JP McLean

Writing Addictive Fiction

Awakening Hits Amazon

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Awakening book coverAwakening Hits Amazon! I had a very unexpected and pleasant surprise yesterday.  A friend in California emailed to tell me that Awakening has hit the Amazon.com website! And better still, it’s available in all three formats, including hardcover, trade paperback and Kindle.

What a way to start my weekend!

Sadly, it’s not yet available on Amazon’s Canadian website (Amazon.ca). It’s also not yet listed with Chapters-Indigo, Barnes & Noble, or iBooks, but it’s in the pipe.  As soon as any of those outlets pick up the ball – or book – and run with it, I’ll let you know.

Update:

All of The Gift Legacy books are available from your favourite retailer here.

What readers are saying as Awakening hits Amazon:

A thoroughly enjoyable read

J.P. McLean captures your attention from the get-go, and you’re hooked before you flip the first page. Before too long, she skillfully manages to have you question what you once thought impossible. A thoroughly enjoyable read that had me looking forward to her second book, long before I was through with the first.

—Island Gals Magazine

Fun…sensual, full of adventure

This book is a lot of fun…sensual, full of adventure, rooted in the underlying story of a young women coming to terms with her life and yet managing to incorporate the burden of her gift.  I am hooked and am deeply in to part 2 Revelation.

—Bill Engleson, author of Like a Child to Home

Everything you’re looking for

I don’t give 5 stars easily, but I gave them to J. P. McLean’s Awakening with no hesitation. It has everything you’re looking for in a contemporary fantasy: masterfully crafted characters, exciting plot, believable magic. What a treat!

—J.F. Kaufmann, author of The Langaer Chronicles

Awakening is Almost Here!

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Awakening book coverAwakening is just around the corner (Oh, so close).

Limited Release

The hardcover and trade paperback editions of Awakening are now available, but not everywhere. It takes time for the distributor and stores to update their catalogues. While that’s happening, the ebooks are racing to the finish line.

Awakening‘s wide release will include hardcover, trade paperback and ebook editions. It will soon be available to order at over 20,000 bookstores. This includes independent book stores, Amazon, Kindle, Chapters-Indigo, Kobo, iBooks, and Barnes & Noble.

The expected wide-release date is October 4, 2012.

Mark your calendars!

Update

In 2018, Awakening was rebranded as Secret Sky. It’s still widely available. You can get a copy from your favourite retailer here.

What readers are saying:

A thoroughly enjoyable read

J.P. McLean captures your attention from the get-go, and you’re hooked before you flip the first page. Before too long, she skillfully manages to have you question what you once thought impossible. A thoroughly enjoyable read that had me looking forward to her second book, long before I was through with the first.

—Island Gals Magazine

Fun…sensual, full of adventure

This book is a lot of fun…sensual, full of adventure, rooted in the underlying story of a young women coming to terms with her life and yet managing to incorporate the burden of her gift.  I am hooked and am deeply in to part 2 Revelation.

—Bill Engleson, author of Like a Child to Home

Everything you’re looking for

I don’t give 5 stars easily, but I gave them to J. P. McLean’s Awakening with no hesitation. It has everything you’re looking for in a contemporary fantasy: masterfully crafted characters, exciting plot, believable magic. What a treat!

—J.F. Kaufmann, author of The Langaer Chronicles

Awakening Coming Soon

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Awakening book coverIt’s one step closer. FriesenPress has listed Awakening as “Coming Soon” on its website.

Seeing it up there further reinforces that I’m really doing this!

I’m excited, but at the same time, I’ve never felt so vulnerable.

Every Gift Has Its Price

For Emelynn Taylor, the laws of gravity are more like suggestions. And gravity doesn’t play nice. It abandons her without warning and sends her airborne, terrified and unchecked. Vowing to tame the phenomenon, she returns to the seaside home where it began. Here, she discovers a dangerous underworld. One that knows her secret and has been awaiting her return.

Update:

Awakening is now titled Secret Sky. You can learn more about the series rebranding here.

The series is now published by WindStorm Press.

What readers are saying:

A thoroughly enjoyable read

J.P. McLean captures your attention from the get-go, and you’re hooked before you flip the first page. Before too long, she skillfully manages to have you question what you once thought impossible. A thoroughly enjoyable read that had me looking forward to her second book, long before I was through with the first.

—Island Gals Magazine

Fun…sensual, full of adventure

This book is a lot of fun…sensual, full of adventure, rooted in the underlying story of a young women coming to terms with her life and yet managing to incorporate the burden of her gift.  I am hooked and am deeply in to part 2 Revelation.

—Bill Engleson, author of Like a Child to Home

Everything you’re looking for

I don’t give 5 stars easily, but I gave them to J. P. McLean’s Awakening with no hesitation. It has everything you’re looking for in a contemporary fantasy: masterfully crafted characters, exciting plot, believable magic. What a treat!

—J.F. Kaufmann, author of The Langaer Chronicles

Book Promotion

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I’ve been trying on this new straitjacket called Book Promotion, and it doesn’t fit very well. Press releases are bulging out in all the wrong places and my arms are tied up in a frustrating search for comps and target audiences. I have so many questions: How do you write a press release? Where do you send it? How do you find books comparable to your own? Where are your readers hanging out?

Woman with her back to cameraThese are just a few of the book promotion questions I’ve been asking Google, Goodreads and anyone else who promises an answer. I’m spending more time lost in Internet rabbit warrens than I am writing. And I’ve got to tell you, I much prefer writing fiction than writing press releases.

What’s the point?

But I’ve learned something in the process:  researching comps does have a purpose (other than frustrating novice marketers like me).

Case in point, as part of the marketing research, I went through the exercise of identifying the target market for Awakening.  Next came brainstorming where this highly discerning market congregates and shops, and then what other books they’re reading.

That’s where the interesting bit came in.

The Gift Trilogy is an urban fantasy.  The urban fantasy genre often draws from other genres, like mystery, romance or thriller. My books draw on the thriller genre—which isn’t unusual—what sets them apart is that they don’t have vampires, werewolves or alternate universes.  Not that I don’t enjoy those elements – I do (just check out my Goodreads page) – I just didn’t put those elements in my books.

So … maybe the frustrating struggle with the straitjacket was worthwhile.  Maybe it helped me identify my books’ “Unique Selling Point.”  Apparently that’s very important.  And it might not be much, but it’s a start!