Congratulations to the 10 Winners of CIRCLE OF DECEPTION on Goodreads.
Keith, Jill, Heidi, Pearl, Janea, Suzanne, Tania, Sharyonda, Carlotta, and Michelli!
I’m mailing them out on Tuesday.
Category: The Circle series
What’s That On Your Ears?
Today, I’m wearing my special earrings. So many people comment on them, but I really bought them because I write romantic suspense. Of course, other people think I must write something else entirely. Well, there was a little bondage in CIRCLE OF DESIRE.
But I am picking up Lexi Blake at the airport today for a special function my writers group is putting on tomorrow. I thought it would be a nice touch to make her feel at home. LOL!
By the way, you can purchase your own pair at buycostume.com. That’s where you can pick up some fun unusual jewelry and shoes. No. I don’t get a kick back. Just thought you would like to know.
A Taste of A Book
I’ve been thinking about about placing some excerpts of my books on Goodreads, but a few things came to mind. A few years ago, Sherrilyn Kenyon told me not to use the first chapter as an excerpt because people will open the book and think they’ve read it.
That is so true. If I want to make sure I haven’t already read a book, I always read the first few paragraphs. I wonder how many books I placed back on the shelf for that reason?
But, of course, the first scene is what I posted when I gave readers a taste of my fourth book in The Circle series. Hopefully you won’t forget and think you’ve already bought the book when I self-publish it next year. And the same is true about the first three books that are already available (published through Avon Red, HarperCollins) wherever books are sold on line.
*Excerpts* *Amazon* *B&N* *ARe* *BAM*
Anyway, my questions today are, do you prefer the first scene or chapter? Or do you like to see a scene or chapter from further into the book? Maybe in the middle of a turning point (e.g., an emotional scene)?
And do you like a page or two, or more like ten to fifteen to read?
Feeling The Love
Though I’m still wary about Amazon.com (they are taking over the world), they provide a neat service to authors (no matter who publishes your books). They have an area called Author Central where authors can sign in and look at info from BookScan. That service shows your sales of paperbacks throughout mainland U.S.A. I have a feeling it’s not totally accurate, but that’s okay. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know anything until I receive my royalties payments. So I’m happy to see something in the meanwhile.
The info doesn’t tell you what store or who buys the book. It can tell you what city it was sold in. I’m happy and tickled to no end that the Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne love my books. They’ve sold the most. I have a feeling that either a book store bought them or a large book club. THANK YOU!!
It’s no surprise that the second largest sale was in Alabama. I do a lot of book signings there. THANK YOU!!
And the third is all due to my friends at FreshFiction.com. Yep, the Dallas-Ft. Worth area!
THANK YOU!!
Unique Author Swag
I’m curious. If I were to give away a poster of my latest cover, would you be interested in winning it? I have four of them and ready need only one. Would it be a fun prize to win? This is the cover.
In November, my writers’ group holds a readers luncheon, and we have drawings for all kinds of baskets, e-readers and some great stuff. I thought about auctioning them off.
Thought I might get everyone’s feelings on it.
By the way, the keynote speaker at the luncheon is Jeaniene Frost. Click here to find out more.
Carla Swafford, Author 