White Lady Release Day: I bet you've never been asked a question like this before ...

Yes. This is me.

Ready for some fun?

If you put a White Lady, two rubber duckies, a man with crooked eyebrows, and a carving knife in a garage for 24 hours, what will you find in the morning?

White Lady is IN THE HOUSE! To celebrate the release of my latest novel, WHITE LADY, I am giving away an e-copy (mobi, ePub, or PDF), and a $10 Amazon gift card to the person who answers the above question the most creatively in the comments. Be sure to leave your email address!

If you win, you will be notified personally by email within 48 hours. 

Want more chances to win? You can comment on as many blogs and Facebook posts as you wish for a chance to win the book. In each post you will be given three statements about me, or the book. Two are lies and one is true. You need to guess which statement is true. The first person to answer correctly within 48 hours on each post will win a copy of the book. Also, at the end of October, one random commenter will be chosen from all the posts to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card (or cash via PayPal). Click HERE for blog and Facebook links.

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Now I have a small favour to ask. Please please please help spread the word through Twitter and Facebook, and any other social media platforms for me. It would be very much appreciated!

Here are a couple of posts to make it easier for you.

Just copy/paste and tada!

For Facebook

Do you like to read psychological thrillers? Well, Jessica Bell's giving away her latest release, WHITE LADY, for FREE. Comment on as many blogs and Facebook posts as you wish for a chance to win the book! At the end of October, one random commenter will be chosen from all the posts to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card (or cash via PayPal). Visit this link for a list of blogs to leave your comment. Jessica will be very happy to see you! http://goo.gl/5Y24av

For Twitter

Comment on @MsBessieBell's #WHITELADY tour posts 4 over 100 chances 2 win! http://goo.gl/5Y24av #thriller #chicknoir #contest #newrelease

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*This novel contains coarse language, violence, and sexual themes.

​Sonia yearns for sharp objects and blood. But now that she’s rehabilitating herself as a “normal” mother and mathematics teacher, it’s time to stop dreaming about slicing people’s throats.

While being the wife of Melbourne’s leading drug lord and simultaneously dating his best mate is not ideal, she’s determined to make it work.

It does work. Until Mia, her lover’s daughter, starts exchanging saliva with her son, Mick. They plan to commit a crime behind Sonia’s back. It isn’t long before she finds out and gets involved to protect them.

But is protecting the kids really Sonia’s motive?

Click HERE to view the book trailer.

Click HERE for purchase links.

***For Amazon Prime members and Kindle Unlimited subscribers, White Lady is FREE on Kindle until January 2015.***

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Thanks for your support, everyone!

Note: The Artist Unleashed has been put on hold until next Wednesday.

Why giving away my forthcoming novel to those who help promote is not going to hurt sales.

I once had someone get rather angry at me on Facebook for posting a page of a forthcoming poetry fanzine that I was in. I can't remember their exact words but it was something along the lines of: "How DARE you give away its content for free! How is the creator supposed to make money like that?"

Of course, I defended myself. I said that if you can't offer a free sample of your work, how are new readers supposed to discover you and know if they like you?

People are allowed to browse a bookstore, pick up a book, and look inside to see if it's something they might like to buy. Why should we prevent people from having the same experience if they're browsing online?

We shouldn't. And I've taken this idea even further.

If you follow this blog, or are connected with me via Facebook or Twitter, or are subscribed to my newsletter, you may have noticed that I am giving away an e-copy of my forthcoming novel, WHITE LADY, to every single person who signs up to my Blog/Facebook tour this October. I'm also giving away an e-copy of the book to one commenter on each of these Blogs/Facebook pages during the tour.

So far, in one week, I've had 70 people sign up. So already, I'm giving away 140 free copies of my book. And the sign up form is going to be open until the end of September. If 70 people have signed up in one week, there is a potential of giving away almost 1700 copies of my book by the end of October. (I very much doubt the number will grow that high, but I can't ignore the possibility.)

"What the HELL?" you're saying? "You could have made at least half of those in sales! What the flip are you doing?"

What am I doing? I'll tell you what I'm doing ...

Not only does this mean there is a potential of getting 1700 book reviews early on in the WHITE LADY release, but there is also the potential for people, who have never heard of me, reading those reviews and buying the book. If only 10% of those people read and review the book, that's still 170 reviews (not a number to be laughed at), and I'm still going to have my book cover and its blurb splashed over a potential 850 blogs and Facebook pages in October (also not a number to be laughed at).

And guess what?

1. I'm saving myself the cost of paying for a blog tour company.
2. I'm saving myself the cost of NetGalley, ($400 to list a book on their database for anyone who's interested to download it at no cost. Isn't what I'm doing the exact same thing? Only it's not costing me anything, is it!?)
3. I'm saving myself the cost of other online advertising, because I'm pretty sure I'm going to get plenty of that by just doing this for the time being. Of course, I may purchase advertising for the Xmas holiday season, but I definitely will not purchase anything for its release.

And guess what else?

I don't like taking things from people without giving them something in return. And I think giving them a copy of the book that they are signing up to advertise is the least I can do. And giving it to them, without pressuring them to read and review it is even better.

There's nothing worse than having the "I must read and review this book" pressure hanging over our heads nowadays. I don't like it when it's expected of me, and I end up feeling stressed. So why would anyone else like it? We all have so much going on in our lives. I really think it's too much to ask.

So, the more I give away, the more chance there is of someone CHOOSING to read and review it. And to be honest, if someone CHOOSES to read and review a book, there is a bigger chance of them enjoying it and giving it a good review, because they have picked up a book they are interested in.

What do you think? Would you do what I'm doing, even if it meant giving away thousands of copies?

Okay, now have at me with your arguments as to why I should not be doing this. But if you tell me that FREE degrades the value of books, I'm just going to point you toward the fabulous guest post this Wednesday for The Artist Unleashed, by Susan Kaye Quinn, called USING FREE SAMPLES TO INCREASE SALES: FICTION AND NON-FICTION, and tell you to think again.

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EASY TWEET:

Why giving away her novel 2 ppl who help promote won't hurt sales—via @MsBessieBell http://bit.ly/1rOPS9P #bookmarketing #selfpub #promotip
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PS: If you'd like to sign up to the tour and receive a free copy of WHITE LADY, you can do so by clicking HERE. It's a no-fuss, hassle-free tour, in which I will just send you the post (each will be short, but unique), and you copy and paste it into your blog or facebook page on an October day of your choice.

Have a great week!

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In which I dirty my mind (and yours) with sex, drugs, coarse language, and violence.

So guess what? I'm actually prepared for the launch of my next novel well in advance. Since 2011, I've just been releasing my books and then telling everyone about them.

But this time I'm going to be a bit more strategic, because this book is special (as it's not my usual fare). It's a psychological thriller (or what is commonly termed nowadays as "domestic chiller" or "chick noir") and I have very high hopes for it!

If you are interested, would you like to sign up to the blog tour which will take place in October this year? Everyone who signs up will receive a free e-copy of the book, and you will also have the opportunity to offer a free copy to one of your blog readers as well.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND THE SIGN UP FORM. 

​Here is the book trailer:




Here is the blurb:

Sonia yearns for sharp objects and blood. But now that she’s rehabilitating herself as a “normal” mother and mathematics teacher, it’s time to stop dreaming about slicing people's throats.

While being the wife of Melbourne’s leading drug lord, and simultaneously dating his best mate, is not ideal, she’s determined to make it work.

It does work. Until Mia, her lover’s daughter, starts exchanging saliva with her son, Mick. They plan to commit a crime behind Sonia’s back. It isn’t long before she finds out and gets involved to protect them.

But is protecting the kids really Sonia’s motive?

Hope your week is off to a great start!

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Sign up to my newsletter and receive Book #1 of the Writing in a Nutshell Series, Show & Tell in a Nutshell, or Muted: A Short Story in Verse, for FREE.