Hello Bloglandia!

So January was a crazy writing month….crazy good and crazy busy.

The Crazy Good, Part One

Let’s tackle the first bit of crazy good. Which is actually an open letter of thanks to my Review Team.

A few wonderful people answered my call to read and review an advanced copy of The Undead Mr. Tenpenny.

To say I was nervous would be the understatement of the year. Although six months ago I would have been singing the praises of this book and stomping around fully confident that it was going to be my best seller so far, some time around the last couple read throughs, I couldn’t stand the damn book.

I thought the writing made no sense. I thought the premise was utterly ridiculous. I thought the characters were annoying and flat. Basically, I was not doing well and almost considered not releasing the book.

But I’m stubborn — as Mr Husband likes to remind me. Since I’d already committed to releasing the book, I figured I’d go through all the usual steps. One of which is getting it out to early reviewers.

So I sent out my copies. And then I waited. Nervously waited. And desperately wished there was wine in the house during that waiting.

But then reviews started coming in. People liked it. Not just liked it, but REALLY liked it. They liked the characters, they liked the humor, they liked the premise.

For example, the wonderful author (and all-around funny lady) Sarah Angleton thought it was, ““…a clever, hilarious romp through a new magical universe”. 

Squeeee!!!

To say a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders would be the second understatement the year. And I owe my tiny little review team an immense amount of gratitude for that.

**Note: If you’re interested in reviewing the book, I’d love to have you on the team. Just contact me and I’ll get you set up.**

The Crazy Good, Part Two

Guys, I don’t know what happened in January but my book sales went bonkers. I know most writers see a slight uptick in sales in January due to people using up their Christmas gift cards, but this was like nothing I’d seen before.

Let me just give you the hard stats…

In a single month I sold 29% of what I sold in all twelve months of 2020.

Now, for those of you who aren’t great at math, that means if I had sold 100 books over the course of 2020, I’d have sold 29 books in January. (The actual numbers are insanely better, but hopefully that helps clarify things).

This was by far my best sales month. Nearly every book I have published had sales. Paperback sales were through the roof. I had nearly 10x the sales I had in December….

….And I have no idea why.

I’m not complaining, but that’s really frustrating because if I don’t know what sparked this, how will I know how to make it happen again and again?

Could it have been the stellar reviews for Domna that were posted over on the Jaunts & Haunts blog? (You can see a couple of the reviews HERE and HERE.)

Could it have been the pricing of the first Osteria Chronicles Box Set to 99c (this was my top seller, so maybe, but that’s not exactly a sustainable price point.)

Could it have been the new Osteria Chronicles covers? Maybe. I have seen a much higher interest in the series since the change.

Or, could it have been the planets aligning? Sure, let’s go with that!

Either way, wow, what a start to 2021!! Don’t worry, despite my excitement, I’m still a pessimist and am certain this good luck can’t continue.

Crazy Good, Part Three

And the final crazy good was having The Undead Mr. Tenpenny selected as one of Apple’s Most Anticipated Books of 2021.

Woohoo!

If you missed that exciting bit of news, you can get the full scoop HERE.

And now for the crazy busy…

Crazy Busy, Part One (and Only)

Basically, I’m working like a maniac trying to coordinate the completion and release of three books.

I know there are writers out there who can somehow write and release a book or two every single month, but I have no idea how they do it without going bonkers.

Amongst other writing and life chores, in January…

  • I re-read and re-edited the second Cassie Black book,
  • I gave The Undead Mr Tenpenny (book #1) one final read through,
  • I cobbled together my first wrap-around paperback cover (more on that soon!),
  • I reformatted book one’s paperback,
  • I wrangled a tiny review team together,
  • I updated several books on my Payhip bookstore, and
  • I nearly completed what I hope is my final “big” edit of book three (I’ll finish that up today – hoorah!!).

Needless to say, my brain is about to explode.

And needless to say, the busy hasn’t stopped so I’m going to wrap things up, get my butt out for a run, then get going on those edits!

How was your January? Good, bad, ugly? All of the above? Any good news you weren’t expecting? Share your thoughts in a comment!!

 

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2 thoughts on “January Writing Round-Up (aka “What Just Happened?”)”

  1. Phew! Just reading about your January makes me tired. I am never anywhere near that productive. I worked through what I am truly hoping is my last round of revisions on my WIP until a publisher wants to tweak a few things and offer me a million dollar advance. I set aside a lot of research on a new project in order to work on said revision. And I read a good book. 🙂

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    1. I hope that million dollar advance is written on one of those giant checks. I mean, just think of the photo opportunity! Yes, January was exhausting, and February is proving to be just as crazy. Luckily, all this Cassie work has (almost) kept me too busy to allow the ideas for three new books to do anything but sit in the waiting room of my brain. It’s been terribly tempting to go chat with them, though.

      And I completely understand that hope of, “Please, PLEASE let this be the final round of revisions!!!” Thanks for making time to read my book, though.

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