12 Days of Christmas - Stocking Stuffers and More

Got Books loves playing Santa, and for the next 12 days we'll be giving away books, and a chance to win a Gift Certificate. Stop by, like our page and watch the fun. Each day will bring a new give-away with a few surprises thrown in. After all, what kind of Elf would I be if I didn't throw in a few surprise presents.

Got Books

100+ Free Kindle Books - 12/3/11

Cooking Up A Mystery--7 free Kindle Mysteries and More

Today's Mystery Dessert - I call it that because it's one of those stuck in the back of my favorite recipes with no name, but it's yummy.

2 cups plain flour
2 sticks of butter
1 cup nuts
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. Cool Whip
1 lb. powdered sugar
2 bananas
2 peaches
1 pt. strawberries
1 pkg. strawberry glaze

Mix flour, butter and nuts. Bake in a 9 x 13 pan at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool. Mix cream cheese, Cool Whip and sugar. Spread on cooled crust. Mix remaining ingredients and spread on top. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Enjoy!



FREEBIES:

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99 CENTS:



$2.99

ENTER TO WIN A KINDLE OR $125.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE - Day 3

Winners for day two will be announced at 12:00 today!

SOME PEOPLE ARE HAVING PROBLEMS COMMENTING - IF YOU DO YOU CAN EMAIL ME AT: admin@prather-author.com OR SIGN UP ON THE FACEBOOK AMAZON KINDLE PAGE

*****NOTE--Everyone who entered Day 1 and Day 2 are being automatically entered in Day 3 due to comment problems with Blogger.

May the 30th is my birthday, and some wonderful authors and I have joined together for a week long birthday party, and you get the gifts. On 6/01 I will be drawing one name from all the entrants and that entrant will win the a Kindle (See original post for model $114.00) or $125.00 Gift Certificate from Amazon (Winner's Choice).

So what do you need to do?

1) Leave a comment below with your name and some type of special identifying number that you will recognize. For example - Linda S. Prather 897124

2) You can only enter once a day. However--you can enter Every Day!

3) Each day a number of winners will be chosen to receive the prizes listed in each blog post. All prizes are in ebook format unless otherwise specified. Winners will be listed the following day with information on how to claim your prize. Prizes may be awarded through Smashwords or Amazon, or through the author.

4) Winning a prize on the daily blogs does not disqualify you for entry in the Kindle contest. The names of all entrants will be placed in the final drawing for the Kindle. If you enter every day then you will have 8 entries in the Kindle drawing.

5) Have fun and tell your friends and family to stop by. Please take a moment to visit the participating authors and say hi. If you win a prize please contact the author and let them know, and if you're so inclined please write a review after reading their book.

6) Don't forget to check out the freebies at the bottom of the page. I'll be adding to these daily.

Good morning everyone. It's Day Three of our week long Birthday Bash, and I have a great line-up of prizes today from the following authors:

1) Lili Tufel - Sands

2) Larry Enright - Four Years From Home

3) Traci Hohenstein - Burn Out

4) Elizabeth Reyes - Forever Mine

5) Donna K. Fitch - Second Death

6) Victorine E. Lieske - Not What She Seems

7) Susan Helene Gottfried - West Of Mars

8) Tim Ellis - Untended Treasures

9) Tracey Alley - Erich's Plea

10) Linda S. Prather - The Gifts

Erich's Plea by Tracey Alley 99 cents on Amazon Kindle

I was born, raised and still live in sunny south-east Queensland. I come from a large, wonderful family and have one dog, Angel and two cats, Jazz and Caesar.

I enjoy travel, boxing, yoga, horse-riding and would love to learn photography and scuba-diving - my two new challenges for the year.

I've been writing for as long as I can remember but found fantasy through role-playing and Dungeons & Dragons - since then I've never looked back. I love to read and write fantasy - the escapism is wonderful.

I have degrees in Ancient History, where I specialised in Egyptology, and Comparative Religions, where I specialised in ancient pagan religions. I incorporate a lot of that into my work, using old myths and legends and religious practices.
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The Kingdoms of Kaynos have been at peace for nearly a thousand years. Now the ambitions of a dark sorceress armed with a new, deadly type of magic called witchcraft threaten to tear the Kingdoms to pieces.

Locked deep in the bowels of Zeaburg's infamous, horror-filled subterranean prison the young druid Slade is haunted by a strange, recurring dream. A dream in which his beloved father, High King Erich of Vestland, pleads for Slade's help.

Convinced of the dreams truth Slade must somehow attempt the impossible and escape the inescapable Zeaburg prison in order to find and save his father.

Gathering an unlikely assortment of allies along the way Slade must not only find a way out of Zeaburg prison but must also find a way to prevent what threatens to be the bloodiest, most brutal war in the history of all the Kingdoms of Kaynos.

Will an unimaginable alliance, an unlikely friendship and a forbidden love be enough to save the Kingdoms of Kaynos?


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author Christa Polkinhorn said...
Tracey, I love your book! I just finished reading it. I couldn't "put it down" (can you say that for an ebook?). I got sucked into the story and the fantastic world and the interesting characters you created. I screamed when "The End" appeared. I want to know what happens next. Is Slade going to find his father? What happened to his sister? What is going to happen to the other characters? Who is going to win the war. Fortunately, I saw in the beginning that this is Book One, so there should be more. Are you working on Book Two? Don't leave us hanging!
August 6, 2010 6:16 AM


Buy Now!

Smashwords Freebie Today - The Gifts, A Jacody Ives Mystery

As a thank you for those who love to read, and love mysteries - The Gifts, A Jacody Ives Mystery is free today on Smashwords - Code EA26A. Happy Reading - and Happy Holidays.

I hope if you like The Gifts, you'll check out Sacred Secrets, A Jacody Ives Mystery - on sale at Amazon Kindle for 99 cents.

Sacred Secrets, A Jacody Ives Mystery


Want to try some other Indie Holiday Specials? Check out our:

Holiday Sale

Promotional Tips From The Professionals

I’m not sure why I never watch the book shows on TV, but Sunday I found myself listening to David Shanks of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.; Skip Prichard of Ingram Content Group, Inc., Bob Miller of Workman Publisher Group and a couple of other individuals as they discussed the future of publishing, books and the digital revolution on 2010 Book Expo America.

I was a little shocked and somewhat amazed at some of the comments. They’re advising their authors to take up the same promotional tools as Indie authors. Facebook pages, online forums and other online marketing networks. The bottom line I saw was the publishers were expecting more in the way of marketing from their authors in the future to keep up with the changing world of marketing online.

They were also suggesting that authors make an effort to know book editors at local papers or large news carriers such as the Washington Post and contact them for interviews. Of course, a bestselling author will probably have more luck in this endeavor than an unknown Indie author.

They did offer one new idea for promotion that I found intriguing, both for traditionally published authors and Indie authors. Video promotion of the content of your book. Many authors, myself included, take a road trip when writing certain parts of a book. Why not film your road trip and show your readers what they’re looking at? This would be wonderful for books set in other countries. I, as reader, would find it fascinating to see the places that are described in my favorite fiction. Especially if those places were set in Ireland, Scotland, England or just any place that I haven’t been.

Another suggestion was more beautiful books in terms of layout, paper and book covers. The general idea being that consumers would pay more for a prettier book. As a consumer I have problems with that comment. I have several authors that I collect, and I usually buy the hardback copy. So far I’ve had no problem with the way the books look. However, every author should be concerned with the look of their book, regardless of whether it’s paper or EBook. Formatting is extremely important. I spent weeks working on the format of my first EBook, ensuring that it looked good and was free of html errors. Formatting for Smashwords was also a several day project. EBook publishers are concerned with formatting errors, but an author should be even more concerned. Your name is on that book. If you’re proud of your work, then you need to make sure your product is something you can be proud of.

With the number of books being published daily, readers have more and more of a selection to choose from. Authors have to give the readers a reason to sample or buy their book. Promotional tools such as video, contests, fan pages and free gifts will only take you so far. Word of mouth about a great book will take you all the way to the top. And a great book is properly formatted without typos.

Love EBooks but don't have a reader?

If you love Ebooks, but can't afford an ereader, there are multiple ways you can download and enjoy the convenience as well as the lower prices. Amazon offers Kindle for your PC, iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, iPad or Android.

I myself downloaded the PC Kindle and love it. Now, late at night when I can't sleep and I want a book to read, but all the bookstores are closed I can simply go on line and browse the millions of online books until I find just what I'm looking for. And hey, some are free.

Don't let the fact that you don't have an ereader stop you from enjoying new releases or even the classics. Check out the PC download. You'll love it.

Once you've downloaded it, check out the sampling feature for books. You can read several chapters before purchasing just to make sure this is a book you want to buy.

Happy reading!