Friday, July 24, 2015

Celebrate: Relative Success & Giveaways!


This week I'm celebrating:
1)  The free offer of my short story "The Inter-Galactic Gourmet" netted over 70 downloads and 3 new reviews, all 5-stars (one from a UK author I don't know and two from authors I do know).  I'm sure I'd have gotten 50 times that  on Amazon, but since they refuse to loosen their rigid payment rules that are prejudiced against 3rd world residents, I'm on Smashwords for the foreseeable future.
2)  I haven't done a lick of work on my WIP, but I'm feeling more relaxed and stopped having the stress-induced nightmares I've had for almost a month.  Ahhhh, sweet sleep.  :)
3)  This week I hit 3800 followers on Twitter and 900 friends on Facebook.  Yay!  That's pretty good for only having the accounts for 4 months.  Plus they're quality followers - horror authors and other writers, not sunglass salesmen.  (Why is Rayban spamming everyone?  You can get sunglasses anywhere and they last for years -- unless you're my husband who regularly breaks his, usually by sitting on them.  lol)

Do you remember your dreams when you wake up?

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:



 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors


Here are Foxy's suggestions for July 24, 2015:

Free YA Apocalyptic SF novel – win Fractured Memories by Jo Schneider via rafflecopter on My Book Addiction blog. (ends July 29)



Free Urban Fantasy novel – win 1 of 5 signed print copies of Ink Calls to Ink by Nathan Crowder via rafflecopter on Juniper Book Solutions blog. (ends Aug 3)




Free Paranormal Romance novel – win The Omegas by Annie Nicholas via entry box sign-up on the page at Romance Novels and Giveaways blog. (ends July 31)


Free $15 Amazon or Barnes&Noble Gift Card – to celebrate the release of Stolen Moments (romance) by Cara Bristol she’s giving away a $15 gift card to either Amazon or B&N via rafflecopter on Romance Novels and Giveaways blog. (ends July 31)


For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

45 comments:

T.F. Walsh said...

Congrats on the success:) it's all progress forward. And getting proper sleep is amazing... bet you feel so much better for it:)

Suzanne Furness said...

Definite Yay for a good nights sleep - it makes all the difference. Well done on those reviews too. I am taking a short blog break, Lexa so after today may not post for a couple of Fridays. Catch you soon.

Kate Larkindale said...

Glad you're getting some sleep. Have an extra hour or two for me, if you can… I never get enough, and for the next 17 days, even less than usual. And good work gathering so many followers in so short a time. I feel very slack in comparison...

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Sorry you're not on Amazon.
That's really impressive you got that many Twitter followers so fast. It took me years to get that many. You need to pass along your secret.

Cathy Keaton said...

Great job on the social media followers. I think you're a natural at it because I've been on Twitter for years and still don't have even 1,000 followers yet. But, I never use it, anyway.

Sorry to hear about Amazon being horrible about payments to Egypt. That's really awful and I wonder why they do that. It seems like you're really excited about self-publishing, so I hope it doesn't dampen you're enthusiasm too much. Someday, maybe things will get better in that regard.

JeffO said...

Sounds like a pretty good week all around. I remember some of my dreams when I wake up. I remember some hours later when something reminds me of them. Interestingly, as I get older I seem to be more and more aware that I'm dreaming while it's happening. Have a nice weekend!

Blogoratti said...

Congratulations to you on all those great achievements. All the best with everything!

Natalie Aguirre said...

So glad you're sleeping. And awesome on how many Twitter and Facebook friends that you have.

stephen Hayes said...

The dreams I remember most are early morning ones or those that happen just before I wake up. Lately, there's been a lot of them.

Unknown said...

haha those spam followers...so annoying but I've gotten fewer of those over the months which is good. My brother is like that with his sunglasses. I think he loses a pair every month ha. YAY for the awesome reviews! so well deserved. <3 I typically remember my dreams, and I find the ones in the early morning are the absolute weirdest!

Anonymous said...

I remember my dreams the most if they happen right before I wake up.

That's great about the downloads and reviews, as well as the friends and followers.

Linda Kay said...

Interesting comment on Amazon vs Smashwords. Congrats on your friends and followers. I do remember my dreams momentarily when I wake up.

Tanya Miranda said...

Those numbers are fantastic! Congrats! I JUST finished sending your short story to my kindle. Yay!!

Mere Joyce said...

Wow, congrats on the social media success! Glad you're not having stress-nightmares anymore. I usually remember my dreams when I wake up...I kept a dream-journal back in high school, and it was fascinating to see what dreams stay in your memory after you've been awake for a while, and which ones fade so completely you don't remember even when you read about them!

Birgit said...

That is a lot of followers! Oh I remember my dreams and they are also quite nutty from singing with the mice from the movie "Babe" to knowing I am a woodchuck waiting for some nuts to cats waterskiing and sun bathing and asking me to join them

L.G. Keltner said...

I downloaded your story! It's on my TBR pile, and I'm looking forward to reading it. I'm working on putting up a short story collection for free on Smashwords in the hopes of exposing more people to my work.

Bevimus said...

Congrats on all the downloading and following! It's great that you're starting to gain a reputation as a writer. And thank goodness for sleep! Happy Friday!

Melissa said...

Wow. That's a LOT of followers in such a short time.
*bows to the social media queen* :P

ELAdams said...

Congrats on all your achievements! I rarely remember my dreams, which is a bit annoying - I bet they'd make good plots for stories if I could remember them! :P

messymimi said...

Congratulations on followers and Facebook friends! No , i try very hard not to remember my dreams, they are usually awful or extremely weird, so i'd rather my subconscious work them out and not bother the conscious me with them!

Beverly Stowe McClure said...


Congratulations on the reviews and hopefully the new readers that will buy all your books. Your WIP will wait for you. :)
Great that you have more followers and friends.
I seldom dream but sometimes, when I do, they sort of haunt me the next day and almost seem real.

Unknown said...

Have a happy weekend.

Deanie Humphrys-Dunne said...

You have big, exciting milestones to celebrate this week, Lexa. Congratulations! Hope you have a great weekend.

Karla Gomez said...

Yay for sweet sleep!
I do remember most my dreams. Only recently did I realize they're almost all nightmares, LOL :(

Deanie Humphrys-Dunne said...

You have big exciting milestones to celebrate this time, Lexa! Congratulations!
Enjoy the weekend.

TheCyborgMom said...

I'm glad to hear that you are getting more sleep...I hate nightmares! I'm finally sleeping again after having a bit of insomnia for a couple of weeks. What's up with everyone having sleeping problems lately? Have a great weekend Lexa!

Tonja Drecker said...

Yay to all the great reviews. And congrats on all the followers. That seems to be a never ending battle :)

cheerfuloptimistic said...

Beautiful sleep...

And congrats on getting so many followers.

mshatch said...

I hate nightmares. Glad you stopped having them! I sometimes remember my dreams and always try to but most times they're like these fragments of images from a movie that I can't quite piece together.

Denise Covey said...

Congrats on all your new followers. I do believe I'm amongst them and I'm not selling RayBans, lol! Also congrats on the dowloads of your freebie and the good result. Now that I've (((sshh))) circumvented Amazon's rigidity in pushing me to buy through Amazon AUS, I can once again get reasonably-priced downloads. :-)

Julia Thorley said...

I've got a story with Smashwords, but I've been defeated by the IRS-related paperwork (I'm in the UK).

Ava Quinn said...

Those are great numbers all the way round!! Very impressive! Go, Lexa!!

Stephen Tremp said...

You have to get good sleep. I use Melatonin to help keep me sleeping but I still wake up around 3:00 am. Frustrating.

Good luck with your WIP!

Rhonda Albom said...

Bugger about Amazon and their silly rules, but congrats on the downloads, and the followers. Thanks for the freebies.

Unknown said...

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Kimberly said...

I'm glad your getting good sleep now - it's rough when you don't. I definitely remember most of my dreams - my husband says he does not which seems weird to me. :)

Holy wow, that's a ton of followers in both places! Awesome. :)

Dianne K. Salerni said...

Congrats on your new story -- and I just want to roll my eyes about the stupidity of Amazon.

I don't usually remember my dreams, but once in awhile, I will have a really vivid one I remember.

Cathrina Constantine said...

Congrats on your short story. Wow, that's a lot of followers on Twitter for so short of time. Don't worry about your wip, the time will come when you will get busy on it!!!

Kelley said...

LOL You don't like Raybans in your feed?
Congrats on the downloads, and the followers!

TBM said...

Congrats on the downloads. If I remember correctly, I snagged a copy. Yes, sleep is awesome!

DMS said...

Yeah! So glad you are sleeping better. Stressful night's sleep is the worst!

Awesome about your short story and the reviews. :) You are doing a fabulous job on twitter and fb. Way to go! :)
~Jess

alexia said...

Yay to a spike in numbers and good sleep! Yes, I do usually remember my dreams. And man, do I have some weird ones!

As for me, just still having a blast embarking on my self pub journey. I got the cover for my second book today and it's gorgeous like the first! So excited.

Crystal Collier said...

I'm with you about sleep. Especially after last night. Whew! It's amazing how differently the brain functions when you have adequate rest.

kimlajevardi.com said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kimlajevardi.com said...

I'm glad the nightmares are gone and Yay for the success with Intergalactic. I bought it but haven't had time to review it yet. I almost never remember either my dreams or my nightmares.

August 1, 2015 at 11:36 AM

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