Virtual Book Tour & Giveaway for King of Bad by Kai Strand

Join author Kai Strand on her Virtual Book Tour for King of Bad, presented by Goddess Fish Promotions, from December 2 -20, 2013.  Please leave a comment or question for Kai to let her know you stopped by.  You can enter her tour wide giveaway by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.  You can also follow the rest of her tour here, the more stops you visit, the better your odds of winning.

What I've Re-Learned About Writing Since Publishing My First YA Book

Grassroots efforts are difficult! Back in 2010 when my first book was published, I painstakingly contacted bloggers, reviewers, librarians, bookstores, one at a time via email, phone and in person to let them know I had a middle grade novel published.

Over the next few years, I had three more middle grade novels published. Each time I contacted my already established contacts to get the promotion wheel turning. They were happy to help and very supportive of my new work.

Then I published my first young adult book. I’d been reading YA blogs and reviewers for years, so this was going to be a piece-of-cake, right? Uh…though I knew them, not many of them knew me. Soon I found myself contacting bloggers, reviewers, librarians, bookstores, one at a time via email, phone and in person to let them know I had a young adult novel published.

I admit it was a little less exciting this time around. It isn’t that I don’t love to meet all these people. It isn’t that I appreciated less their willingness to consider my book. It is just that the second time around I knew how much work it is to build an audience. How many ‘no’s’ I was likely to hear (turns out to be more, because YA people are SO busy and backlogged!). That it would likely be a slow build. Being an instant gratification kind of gal, I had to reprogram my mind out of ‘overnight success’ mode.

Once I accepted the fact that I wasn’t likely to see a movie contract within the first month, I set daily and weekly goals stating how many new contacts I would reach out to. I can’t tell you if that is why my book has been on the publisher’s top 5 bestseller list since its release, but I know it can’t have hurt the progress. The only way a reader can decide if my book is something they are interested in reading is if they know about it. So I just keep trying to get it in front of people. One blogger, reviewer, librarian, and bookseller at a time. 

 King of Bad

By Kai Strand

Super Villain Academy, Book 1

Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press, LLC.

Release Date: July 1, 2013

Genre:  Young Adult Fantasy

Length: 174 Pages

ISBN: 978-1-61160-665-2 

ASIN: B00DQGA6MW

Add to Goodreads

About the book: 

Jeff Mean would rather set fires than follow rules or observe curfew. He wears his bad boy image like a favorite old hoodie; that is until he learns he has superpowers and is recruited by Super Villain Academy – where you learn to be good at being bad. In a school where one kid can evaporate all the water from your body and the girl you hang around with can perform psychic sex in your head, bad takes on a whole new meaning. Jeff wonders if he’s bad enough for SVA.

He may never find out. Classmates vilify him when he develops good manners. Then he’s kidnapped by those closest to him and left to wonder who is good and who is bad. His rescue is the climactic episode that balances good and evil in the super world. The catalyst – the girl he’s crushing on. A girlfriend and balancing the Supers is good, right? Or is it…bad?

Buy Links:    Amazon     B&N    Whiskey Creek Press

Excerpt

Meeting the crush:

“Source, who is she?”

Source followed Jeff’s line of vision. “Oh, that’s Oceanus. Don’t even think it, kid. She’s already found a match.”

“What do you mean?”

“See the guy next to her?”

“The skinny red head?” Jeff hoped.

“No, the other one.”

“Oh, the Adonis?” Jeff’s heart fell. He’d no hope to thwart the god-like S.V. seated next to Oceanus.

“Not far off. People call him Set. The God of chaos, storm, wind. He’s a great guy.” Sarcasm wrapped around Source’s words. “Descended from a long line of super villains Known he’s an S.V. his whole life so came to the school ready to rule from what I hear. Real nasty character, even for an S.V. You don’t want to piss him off.”

“Oh, I won’t piss him off. I don’t go looking for trouble.” Jeff considered his life before the academy and real-ized that looking for trouble was the only thing he used to do. He amended his statement, saying, “Much.”

His stomach knotted. Had the academy turned him into a coward?

Source chuckled. “Don’t worry. You’ll get a name and things will settle into some sort of normal. Once we figure out what your root ability is, I’ll help you develop it. Though, after your hulk impersonation, I doubt anyone will dare taunt you.”

Jeff felt the anxiety lift. Source was okay for a bad guy.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

When the electricity winked out, Kai Strand gathered her family around the fireplace and they told stories, one sentence at a time. Her boys were rather fond of the ending, “And then everybody died, the end.” Now an award winning children’s author, Kai crafts fiction for kids and teens to provide an escape hatch from their reality. With a selection of novels for young adult and middle grade readers and short stories for younger children Kai entertains children of all ages, and their adults. Visit Kai’s website, www.kaistrand.com, to browse her books, download companion materials or to find all her online haunts.

You can usually find Kai online at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaiStrandAuthor

or Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaiStrand

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Don't forget to leave a comment or question for Kai to let her know you stopped by.  You can enter her tour wide giveaway by filling out the Rafflecopter form.  You can also follow the rest of her tour here, the more stops you visit, the better your odds of winning.