Why Wait Until Valentine's Day To Break Up?

When I was younger, much younger, single even, you know, back--way way back-- in the day, Valentine's Day was such a desperate day. It brought out the best and worst of people and businesses. It still does. All the jewelry stores, florists, and restaurants up their prices...supply and demand. Basically it means paying extra for those same shitty roses that were half-priced a month ago, or the "special" three course Valentine's meal. Nothing says I love you as being cramped in one of the extra tables they brought up from the basement, and rushed through those speedy courses, as you don't enjoy your over-priced, lousy-cooked dinner. The group-thinking then, and is still the same now, being the more someone spends on someone, the more they are in love with that person. Of course, that's if you're even "lucky" to have a special partner who will be happy to spend their hard-earned or illicit-gotten money on the likes of you.

Why, back--way way back--in the day, some boys would have the audacity to break up with their sweethearts just so they don't have to depart with cash. And there were some girls who secretly wanted to break up with their disappointing sweethearts, but would decide to give them "another chance" in the hopes that said boy would redeem himself by showering the girl with wonderful, thoughtful, loving gifts, reflecting how he always felt, but just didn't know how to express himself. I'd say those scenarios probably still happens these days. Now, please feel free to substitute girl for boy, he for she, or whatever gender or pronoun people prefer nowadays. It doesn't matter. It's still the same. One person always seems to love the other one a little bit more than they are loved.

With my vast knowledge of people's actions/personalities/dispositions, etc., observed through books, movies, and decades of personal experiences, I have to say that if one waits for their partner to "come through" on Valentine's Day, it's probably not gonna happen. If you felt that secure and loved in your relationship you wouldn't have to wait and see what that person will do. Your significant other should treat you like a queen or king throughout the year, not just one lousy day, a couple of hours to "make up" for their shitty behavior. And no, loving someone does not equate to having to spend mega dollars to prove it. The best gifts come from the heart, not the wallet.

If over the last year the following "scenarios" have been experienced, my advice would be to break up with the fucker before Valentine's Day. Now for the sake of continuity I am going to use the pronoun "she" as you, and "he" as the one you're hoping will  do the "right thing."

Don't wait for Valentine's Day to break up  if...

*The moment you finish ordering in a restaurant, he takes out his phone and ignores you for the rest of the meal.

*He never pays for your meal any more.

*He no longer opens, or holds doors open for you.

*He not only doesn't walk you to your door, but leaves before you even get to your door.

*He no longer holds your hand.

*He walks ahead of you, and often is looking down at his phone.

*When he's not on his phone, he makes sure to place it upside down so you cannot see the screen.

*When he kisses you hello or good-bye, it's only a peck, and if you comment on that he rolls his eyes.

*He no longer reaches for you.

*He has problems "performing" and uses the excuse the hair regeneration meds are causing the problem. Um, if he is losing his hair, and is using meds to keep the hair, the reason he's doing that is to be attractive to someone. If he already has that "someone," you, then you're not the "someone" he wants to attract.

*Even after you plead with him not to, he buys a two-seater mini sports car, that due to a severe medical condition you have and he is well aware of, makes it difficult/dangerous for you to ride in. Um, if he's thinking his new car is a chick magnet, and he already has the chick, you, then you're not the "chick" he wants to attract.

*All of his money goes into his girlie car, whether it's to repair it or to pay all the tickets he gets.

*He no longer posts pictures of you and him on social media sites.

*He worries more about how he looks in pictures than you do.

*He cannot pass a mirror without looking at it,  often adjusting his hair.

*He doesn't let you run your fingers through his hair.

*He only picks the Netflix movie.

*He lies...constantly...about everything...everything...everything.

*He's always in competition with you.

*He always says his "insert whatever you both did together here, ummm, like a paint night painting," is better than yours. Even if it was, which it probably isn't, why would he feel compelled to say that?

*He gets jealous of the amount of friends, likes, and comments you receive on Facebook.

*He gets jealous of the amount of followers, likes, and comments you receive on Instagram.

*He doesn't like or comment on any of your social media posts.

*He doesn't get along with your closest friends and family.

*Your dog hates him.

*He does not support you mentally.

*He does not support your goals.

*He makes you doubt yourself.

*He turns everything around so that you are in the wrong.

*Every problem is your fault.

*He lowers your self esteem.

*He bullies you.

*He makes you cry.

*For your one-year anniversary he gives you six wilted roses and a small box of chocolates which he already opened and ate from. They are miniature Reeses peanut butter cups, which are your least favorite, and are his most favorite.

Need I go on? I think you get the point. Why prolong the agony? Why is it so many have a hard time being the one to break up when they know the other person is being totally passive-agressive and secretly wants to break up, but doesn't have the balls to actually do it? Creeps like that will wait it out, making your life miserable until you finally reach that point and say, I'm done, done, done! That's all they wanted. And then they could play the victim and say, "She broke up with me...blah, blah, blah."

Fine, you want to wait and see what happens Valentine's Day. Your digging your heels in. You put all that time into a relationship...what, how long? Months, a year, years? You want satisfaction. I say good luck to you. You're never gonna find the person you deserve if you stay with someone who doesn't deserve you...

Valentine's Day can be a blessing if you're with the one you love, and who loves you, or it can be such a curse...Here's a short story I wrote, aptly entitled The Valentine's Day Curse. Click here. It's free on Amazon. It might make you feel better. I know I did, after I wrote it.

Hey, if you have any other behaviors that should make you not wait for Valentine's Day to break up with someone, feel free to leave them in the comments...

The Valentine's Day Curse is Free

Just a quick post to let you know that my short story, The Valentine's Day Curse will be free on Amazon in all its stores from 2/11 through 2/15.

"When Lisa’s Valentine’s Day ritual is interrupted by a phone call, she is surprised it’s from someone she hadn’t heard from in many years. What could her ex, Joey, possibly want from her on what could have been their 25th wedding anniversary?

The Valentine’s Day Curse is a short story about stirred memories of unrequited love. For some people Valentine’s Day is not always a bed of roses."

I hope you enjoy this tale with a twist and that all your Valentine's Days are better than Joey's!

Just click on your country below for a direct link. Thanks for your support, and any reviews and/or recommendations to friends are always greatly appreciated!

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE
Amazon FR
Amazon ES
Amazon IT
Amazon NL
Amazon JP
Amazon BR
Amazon CA
Amazon MX
Amazon AU
Amazon IN

12/13/14

When I was writing out a check this morning I realized it was 12/13/14. That's a date easily remembered, and had I been single, yet in a lengthy relationship, I probably would have considered that date to be a good date to get married on. It would be lucky, no? I wonder how many other people chose that date because it was special. I hope the ones that did have better luck than I did when choosing special wedding dates.

My first flop was in choosing Valentine's Day. I wasn't even really a romantic. Never had been a faithful fervent follower of the day of over-priced flowers, chocolates, jewelry and Hallmark hearts, yet that was the day I thought would be perfect for a wedding. And it was, for the wedding. The marriage? Not so much. It lasted 7 months.

I did take solace in the fact that I hadn't spend years of planning the perfect wedding. Mine was not a dream I had since I was a little girl. Mine was more of a yeah, why not, and let's do it on the perfect date, Valentine's Day, and so what that's less than two months away. I want that date. He'll/I'll never forget it. And I never have, but not in a good way. At least I got an idea for a short story out of it, "The Valentine's Day Curse." If you're a Kindle Unlimited member you can check it out for free.

This commercial was shot the day of my wedding. We couldn't get in on time because they were still shooting it, using my "special day" as backdrop. You think I would have gotten something off the pricy tab. This spot used to run for years and years on the local television channels, especially in the wee hours of the morning. My dear departed cousin JP would always call me when he would see it come on and we would crack up reminiscing about that day...so crazy.



This is their most recent commercial from seven years ago.



They used the same background music for their spot as I did for my Valentine's Day Curse spot...uncanny!


The Valentine's Day Curse

Ok, so that was that special day. The next flop special day also involved a marriage. This time it was an even quicker turn-around, like three weeks. We did have 90 days to get married, but I thought 8-8-88 should be the date to use. He'll/I'll never forget it. 8 is a very lucky number, well, so say the Chinese. Turn those eights on their sides and it's the symbol for eternity. Our love would last forever. That marriage lasted 7 weeks. They have a reality series now on K-1 visa couples, so I probably could get at least a novella out of that failed one.

For the third, and hopefully, final marriage, I chose an ordinary day. It was the quickest decision yet, one week. In my then fiancé's eyes, it was the longest, years before I took the legal leap. But when I thought the time was right, and needed a weekend away in Atlantic City, I agreed to a quickie civil service in Staten Island. After all, it was the closest city hall in New York near the Garden State Parkway, the way to get to AC. Anyway, neither one of us forgets the date, so I guess even though it's ordinary to most folks, it's special to us.

And that brings us to today, to this special day - 12/13/14. I like the ring of it, the sound of it, it feels special, like you're in the middle of a holiday with the anticipation of something beautiful. And just as I typed that this song came on Pandora...Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah.



Beautiful. I think it's a beautiful day to get married too...all the best to those who chose today...hope you have better luck than I did. And if you did, and happen to stumble upon this post, please leave a comment and let us know.

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...

Finally Free for the Nook!

Well, well, well, lookie at that...Barnes & Noble finally made The Valentine's Day Curse free!

This is the first time I can actually offer Nook readers something for nothing. I certainly hope they take advantage of it.

So now the last hold-out is Amazon. Unless people, ahem, you dear readers, report to Amazon that the book is free on B&N, iTunes & Kobo they will continue to price it at 99 cents.

I really would like to have this short story be free everywhere without having to become exclusive to Amazon so will give it 90 days. After that period if the download numbers do not reflect well on all sites besides Amazon, I may have no other choice but to indenture myself again.

I would love to give it a trial run without the exclusivity, so if you can help me out here I'd be most grateful! Thanks!!!

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!

Cupid is Stupid!

Cupid is stupid! Ha! Now that I've gotten your attention...

Yes, it's true. I've never been a fan of Valentine's Day. And then I wrote The Valentine's Day Curse -- A short story. Guess what? Still not a fan of the day! I feel like I should be shown love every single day of the year, not just on some Hallmark holiday which gives restaurants, florists, and chocolatiers excuses to raise their prices and lower their standards. Does the amount of money spent by my sweetheart really show how much I mean to him? I should hope not. And what if you don't have a sweetheart? Why should you feel crappy today? You don't need no stinking man/woman to buy you a cheesy gift. Go buy yourself something today. I'm sure you really need a 4 1/2 foot teddy bear!

So..for ALL you guys and girls it is my pleasure to offer for FREE to you The Valentine's Day Curse. Just click here and you'll be brought to Amazon. Don't have a Kindle? Don't need one...on the same page you'll see Amazon offers free apps for other reading devices.



But hurry, the offer is only good on 2/14 and 2/15 and then it goes back up to the whopping 99 cent price!

One more thing...Happy Valentine's Day!

Another Day, Another Freebie

Heads up...The Valentine's Day Curse -- A short story is free December 27th & 28th on Amazon. Hope you'll check it out!!! Thanks!

Click here or on the cover on the sidebar to download it.

If you're in the UK click here for a direct link.

It's also available in every Amazon store around the world, Bwahahaha!

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!

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...

Tired of the Brown Bar

Just because I'm tired of looking at the brown bar of shame, The Valentine's Day Curse is going to be free on Amazon today. You know what, I don't even care how many people download it, as long as there's at least one of you. Hate that freaking bar...

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.

The Valentine's Day Curse June Freebie

When my 90-day period expired for The Valentine's Day Curse's run in Amazon's KDP Select program I had to make a decision whether to pull it or renew it. After much consideration, the main one being that every time someone "borrows" my 99 cent short story I get a royalty which would be equal to selling 7 copies, I decided to go with another 90-day run. Believe it or not, people actually borrow it. Thank you borrowers!

The last time I gave away over 2,000 free copies, besides the borrows, I also sold quite a few books. It might be different this time. From what I understand, Amazon has changed the algorithms which are no longer as attractive for gaining traction on the best-selling lists as they were when the program first began. In the beginning, every freebie was equal to one sale, so one could shoot up the charts and get some action afterwards. I've heard it now takes 10 freebies to equal one sale, so one moseys up the charts and gets little action afterwards. I imagine Amazon will tweak their system again once authors start abandoning ship.

As of this post, The Valentine's Day Curse ranking is 362,138, so figure it's time to give it a shot in the arm. Even though many folks say never give away free books in the beginning of the month, today and tomorrow, June 1 & 2 this 5-star short story will be free, free, free! Click here for a direct link! And don't forget you do not need to own a Kindle to read it. Click here for free apps for many other devices.

If you like this short story, by all means please leave a review, or at least a "like," but if you're a troll, please ignore this post, my book, and me. Thanks!