Just for Me-Fall!

Through the trees you can see a little of the University I went to.

I have this abnormal obsession with fall.  For some reason it didn't start until I was a freshman in college.  When I was stressed out with school I would open up the curtains of my 7th story dorm room and I would stare out at the beautiful trees that line the streets of Missoula Montana.  Bits of stress would just melt away.

The view from "M" hill in Missoula

I've lived in Maine for two fall seasons but each time I have been told by the locals that it was one of their worst fall seasons ever.  I'm not certain if they are remembering old glory days of the 60s or if the fall season really hasn't been all that it should be.  Either way I keep hoping that before Kris and I move back out west we will get to live through one of those mythical perfect fall seasons where every tree changes one leaf at a time and no freak storms sweep in to destroy it.

Downtown Missoula-I really miss their farmer's market

Some people hate fall because they see it as the death of summer when it gets cold and the trees start to hibernate.  I love every bit of fall and celebrate it by eating fresh orchard apples, various squashes, hiking through the woods, burning fall scented candles, and drinking more hot cider and cocoa than is good for me!

As the first leaves start to change here in Maine I hope that everyone gets to enjoy a wonderful Fall season this year!

Final Opinion on KDP Free Promotion Days

Before joining the KDP Select for 90 days for my first novel, Reluctantly in Love I did a little bit of looking into fellow romance writer's opinions of it.  For some reason many that I ran across were negative.  They didn't like the restrictions of only selling their books through Amazon for so long.  Others seemed to object to the way that 'free' books are done on Amazon.  Some didn't like that you could only use 5 days every 90 day period for a free promotion while others wanted to keep their books free at all times.  Then there were those who LOVED the program and credited it with important boosts in their sales and a raised name recognition in general.

I went into my promotional days with rather low expectations.  My books sales have been almost non-existant this month so getting my name out through a few free book sales and then a few paid sales after the promotion ended was all that I was really expecting.

I am happy to say that I now fit into the category of people who love this program.  Although my sales were never something to brag about I have now sold more copies of my books since the promotion ended on Sunday morning than I had in the past three months.  I don't expect this trend to continue for very long and I'm curious to see where my sales land when the new 'normal' kicks in.  If I try to program again in the future I will try not to expect this great of an outcome again, it could have been a fluke or just the right timing.  Still I think that at some point I would love to give it a go and find out, maybe around Christmas.


Perhaps the best thing about this promotion was how many people went out of their way to help me spread the news.  Special thanks to the ever-wonderful Penny Watson!

Reluctantly in Love-Select and Free!

I've heard some great things about Amazon's KDP Select and this week I am giving it a go!  For those of you who aren't writers, or who haven't looked into it yet, the idea is that for 90 days you agree to only sell e-copies of your book through Amazon.  In exchange they let you join their 'Select' group.  People can borrow your book for free, if they are part of the Select program with Amazon, and Amazon will pay you each time someone borrow it.  Also you can choose 5 days within that 90 day period when your book will be free to download.

I know this kinda sounds like paying someone to steal your lunch money.  But how all of these giveaways help is that Amazon kinda pushes your book to the front of the pack and you reach more potential readers, they can become potentials fans of your writing, then they will then buy your other books.  If your goal isn't the just sell books but to make fans who will buy new books too this is a great way to start, or at least that's what I've heard.

Today August 14th through Saturday August 18th Reluctantly in Love will be free to download on Amazon.com!  Please tell family, friends, and even those that you don't like to visit my website for more information or head directly to Amazon.com for your free copy!  It will then be an Amazon.com exclusive for the remained 85 days.  If you were planning to buy it through Barnes and Noble or Smashwords it will be available in time for Christmas!

Thanks for the support everyone and wish me luck!

Just for Me-Camping!

Our Destination-Peaks Kenny State Park

We've been preparing for a little camping trip at my house and it is finally almost here!  For three nights this coming weekend Kris and I will escape up north to enjoy the great outdoors with our two dogs.  Although we are looking forward to awhile without internet or e-mail, I'll admit that we are both charging up our e-readers and ipods.  But I assure you that a few classic soft-back books will join the packing along with some hiking shoes and a pair of flip-flops for the lake.

We did the math and except for time off to move (twice in the past two years) and time off to visit or entertain family (four times in the past two years) Kris and I have not had time off for a vacation for the two of us in almost three years.  We've had a day trip here or there and I went to a very busy writer's conference last spring with him but otherwise nothing.  No wonder we need this little three day weekend for some recovery and recharging!

Really, August?

I can't believe how this summer has just disappeared.  I guess part of my surprise comes from the lack of summer fun this year.  Usually when summer hits Kris and I go to farmer's markets, yard sales, and spend nearly every day eating some kind of bar-b-que that he thinks up.  Except for a quick one day trip up to Monson, Maine for a fantastic BBQ fest Kris and I have been holed up inside out house out in Corinth Maine.

When we first moved out to the area about a year ago, I was really excited.  I loved the idea of living in the middle of no-where and about a half hour away from a decent sized town.  In a lot of ways I think that I would still love the set up if a few things were changed.  But the set up makes it a bit hard o celebrate summer the way we used to.

We've tried a couple of farmer's markets in this area and so far, none of them are worth driving 15 minutes to a half hour to get to.  The same could be said for yard sales, nearly everything is too spread out to make an afternoon of it.  And BBQ?  Well unless you travel over an hour north of us to Monson, there isn't good BBQ nearby.  At home we'd been living off of a reved up propane thing designed for camping.  After one year the top had rusted off and so we were stuck, buy another cheap $30 thing or wait for the end of summer sales to get a nicer one.  We are still planning to move back out west in two years and have to weigh our purchases with the thought of will we want to haul it out to Idaho and is it worth it for just a couple of years if we don't want to bring it.

But that hasn't been the only thing holding us inside.  Kris and I have been busy outside of our normal 'day' jobs.  His etsy shop has been doing great especially with some of the newest items.  But it takes hours out of his schedule that would have been spent on the house or having fun.  As for me, books books and more books!  As soon as I think I'm done with something and have it perfect it seems that there is something else that pops up.  I've been getting ready for the release of my third romance book in September, a fourth in November and trying to write a dark children's fantasy book that I wanted to get out to some agents this fall.  I finally had to set aside the fantasy book, I have too much to do already!

So now that it is August I hope to slow down, at least a little.  Kris and I plan to go camping for a weekend with the dogs this month.  A bit of fresh air will do us both a bit of good.