This week I received this awesome piece of fan art, which had me smiling all day long. It inspired me to compile a list of Ways to Make an Indie Author smile.

Jaden Beckett by Kat Gavin

1. Write a nice review on Amazon.com. Roughly 80-90% of Indie Author book sales come from Amazon.com. Good reviews help sell books. A ton of good reviews on Amazon is like a pocket full of gold!
2. Drop a line to an Indie Author. Most authors have Facebook fan pages or blogs where you can send a short message letting them know you enjoyed the book. I’m always thrilled to get one of these messages, and I make an effort to respond to each one.
3. Recommend the book to friends. Help the Indie Author get the word out by recommending the book on Goodreads, sharing it with your book club, or just telling someone who likes to read about it.
4. Tweet about the book. Post the book link on Twitter and say why you loved it.
5. Post the book link on your Facebook page. Don’t forget to add your recommendation.
6. Do a piece of Fan Art. Okay, I realize not everyone has the talent to do a piece of fan art, but I was blown away to receive the sketch featured on my blog today. It’s of my main character Jaden Beckett, by talented artist (and Transcender Trilogy fan) Kat Gavin. What a fabulous tribute to the trilogy!
7. Put together a short Book Trailer. Again, not everyone is talented enough to do this (myself included), but if you are, and a story has really touched you, put your skills to good use helping more people to discover the wonderful work.
8. “Gift” the book to family and friends. I have a lot of friends who read, and I’m always using the Amazon.com gifting option to send my favorite Indie books to family and friends for birthdays, holidays, or just because I know they’ll love the story. It’s an inexpensive way to make a friend (and an author) happy.
9. Follow the Indie Author on social media. “Like” the author’s fan page or the book fan page, or both. Follow the author on Twitter. Subscribe to the author’s blog. All authors, Indies especially, need a good social media platform. Facebook, Twitter, and a blog are important planks in the platform.
10. Buy the next book!  Sorry, I had to get in a little plug for my new book. If you liked the first two books of the Transcender Trilogy, I hope you’ll consider buying ILLUMINOSITY, Book 3. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KC7IVPW Thanks!

I’m thrilled to announce that the final installment of the Transcender Trilogy has been released and is now available on Amazon.com, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KC7IVPW.  It’s been a long and eventful year for me, and I admit there were times when I wondered if this day would ever come. Thanks to all the loyal readers who stuck by me through the ups and downs to get to the end of the series.

Although I’m thrilled to be moving on to bigger and better projects, it’s with a heavy heart and a few tears that I bid farewell to my characters: Jaden, Ryder, Ralston, Asher, and the rest. I hope you loved them as much as I did! Thanks everyone!

In anticipation of the May 15th release of ILLUMINIOSITY, Book 3 of the Transcender Trilogy, a new box set of Books 1 and 2 has just been released on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K8CTRTK.

This Box Set contains TRANSCENDER: First-Timer (Book 1) and STREAMING STARS (Book 2) plus a Special Excerpt from ILLUMINOSITY (Book 3)

A fast paced series full of action, adventure, romance in parallel worlds. Beloved by fans of science fiction, fantasy and paranormal romance.

After the untimely death of her mother, Jaden Beckett, believes her life can’t possibly become more complicated … until she suddenly finds herself in the midst of an alternate universe fraught with danger, intrigue and forbidden love. The destiny police want her out. Jaden has other plans.

It’s a great way to catch up on the series. Plus it makes an awesome gift!