Flipping through channels I happened upon Anderson Cooper's daytime talk show and he was interviewing a plus sized writer named Amanda Hocking. The twenty-eight year old wordsmith from Austin, Minnesota with a love of cats, hamsters, turtles, and the paranormal has been listed as a USA Today Bestselling author. She wrote her first book at 17 (and almost twenty since then) but unlike many would-be-writers Amanda gave herself a goal to be published by the age of 26 -- making her a real writer. Unfortunately lady luck was not on her side, at least via the traditional publishing methods, and she suffered through hundreds of rejection letters.
With her goal fast approaching, in 2010 Amanda started publishing her own books in print (Lulu) and eBook form through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The first was from her vampire series My Blood Approves. Within a few months she had three books posted online for sale: My Blood Approves, Fate, and Flutter -- the eBooks ranged in price from .99 cents to $2.99. From there she spent many late nights marketing and nicely begging people to buy. By her 26th birthday she had sold 10,000 books. By eight months 100,000 books. Definitely making her a real writer.Surprising to both herself and many others in the industry she started selling a couple books a day and within months she was selling 1000 books a month--the sweet joy of word-of-mouth. She has attributed her success to well written books, interesting storylines, and the many bloggers who have helped to get the word out about her stories.
One of her most popular series is the Trylle trilogy, a paranormal romance. This year it has been republished by St Martin's Griffin. The first book, Switched, is on shelves now. The second (Torn) will follow in February and the third (Ascend) in April. This will be followed up by a completely new series with four books -- Watersong.
In brief, Amanda describes Switched as "a wonderfully original paranormal romance not about vampires, or werewolves, or witches, or ghosts". If that does not get you interested then here are the deets from Amazon to whet your appetite:When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She's not the person she's always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel--all because of Finn Holmes.Although she has now sold a million books through self publishing she has not let the added security go to her head. She says, "I write because I love it, not because I see readers as dollar signs. I am very, very passionate about my work, and I take it very seriously that people are inviting me to entertain them every time they buy a book."
Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken...though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she'd ever admit. But it isn't long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth--and he's come to take her home.
Now Wendy's about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that's both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she's meant to become...
You may not get the books for .99 cents any longer but you can get them for an affordable $8.99 as well as being able to pre-order her other books.
Get your copy of Amanda Hocking's Switched.
Get your copy of Amanda Hocking's Switched.
