Explosive Sequel from Author S.S.Segran Hits the Amazon Kindle Bestseller List Ahead of “The Hunger Games” and “Maze Runner”

WebWire Press Release – June 23, 2015

Buffalo, Wyoming, June 22, 2015. “AEGIS INCURSION” the eagerly awaited sequel to the award-winning YA action-adventure thriller, “AEGIS RISING,” was officially launched on Friday, June 19, 2015 with extensive blog tours and exciting giveaways. Following the trailblazing path of her debut novel, S.S.Segran’s second novel has made it to the No. 1 spot on Amazon Kindle’s Bestseller List ahead of iconic titles such as “The Hunger Games,” “Maze Runner” and “Allegiant.”

Released eighteen months on the heels of the first novel, “AEGIS INCURSION” expands the arc of the apocalyptic action-adventure story while continuing to follow the journey of its five teenage heroes. The sequel has received over one-hundred-and-fifty positive reviews and glowing accolades from readers and prominent reviewers.

A review by The US Review of Books, which gave the book a ‘recommended’ status says: “A good sequel stands alone as a strong work without the accomplishments of its predecessors, but a great sequel inspires readers to go back and relive a book they’ve already read, and that is precisely what this book accomplishes.”  A more colorful review by the OnlineBookClub states, “If Daniel Silva and Rick Riordan had a love child, it would be the young S.S.Segran. With the intensity of an adult spy thriller and relatable characters that teenagers enjoy, Aegis Incursion takes YA Action, Adventure and Fantasy to a new level.”

While the main setting for the first book was a fictional hidden valley called Dema-Ki in northern Canada, the second book takes the reader on a gripping adventure across multiple U.S. states. The key theme of the plot in “AEGIS INCURSION” is a major global crop failure initiated by a shadowy organization with an apocalyptic agenda. The author travelled to several places across the US on a road trip during the summer of 2014 to research for the book. It included a trek through an arid landscape in scorching 118-degree heat in search of St. Thomas, a ghost town that was once submerged in Lake Mead, Nevada. Founded by Mormon settlers in 1865, the town plays a significant role in “AEGIS INCURSION.” Incidentally the north arm of Lake Mead holds another historical treasure that the author explores in her book. In 1948, a B-29 Superfortress on a top-secret research mission crashed into the mirror-like waters of the lake and sank, remaining lost for over fifty years. The crash and the mystery surrounding the aircraft are featured in the book as well. “I am thrilled and grateful for the amazing response that the Aegis League series has received from readers around the world,” says S.S.Segran. “I see it as a testimony that wholesome and engaging Young Adult reads that are family-friendly remain a healthy genre in today’s literary landscape.”

About the Author.  S.S.Segran spent a good chunk of her childhood exploring the enchanted forest of a million tales in the mystical land of books. In her early teens, she began crafting intriguing new worlds and conjuring up characters who came alive with the flick of her wand… err… pen. Charmed by the magical response to her debut novel from readers around the world, she has embarked on a quest to take her cherished fans on a thrilling journey deeper into the Aegis universe. Even as she delves into her creative endeavors, the author intends to continue her work of supporting youths in developing countries realize their potential through her non-profit organization AegisLeague.org.

When not devouring a book or writing one, S.S.Segran can be found standing behind the cauldron of life, stirring a potion made up of chores, parkour, drawing, horseback riding and–having enjoyed jumping off a perfectly fine airplane at fifteen thousand feet–perhaps skydiving.

For more information please visit www.sssegran.com (downloadable media kit available)
For media bookings contact INKmagination LLC at 307-222-0440 or media@inkmaginationbooks.com

( Press Release Image: http://photos.webwire.com/prmedia/52662/198461/198461-1.jpg )

RELATED LINKS

Author Website

“Aegis Incursion” Trailer

“Aegis Rising” Trailer

The love child of Daniel Silva and Rick Riordan?

Official Review: Aegis Incursion 

Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of “Aegis Incursion” 

---

4 out of 4 stars

---

Review by TheMusicalMuse

---

Share This Review

---

A plane crashes in 1948. Several passengers barely escape drowning. In present times, a delivery man stumbles upon more than he bargained for and barely escapes death in the ensuing car chase. Meanwhile, there are five teenagers in Montana suffering from amnesia. These events may seem obscure, but as “Aegis Incursion” progresses, they weave together in an intricate web that will often have you exclaiming at “aha” moments.

Did I mention these are just the events from the prologue? Hang on to your seatbelts!

At the beginning of the book, we meet Jag, Kody, Mariah, Teegan, and Aari, five young people who set out on a road trip to rediscover themselves after struggling through a year of amnesia regarding the events of the previous summer. On the trip, they hear snippets from the news about a blight on the world’s crop harvest that even the experts are struggling to explain. Little do the five teens know that the destroyed crops are just the beginning of a global domination plan…a plan that somehow includes them. Their memories–flashes of a summer spent with a tribe of enlightened beings who taught them to hone their innate abilities–return in bits as they near their California destination, and just in time, too! What follows is a tale of kidnappings, espionage, escapes, and subterfuge as the main characters use their super abilities to chip away at the evil corporation that continues to haunt their paths as it quests for a new world order. Along the way, the teenagers meet several people who train them not only to use their powers wisely but to prepare themselves to fulfill the Aegis prophecy. Said prophecy appears in the first book of the Aegis League series, “Aegis Rising”, but the second installation actually reads very well as a stand-alone novel. I had not read “Aegis Rising” before I began its sequel, but I had very few problems following the storyline.

This book is packed beginning to end with intense, heart-pounding action, but the author also uses witty dialogue and short, descriptive passages to imbue her writing with a natural rhythm. Her two greatest strengths–pacing and organization–make this a young adult thriller that’s hard to put down. She tells the story from many perspectives, and at the beginning of each chapter, she switches to a new scene or person. Because of this organization, the book reads like a puzzle. You get bits of information at each step, and the closer you get to the end of the book, the more of the big picture you can see. Her cryptic style of writing, employed specifically to keep the reader guessing, would actually be off-putting if it weren’t for her incredible sense of timing. She perfectly balances the high-octane action scenes that keep the story moving forward with shorter, dialogue-free explanations to entice her audience.

The intended audience–namely, advanced young teen readers up to older teens–would easily connect with her cast of main characters. Jag, Kody, Mariah, Teegan, and Aari weren’t created in a writer’s vacuum to have impeccable speech and perfect responses. They talk like today’s teenagers talk, with incomplete sentences, slang, and a lot of sass. Though their struggles tend to be wilder than those facing today’s average young adult, their responses are realistic. They show emotion. They act impulsively. More importantly, they accept each other unconditionally, a theme that resonates strongly with the current generation of young adults. My one complaint about the characters is the lack of a stand-out leader. The author uses omniscient third person perspective to give her readers a more personal view into each of the main characters at some point in the book, and her cast of supporting characters is well-developed too. However, in mainstream YA literature, the major selling point is the one character that readers latch onto. I’m talking Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, or Tris Prior. While the main characters of “Aegis Incursion” are all likable and unique, there is no stand-out character that ties the whole story together.

Besides that, my issues with this book are few and far between. I’m amazed at how well revised and edited the final copy is. I could count grammar and spelling errors on one hand…and this is a story told in four parts! Occasionally, I ran into a few descriptions or conversations that could have been shortened or eliminated from the story without drastically affecting the plotline, but overall, this book was a thrilling read from start to finish. The more I read, the more impressed I was with the writing style, the organization, and the research the author put into her book.

If Daniel Silva and Rick Riordan had a love child, it would be the young S. S. Segran. With the intensity of an adult spy thriller and the relatable characters that teenagers enjoy, “Aegis Incursion” takes YA Action, Adventure, and Fantasy to a new level. All I can say is, “When is the movie coming out?!” I heartily recommend this book and its precursor “Aegis Rising” and rate it 4 out of 4 stars

Link to source – OnlineBookClub.org: http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=27355&fb_action_ids=10100758962046108&fb_action_types=og.shares#p444523

How a Bestselling Author Promotes Books in a Saturated market – A Great Article by Diana Urban on Book Bub

More and more books are published each year, and the increasing market saturation and competition makes it harder for authors and publishers to effectively market their books.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones is a hybrid author of the Inside Out series, soon to be a TV show. She has either self-published or traditionally published more than 40 books.

Lisa agreed to share her thoughts on the present marketplace and give some insights into how she promotes both her new releases and backlist books despite challenges in the present market.

You’ve published more than 40 books, which is extremely impressive. When you release a new book, how does that impact the sales of your backlist titles?

In my experience, unless my new release is directly related to a series, it doesn’t. If the new release is part of a series, it does impact sales of other books in the series, though any lift outside the series is minimal. I think the more titles you have, the less lift there is for other titles outside the series.

In the past, I saw more lift outside the series than I see today because the market is more and more saturated every single day.

From watching other authors, I don’t see them getting a lift for other titles outside their series when they release a new book either.

What have you found to be the three most effective marketing tactics for selling more copies of your backlist books?

1. Running price promotions. I put my books on sale and run a BookBub deal if at all possible.

2. Re-covering and re-launching at one time. I did this for Secrets Exposed, which I originally launched on its own. I re-launched it as part my Tall, Dark & Deadly series because there is a small connection. It went from selling a few hundred copies to being a part of a series that has sold close to a million copies. I re-packaged it as a prelude after book one of Tall, Dark & Deadly had done so well. I think the repackaging helped more than simply redesigning the cover.

3. Advertising the book in conjunction with the sale. My marketing strategy changes for every single book. Because the book market is so saturated, any marketing tactic that works gets saturated quickly and eventually stops working. Any tactics that worked before for a small price need five times the investment to keep working. Because of this, I’m constantly thinking of new marketing avenues to try and gauging what works and what doesn’t on a daily basis.

How do those tactics compare when promoting a new release? What do you do to generate buzz around a new release?

For each book I release I have a marketing plan, and with each book the plan seems to change. I’m planning a launch for May and am doing almost none of the same things I did for my last book. What was working usually doesn’t work for long because the market is very glutted right now, and so are the advertising venues. So I have a massive, ever-changing list that I evaluate with each release.

You’ve run several BookBub Featured Deals, including one today for your novel Escaping Reality(Simon & Schuster), part of your The Secret Life of Amy Bensen series. How do you choose which books to run and when to promote them?

For The Secret Life of Amy Bensen, book one is being re-launched in print the week of my BookBub deal and leads up to the new release in the series, Forsaken. So I try to plan my BookBub features at a time that supports a new release.

I’ll also run a BookBub deal when I want to pump up my indie work without competing with my traditionally published titles, which is never in my or my publishers’ best interest. I would never compete with myself. I see authors do this and in my humble opinion they are:

A) Making themselves work harder for less money. If you aren’t maximizing every sale for a book and moving on to another, you make less per book and you saturate the market; thus, we all make less.

B) If you aren’t dedicating yourself to making your traditionally published titles succeed, you aren’t going to make your publisher want to invest big money on you.

C) If you put out or promote indie books that are $2.99–$4.99 or even $0.99 close to your traditionally published release that is priced higher, readers could easily choose your indie instead, thus upsetting your publisher. This is true regardless of price.

Keep in mind, I’m talking about situations where your publisher is paying you well and your books are selling well. You have to make a living and you have to balance choices based on how you are being paid and published.

When your Featured Deal runs, what else do you do to amplify your price promotion’s performance? How do you keep the momentum going?

I advertise my price promotion at a variety of places and usually have a plan that will equate it to a new release in terms of performance, rankings, etc. So again, the plan varies, but I never do just the price promotion alone, especially in the present saturated market.

You have a fantastic social media presence, with 137K Facebook fans, 36K Twitter followers, and an active YouTube channel. What is your overall strategy for your social media channels?

I like to keep people engaged. The more they see your name, the more they remember it. So fun things that make people want to stay connected to me drives my decisions.

What is the most creative “campaign” you’ve run, or that you’ve seen other authors run, on social media? Do you run campaigns to drive real book sales?

When I launched If I Were You, I did an extensive social media campaign when it was a less competitive market. Oh how three years makes a difference! Probably my most fun promotion was when I had people make graphics that incorporated my Inside Out series somehow. Once they submitted the graphic, people voted. We had lots of fun with that.

If you expect social media to suddenly impact sales, you’ll be disappointed. Social media is about building a brand and getting people talking rather than generating immediate sales. But let’s face it, Facebook has lowered post reach and Twitter is limited in the first place. None of these outlets are suddenly going to change your world. In the past, less did more. Facebook’s shifting algorithms really had an impact on my social media results. Some of my posts reach only hundreds and some reach two hundred thousand or more. You can’t count on anyone seeing your posts anymore.

Want to share this post? Here are ready-made tweets:

Click to tweet: How a Bestselling Author Promotes Books in a Saturated Market: Q&A with @LisaReneeJones – http://bit.ly/1ECg3YT #bookmarketing #pubtip

Click to tweet: See hybrid author @LisaReneeJones’ advice for promoting books in such a saturated market – http://bit.ly/1ECg3YT #bookmarketing

Link to article on BookBub: http://insights.bookbub.com/promoting-books-saturated-market/

AEGIS INCURSION receives RECOMMENDED rating from The US REVIEW OF BOOKS

Aegis Incursion
by S. S. Segran
INKmagination

reviewed by Michael Radon

“The man in black started dissolving right in front of their eyes and dispersed into a cloud of particles that began to glow a deep blood-red.”

The sequel to Aegis Rising brings us back into the lives of Jag, Tegan, Aari, Mariah, and Kody as the five young incarnations foretold by an ancient hidden prophecy. However, their memories of their adventure in the village of Dema-Ki have been mysteriously erased, causing a strain in their families and their own friendship. But when a summer road trip to California turns hazardous, memories begin returning, and superpowers along with them. It appears that the sinister organization behind Quest Mining and Quest Defense has a new strategy up their sleeve, and some terrifying new creations to go along with it. As a mysterious plague is destroying necessary food crops around the world and creating shortages and riots, the five teenagers must again do their best to prevent the world from falling into chaos.

Where the first book excelled in building a mythology and a legend capped with an exciting showdown, the sequel provides nearly cover-to-cover action that never loosens its hold on the reader. Once the wheels of the plot begin turning, it isn’t long before kidnappings, explosions, gunfire, fearful monsters, shadowy ringleaders, and espionage begin unfolding across dozens of chapters and multiple U.S. states. There are occasional moments where the story comes up for air, but with new characters both good and bad and more build-up to the inevitable tipping point of the world, the action is the clear focal point here. A good sequel stands alone as a strong work without the accomplishments of its predecessors, but a great sequel inspires readers to go back and relive a book they’ve already read, and that is precisely what this book accomplishes.

RECOMMENDED by the USR

Source: http://www.theusreview.com/reviews/Aegis-Segran-2.html#.VThJiCG4TZI

AEGIS INCURSION PASSES 100 REVIEWS IN 2 WEEKS!

Thrilled to announce Aegis Incursion passed a 100 Reviews on Amazon Today! Thank you Readers!

Find out why readers are thrilled with this explosive sequel:
http://tinyurl.com/nfxpol2

The Aegis Team

Aegis Incursion Hits #3 on Amazon’s Hot New Release List!

Thank you fans of the Aegis League Series. You are the best!

AEGIS INCURSION – RELEASE DATE

Aegis Incursion, the sequel to #1 Amazon Kindle Bestseller, will be available on Amazon on Saturday, March 28, 2015. This soft launch will be followed by a full launch on May 22, 2015.

Countdown to Aegis Incursion begins!

Here we go…the countdown begins!

http://www.aegisnovel.com

Aegis Incursion Release Date Confirmed!

Dear Readers,

INKmagination – publisher of Aegis Incursion – confirmed yesterday that the novel will be released and available on March 28, 2015. This is a soft launch which will be followed by a full launch on May 22, 2015.

I’m thrilled that Book Two of the Aegis League Series will be available to readers in a week! It was quite the marathon from conceptualization to completion. Thank you all for your support and for patiently waiting for the novel.

Based on the feedback I have received from advance readers, Incursion is a worthy sequel to Aegis Rising. I hope you enjoy the read!

Cheers,

Shirin

Interview with B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree S.S. Segran