Giveaway! 🎉

May is only hours away, so I’m calling it May already. For a couple of reasons. One, because May means it’s RELEASE MONTH! Which I am positively ecstatic about. Cloaking Fate has been slowly receiving trickles of feedback over the past several weeks—something that has simultaneously terrified and fascinated me—and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the responses I’ve been receiving.

NOW, WAIT JUST A MINUTE. 🤨

How has this been achieved!? CF doesn’t release until May 29! How is she getting feedback? Who has been providing it?

All valid questions. And the short answer is: through ARCs. What is an ARC, you ask? ARC stands for “Advanced Review Copy” or “Advanced Reader Copy.” Basically, before a book is launched publicly, authors will sometimes offer free copies of their books to select volunteer readers in exchange for honest reviews, which are posted—ideally—the day of publication or before. These early reviews help an author’s launch tremendously by helping establish some traction in the market immediately upon release. There’s a whole process behind this, including differences between how ARCs are typically handled between indie (self-published) authors and traditionally published authors, but I won’t bore you with all of that.

Now, why didn’t I offer ARCs to all my lovely newsletter subscribers?

Also, valid. And the reason is that I’m still slightly clueless, okay? I spent a year of my life writing a book with wild abandon, typed “the end,” and looked up from my laptop with a maddened glee that slowly bled into stunned horror as I realized I had absolutely no idea how to publish it. This is my first go. Every step of this process has been self-taught, and there is still a lot I don’t know. I decided to organize an ARC team rather late in the game, had zero idea what to expect from my efforts, and I really didn’t want to screw it up. Also, all of these ARC readers started out as complete strangers, so I was guaranteed unbiased feedback, something I genuinely wanted.

Don’t worry. My next go will be more organized, and additional opportunities shall arise. Oh yes, my sleeves are stuffed with future project ideas. All of which you’ll be the first to learn of as they’re revealed. 😉 

Anyway, I digress. The second reason I’m excited for May is that it’s giveaway month!

🥳🥳🥳

This month, I will be giving away two signed copies of Cloaking Fate—one hardcover and one paperback! You can check out the link to my giveaway submission form below. Just read over the terms, enter your email, and wait ten days with bated breath. The giveaway will run May 1st - May 10th, with winners chosen by random drawing May 11th. I’ll be emailing the winners directly to obtain additional info, so make sure you double-check the spelling of your email!

Here’s the link for the giveaway:

I will have one more check-in before release day after the giveaway concludes, so expect another email in a couple of weeks! Until then!

xo

N. A. Walker