So as those of you who follow Epic on Facebook know, I’ve begun beating the bushes of the fan base in the past week for some assistance from the Epic faithful. What kind of assistance? Assistance that Epic desperately needs right now: Amazon reviews. Now, Amazon reviews are always important, particularly for indie series. That’s how the world gets to find out that books are worth checking out. But right now, more than ever, they’re critical for Epic. Why?
As I’ve mentioned before in this blog, I’m currently working extensively with Duolit on revamping Epic’s entire platform and online presence. Love the new Epic website? You can thank them for that. Well, the work we’re doing goes far beyond just the website. We’re getting word of Epic out there by various means, one of which is via promotion. And have we got a promotion on the way…
During the days of April 2-4, Dawn of Destiny will be free on Amazon Kindle. Not free with a subscription to something, not free with another purchase. Just straight-up free. Word of this is going out to more online eBook news outlets than I ever knew existed. Literally (yes, literally), multiple tens of thousands of eBook readers will discover that DOD is out there and available. That means multiple tens of thousands of eBook readers will be going to Amazon to see what DOD – and the other books in the series – are about. And yes, multiple tens of thousands of eBook readers will be looking at the series’ reviews. Now you understand why reviews on Amazon are so critically important right now. These tens of thousands of eBook readers need to know that this series is worth it.
Now I’ve thought about how to approach this, as the prospect of asking for reviews is always something that’s made me uncomfortable, essentially because I know that authors abuse the review process. They snag every person they’ve ever known and basically coerce as many 5-star reviews as they can. It’s because of this reason that over the six years that Epic’s been out there, I’ve probably asked fewer people to review the books than I’d need two hands’ worth of fingers to count. And it’s because of that reason that Epic has never had as many reviews as some other books on the market. But if there was ever a time for that to change, this is it.
Epic is on the cusp. I cannot stress how incredibly huge these three days in April are. This is Epic’s moment. This is when Epic needs your help.
If you’ve read Epic and are willing to share your experience with it in the form of an Amazon review, the series could truly, truly use it. In fact, as you’ll read below, I’m going to give you some crazy-cool incentives to get some reviews out there. It’s that important. And so is this next part.
If you review the Epic series on Amazon, do so honestly. I mentioned those authors earlier who cheat the system by recruiting everyone they’ve ever known to 5-star their books. I am not one of them. I do not want you to rush over to Amazon and give the Epic books 5-star reviews. I want you to give them honest reviews. Maybe that is five stars for you. Maybe it’s three. Maybe it’s one. What’s most important to me is that reviews are honest. That’s why this is called “ReviewQuest” and not “5-StarQuest.” What matters is that opinions are being shared. Obviously, I’d love 5-star reviews. I mean, what author wouldn’t? I just don’t want them at the cost of integrity. The Epic fan base is hugely disproportionate to the number of reviews the books have on Amazon, particularly for the later books. The goal of this is just to remedy that.
All right, now the fun part for you, and what I hope is all the incentive in the world to get you over to Amazon and reviewing. It’s contest time! The floodgates of Epic goodness are about to be opened.
By posting a review for the Epic series on Amazon, you will be eligible to win one of several Epic prizes, including a truly epic grand prize. For each review you post on Amazon (and obviously there’s a max of four here, since only four installments are out there), you get your name on a ticket. This means that you can have your name on up to four tickets. Why do you want your name on these tickets? Because on April 4th at 7:00 pm CST, I will be doing a live Skypecast drawing in Epic’s new official Skype hangout, through which fans can win one of several available prizes, including but not limited to:
– a 24″x15″ movie-style poster of one of the Epic books
– a Battering Ram license plate
– Epic merchandise from the official store
– a digital copy of Crimson Dagger, the novella I wrote for Goldhawk Interactive’s game Xenonauts
– a grand prize consisting of a 24″x15″ “Wrong Side of Heaven” poster (featuring Esther Brooking from TGB), a license plate, a digital copy of Crimson Dagger, plus a CD containing Chapters 0-5 of the upcoming Dawn of Destiny audiobook…over two hours of fully-produced Epic audio!
That’s right – you could actually win almost a quarter of the entire audiobook before it ever sees the light of day. All you have to do is this: after you’ve put up reviews–and if you’ve put them up in the past, they still count–email info@epicuniverse.com with the subject heading REVIEWQUEST and let me know how many of the four books you reviewed. Be able to provide links! Your tickets will go in the hat for the prize drawings.
But haaaaang on. It gets a little crazier.
Want to get more than four tickets in the drawing? Well, there’s a way. If you get someone new into the series this month, and they write up a review (even if they thought it stunk), both you and them will get an extra ticket in the hat. Think of it like a little Epic finder’s fee. All you have to do is have both you and them email me with the subject “REVIEWQUEST – XTRA.” Unless you both email me, it doesn’t count! There is no limit to how many extra tickets you can earn, nor is there a limit to how many prizes you can win. If you get drawn for one, you can get drawn for another.
And that’s the contest. Think of it as a little way of saying thank-you for taking the time to review Epic on Amazon. The lead-up to those free days is huge to me. I want to make it special for you guys, too. Big things are a comin’. This could be the year that–for Epic–everything changes.
Get excited, folks! It’s going to be a wild 2013.