Many of you might recall that Harlequin is offering a number of books for free download to celebrate their 60th anniversary. My Blaze SLOW HANDS is part of that program, and I have to say, “giving away” a book for free in this manner has been great promo for me!
For quite some time now, all my old Blaze titles have been on the Top 20 Bestseller list for Blazes for the Kindle. The sequel to the free book, HEATED RUSH, has been # 1 for months. On occasion, like this past Saturday, my books hold the #’s 1-5 slots. There’s only one possible reason for that: people are reading SLOW HANDS, which is being given away with every Kindle purchase, and they’re buying my older books.
The backlist sales have apparently been so good that all of a sudden, every single full-length book I’ve written for Harlequin, dating back to 1999, has been digitized and is now available in e-book format! All are already available for the Kindle, and I expect the few that aren’t already on the eHarlequin, B&N or Fictionwise sites will be soon. (Several titles were just released Oct 1 and are on Amazon but not on the other sites yet.)
I honestly never imagined books like SUITE SEDUCTION (one of my favorite Temptations) or KILLING TIME (my favorite Leslie Kelly single-title) would suddenly be available to readers all over again, but that’s what has happened. If you don’t mind reading in e-format, you can get all of them, and they’re actually pretty cheap. (The older Temptations are under $3 for the Kindle!)
I have to say, I was a little concerned at first about losing all control over SLOW HANDS, but looking back, I’m so very thankful Harlequin chose that book.
(This is kinda long, so click to continue…there’s free stuff! Really!)
That said, I have not, in any way, changed my stance on book pirates. I have no problem being generous and giving away books, but I want it to be on my terms. The Harlequin promotion was done with the full permission and support of the authors. Book piracy is a whole other thing. Offering one older book to interest readers in my backlist is not comparable to some thief uploading every one of my books to a file-sharing site before I even have a chance to make another penny in legitimate sales. (Yes, that happened with the Black CATs books—they were uploaded on such sites on the very day they were released! Want to know why your favorite series sometimes get dropped? There’s one reason! Grr!)
Okay, that rant’s done. So, speaking of having no problem giving away books, I’m going to put my money where my mouth is. I have a lot of hard copies of my old, out-of-print Temptation and Blaze titles that I’m willing to give away in a buy-1-get-1-free deal. Just purchase any of my full-length (ie-no short stories or novellas) backlist books in e-form from Amazon, eHarlequin, B&N, etc., print out the confirmation page, and send it with a self-addressed, stamped envelope and the name of the out-of-print Temptation or Blaze title you’d like and I’ll mail you a free, autographed book. (This includes only older titles, published before 2009, meaning neither of the Blazing Bedtime Stories books will count as the purchase and neither will be available for the giveaway.) A full booklist is on my website. Click here if you want to see how the books link in various series.
There are a few rules & qualifications, so let’s go over this again…lol:
1. Purchase any one of my full-length Leslie Kelly backlist titles in e-form (EXCLUDES novella collections or short-stories such as “Naughty All Night”) Here’s a list from Amazon for the Kindle. And for other sites: eHarlequin (enter my name in the search box), Barnes & Noble, but again, remember, these last 2 sites have several of them, but not all…I think they go back as far as 2002. I would think the older ones should show up within the next few weeks.
2. Mail me a copy of your confirmation of purchase, plus a 6 x 9 THIN catalog-style envelope (not padded, or the postage won’t be right) with $2.07 in postage attached. (None of the category books weighs over 8 oz, which = $2.07 as long as it’s in a thin paper envelope.)
3. Tell me which Temptation or Blaze backlist title you would like (published before 2009.) Also include an alternate title in case I run out.
These books include:
Temptations–Night Whispers, Suite Seduction, Relentless, Into The Fire, Two To Tangle, Wicked & Willing, Trick Me-Treat Me, Wickedly Hot, Make Me Over and Her Last Temptation.
Blazes–Naturally Naughty, Don’t Open Till Christmas, Boys Of Summer, Asking For Trouble, Overexposed, One Wild Wedding Night, Slow Hands, Heated Rush
4. Remember–I will only be giving away Temptations & Blazes. No novella collections, no full-length novels, no Black CATs books.
5. Open to U.S. residents only–sorry, the postage situation makes that a must.
That’s it! I’ll give away a minimum of 100 books (maybe more, not sure just how many of some of these I have!) and if I run out, I’ll announce it here. Send me the request before October 31. Limit 2 per person, but please send each request separately so the postage thing doesn’t get messed up.
Mail the info to:
Leslie Kelly, PO Box 575, Emmitsburg, MD 21727
By the way, if you’d like to order mine or any other books/ebooks from eHarlequin, here’s a special coupon offer from Harlequin! Get an extra 10% off any book or ebook by entering the coupon code SAVEMORE at checkout. One-time use only, not to be used with other offers or coupons. Offer excludes Themed Collections.
Have any recommendations of my older books for other readers? I’d love to hear what your favorites were, if you were nice enough to read any of my earlier titles!
PS: If you have hard copies of some of my books and would like autographed book plates to put in them, include that in your note and I’ll send some along with your free book! I only have Leslie Kelly ones right now, no Parrish–sorry!
****
CARLY HERE: Visit me at Borders True Romance Blog today! Post for chance to win 1 of 4 $25 Borders Gift Cards!
Leslie Kelly used to say she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up, but then she discovered Nancy Drew books. Being a flashlight-under-the-covers-nose-in-book reader throughout her childhood, she couldn’t think of anything else she’d rather do as an adult than continue to lose herself in fictional stories. Her real life marriage of 20 years to the man of her dreams is a constant reinforcement that happily-ever-afters really can happen…and that they’re worth writing about. Living in Maryland, Leslie spends her non-writing time laughing a lot with the above-mentioned romance hero and their three daughters. Though an author of more than thirty sexy, contemporary comedies, she has recently branched out to write dark romantic suspense under the pseudonym Leslie Parrish.
Destiny
Dirty Little Secrets
Once Upon A Valentine
Through The Night
Subscribe to Posts 
Comment
Well, since i think I have just about all your books to begin with, I guess I won’t need to do it. However, I will most likely be adding them to my ereader when they become available.
I’m glad others are finding Slow Hands and seeing what an awesome author you are. Not that we didn’t know it already.
Comment
oooh…I am going to have to get some book plates (after I read the ‘hard copy’, I usually donate them to pass along the greatness, but I did keep “Slow Hands”…had to…I was mentioned!). Thanks, Leslie!
Comment
My copy of Naturally Naughty has almost fallen apart I’ve read it so many times. Heading over to eharlequin to get some ebooks later today. Must look through all of my keeper Temptations to see if I’m missing any of your backlist. Thanks Leslie!
Comment
What an awesome deal, Leslie!
But then we all knew that! 
Comment
What a deal!
But unfortunately I can’t buy books at the moment.
Gormanomics is in the red.
Cher
Comment
I read Slow Hands at the beginning of this year and absolutely loved it. Since then I’ve been adamant on picking up one of your backlist books every now and then when I give myself a little book buying spree. I’ll definitely have to look into this buy-one-get-one free deal online
<3 J
Comment
Comment
NEVER HURTS TO GET THAT KIND OF ADVERTISEMENT!
Comment
Glad to hear that more people are getting acquainted with your books! I don’t have an ereader so won’t be getting any books! I would never down load any author’s books from a website that is sharing files. That is just wrong. :*&#!: I have all your books! They are keepers.
By the way to all you Leslie fans if you haven’t started reading her Black Cats books run don’t walk to the nearest book store or order them online. I read Fade to Black over the weekend, she had me at the first page. I was a bit tenative about these books but I should have known Leslie would do it well. In fact I just bragged all over Jill Shalivs’ blog about Fade to Black!! She asked what we were reading & I just had to mention Fade to Black.
Comment
Bother – this is another situation where it would be good to live in the US. However, I will be using that code for the discount on e-books at Harlequin.
I still prefer print books but I’m gradually changing to e-books for Harlequin titles because of the delay in release in NZ.
Comment
Hey Les, that is wonderful news. I am so glad that people are discovering your talent anew in your older Leslie Kelly books. I actually owned Trick Me, Treat Me; Wicked & Willing, and Two to Tangle. They were the first books I ever read by you. I own all the Blazes already. I would love to get my hands on some of the others, but I won’t be buying them as ebooks. Sorry about that. I just can’t get into reading ebooks. I will have to get them some other way then. Maybe my aunt has those too. She was the one to give the others to me. I am really excited about the improvement in sales for you books, whether they are ebooks or actual paper copies.
Peace and love,
Paula R.