One Tough Challenge... Are You Up For It?

When I went to Emerald Downs recently with my mother, I was once again amused and a bit amazed at some of the complex bets that are available, not to mention the amount of money you can win if you get the right combination. For a novice like myself, a $2 win bet is easy to understand, safe, and offers a fun reward if the horse wins. Place and show bets are pretty easy too, although they don’t pay as well. When you get to the exotic bets, though, things get complex! The “Pick 3” and “Trifecta” sound like they might be related, but they’re quite different as I'll explain below. But how does this relate to my writing? As I was driving the other day, I came up with a book promotion idea that would reward you for helping with book sales, and my brain connected that idea with the “Trifecta” bet. While I still like the idea, it turns out the “Pick 3” is a more appropriate name if I want to make that horse-racing connection. Read on to see how you can cash in your ticket on this promotion!

Photo credit: jppi from morguefile.com

As of this writing, I have five book titles available on Amazon. Of those five books, two are only available as e-books. The other three are available in print (paperback) and e-book formats. I’ve been looking for ways to give people added incentive to promote my books, since I’m struggling to get any sales at all and I can’t reasonably expect people to make an effort to promote them just because I’m a nice guy. (Am I a nice guy? Well, that’s another matter for another day….) As I’ve said before, you can earn money on my books in three easy steps. But to my knowledge, nobody has done that. So, maybe that’s not enough?

Here’s my new offer, and this will be valid for… well, I don’t know. A long time, to give people the opportunity to try it. I may never explicitly cancel this offer. Anyway, here’s the deal: If you use your Amazon Associate account to sell all three of my paperbacks in one month, you’ll win my Pick 3 offer and I will send you an autographed copy of one of those paperbacks (of your choosing). If you don’t have an Amazon Associate account, click over to that earlier blog post to get started. Once you’re set up as an Amazon Associate, here are the three products you will need to promote in order to win, along with their 10-digit ASIN (ISBN) numbers:

• Two Boys, Two Planets - 1456367382
• Journey to Yandol, and other stories - 1466383453
• Lesson One: Revolution! - 1453674543

You could replace YOURCODE-20 in the following links with your tracking code to promote these paperbacks:

• http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1456367382/YOURCODE-20 (Two Boys, Two Planets)
• http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1466383453/YOURCODE-20 (Journey to Yandol, and other stories)
• http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1453674543/YOURCODE-20 (Lesson One: Revolution!)

Sales of e-book editions of those books don’t count. All sales of the paperbacks must occur within one calendar month, and you’ll need to provide proof that these were sold through your Associate account (e.g., a screenshot of the Orders Report for the month, with the book sales visible but any other private info blurred out). Send me your shipping address and book choice too, and I’ll send you your autographed copy ASAP with my heartfelt thanks!

Can you win the Pick 3 deal? It’s a tough challenge, but don’t forget that you’ll be earning money with every sale, including of any e-book editions or, really, any other product that sells with your tracking code. By the way, in horse racing the Pick 3 bet is where you pick three winners in three races, whereas the Trifecta bet is where you pick the winner and the second- and third-place horses in one race. I think Pick 3 makes more sense for this promotion, because I want all my paperbacks to be winners!

If you’re going to give this a try, please let me know. If there’s anything I can do to help increase your odds of success, let me know that too. Thanks, and good luck!