Lorena Angell Launches Kickstarter for New Young Adult Fantasy Book

By: Mar. 07, 2014
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Lorena Angell, Indie author, announces a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the editing and printing of A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET, book one of her four-book Young Adult fantasy series, "The Unaltered."

"A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET is based on a dream I had one night," Ms. Angell says. After writing down the story in 2009, she approached literary agents to represent her book to publishers. She submitted over seventy-five query letters, hoping for a manuscript request. Instead, she received standard form-letter rejections.

In 2011, Ms. Angell uploaded A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET to Smashwords as a free e-book. "I wanted a few readers to give feedback on my writing and hopefully figure out other ways to appeal to agents," says Ms. Angell. Amazon's pricing policy wouldn't allow her to list the book for free, so she charged $0.99. This pricing discrepancy triggered a price-match on Amazon, causing the book to become temporarily free. Once the price resumed on Amazon, A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET'S popularity soared.

In only a few short years, the book has reached promising levels:

  • Over 140,000 total downloads since May 2011
  • Over 1,300 reviews and ratings, averaging 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Apple's iBookstore named A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET a Breakout Book in February 2013
  • Barnes&Noble Teen Bestseller since May 2012
  • Amazon Bestseller, Movers-and-Shakers list in Aug. 2011

The fourth and final book in "The Unaltered" series released December 2013.

Ms. Angell is turning to Kickstarter to raise money to pay for the professional editing services and printing costs of book one. "The jump-start from the Kickstarter campaign will get the ball rolling on creating revenue to fund the other three books' editing and printing," says Ms. Angell. She would like to have all four books edited and printed by the end of 2014.

Ms. Angell talks about school librarians and teachers who've contacted her, expressing their desire for print copies of her book. Ms. Angell says, "They feel the fast paced, exciting plot of A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET will encourage reluctant readers to read. I would love to be able to help kids become excited about reading."

A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET has been positioned on Bestseller lists next to famous authors such as: J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins, Stephanie Meyer, Stephen King, James Patterson, and Veronica Roth.

"I never thought posting my manuscript for critique would result in this kind of attention. Yes, I've had my share of unfavorable reviews, considering my book hasn't been professionally edited, but I'm excited to see the performance once the book is polished," says Ms. Angell.

Lorena Angell's Kickstarter campaign ends on March 20, 2014.

Visit her website: lorenaangell.com.



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