Dear Readers,
Happy Easter or Other April Celebration
And to start the party … The Cozy Mystery Booksweep is now open. The what? What are the prizes? How much does it cost to enter? Why have a go? What if I don’t win?
All excellent questions.
Booksweeps
A collection of authors, in your chosen genre, in our case, cozy mystery, all contribute by supplying a copy of one of their books each (the precious product of long hours with or without the muse, forging their way through writer’s block, conjuring their stories, labouring over the long hours of editing, to produce their creatively woven tales). The winner of the Sweep gets the lot! As far as I can tell, that’s over 20 books.
 Well, the Cozy Mystery Booksweep is now open!
 Cost of entry? It’s free and will take only about 2 minutes of your valued time. If that.
 Here’s the link:
 https://www.booksweeps.com/giveaway/april2023-win-a-bundle-of-cozy-mysteries/
Give your email, tick a bunch of boxes to follow authors on Bookbub (I’m 17th on the list – my lucky number as of today), and for bonus entries, send a link to a book-loving friend. Done. This is the first time I’ve participated in one of these. The Cozy Mystery Booksweep only comes around occasionally and passes like the wind. I kept an eye out this time to seize the opportunity you and for me. Which of the Amanda Cadabra novels is in the Booksweep? The first, Amanda Cadabra and The Hidey-Hole Truth. In fact, if you look closely you can see it in the image there. (I made it to the middle of the top row and am appropriately chuffed.)
 Why have a go?
 Now, if you’re one of the merry band of subscribers and have read my latest note to you, you will already know this, so you can skip ahead to Hot Off The Press.
First, I need to reveal what has moved me to hop on this particular train, giving away one of the novels and paying for the privilege. Well, primarily because I would like more followers on Bookbub. What’s that, and why is it so special? Bookbub is a subscription-only, new, free and discounted book recommendation service.
It has, among others, 3 million cozy mystery readers. Yes, really. The Bookbub Featured Deal, with which Book 1 was blessed about fourteen months ago, resulted in all of them being contacted about the first in the series. That is some serious word-spreading. It’s terribly exclusive: only about 15% of books submitted for a Deal are accepted. Meanwhile, I can gather followers there so that they can keep up with news of my new releases and offers. (And there will be a new release in due course).
The goal is to get to 1000 followers there, and then you become eligible for extra good stuff. One of the best ways to gather this precious throng? Ask your readers to help out, they said. So, if you would like to give me a hand with this, and you’re not already a member, please consider joining and clicking my nice red follow button. https://www.bookbub.com/authors/holly-bell I would appreciate it tremendously.
And incidentally, you’ll get notified of new, free and discounted books by authors in your selected genres and any you follow. Not to mention becoming a member of the Vogue of book recommendation services. You can feel ever so élite.
The second reason why this is appealing is that a Booksweep brings new authors, like me, to the attention of each person who enters, and this can only be considered to be A Good Thing. Â
Hot Off The Press
Yes, the very latest, as in ‘Extra! Extra!’, news on the progress of the audiobook. I have received the cover from Daniel, who has done a splendid job, as always, solving a number of problems involved in turning the tall rectangular book cover into the square version required by the sound version. There shall be an unveiling in due course. In fact, I currently have three goodies in mind for your entertainment and edification when the audiobook is launched.
 It is currently with the beta listeners who are at least one hour into the nine hours and 45 minutes. The retake score was at 3 last night, and this morning is at 4.
What am I doing? Last night I wrote some snippets for the new sequel, and at other times I’m going through the website for updates to make it easier for you to get to the goodies.
Giveaway Reminder
The Cozy Mystery Giveaway is still live if you’d like to cast your hat into the ring. Again it’s free to enter. Here’s the link in case you missed it last time:
Just add your name and email address. You’ll see a timer there showing how many days and hours before the competition closes.
That’s everything I have to share with you right up to this minute of writing. Back soon with more news on the free book days.
Happy Easter, dear Reader,
HollyÂ
PS If you want to start the series now:
