I've been quiet on the blog the last couple of weeks, but it's great to be back! The Romance Writers Weekly kicks of 2017 with a Lyra Parrish topic: How did you spend your New Years? What literary goals have you made for 2017? Mr. C. and I are notorious for not celebrating New Years with too much fanfare. When the kids were younger we'd play games until midnight and then hit the sack. That was more for my sake than anyone else's – I'm a grouch much past 10 o'clock at night! This year, however, we attended a fundraising event called Boogie with the Stars. Local celebrities and business owners pair up and take part in a dance competition. It's all in good fun, because no one is a professional (although they do have great instructors). The "winner" is the team that raises the most money for our local hospital foundation. We really enjoyed the performances, and then danced to a live band for the rest of the evening. It was a lot of fun! 2016 was both a good and bad year for my writing. I made my first venture into self-publishing, made a lot of new connections, and was asked to submit a full manuscript to Harlequin (still waiting on the verdict for that one). But I did not start a new story last year, spending most of my time revising and marketing. This has been weighing on me quite a bit. Since my first book was published, I've managed to complete a first draft of a new manuscript every year except for 2016. I feel like I've fallen behind my own self-imposed schedule. So for 2017, my goal is to complete a new manuscript. I would love to be mostly finished by the end of May, but that might be pushing it a bit. I have got a start on it, and I think I have a good handle on the story, so I'm feeling fairly confident. It is the second book in a series so I know the world – it's just a matter of sticking with it and not letting my inner editor bog me down. Other goals in 2017 will be to keep networking and marketing, of course. I have a new release launching on January 20th (No Life But This - read an excerpt here!) that I'll be promoting. As well, the rights to my first book, Mountain Fire, will revert to me this fall. I plan to self-publish it, but I need to decide whether to revise it first or simply relaunch it. It looks like 2017 is going to be busy, doesn't it? Maybe I should get to it, then! As for you, be sure to hop on to A.S. Fenichel and see what her goals are for the new year! And I'd love to hear what your goals are - leave them in the comments below. Check out the January Preorder Super Sale & Giveaway! 25 Romance Authors (including me!) are sharing January Preorders! Most of them are on sale for a limited time. It's just our way of thanking our loyal readers. Even better, we've pooled our funds to offer an awesome giveaway! Enter to win a Kindle just for subscribing to our newsletters or following us on social media. Just click here to see all the authors and enter the giveaway!
0 Comments
My second novel, a contemporary romance titled CHEF D'AMOUR, will be released by The Wild Rose Press on Friday, August 29, 2014!! The blurb is here, and an excerpt here. When MOUNTAIN FIRE came out about a year and a half ago, I was starting from scratch. Loyal friends and family supported me, and it was an amazing thrill when someone I didn't know posted a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Over the last few months I slowly built up my Facebook Author Page, worked hard on this blog, and most recently, joined the Romance Weekly Writers on their Tuesday blog hop. I'm hoping all of this will help launch CHEF D'AMOUR, and by connection MOUNTAIN FIRE, even higher. I have blogged before about the theory that true success rarely happens until Book #3. It makes a lot of sense to me, so I'm not holding out for a National Bestseller, but a girl can dream, can't she? After all, having one book published was a dream that, for years, I thought would never come true. On the eve of launching Book #2, my goals have grown, along with my skills and experience. Can't wait for what the future will bring! Hey, people! Download a sexy and suspenseful read, just right for weekend relaxing. MOUNTAIN FIRE is available at a reduced price, right now on Amazon! Check it out! http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Fire-ebook/dp/B009KBTO8Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352739514&sr=8-1&keywords=brenda+margriet
A lot of authors, especially self-pub, are raving about the KDP Select program via Amazon. For three months your book must be available exclusively from Amazon, and in return you can offer it free for five days.
It's a no cost way to get your book in the hands of people who may never have bought it. Sure, you're losing the profit of selling the book, but you are not out of pocket as you would be with most other advertising. And that's pretty much what the free days of the program are. Advertising. My publisher enrolled MOUNTAIN FIRE in KDP Select from October 1 to December 31. It was offered for free from October 31 to November 3, and then again on November 5. That odd schedule was a glitch due to the time change. For some reason, that one extra hour in the early morning of November 4 counted as an entire day. So in order to use all five free days, the publisher skipped November 4 completely. Prior to my free days, the highest MOUNTAIN FIRE had reached on Amazon's lists was approximately 141,000. In the days leading up to the promotion, it had actually dropped as low as 385,000. During the four consecutive days of the promotion, the book rose to sit steady in the number 2 slot of Romantic Suspense, and reached a high of 26 overall, as well as making appearances in the top 30 of Contemporary Romance. Despite the break in the promo for November 4, it held its own on November 5th. Since then, MOUNTAIN FIRE has climbed as high as the 3000's in Amazon's overall bestseller list. Now, this sounds like nothing to jump for joy about. But consider where it was sitting before the free days. That's an increase of more than 380,000 places on the list. I have no idea what the numbers mean in actual copies downloaded and sold (my publisher does, of course). But I do know this...it's a huge improvement over where the book was trending before the promotion. MOUNTAIN FIRE continues to waver in the ranks, but as of the writing of this post had not dropped below 9000. As a debut novel from an unknown author, I'm not surprised by this. But from my point of view, I think KDP Select was a worthwhile experiment. Happy Halloween, everyone! And instead of a trick, I'm sending you a treat!
MOUNTAIN FIRE is available FREE, right now in the Kindle Store. And if you're too busy handing out candy, you'll have until Saturday, November 3rd to get your copy! En
|