I’ve pulled Nursing Girls from the earlier posts and stuffed them back in the crooks and nannies of my hard drive. If somehow you missed it and want to read it still, a brief email with your return email will suffice.
Obviously, my free books in August were not contingent on anything, but if you took advantage, a review would be appreciated. Thanks.
Since Nursing Girls was posted, I've been to Naples, Italy, for ten days (plus recovery time!), edited and formatted a monthly web serial for a dear friend (five issues so far), done some reading and tried to keep up with the news and events, and of course, the upcoming elections, which can't come too soon! Beyond that, I'll say I plan to vote, I hope you do likewise if you're in the US, and we'll say no more about that.
Because of my lack of focus recently, I have three WIPs under way. Four if you count the photo essay I’m doing of our trip to Naples. (Oh yeah, we had a great time!) I hope to use my 50 000 NaNo words to make a significant advance on the stories. The three are Mark My Dance Card; Low Places, and Dragons Run My Life. The first two are Mercenaries Stories, staring Beckie, Ian and their crew; the last is a fantasy that I hope will be fun to read. So far, it’s been fun to write.
Info I added to the NaNo website for them:
Mark My Dance Card is a rewritten Princess, which went by the wayside when Brexit happened. The plot I'd envisioned for Princess didn't work very well in the new non-EU England, so Beckie and crew are investigating two disappearances, three friends, and an oil tanker.
Low Places is planned to be shorter, following Beckie as she attempts to protect the family of a Mexican prosecutor about to try a drug trafficker. For his part, the drug lord intends never to come to trial.
Dragons Run My Life is a step into fantasy, not yet well fleshed out. The concept is simple: The princess is killed. Tanial is a ringer for the princess: red hair, freckles and all. The soldier responsible for the princess seeks Tanial as a replacement. Their goal becomes wrangling Tanial out of the prearranged marriage waiting for her.
Between the three, today I have a total of about 40 000 words. I’m planning for a total of 200 000 words, so NaNo should leave me in good shape, assuming the muse doesn’t go on vacation!
If you also plan to do NaNo, good luck and sprint! As always, comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trip. Show all posts
Friday, October 21, 2016
Monday, May 21, 2012
Back Again, With Questions
Last night, about 8:30, we arrived back home - whew! - after 4400 miles and 21 days, one graduation from US Army basic training, one wedding, visits with brother and aunt, not to mention Gramma's azaleas (not going to mention...).
I published Mercenaries: A Love Story on March 21. So far, it's sold two copies to people who are not family or friends - or if they are, they haven't admitted it. I hope that's not the case! It's in the Select program, but no borrows, so far.
This leads to a question: on Amazon, is there a way to see what the book's page views are? On Smashwords, the samples downloaded stat hinted at that, but I haven't found that for Amazon yet. If there are no page views, that would lead me in the direction of trying to increase visibility, but if there are page views that don't get converted, that implies that either the cover or the blurb aren't doing their job. Or at $4.99, the price is too high. Different things to fix. If there are page views, reviews might help, but there aren't any of those as yet.
With 35K words (about a third) of one WIP being looked at by a beta reader, and 130K words of a second WIP going out to a second reader, I have a minute or two to think on these things. If only I knew what to work on... If any readers feel they could provide an opinion on either the cover (visible to the right) or the description (below), please feel free. I won't hold anything you offer against you. Of course, you could say, work on everything... but I'd like to focus.
Description
Mercenaries: A Love Story
Beckie Sverdupe, typical high-school student and accomplished equestrienne, has a best friend, a younger brother, and no plans beyond homework and the upcoming pep rally.
Then, she is kidnapped to be buried alive. Her strength and resourcefulness during that ordeal causes the enigmatic young mercenary, Ian Jamse, to ask for her help in rescuing another abducted girl. During spring break, she and her best friend play exotic dancer in London and, within a day, find themselves being massaged in a Italian villa! The sex-trader is thwarted this time, but he continues to ply his evil trade in San Diego by hijacking a middle-school school bus.
Beckie chooses to put herself back on the stage, within the slaver’s grasp, to free the California girls. Jamse sees financial gain. The two of them chase the fiend from London to Arizona to Thailand, where Beckie learns what she really wants from life.
This is Mercenaries: A Love Story complete. All four stories are here in one volume.
Bonus! An excerpt from Freedom No Matter, the next book in this series.
Mercenaries: A Love Story is recommended for 16+ for language and mature situations
The book is just over 153K words and it's not available in paper. Does anyone think having a 500 page book available would add to its success?
I published Mercenaries: A Love Story on March 21. So far, it's sold two copies to people who are not family or friends - or if they are, they haven't admitted it. I hope that's not the case! It's in the Select program, but no borrows, so far.
This leads to a question: on Amazon, is there a way to see what the book's page views are? On Smashwords, the samples downloaded stat hinted at that, but I haven't found that for Amazon yet. If there are no page views, that would lead me in the direction of trying to increase visibility, but if there are page views that don't get converted, that implies that either the cover or the blurb aren't doing their job. Or at $4.99, the price is too high. Different things to fix. If there are page views, reviews might help, but there aren't any of those as yet.
With 35K words (about a third) of one WIP being looked at by a beta reader, and 130K words of a second WIP going out to a second reader, I have a minute or two to think on these things. If only I knew what to work on... If any readers feel they could provide an opinion on either the cover (visible to the right) or the description (below), please feel free. I won't hold anything you offer against you. Of course, you could say, work on everything... but I'd like to focus.
Description
Mercenaries: A Love Story
Beckie Sverdupe, typical high-school student and accomplished equestrienne, has a best friend, a younger brother, and no plans beyond homework and the upcoming pep rally.
Then, she is kidnapped to be buried alive. Her strength and resourcefulness during that ordeal causes the enigmatic young mercenary, Ian Jamse, to ask for her help in rescuing another abducted girl. During spring break, she and her best friend play exotic dancer in London and, within a day, find themselves being massaged in a Italian villa! The sex-trader is thwarted this time, but he continues to ply his evil trade in San Diego by hijacking a middle-school school bus.
Beckie chooses to put herself back on the stage, within the slaver’s grasp, to free the California girls. Jamse sees financial gain. The two of them chase the fiend from London to Arizona to Thailand, where Beckie learns what she really wants from life.
This is Mercenaries: A Love Story complete. All four stories are here in one volume.
Bonus! An excerpt from Freedom No Matter, the next book in this series.
Mercenaries: A Love Story is recommended for 16+ for language and mature situations
The book is just over 153K words and it's not available in paper. Does anyone think having a 500 page book available would add to its success?
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