The Handmaid's Tale - Lynette M. Burrows

My One Year Anniversary and a Giveaway

One year ago today, my debut novel, My Soul to Keep, went live on Amazon and other online book retailers. It’s been a good year and I wanted to celebrate. I’m glad you came! There’s no better way to celebrate than with friends. Help me celebrate my one year anniversary and a giveaway!

Image of champagne being poured into a champagne glass — Won’t you join me in a little bubbly?

One Year Ago

On this day (August 21) one year ago (2018), I pushed that publish now button. There’s nothing more disheartening than the push of an electronic button. There’s no sound. There are no balloons or flags or cheering crowd. I’d done very little promotion and had few sales beyond my friends and family. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate every one of those sales. But when the first person who was not a close personal friend posted a five-star review, I was beyond thrilled. There was dancing and laughing and, I’m not ashamed to admit it, tears of joy. They were nothing compared to the watershed when I held the print version in my hands.

The physical book was the culmination of years of working hard to learn to write stories. Millions of words written and trashed or put away in a drawer. A lot of people compare publishing a book to having a baby. There are some parallels, but it’s not the same. Writing a book requires a long gestation period and a lot of “labor,” but when you put it out in the world the creation part is done. There are things to do—marketing, book signings, and events. It’s not like holding or nurturing a baby from then on.

The Ride

As a first book in a series, I decided not to promote My Soul to Keep much. It’s hard watching your book languish on the shelves.

So I did a few appearances and a couple of promotions. Both of which gave my novel a sales bump. A book club chose to review my book. That led to my first review from a reader in Great Britain.

I had no real sales goals. Why? Fear that no one would like the book I think. About mid-way through the year I decided to see if I could sell 100 books in the first year. Without any advertising, I fell short of my goal. But I came close.

Celebration!

Finally, I get to the good part: The My Soul to Keep One Year Anniversary Giveaway. A $32 value, winners will receive the following Kindle ebooks from Amazon:

Tribe of Daughters by Kate L Mary

My Soul to Keep by me, Lynette M. Burrows

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Red Clocks By Leni Zumas

To win, enter on the My Soul to Keep One Year Anniversary Giveaway page and follow the directions on links to click and share this giveaway. Points are accumulated by clicking the links or sharing the giveaway or signing up for my blog or newsletter.

Current subscribers to my blog and newsletter, don’t worry, there are daily bonus points available for you.

The winner will be chosen by KingSumo.com and announced on this blog and Facebook and Twitter on September 6^th.

Thank You

I appreciate each and everyone of you whether you’re a lurker or someone who comments on posts.Thank you for being part of my adventure into publishing and for helping me celebrate my one year anniversary and giveaway. ETA: This contest is completed and a winner selected. Thank you for your participation. Sign up for blog updates to get notification of future contests.

Images from the My Soul to Keep Series

Images from My Soul to Keep, my alternate history dystopian novel, represent various bits of research. Enjoy the images or follow the links to learn more.

Concept Art

For your viewing pleasure these are concept art pieces my husband, Robert W. Burrows, created to inspire me as I wrote My Soul to Keep. (Yes, he’s a keeper!)

In an early draft, I described the Fellowship symbol. He used that description to create the image below.

The Azrael wear body armor, communications gear, and an assortment of weapons.

The Clothes

Images of clothing that appears in the novel.

Transportation

Images from My Soul to Keep include vehicles used in the story.

The Doll

Finding this doll on the web inspired me to include it in the story. Read more about that here.

If she loves a rag doll, is she still evil. The answer is yes, read why

Developing the Cover

Searching for a cover designer was scary and fun at the same time. Here’s an article about how I chose my cover artist.

© 2018 by Elizabeth Leggett, posted with permission

Possible Cover for My Soul to Keep by Lynette M. Burrows. Illustration by Elizabeth Leggett. Read How I Found My Cover Artist for more information. — ©2018 Elizabeth Leggett, posted with permission

Book In Hand

How I found the right editor for my novel, My Soul to Keep

There is nothing so thrilling as holding your book in your hands. Except selling your book…and getting great reviews…and writing the next one…and…having great readers.

Want to see more? Take a look at my Pinterest Inspiration board.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these images from My Soul to Keep. Have you read the first book? It’s available on Amazon and other online booksellers. The second book, If I Should Die, is in progress. Fellowship, a book in the same world, is coming summer of 2019.

Book Cover Reveal: My Soul to Keep

I’m delighted to present the book cover reveal for my debut novel, My Soul to Keep.

On sale: August 2018
Artist/Illustrator/Designer: Elizabeth Leggett
Publisher: Rocket Dog Publishing

ABOUT MY SOUL TO KEEP

Miranda Clarke lived a charmed life…until she broke the rules.

It is 1961 and America’s a theocracy controlled by the Fellowship and its tyrannical council of eleven men. Miranda Clarke’s family is part of the ruling elite, wealthy and privileged.

Miranda wants nothing more than to stay out of the public eye, but her power-hungry mother has different plans. She forces Miranda into an engagement to an up-and-coming Fellowship member and schemes to get Miranda’s father elected President of the United States.

To escape the arranged marriage and the repressive Fellowship, Miranda makes a break for freedom. But lurid family secrets and a dead man lands her in prison. She not only must escape prison and outwit her mother’s ruthless ambitions but avoid the deadly Azrael, the Fellowship’s enforcers who Take unbelievers.

Will Miranda survive ‘outing’ the family secrets?

Told from four different perspectives, My Soul to Keep is a spine-tingling science-fiction thriller and will be available in all your favorite online bookstores.

My Soul to Keep is the first in a series about the struggle to survive repression and violence on a personal, regional, and national level.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Elizabeth Leggett Elizabeth Leggett is a Hugo award-winning illustrator whose work focuses on soulful, human moments-in-time that combine ambiguous interpretation and curiosity with realism.

Her first paying gig was painting other student’s tennis shoes in high school. She charged $10 a single shoe and she loved it when they wanted their boyfriend or girlfriend’s name because she knew they would be back again a few weeks later!

Elizabeth has been nominated for the 2018 Chesley Award for best book cover presented by the Association of Science Fiction Artist. The winner will be announced at Worldcon xx in San Jose

Check out Elizabeth’s other art at Portico Arts Illustrations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynette M. Burrows writes stories of empowerment and survival spanning space and time.

Her publishing career was nearly crushed before it started when a large regional magazine rejected her 500-word children’s story. Then, a writing instructor urged her to change one word and re-submit the story. She did and that story was published by that magazine.

Since then, her children’s stories have appeared in national magazines and an anthology. When she co-authored The White Box stories with Rob Chilson, those were the longest things she’d written to date. By the time the White Box stories appeared in Analog Science fiction Science Fact magazine, Lynette’s days of short-short fiction were over. Don’t worry, she’s not writing anything that approaches the length of Game of Thrones…yet!

Lynette lives in the land of Oz (Kansas) with her artist husband and their three rocket dogs (Yorkshire Terriers).

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The live book cover reveal for My Soul to Keep occurred at ConQuesT Science Fiction Convention on Memorial Day weekend.

My Soul to Keep is currently in my copy editor’s capable hands. When she’s finished I’ll make all the necessary tweaks and send the manuscript to my proofreader. Once she’s done her magic, I’ll add the final spiff and polish. The book will be published at the end of August.

If you’d like to read more about the research and read a snippet please go to my sneak peaks and inside writing the books page.

If you don’t want to wait that long, join Burrows Insiders (see the sign-up box on the top right). You’ll get an advance copy for free with no obligation, but reviews (positive or negative) would be greatly appreciated. A written review helps the readers and the author, especially when the novel is her debut novel. *grin* Thank you in advance.

Please share your thoughts and reactions to my book cover reveal in the comments below.