Last week, I asked you wonderful people to nominate my work for the Best Indie Books of 2015 competition. And boy did you oblige! Which goes to prove, once again, how lucky I am to have such great followers. Thank you!
I now have some more information on the competition, which I thought you might want to read. So, just what is the 50 Best Books of 2015? David Njoku, who runs ReadFreely, will answer that question for us.
Genesis
When I was young – maybe 14, maybe 15 – I wrote my first short story. It was about this small clutch of primitive Amazonians, tribespeople who had somehow managed to stay hidden from the rest of civilization for centuries, living peaceful lives. But one day we stumbled upon them, and we swamped them: coachloads of tourists with their cameras, Jeepfuls of evangelists with their bibles, Médecins Sans Frontières with their vaccines. You get the picture.
It was a good short story, poignant in that way that only an earnest teenager can be, but still managing to bring the reader along. I remember lying in bed night after night, reading it over and over again. Until one night my mother spotted me fiddling under the covers and discovered the story. She worked at the university, so she showed it to a few English professors.
And they liked it. They liked it!
Writing a story is like giving birth – and it’s the second best feeling in the world. Having someone read it and enjoy it is like having a stranger stop you in the mall and say your baby is cute. Which is the best feeling in the world. Ever.
Numbers
Today I run a site named ReadFreely. It’s kinda like a dating site for authors and readers. Writers tell us about their books, and we match them to thousands of readers who we think might enjoy those books. Readers can choose either to visit our site, or sit back and have us send them a daily book recommendation email. This year, so far, we’ve sent over 3,000,000 emails on behalf of around 3,000 authors, to tens of thousands of readers. And we’ve been responsible for close to 100,000 book sales.
Not bad, considering that I do this as a hobby, and have a full-time job and a family to attend to. It’s close to impossible to wring spare time from my day, but I do it because it makes me happy to think that somewhere in the world an author is reading an Amazon review of their first novel and thinking:
They like it. They like it!
Revelation
Which brings me to the point of this article. At ReadFreely, we want to find out the books that book lovers have liked the best in 2015. 100,000 book sales, 3,000 authors – those are big numbers. We want to distill them down to 50.
The best of the best.
We need your help. I would love it if you would take a minute to nominate the best self-published book that you’ve read this year for our list. Here’s the link that you need to do it. And, if you’re an author, get your fans to nominate you.
Cos, I imagine, having a few fans say they like your book must be a great feeling, but having 10,000 fans say it’s one of the very best books of the year, well, that must be just out of this world.
Aw Nicholas, your babies are all so cute and you deserve at least 10,000 other people to say so!!
Aw, you! Thank you 😀
Well done Nick, and best of luck! ?
Thank you, Ali! Now, let’s see if we can win this thing 😀
Hope so! ?
Congrats on all your nominations.
They’re all thanks to you guys of course, so thank you! 🙂
When do they release the finalists? So glad you’re getting the recognition you deserve!
Aw, you! *blush* 🙂
I think by the end of the year?
Great to see all your nominations. Congratulations, Nick. All the best and for success.
Just downloaded your book “Pearseus, Rise of the prince, book 1”
But I have no idea when I will come to it to read it. I have such a stuck in front of me to read. But one of these days, it might happen. sorry. Your book sounds interesting.
Lol – no worries, Gigi. I suffer from an ever-expanding tbr list myself. Many thanks for downloading it 😀
What if a book has already appeared as one of the best books this year? one of my readers asked if she could nominate one of my books again. What do I tell her?
Was it for this particular competition? Runaway Smile was a finalist in two competitions. That hasn’t stopped me for entering this competition as well.
Hi Lucinda, Nicholas is right. As long as your book satisfies the criteria (i.e. published after December 2014) then it’s eligible.
I like these sites that link readers to books. Recommendations go a long way. Glad to hear you received lots of nominations! Good luck!
Thank you, D! The nominations are all you guys, so thank you 🙂
Just downloaded Pearseus! Looking forward to the read! Thanks.
Yay! Hope you enjoy it 🙂
Thanks for this wonderful share as always. I’m off to have a look at the site, and of course to download your book! 🙂 Shared!
Thank you! 🙂
Glad to hear you’ve been well nominated Nick 😀 Thanks for sharing about ReadFreely too -what a fantastic concept 🙂
Thank you, Jan! It’s all thanks to you guys 🙂
Woohoo! I have been so short on funds lately that I was thrilled to see the first book free, Ordered it, of course! Looking forward to a great read.
Just let me know if you’d like me to send you any of my books. Or, indeed, the whole bundle 🙂
Bless your heart, Nicholas! I’ll let you know. Thank you. ♥
I am so pleased that you received lots of nominations, Nicolas. Wishing you success of course, in at least one category.
Best wishes, Pete.
Thank you so much, Pete! It’s all thanks to you guys 🙂