#indieauthors #writerslife #amwritingromance #RomanceReaders #paranormalromance

Many writers suffer from anxiety and a host of other issues. We sit still too long or forget to eat properly. We are in a way a slave to the story that is seriously trying to claw its way out and wind up on the page. For me that is where Sancho comes in. He is like a therapy dog. He drags me away from my desk, the computer, and the story. He is the very best of dogs. He takes me walking and plays fetch with me. He demands food, water, and a good brushing as well as a flea bath on occasion. (it is pretty warm here all year around with good rain and grass. The fleas are serious on a long coat dog.) A lot of writers get burned out and walk away from it. I hope that never happens because I love to write. Sancho helps. Even if he is a grand distraction sometimes too. If you are writing and stumble over my blog, I hope you will read this and remember to take care of yourself first. If you don't, the story will never be told.

My author walk is ongoing and meandering. I have no idea where it will take me, but it is a grand journey. When I was a little girl, I fell in love with books. The story in the pages of a book could transport like nothing else. I lived on a mini farm in the country in the middle of nowheresville USA. I admit instantly to being a bit of a tomboy (so totally am not a girly girl). I had a favorite tree. It took a minute to climb up holding my book, but it had the perfect branch seat with the trunk as a back rest. It was the most excellent book nook. I think I read my entire middle school library there. I met Tolkien's hobbits and London's dogs. A few of them I read multiple times. That love of the story has never faded. I know why people love audiobooks. It is the quick fix for the greatest drug of all times, but there is nothing that beats the experience of a hardbound book with the book jacket. 

Only you did not come here to take a historical walk into my crazy life. You want to know about the behind the scenes of the writing. Sorry, I got sidetracked. The Draoithe series is still publishing strong. Dragon Masters comes out March 23. The full length novel is the twelfth numbered title in the series. There is a stand-alone forbye and prequel. There are also several short read titles. If you have not started reading it yet, what are you waiting for? There is no time like the present. Not sure if you will like my story style? Grab the free book. Just subscribe and start reading The Thread for free with the prologue to the Draoithe series. 

​Not sure about the full-length novel? It's okay. The prologue is a short read. It has been so well received that I have published more. There is a whole short read miniseries that just launched yesterday. Dread Allies is set in the dream, but the stories take place at Eaglafonn, a Netherworld outpost kingdom. Meet the demon princes in a darker and colder part of the dream. It just started, but will be publishing approximately three titles a month through July. Each book takes only about an hour to read. SO if you are a bit pressed for time, Dread Allies might be a better fit.

​In other news, the Storyboard Preview for Dream Therapy is now live on Youtube! If you are following my authorwalk, please feel free to check out the social media sites and let yourself be known. Like, follow, subscribe and leave comments, ask questions, and make suggestions. I am a real person. No robot responses. 

If you are an avid reader, please be sure to remember to leave those kind reviews. Help your fellow readers and your favorite authors with a few kind words about the books you read. You never know how much that will matter. Take this one for example: (I left off the name on purpose)

4.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely loved it
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2019
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
I gave it four stars due to some choppiness, but the reclusive information contained within this story answered some questions concerning the series. All in all a must read book that was illuminating about about devils and netherworld creatures. I can only hope that the author writes something similar about the angliene.

This is an actual review of the Forbye Synner and Sainte from Amazon. You can look it up if you want.  When I read this, I should have been happy. But it actually made me think. Why did the reader feel that the story was choppy? It had been out for a few days. I had moved on to writing, editing, and building promotional tools for other works. So I went back and looked at the book again. Then I took it down and reworked some of it so that it flowed better with a smoother story line. I wanted it to be better than really good. As an Independent Author, I really strive to offer an excellent reading product. I have to compete with works published by traditional publishing houses. I lack the funds to compete on that level unless my story is really that good. So please leave your kind honest reviews. 

Thanks for reading my words and my stories. I have to get back to work.
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
​Ophelia Kee

#indieauthors #writerslife #amwritingromance #RomanceReaders #paranormalromance

The Miniseries launched! Dread Allies is live today!  Shadow King part 1 is only $.99. Grab your copy or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited! The dream is a bit darker and colder in the Netherworld. 
​Alexio Asmodai is the demon king of Eaglafonn, a small outpost kingdom in the Netherworld overruled by the Demon Lord Asmodeus. It is Alexio’s responsibility to protect and police the frontier borders against any threats. He is an accomplished knight, so that part came easy.
Eaglafonn is a cold and isolated kingdom. Alexio needed to stay and build his castle atop the hot springs in order to beat an addiction to seduction sickness. After over seven centuries, he thinks his loneliness has finally come to an end when he opens a crate to find a woman sent by Asmodeus for him to keep safe. He falls for her instantly.
She is a human woman, fragile, timid, and irresistible. He must follow his liege’s directive, convince her to become his queen, and see that she is cared for properly in a place that is inhospitable to her existence. This leads to a realization that his castle lacks a lot to be a first class home for a lady. Can a tainted demon prince rise to the challenge to become a true king and win the woman who stole his heart?

​I wanted everyone to know that my first Fireside Read is going to be live on YouTube by the end of the month. See, my determination might pay off yet! (Or I really am as mule headed as my mother always believed.) It is not perfect, but I want to share it anyway. It's almost finished. ​ As soon as I have it finished, I will be posting it. It's a mini scene from A Pack Forms. So grab your cup of tea, coffee, wine, etc... and get ready to sit down for a listen. 

​I am still publishing the Storyboard Previews. I might get caught up by the end of the week. If you have not visited the Ophelia Kee Youtube channel, get over there and see what's going on. I could always use more subscribers to make it better. You are the reason this all works. The next storyboard preview is Dream Therapy. This is such a crazy mental read. And the rest of Leon Vadim's story is illuminated. Like the rest of the series it too is FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great reading.
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2020
Format: Kindle Edition
I love the entire series. Every time I finish one of the books. I cannot wait for the next one.

I had to share this review for Dream Therapy with everyone. This made my day when I saw it. Whoever you are, Thank you! I am humbled that you would read my stories and leave such an awesome note. It always feels good to know that my books have offered someone else an escape. I know I preach about reviews, but they matter to authors as much as they matter to readers. This one mattered especially to me because it came from a Kindle Unlimited subscriber.
​I know, the verified purchase ones carry more weight, but let's face it. No one wants to look foolish that they paid for something and then hated it. So there is always a bit of anxiety that those reviews might be slightly skewed because of that. With subscribers, they know that what they are reading most likely comes from an Independent Author. They have paid for a subscription, so if they choose a book and do not like it, they simply put it back. If they leave reviews, I pay attention more because of all the things they could be reading, it is my book that they are reading, and this one especially mattered because it was left on book ten after they had read the other books. I have been walking around smiling at this and torturing my friends with it. They roll their eyes at me an laugh at how seriously I took it, but it mattered. So sincerely, Thanks.

I still can't believe how lucky I am to be able to write my stories and share them with y'all. I always wanted to write. But writing when I was younger was like the impossible dream. (I will date myself here, but computers were not a thing when I was in highschool. LOL) Now that my children are grown and the internet has exploded, I can finally write as much as I always wanted and actually publish all my stories. People born in the last twenty years may have difficulty relating to that. I grew up poor living on a farm. Don't pity me. I had the grandest of childhoods and never knew how poor we were until long after I was grown. I tell you only so that you might grasp the reality that had I written then, I had no connections to the literary world and would not have had a chance that my writing would ever see the light of day. Today, I launched my second series. It is still unbelievable to me. I hope y'all enjoy. I will be celebrating with something I love. The redbud tree is blooming. I am gone fishing. Wish me luck! If you read, be kind and leave your review!
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
Ophelia Kee

#indieauthors #writerslife #amwritingromance #RomanceReaders #paranormalromance

So, Corona Virus. No one wants to be trapped at home sick. Worse, no one wants to be trapped at home if they are not sick. Sure some of us are going to be working from home. Some of us are going to be stuck taking care of children because schools are closing. I imagine the party places for Spring Break are going to lose revenue this year. But it isn't all bad. Turn off the news for awhile. Play an old fashioned board game or cards. Grab a good book and read.  Tantalu the prequel to the Draoithe series is only $2.99. 

Maybe even catch-up with all the web-surfing you have been meaning to do. If you use any of the following social media portals, maybe follow Ophelia Kee and get started with your enhanced version of the dream. I could always use more followers. I also follow back for any of you who are also trying to build a platform. Also, I love to hear from readers. If you have questions, comments or suggestions about the books, drop me a line. I am a real person. No robot responses.
Email the author at opheliakee69@gmail.com
Follow Draoithe on Facebook 
Follow Ophelia Kee on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Goodreads, and Author Central
Subscribe to the Ophelia Kee channel on YouTube                        
Get updates on the characters and information on release dates for new books and free offers by visiting the webpage https://www.opheliakee.com

 Chances are that if you found my author walk journal, that reading a good book might just be an interesting proposition. I am a terrible sales person though. The last thing anyone wants is to buy a book and wish they had not spent their money. If that is your situation, please check out my story style for FREE. Just click the direwolf on the side bar, and you can subscribe to get the PDF prologue to the Draoithe series.  If you like the short read, there is a link to continue on with A Pack Forms. All my books are available from Amazon. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, you can read them all for FREE. If not, I have several short reads that are only $.99, and three full length novels are only $2.99.  My books are technically stand-alone reads, but the reading experience is definitely enhanced if you read them in order. 

Reading a good book will not fix the short supply of toilet paper or restock the shelves at the grocery any faster, but it might just take your mind off of the situation and allow you to let go some of the stress and anxiety. In light of the anxiety caused by too much frazzling media, may I remind everyone of Reinhold Niebuhr's words of wisdom:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
Stay safe, wash your hands, and guard your mental health. Take a deep breath, relax, and try to enjoy the moment. 

I myself find that I have arrived at laundry day, and the bread must be baked. If you do find yourself in between the pages of a good book, don't forget to be kind and leave your reviews. Independent Authors will appreciate you even more, and you will be aiding them to continue to supply you with quality great entertainment.
Be careful!
Happy reading,
​Ophelia Kee

#indieauthors #writerslife #amwritingromance #RomanceReaders #paranormalromance

If you missed this, Synner and Sainte joined the Kindle Unlimited family on March 12. For those who read the series on subscription, you can now read the Forbye for FREE! In celebration, Synner and Sainte is on sale for $2.99 permanently.Logan was never the good guy. He has been an unrepentant sinner his entire life, but one chance encounter with a rogue demon warhorse will change him forever. As with all sinners when he finds himself in need of a rescue, Logan prays for a miracle he knows he does not deserve. 
What happens when the saint who comes to his rescue is actually a devil in disguise? Worse, what if that devil really needed Logan to save him?  Add a lost street urchin, Riggs, who desperately needs the family that both Markus and Logan seek as a tricorn spirit horse, then stir in a few sex slaves, the beyond the grave instructions a dead hedgewitch leaves behind, and one seriously tainted demon Lord, and the stage is set for the strangest harem story ever.
Family, hearth, home, business, and the good life is what three immortal partners chase across the centuries. Read about their epic sexy adventures in life and love in this convoluted dark fairy tale and find out if it is possible for sinners to become saints.

If you are new to my authorwalk, welcome to Ophelia Kee Speaks. Here i offer a journal of the path I am walking as an independent author. The struggle to decide what is best for the books to allow them to get into the hands of the greatest number of readers is still an ongoing one. There is a lot of research out there about what an author should or should not be doing with their work. Fiction is different from nonfiction and different genres might do better in some places than others. I write contemporary adult fantasy/paranormal romance. I once posted my books wide. Draoithe was on four major platforms. Nothing happened. No sales, no interest. Nothing. (Okay part of it was my total lack of knowledge in marketing and publishing.) 

I struggle with the learning curve on how to successfully publish, promote, and market books. I talk to a lot of authors. I talk to a lot more readers. This is what I have learned so far. There are no get rich quick routes. (that one should be obvious) Marketing and promotion make being an Independent author the most active of passive income concepts. (its a 9-5 job all by itself) The tech is crazy difficult to figure out. I only barely yesterday discovered how to add the Pinterest hover over feature to the website. (I hope you like it. Save whatever you like to Pinterest. It's not a one way street anymore!) Social media has become a serious aspect of my life. (it was on occasion when I felt like it before I began publishing, now I manage 7 social media platforms everyday) The books sell on Amazon, and they earn royalties with Kindle Unlimited! (it's not pay the mortgage money, more like gas money. But it is something, and that is exciting to me) It takes longer to do all the behind the scenes to get the book to market than seems real. (I write all the time, but edits, formatting, what I call 'the details' like adding the about the author and copyright pages to the books, and crafting the marketing blurbs, taglines, excerpts etc...are seriously time consuming) I will learn more, and in the meantime, I have spent years writing the stories in the dream, so keep reading and I will figure it out. Thanks for enjoying my stories.

I have a brand new spinoff short read miniseries launching on Monday! I am seriously so excited to share Dread Allies with everyone. It is available for pre-order from Amazon now. The miniseries is set to include 14 short read titles with approximately three title releases a month through July. If you like Draoithe, you will love Dread Allies. The demon princes of Eaglafonn are a bit darker and colder than some of the other characters in the dream, but they are good men. When they get the idea to all claim consorts, life in the Netherworld radically alters. Follow the story as the Shadow king of Dread Desire decides to landscape his castle with women.

I have to drive. I love to hear from you. Reach out with questions, comments, and suggestions. Thank you for reading my stories. Remember to be kind and leave your reviews when you read. If you haven't subscribed, click the sidebar and grab your FREE short read! 
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
​Ophelia Kee

#indieauthors #writerslife #amwritingromance #RomanceReaders #paranormalromance

It is almost spring break. Some will head to the beach. Others will be in party town. Not me. I will be curled up in an easy chair or corner of the sofa with a cup of tea and a good book (or two). There is something awesome about the mind's ability to call up images and scenes from the words written in the pages of a good book. I am not criticizing graphic novels or comics, I love those too! But for me as much as I love a good comic book, I still prefer the unadorned pages of a novel or short read. I want to feel the immersion in the story that come when the mind builds the scene and conjures the characters as I read through the story.

As a writer, this ability operates in reverse. I see the scenes of the story in my mind, and I have to write the words to make that scene come alive in someone else's mind. I know. When you read my stories, you don't see what I see, but I also know that what you see in your mind will closely enough resemble what I see if I craft the words just so. And that is where two minds meet across space and time to see, read, visualize, and understand the same ideas even if we have never spoken, never met, or one of us has crossed over from this plane of existence into the next. I don't pretend that my humble ability to tell a story is anything as grand as what some of the great storytellers have accomplished. I only hope to be able to entertain, to offer that escape into the dream that every reader craves, for an hour or two here and there. 

The hard part for the Indie Author is getting the word out that I have a story for others to read. So book promotion and marketing plays a large role in what I do in the day to day affairs. If you have not noticed, OpheliaKeeSpeaks has gotten a facelift. I hope you like the new look for the blog. I am trying to improve the site as a whole. Someone suggested that I make the FREE book offer a permanent fixture so I have. I like the black, but what do you think? Should I use the red? let me know which one you feel is more attractive. I believe all of the social media icons now work as well. I am looking into how to add Pinterest to the site so you can pin images from OpheliaKee.com directly to your Pinterest account. I am also likely to be adding Google Adsense to OpheliaKee.com as well. The bills must get paid. 

 Other news, I am slowly building the Tumblr presence. I have been slowly migrating a lot of the blog content from the past to that platform. Soon you will start to see a lot more excerpts and scenes from my work in progress there. If you use the platform, make yourself known. If you follow, I will follow back. Thanks for all the support on all the social media platforms. This dream does not happen without you. Also, I am working this weekend to get the latest videos uploaded to YouTube. Once they are live there, I can spread the love and link all the rest of the social media so you  can see. The remaining Storyboard Previews for the currently published numbered novels are finished and ready to go. It is always time that I run out of. The Storyboard for Fire and a Gryphon should be live today! Keep and eye out for that. I would like to be caught up on that front shortly. I think I may have gotten a handle on how to upload the audio recordings. Hold on. But I think I might have figured out something that works for me. If you have not subscribed to my YouTube Channel, check it out. But the audio files are coming soon. Not whole books, yet, but mini-reads for sure!

Shameless Self Promotion! Dread Allies is launching on Monday! Shadow King part one of the short read miniseries is currently available from Amazon as a pre-order. Check this out! The series trailer is live on YouTube!  The dream just got a bit darker and colder, but the scenes only got steamier!
Alexio Asmodai is the demon king of Eaglafonn, a small outpost kingdom in the Netherworld overruled by the Demon Lord Asmodeus. It is Alexio’s responsibility to protect and police the frontier borders against any threats. He is an accomplished knight, so that part came easy.
Eaglafonn is a cold and isolated kingdom. Alexio needed to stay and build his castle atop the hot springs in order to beat an addiction to seduction sickness. After over seven centuries, he thinks his loneliness has finally come to an end when he opens a crate to find a woman sent by Asmodeus for him to keep safe. He falls for her instantly.
She is a human woman, fragile, timid, and irresistible. He must follow his liege’s directive, convince her to become his queen, and see that she is cared for properly in a place that is inhospitable to her existence. This leads to a realization that his castle lacks a lot to be a first class home for a lady. Can a tainted demon prince rise to the challenge to become a true king and win the woman who stole his heart?

Enough shooting the breeze with y'all. I got some work to do. Please don't hesitate to drop me a line though if you have a question, comment, or suggestion. As always, if you read, please be kind and leave your review. Thank you again for supporting the dream. It means everything to me.
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
​Ophelia Kee

Finally, I had to wait forever! I am happy to be able to announce that Synner and Sainte is now available for FREE with Kindle Unlimited! It took like... forever. This book has been re-edited and had a couple of revisions since it was first published in December. I wanted it to be a better book. I made the mistake of thinking I should publish wide, but that only trapped the book in a strange limbo. If you have been following my author walk, then you know I now consider this to have been a huge mistake due to the fact that I have made every mistake imaginable. You should definitely do a ton of research before choosing how to publish, but adding my books to Kindle Select has benefitted me.

​I feel as if things are finally in order and we can move full steam ahead with the dream. Dragon Masters launches March 23, 2020. Blue and Torch are back in the starring role in this book. Winning institutionalized slaves as their Valkyrie is going to require some seriously arcane magic. HEA! NC! The magic is still calling to magic and the mor tuath continues to build in the twelfth book in the series. Grab it at the 20% off debut price. It is available for preorder now!

I have learned some minorly frustrating news. I will not be able to consider monetizing The Ophelia Kee channel on YouTube any time soon. I need quite a few more subscribers to make that a realization. So if anyone uses YouTube and would be willing to help this Indie Author out and subscribe to Ophelia Kee, I could seriously use the help. Don't visit for nothing. The Book Trailer for Dragon Masters was launched yesterday. If you have yet to view it, check it out when you visit. Turn the thumbs blue and help grow the dream. Thank you in advance, and if you have a channel of your own, be assured that I will return the favor. Nevertheless, YouTube is still the best platform for the book trailers, previews, fireside reads, and possibly even an audio of the blog. 

If you have not found the dream and Ophelia Kee on Tumblr yet, check out Ophelia Kee there as well. I am migrating some of the blog material over to Tumblr and have begun posting there as well. This blog/website will remain your first best source for news about the dream, the books, my authorwalk, the videos, etc... But Tumblr seems to be the best place to share work in progress excerpts, and brief readings. So you will likely see more advanced written storyline on Tumblr than anywhere else. The format there just lends itself to that much better. 

Reader support is the only way any of this works. So from my heart, Thank You to everyone who is supporting the dream, reading the stories, and leaving kind reviews. ​It is the story that I want to share. If you have only just begun to follow my author walk, I would love for you to have a gift. I am giving away The Thread. The short read prologue to the Draoithe series is always FREE. Simply subscribe to the website and download the exact same pdf that is listed at $2.99 on Amazon. Read it for free, test drive my story style, if you like it, there is a link at the end to take you to A Pack Forms. No pressure! Just an offer extended to anyone who is looking to escape for a bit and enjoy the dream. Don't worry, I don't spam email. Amazon will let you know if when I publish another title if you follow my there. I rely on that as an Indie Author. Ramen is cheap, but I do still have to pay for it. 

Be Careful!
Happy reading,
​Ophelia Kee

As much as I love to read and write, I don't do that all the time. I have a few other hobbies. I am an avid gardener (although I think my thumb is more black than green most of the time). I also like crafts and the urban homesteading stuff. Not a prepper, more old fashioned make it through the starving time if you will. I  can, freeze, and dry food. Like many older southern Americans, I also like to buy in bulk and save the money on things I use all the time. I wanted to share this image with you because, it isn't just a picture I borrowed from pixabay. This one is mine.
​I took this image with my phone camera. This is my rose. I grew it. It was beautiful. I no longer live in the desert where it is rather difficult to grow things and keep them alive, but this rose is a symbol of the struggle. I have used it on the backdrop to one of my pieces of verse that adorn this website. I don't write poetry much. But on occasion nothing is better than verse.

Having said all of that, I wanted to share a couple of free internet resources that might help any of you out there who are interested in writing, or needs to do any kind of self promoting. Nothing of course beats your own camera. But Pixabay has some awesome images. (I found this really cool celtic style symbol I want to use from Pixabay) You can even upload images to Pixabay as well. They are all royalty free, and you are allowed to use them in your work without having to pay. Bensound has royalty free music, just be sure to identify the artist if you use.  Or you can download a music maker program and write your own like I did for my book trailers and storyboard previews. It was not too complicated, but it was a bit time consuming. I did have fun with it though.

So a bit of news from the dream, I have the rest of the storyboard previews for the numbered novels in the Draoithe series almost finished. If you have been keeping up with the Ophelia Kee YouTube channel, thank you. I should be uploading more relatively quickly.  So subscribe and stay tuned to Ophelia Kee for more book trailers and previews. The book trailer for Dragon Masters is already available! The storyboard preview is coming next week! I am also going to get the audio stuff figured out. I have not forgotten it. It is just a bit more complex than I had thought. But I am determined! Shameless Self Promotion here! Book 12 is launching on March 23. It is available for preorder now. It is currently 20% off the regular price for its debut! Get it before the offer ends and you have to pay full price! For all my Kindle Unlimited subscribers, it's FREE! Mark your calendar and start reading on March 23. 

To everyone who has enjoyed the dream with my stories, Thank You. I hope you will be kind and leave your reviews. They matter. If you are new to my author walk, or if you have not yet grabbed your FREE short read book, ​I would love you have a copy of the prologue, The Thread. If you subscribe, you can download and read it immediately as a PDF. The Thread is the prologue to A Pack Forms, the book that started it all. In The Thread, you can quick read in less than an hour the backstory for how Luke and Eli met. If you like my story style and think you want a bit more, the link to the first novel in the series is included at the end. If not, no pressure. I am humbled that people would read my stories.

I have had a lot of people shy away from subscribing to get the book. They fear being spam emailed. If you have only just found me, rest assured that I will not be doing that. I prefer to write. If you want to get email updates about new pre-orders or recently published books, head over to Amazon, and click the follow author button on any of my book purchase pages. You will see it by my tiger. Amazon will let you know for me. I am an Indie Author. Mass emails are cost prohibitive. If you get an email from me, it will be a one of a kind. Thank you for supporting the dream by reading my stories. Check back later for more of the behind the scenes details of my author walk. Thank you for joining me.
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
Ophelia Kee

For the past few blogs, I have been detailing the free book promotion that I have been utilizing on my author walk into the dream. If you are a reader and only want to know about the books, scroll on down. But if you are curious as to how I learned to let people know about my stories, well this part might be for you. I discussed how I decided to self publish on Amazon and I have also explained how Amazon helps Indie Authors. I have also covered quite a bit about social media postings in previous blogs as well as money I have spent and the tools I use for my storytelling. But I have yet to share the Free book listing sites. 

So here is the list. But I can't take credit for it. I owe this to Vinny at Awesome Gang. If you write fiction and you have not met Awesome Gang or Book Goodies, allow me to introduce some amazing people to work with. They understand the plight of the self published author. Now these sites are free, but if you choose to advertise with them, they do a lot of coupons and specials. You might want to investigate and join their social media circles. If you are a reader, the same applies, because a lot of awesome Indie talent is showcased on these sites. I follow and read many of the authors I have seen in their publications. 

Book Goodies
Audiobook Goodies
Book Goodies Kids
Fiction Hideaway
Romance Hideaway
Reading SciFi
Fantasy Book Place
Mystery Reads
Awesome Gang
Pretty Hot
Discount Book Man
Topless Cowboy

So if you have not visited these sites, check them out and let me know if you find my books(s) there. I just finished trying to be sure I had A Pack Forms submitted to all the sites. If it is not there yet, check back. As always, if you read any books, please leave your reviews. Independent Authors really appreciate that. If you write, please consider contacting Vinny and submitting your books to these wonderful sites for book promotion. If you are reading this, Thanks for all the help, Vinny. (Awesome Gang has been so kind in following all my social media, so follow them, they follow back!)

News! I got the series trailer published for the New Short Read Miniseries! Dread Allies is launching March 16! The trailer is out on YouTube! (That's a lot of exclamation points. Sorry. I got excited.) The first title in this contemporary adult fantasy fiction series is Shadow King part 1. Meet the demon princes and the king of Eaglafonn (Dread Desire) and find out if they can learn to truly live! If you have not subscribed to the Youtube channel for Ophelia Kee, head over and check out the video and subscribe so you don't miss any more videos, then click the link in the description to grab your copy of the first book in the Dread Allies miniseries which is available for pre-order now!

It's been awhile since I offered any of the previews for my work in progress. The Owl King is coming along. I have decided to break it down into parts to write it as that makes it simpler for Grammarly. I am still undecided as to whether or not it will publish as a novel, but at this point, I believe that it will not. I think it will publish as an intertwined series of tales. But anyway, time to figure that out later. Here is a taste from part 5

Thanks for taking a moment to stop by the dream and see some of the behind the scenes in my author walk. I am an Independent Author. If you purchase or read my books, Thank You, and I hope you enjoy my stories. 
Be Careful!
Happy reading,
Ophelia Kee

The news from the dream, my Twitter account was hacked. Apparently it contracted the corona virus and digitally pooped on my followers. I likely still need a lot of digital toilet paper to clean up that mess. But I reported the situation and changed my password. The good news is that I avoided Twitter quarantine and life will go on. For all of you who follow me on Twitter, I apologize for the recent rash of direct messages. I did not authorize them. Please delete and do not respond to them. I am really all about the books. Other messages are never mine.

Having said that takes me to the topic for today, which is more free book promotion. I use social media a lot. I have mentioned before that I have used paid advertising on Facebook and Pinterest, but I also use Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and to a lesser extent Tumblr. I have never paid for advertising on these sites however. I simply promote my books one impression at a time. I also still use Facebook and Pinterest that way as well. For example, If I advertise The Dark Gift on Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram, I simply place my link, add a tagline like "One bad dragon meets a broken vampire. Fixing her could see him executed. Will he risk everything?", then add some hashtags, and post. Hashtags are important. It also matters that you spend a few minutes scrolling through the news feed and liking things you like. Follow other people who post things you like and they will begin following you. Soon you will have lots of people seeing your promotion, liking and commenting on it. Remember the 7/11 rule. Readers need to see your brand seven times before it registers. They need to see it at least 11 times before they will consider purchasing. 

But you can't just spam people. No one likes that. You have to post once or twice a day and let it be viewed and marinate so to speak. Then post something new but related. Like this excerpt from Synner and Sainte. I might post the book cover in the morning then the excerpt with a link in the afternoon. Sort of like pinning to Pinterest. It works best if tended to everyday. But like growing vegetables in a garden it takes time for social media efforts to bear fruit. You have to watch out for pests and weeds at the same time you have to be able to leave it sitting in the sun and the rain too. With social media, you have to follow others, add friends, like other things, and leave comments to build up a following and make your presence known. But you must avoid the negative pitfalls as well. This takes time. Remember there is no overnight success. It's a business. You grow it. 

With Twitter, you can post three or four times a day, retweet other tweets, like a few things, and chat a few people, then move on. With Facebook and Instagram, posting once or twice a day is better because the posts linger longer there, especially if you are guest posting in groups. Be considerate and don't spam the group with repetitious posts. I post to over 150 Facebook groups. I post a few each day so I can post the same book in different places all week without spamming everyone. (You must request permission first and build up a list of places you can promote.)  Pinterest needs to see you active and pinning daily, but the pin will still be active for weeks after you left it. Eventually, you build up a following and have a lot of posts, pins, and tweets that new followers can see. Be sure to use hashtags and links to let more people see your promotion. ​For my new short read miniseries, Dread Allies, I have even pinned a tweet that everyone who visits me on Twitter can see and hopefully retweet so the book gains exposure there.

You want to write. No one wants to market and promote all of their life away. Especially if the gains are small and take forever to happen. That is why you need to schedule your time. If you don't have time to promote, you might need to spend some money and let someone else promote for you. I highly recommend keeping a google docs link list for your books, your social media, hashtags, book taglines, and your author sites as well as your website. That way they are easy to copy and paste wherever you are. Setting yourself up before you launch a book is crucial. I wish I had. But if you want to write and choose to Indie Publish as I have, choose one social media site at a time, build your pages and boards with your art, words, and videos. Set up the behind the scenes and begin a life that involves a little time scrolling through social media. Promotion is how you let the world know that you have something that they need to see. I never want to be a carnival barker. I don't want the eyes on me. I want them on my story. That is why I am constantly offering a FREE book from Opheliakee.com. It is why I list my books for FREE with Kindle Unlimited and debut my books at a discounted price. It is the story that matters. But someone must hear it or read it for it to be the escape that it is meant to be.

I would be remiss if I did not promote Dragon Masters the twelfth book in the Draoithe series. The saga continues as Blue and Torch find themselves in the precarious position of needing to collar institutionalized slaves as their Valkyrie. It is launching Mar 23 and is currently available from Amazon as a preorder. It is a full length novel and like all my novel debuts, it will be listed at $3.99 which is 20% off of the regular price. It will be made available and FREE with Kindle Unlimited. So if you are a Kindle subscriber mark your calendar. As always if you read, please be kind and leave your review. It matters.

Be Careful!
Happy reading,
​Ophelia Kee

(This is a long list of things really, and I am going to assume that you have written and published already. All of the things I will mention here are FREE although for many you could choose to pay for more. Since the list is long, I will need to do more than one post on it.) Let's start with Amazon first. If you are an Indie Publisher as I am, you might want to start with Amazon. (They have about 80% or more of the readers.) You must choose whether or not to put your book in the Kindle Select program or publish wide, but if you choose the Kindle Select program it offers you FREE promotional tools. In each 90 day period for which the book is enrolled, you have the option to give it away for five days or utilize the countdown deal and have a price reduction sale for a week. (Be sure you are doing other promotion when you use these, but they are helpful.)
Also don't forget to set up your author central page with Amazon as this space showcases all your work listed on Amazon and offers the reader an opportunity to follow you so that Amazon informs them of your latest pre-orders or published work. After you publish you might want to consider enabling X-ray to give readers a deeper look into your work especially if your work includes things that might attract readers, like location, specific people, events, character information, science, magic, etc... More books are better. Readers like to see that you have many items to offer. The second book often aids you in selling the first. Brand recognition builds as you attract readers. (Not how this in no way looks like a get rich quick scheme. You are building a business. It will take time. Most businesses need a couple of years to build up loyal patrons.)

You will want to become an Amazon associate once you have a few books to sell so that each time someone uses your link to buy your book or even other items, you will get a small percentage fee returned to you. It is an extra 4% on your book. So not much, but if you get to selling well, you might gain a bit. If you have taken my advice and set up your social media sites already and copied the links somewhere for future reference, this will be helpful here when you need to declare where you will advertise. (Also come in handy when you do some of the other online promotion.) Just be sure that you are using the share link that Amazon provides or this won't work. (copying and pasting the browser path from your Google search will take people to your book, but it won't get you that extra 4%). You will want to be sure that you add all the proper links inside your books as well. That will help readers find you and possibly the next book you are offering for them to read. Added to a good blurb and your choice of keywords and categories, and these tools could really help you sell your books. Before you ask, Yes, I do all of this. Here the links are not active, but in my books and on my website and social media sites, they are!

​Today is the last day to get Weaver's Tale for FREE! Grab your copy before the offer ends. Araack Kniid is a Warlock Spider King who bought a lie and suffers the consequences for a thousand years. Find out how he finally realizes the truth in the four part short read. As always, if you read, please be kind and leave your review. Indie Authors need them and can never have enough. Thank you!

I still need subscribers for YouTube! I am still crafting book trailers and promotional videos, an I am hoping to add a few how to videos and some fireside reads soon. If you use YouTube, help me out and subscribe. If you have your own channel, I will be sure to return the favor. Thank you! Check out the latest Storyboard Preview for Elementals. It is the best one yet. I should have more up soon. 

Be Careful!
Happy Reading,
​Ophelia Kee