Writer's Block

So this is the first time that I am freely writing with a self-imposed deadline.  No, not this blog, my new book.  I'm used to the frenzy that goes with writing for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) but I know that the deadline there (30 days) is just a somewhat meaningless deadline.  That sounds awful, I know, but at the end of those 30 days, if I don't hit the 50,000 word mark there's no consequences except I don't get the neat internet badge or the certificate to print out.  No harm, no foul.

I have a deadline of January 31st to finish this new book because I want to have a month to do edits so that I can release it for March 1st.  I want to have time to build up the buzz about it starting several weeks BEFORE the release.  I have all good intentions but my brain and my life are just not cooperating with me.

I thought that one of the benefits of being an indie writer was having some freedom but that only works if I allow myself to have it and having it, in my world, makes me lazy.  Even now I feel a little bit lackadaisical about the whole thing.  I do really well on a time crunch but it stresses me out.  Then again, I'm stressing right now and we're not at critical mass yet.

Sigh.

So the book is essentially worked out in my head, it's getting it on to the screen that is making me crazy.  I sit down to write and I am so easily distracted by anything and everything that I want to smack myself!  I'll play solitaire on Facebook, I'll offer to make Frank and Michael dessert - anything to keep me from writing!  

WHY????

So here's the thing, I have the blurb, I'm working on the cover design, I'm at about the mid-way point in the story.  In the next couple of weeks I have to move Nick to school, have Frank and Michael's birthdays and a party for Michael all while working a full-time job and being a wife and mom.  I have no idea how to do it!

Any suggestions?

Oh, and I'm trying to keep "The Christmas Cottage" in the top 50 in Women's Fiction on Amazon until the end of the month.  Will you help?  Please go to the Amazon page for it (HERE) and click "LIKE".  Please!  

And on a somewhat related note, a cool thing happened today, I opened my email inbox and there was an email from Amazon and in the subject line it said "New and Similar to "The Christmas Cottage" by Samantha Chase"!  I thought that was WAY cool!

Being a writer can be so much fun when I let it...

Life, Love and Losers

Life is crazy.  Am I right?  We are just moving forward at warp speed it feels like and yet somehow nothing feels like it's getting done!  My boy leaves for college in a week!  A WEEK!  I thought we had everything planned; I know I did.  The boy is packing, I've booked the hotel and am making sure that everyone will have what they need and all my husband really needed to be "aware" of was the fact that we needed to rent a trailer to hitch to the back to our little SUV.

Clearly, somehow he missed the memo.

So now we are trying to do the math on what exactly we CAN tow with our lightweight SUV and you'd think that we were doing rocket science!  I still don't know if we can hitch the damn trailer and we are picking it up in FIVE DAYS!!!  For real???

Oh, and did I mention that there are no cargo vans available to rent for a 100 mile radius??  Will we get the boy up to school?  No one knows.

Book sales are still chugging along and reviews - from people I don't know (take THAT Amazon!) are coming in and they have been very encouraging.  I'd have to say that the number of daily sales has cut in half but at least there are still sales!  I am amazed because today I compared the two BIG sites that I'm selling on - Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble - and they really don't even compare.  I've sold over 12,000 ebooks on Amazon compared to 50 on Barnes and Noble.  So heads up?  The next book may only be coming to you via Amazon.   

I got a very nice surprise today from author extraordinaire, Susan Mallery.  She invited little known authors (like myself) to introduce themselves and put the link to their work on her Facebook page!  She has over 31,000 fans!  And you know what was even sweeter about it?  Her wonderful assistant, Jenel, messaged me personally telling me about it!  I was so glad she did because I hadn't been on Facebook yet and had no idea that Susan had issued the invitation!  So a super big THANK YOU to Susan Mallery for being so gracious today and promoting "The Christmas Cottage"!  Love her!

Tonight was the season premier of "The Biggest Loser".  LOVE.  THIS.  SHOW.  What I don't love?  Watching people vomit.  Seriously?  Do we have to show this?  I understand that it adds to the drama of what that first workout is like but hey, I'm trying to eat some popcorn here and seeing these people throw up is ruining the buttery goodness for me!

There is a LOT wrong with that statement, isn't there?

The new book is coming along slowly.  I can't seem to stay focused.  I KNOW what I want to write, it's all there in my head, but for some reason staying focused to get it all down is just not happening.  I need a whole day of nothing to do to get some serious writing done.  I don't see that happening for at least another month and I just don't have that kind of time.  I have to make some serious decisions this week on how to find time.  There are things that are going to have to be let go and I'm going to have to be okay with it.  

But should any of you have some sort of way of helping me add a couple of hours to my day, feel free to let me know!

A Teaser, a Tumblr and a Thank You

Just when I think I am finally getting the knack of the whole internet and social media thing, something new comes along and suddenly I feel like I am still using a hammer and chisel while writing on a piece of slate.  Good grief is there a lot to learn!  I barely know how to use my iPhone and my computer is 8 years old and I am barely even wanting to know about anything new because as soon as I think I've got it all figured out, something new will come along and once again I'll be in the dark.

I have been charging forward with all kinds of internet marketing and promo stuff and I felt pretty good with the whole thing. I have the blog, I have a website, I've got a Facebook page, a Twitter account, I'm on Pinterest and Google+ but the other day I was out with my now-21 year old child and he's like "you should totally be on Tumblr".

Tumblr?

Really?

Like it's not enough that I have no idea what he's talking about but when I looked it up and saw the spelling I wept for our youth.  What in the world??  Can someone please explain the spelling of that word to me?  

*Note: For those of you interested, visiting time at the old-folks home is between 5 a.m. and noon - then I go down for a nap.

So I had to admit to my cluelessness and he promised that once he got settled at school that he would set one up for me and this would be HUGE for my book promotions.  Sure, we'll see.  Everything that has "guaranteed" me huge success for my book has fallen short of my expectations.  

Today I got a very sweet note from one of my dear aunts.  It was just a quick note telling me that she's proud and that she loves me and that she thinks that it's wonderful that we're experiencing some success.  I cried.  I literally cried when I read that because there are many CLOSE relatives that haven't said a word to me about the book's success.  I thought that it was amazing that my aunt took the time to just send me a note that was just so encouraging to me!  Don't you love getting a little uplifting surprise like that in your in-box?

I've received so many kind words of support from people that I barely know!  I had the opportunity to meet some great people last week at my cousin's house and one great lady friend requested me on Facebook and then promoted my book on her page!  She wasn't looking for anything in return, just wanted to be encouraging.  Love that!

I reached out to a fellow Indie author - Noelle Adams.  She's written three novella's and I've enjoyed them all - and so I reached out to her on Facebook and asked if she'd be interested in a little cross promoting and so she promoted "The Christmas Cottage" on her page and liked my author page, while I did the same for her with her newest release, "One Night With Her Bodyguard".  If you're looking for more novella's (until my next one comes out in March!), then check out Noelle Adams works.  She's wonderful!

So the next book - yet to be titled - is going to be released (hopefully) by the first week of March.  Want a sneak peak?  Here's a tiny peak:
 

When Ava Callahan walked away from her fairytale wedding, it was in search of her true happily ever after.

She hadn’t counted on it coming searching for her.

Keep watching here for more peaks at Ava's story!

So a writer walks into a Target...

True story...

Tonight I left work and had to stop at the Super Target to get some last minute stuff for Nick's birthday dinner lasagne extravaganza.  I was not feeling very well all day and all I wanted to do was get home and put on my jammies.  But in an effort to be a good mom, I stopped at the store.  

I roamed around, bought the necessary ingredients and got on the check-out line.  I'm waiting my turn and an older gentleman gets in line behind me and smiles. He looks at the contents of my order and says "Mmm...what time's dinner?"  I laugh we joke and I tell him how my son passed up a chance at a dinner out at a restaurant in favor of my lasagne.  He said "That must mean that it's good".  Naturally, I agree.  I tell him of my life-long love of cooking, coming from a long line of people who loved to cook, been in the deli and catering business, blah, blah, blah.  He turns to me and says "I have a show on the CW22...would you like to come on and do a cooking segment?"

I KID YOU NOT!!!

So I'm speechless (surprise, surprise!) and then he asks if I do any catering here in Raleigh and I told him no, I didn't carry on the family tradition down here so he asked what I do.  Now, I could have gone with what my full time job is, but I was feeling a little spunky and said "I'm an author" and his eyes lit up!  "We can do a segment on that, you know", he said and I just about wept with joy!

WHAT ARE THE ODD OF THIS HAPPENING???

We walked out together, he gave me his card and contact information and I have to get in touch with him on Monday!  EEK!!  I could quite possibly be on TV cooking AND promoting my book!  How flippin cool is that??  Thank GOD my son is difficult and didn't want to go to the Outback for dinner!  Thank GOD I didn't give in to my craving to stop at Chick Fil A for a milkshake to soothe my super sore throat!

The show is called "The First Choice Life Show with Dr. Tim Weir" and it's on every morning at 8:30 a.m. on the CW22.  I've never had the chance to see it because I'm at work by then!  I don't have a DVR (and it pains me to admit that) and so I may have to invest in that technology so that I can see what the show is about and actually record myself should I get on!

Now all I have to do is think about what I would realistically cook - I don't use recipes and I don't measure...that could be a problem, right?  Oh, and did I mention he's kind of into healthy things and I cook like a Paula Dean cheerleader?  

The book I can promote all day long!  I can promote "The Christmas Cottage", I can promote the new book, I can totally talk about the struggles of being an indie author and the stigma's that go with it...I have visions of one of those long canes with the hook on the end coming from stage right to yank me off camera because I've run out of time for my segment!  LOL!

Say a little prayer and I will keep you posted on how this all progresses!

Wake me up when January ends...

In case I haven't mentioned it recently, I'm exhausted.  Seriously, seriously, exhausted.  I think I have been that way since Thanksgiving week.  Why?  Let me give you a run-down of what life is like here in my world from the end of November through the end of January:

Thanksgiving week:  all of the shopping and prepping and cleaning and cooking that goes in to making a Thanksgiving that everyone loves.  We celebrate at home so I am the hostess and chef.  Then I released my book the last week of November because I thought, "Why not?"

Early December:  my birthday and then there are weeks of Christmas shopping and Christmas preparation - tree shopping, tree decorating, house decorating, writing out 4 dozen Christmas cards, mailing out gifts and just trying to be merry.

Christmas:  Again, I am the hostess with the mostess.  I make the traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner (which is delicious but expensive and time consuming) and then we open our homes to at least 30 of our closest friends for a dessert open house.  I crash on Christmas Day but still prepare a full-on restaurant quality breakfast and dinner.

Then there's New Year's.  

My older son's birthday is the first week of January.  Then there is the un-decorating of all of the Christmas wares.  We move him to college the second week of January.  My husband and younger son's birthdays (the same day!) are the third week of January and by the fourth week, I barely know my own name.

Oh, and did I mention that I plan on having my next book written and ready for editing by the end of January?  

I want to go on vacation but I will need the kind of vacation where I lay around and do NOTHING for at least a week; no driving, no visiting with people, no touring or hiking or running around a theme park.  Just a "lay on my lazy butt for a week" (and maybe take a shower) type of rest.  Anyone know where I can find one of those on the cheap?

It's not good to wish your life away but right now, I really wish it was the end of January and all of that stuff was done.  I want to sleep without someone waking me up, I want to have nothing to do and all day to do it.  It would be bliss.  

I did manage to find a Groupon deal on a massage that I am going to be utilizing at the end of the month as a reward for merely surviving the month.  I plan on eating chocolate and wearing a tiara during it.  Is that allowed?  LOL!

Book sales are still there - which is a good thing.  Trying to maneuver how to keep sales at this level until the next book comes out.  Right now we are doing 250 books a day.  Not too shabby.  If you haven't gotten your copy of "The Christmas Cottage" yet, still .99 cents on Amazon and we're still looking to hit 100 likes.  Drop by, click the link, make me smile.

 

Resolutions

Every year I make a New Year's Resolution.

Every year I break my New Year's Resolution.

Why?  I don't know.  My theory is that I am more comfortable in the role of failure than I am being successful.  Some shrink would have a field day with me!  But I think the key to keeping the resolution is making it one that is realistic.  Saying that I am going to get down to a size 5 is NOT realistic.  Saying that I will lose 5 pounds is.  Saying that I'm going to save $10,000 to put down on a house is not realistic.  Saying that we'd like to save even $1,000 is.

It's all in the reality.  Which usually sucks.

I was a little bit sorry to see 2012 end.  It was a really good year for us.  It was the year that both Frank and I got jobs; real jobs.  Full time jobs.  We actually had time to enjoy our lives while having our bills get paid.  Believe me, it's been a LONG time since we'd lived like that.  This was the year that Frank's band Motrendus finally started playing local gigs; they cut a demo CD and it was all pretty exciting.  2012 was the year I became a best selling author on a little Christmas novella that I wrote in 3 weeks.

Are we rich?  No.  Are we happy?  Yes.  If you think about it, we're kind of an artsy couple - rock star husband, author wife.  We're a reality show waiting to happen.

NOT!

I started working on the next book.  This one will be Ava's story and I have to tell you, it's hysterical how many people have chimed in with who they want to see her with and how they think her story should go.  It's kind of cool getting some feedback but so far no one's guessed what I'm doing!  So there will be lots of surprises and I'm hoping for the same success with her story.  

I missed hitting the 10,000 ebook sales by midnight on New Year's Eve by 120 books.  I guess I still hit it on "New Year's" but it was 2013 and it sort of took a little of the fun out of it for me.  BUT...we're still selling and people are leaving some awesome reviews and so I am VERY happy.  I'm no longer considered a "Hot New Release" but I'm still in the top 30 in women's fiction.  It was an amazing ride and if I can just keep it going for another six weeks or so, we'll start again with the next book.

So what are some of your realistic resolutions?  Do you make them?  Do you keep them?  If I had to really go big and make one, I'd say that my goal is to sell 100,000 ebooks this year.

Only 90,000 more to go!

Happy New Year!!

Traditional vs. Indie - Which Publishing is Better?

So I've been doing a lot of research in the last six weeks or so and I've read dozens of articles on the indie publishing trend.  Really, it was once considered the last resort for people who weren't talented enough to get published but now?  Not so much.

There are THOUSANDS of fabulous self-published books out there and they are in every genre.  Don't get me wrong, there are still bad books out there too, but not as many as we were once led to believe.  Self-publishing is no longer the "shameful" way to publish.  If anything, I'm starting to see some well-known, previously published authors (who were published under BIG name publishing houses) taking the jump over to indie publishing.

Why?  Only they know, but here's my theory.  Traditional publishing houses no longer do for their authors what they once did.  Advances are becoming a thing of the past and essentially, a large percentage of the marketing and the promotion of the book is still the responsibility of the author.  I have started following a TON of big-name author blogs that they have all started and have mailing lists to that heavily promote their upcoming books/releases.  

One author friend, who had published dozens of books for her publisher, recently had one of her submissions rejected.  Apparently, it DOES happen.  But it was a book that she had worked hard on and was proud of and she is going to self publish it.  I can only hope that she sells a TON of copies and then goes back to the publisher with a satisfied and smug look on her face.  

Back when I was doing promotional stuff for Susan Mallery, I was surprised at how little the publisher was doing for her.  She's a NY Times Best Selling Author and she came up with the brilliant idea of enlisting the help of her fans to promote her books!  Honestly, the idea completely worked for her and I bow to master on that bit of marketing genius.  

Insert bow here.

When you self-publish, you work on your own time table.  Your deadlines are more flexible and at the end of the day, a larger percentage of the royalties are yours.  What's not to like about that?

So what's the downside?  The cost of said marketing and promotion and the cost of having artwork for covers done and editing work done.  Sure, you can do it yourself but as I found out on this last book, people can be mean and harsh and nasty and when you put out a product that is less than perfect (no matter how low-cost you offer it for), everyone becomes a critic.  

I am blessed to have gotten some volunteers for the next project to proof-read for me (thank GOD!) but I will probably use a paid service for the cover art-work.  Not a HUGE amount of money but when I looked at what was available for free on CreateSpace (who I use for publishing), I'm am HIGHLY displeased.  There are plenty of services out there that provide high-quality artwork, I just have to come up with what I am looking for.  And that will come when I finally decide on a title for the darn project.

A writer's work is never done...

Free Book Marketing With Ask David...

So in my constant quest to be an Indie author with a successful book, the main thing that I have to keep at (besides writing!) is the marketing.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, this is exhausting.  It's time consuming at after working a full day at a full-time job, I hardly have time to come home and spend time with my family before I have to be back in front of the computer writing and marketing to keep the book out there.

We are closing in at the five week mark since "The Christmas Cottage" was released and the sales have been impressive.  I'm not ready to quit my day job or anything but I have been thrilled with the response to the book.  So while I was searching for ways to promote the book on my limited budget, I came across askDavid.com.  What's askDavid.com?  Here's a blurb from their site:

About this site
This site promotes books and publishes reviews submitted by the community. In order to ensure high quality, all reviews are manually checked before they are published. Only reviews are accepted which can not be found elsewhere on the web. So far there are 3994 reviews published.  

Basically, I submitted the required information on "The Christmas Cottage" and askDavid.com will promote it through their Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and the like to get the word out to more people than I possibly could.  Sweet, right?

Here's a listing of what benefits askDavid guarantees:

- We will create a book promotion page for each of your books

- We will link to your website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest sites

- If there is a video on YouTube related to the book, we will display it

- We will display your profile picture if you want

- Users will write reviews of your book – you can quote them on your website

- You get automatic notifications of new reviews of your book

- Social Marketing:  visitors promote your book on Facebook, Google+, Twitter & Pinterest

- We will send a tweet about your book to our 8400 followers on Twitter

- This all will create awareness about your books which leads to more sales

- We link to you book’s Amazon page so visitors can easily buy your book

I am just signing up and getting started but I am very excited to see what kind of results we get for "The Christmas Cottage".  I am getting ready to start on the follow up book and won't have as much time to do marketing myself so I am looking forward to having more help.

I'll keep you posted on my progress! 

Wanted: One Literary Agent

How's this for an ad?

Wanted:  One Literary Agent.  Must be encouraging, supportive and committed to project.  Must have good connections, be licensed and be open minded to submitting one little Christmas novella to the Hallmark Channel.

What do you think?  Too specific? 

Here's the thing.  I have lost count of the number of people who have read "The Christmas Cottage" and have said that it should be a Hallmark Channel movie.  I'm not going to lie to you, I kind of agree.  And how cool would that be??  The thing is, Hallmark doesn't accept unsolicited books and whatnot; you have to have a licensed literary agent do it.

I'm working with an agent right now on a full-length novel.  You remember, she's the one who doesn't seem to remember me.  Ever.  Not a lot of confidence in her right now.  I was hoping to hear from her by now; the book is up for a final read (like a month ago) and my plan was that when she approached me and said that she'd like to represent me and the book, then I would present her with "The Christmas Cottage" and my plan for submitting it to Hallmark.

So far she's not falling in line with my plans.  

It's hard to research a literary agent.  Authors are very secretive.  They do not tell you who their agents are or how they got them.  I've done a lot of research over the years and submitting and querying is exhausting.  Plus, there's the whole "I hate writing query letters" thing.  Can't I just be creative?  Can't I just write books and have them chase after me?

That last part could have been a possibility if my rankings had stayed higher for longer.  Don't get me wrong, being in the top twenty in women's fiction on Amazon is still amazing and more than I ever could have hoped for.  I never got in to the top 100 in Kindle sales.  That would have been great.  My goal of 10,000 Kindle sales by New Year's looks like a very real possibility but  I don't know if that number is significant to anyone but me.  

I bet an agent would know that.

So if any of you knows a licensed literary agent that would be interested in helping me get "The Christmas Cottage" submitted to the Hallmark Channel, I'd love to hear from you! 

So I got one of the greatest compliments quite possibly of my life.  It was one of those moments where you think, "I've waited my whole life for this" and it's just as wonderful as you always hoped it would be.

My father told me he was proud of me.

I know, I know...sooo cliched.  Here I am, age 44, and still seeking my father's approval.

WELL I GOT IT!

He actually READ "The Christmas Cottage" and he doesn't really read!  He's a TV kind of guy and he actually read my book!  How do I know?  Because there is a behind the scenes, secondary character in the book that is only mentioned twice and he asked me today "What's with the best man??  Why did she need to stay away from him?? Is there more to that story or did you put that in there to torture me???"  

That made me giggle.  

See?  That would make a GREAT story to entice a literary agent in to representing me, right???   

Local Celebrity Sighting!

I had a great time tonight.  Why?  Well, tonight I traveled to visit a cousin that I haven't seen in probably 30 years!  We had reconnected on Facebook and her parents (my aunt & uncle/2nd cousins?  Still not sure!  LOL) were in town and she was hosting a Christmas get-together and I was invited.  Very excited at the invite, I took the 90 mile trek to visit my family.

What a great night!

There were more people there that I didn't know than those that I did but everyone was super nice and it turns out that my sweet cousin had been promoting my book to her friends and co-workers so people knew who I was!  Then my dear aunt was introducing me as a best selling author!  I even signed and autograph!  How funny is that?

I may not be signing books at Barnes & Noble or at some Romance convention, but this little get together was probably one of the most endearing and entertaining events I've had as an author and it wasn't even planned to be one!  I had the chance to talk to some amazing people, reconnect with family and generally, talk about my book with some people who were genuinely interested.  How could someone not enjoy that?

So while around town here I am still just Stace, it was kind of cool to go someplace and have my alter-ego get some attention.  

I found out today that "The Christmas Cottage" is no longer eligible for the Hot New Release category.  I was really kind of bummed about that one because it doubled the number of lists I was on.   But really, after a month of being on the market, I guess it kind of makes sense that I am no longer considered "new".  My numbers are dropping but really, it was exciting to know that I peaked at #10 in Women's Fiction and #116 in Kindle books.  Some authors never get that kind of rankings and so I am honored to have hit those highs.

The plan is to keep in marketing mode until New Year's and then start on the next book.  Will it be something that goes along with "The Christmas Cottage" - like maybe Ava's story?  I don't know.  Her story isn't coming to me clearly yet.  I have some other plots swirling around in my brain that my need attention first.  

I'm trying to reach that 10,000 sales mark on "The Christmas Cottage" by New Years.  If you haven't gotten your e-copy yet, now would be the perfect time!  Did you get an e-reader for Christmas?  Don't you want to stock it with .99 cent books?  LOOK NO FURTHER!!  Click HERE to go to the Amazon page and get your copy and remember to click like while you are there!

"The Christmas Cottage" by Samantha Chase

Okay, the holiday's are almost over and we've hit the one month mark since the release of "The Christmas Cottage".  As an indie author, this has been a very exciting month.  I mean, I never in my wildest dreams thought that I'd sell a whole lot of copies; I thought if I hit a thousand, it would be amazing.  After all, my first book, "Jordan's Return" really only sold a little over 100 copies.

So imagine my complete and utter surprise that at the one month mark, I've sold almost 7,500 books!  WOW!  Who knew?  I am not going to lie to you, it's a lot of work and I've met all kinds of authors who have had various degrees of success and it doesn't matter if they are traditionally published with big name (or any name) publishers or self published.  The key is in the marketing. 

This particular book has a limited shelf life due to the fact that it is set on Christmas and not many people are wanting to read a Christmas story in the Spring.  I've had to hit the promoting hard and fast and really, I kind of shot myself in the foot a little bit on this one because I released it so quickly that there wasn't any time to build up any hype and get some professional reviews done on some of big book review sites out there before Christmas.  Most sites have me on a waiting list and that's going to put the book getting reviewed somewhere around the end of February.

Not good.

I've set small goals for myself as we've gone along.  Sell a thousand books.  Sell twenty-five hundred books, five thousand...etc.  Then it was getting in the top 100 list on Amazon, then the top 50, top 30 until I hit the top 10.  I did that on Christmas Eve.  It was pretty darn exciting.  Now my goal is to hit 10,000 sales by New Year's.  Baby steps.  It's all about baby steps...

Just need to take them really fast before my window closes.

So here's the thing, I really want and need people to spread the word.  I need help getting the word out about the book - it's only a .99 cent download on Kindle, Nook and Smashwords.  I need "likes" on Amazon.  I mean, 7,500 sales and only 81 people clicked like...I have 36 reviews (most are positive, two are just nasty).  

HELP!  HELP!!  HELP!!!

So if you are looking to do a good deed, help a struggling Indie Author achieve her dream of ending 2012 on a high note!  Go to Amazon and click on "The Christmas Cottage".  If you haven't already, download the Kindle version or send it to a friend!  Click "Like", leave a cheery little note (I cry easily).  Let's celebrate the success of the little book that could!

Thank you again for all of your help!  Let's show some of those big name publishers what they are missing and that you don't need to spend a fortune to have a best seller.

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and here's to some successful book selling as we prepare to say farewell to 2012!!

The Number One Christmas Gift...

This was a stellar Christmas.  

I kid you not.

I LOVE all things Christmas but this year was just more than I expected.  It took me a while to get in to the Christmas spirit and really, it didn't hit me until about the 23rd.  Sure, I went through the motions - I shopped, I wrapped, the tree was up, blah, blah, blah - but I didn't really FEEL like I was in the holiday spirit until Sunday.  

Very unlike me.

I went out to get all of our last-minute stuff (which really wasn't everything but some things had to wait until the complete last minute), got my hair done and just had a wonderful time having fellowship at the salon.  Who knew?  My stylist had just bought my book and she was raving about it and getting everyone else in the salon excited about it (I know it's a little shallow, but I enjoyed the accolades).  Everywhere I went, people were just happy and smiling and saying "Merry Christmas" and it just made me smile.

By Monday, I was really looking forward to the night ahead.  We were making our traditional Italian Fish Sauce (very yummy) and then having about 30 people over for dessert.  That is my FAVORITE family tradition.  It's very casual and it's an open-house so people come and go for hours and it just reminds me of how blessed I am to have such amazing friends in my life.

This was our first "Non-Santa" year.  Yes, we finally broke the news to Michael and I have to tell you, it was a little sad.  He still believed and to me, it was sweet.  To his older brother, it was insanity.  Part of what I love about Christmas Eve is sending them to bed and setting up the living room with all of their stuff from Santa.

Not so much this year.

I put out some stuff, not a lot of fanfare, and when we got up this morning it was like "Here's your stuff".  We bought Michael an Android tablet, he got a new cell phone, Xbox points and membership, gift cards galore - plus the traditional pajamas that they get every year on Christmas Eve.  Nick mainly got all gift cards - his initial request was for money for school but I was not handing over cash and having nothing for him under the tree.  My theory was that I would disguise each gift card in a different shaped box and then he'd have a ton of stuff to unwrap under the tree.  It worked and he was thrilled.

I bought Frank clothes - jeans, sweatshirts, a new jacket - plus a book on drum making and new drum sticks, plus some smaller stuff like a portable air compressor, a magnifier for reading blue prints for work and a universal phone charger for the car.  I got a sassy new scarf, a new iPhone cover (Mickey Mouse!), boots, jammies and a new cosmetic case.  All in all, it was a very lovely Christmas.

"The Christmas Cottage" hit #10 on Christmas Eve on Amazon in Women's Fiction and Contemporary Women's Fiction!  It was VERY exciting.  That was my dream - to have a Top Ten book for Christmas.  I was so excited that I pretty much blew up Facebook with my status!  We're at #13 today but that's okay.  My hope is that all the people that got new ereaders for Christmas and are looking to load it up with cheap and free reads will see the book and buy it.  After all, .99 cents it still pretty cheap and it's a sweet story, Dang It!!

But out of all of the hooplah, all of the gifts, all of the trappings of Christmas, what was the number one gift?  Actually, it is two-fold.  Number one, of course, is the reason for the season and that is the fact that a Savior was born.  It's easy to forget that fact when we are conditioned to think that we have to shop and buy and go crazy to get the top toys on the market but really, the gift of salvation is our greatest gift.  

Going hand in hand with that fact is the gift of family and friendship.  At the end of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life", George Bailey opens a Bible where it states "No man is a failure who has friends".  That line makes me cry because we need to remember that having people in our lives who love us is one of the greatest blessing there is.  Remember to say a word of thanks for the people in your life that love you, for they are one of lives greatest gifts.

And not just at Christmas...

That's What Christmas is All About, Charlie Brown...

Writer's Remorse...

And no, I'm not talking about drunk texting.

You know, I may have shared this story before but for those of you just joining us, I'll recap. 

On November 25, 2012, I released a book titled "The Christmas Cottage".  This was a book that I wrote for National Novel Writing Month - November 2012.  Yes, I wrote it in less than a month.  The story wasn't planned, I started on NaNoWriMo late and basically the words just came to me.  I thought it was pretty cool.

Anyway, I had a book signing event for my first book, "Jordan's Return", and I wanted to have something to offer anyone that showed up other than my signature in the book.  So I came up with a plan to offer a free ebook for Christmas.  The problem was that the book signing was at the end of November and I was still really in the editing process of my quickly written book.  I rushed through the edits and had bookmarks made that essentially said "My gift to you...free ebook...blah, blah, blah" and then I found out that Amazon would not allow me to do that.

Again, I was in a rushed mode and didn't do my research.  Shame on me.

So I decided to put the book out there for .99 cents.  It was a novella so I felt that the price was fair.  I got creative with the bookmarks and took out the "free" part.  I put the book out there and started marketing with the help of an assistant.  I didn't have particularly high hopes for the book because I remembered how little the first book had done but this book wasn't about the sales, it was about keeping my name out there until the agent in NY decided what she was going to do with a book of mine that she has in her possession.  You see, this novella was more about keeping my name out there; it wasn't about any great plan for a best seller.

Best laid plans and all that...

Imagine my surprise when the book started climbing the charts.  Imagine my surprise that people were actually excited about it and responding to my ads and cries for support.  Totally unlike the response I got to book number one.  I was giddy and excited and damn near in tears when the book hit one of the best seller lists!

Imagine my surprise when I started getting negative reviews and critiques because of my spelling/grammar/keystroke errors.  I have no excuse; I rushed the book, I didn't spend enough time editing.   The funny thing is that most of those negative reviews say that they really enjoyed the story, just that the grammar/spelling errors were too distracting.

I spent three days currently re-editing the book and tonight I re-submitted it to Amazon and will have to do the same tomorrow with Nook.  I should have taken more time.  I should have waited to release it but I was really not expecting all of the hooplah that I got.  I wasn't expecting so many mean people.

I'm reading a book right now that is a collection of short stories that is absolutely horrible.  I mean, I don't know who chose these stories but they are not a grouping that should be together.  Some stories are short and sweet while others are just crude and full of vulgar language and sex scenes.  I'm not a prude and I've written many a sex scene for my books but these scenes made me wince.  Am I going to attack the publisher and writers?  No.  Am I going to ask for a refund?  No.  I bought it, I read it, I own it.  

I'm just praying that I have learned from the negative reviews and from reading some bad books and that my next book won't be such a downer to so many people.  Sorry that I let my excitement ruin your reading experience.  That wasn't my intention...

Ebook Readers: Fill up on bargain books and enjoy the weekend!

As we are approaching the final countdown to Christmas, hopefully most of us are done with our shopping and preparations.  Maybe you are getting ready to travel or maybe you're the one hosting the festivities this year.  Either way, it is important to take some time for yourself and sit and relax.  

What I have loved most about my Kindle is that I can go through the lists of Free books on Amazon and really load up my reading list essentially for nothing.  I also look at books that are under $3 because really, you can't buy a paperback for less than that these days.  So I get a variety of books to read and spend less than I would on possibly one or two books.

There are so many titles to choose from and not all of the ones that I've chosen (particularly from the free list) were memorable, however, I'm never disappointed when I take time to sit down and read.  Plus, and this is definitely true if you are traveling, it's nice to have the convenience of all of those titles in one compact place rather than lugging around four or five paperback in your carry-ons or luggage.

We spend so much time prepping for the holidays and running around that we don't take time to actually slow down and ENJOY the holidays.  I don't know about where you are right now but here in North Carolina it is very cold and the wind is fierce!  Once I am done blogging, I am curling up in my big comfy chair and reading.  If we were traveling, I would be curled up in my hotel room right now - with the Kindle - and reading.  

I'm a book nerd.  I admit it.  I was astounded to learn that I am friends with several people who do NOT like to read!  It was shocking!  I love spending my free time reading.  If I'm not reading, then I want to be writing.  Why?  So that I have something that I enjoy to read...to read!  I'm a freak, sorry.

So when you're searching for something to read to fill the void on that holiday trip or to help you kick back and relax after a day of cleaning, shopping and prepping, consider this:  be done with the Fifty Shades books.  Seriously, that series is killing me.  It's a bit sick and repulsive and it is EVERYWHERE on every book list.  Enough already!  Look at what Amazon recommends under the genre that you are looking for and don't forget to give some new authors a chance.

In the last year I discovered several new authors whose books I have thoroughly enjoyed - they are all contemporary romance/women's fiction writers but their books are very enjoyable:  Kristan Higgins, Jill Shalvis, Shannon Stacey, Robyn Carr... LOVE these ladies and their writing and it was exciting to find myself on the best seller lists with them!

Don't knock the indie authors or those who aren't so well known.  You never know what you may be missing!  You would be surprised how many great books there are out there that don't cost a fortune.  If you bought an ebook reader for someone or you get one yourself this year, you will have thousands of fabulous books to choose from that are under $3.00 - and really, NO ebook, no matter who the author is, should cost more than that!

We are heading in to the end of the first month of sales of "The Christmas Cottage" and my goal is to hit the top ten in women's fiction and the top 100 in Kindle sales.  My current standing has me at #13 in women's fiction and #138 in Kindle sales.  If you are looking for a great stocking stuffer for the romance reader in your life, "The Christmas Cottage" would make a great gift!  Only $6.99 in paperback.  We're looking to hit 100 "Likes" on the Amazon page and...as a special gift for anyone who's read this far...

I will give a Kindle version of "The Christmas Cottage" to the first TWO people to comment on the blog that they shared the link on their Facebook page!  So leave a comment here with the link to your Facebook page and show that you've shared the love and you'll get a FREE ebook copy of the book.

Ho-ho-ho...

12-21-12 - Thanks for Nothing Mayans!

I'm not going to lie to you, history is so not my thing.  Sure, I got in to it a bit when we were homeschooling but when we were done, so was I.  I don't get in to all of the hype with things like Nostradamus (although I have watched a few documentaries), I'm not big on conspiracy theories (but I will admit that there was an interesting one on the "death" of Paul McCartney that left me thinking) and I'm not one to get all hyped up on the End of the World stuff.

If there's one thing that I am fairly certain of it's that God does not want us to know that date.  All of this theory about tomorrow being the end of the world just makes me roll my eyes.  Remember Y2K?  Nothing.  I just don't see that this is going to be anything significant except that people will remember how stupid people acted leading up to it.  

 Although, if I had to jump on the crazy bandwagon I'd have to say, Really, Mayans??? I finally get my life in order just for the world to end?  How fair is that???  I mean, Frank and I both have jobs, Nick's going to college and I have fulfilled my lifelong dream of being an author with a book on a best seller list and I don't even get to enjoy it???  COME ON!!!

Has anyone thought that maybe the guy making the calendar died and no one else could finish it?  Did you think that maybe they thought that they had put enough in to the calendar that eventually someone else would take over?  I mean, how long were they supposed to work on this calendar?  There are a million reasons as to why the Mayan calendar ended and I'm finding it hard to believe that any of them are because the world is ending tomorrow.

Boy will my face be red if that is the case!

And speaking of red, don't you love the red color on the cover of my book "The Christmas Cottage"?  I mean, it's a cute, festive little cover and I really, really like it.  Today at our highest point we were #165 in Kindle downloads!  Holy cow!!!  I've sold almost 4,200 kindle books in three weeks!  I love that I can actually track sales now.  It's pretty cool - and addictive.  I'll need to take a break from all of the tracking in the new year and spend my time working on my next book because I can see that I'm getting a little bit crazed.

It was funny because when I finally figured out the tracking this week and where to find it, my goal was to hit 4,000 sales by Christmas Day.  I was floored when we made it there today.  So my new goal (dream) is to be at 5,000 sales by Christmas Day.  I have no idea how successful we'll be but I would love to see it happen.

Don't make me miss that, Mayans!  

Amazon Suggestions

So as you might have guessed, I haven't been too thrilled with Amazon since learning of their return policy.  As an independent writer who is paying for all of the marketing and promotional stuff for "The Christmas Cottage" on my own, any loss of sales is a big deal to me.  Then there's the fact that I don't really SEE Amazon doing anything to promote me and my book even though they are taking a whole lot of my money.

So imagine my surprise today and when at 7:20 this morning a very dear friend calls me to tell me that she was going through her emails and there in her inbox was one from Amazon.  If you subscribe to them you can get daily emails from them where they make suggestions for items for you to purchase based upon some of your shopping history.  Well, under Literature and Fiction, guess what book was at the top of the list???

THE CHRISTMAS COTTAGE BY SAMANTHA CHASE!!!

That's right!  OMG!  Who can believe it?  But there it was!  In full color on the page in the email in her inbox from Amazon...they were promoting ME!  How freakin cool is that???

 I am not going to lie to you, it was a pretty darn incredible feeling.  I'm beginning to feel like a REAL author!  The funny thing is, Amazon does not tell me when they are going to do something like this; I guess it's just the luck of the draw but I am feeling beyond blessed that they chose me.  A little nobody Indie author from North Carolina!

Who is still waiting for either Oprah or Good Morning America to call... and perhaps the Hallmark Channel to call with an offer to make my book in to a movie.

Just a suggestion...

Actually, I'd be equally thrilled to hit the Top 10 in Women's Fiction and be in the Top 100 in Kindle by Christmas Eve.  Please share the link with your friends; like the book on Amazon, check out our Facebook page.  Everyone has been so amazing and supportive but I've got a long way to go and can use all of the help I can get!

Check your Amazon emails...I may be in there!  LOL!