Alien Lovers UNITE, ,
Welcome to the smuttier side of romance books with alien peens and the mates that love them.
This particular newsletter may not be for everyone, but for those who are indies, it's a definite beware story, and those who are here because you simply like to read, you can see what sharks we have to swim through sometimes.
I'm writing this because I've had it up to here (and the here is above my head) with DMs on my social media that start off innocently enough and turn out to be pushy bots or scammers. It's so difficult to know whether these are legit people anymore.
(Newsletter Author Beware continues after a short Indie Temptation intermission! We've got a vampire professor and a hot billionaire! Happy Reading!)
Indie Temptations
Free with author newsletter!
A mortal college scholar. A beautiful professor who is a vampiress. They say when forbidden love bites, the pain is exquisite.
Read Falling for Profressor Nightshade for freesies!
Her secret could ruin them. But can she resist his charm?
High stakes, drama, witty banter, and a ton of twists you won’t see coming; get ready to dive into Hope’s newest & badest series yet, Drawn To The Billionaire.
Read Drawn to the Billionaire by Hope Paris in KU
Newsletter continued!
It all starts with a DM (I'm completely open to dms from authors who want to collaborate, want to do book swaps, share stories, be book pals, be genuine.)
If you are a legit author, please feel free to DM me anytime, or reply to my emails and I'm happy to help support you in any way I can with book swaps, and chats! It's become more and more difficult to keep myself open to legit people anymore because of the frequency of wasted time with scammers/bots.
Though the most used tactic these days starts with:
"I noticed we're both an author,I wanted to catch up and discuss any new tips that will help our business together with you. Will you be open for a chat?"
or
"How are you doing?
I've come to understand that we share the common passion of storytelling, and I thought it would be incredible to establish a connection and engage in conversations about our writing journeys. How long have you been writing?"
"Hello đź‘‹
I wanted to pause and convey my sincere gratitude for the remarkable effort you’ve put into your exceptional contributions. Your role as a writer ✍️ has profoundly impacted both my emotions and thoughts, in manners that words struggle to encapsulate. Thank you for generously sharing your gifts with the world, and I’m enthusiastic about the prospect of encountering your future literary endeavors. Could you provide me with a link to your book?"
I mean you can see from these DM's alone how difficult it is to know if they are legit people or not, but these messages I've come to feel a similarity to their approach and now have this BS meter that comes on when approached this way.
EVERY single one of the messages I've got that start off this way, I started with a sincerity of trying to pull whether they were legit trying to form a book bond, or not, and every time they ended up doing the same thing.
How long have you been writing?
Can you send me a book link?
This is the formula to be aware of.
The send me your book link is the big RED FLAG warning. INDIE BEWARE!
Because, duh, if they legit wanted to know more about your books, then they can look at your profile and see them there, or click your profile linktr.ee or whatever link you have in your bio, or even do a simple search your name in Goodreads. Or I don't know? Look at your Instagram/profile and see all the books you have available? I digress.
The next thing they all do in this particular scam is send you their own book link to a book that obviously has a book with more reviews than what your own book has, and it's a legit book with a legit author that makes you pause and wonder... But they are NOT the real author! And their profiles are so convincing but do a search you'll see.
Example: (This is only ONE of MANY DM's I've received from legit authors but FAKE profiles)
They will link you to a legit author's book that they are impersonating, then ask you about how your marketing is going? Or what are you doing for marketing?
Then they say they've hired a professional marketer themselves, a marketing expert. They will completely ignore what you are actually saying to them, and push you towards another account that you can talk to about hiring this "expert" This is a scam. I assure you, none of these fake authors using REAL authors as their profile are actually clients of this person. They will take your money, and because marketing is not about guarantees, I can certainly guarantee you wasting your hard earned indie money on hiring this person, and even possible risk your own publishing profile.
Things to look out for:
Does the profile have a linktr.ee (More likely, a legit author will have a linktr.ee or a direct link to their author website and would not be sloppy in having their amazon link be filled with tag data like the scammer above.) A clean amazon link would be more likely for a legit indie author. Clean means a link without data after the Amazon ASIN Anything after the ? in the link is tag data from the scammer searching the book in Amazon and simply copying the whole link without cleaning up the search tags.
Does the profile have Story highlights/reel highlights? If so, they are more likely to be legit.
If not, please be careful. Their messages start off "innocent" enough, but they are a SCAM. They ask about your writing, how long you've been writing, then they ask for your book link, then they ask what marketing you're doing and then they funnel you to a marketing expert who will take your money and risk your indie business.
I played along with a few of them and got the link to the marketer, please indie beware. This "expert" will take your money, and they will not use legit methods of boosting your sales (using your own money with several fake accounts to boost your sales, and even flood your books with fake reviews, is NOT marketing, and it is not REAL readers, you can get your books removed/accounts banned/ruin your own algorithms with these scammers. Not to mention lose your marketing funds on nothing.
They are also super pushy and when you say anything regarding "I'm not looking for a marketer right now" or "thank you I'll look into it." They will say things like "why not now?" "Hello" "Are you there?" "Have you messaged the marketer yet?"
Block them, report them, search the author and see that they are not the real one, and apparently get used to ignoring and DM's unless they pass a test of yours.
Mine is now: "Do you do Newsletter swaps?" And see if they segway to "I use a marketing expert myself..." I know they are a fake account.
Fakes are always going to be out there, so just be cautious.
As for the rest of you who are not indie authors, or planning to be, now you know what shit we have to wade through from time to time. It is a shark pool out there for indies and lots of scammers try to take advantage of us. I have been scammed before and that's why it's easier to see the signs now.
When I just started off as an indie, not with this new pen name, but with my first publication Blood Crescent. I lost money many times with different scams, from review shams, to marketing and advertising shams. Because they prey on the deep seeded desires of what people want. In an indie's case we want to stand out in the sea of books out there, and they promise golden tickets to get there.
You need reviews to reach readers, they have reviews! (You think you're paying for a legit service of sending your book out to real readers and they are not, they are scam accounts, they have several dummy accounts they post reviews for you from, then all of those reviews WILL be taken down because they don't follow the terms of agreement with Amazon. Your money... gone.
You need sales to help boost your book awareness, they have the marketing expertise! They again have several accounts that they purchase your book with your own money and they pocket the rest. Those "revenues" you get, will be overturned because they show "proof" of their sales and marketing efforts then suddenly all those sales disappear from your dashboard, and you're out your money.
It was a hard lesson when I started out, but I hope this message can save a few of you hopefuls out there.
There is no quick fix, or magic trick to building your author platform. It's a process, and it takes time, and sometimes you might get lucky and get a viral uptick that launches your career, but even those can take time.
If you know the up and coming name of Rebecca Kenney, author of The Sea Witch, a gender swap of the Little Mermaid and other gender swap books. She's been at it for a while, has many books out, and it wasn't until THIS YEAR that her platform skyrocketed from a couple thousand followers grown over years, to the almost 13k followers she has now, from a single viral Instagram Reel that took off and she went from an average of 30 to 100 likes a post to having over 18k likes on this ONE book reel in MARCH of this year. She has 50+ works on her Goodreads account and only this year did her platform blow up.
One day I'll get there too, but until then thank you for being part of my journey, and I hope you'll take a look at my newest release Her Alien Savior on KU about a commander that gets his ship taken over by an outlaw king and how he and his strong-willed human mate Riley uncover a plot to start a war between species and attempt to stop the betrayal before it's too late!
Read now on KU https://books.steviemarie.com/heraliensavior
~Sky
Check out Jewel of the Alien Bandit on Kindle Unlimited about an alien outlaw tasked with stealing the most precious jewel of all, but it isn't a thing like he thought... it's the princess of the planet Estreldez. https://books.steviemarie.com/jotab We've got mating runes, fated mates, knotting, political intrigue, great world building and spicy sexual tension. Enjoy!
https://books.bookfunnel.com/otherworldly_mates_september/yca8vamhb2
https://books.bookfunnel.com/alienromancebookfreebies/t9zd8juip3
For one queen to rise, another must fall, and keeping her is the highest cost of all... his soul.
Rejected from the mating ceremony, Mabel finds a unique way of making her dreams of a family come true, though she may have to defy the leader of her planet to do so, and work with a species that isn't known for playing fair to have everything she desires.
Trent is the prince of his planet Krelis, and his mother, the queen, is on the verge of issuing a hostile takeover of yet another planet. The only way to stop a war and stop the hemorrhaging of his warriors is to seek a political mate bond with the future leader of Estreldez, but the one that stirs his mating glands is an advisor outcast from her clan.
Fans of Grace Goodwin, Laurann Dohner, and Ruby Dixon will love this steamy new series featuring strong, respectful, possessive, alien warrior heroes and the sassy, powerful women who save them!
Read Her Alien Savior with KU: https://books.steviemarie.com/heraliensavior
If you'd like to get more world building of the necia warriors you can start with the free book for joining this newsletter Her Alien Exchange: https://books.steviemarie.com/heralienexchange
Add to your Goodreads TBR here: Her Alien Exchange (Alien Warrior, #0.5) by Sky Robert | Goodreads
Lovely thoughts on Newly Released Her Alien Savior!
"This story that is about Riley a human and Commander Direl a Necia warrior was a very enjoyable alien romance to read. Riley signed up to the Human Exchange Trade hoping to be adopted by an alien family. Riley gets chosen by Klemon to go to Trillume only on her way there her shuttle gets boarded by Necia warriors. Riley finds out she's been adopted to a Trill that's a criminal. Direl was betrayed and drugged unconscious by King Sylve. Direl awakens with restrain cuffs on him and in a cell with Riley. He finds himself drawn toward her and experiencing the systems of the rut. What occurs afterwards is an engaging, action-packed, romantic story I enjoyed and devoured. Loved our couple and their chemistry in this copy I'd received and volunteer to read and review." - BossAngel
"What an adventure this was! Political intrigue, spaceship mutiny, scheming crew mates and one totally oblivious human female kept me enthralled from the beginning. I really liked Riley but thought she was a little naive when others explained what was really going on. Direl held it together way better than I thought he would, especially when his crew mate tried and darn near succeeded in claiming Riley for herself. Whew was that scene tense! I can’t wait to read more in this series." - Amazon Reviewer Carmen
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!
OUT NOW on Kindle Unlimited!
https://books.steviemarie.com/heraliensavior
Don't forget to catch up with the Treasure of Trillume Universe with Trent from Her Alien Prince with wings, and telepathic link with his fated mate! Or with Vareo with mating runes and a dark past with Jewel of the Alien Bandit on KU
Jewel of the Alien Bandit on KU & Audible: https://books.steviemarie.com/jotab
Her Alien Prince on KU: https://books.steviemarie.com/heralienprince
The Next book in the Trillume Series is available for pre-order on the zon!
Where you'll get to know estreld spy Gaven and human tech wizard Ashley better while on planet Krelis uncovering the schemes of krelin and estreld politics and subterfuge!
Gaven:
I didn’t get the nickname Sky Bender because I popped out of camouflage to enforce compliance of our treaties. It was because I was around to punish those that acted against the better interests of peace… and though I didn’t fly, I saw everything.
I just didn’t see her… getting in my way.
Having a human exchange come to Krelis at a time like this was bad luck, but she kept getting herself involved and I couldn’t keep my distance. F*ck whatever plans I had, I had no choice but to keep her at my side and out of trouble while I stopped Queen Kai and Commander Li-aq from destroying the hive while Mabel was offworld.
Ashley:
This was all wrong. I was so close to finding the outlaw responsible for ruining so many lives. Next thing I knew I was waking up from stasis on the other side of the known universe of Trillume, and my team was nowhere to be seen. Getting off this planet and back to my mission was priority, until I realized this whole planet was ground zero for the Star Breaker’s nanobugs and could hold the key to finally capturing them. If only a stubborn green alien didn’t think he was some kind of savior and preventing me from continuing my search. First, I had to give him the slip, but no matter what I try he keeps showing up, and the way he looks at me makes me hope he never stops finding me.
Book three of the Treasures of Trillume fated mates alien romances, all standalone steamy adventures filled with political intrigue, angsty love, and a few twists and surprises along the way. Intended for mature readers, these couples do not fade to black, and you'll be devouring the pages towards each HEAFN.
Though all of the romances are standalone, it is recommended you read book two, Her Alien Prince, to enjoy this one more, as this one does contain some spoilers for that book. Though knowing the "ending" doesn't always spoil the journey, so it's okay if you read which ever book you want first in the Trillume Universe.
https://books.steviemarie.com/heralieninsurgent
https://books.steviemarie.com/heralienprince
Thank you for being part of my author journey! Don't let haters get you down, it's only failure if you don't get back up again, and success happens at any age. Did you know Leo (the founder of GEIKO) started his business at 50? Success can happen at any age! As always indie highlights below!
~Sky
https://linktr.ee/skyrobertromances
Read Her Alien Exchange free!
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/f2fwrjww4p
Ways to support indie without spending a dime:
Supporting indies:
1) Share their books on Social Media, and with your reader buddies
2) Join an indie ARC team (Advanced Reader Copy Team) Ever want to read a book for freesies? Just join a team, and most are happy to give you previous ARCs if you need to catch up with the world before getting into the next one. Reviewing, and sharing the book is one of the best ways to support an indie! If you find my book outside of BookSprout/BookFunnel/Amazon then please be aware it might be pirated, want my books just join my team and send me an email. I swear I only bite when it's consensual.
Join the ARC team (will open up closer to next launch)
3) Be a Beta reader and catch typos and errors before they reach the ARC team.
4) Join the Street team: commit to sharing marketing posts once a week and on launch days and get special perks for being part of the team that shares the love! Join Sky's Street Team
Share my books and tag me on socials ^_^
Stevie McCoy (@authorsteviemarie) • Instagram photos and videos
(2) Sky Robert is writing spicy alien peen (@SkyRobertAuthor) / Twitter
PS: Did you enjoy this email?
Happy Reading!
Let's be buddies!
Books By Sky Robert:
Support Indie, and the next book by Sky Robert by becoming a verified reader on the zon, grabbing a signed paperback or sticker from the author store, or sharing your love of the universe with other readers!
Her Alien Exchange! Free for joining this newsletter, if you missed your welcome email to grab yours: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/yj4qodplqv
Jewel of the Alien Bandit on KU & Audible: https://books.steviemarie.com/jotab
Her Alien Prince on KU: https://books.steviemarie.com/heralienprince
Her Alien Savior on KU: https://books.steviemarie.com/heraliensavior
Join the Facebook Reader's Group Sky's Smut Between the Pages here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/541334578200113
Check out my Author direct shoppe for signed paperbacks and stickers: Broken Books Publishing - Payhip
Disclaimer: You are on this newsletter because you joined a book giveaway with AuthorsXP, BookThrone, Booksweeps, another author sponsored giveaway, read one of my books, grabbed that free book Her Alien Exchange, or found me somewhere on the internet and thought, "hey, that author sounds fun!" Either way, you clicked a marketing consent box, and this newsletter is GDPR compliant, does not sell your information, or does the doing of the spam. This newsletter is DOUBLE opt-in. This newsletter does occasionally use affiliate links to help cover the cost of producing this newsletter, at no extra cost to you. So, please be respectful of the people who love to hear from me, and do not click the spam compliant button. I am a hoooman, feel free to email me anytime. This newsletter is for you!
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Thank you for being part of my author journey! <3 I look forward to your thoughts on Her Alien Savior newly released August 1st!
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