Read an eBook Week!

 

I'm happy to be participating in Smashword's Read an e-Book Week promotion. If you click on my Smashwords Profile you will get a link to both of my eBooks.  The Valentine's Day Curse is Free, no coupon necessary, and Fractured Facade is 50% off from March 2-8th...at checkout use the code REW50.

 

Although the Valentine's Day Curse remains free everywhere, unfortunately I cannot create a 50% off coupon for Fractured Facade on Amazon and retailers other than Smashwords for the week, but you can download it to your Kindle or other reading device via Smashwords!

 

Happy Reading!

 

"A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people." - Will Rogers

 

Read Tuesday

I know I've been absent from blogging lately...sometimes life just gets in the way! I did want to give a shout-out to a promotion for a huge book sale that is happening today only called "Read Tuesday." It's a Black Friday type of sale for book lovers. Click on this link to find out all the offerings.

I'm offering Fractured Facade at 25% off from Smashwords using code JT557, Amazon has discounted the paperback to $13.49 and The Valentine's Day Curse is still free everywhere. Books make a wonderful gift and there's sure to be something for everyone!

I'll be back soon...until then, here's a dose of cuteness...

"Buy my Mom's book so she can buy me more treats!"

What's Going On...

It's been quite hectic around these parts lately so I've been neglecting this blog, along with many other things, like saaaay, cleaning. Writing is fun, picking up a dust rag or mop, not so much. Sooooo, what's going on?

I'm halfway through the UVA on-line class of "Plagues, Witches, and War: The Worlds of Historical Fiction." I've really enjoyed this class, but have to say it's been a lot of "work." The professor has done a wonderful job organizing it and I've been very impressed with the curriculum, including the guest authors and suggested reading list he's put together. I believe the book I'm preparing to write will be greatly enhanced by these last two months. I've also enjoyed interacting with fellow students on-line and even met one in the flesh. After this experience, I've become a huge fan of MOOC classes, but will not attend another one until at least the first draft of my book is completed. I haven't written one word since I began this class, and because of it have even more research to accomplish before I put the first sentence down. That reminds me...my essay on primary sources is due next week.

I'm still cataloging the film/entertainment books at the shop. I'm up to the letter T and have completed 999. There are five tubs of books whose author names begin with T and end with Z, to finish. I found an old New York lotto card in a book so I took it to Kroger and played the numbers for the $182 MegaMillion prize that's being drawn tomorrow night. If I win, I will still finish this insane task, because I am insane, and I know it will make my dad happy. Next up will be the sports catalog, and finally, the non-fiction/history ones. I know what my father meant when he said he'd never live long enough to read all his books. I haven't even begun to fool with the magazines or videotapes. This whole process is so time-consuming, and is just the beginning. I still have to create a website, ack!, and figure out how best to sell this stuff, or not. On the brightside, my husband's been happy because I've been at the shop way more than I ever have in the last 17 years. I've even been going on the weekends when he's in the back working on his wood.

As you can see he's been quite busy making cutting boards, hot plates, and Christmas ornaments from locally sourced trees that he purchased after they had fallen, or were cut down. He brings the trunks miles away, through the woods, on an unpaved road, up some mountain where they are milled. He then brings them back to the shop where he planes and stacks them. He's got quite the collection of exotic local woods and I fear he's become a wood hoarder. He refuses to use any other wood from say Lowe's, as he says our wood is superior to "that crap." I believe him. You can see how beautiful each cutting board is, but I don't know if you could realize how much work is put into each one. Those strips are all individual pieces of wood that he planed, fit together, glued, sanded, and finally sealed with a special oil for cutting boards.

He's selling them at the shop for $15 to $25 which is a steal! I've priced them on-line and have seen them elsewhere for way, way more. After the holidays, in my spare time, haha, I hope to set him up on-line at Etsy, or perhaps his own website. If you're local you can come to the shop, Acceleration Station, 1105 Delaware Street, Salem and check them out.

And while you're there you may see an autographed copy of my book, Fractured Facade hanging out on the front counter, which would make a nice stocking stuffer...hint, hint. Mention this blog post to Frank for a special $10 deal.

It's also available as an eBook on Amazon, for the Nook at Barnes & Noble, and for your iPad! As a Holiday Special I've generated a 25% off discount coupon if you buy Fractured Facade at Smashwords. Use this coupon code JT55Z at check-out. Smashwords supports pretty much all eReaders including Kindles.

Also, my short story, The Valentine's Day Curse is still free, and you can pick up your copy gratis at Amazon, B&N, iTunes & Smashwords. It would be great, and I would be ever so grateful, if you would consider leaving a review afterwards...every one helps!

And this year when you're out shopping please throw the locals a bone once in a while and support your local artists and businesses. We wouldn't be around without folks like you...a huge thanks! It's supposed to be beautiful today in Roanoke, but then it's getting cold by Sunday. Enjoy the weekend and bundle up!

PermaFree Follow-Up

 

 

 

 

Since it's been about sixth months when I removed both of my books from Amazon's KDP Select program, and between four and six months since my short story, "The Valentine's Day Curse" has been free, I thought it was time to report on my findings.

As I outlined in this post, "Is PermaFree For Me?" one of the main reasons of offering my short story for free was to see if it translated to sales for my novel, "Fractured Facade." My hope was people would become familiar with my writing and seek out my other book. I had also hoped that the downloads of the freebie would be so great that I would remain in the top 100 on Amazon awarding me a highly visible place. Another hope was that I would receive more reviews.

So let's look at each of these hopes -- first the reviews. In this PermaFree time period I have received a whopping two reviews, one in the U.S. and one in the UK, and both are 5-stars. But that's it. One of the reviewers on Amazon said they would look for other books from me, but according to my Amazon stats, they never bought it. Which brings me to sales.

Re. Amazon: Since I've pulled everything out of KDP Select, there have been zero sales. Yup, that's a big fat goose egg on Amazon. Since sales were non-existent there, I dropped the price of Fractured Facade to $3.99 everywhere for the summer. And that has made a difference on Smashwords, but not on Amazon. In fact, my downloads on Smashwords and the two sites I publish to through them, Barnes & Noble and iTunes for the freebie, have over-taken Amazon's numbers. And this is with The Valentine's Day Curse being in the wrong category at B&N and iTunes! It's been forever since I've been trying to get it placed correctly, and out of "Theatre." Frustrating indeed, but not as frustrating as coming to the realization that in my case Kindle/Amazon customers mainly download freebies, whereas Nook readers and iPad folks do not have a problem paying for a book. One plus is that I have broken into most countries via Amazon, with Japan and India being the sole hold-outs.

My main problem with Smashwords is that I don't get real-time figures. I will see downloads on my dashboard, but not know if they were samples or full purchases until the day I wake up and see that Apple and B&N have reported sales. And my hope that the free downloads on Amazon would keep me in the top 100 only lasted a couple of days after it first went free. With each additional month the ranking drops lower and lower. The only way to keep the numbers up is to promote it constantly and I don't want to do that. Once in a while I'll throw out a tweet about it, but that's pretty much it.

So, although my hope was that the freebie would translate into sales, it really hasn't happened. Well, I guess it has happened, just not on Amazon, and not as high as I had hoped on the other outlets either. But, I am selling books -- paperbacks, that is. And no, not online. My biggest seller has been just having a copy of my book placed on the counter at our auto repair shop. Customers pick it up and either read it while they are waiting for their car, or once they realize I wrote it, ask to buy a copy. They particularly like when I sign it for them. And out of all the outlets whether it's an eBook or paperback, local point of purchase is my biggest profit margin. Of course this does not translate to a "high ranking" anywhere but my pocketbook. And that's okay with me.

So in closing...for now "The Valentine's Day Curse" will remain free. Links to everywhere are on the sidebar. "Fractured Facade" is $3.99 for two more weeks before going back to $4.99. The paperback is available for $14.99. And if you are local and would like an autographed copy just drop me a line.

The mantra amongst authors is to sell books you have to write books, the more the better, series really are the way to go, yada, yada, yada. So what's been happening on any future book? Progress is being made, but "prolific" is not my middle name. And frankly, I've been having a little too much fun researching! You might have already read this on my Facebook Author Page, but for those who haven't, I'd like to leave you with this tidbit I found which was an actual Wanted Ad placed in June 1866 in the Alexandria Gazette and reprinted in the Roanoke Times:

Wanted -- One hundred seventy five men of all shapes and sizes, from the tall graceful dandy with hair enough on his upper works to stuff a barber’s cushion, down to the little hump-backed freckled face, bowlegged carrot headed upstart. The object is to form a gaping corps to be in attendance at the church doors on each Sabbath before the commencement of divine service, to stare at the females as they enter, and make delicate and gentlemanly remarks on their person and their dress. All who wish to enlist in the above, will appear at various church doors next Sabbath morning where they will be duly inspected and their names, personal appearance and quantity of brains registered in a book kept for that purpose, and published in the newspaper. To prevent a general rush it would be well to state that none will be enlisted who possess intellectual capacities above that of a well bred donkey. -- Alexandria Gazette

 

Is PermaFree For Me?

It's been almost two months since I removed both my books from Amazon's KDP Select Program. Once again, I wanted to give readers who have other devices besides the kindle the opportunity to read my books since KDP Select is an exclusive platform. At that time I felt I wasn't getting enough borrows to justify keeping it in there, so wanted to "test the waters" again. That's what's great about being an indie...I can make my own decisions/mistakes.

I immediately offered my short story, The Valentine's Day Curse, free, on Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, iTunes & Kobo. Amazon does not allow me to price it at zero, however, I did hear that they price-match. So, I hoped that would happen. Meanwhile, I waited to see how many free downloads the other sites would garner. After six weeks, the short story was downloaded a half-dozen times on Smashwords. I have no idea if it was downloaded on iTunes or B&N because they take forever to report to SW. There were zero downloads on Kobo. My novel received zero downloads, not even a sampling, on all those sites, yet I had sales on Amazon.

I think part of the problem is that when your book is on different sites it becomes difficult to promote them all. Although I have tried to point potential readers to my website for all the links, it's just easier to tweet one link to a direct outlet like Amazon, and more convenient for a reader to just one-click purchase it there. Even I don't like to download from Smashwords because it takes a couple of steps and I have to hook my kindle up to my computer.

Amazon wasn't budging on price-matching, and a reader of mine did contact me to let me know they had reported the free price to them, and had received an email stating that they no longer price-match, but "here's the link if you want to buy it." I was disappointed. Then yesterday I noticed the brown bar of shame on my monthly Amazon sales report was white. Sure enough there were downloads of The Valentine's Day Curse entered into the price match column. When I checked the listing, yup, Amazon finally price-matched it to zero. Happy dance!

Now, why, you may ask, would I want to give away my short story for free on Amazon and everywhere else for that matter. Two words...new readers. If I still had Fractured Facade in KDP Select there would be two more words...potential borrows. My hope has always been that after someone reads The Valentine's Day Curse they will seek out other books I have written. Well, other book, I have written. Still working on the next one.

Advertising is pretty expensive and not in my budget. I'd rather lose the royalty, a whopping $.35, by giving away the short story and think of it as advertising. So how is it working thus far? Well, it's been free on Amazon for one day, and I've already had ten times the downloads I had from all other sites in two months. As of this posting, it's #43 on Amazon's Best Selling Kindle store for Short Stories. Will this translate into sales for Fractured Facade? Maybe, maybe not, but I know I have a better chance of exposure by being in Amazon's Top 100 list than anywhere else. No matter what anyone says, Amazon's the big dog. So is PermaFree for me? Well, right now it is, but that's subject to change...

Read an eBook Week

In celebration of Read an eBook Week I am offering for FREE during the Month of March -- on Smashwords, Kobo, and iTunes -- The Valentine's Day Curse. You might see it listed as "theatre" in the iTunes store...it's not, but for some reason Apple cannot/will not change it. Feel free to check out the correct listing and reviews on Amazon.

Since Barnes & Noble have yet to make it free, and I'm beginning to believe they never will, be advised that Nook readers can download it from Smashwords for free. I also understand the only way Amazon will price match the free price is if they are "notified" by folks other than the author that the book is free on iTunes and Kobo. Smashwords doesn't register a blip to them! So, if anyone would like to "narc" me out to Amazon, that would be cool!

Also, for just this Read an eBook Week, I will be offering Fractured Facade at 25% off on Smashwords. Simply enter the code REW25 at checkout. At least there are some reviews there, and for more in-depth info and reviews of both books, feel free to visit my website.

As always...thanks for all your support!

A Big Thanks!

A big thanks to all the folks who downloaded The Valentine's Day Curse. Although the numbers weren't through the roof -- short stories are a hard sell, especially if none of the big sites pick it up -- I was happy with the results, if only to get a 5-star rating on Goodreads, a couple of Authorgraph requests, and to finally break through Italy! Yes, after a year, at least two people in Italy have my words on their kindle.

My hope as always is that readers will have enjoyed the short story so much that they will search out my other book, Fractured Facade, and give that a go. The other hope is that those who read The Valentine's Day Curse will leave a review on Amazon like this last one written by Jan Taylor --

"The only thing wrong was the story ended too soon. I loved it. I'm a "hard sale" on 1st person POV, but DeRosa carried it off perfectly. I had fun "traveling" with the heroine, and she was a good heroine. Loved how DeRosa used the curse in the story. Was impressed and moved by her style and talent. This was an easy 5 star ranking."

I really hate the promotion part of being an independent author, and I'm glad my short story will soon be out of Amazon's Select program. No more begging people to download my book for free! Soon it will join Fractured Facade and be available on other sites. Even though I don't get a lot of sales through Smashwords, people can go there and download a larger portion of the book for free than Amazon offers to see if it's something they're interested in. If so, they can then order through Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Books, Amazon, or even get the paperback. Do not buy the paperback on B&N's site where it's showing for $34.68! It's only $14.99 on Amazon and even I wouldn't pay $34.68 for it! I don't know why it's there, or who's selling it since I did not opt for the extended distribution on Createspace. Still waiting for it to show back up on iTunes.

Meanwhile, I am continuing my research for the next book. As you can guess by now, I'm not one of those authors who bang out a book a month. I could bang out a short story a month, but I am choosing to listen to my inner voice and focus on the one in my head that's shouting to be written. What genre will it be? I have no idea where it will find a home as it will be contemporary, historical, and paranormal. Perhaps this one will appeal to more folks than my previous two. Too bad I'm not a romance or Christian novel writer. That's where the bucks are!

Clearly, I am not writing for the money and masses, but I am sure my works will wind up in the hands of those that are meant to read them. So without further adieu...upwards and onwards!

Latest KDP Select Results

It's been a week since my last KDP Select freebie ended for Fractured Facade and I wanted to share my observations. First and foremost I am happy to report that an author need not get picked up by POI or ENT to get noticed. POI has never picked me up, and ENT has changed in that they no longer just focus on free books. In fact, they've scaled it down to only a couple of day. Naturally, if one did get picked up by either of these two outlets your downloads would multiply greatly, but don't despair if you don't.

Without them, my downloads in the US were near 6,000 and in the UK 800. I had a couple from Germany, France and Spain and as usual nothing in Italy or Japan. Now I would like to give a shout out to Free Kindle Books & Tips, Kindle Boards and Ebook Lister for their promotions.

Big deal you say, you had twice, or three times that many. Well, good for you! I didn't need that many to get to #1 Suspense, #3 Family Saga, and also up to #47 in the Top 100 of all books, so I was pretty happy.

Of course I wasn't as happy as I was the very first time I used the freebies last year when every book downloaded was counted 1=1 for rank, instead of the 1=10 now. At that time, I had hundreds of sales afterwards. This time, nowhere as many, however since the promotion ended I have been selling steadily in the US & UK and getting actual borrows.

The borrows are more valuable for the next three months since Amazon has doubled the payment for them. Some folks are up in arms about this claiming Amazon is "doubling down" and screwing up indie authors by "making them" become exclusive to them. Although I would love to not be exclusive in Amazon, it's my choice to be exclusive right now with them. They're not "making me" do anything I don't want to. I wasn't exclusive for over 90 days previous, and had both my books pretty much everywhere. My total sales for that period on those other sites amounted to $3.45. All the clamoring to have my books made available for the Nook resulted in $3.00 of that $3.45. Now when people ask me when it will be back on B&N I tell them, I don't know, but I do have a paperback available, if they are interested.

Another reason folks are hating Amazon lately is that reviews of their books are being removed, especially 5-star ones written by other authors. On B&N, I only had one review, and it was a good one, that I lost when I pulled my books. The rest of mine are on Amazon. I haven't experienced the removal of reviews as I don't believe any were written by other authors. Apparently being "unpopular" and not in the "indie clique" does have its advantages. I wish Amazon would remove some of the one-star ones as they were written by people who didn't even read the entire book. My most recent review after the freebie was a 3-star entitled "Good" and left by someone who, duh, duh, duh, wait for it...didn't read the book yet, but plans to! Sigh.

And that's one of the biggest problems with giving your book away free -- negative reviews. Since folks seem to have a problem with the "f word" based on past reviews after a freebie, this time at the end of the book description I made sure to let folks know there was language they may deem inappropriate, in the hopes they'll just skip over my book. Hopefully they have. Even though I haven't gotten many reviews yet, I have noticed that the "like" number on  Amazon's page has increased, so I'm happy with that.

How long with this slow trickle of sales for Fractured Facade last? I have no idea, but it's better than the no trickle from B&N, Apple, Kobo & Smashwords. I really hope that some folks will consider buying, or better yet, borrowing, my short story, "The Valentine's Day Curse" also exclusive on Amazon, as the royalty for borrowing a 99cent short is better than the sale.

Sorry to those folks who are Amazon haters, but I'm not in that camp...you can't argue the numbers.

***UPDATE***

After I wrote this post this morning I noticed a new 5-star review from someone who downloaded the freebie..."I loved this book, couldn't put it down. I felt that I really got to know the author and her characters. They were like family by the time I finished. I didn't want the book to end. I got this book as a freeie and I can say I wasn't disappointed. I have looked up her blog and plan on becoming a regular visitor. I don't like short stories, but I may even check out her short story "The Valentine's Day Curse". Great job and please keep it up!!"

Just had to share that...thank you Luv to Read!

Cyber Sunday & Monday Freebie

With all this puppy & holiday business I had forgotten that I had scheduled two free days for Fractured Facade. Luckily I received an email from Michael from Free Kindle Books and Tips alerting me that my book was being highlighted! Thanks Michael!

So...if you've been waiting for the ebook to go free, today and tomorrow is the opportunity to grab it. And after you read it, if you know someone who could benefit from it, but who doesn't use an eReader, say like an elderly parent, by all means please consider getting the paperback as a stocking stuffer. That life you save could be theirs!

"Fractured Facade"

"Marie's peaceful life in Virginia is shattered the moment she receives word from her brother: “I just got a call from a detective. Daddy’s dead.” Rushing to her family home in Brooklyn, New York, Marie seeks answers to her father’s mysterious death only to discover disturbing occurrences and encounter acts of betrayal.

After her questions are amplified and suspicions confirmed surrounding her father’s ex-girlfriend, Marie becomes frustrated by how oblivious so many had been, and continue to be, to the wily con-artist.

Inheriting her father’s scheming ex-girlfriend becomes a journey Marie never imagined she’d be forced to travel.

Written as memoir, and based on a true story, "Fractured Facade" is a cautionary tale for anyone concerned about a parent after the loss of their spouse. The survivor, often thrust into an unfamiliar world, can find it quite different from the dating scene of their youth; one where some people create facades to mask their true intentions. Sadly, loneliness can cause an otherwise intelligent person to behave foolishly.

"Fractured Facade" is the tale of a father’s death, a daughter’s life, and a sociopath’s vendetta."

Author's Note -- Some may find language they deem inappropriate...I don't.

My Anti-KDP Select Experiment Results

So my 90-day anti-Amazon KDP Select experiment is coming to an end and I thought I would share the results.

At the end of July I withdrew Fractured Facade from KDP Select and placed it on Smashwords, B&N, iTunes and Kobo. The Valentine's Day Curse followed shortly. I decided to give the other outlets a try since my Amazon sales and borrows had slowed down to a trickle. I thought perhaps it was time to spread my wings and fulfill the requests of Nook readers who urged me to make it available for their readers. So I did.

Unfortunately, those Nook readers disappeared as there was only a single sale of both books on Barnes & Noble through Smashwords. Yes, one single sale. Nothing on iTunes. Nothing on Smashwords direct. One sale of The Valentine's Day Curse on Kobo, and that was from someone in the United States, and not from the market I was hoping to break into -- Japan. That's a whopping 45 cents waiting for me from Kobo.

Now, maybe if I spent 20 hours a day promoting each outlet I would have gotten better results, but I don't have the time, or stomach, for that. I believe it's more effective to point someone to one site to purchase a book than it is to point them to my website for information on where to order the book on many sites. Frankly, none of those other sites help an author sell a book as they often get the categories wrong and make navigating their site impossible and frustrating.

Amazon is user friendly, and for the most part, author friendly. During my 90-day experiment I even received an email from Amazon promoting Fractured Facade as one of the suspense picks. During this same period Amazon has opened a store in India, and most recently, a store in Japan. They've also now made book lending available in European countries. Kobo has fallen way short of my expectations so I've decided they can keep my 45 cents. Smashwords can also keep my $3.00.

So, my final decision on my 90-day experiment -- As of today I will begin unpublishing from all sites and go back exclusively into Amazon, hopefully in time for the holidays. It will probably take a couple of weeks to get the books removed everywhere, so you Nook readers better take this opportunity to get your copy before it disappears.

I no longer feel guilty about not having my eBook everywhere as I now have a paperback version of Fractured Facade as well. Although I don't expect anyone other than friends and family to buy the paperback, it is out there. And Amazon has free apps for most other eReaders.

I'm not thrilled with Amazon's exclusivity requirements to get into their lending library, but until there's another significant player out there, it looks like I'm going to have to follow their rules.

Onwards and Upwards

So with spending less time on-line, especially on social media sites, I actually have been making progress with my tasks.

As of now, I have uploaded both Fractured Facade and The Valentine's Day Curse to every eRetailer I want to be in...Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Apple and Kobo Books. I am still awaiting Premium Status for The Valentine's Day Curse so it will take a couple more weeks for it show up on Barnes & Noble and Apple.

After one month of uploading Fractured Facade to Smashwords amd B&N, I've been disappointed with Nook readers, especially those who "clamored" for me to take my books out of KDP Select so they could download it. Although I have had some sample downloads from Smashwords, all my sales are still coming soley from Amazon. So if I don't see any improvement from the other outlets with my 90-day self-imposed time limit, I will have to rethink my decision. Hoping to spur sales, I have decided to keep Fractured Facade at $3.99 until Labor Day, and then it's going back to $4.99.

I had hoped to begin my formatting for a paperback version of Fractured Facade but I need a clear head and have been suffering from insomnia. I'm hoping today will be the day I can at least begin. I'm really not looking forward to this task.

I did take some time and slap together a quick :30 spot for The Valentine's Day Curse using the website Animoto. It's very limited, but it's free, quick and easy, and now I'm able to post it on my sidebar as well. Here it is:



Even if you're not an author looking to make a :30 spot, you should check the site out and have some fun with your photos, etc.

The writing has been non-existent, but that's okay. Besides wanting to get all the eVersions uploaded and the paperback formatted, I'm still torn as to which project I should focus on first. I'm amazed at how prolific some authors are, popping out a book a month. And then I read them, well some of them, and now know why they have so many titles. No thanks...I'd rather have quality than quantity.

I have been spending time on the other never-ending art project...the framed "Japanese" window that I still haven't conquered. I think I'm getting closer to a paint that works, and as long as my hands could hold out from all that scraping after making mistake after mistake, I think it's going to look pretty cool.

Onwards and upwards!

Back on Smashwords

After I received my royalty check from Amazon I had misgivings about not re-enrolling Fractured Facade in its Select program. After all, the majority of that check came from sales garnered after I gave away almost 10,000 copies for free...but that was a couple of months ago. The last freebie's downloads of over 3,500 more copies did not justify the amount of sales that came afterwards. And as far as borrows went, I got a measly one.

Still, it was a nice chunk of change and I wondered if I was shooting myself in the keyboard by abandoning Amazon's ship. I still didn't re-publish on Smashwords so I thought, "Hmmm, let me see if I could generate some action by having a spur of the moment, one day freebie of The Valentine's Day Curse, which is still enrolled in Select. I didn't expect much as I knew the main sites of ENT and POI would not post it as they need a couple of weeks notice and I never submitted it to them.

As I've stated before, I have begun to believe that the free eBooks carrot is losing its appeal since everyone is giving their books away. After reading comments left on posts from ENT and POI from readers thanking them (ummm, how about thanking the author who is the person responsible for the free book?) and writing, they love, love, love the free books and will NEVER pay for a book again, I began to dwell more on this practice. Although the free seems to work well for those books that are part of a series, and for prolific writers who have many books out, I fear my time may have come and passed.

I wondered if the 5 day free promotions and ability for prime members to borrow my book was still worth the 90 day exclusive period, yet I still couldn't bring myself to hit republish on Smashwords! The nail in Amazon's Select program came yesterday, before my lousy results were even done on the spur of the moment freebie, via a glance at their welcome screen. On it they were touting that prime members can now borrow for free all the Harry Potter books, as well as New York Times bestsellers and I wondered something...does that mean those books are part of the Select program, and if so, do they also have to abide by the exclusivity clause same as I do?. I checked, and nope, they don't. So I did some more checking of other bestsellers. Nope, they are available everywhere else too, no exclusivity for them either.

Now, I'm no Rowlings or Collins, but it peeves me that they get to play by different rules than I do. I think my borrows may have halted because those "popular" more expensive books are there for the taking. And I could totally understand that, but it still bothers me that Amazon changed the rules for "some" authors. I know it's their game and their board, but it's my game piece, so for now I've taken my piece off the board. I hit re-publish on Smashwords! I've already been approved for their premium catalogue as well.

This time thought I want to go only into Barnes & Noble. Apple products can be downloaded via Amazon already. Kobo has just made a deal with Japan and soon will be offering authors a way to publish directly with them in their store, so I'll wait for that. As far as Sony goes, nope, it took too long to get them to remove my book. Same with Diesel and no sales on either site. No also for the Baker & Taylor library which only pays 45% royalty for one book and nothing when someone checks it out. Smart phone apps? I'll keep that via Amazon as well.

I figure I'll give my experiment three months, the same as the exclusivity clause in KDP Select. If I feel I'm not getting the results I want I'll unpublish again and re-enroll, just in time for Christmas. That's what's great about being an Indie...I can make my own decisions and changes whenever I want, and if I'm wrong, I can change it again.

So Nook readers, you can download directly via Smashwords now, or, you can wait until it arrives in Barnes & Noble. I hope you show up to the game...

It Was Fun While It Lasted

Come July 2nd my 90-day exclusive period for Fractured Facade in Amazon's KDP Select Program is up. I have decided to not click the auto-enroll feature.

Once upon a time, less than 90 days ago, I enjoyed the fruits of this program. The first time I offered a freebie I had almost 10,000 downloads and more sales in one month than I had previously experienced the prior six months everywhere else. The added bonus was my book was getting borrowed, which besides the freebie carrot, was a good reason to enroll my $4.99 novel. The "bad" part of having 10k free books downloaded, besides not getting a royalty on any of them, is that some will wind up in hands of readers who are not your target audience. Oh, and they will let you know via a 1-star rating.

Cut to the next freebie less than two months later. This time I took the advice of other writers who suggested I would have sold more books if my price was reduced. So I went with $3.99. Not as many downloaded, but well into the thousands and high ranking in the free charts. However, when it went back to paid, it plummetted back down to a lower level than it was when I first gave it away. Apparently the changing of the secret Amazon algorithms had struck! It took a day or two before the ranking went up, but by that time, I had probably lost any exposure and momentum I might have gotten. At this lower price point I sold 1/10th of the amount I had sold at $4.99, and worse yet, had only 1 measly borrow.

Now, I don't know if the following red-highlighted Prime Members borrow for free statement was always there under my "borrow this book" or if it popped up since my last freebie, but here it is: "With Prime, Kindle owners can choose from over 145,000 titles to borrow for free – including all seven Harry Potter books and more than 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers – as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates."  Frankly, if I were a Prime Member those are the books I would borrow since I only get one borrow a month. Those bestsellers charge about $12.99 for an eBook, so I would feel like I was getting my "money's worth." Although, once upon a time, I actually had borrows on my 99 cent short story, I haven't seen one of those in a while.

There's another reason I'm opting my novel out of Select. People are cheap. After reading comments on ENT and POI's posts, as well as across the internet from people who love, love, love the free books, some saying they will NEVER pay for an eBook, or, they're just waiting until a certain book goes free, I think the lack of sales might be due to people having come to expect something for nothing. As soon as they see the book on Amazon with "Prime Members can borrow for free" they assume it will eventually be free during a promotion. And they're usually right.

So, I've decided to run a test. I'm going to un-enroll Fractured Facade, leave it at $3.99 for the summer, and put it back on Smashwords, yet not opt-in to their premium catalogue just yet. In case I have a change of heart and want it to go back into Select, I don't want to have to waste weeks chasing down every location where the book is being sold. Smashwords takes it down pretty quickly, but the other outlets take their sweet time.

I still have a month to decide on what to do with my short story, The Valentine's Day Curse. I might just leave it enrolled, as one borrow (if it ever happens again!) equals over six sales. Also, I'd like to use it as bait when having a freebie, in the hope that someone will read it and seek out other books by me. I know that strategy works well for authors who have series, but I don't. However, I did have sales of Fractured Facade after giving away the short last time, so who knows.

Amazon seems to change things up all the time, so who knows what they'll decide to do next. I wish they had kept the algorithms where they were in the beginning of the year, but since they haven't all I have to say is, it was fun while it lasted.

Cherokee, NC

Although we had originally planned to spend a week in Brooklyn, I had concerns leaving the puppy alone with my son for that length of time. It would be the first time I would be away from her, and seeing how "attached" she had become to me I feared the worst. So, instead I thought we could do a "test run" mini vacation to see how she and the kids would make out without the parental units.

My husband and I decided we would fly by the seat of our pants and take a cruise down into the Smoky Mountains. That proved to be a wise decision as New York City was having a heat wave. There's nothing worse than being in the Brooklyn home and trying to sleep in an un-airconditioned bedroom. Shudder. Instead, we spent the night in a wonderfully chilly room at Harrah's in Cherokee.

The best part about travelling without children is we could now get a King bed! Most King-sized rooms have couches and tables which is a nice change from having to sit on Queen beds. The hotel is gorgeous and I loved, loved, loved the room. Naturally, there was construction going on right outside our window on the ninth floor. Wave to the camera...

We didn't hear them at all so it was cool. After we settled in, we went downstairs to check out the casino. One word...sucks! Their slots are tighter than my son's wallet, and that's really cheap. Not only that, but their "progressive" jackpots are a joke. $320? Pffft, not worth it. I quickly realized I would not even lose what I had allowed myself to lose as I hated all the machines except for the Wheel of Fortune ones. There were only five of them in the whole casino! As luck, bad luck it turns out, would have it, I happened to pass by as someone got up so I quickly sat down and proceeded to lose. I lost so quick I didn't even have a chance to get a drink from the waitress.

I looked to play blackjack or roulette instead. Nope, no roulette tables at all, and no live blackjack games. Instead, the blackjack tables are electronically dealt with the "dealer" just watching. The minimum to buy in was $15 a hand. Yeah, right. Pass. I knew at that point that we would be staying just the one night. But before we left I had to scratch my husband's itch...a steak dinner at Ruth Chris' Steakhouse.

The restaurant is newly opened and since we had a wonderful experience years ago in Orlando's Ruth Chris, I agreed to go there instead of Paula Deen's joint. This meal didn't meet our expectations, and like the slot machines, was a total rip-off. I've cooked better steaks on the grill, and at $50 a person (without wine) one would expect not to find a piece of wood in a fillet. When we informed the server of our "find" the manager came over and apologized and explained they use wooden skewers because, "you know when you're cooking a steak, the shape changes, so they help keep the shape." Ummm, no. No steak I ever cooked had the shape changed. To make up for the faux pas she offered him another steak (he was almost finished) or free desserts. Ummm, since we went with the "special", dessert already came with the meal. "Ah," she exclaimed, "but you only get the chocolate cake one with the special, now you both can pick anyone you want." Big woo. The desserts are all priced the same. We picked the creme brulee and cheesecake. Both sucked. At least now I'll never have to hear again how Ruth Chris' steak melted in his mouth and kept the warm temperature throughout his meal. Neither happened.

On our way back to the room we stumbled upon a bar that had a comedy act going on. The first comedian was boring so we were about to leave. Another guy bounded up the stage so we figured we'd give him a chance. We were sitting up close which is a big mistake when you see a comedian because chances are they are going to single you out. Yup. He did.

His name was Chris Barnes and he had us cracking up from the very beginning. He picked on a couple of people in the audience, and he had a field day with me. It went something like this...First he said, "Where's this good-looking couple come from?" Both my husband and I turned around to see who he was speaking to. It was us. "Yeah, I'm talking to you! Hasn't anyone ever told you you were good-looking?" Audience cracks up. Me: "Roanoke." Him: "Roanoke, Roanoke, Roanoke? And how long are you guys married?" I turn to my husband with a quizzical look and reply, "18, 20 years?" Him: "You don't know how long you're married? You must be the first woman in the world that doesn't know how long she's married! You got kids?" Audience cracks up. Me: "Yeah, two." Him: "How old are they?" Me: "18 and 20." Him: "Your married 20 years!" Me: "Okay, then it's 20 years." Audience cracks up.

Him: "What do you do?" Me: "I'm a writer." Him: "You're a writer? What do you write?"  Me: "Books." Him: "Really, what type of books?"  Me: "Novels, short stories." Him: "Really? You sure?" Audience cracks up. I whip out my eBook business card for Fractured Facade and go up to the stage and hand it to him.

He looks at the folded card and asks, "How long did it take you write this?" Me: "Three years." He holds up folded card and says, "This is the shortest book in the world and it took her three years to write it!" Audience is in stitches by this point. I'm a good sport so I let him go on and on about it. I assume he realized it was just a promotion for the actual book, but I had my doubts that the audience did! For the entire set he had my card propped up next to his bottle of Bud, and whenever there was a lull in the laughter he'd pick it up and rank on me again. The audience loved it and I got free publicity. The best part was at the end of the set he put the card in his pocket, and I have a feeling I've just become part of his act.

The last time we were in Cherokee was over a decade ago with the kids. At that time we saw all the sights, rode the Rudy Coaster, and panned for gold. It was sort of sad remembering the fun times we had, and I missed not having little ones with us. Maybe one day I'll have grandchildren and can take them places that kids, and me, enjoy. The one thing that was evident is that Harrah's money has really helped build up the community. Last time it was run-down and shabby looking. I don't know what it looks like beyond the strip, but it's a definite improvement of what we encountered before.

Onto Asheville...

Gone Fishing...

Well, I haven't really gone fishing, but would like to. Whenever I come off a freebie run I feel as if I need a vacation. The preparation time before, and work during the promotion, is a drainer of physical and mental energy. To get the most out of the free weekend I really should still be promoting the hell out of Fractured Facade, but I'm exhausted.

This last run was another success with close to 4,000 copies downloaded. The highest ranking I received was #2 on Family Saga and # 10 in Suspense...not too shabby. The biggest surprise was the hundreds downloaded in the UK. I do believe the one five-star review I received from the last promotion really helped. Germany was on the chart as well with 3 copies. I wonder if it was the same 3 readers who downloaded The Valentine's Day Curse during the last promo. Still, no paid sales from either country.

I decided to lower the price to $3.99 to see if I would get more action than the last time when I had it at $4.99. So far, no. In fact, last time I had more copies sold by the second day than I do now! And thus far, no borrows. My 90-day period is up July 2nd and unless my numbers dramatically improve over the next two weeks I will not be re-enrolling Fractured Facade in the exclusive program.

I think people are getting too used to free books. When an Amazon reader sees they can borrow the book, they know  the book is enrolled in Select and that the author has five free promotion days. I fear too many people are just waiting for those free days to happen rather than spend the money buying the book. An author cannot make a living that way. Hey, I download free books, but also buy books as well.

The only way for an author to make money is to write books, books and more books. The most successful authors are those that have many released, especially a series of books. When a reader likes one that they downloaded for free they will search out the rest of the series, and maybe even pay for them. I do not have a series of books. I am not a prolific writer. I do not write in a popular genre...and still don't know what the thrill is of zombies and vampires!

I read somewhere that an author needs to release 4-5 books a year to be successful. Ha! That's not me. Oh, if you want crap, I could do that with one hand on the keyboard, but that's not what I'm after. I just want to tell stories that mean something to me. Those tales take time. And you can't rush them. But there is something I can do to speed the process along. Get off the internet! Well, not totally get off, but definitely decrease my time, especially on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. All those FB writing groups and blogs about writing and publishing are valuable, however, they can take up too much time and actually hinder the writing process, so it's time for me to step away a bit. Throw a puppy, running a business, insomnia, & exhaustion into the mix, it's no wonder my creative spirit is sapped.

Although I have two books battling each other to "go first," my brain cannot make the simple decision of which one will. Should I deviate from the first two and go with the more popular haunting/supernatural genre, or, spill another New York story? I do believe I need to take some time and clear my head, and rejuvenate my spirit before proceeding.

So yeah, I'm going fishing...

Marie DiLuca Interview

So you still haven't downloaded Fractured Facade? Check out this interview with Marie DiLuca on Writer's Block Party. It may change your mind. Oh, and the book is free today and tomorrow. Hopefully your dad is not dating a sociopath, but maybe you should download this for him just to make sure he never does.

Father's Day Freebie

Sunday will be the first Father's Day since I published Fractured Facade. Although I had reservations about ever giving it away free again, the guilt ate away at me. After all my dad went through...after all I went through...how could I not do something special for Father's Day?

A book dedication makes a poor substitute for a crappy tie, but that's the best I could do. Second best is getting this book into the hands of those people who need to read it. I'll take my lumps from those who have a problem with realistic dialogue as long as it finds its way into the hands of those who were meant to read it. Yes, there are curse words in it, as well as "unlikable" characters, so if you are easily offended by reality, this book is probably not for you.

I assume I'm never going to get rich off of it, and that's okay. That's not why I wrote it. Dad knows why I wrote it. Hopefully after you read it, you'll know why this book had to be written too. Still, I wish I never had to...

Free, for the last time -- today, tomorrow and Sunday...6/15-17th.

Click here for a direct link ---->  Fractured Facade -- "A father's death, a daughter's life, and a sociopath's vendetta."

Amazon's Free Casino

During my two day freebie book promotion, when I was watching the number of Fractured Facade downloads skyrocket, I felt like I was in a casino, finally winning at the slots.



Unfortunately, the downloads were free, so whenever the jackpot hit, it was like winning plastic chips. Three weeks ago, I thought getting my book into the hands of thousands of people was just fantastic. Now, I realize a lot of those people shouldn't have my book in their hands. They're not the people I wrote it for.

Although the quick downloading brought me high rankings, I'd rather it have stayed lower if it meant my reader was choosier. Just because something is free, it's not always for me. Before I download anything I check out the description, reviews and sample. The sample is what tells me if I want to invest my time or not. Reviews are great, but I trust my own eyes to know what I'm looking for more than someone else's opinion.

But in Amazon's Free Casino, it's a crapshoot. Sometimes you'll touch a reader in a special way, and other times, a reader may not want to touch your book with a ten foot pole. Out of 10,000 people, some will have different ummmm "taste" than I have. Some may even find my writing "distasteful." Hopefully, many more will find it authentic and necessary. For those that have a problem with characters using words that "offend them" I'd like them to know it's called dialogue. And sometimes, it's colorful. And frankly to me, it's not profane, but to others, it's enough to stop reading and write a one-star review -- the only review they ever wrote -- just focused on what they deem to be a book "so filled with profanity" they couldn't finish it. I think that's a ridiculous statement.

Yeah, there's some cuss words. That's how we talk in Brooklyn. "Pissed off," "shit," "hell," "bitch" and wait for it..."fucking bitch" are spoken by a woman, yes, a woman, a woman grappling with turbulent times. In order not to "offend" any righteous reader, I want them to know what they're getting into before reading my book. In the sample there are "cuss words." On Shelfari, I even quoted Marie: "I didn't know you needed a stage name to pick up dog shit." This way if someone had a problem with "shit" they'd move on to the next free book. I know I most likely wouldn't download an Amish romance or Christian fiction book as it's not my preference. My in-your-face writing may not be yours. So, if words easily offend you, please do not read my book. Just like in real life, people either love me or hate me, so why should my writing be any different.

On the other hand, if you are one of the 10,000 people who actually read and liked Fractured Facade, please consider leaving your review, or letting me know so I could hound you to leave a review. Since the freebie, I've had some five, four and one-star reviews on Amazon. And five and four star ones on Goodreads. At first I was pissed at the one-star reviews, but after I checked out what, if any, other books they did like, I knew they were not my target audience. I thought their opinions would make my sales suffer, but other than bringing down my rating, it hasn't hurt. Other authors have said you're not a "real author" until you get a one-star review. I say bullshit. The check from Smashwords I received holds more weight as to my "real author" status.

Recently I read a book review from a friend who absolutely hated a memoir she tried to read. After reading her review and checking out the others on Amazon, I thought to myself, "Hmmmm, this sounds like a book I might like," so I requested it from my library. I know her tastes are different than mine, so I'll be curious to see what I think of the book. Her review didn't stop me from getting it...in fact, had she not reviewed it, I would never have known about the book.

By far the best thing that's happened with my freebie is that people I had never known before have reached out to me, and some of them have even become Facebook friends. And you know what? We seem to have much in common. Those are the type of people I want reading my book...the ones that get it. Still, I'm starting to think that maybe giving away free books to the masses is not the be-all, end-all after all...

48 Hours Later

When I woke up this cold, dreary Monday morning I turned on the computer and found something that immediately warmed my soul. It was an email informing me someone had left a comment on my last post. It was from a 68-year-old woman, originally from Brooklyn who now lived in Florida. Although the comment did not show up on my post, grrrr! Blogger! I want to share it with you here, and I hope she doesn't mind...

"Well I just finished your book, as my late Italian Brooklyn Taxis Cab driver father would have said you have Moxie! I grow up in Brooklyn too, love Brennan and Carr's, your story had me rooting for you. Your dad and mom are touching Jersus shoulder, and saying "look at our Daughter, fight for us!"
You have shown your children that it is possible to fight evil and win. I am 68 years old and live near Orlando, it the Evil one sent you mail from here, I would gladly track her down send her you love. Only kidding. God bless you and your beautiful family."

At first I smiled, then I called my daughter over and as I read it to her, I choked up. That one little email validated for me that giving away thousands of copies of Fractured Facade was worth it. A complete stranger "got it" and she took the time to tell me. I reached someone and that's what any writer really wants to do.

I decided to check my Amazon stats just for kicks. I was happy to see that overnight, people had actually purchased and even borrowed the book. I checked the rankings and beheld this sight...

Yes, that's #78 in Paid Family Saga! Even though it's not burning up the charts, I'm still thrilled to have cracked the top 100. Frankly, I didn't think that would happen as my sales were almost non-existent immediately following the promotion. I figured there's no way anyone could "find" me. I think I may be getting noticed by the "also bought" icons that pop up on Amazon's page when you buy a book. My author friends told me to be patient, and suggested I lower the price. I do not want to "rock-bottom" my book. I put years into it and feel $4.99 is still a good deal. Heck, Snooki gets $11.99 for her eBook, and she "wrote" that in a couple of months. I believe after people read the sample they'll know whether or not they feel it's "worth" the money. If they do, great, if not, no harm, no foul.

Based on the number of times it's being shelved on Safari, as well as the recent paid sales, I think people are beginning to read it, before it gets buried and forgotten on their Kindle. And after they finish, hopefully they'll like it enough to not only recommend it to a friend, but also take the time to write a review on Amazon. Time will tell...

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Wonderful/Miserable Success

I'm happy/sad to report that the 2 free KDP Select days for Fractured Facade was a wonderful/miserable success! Huh? How could it be both you ask?

Almost 10,000 people downloaded Fractured Facade for free...yes, you read that right, 10,000! At one point it was #1 on Suspense, #1 on Family Saga and #19 in Amazon's Top 100.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't exciting watching the ticker flick into the hundreds per minute, catapulting me to the head of the charts. Of course, it was the head of the free charts.

When I woke up this morning I checked to see if I had experienced what many authors have after giving their book away for free...sales! Yes, yes, I did. One! That's right you read that right, one sale. I checked my rankings and sure enough back down, down, down. Not quite in the netherlands where I began, but still low enough that I'm not on any potential customer's screens. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

On the positive side, for the last two days I stopped crying. Those that know me, know Max, my dog, died last Saturday. The grief had consumed me and having this distraction was what I needed. I am also humbled by how many friends, as well as people I hardly know, rallied around me to support this promotion. I thank you all!

On Fractured Facade's page I received 64 likes and folks have placed it on their shelves in Shelfari. I heard from strangers telling me they look forward to reading it and expressing how they knew someone that sounded like they were in a similar situation regarding a golddigging abuser as the "character" in my book. I believe in my heart that people that "needed" to get this book, have. And that's why I wrote this book. So if I can help even one person, this promotion was a wonderful success.

My biggest fear is that a lot of folks won't even read it. Too many people just download free books and forget about them. My hope is that even if 10% read it, they will like it, rank it, write a review, and finally recommend it to someone. Hey, my family likes to eat too.

I've always been a gambler. I bet on the longshots. I only play the progressive slots. I wait until the lottery hits over $100 million before I part with a buck. For the most part I can say, I always lose. And that's okay. I only bet with what I know I can lose. It's the excitement of the potential win that keeps me going. And one day, I know I will hit. Today's just not that day.