mine, so close we have the same fingerprints) has released an indie book for kids. As with any indie book, promo is a tough go. Accumulating reviews on Amazon is an important first step, one that ♥you♥ can help accomplish. Doesn't that give you a warm and fuzzy feeling? If you haven't done your random act of kindness for the day, well ...

Have kids? Know anyone with kids? Ever been a kid? You can have a free review copy of Honor's Journey, suggested for boys and girls ages 9-12+. 

R.L. Stine says it's "a terrific read," and if you know anything about kids, you know who R.L. Stine is.

Set in the 1700s, Honor's Journey is the story of the love Native American twins (boy and girl) Hawk and Fox have for the only two horses their tribe owns, and what happens when their father makes a peace treaty that gives away one of the horses—and pledges Fox as the future bride of another chief’s cruel son. Full of action, adventure, and emotional involvement, and sure to please both boys and girls.

Click here to get your free review copy,
your choice of Kindle, Nook, or PDF.

Giveaway! $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Certificate

I write the PJ Gray series of virtual reality thrillers as Shirley Kennett. The recently issued ebook version of Time of Death was chosen to be featured in the Kindle 100 for July! It's on sale for $1.99 until July 31st at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other online retailers.

I'm pleased to offer a giveaway of a $50 Amazon or B&N gift certificate to celebrate the sale. Last I checked, Time of Death was #43/100 in its Kindle category of Crime Fiction. I'd love to see it go to #1!

"Kennett's writing is taut and unyielding, and like great baseball pitchers she throws the curves fast and with uncanny accuracy. Reading Time of Death was like watching someone juggle plates while skateboarding down a steep hill. You aren't sure how it will end, just that it will be spectacular. I loved every minute of this book and look forward to her next."
- Jon Jordan, Crimespree Magazine

"The hook in Kennett's PJ Gray series, starring a St. Louis psychological profiler, is the use of virtual reality software to recreate crime scenes. The high-tech wizardry is fine, but what really makes this series go is the fiery relationship and strong personalities of the costars, gutsy protagonist PJ (Penelope) and her Andy Sipowicz-like boyfriend, Leo Schultz, a police detective. This pair could be solving cases with legal pads and pencils, and readers would still be drawn to them. A top-notch series that satisfies both readers seeking page-turning suspense and those looking for characters so real you almost expect to see them at the local diner."
- Booklist

♥ Please ♥ pass the word!

Enter the drawing: http://shirleykennett.com

Maliha's Christmas

Nocturnal Book Reviews has a charming Christmas feature: authors sharing how their characters would spend the holiday. I'll be up on December 17th, with the Mortal Path's Maliha Crayne decorating her tree alone (all together now - awwww). Giveaways? Of course! You can win the now famous (or infamous) Mortal Path Swag Bag.

Visit Christmas With Dakota Banks to enter to win the Swag Bag. 

Ninfa Hayes Interview and Book Giveaway

Ninfa Hayes is a terrific debut author and I'm very pleased to grab a bit of her time for an interview here. And to have a GIVEAWAY of her first book!

First, a short bio.
Ninfa lives in Manchester, UK. Originally from Italy, she's half Spanish, half Italian and British by choice and marriage. Reading and writing have always been a big part of her life and for this she thanks both her parents for passing down the literary gene and the passion for a good story.

Ninfa is big on networking and co-runs an array of Facebook pages and blogs about books and all things supernatural. She also reviews books for the Facebook Bookaholics Book Club on a regular basis. If you'd like to find out more about Ninfa and her stories, you can check out her contact information at the end of this interview.

Some information about Ninfa's book, Bites. (You can see my full 5-star review here.) Bites contains two great stories.


Story 1 - "Last of the Blood"

When the sweet scent reaches me, I know I have found what I'm looking for.

My hands reach out in the darkness to the unaware girl. She's warm and soft, and doesn't even get to scream before I'm drinking deeply from her, her struggles too feeble to bother me.

Only the blood counts. 

I've never tasted anything like it. Gloriously sweet, thick and strong, and full of life.

I drink until the hunger subsides, until the body that I hold so close to me hangs lifelessly in my arms. Only then I see. Only then I recognise it, and the agony … oh, the agony is more than I can bear!

Story 2 - "Demonica"

Tonight is the Midwinter Solstice Ball, the most important night in the Daemonic Court's calendar.

This is the night when new disciples are chosen, when demons come out to play, and all bets are off.

As it happens, tonight is also the night I become Queen.

Bites

Irina is about to become Queen of the Daemonic Court and Damon is on the run from his own nature …where will their paths take them?

Two short stories that will seduce you with romance, danger, sensuality … and Vampire bites.

 Ninfa, I’m so glad you could visit my blog! Could you please tell us a little about yourself? 

Thank you so much for having me Dakota, it is truly my pleasure :) Well, what can I tell you, I'm 36, a sweetsaholic, married with a 3 year old little monster of a girl, and I live in Manchester, UK with my family, which also includes two lovely cats: Jemima and Shelley. As you know, I have recently published my very first book, Bites, an anthology of 2 novelettes, and I am over the moon about it. I've always loved writing, but never really thought anything would come of it, so to be able to share my stories with so many others has really been a dream come true for me :)

What led you to write a vampire-themed book? After all, there are so many of them out there! 

It wasn't really a conscious decision for me, I suppose it just happened, lol. I know there are a lot of Vampire stories out there, so it was never a supernatural creature I wanted to particularly explore. Then I wrote a short story called "Forever", which just happened to be about Vampires, and I received so many lovely comments about it, and so many requests for more information on the characters, that I decided to expand it and explore that particular world. That's how "Last of the Blood" was born. After that, I realized that no matter how many Vampire stories were out there, I sort of wanted to give my own take. I think it doesn't matter how many times you write about a certain theme, nobody can do it through your eyes! :)

Bites is fantastic! The first novella, "Last of the Blood," was a page-turner for me. Could you give us a little background on the story?

 I originally wrote "Forever" ( which is now the Epilogue for "Last of the Blood"), to enter an online writing contest. I didn't win, but I received a lot of compliments about it, and also a lot of requests to expand it. People wanted to know more about Catherine and Damon, and about their stories, so it got me thinking about how they had met each other and what their background stories were. Even though "Forever" was, and is, narrated by Catherine, it was Damon that seemed to really have a story to tell. He popped into my mind fully formed and very loquacious, so I just started writing another short story about how he became a Vampire and "The Covenant" was born. But it still wasn't enough. I needed to tell the story of how he had met Catherine and how they ended up being where they were, so I kept writing. The result is this very dark, very melancholic story. It was a strange journey to take, as I had never thought of writing from a male perspective, but I guess you can't argue with the people in your head, lol. For me, "Last of the Blood" was a pleasure to write. The plot just flowed smoothly in my head, and since I had the end, before I even thought of the beginning, it was interesting to discover how the pieces of the puzzle fit with that particular resolution. Also, I think Gabriel is probably one of my favourite characters to write, and even though he only has a secondary part, he's definitely one of the most vivid characters in my head :)

I was fascinated with the second novella, "Demonica", goes back to the beginning, to Eden. Very creative! Why did you want to do an origin story?

I didn't! Lol. "Demonica" was supposed to be a very short story (in fact, it was born a single scene), and there was nothing in the original draft about Angels and Daemons and Eden. It literally was to be a very hot and sexy scene, with Irina as the Queen of the Daemons, and her lover coming back to Court, having been accused of killing the previous Queen. The story/scene was going to be about Irina's lover (originally called Simon!), coming back to court to clean up his name and prove that the whole plot had been concocted by Irina's "Pet-Project", Malcolm, who was jealous of their relationship and wanted to get rid of Simon. But whenever I started working on that story, it just did not work in my head. "Demonica" went through version 1, version 2, version 3, version 3.1 and so on, and it was actually painful to write. Giving birth to my daughter was a walk in the park compared to it, lol. So how did it become an "Origin Story"? I literally gutted the first 3 versions, kept the characters and descriptions that I liked and could work with (Ivan, Irina, Queen Serena, Malcolm and the idea of Irina's lover in particular) and tried to think of a setting where they could interact in an epically fantastic way. The images in my head were very grand so I had to give them a larger than life setting.

Then on my way back from work one day I was listening to Rhianna's version of "Love the way you lie" featuring Eminem in my car, and one line from those lyrics seemed to stick in my head. "Even angels have their wicked schemes..." That was it, the cartoon-like light bulb just lit up in my head. I wrote the Prologue and set the scene in Eden, and the rest just fell into place. I realized who the characters were, and then some of the little twists in the story just worked their way in as I was writing it. There really wasn't a lot of planning behind it, Irina just took my hand and walked me through her story, and we were both very surprised when a certain angel made his appearance, but it just made sense :) Needless to say, the final version of the story is my proudest achievement to date ;)

 I found your writing style to be lyrical, your descriptions excellent, and your characterizations well done. In other words, Bites seems like the polished production of an experienced author writing with an assured hand, not a debut offering. How long did it take you to write it and are there other manuscripts gathering dust that you used for practice? 

Wow, thank you very much for the incredible compliment, I have a huge grin splitting my face right now :D

Overall, including edits, Bites took about 6 months to write and polish. I must say, a lot of credit goes to my amazing editor and publisher, Dianna Hardy at Bitten Fruit Books, for her insight on both stories and her support throughout the whole project. As a new author, I was very nervous about the process, and about not being able to deliver a good manuscript, but she was easy to work with and for, and always open to my silly questions, and I feel very blessed that I was lucky enough to work with her.

I have to say, "Last of the Blood" is pretty much what you see on the book, but "Demonica" has another 3 versions knocking about on my laptop. Previous to Bites, I had been writing other projects and short stories, so I guess that was good practice,lol. Also, I read A LOT, and one of my favourite authors, the lovely Kelley Armstrong, whom I was very lucky to meet a couple of years ago, was gracious enough to give me the best advice on how to improve your writing: READ! Nothing more instructive than to see what other authors are doing and how they're doing it. By reading other people's stories I was able to decide what style, point of view and genre worked best for me, and hopefully I have done myself justice enough with my first endeavour :)

It seemed to me that both of these novellas could be expanded to novels, especially "Demonica", from which I catch a whiff of a series. Is this it for these two stories, or do you have more development in mind? 

I never say never, although it most definitely won't be "Last of the Blood." I really have no plans to pick up that world or any of the characters. For me that story has been told and I'm very happy with the result. "Demonica" is different I guess. The story is very much open and there are different things I could do with the characters. I have ideas, but no plans so far as I have other projects I'm working on right now. My publisher has requested a short story with Irina involved in a sexy threesome, lol, but that won't be happening, sorry guys.

I'm flirting with the idea of mixing a new concept with characters from "Demonica".  It's very first stage but I think you'll be seeing more of Irina and her boys, although perhaps not as a main character. ;) I can tell you the new project is provisionally called "Bare Light" and it will be aimed to an adult audience. :)

You have a background as a book blogger and reviewer. Do you think this has helped you in your writing debut or made it more challenging by constantly seeing other authors’ books? 

I'd like to say that didn't play a role in my writing process at all, but who am I kidding?! I was very conscious of the fact that I was crossing into the Dark Side, and I think since I found out I was to be published, it has made reviewing books more difficult because I am very aware that someone, somewhere is doing the same to my book. I've always prided myself in giving honest opinions on what I read, but I think it never sank in until I, myself, was biting my nails waiting for my reviews to be published. I also feel that being afraid of bad reviews meant being very through when editing and really asking myself questions like "What else would I want to know?" See? "What else can I tell my readers?" So I guess there were ups and downs to being a reviewer myself, but I wouldn't change that for anything. :)

Tell us briefly about your writing process. Notes? Synopsis? Just start right in? All of the above? 

Lol. It really depends on the story I'm writing to be honest. For Bites I had no synopsis. "Last of the Blood" was just getting stuck into it. "Demonica" had random notes, but again, it was mostly free flow. I have a project called "Witch's Brew" for which I have done a synopsis, another called "Goddess" that has a whole folder full of photos...as I said, it depends on the story I'm writing. Some need visual prompts, others need notes, and then there's the "Just do it" kind, where I just sit down and write and the plot stays safe in my head, mulling and bubbling over as if in a big cauldron, until the words are ready and seasoned enough to be written down :p

Down to the nitty-gritty: Which story do you like better, and why? 

Oh gosh! This is like "Sophie's choice"! How can you ask me to choose between my two babies??!??! Lol! I'll be very cliché and tell you that I love them both for different reasons, but if I really, really, really had to choose, I think it would be "Demonica", simply because I feel "Last of the Blood" is a more mainstream story, one that people can enjoy guilt-free. I think "Demonica" is a little more controversial, so it's one of those that people might take one way or another. I write Fantasy and "Demonica" is definitely Fantasy, even though I've borrowed Mythology of Origin from several traditions, but I have had some feedback on it where I was told it perhaps "Hits to close to home" when it comes to some religious beliefs.

It was never my intention to be controversial, I just wanted to explore things from a different point of view. We all know why "Good" is better, but why is "Bad" bad? That was my motivation for writing "Demonica" from the point of view of someone innocent who actually wanted to go explore "Darkness". Incidentally, "Irina" means "Peace" and it was a very conscious decision to pick that specific name. Peace can only come when Darkness and Light come together and find a balance, and I think that was the only message I wanted to send out, if any :)

Bites is listed as Young Adult. When I read the stories, I felt that they were for older YA, though there is no such classification yet. What are your feelings on your target audience? 

We toyed with a lot with tags, my editor Dianna and I, because as you say, Bites seems to fit in an "Older YA" category because of the dark feel of both novelettes. Truth is, there is a very fine line between Adult and Young Adult nowadays. Series like The House of Night by PC and Kirsten Cast often speak of adult themes and have a high sexual content. Bites is not as overtly sexual, but there are references to sex and violence and I am aware that some parents might not see it as suitable for younger readers.

My parents never dictated to me what to read when I was younger. I was reading Agatha Christie and Stephen King when I was 8/9 years old, not exactly children's books but I loved them, and I'm grateful I was allowed to make my own choices. To me, anyone could pick Bites up and enjoy it, regardless of age, but I know that is my personal opinion only. I think Bites is generally aimed at an older audience, so 17 years old +, and I like to think it appeals to both teenagers and adults alike, as there are many levels to both stories, that can be explored. I hope my readers agree :)

Is there anything else you’d like us to know? What’s next for you? 

I'm currently finishing the first draft of a double team project with my Bookaholics Book Club partner in crime, the lovely Misty Price. The story is a full length Young Adult novel called Divine, and it's the story of two sisters who grow up separate, not knowing of each other's existence, until they start developing special abilities and discover they're the daughters of Hades, the Greek God of the Underworld, and that there's a prophecy that was made when the youngest was born that has Olympus all rallied up against them. Divine is full of mythological references, and it's a fun and light read with adventure, romance and some twists and turns that will hopefully keep readers entertained. As of this moment, we haven't submitted it to any agents or publishing houses, but if all goes well, we might have something in the pipeline for it to be released next year, so keep your fingers crossed for us. ;)

In terms of solo projects, I'm working on finishing the first book of my House of Avalon series, Morgan's Legacy, another YA story, and Witch's Brew, an adult book that will kick-start my Chloe Parker, Supernatural Hunter urban fantasy series.... oh so many project and so little time! Lol.

Now the most important questions!

Jellybeans or chocolate? 

Chocolate! With Peanut Butter whenever it's possible :p

The Hunger Game or Game of Thrones? 

I can haz both plz? 

Cats or dogs? 

Cats! They rule! :) 

Thunder or lightning? 

Lighting.

Spicy hot, medium, or mild? 

Mild... I'm allergic to chilly and intolerant to black pepper so hot and spicy is a big No No for me :p

Learn more about Ninfa Hayes below (and remember that name - you're going to be hearing a lot of it!).

Blog: http://www.bookaholicsbkcl.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Ninfa76
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ninfa-Hayes/231118400279030 

Win one of THREE copies of the e-book of Bites, plus swag from Ninfa. Each winner will receive a bookmark, a quote postcard, and a personalized thank you card! 

Books will be from Smashwords, where you can choose the correct format for your e-reader or a PDF for your computer. 

Just leave a comment below with your email included, so I can reach you if you are a winner. The giveaway ends June 30th. Winners will be randomly chosen on July 1st.   

International Giveaways for Deliverance: Mortal Path Book 3

My blog tour for the release of Deliverance, the third book in the Mortal Path series, is winding down. Now's a great time to enter to win the Swag Bag giveaways! Here are the active giveaways on blogs other than my own.  For giveaways, click here.

Mortal Path Swag Bags

These super packs consist of a high-quality zippered tote with the Mortal Path logo, three signed books (Dark Time, Sacrifice, and Deliverance), bookmarks and pens for each, some magnets, and a calculator.  

All Swag Bag giveaways are open internationally. 


 For additional giveaways, click here.

 

 

Goodreads Giveaway for Deliverance

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Deliverance

by Dakota Banks

Giveaway ends April 23, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Win TEN terrific signed new thrillers!

She is ... the BookBitch.

BookBitch has a monthly giveaway featuring newly released books by members of International Thrillers Writers.

The real thrill is that ALL OF THESE BOOKS ARE SIGNED BY THE AUTHORS!

Go here to enter this great giveaway. Last day to enter is March 31st. I'm very pleased with the company I'm keeping!

The March lineup in alphabetical order by author, which conveniently puts my book first:

• Deliverance: Mortal Path Book 3 by Dakota Banks

• Stay Close by Harlan Coben

• Clawback by Mike Cooper

• Death, Taxes and a Skinny No-Whip Latte by Diane Kelly

• The Professionals by Owen Laukkane

• Poison Flower by Thomas Perry

• Zero Break by Neil S. Plakcy

• Starters by Lissa Price

• The Man from Primrose Lane by James Renner

• The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose

Goodreads Giveaway for Deliverance!

Enter to win one of five signed copies of Deliverance, the third book in the Mortal Path Series, via Goodreads.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Deliverance

by Dakota Banks

Giveaway ends March 31, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

EBooks 101

*** EBook Giveaway ***
 
If you're here just for the free copy of Gray Matter, book 1 of the PJ Gray series by Shirley Kennett, skip to the last paragraph of this post.

Authors who published books before eBooks took off in popularity may be able to go digital on their own with those books. It's a great way to breathe new life into a series that has gone out of print. The tools are available now for authors to do this, the same way many people are creating original eBooks. I decided to undertake this with a series of psychological suspense novels I wrote under the name of Shirley Kennett, and I'd like to share some of my experiences here.

With a few exceptions, writers creating original works would go through the same procedures, so if you have a book ready to spread its wings, sink in its fangs, or transform under the full moon, this is for you. This is just one means to an end; the paths are many, including using a paid eBook conversion service. I wanted to know the details, so I did just about everything myself. I'm going to provide specifics for my path so if you're frustrated or in a muddle, as I was at various times, you can at least see something that works.

Make Sure You Own Your Digital Rights

If you have a contract from years ago, there may be no mention of digital rights. Still, the best way to make sure you're on safe ground is to have the rights you signed away in the contract reverted to you by the publisher. If your books are out of print (as defined in your contract) a letter to your publisher's legal department should produce a notice of rights reversion. Read the fine print. If your situation is not clear cut, consult your agent, editor, or an intellectual rights attorney for advice. Don't cut corners here. If your eBook is original, this is something you don't have to worry about.

Consider the Widest Distribution

Different eBook readers use different input formats. They can be simplified into Kindle (Mobi) format and everyone else (EPub, the international standard). This means you'll want to supply these two formats for your eBook to reach the Kindle, Nook, iPad, and a host of other readers. I puzzled over this for some time and chose two online services, Smashwords (ePub and other formats such as PDF) and LiberWriter for Kindle. Smashwords is free to use, distributes your eBook to markets like Barnes and Noble and iPad, and provides a page within the Smashwords site for you to sell your book. For all of this, they extract what I consider a reasonable fee from each eBook you sell (nothing up front). LiberWriter charges a flat fee of $25 (or $50 if you want them to do more of the conversion work) upfront for each Kindle book you produce and claims no fees after that. Amazon does, though. LiberWriter provides the output that you upload directly into Amazon. After tangling with other Kindle "converters" with no joy, I was pleased to discover LiberWriter and don't plan to use anything else. (No, I'm not connected with the company in any way.) If you want to offer your book for the Kindle only, you can just use LiberWriter from the start, including writing an original book. You might also investigate Vook, which will be available early in 2012. I'm just tossing out the name because I've heard good things about it.

Obtain an ISBN for Your EBook

You can get a free ISBN from Smashwords, or if you want one that isn't associated with Smashwords, you can go to ePubBud and get one for $5. Yes, you need one. Don't give me any grief over this.

Prep Your Text

I found that when I looked for my Word files of the PJ Gray series, I had files that were submitted to the editor but had never been updated as the books went through copyediting and proofing. In other words, my files didn't have the exact same text as the final published versions. (Not a problem if you're writing an original eBook!) There are two ways to go here. The first is the brute strength method of comparing the Word file to the published version page by laborious page and bringing it up to date. I did this for my first book, Gray Matter. The second method is to have the book digitized, meaning scanned in and converted using Optical Character Reader (OCR) software to a readable file. EPubBud does this for $20 per book plus $.15 per page. Because OCR is not perfect, you'll still have to go through the file you are sent line by line to make sure it's correct. Given the time I spent bringing my Word version up to date, I'm going to try digitizing the next book in the series and see how that works! Be warned it takes 4-6 weeks, so start early.

Then I did some minor revisions in my text because technology had moved forward since the book was published and some references would be jarring to a current reader. That means I now have the 2nd edition of the book. Smashwords provides a free, detailed Style Guide to help you get your book into the correct format for conversion. The Smashwords Style Guide is helpful and should be followed closely. You'll save time if you do. If you're writing an original book, use the Smashwords Style Guide from page one.

Design a Cover

Remember that even after the rights to the book are reverted to you, you don't own the rights to the cover. Those rights belong to the original cover artist. I'm fairly handy with Photoshop, and I had a lot of fun designing the covers for the eBooks of the PJ Gray series. I bought stock photos from iStockPhoto and combined them with the book's title, my name, and a juicy quote. It's very important that you have a professional-looking cover. Be honest. If you can't do this step on your own, pay for cover design. LiberWriter offers cover design, but I didn't use it so I can't personally vouch for them. There are other cover designers available, but don't skimp on quality.

Putting It All Together

I worked with Smashwords first, because it offered the best way to clean up my text with its Style Guide. Once I was happy with the text, I submitted it for conversion. I learned that building the internal linked Table of Contents (yes, even for fiction) is very important and a touchy thing to do. The ToC produces the navigation that allows the reader to jump to various parts of the book and enhances the reading experience. In my experience, if I've built the ToC (the Style Guide directions are excellent), and then need to make corrections to it for any reason, the whole thing seems to mess up. I take a deep breath, count to 100, and delete what I have in order to start over from scratch. I've wasted hours trying to fix an existing ToC until I resigned myself to starting over. Maybe it's just me. ;-) Once Smashwords accepts the formatting of the book, it's made available for sale on their website. To get to Barnes & Noble and the iPad catalog takes longer, up to ten days, because there's a manual review by a Smashwords editor before your material is passed along. You can and should verify that your eBook looks the way you expect by downloading your free ePub copy from Smashwords to an ePub-capable reader or to your computer. An excellent ePub reader available as a free download for the PC or Mac is Adobe Digital Editions.

By the time your text is squeaky clean (or thoroughly edited if your book is original), using LiberWriter for the Kindle is a snap. Throw away your lovely ToC you built for Smashwords. Upload your text on the LiberWriter site, mark your chapter headings with their "Chapter" designation, and press the easy-squeezy "Build ToC" key that does all the work for you. Convert to Mobi format and check that your book looks the way you want the world to see it. Do this with a Kindle or with the free Kindle reading app for PCs, Macs, and other devices. When you're happy with your results, it's time to upload to Amazon. (Note: Amazon now accepts other files for uploading, including ePub, Word, HTML, and even PDFs. However, it's my impression that you'll get the best results when you submit Mobi format, and in my case I chose LiberWriter to produce that format. As I said, many paths.)

You'll need an account at Kindle Direct Publishing, so start with that. Then upload your Mobi file and book cover and set your price. Consider the pricing/royalty offerings carefully. You get a higher percentage royalty if you price your book at $2.99 or higher, but you may sell fewer books that way.

Keep Your Expectations Realistic

Sure there have been some great successes with eBook "reprints" or original works, but far more are published with little fanfare and even less profit for the author. Depending on how much you spent getting to this point, you may not earn back your investment. It's not all about the money, though. If you are a writer, you know what I mean. If you keep your expectations modest, you can always have a pleasant surprise if your eBook takes off!

Promote your eBook via your website, blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Offer some free copies. With Smashwords, you can create coupons that allow readers to purchase your book for a reduced price or for free. With Amazon, you can give away gift certificates. LiberWriter allows you to give free Kindle copies to individuals, such as reviewers, with their names embedded in the copy. Join the Amazon and Barnes & Noble Associates programs. These marketing programs give you a small rebate whenever a reader clicks on your book link on your website or blog, goes to Amazon or B&N, and then purchases that eBook. You referred the reader and a sale resulted, so they're willing to pay a small amount for that referral. And I do mean small. But even small amounts can add up.

I hope you find this guide useful. Poking my way through this blind wasn't fun, but the results were rewarding. I know that my next eBook conversion will be much smoother and more fun. I hope this post might help writers out there and readers who want to tell their own stories. If it isn't relevant to you, maybe you know someone who might be interested. Questions? I'm not a pro at this, but I'll answer what I can.

If you'd like to see how Gray Matter, book one of the PJ Gray series, turned out, I'll give away a free copy to anyone who leaves a comment here by Friday, December 9th. Let me know if you want the Kindle or Nook/iPad version (ePub). I'll be sending it to you as an email attachment, so I'll need your (disguised) email. If you prefer, you can email me at dakota @ dakota-banks dot com. Be sure to add my email to your whitelist for my response.

Enter to win a Kindle Fire by “liking” Dakota’s Facebook Fan Page!

Win a signed copy of Sacrifice!

I write the Mortal Path series of supernatural thrillers featuring Maliha Crayne. Sacrifice is book two.

While burning at the stake as a witch, Maliha accepts a Sumerian demon’s offer to become immortal and serve him as an assassin. Then she’s given an assignment she can’t bear to carry out. She chooses the mortal path instead, and emerges from three centuries of service as the demon’s slave. She discovers the fine print of her contract. If she balances lives taken with lives saved, she’ll ascend to a paradise straight out of Sumerian legend. If she fails, she faces eternal torment at the demon’s hands. The ticking clock? Every time she saves lives, she ages a variable amount of time.

Now she has an opportunity to prevent the death of thousands to help balance the countless lives she has obliterated over the centuries. To do so, she must locate and destroy an evil cabal of madmen in possession of a weapon of unspeakable power–and survive the immortal assassins who are now after her blood. But it means reverting to the old ways and surrendering once more to the darkness.

• "The premise for this series is exciting. With a kick-ass heroine trying to get out of an unimaginably bad situation and tons of action, this is a terrific read." – RT BOOK REVIEWS
• "Maliha is a mix of Lara Croft and a human Terminator. A series with a strong, intriguing story line." – Catherine Tuckwell, BLOGCRITICS
• "A great concept and a fun read; an original story with just the right blend of action, suspense, mythology, and romance." – BOOK BITCH

Win a signed copy by emailing to dakota@dakota-banks.com with a subject line of “Giveaway” by December 9, 2011. A winner will be selected by random drawing and notified by email. Visit the Dakota Banks website for more information on the Mortal Path series.

Enter to win a Kindle Fire by “liking” Dakota’s Facebook Fan Page!

Enter to Win a Kindle Fire!

There's a new drawing going on my Facebook fan page. "Like" my page and enter a drawing to win a Kindle Fire! You can enter the drawing even if you've already liked my fan page (thank you!). Just click on the "Win a Kindle Fire" tab on the left side of the page.

I'd LOVE your LIKE.

Go to: Dakota Banks' Facebook Fan Page

Scary movies--are some of them true?

Hollywood's Amityville Horror house

I post once a month on the Supernatural Underground blog, along with a group of best-selling HarperCollins authors writing Speculative Fiction (Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance/Fantasy/Sci-Fi) for adults and teens. What a mouthful! Everyone's writing about Halloween this month, so I decided to take a look at three classic horror movies that have real life stories behind them. Real, that is, if you accept the paranormal basis for them. Check out my examination of the movies The Shining, The Amityville Horror, and The Exorcist. If you haven't seen these classics in a while, or haven't seen them at all, they make good viewing for your Halloween guests, plus you'll be able to amaze them with the background stories.

While you're there, you can enter a random drawing to win a $25 Amazon gift card just by leaving a comment. 

Dakota on Supernatural Underground

Dakota Banks Fan Page

Help me spread the word about my new Facebook fan page by posting the badge below on your blog. Leave a comment with your blog url and I'll enter you in a special drawing for a $50 Amazon gift certificate only for bloggers who have posted the badge. Ends November 15, 2011. Is this a bribe? Well ... yes. Is it blatant? Um ... yes.

To make the switch from personal to fan page as painless as possible, I'm having a drawing on the fan page for a Nook Color (an international winner will receive an equivalent gift certificate at Barnes & Noble, since the Nook isn't shipped outside the USA). You can enter that, too!


<center><a href="http://www.facebook.com/DakotaBanksPage?sk=app_205521576149308"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLlGQG0_0nx3q3_s-ZYGSGbgrlugd2PU9sVwiwDI1bSpSWt0qA29wNhxRZgrgmD8EtO54FDSJIqrmBSooLyGWTV5cn90jbMTk-Av6EKBGsEhdBChVUvGaCV8cSO28dYRc_wAOyUp6fNwu/s144/Like-Dakota-Badge.jpg border="0" alt=”Like Dakota Banks on FB"></a></center>

Win a Nook Color E-Reader!

 

WIN A NOOK COLOR E-READER!


Makes a great gift! 
Open Internationally* 
Ends Midnight CST
November 15, 2011 I'm revving up the
Dakota Banks Fan Page
on Facebook and would LOVE you
to "LIKE" it!

To enter the random drawing:
1. Click on the link above to visit my Facebook page.
2. Click on "Win a Nook Color" in the navigation block on the left side.
3. Click on the "Like" icon at the top of the page.
4. Enter your name and email address.
5. Click submit. Good luck!

*International entrants: Barnes and Noble does not ship the Nook Color outside the U.S.
An international winner will receive a Barnes and Noble gift certificate for $249 instead.

Bouchercon and see-through calculators!

The World Mystery Conference (Bouchercon) is coming up Sept. 15-18 in St. Louis, my hometown. My panel is "Night Chills - Making Things Go Bump in the Night", on Thursday, September 15th, 8:30am-9:30am, room Majestic A,B,C. Yes, that's 8:30 in the morning, on the first day. Please, please, if you are going to Bouchercon, set your alarm and come to my panel!! It'll be fun and I hope to see you there--awake--in the audience. We're moderated by Monette Draper (aka Monette Michaels) and the other panelists are Angie Fox, Sarah Glenn, M.R. Sellars, and Jason Starr. 

I'll also be volunteering at the Bouchercon registration table and staffing the International Thriller Writers Outreach table. If you want information on joining ITW, stop by and talk to some ITW authors. I'm currently on the board of ITW, printed out the brochures, and had a banner made for the front of the table, so I need to make sure the table looks busy. :) Stop by and talk paranormal stuff and I'll give you a Sacrifice: Mortal Path Book 2 pen.

HarperCollins is sponsoring the opening ceremonies during Bouchercon this year. The opening ceremonies will take place from 7pm-9pm on Thursday, September 15th (roughly twelve hours after my panel, so I hope I'm still functional by then). The Barry and Macavity Awards will be presented during the opening ceremonies, and immediately afterward, HarperCollins will host a book signing and reception in the lobby outside the opening ceremonies room. I'll be there, handing out FREE copies of Sacrifice: Mortal Path Book 2 to the first fifty takers, along with some see-through solar calculators.

Just in case you're not going to Bouchercon, you can win the book and calculator by going to my post on the Supernatural Underground blog and leaving a comment by Thursday, September 1st. I'm giving away two sets.