Note the sheep! That is me, Ophelia Kee. I am stuck dangling between the proverbial rock and the hard place, although unlike the sheep who can hop around on the rocks easily, I am rather damned no matter what. Forget the fear of heights, it does not even figure in. I'm talking about marketing and promoting books. I read up on it and check out blogs and websites. I learn about what I need to do and implement one strategy at a time. 
So, that's good right? Well, sort of. But not exactly. You see, to successfully promote a book, money must be spent. But money is not so easy to come by, and I am not the type to waste mine. So I want to be sure I spend it wisely and get the biggest bang for the buck. (Never mind that all the research is stealing time from writing which is a whole other issue.)

Book promotion is kind of like car sales. You can't sell a car to a man with no job or money. You also have a rather difficult time selling one to a man who already has one or does not need one. So the market for the car is not 'everyone' just as the market for a book is not 'everyone'. The market is only the people who want to buy a car or a book. Different shoppers seek different features and interior packages. So I have to find the readers who want to read a story like mine. Just like the car salesman needs to find a man who wants a car like the one he sells. The question becomes, how? 
The thing about a good story is that like a car, a new one is great. But unlike a car, when you finish with a good book, you always feel as if you wish it had not ended. You might go back to reread it or go on to buy another book by the same author or in the same series. (When you finish with your car, you are ready to get a shiny new one. Revisiting the old one is not something most of us choose to do.) But the best thing about a good book is that they do not cost nearly as much as a car so more people can enjoy them more often. But the question about how to locate the proper reader is serious.
Step one is obvious. Write the book. Done....(along with a few more. Book eight is releasing Sept 30th :) 
Step two is also obvious. Publish the polished finished(?) book. (The author is never really finished.)
Step three is where things get a bit confusing. I can't afford to pay someone to publish, so Indie publishing was the default. That means I learn how to market and publish. 
We are still somewhere in step three. Things I have decided:
Branded book covers are great! Free Book promotions are also great! Only odd numbered books in the series are free books. Technically, Book One will always be free on my website through Inkitt or Wattpad, just not in the same format as Kindle. I await the results of the Kindle countdown. The verdict is still out on that. The folks at Awesome Gang (and affiliates) are Awesome!  So while I still work the day job, I will muddle through and keep learning about step three. Y'all wish me luck in figuring it all out sometime this century.
​Be Careful, 
​Happy Reading!
​Ophelia Kee

So, I have a pinterest account, twitter, and facebook.  But I wonder about people who don't like the big giants. I also have a stish.io account. There are a lot of cool people who hang out there. I mean it is about cryptocurrency, but it also offers a whole social community of people an opportunity to share without the pressure of the giant social media venues. Sure I might not reach as many people on stish.io, but I might reach a different audience. A caring audience of artisans, craft workers, and ordinary good people with less robotics and ai. 

So maybe we can eventually get a lot more people using niche social media sites as well as the big giants. It just seems like a smarter way to go. Like having your favorite bar or coffee shop, only it's a social media site instead. The best of both worlds kind of thing. I love my twitter feed and my pinterest pins. I need my facebook group to. But I don't always want to get lost in the crowd. Sometimes, I want to relax in the company of my friends with a few less ads. So to all my friends on stish.io, thanks for hearing me and supporting my dream to write equally as much as those who follow me on other sites. To all my friends on pinterest, facebook, and twitter, may I invite you to check out stish.io? You might like it too. 

I like having my cake and eating it too!

Be careful!
Happy Reading,
​Ophelia Kee

Some days are really like this. Credit to illustrationsource.com. I swear I am still working on the information for Eaglafonn it will make it onto FROM MY DESK. Thanks to all the patient people who understand I live a dual life.
Be Careful, 
Happy Reading<
​Ophelia Kee

Time to actually write is so difficult to find. The necessary day job gets in the way of course, but life gets in the way just as much sometimes. This weekend I dropped my son off at his dormitory at university. It was a bittersweet moment. But he was so excited I could not dampen the experience for him. Since I was back in East Texas, I took the liberty of looking at property. I'm still trying to get out of the desert. 

Needless to say all of that led to no writing, almost no editing, and a very late commentary on what is happening in the world of Draoithe and Ophelia Kee's characters. Book eight is nearly ready to go. It will release September 30th. But that really means that I need to be working on book nine. The cover is complete, but it still needs a million hours of editing and proofreading. It's a daunting process. While readers enjoy Draoithe: Elementals, Draoithe: Fire and a Gryphon is still very much a work in progress. 

What I really want to do is  get back to Marcus Leiriu and write his story. But that involves a devil seeking his vixen in a very unlikely and recalcitrant young woman. But that's a story for another time. Writing is life, but life is unfortunately not writing. I will learn more about promotion and marketing, but the story is what really matters. If I don't tell the story, no one can read it. It has to begin there.

I will try to get the information about the kingdom of Eaglafonn and the demon princes who rule there posted to From My Desk this upcoming week. Don't forget to preorder your copy of Draoithe: Elementals. If you have not even started the series, book one is free on Inkitt and Wattpad and available for sale on Kindle. Draoithe:Tantalu is only ninety nine cents. Click on the links located under the Books tab.

Be careful,
Happy Reading!

Ophelia Kee

So... Book Eight is out for Pre-order at Amazon.com! ​The Sneak peek is already posted on From my desk!

Draoithe: Elementals: Book Eight
by Amazon  Digital Services  LLC
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WCD7BX9/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_lCawDb6Q3YJ0G

I am excited to keep the momentum going that built up over the summer! For those of you who are following the series, Elementals is the last book dealing with the rise of the Ruiri and the formation of a ruling council with dragons. Magic has been calling to magic, and the kingdom has begun to really take on a life of its own. Luke begins to discover that Fox has set off a chain reaction sequence that is far beyond any scope either of them envisioned, but when he captures Marchand, he realizes that he may need that magical help far more than he first believed. 
With all four elementals at Draoithe, the idea for a second line of protection forms. Sentinel gargoyles are possible if the elementals have enough energy. As more and more people need sanctuary from problems in their past, Draoithe seeks to aid them by offering even more protection. The kingdom is growing and the need for alliances begins to become far more pressing as Luke begins to realize that there are more enemies than just Peter Elliot.
I need to get to work if book nine is to be released this year. Next week, its off to East Texas once again. Wish me luck! 
Happy reading,
Be Careful!
Ophelia Kee

The sneak peek for Draoithe: Elementals is now on the From My Desk tab along with some images and some author notes for multiple books. Some have been released some have not been. Many of the characters the readers have met. But many of them are as yet unrealized. I thought it might be interesting to see how I keep up with some of the stuff that I use to write the books. 
Believe it or not, I also have this crazy set of wrinkled up, penciled on calendars that make no sense to anyone but me. Maybe someday I will upload them as photos. The reference pages have been getting longer and more involved as the series has expanded. A friend suggested that Draoithe needed its own dictionary, so maybe I will try to put that up at some point too. 
*** Spoiler Alerts*** Lucifer wrote a slim book of prophecy known as The Unlikely Kings. I think that might need to be published somewhere also. It includes spells and bits of convoluted poetic riddles that allude to a possible future in which he and Airlea are reunited in the Dream.  
There will be a few novellas set in the same world as Draoithe. The characters in the novellas add to the wealth of knowledge at Draoithe, but will each be stand alone books. I have no timeline on when, but there will probably be four or five. It might be a boxed set type deal. I have not yet quite decided.
Just a note for those who like the paperback version of books, the complete Draoithe series to date is available as paperback from Amazon.
It's a bit short, this article, but I have to work. Enjoy all the extras I have included on From my Desk.
Be Careful!
Happy Reading, 
Ophelia Kee

I did it! The prequel is out. The covers are all branded. I even figured out a whole lot about promotion and marketing. I might get this whole Indie author stuff. But I still prefer the writing.
Summer vacation is always too short. I have to head back to the nine to five grind tomorrow, and that means the whole writing/publishing stuff slows down. But I am still shooting to publish Draoithe: Elementals on September 30.  We are going to try going Kindle all the way for the series. So cross your fingers cause I want to do a countdown.
Book 8 is in the last stages of editing. I think I can do it. But hey, I am only human so if we don't hit the date, don't be mad. I am doing this by myself. there is no hired crew that handles the blog, the promotions, or the social media. This is basically a one man show. My only help comes from my cover artist and my two beta readers. The rest is pretty much all me. 
Having said that, if you buy or download a free copy, please read and write an honest review. If you hate it, be nice. If you love it, Thanks in advance for the positive feedback. If anyone has questions, please feel free to contact me.
On the saddest note: My prayers are with the families of the victims, the shooter and his family, and the entire city of El Paso, TX. The tragedy of the mass shooting at a mall shopping complex yesterday proves that mental health needs to be a serious priority in our country. 
​Happy Reading!
Be Careful,
​Ophelia Kee