About Suzanne Rogerson Author

Suzanne lives in Middlesex, England with her husband, two children, a crazy cocker spaniel and a rather aloof cat. Her writing journey began at the age of twelve when she completed her first novel. She discovered the fantasy genre in her late teens and has never looked back. Now an author of four fantasy novels including the Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy and her debut fantasy, Visions of Zarua, Suzanne has also turned her hand to short stories. At last count, she has 4 books to her name including two feel-good Christmas collections. 2026 is the year she plans to publish her new romance series - The Mermaid Hotel Series - set in Cornwall with a matchmaking hotel owner. She loves gardening and has a Hebe (shrub) fetish. She enjoys cooking with ingredients from the garden and regularly feeds unsuspecting guests vegetable-based cakes. Suzanne collects books, is interested in history and enjoys wandering around castles and old ruins whilst being immersed in the past. She likes to combine her love of nature and photography on family walks, but most of all she loves to escape with a great film, binge watch TV shows, or soak in a hot bubble bath with an ice cream and a book.

#Thursdaydoors – Door to nowhere at #Bodiam Castle

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

This week I’m joining in #Thursdaydoors, hosted by Norm on his blog, with a few doors to nowhere from Bodiam Castle in Sussex. It’s a lovely example of a moated castle, and though in ruins there is still plenty to spark the imagination. I love these doors that open into nothingness. They remind me of the often used cartoon sketches where the character rushes through a door to escape but finds empty space on the other side. Of course, it’s been used in plenty of films too…

Here’s another door to nowhere.

I love old wooden doors and I’m partial to a portcullis too.

I’ve done a weekend wander post of Bodiam Castle before, so I won’t linger here today. If you’d like to see more of this great castle check out the post here.

One last picture of the beautiful castle itself.

#WordlessWednesday – Tree art at St Anne’s Hill Surrey #trees #photo

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

#Bookreview Why does my book not sell 20 Simple Fixes – Rayne Hall #writers

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

Why does my book not sell? 20 Simple fixes

Author – Rayne Hall

First thoughts – I saw a review of this book recently and thought great, this is just what I need to give my book sales a boost. I had high hopes it would show me what I was doing wrong and how I could sell more.

Summary – Each of the 20 stages is relevant to indie authors. The book covers topics like the blurb, know your reader, targeting your readers and social media.

Writing style – It’s very easy to follow, down to earth and not condescending. I especially like the lessons learnt section at the end of each chapter, where Rayne Hall shows us examples of her mistakes.

Issues – It seemed at times as though the book assumed you were already selling some copies, so it was a bit depressing on that front. I’m doing pretty much everything she suggests, so there are no miracle fixes for me. But it’s all still great advice and it doesn’t hurt to go over everything now and then to see how you can improve.

Final thoughts – The book was short and sweet. I read it in an evening and made plenty of notes. For me the best section was probably about the blurb. As she states its the biggest factor when a reader chooses to buy your book.

I’ve picked up a lot of my knowledge over time, but I wish I’d known about this book at the start of my self publishing journey and had read it much sooner.

Recommend to – Every indie author will benefit from this, especially if you are just starting out or preparing to self publish for the first time.

Rating – 4 stars

#WWWblogs – My 2nd KDP Select update on Ads, Giveaways & a review request #indie

Posted on September 20, 2016 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

I had some great responses to my post a few weeks ago about my experience 1 month into Kindle Select. See original post here. There were many people who were struggling with it like me, and others who had advice to make the experience work better for you.

Here’s a quick update of my findings:

Stick with KDP Select – Most people believe KDP is the best place to sell your indie books as Kindle is the highest retailer of ebooks.
You still have to do ALL the marketing yourself – I had been naïve enough to think that once you went with Select, they would promote your book to all their unlimited subscribers.
Reviews – Once you hit a certain amount of reviews, Amazon does start to help you with promotion. This is one I’ll be looking out for with interest once I hit that magical number, whatever it is!
Countdown Deals – You can run them in the UK & US at the same time, but not if you put in different starts dates as I did. You NEED to promote Countdown deals yourself. Pay to advertise your sale on the many different book ad sites out there. I haven’t used any paid ad sites myself, but will be looking into this option. Any one have any recommendations?
5 Free book days per enrolment period – Best to do when you have more than one book published. Others have reported success with lots of downloads on their free days, and if it can help get those sought after reviews, all the better. I may hold off setting up my free days until my next book comes out though. Don’t forget to advertise.
Free Copies to reviewers – This one was a real issue for me, but I have since heard back from Amazon who stated a free copy of a physical product is permitted if the author states they welcome positive and negative feedback, and the reviewer states a free copy was received in exchange for an honest review.
Other ad options – There are other marketing options to try with KDP Select – I’ve set up several ad campaigns.

Sponsored products – You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, which is shown on the Amazon website when your selected key words are searched for. I’ve had this running a while and according to them I’ve had over 3k impressions but only 3 clicks. So far this hasn’t resulted in sales, but maybe the people who have seen the book cover a few times will get intrigued enough to click on it and find out more.

Product Display – This is where your book will appear on people’s kindles and Amazon.com when they search certain genres. I held off with this as you have to set a minimum budget of $100, but they only start billing you when people start clicking on your ad. Mine only went live today so I don’t know if it will help with sales.

And finally the big news, I’ve just set up my first ever Amazon.com Giveaway. Anyone in the US can enter for a chance to win my paperback. I’ve set it that they have to follow me on Amazon.com so we’ll see if anyone is interested and if this will help me get more coverage in the US.

If you’re in the US and want a chance to win a paperback copy, please check out the link here.

A note of caution for those wanting to set up an amazon giveaway – as per the set up rules the details cannot be changed once submitted. I misunderstood what the Welcome message was, I assumed it was once someone had clicked to enter. But it appears with the ad so would be much better suited as the blurb or tag line of the book. Now I have to plug my giveaway, the whole time feeling like a fool for getting something else wrong. (This indie author learning curve is a steep one, and never seems to end!)

UPDATED 4.40pm 20th Sept 16. I don’t understand the Amazon giveaway. It closed after less than an hour and a winner has been picked after only 57 entrants. I set it up to be 1 winner in 100. The upside is now I can redo it without my mistake on the Welcome message, not allow everyone to share the giveaway, set it up to have a higher amount of entrants. The downside is, I have to pay for another giveaway already, I thought this one would last a week!

Now over to you – Have I inspired you to try Kindle Select, or put you off trying it altogether? Have you any findings to share or tips on improving sales whether through KDP Select or other means? Maybe you’ve made some mistakes you’d like to share. I’d love to hear your views.

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Finally my cheeky request.

I’m looking to reach that magic number of reviews on Amazon, I’ve read that it could be 20. I have 14 great reviews so far, and I’m really hoping to reach 20 reviews by the end of the year. I’ve been researching book reviewers and will be contacting some over the next few days, but I thought I’d also put the request out to you guys. If any of you are book reviewers and are interested in reading Visions of Zarua, please get in touch in the comments or via my ‘contact me’ page.

I’m also willing to take part in Q&A sessions and author interviews if anyone would like to feature an indie author on their blog.

I’ll leave you with the Amazon link here if you want to find out what the book is all about. Obviously its free if you’re a Kindle Unlimited customer (Amazon suggested I tell reviewers that!).

Thanks for reading.

#Thursdaydoors and a visit to Arley Arboretum

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

I’m joining in #thursdaydoors as hosted by Norm over on his blog. Check the link to see how to join in, and for some great door pictures.

I think there’s something really special about this little door. It has no handle and no key hole, does it take a magic word to open it?

A couple of years ago we visited the beautiful Arley Arboretum in Shropshire. It’s a steep walk up from the village to reach it, but it’s worth the climb. Arley is a stop on the Severn Valley Railway, which is also well worth doing. I’ll post some pictures of that and the railway museum soon.

There are some lovely gateways at the arboretum.

If you’re ever near Arley in Shropshire this is a beautiful place to spend a few hours. And because it’s an arboretum, I had to share a couple of tree pictures even if it doesn’t fit with the Thursday doors theme.

My son has kindly provided a scale to judge the height and girth of the trees. He’s a tree fanatic, so this is a very cool place for him to visit.

First a Lebanese Cedar…

We believe the next two are Sequoia

And selection of trees

And back to the original reason for this post, that cool door…

I liked it so much it even played a small role in my first novel. It wasn’t opened by magic, just an ordinary key, but the key user was a wizard. I’ve also used the picture in my blog tour, in case you recognise it.

Sorry for the shameless plug, but I really do love this door.

#WordlessWednesday – A very long sheep #nature #photography

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#Tuesdaybookblog #Bookreview Spark and Carousel by Joanne Hall #fantasy

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

Spark and Carousel by Joanne Hall

Genre – Fantasy

Note – I won this paperbook a few months ago on twitter during BrizzleLass’ blogiversary giveaway. I’m so pleased I won and found a new author to follow.

First thoughts:

It is a beautiful book to read with its smooth cover and soft creamy pages. It’s heavy for just under 400 pages and I loved reading it in this form rather than ebook. I don’t like the cover art very much because you can’t get a feel for the characters, but the darkness suits the story and there is a hint of the demons that will soon be unleashed on the city of Cape Carey.

The inclusion of demons in a fantasy was something I haven’t seen much, so this really drew me into the story.

Summary:

Spark is a young mage who is untrained and out of his depths, trying to escape his past after the mercy killing of his dying master. He has great power, but because his master was sick, has no training or understanding of how to use his gift. Watch out Cape Carey, and whatever you do, don’t make Spark angry…

Incidentally, Spark is his nickname which he isn’t given until page 83. I did find this a little annoying, but understand it can’t be helped. It’s just in the beginning you are introduced to quite a few characters and it is not immediately clear which one is the main character.

Characters:

One of my favourite characters is Lord Carey’s daughter, Allorise. She is a nasty piece of work and will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

All the characters are well drawn and believable.

Issues:

I liked the characters I was supposed to like and hated the ones I was supposed to hate but I didn’t feel any great personal attachment to any of them. This is a shame, as caring for the characters is what makes a book great and truly memorable.

The other issue I found with the book was its description of sex. I don’t feel the level of detail added anything to the story.

Final thoughts:

Spark and Carousel was a real page turner and I had a lot of late nights when I just couldn’t stop reading. I will be looking out for more of Joanne Hall’s books.

Recommend to:

All fantasy fans, especially those who are not phased by graphic sex and death scenes.

Rating:

4 stars (if I had found more of a connection with the characters, it would have been a 5).

Blurb

Spark is a wanted man. On the run after causing the death of his mentor and wild with untamed magic, he arrives in Cape Carey where his latent talents make him the target of rival gangs. It is there that Carousel, a wire-walker and thief, takes him under her wing to guide him through the intrigues of the criminal underworld. But when Spark’s magic cracks the world and releases demons from the hells beneath, two mages of his former order make it their mission to prevent his magic from spiralling out of control. They must find him before he falls into the clutches of those who would exploit his raw talent for their own gain, forcing Spark to confront a power he is not ready to handle. Meanwhile, a wealthy debutante learning magic in secret has her own plans for Spark and Carousel. But the sudden arrival of the mages throws her carefully laid plans into disarray and she unleashes a terrible evil onto the streets of the unsuspecting city—an evil only Spark’s magic can control. Everyone wants a piece of Spark, but all Spark wants is to rid himself of his talents forever.

Check it out on Amazon and Goodreads.

1 month into KDP Select – my thoughts so far… #indiepub #selfpub #writetip

Posted on September 10, 2016 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

I signed up to KDP Select in August 2016. It was a horrible experience to unpublish with Smashwords after all the work that goes into preparing the manuscript for them. It feels like a step backwards to remove the book from so many book buying platforms, but I decided it was worth it to go exclusive with Amazon Kindle.

I came into KDP Select with high hopes. There seemed so many benefits of offering them exclusive ebook rights, and being enrolled in Kindle Unlimited seemed like a win win for everyone.

Well, I’m disappointed to report the results so far are no better than when I was going it alone. I don’t see any benefit to being exclusive, rather I feel tied to Amazon with no help in return. Even running the Kindle Countdown deals has been a disappointment. They haven’t help with the promotion. All it has done is made me clutter my twitter feed, facebook etc with buy my book posts, which I hate. But if I don’t try to spread the word, whose going to know there is a sale on and what’s the point of doing it in the first place?

I did rush into KDP Select without reading the small print, but they draw you in by saying you can reach more readers, earn more money and maximise your sales potential. However, you can only run one promo in one enrolment period. I opted for UK countdown deals, not realising I couldn’t run the US one at the same time. I also wanted to use their ‘5 day free’ book promotion, but do I want to tie myself to them for 6 months?

I had big plans to approach lots of reviewers in September, but I cannot give away copies of my own book. How ridiculous is that? I believe I may be able to gift copies, but I’m waiting for Amazon to get back to me on how this is done without going against their terms and conditions.

Anyone out there have any advice on how to make the most of KDP Select?

This is a very dispiriting time for me. I don’t like to be negative in my posts, and I’m sure when the next marketing opportunity comes up that I’ll feel more positive again. I suppose I just need to let off steam and then I can focus on finishing my next book. That is why I’m doing this. I love writing and I’ve loved sharing Visions of Zarua with the world and reading the wonderful reviews people have written.

I would just like to thank all those who have supported me. Without you guys, I’m sure I would have given up on self publishing by now.

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I’m feeling a bit blogged out at the moment, but I hope to start sharing book reviews, writing advice and my photographs again soon. Thanks for bearing with me.

#Kindle countdown deal continues – Visions of Zarua £1.99 #epicfantasy

Posted on September 10, 2016 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

This is the last day of my UK Kindle Countdown deal, so if you missed Visions of Zarua for 99p, you can still pick it up for £1.99 today.

Why not read a sample here

Or you can go direct to the Amazon page and see what others having been saying about my debut fantasy Amazon UK. There are more reviews on Amazon US and the book’s goodreads page.

I’ll keep this post short and sweet, but later I’ll be posting about my experience so far with KDP Select.

As ever please help me spread the word. And if you have read Visions of Zarua would you consider leaving a short review? These reviews are the best selling tool any author can have, so I appreciate your time helping me reach more readers.

Thank you and have a great weekend.

#Kindle Countdown Deal: Visions of Zarua 99p today only! #epicfantasy #fantasy

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Suzanne Rogerson Author

My first ever Kindle Countdown deal is live today in the UK. Why not pick up this standalone epic fantasy for 99p.

Average Customer Review: 14 customer reviews

Visions of Zarua | dark sorcery with slithering secrets, 8 April 2016

Highly recommend for fantasy, magic and mystery fans!, 27 May 2016

brilliantly written fantasy, finished it and wanted more!, 7 July 2016

Two wizards, 350 years apart. Together they must save the realm of Paltria from Zarua’s dark past.

An ancient darkness haunts the realm of Paltria.
Apprentice wizard Paddren is plagued by visions of a city on the brink of annihilation. When his master Kalesh dies in mysterious circumstances, the Royal Order of Wizards refuses to investigate.
Helped by his childhood friend, the skilled tracker Varnia, and her lover Leyoch, Paddren vows to find the killer.
The investigation leads Paddren down a sinister path of assassins, secret sects and creatures conjured by blood magic. But he is guided by a connection with a wizard from centuries ago – a wizard whose history holds the key to the horror at the heart of the abandoned city of Zarua. Can Paddren decipher his visions in time to save the Paltrian people from the dark menace of Zarua’s past?

99p today only at Amazon UK

Please share and help me spread the word.