October is Respect Life month and I am having a sale both for the e-book (on all platforms) for 99 cents and paperback of BOUND for $10.99 this entire month. This is a perfect time to get multiple copies for your classroom or book group discussion. I hear it has provoked many thoughtful discussions, especially when it's hard to choose life. Please contact me if you want me to come speak to your class or book group. It would be a great pleasure.I am a few days late but September has been a busy month with two writing conferences, deadlines to meet, and preparing for two High Masses (JOY!). I hope you will share this with your friends. Also, I hate to beg, but if you've read the book, I would really appreciate a quick review on Amazon--this is not like the book review you had to do in school; rather the best and easiest way is to just express your honest reaction. Perhaps it made you think. Maybe you want to spend more time with Rebecca and Joy (I do!) or you hated the ending. It's really okay. Once a book is published it belongs to the reader. I am thankful for all my readers, whether or not they have reservations about leaving reviews.
Here's the most recent review:
August 9, 2019
This is a page turner with multidimensional characters and realistic, compelling choices for the main character. The metaphor of the possibility of alternate realities is apt as Rebecca navigates a series of tough decisions and revelations to ultimately make up her own mind in a way that is satisfying and believable.
One of the things I've learned is that Amazon gives a boost to your book if it has more than 50 reviews. So my heartfelt thanks to all who've read AND reviewed BOUND. I keep praying it will fall into the hands of those who need to read it.
I've not done any marketing for my other books, except for a school visit or two the years they came out. At the Write2Ignite conference, quite a few people were astounded that I have a lot of books and I don't market any of them. But I have no need when teachers and librarians see them listed in industry journals. Alas, most self-published books have the problem of discoverability; they do not get seen and they sink into oblivion. Actually, the vast majority of trade books tank too, so I don't feel too terrible. It's the bestsellers that keep a publishing house in business, that allows them to purchase books that they love that only 500 other people might love. So I'm very thankful for the bestselling celebrity books because I've read so many wonderful books that otherwise wouldn't be published.
I've not done any marketing for my other books, except for a school visit or two the years they came out. At the Write2Ignite conference, quite a few people were astounded that I have a lot of books and I don't market any of them. But I have no need when teachers and librarians see them listed in industry journals. Alas, most self-published books have the problem of discoverability; they do not get seen and they sink into oblivion. Actually, the vast majority of trade books tank too, so I don't feel too terrible. It's the bestsellers that keep a publishing house in business, that allows them to purchase books that they love that only 500 other people might love. So I'm very thankful for the bestselling celebrity books because I've read so many wonderful books that otherwise wouldn't be published.
In any case, this is a great time to be writing. You have more options than you think. Don't let the rejections get you down. Persevere. Here's something I wrote on rejections for Write 2 Ignite.
Happy reading, writing AND submitting, folks!
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.
Happy reading, writing AND submitting, folks!
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.
4 comments:
I endorsed this book as a good (and from a POV not oft told) novel for YA, that deserves reading not only because of the author's beliefs, but because it's well done as a story. I read (and live with people who hold) different points of view, and it continues to add to my inner life. BOUND certainly did.
I am so thankful, Mirka. For SP books, reader reviews are essential. I rely on them myself when making a purchase. But I still haven't figured out how to get more eyeballs on the book itself. I'm hoping a sale will make a difference.
You wrote that you're thankful for the celebrity books that allow the other books to be published. When I worked for a small Canadian publisher, he said that he only expected 10% of his books to sell well to help him publish the other 90% (the literary ones he was really interested in).
Barb, it's great to hear of your experience working at a small publishing house. When I met Arthur Levine at a conference, I thanked him for publishing one of my favorite books, a little-known translation from the Dutch, The Book of Everything. And he said the same thing.
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