Enter to Win a Sanguine Diamond!

To celebrate the print versions of books 1-5 releasing in December, and book 6 releasing in January, I'm giving away a Sanguine Diamond replica through Rafflecopter. Will the next Diamond Bearer be you? CLICK HERE to enter the giveaway!

The diamond replica is 2-1/2" in diameter made of clear crystal, similar to the one in the picture above. The winner will be chosen on Dec. 1st and announced on the Current Promotions page on lorenaangell.com. CLICK HERE to enter the giveaway!

Join the Launch Team for book six!

I'm looking for interested people to help promote the launch of book six, The Diamond Bearers' Rising. I'm so excited to move forward with this series and would love to have you join in the fun. Right now the series is being pitched by Hollywood movie producers to big name studios. Wouldn't it be fantastic to be a part of a "rising" franchise? (See what I did there?) 

I'll be rewarding my launch team members with a signed paperback copy of book six and other exclusive series merchandise not available anywhere else. As a team member you would help me spread the word about the book release for approximately two-three weeks in November through social media outlets. So, naturally, you'll need to have at least one, preferably two or more, online accounts ie: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.

You do not need to have read all of The Unaltered series books to join, just be willing to promote, promote, promote. 

To request to join the launch team, please click HERE and fill out the form. I hope to see you around!

The Unaltered Series UK Bestseller

It's been a little while since I've been able to say The Unaltered series is a bestselling series in the UK. Today, I'm just a hair off of being able to say that. All but book five are under 100 on the Amazon UK charts. Book five ranks #102, however, earlier in the month book five ranked #28, so maybe that counts.

Join me in a somewhat-celebration for having the series hit the charts! Post a comment or big smiley face if: 1)You live in the UK, 2)You are a fan of the series, 3)You don't live in the UK but are a fan of the series, 4)You've visited the UK on holiday, 5)You wish you could travel to the UK, or 6)If someone asked you what UK means, you'd have a proper answer.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/…/pr…/B0125WXQ60/ref=series_rw_dp_sw

The Diamond Bearer's Secret Hits the Bestseller Charts!

The Diamond Bearer's Secret hit Amazon's US charts last week, reaching as low as #16 in metaphysical genre fiction. In the UK, the book reached #22 in the same category.

Many thanks to everyone who downloaded the book.

The introductory price of $2.99 USD will end after the official release May 15th, 2015. So hurry and grab it and use the savings on another book purchase . . . or a value meal hamburger. That's up to you!
Amazon US  Smashwords  iBooks  Barnes&Noble  Kobo
Amazon UK   Amazon AU   Amazon CA   Amazon DE

Read an excerpt from the book HERE.

Cover Reveal and Pre-order of The Diamond Bearer's Secret

The Diamond Bearer's Secret, book 5

Does the cover make you excited for the next installment in The Unaltered series? The Diamond Bearer's Secret, is now on pre-sale on Amazon and Smashwords. (Coming soon to iBooks and Nook.) Release date: May 15th, 2015. 

 In The Diamond Bearer's Secret, Calli Courtnae learns everything she's been through since receiving a diamond has been in preparation for a much larger purpose. An event looms in the future that could end life as she knows it and Calli's assistance with prevention is crucial. However, the Diamond Bearers are dividing at a time they should be uniting. The centuries-old comrades are upset about the young companions joining the ranks. They're unaware Calli can hear their grumblings, and through her, Crimson. The ultimatum still stands: support nature's will or surrender your diamond.

Problems arise over an anonymous blog revealing critical information about people with powers. The blog must be stopped before the secrets of the Diamond Bearers are released. Unfortunately, the powers contained within the Sanguine Diamond don't include the ability to shut down a blog. Only those who understand how the virtual world works can fight against a virtual enemy.

With everything escalating around them, Chris and Calli still find time to get to know each other better. Will they like what they find? Will all of the approved Bearers choose to accept a diamond and be defenders of nature? What other information will be found within the files from General Harding's compound? The more pressing question is what secrets do Crimson and Maetha keep?

Go pre-order your copy on Amazon and Smashwords to help push the book's rank up the charts. At 12:01am on May 15th, 2015, you'll receive the download. (As soon as the book is available for pre-sale on iBooks and Nook, I'll update with links.)

I'd love to hear what you think of the cover. Leave a comment below, and be sure to share the excitement on Facebook and your other favorite social places.

 A special note to my readers: Without you, my book series wouldn't have hit the Bestseller lists in seven countries with 250,000 downloads. Because of you and your excitement over the series, I've landed a literary agent who went on to land a Hollywood producer who is currently optioning the series for film. The latest development is book publishers are showing interest in the series.
What am I currently doing? Getting ready to jump in on book number SIX!

Thanks to my readers!

Announcing Book Five of The Unaltered Series: The Diamond Bearer's Secret

I'm excited to announce the title of book five in The Unaltered series and the release date.

The Diamond Bearer's Secret
will release on May 15th, 2015.

The news Calli receives at the Diamond Bearer gathering changes the way she views herself and her future. Not only does she learn she's the most powerful Bearer alive, she can now hear other Bearers' thoughts. The grumblings of centuries-old comrades concerning her young age isn't too surprising, keeping the secret that she can hear them is a different matter. The Bearers are dividing at a time they should be uniting to protect the human race. As Crimson stated, "Either continue being an agent of nature or surrender your diamond." Not everyone will choose wisely.

Chris and Calli get to know each other better. Will they like what they find? Will all of the approved Bearers choose to accept a diamond and be defenders of nature? What other information will be found within the files from General Harding's compound? The more pressing question is, what secrets do Crimson and Maetha keep?

On April 2nd, 2015, I'll send an email to my Awesome Fans newsletter subscribers announcing the winner of the Sanguine Diamond replica. If you'd like to enter the drawing, read this post to find out how. 

In the newsletter, I'll also include a excerpt from The Diamond Bearer's Secret as an exclusive sneak peek for my loyal readers. So stay tuned, and by golly, if you haven't signed up for my newsletter, you'd better do so.

Please help spread the excitement of this series by tweeting, sharing on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. Leave a comment below and visit the forum.

If you're a book blogger and would like to read and review The Diamond Bearer's Secret for your blog, please use my contact me form to request an ebook (mobi, epub, pdf) copy.

Let's put A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET into print!

Hello to my readers and supporters! The long awaited milestone is about to happen . . . getting book one, A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET, put into print.

I'll be launching a Kickstarter.com campaign beginning on (or shortly after), February 18th. Once the campaign launches, I'll post the link on this blog. The goal amount of $6,800 will make it possible to pay for the professional edit, layout expenses, cover art, and printing expenses. I've put together some way-awesome incentive packages to entice you to consider becoming a funder. 

For example: At the $35 dollar level, you can get a 2 1/2" crystal Sanguine Diamond replica. 

At the $50 dollar level, you can get a diamond replica and a first-edition print copy of A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET. 

There will be various levels of funding to choose from, each with some type of swag for you. 

I want to give you something to look back upon and be able to say "Wow--I worked with that writer when she was just getting started."

Even though my books have been out for a couple years, the momentum is just beginning to take off. Now that all four of the books are complete, putting them into print, beginning with book one, will make them available to more readers.

I'm sending out great-big-virtual hugs to everyone who has supported me so far. THANK YOU!  

THE DIAMOND BEARERS' DESTINY is now available!

Happy Release Day!!

In the Amazon Bestselling final installment of The Unaltered Series, Calli learns about Chris's motives behind the recent events, and tries to understand his dilemmas, while at the same time she learns what the big picture actually is, and where she fits. 

General Harding figures out what lies at the heart of Agent Alpha's research project. He's determined to complete the studies and become an all-powerful Diamond Bearer—once Chris delivers Calli to him. What General Harding fails to understand is that Diamond Bearers are not the most powerful individuals on the face of the earth. They are agents of nature, working for Crimson—the creator of the Sanguine Diamond. Upsetting the balance of nature is the last thing General Harding should do.

Follow Calli, Chris, Brand, and Crimson in the dramatic conclusion of The Unaltered Series as they battle Deus Ex, undead Healers, and General Harding, in an effort to balance nature.

Suzanne G. says:  ". . . massive amounts of originality & imagination, swirled in with all the intrigue, suspense, romance, and mystery.  . . ."

Available for  $3.99 at:
Amazon  Barnes&Noble  Smashwords

THE DIAMOND BEARERS' DESTINY Cover Reveal

Announcing the Cover Reveal for

The Diamond Bearers' Destiny

Release date: December 20th, 2013

The Release Date of THE DIAMOND BEARERS' DESTINY:

~DECEMBER 20, 2013!~

Mark your calendar for the release of the exciting conclusion in The Unaltered Series, The Diamond Bearers' Destiny.

 

ShoutOut to my Fans!!

Thank you for reading my books! Without you, I'd just be a dreamer.

To the fans who have followed my series since I first launched online in 2011: 
You're Awesome!

To the fans who only just recently discovered my series:  Welcome to the Awesome Club!

Everyone in between:  I wouldn't be where I am today without you! 

**Please leave a comment below saying when you discovered my books and how. (friend, free list, amazon, nook, itunes, etc...) I'd love to hear from you.

Update on book four, The Diamond Bearers' Destiny:

I will be releasing book four in The Unaltered Series December 20th, 2013. 

I've been bombarded with "life", which has delayed the release. I'm sure most of you understand, nothing seems to go as planned. This is the main reason I didn't set a release date earlier . . . I figured something unexpected might come up.

I will be giving away free downloads of book four, replicas of the Sanguine Diamond, and other fun swag as the big date approaches. So Stay Tuned! 
Enter to win the first contest HERE.

Again, thank you for reading my books and sharing your excitement with your friends! Hope you'll leave a comment. :)

Lorena

*In no way do I sell, distribute, or give away the email addresses of my readers. I may occasionally send you a newsletter concerning my books, but I never spam.

 

Time for Giveaways!

Enter to win a 2 1/2" crystal replica of the Sanguine Diamond and a free download of The Diamond Bearers' Destiny when it releases by visiting the forum for The Unaltered Series and registering. CLICK HERE

THE DIAMOND OF FREEDOM is here!

**UPDATE**
Barnes and Noble now offers  
The Diamond of Freedom, book 3 in 
The Unaltered Series.
Finally!!!! 
Go grab it from: 

Amazon 
Smashwords
Gumroad-kindle 
Gumroad-epub
Kobo 
iTunes iBookstore
Barnes & Noble

Book 3 of The Unaltered Series is Released!

**UPDATED**

It's a great time to jump head first into a 

unique Fantasy/Paranormal world!

The 1st book is FREE, the 2nd and 3rd books are $3.99 each, book 4 coming soon. 

For a limited time, save 50% on purchases through Smashwords.com

A Diamond in my Pocket Amazon description:
Calli Courtnae, age 16, unexpectedly breaks the 100-meter world record at a high school track meet and is whisked off to Montana to train for Olympic tryouts. Upon arriving, however, she finds something totally unexpected. Her fellow athletes are secretive, mysterious, paranoid, uncommonly beautiful — and endowed with the same gift of superhuman speed that she now exhibits. The truth, Calli learns, is that she has been brought to Montana to join an elite clan of Runners who train to undertake highly secret missions for the benefit of superhuman kids everywhere.

When three Runners from her compound are kidnapped by a clan of evil terrorists who can kill with their thoughts, Calli is assigned to the team that must deliver a rare magic diamond to the terrorists in exchange for the hostages. Calli is just beginning to accept her new world when it is turned upside-down by a mysterious woman who secretly gives Calli the real diamond, while the team leader is given a decoy. Almost immediately the magic diamond in Calli’s pocket unleashes within her a startling range of supernatural powers and mind-reading abilities. Using her new-found powers, Calli exposes traitors among her team, discovers that the hottest-looking guy on the team believes she is his soul-mate, has visions of her companions’ tragic futures, and learns that she alone holds the power to change their futures. While Calli knows that her powers derive from the secret diamond in her pocket, her companions do not, and Calli dreads the fast-approaching day when they will discover the truth.

A Diamond in my Pocket (numbers updated 7/11/2013)

• Barnes&Noble NOOK Teen Bestseller 4.5 stars / 485 ratings. 
• Named a Breakout Book by iTunes iBookstore Feb 2013  4.5 stars / 150 ratings. 
• Amazon Kindle  4.5 stars / 46 reviews 
• Goodreads readers give it 3.92 stars / 303 ratings 41 reviews
• Many readers liken the series to The Hunger Games for its pace and overall feel.

In Feb 2013, Thomas Hall, Ph.D., a retired Professor of English joined my team as editor. The books now have good flow and proper grammar. (English wasn't my favorite subject in school. Thanks for your help, Dr. Hall!) The major plot points were unaltered, no pun intended.

Take a break from your regular life and jump head first into an exciting, unique world of powers and abilities that will leave you wondering what is really right or wrong, good or bad, or black or white.

Books available at:

Amazon

Smashwords 
Barnes & Noble

iTunes iBookstore 
Kobo

Gumroad

THE DIAMOND OF FREEDOM release date

 

April 11, 2013 is the official release date for 

THE DIAMOND OF FREEDOM, 

book 3 in The Unaltered Series.

Calli Courtnae and Chris Harding race against the clock to identify the mysterious power-neutralizing stone that will help them hide from their enemy, but that will also prevent Calli from healing her life-threatening injuries. Their challenge is not simply to identify the stone; they must also learn how to counter its effects so they can fight against the rogue Diamond Bearer named Freedom. US $3.99



Please click the LIKE button to help me promote the release.

Read the first chapter HERE.

Apple's iBookstore recognizes A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET as a Breakout Book!

Celebration Time!

Feb. 5th, 2013. Apple's iBookstore launched a major feature in the US called Breakout Books.  The first book in my Young Adult series The Unaltered, A Diamond in my Pocket, was selected for this opening collection. It is truly an honor being recognized by the iBookstore team amidst thousands of titles, and to be placed on a list that showcases books they feel readers should check out first.

Learn more about the Breakout Books feature at the Smashwords Blog.

New Website: LorenaAngell.com

 http://lorenaangell.com

My dot com website is up and running and ready for visitors. Please check it out and leave a comment on the contact page. Everyone who does gets a free cookie! http://lorenaangell.com

My Number One Fan

One year ago, I uploaded my YA fantasy book, A Diamond in my Pocket, to Obooko.com, a site which features free books, and held my breath. What if my book wasn’t as good as my family and friends had told me it was? Was I deluding myself? I’d find out soon enough once the ratings began to come in. I remember checking my email a couple days later to find a reader named Heather had sent me a comment and almost instantly my heart leaped into my throat. I worried it would be a comment telling me to ‘give it up and spare the space on the web for actual authors’. At the same time I thought to myself that when I published the book online I knew that it was inevitable I’d get bad reviews at some point… I guess I’d hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. I clicked on the email and opened it squeezing my eyes shut in anticipation. A quick read of the short comment buoyed my spirits: she liked my book!

I typed a response to Heather and thanked her for her comment and told her she was my number one fan. We’ve communicated a few times over the last twelve months and I always remind her she is my #1 fan... literally. I send her free copies of my books as they release including my latest book, A Diamond in my Heart, book two of The Unaltered series which released on Jan. 31.

How important is it to recognize readers and fans? I believe it’s more important than stressing over writing your next book especially in this day and age where social media and networking reigns supreme and word of mouth spreads faster than earthquake tremors as in the case of the last Washington DC, earthquake. People in New York City knew of the quake before the ground began to shake because of Twitter feeds like, “We just had an earthquake in DC.”

My number one fan, Heather, likes my writing style. She encourages me to continue with my dream, and someday I’d like to meet her and have a picture taken. I’ll frame it and hang it on the wall like so many small businesses do with their first dollar bill. Although, the more I think about it I realize framing a dollar bill is ridiculous, really, because it was a person who pulled the bill from their wallet in the first place and shouldn’t that person’s face be what’s framed on the wall instead of the money they handed over? That's just my opinion.

I take the time to respond to each and every fan who takes the time out of their busy schedule to read my book and contact me. Their time isn’t any less valuable than mine and without my fans, who would read my books? Perhaps someday the Twitter feeds will read, “I just finished A Diamond in my Heart by Lorena Angell and it was awesome!”

Sequel to 'A Diamond in my Pocket' --Now Available

A Diamond in my Heart release date-- January 31st

**Spoiler Alert**

 If you haven't read A Diamond in my Pocket don't read further 

lest ye be spoiled! 
FYI: A Diamond in my Pocket is currently FREE on Amazon

Book two in 'The Unaltered' series
A Diamond in my Heart description:
Calli's life back in Ohio is as normal as can be expected. Well, if you consider that she has a piece of a magical diamond inside her heart which infuses abilities such as mind reading, future sight, healing, super speed, and super smell; all of which must be kept under wraps. Calli awaits Maetha's training and tries to blend into the world around her, a world she will never view with the same eyes again.

She meets a strange man who can communicate telepathically and possesses all the powers of the Sanguine diamond... and he knows Maetha. He brings an offer of freedom and a warning concerning Maetha's plans. Calli's crazy world is jumbled even further with the realization that this stranger also carries a diamond, as does Maetha. But that's only the beginning of Calli's adventure.

*A mysterious new power, one not contained within the Sanguine diamond, emerges in one of Calli's classmates and Calli is assigned to investigate and teach this person about his new world.
*Someone is systematically kidnapping each of the amulet wearers within the clans.
*Calli's future vision of meeting Chris is realized, but it's not what she thought it would be.

I can't wait to hear back from you about the book. Please send me a note using the contact me page.

~Lorena
A Diamond in my Pocket- FREE
A Diamond in my Heart- $2.99
The Diamond of Freedom- $2.99

My Ebook Exploded

In a 25-hour period, the Amazon book rankings for A Diamond In My Pocket dropped from 161,359 to 471 and I sold over a thousand copies. 

I’ve been writing for a couple of years now and tried to find an agent or publisher for my work to no avail.  So I did what so many Indie authors are doing right now; I launched my ebooks on the world-wide-web.  I dabbled with smashwords.com, obooko.com and read-a-romance.com; all of which gave positive feedback for my free ebooks. However, the big turning point for me was when I read John Locke’s book, How I sold one million ebooks in 5 months.  I decided to implement his marketing techniques beginning with changing my free price to $0.99 for each book.  Immediately, the downloads ceased!  Whoa, what happened?

I began building my reputation and seeking out my target audience hoping the overall plan would work.  I kept waiting for smashwords.com to send my books to amazon.com but it just wasn’t happening fast enough; so I did it myself.  I listed all three for $0.99 and then went back to work building my customer base and writing blogs.  Little by little, single digit sales began to trickle in.  I’d get excited when I’d refresh and see an increase of one download.  It was like Christmas morning!

Then, to my horror, my book was reduced to FREE by Amazon!  I remember feeling gut-shot at the realization that some Amazon cheapskate didn’t want to shell out a buck when other online stores were offering the same book for free.  Clearly, I’d been flagged as ‘cheaper somewhere else’.  I searched the forums and found a posting of several books, including my Diamond book, as newly listed for free.  Well, so much for following in John Locke’s footsteps.  I had so much hope for my books to sell but this setback really took the wind out of my sails.

I refreshed my sales page and my 6 downloads for Diamond jumped to 28.  Oh, great, well maybe they’ll like it and check out my other books in the Scars of Defiance series, I thought to myself.

My Diamond book went free the evening of Aug 8 with an Amazon ranking of 79,563.  The most downloads I’d had on Smashwords was 1,200 in four weeks.  By the following evening I had 3,389 new downloads and ranked #39 in the Top 100 Free Kindle Store!  By 6 o’clock on the 11^th I’d reached #19 in the free store with 6,227 free downloads.  I hit the 10,000 downloads mark in the late evening on the 13^th, but my rankings were dropping; now I ranked #57 in the Free store.

By this time some reviews were trickling in and they weren’t necessarily good.  The lowest were 3 stars and pointed out multiple grammar and sentence structure issues.  The general consensus was the storyline was good but the typos made it difficult, if not unbearable, to read.  I had my editor work up a revision and uploaded it, but it usually takes 24-hours for it to go ‘live’.

Time was of the essence.  I knew once the other online stores updated my Diamond book to $0.99 Amazon would also.  I definitely wanted the revision to be ‘live’ when that happened, but I was too slow.

At 8:20 pm, on Monday the 15^th, I noticed my book was no longer free.  Uh oh.  Now people were actually paying for ‘difficult, if not unbearable, to read’ and, even though it’s only ninety-nine cents, I felt certain the 1 and 2 star reviews were on the way! 

I watched the numbers climb through the night.  My Amazon ranking came in at 10:00pm on the 15^th; #161,359.  That’s a far cry from #19 on the free list!  But now I was playing with the big boys and there is a lot more of them than the free crowd.

Aug 16^th, at 8:15am, I’d sold 315 downloads in twelve hours.  Cool, but the new version wasn’t ‘live’ yet, so the panic was mounting.  However, my Amazon ranking was now #880 and I was #23 on the Kindle store’s Fantasy Contemporary list.  By 10:00am I was on the Mover’s and Shaker’s list with a rank of #670.  By 10:00pm my ranking had dropped to #471.


Basically, in 25 ½ hours, I dropped from 161,359 to 471 and sold over a thousand copies.

This morning, Aug 17^th, I’m on the e-bookstore.co Most Popular List along with John Locke’s ‘The Love You Crave’.  Who would have thought that?  I mean, really, my book goes free and gets downloaded oodles of times; that’s easy to understand.  But continuing to leap forward after getting the ninety-nine cents price-tag?  I never would have thought that would happen.

It’s been just over eight days and I went from 6 downloads to 13,485; and they keep coming.  I owe my current popularity to my ebook becoming FREE for that short stretch of time; but my future successes will follow John Locke’s strategy.

John Locke, here I come.

August 17^th, 2011, on the same page as John Locke:

http://www.e-bookstore.co/products.php?node=157028011