Kindle Countdown Deals Flops Big Time!

Update is below the post to describe why Kindle Countdown flopped!

December 1st at 8 a.m., my novel THE DREAM JUMPER'S PROMISE goes to .99 from its regular price of $2.99. I'm trying a new thing on Amazon called Kindle Countdown Deals and I'm not sure this will be a good thing for this book but I'll see at the end of the week.
You tell them how many days to run the deal and give them a starting price point. They reduce the price then build back up incrementally over that time period. If I remember correctly, my book goes to .99 tomorrow morning and after two days goes to $1.99 then on the seventh day, back to $2.99. They put a little ticking digital clock beside the price to show how much longer at this price.
The idea behind this is sales for the week it's discounted and to create buzz and good ranking for the book after having it on sale. I'm hoping Amazon puts it on some list that readers can access for cheap books because I'm limited in what I can do promo-wise. I'll be away all week with limited internet availability.
I want to do free days at Christmas and Amazon insists I keep the $2.99 price point for two weeks after the last day on the promotion so that'll put me at about December 20th when I can reduce the price again.
As a first time author, I'm still trying to gain readers and convince people to read my book, take a chance on a new author, write a review.
UPDATE!!! You cannot do a FREE Promo after Kindle Countdown Deals. You must wait until the 90 days are up.

I'll update this blog next week when I have a chance to see if Kindle Countdown Deals works or not. I'm headed to Nicaragua tomorrow for some jungle time and won't be available online. This is me hiking in the jungle in Nicaragua.

Lately my book has not been selling at $2.99. It does far better at free :) or at $1.99 and although I never guessed that I'd be okay with offering my book for so little, I now realize this is the way to build a career.
The second in the series THE DREAM JUMPER'S SECRET will be out the first week of February and that should be a big shot in the arm for the PROMISE book, as well. Anyone out there have experience with Kindle Countdown Deals? I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

Nominated for BEST INDIE FIRST BOOK by Indie RomCon

Amazon Bestselling Author Kim Hornsby

December 13th UPDATE: I really hoped there'd be some breakthrough sales of this book with Kindle Countdown Deals but I sold very few copies of the book at each price level. It was almost like there was a sign on it saying "don't buy this." My sales plummeted. Maybe they were going to anyhow, seeing it's the Holiday Season and romance readers enjoy reading Christmas Love Stories, (like Christmas by Candlelight) but I've never seen such poor ranking for this book since it was launched! Not just that, but now I can't adjust the price to where it does make sales because I'm locked in at the higher price for 2 weeks after the promo. All round, this did not work for me at all. Good thing I have other books and novellas out there. And I have a husband to support me while I try to make a go of it as an author!

UPDATE!!! You cannot do a FREE Promo after Kindle Countdown Deals. You must wait until the 90 days are up. This has successfully tanked my book sales now for 2 months. I will never do this promo again. Little did I know when I wrote this blog in December.

The Dream Jumper's Promise
Blurb

Tina Greene can't accept the presumed surfing death of her husband, Hank. Months after signing the death certificate, she trades mourning for saving her Maui dive shop from bankruptcy. When Jamey Dunn walks back into her life things take a strange turn. Dreams of Hank have the dive instructor questioning her sanity and leaning heavily on Hank's best friend, Noble. Jamey and Noble clash at every turn, both desperate to help Tina. When Jamey suspects Tina's strange dreams hold clues to Hank's disappearance, he must reveal his unusual ability to visit dreams. Trusting the man who once betrayed her doesn't come easily when the decision to let Jamey enter her subconscious has a price. As Tina, Noble and Jamey decipher the mystery of Hank's disappearance, grave danger sets in to reveal that one person is a traitor, one is flirting with insanity and one is an impostor.

Kim Hornsby is the AMAZON BESTSELLING author of THE DREAM JUMPER'S PROMISE, NECESSARY DETOUR and THE HUSBAND HUNT. Visit her amazon page to find inexpensive downloads and print books.

Writing Romance is Harder Than it Reads!

Ever read a romance novel and think "I could write this stuff!" Well you can't. Not without years of hard work, training and tears. For those of you who have the know-how, (and I don't mean the personal romance know-how) and the education, this doesn't mean you. I'm talking to the people who poo poo the genre and say it is easy to write a romance. If it were, wouldn't everyone do it?
If a romance author let you think you could do it without a degree in creative writing, or at the very least classes and workshops on novel writing, they are probably one fine writer. Making the story flow, making you feel you are a part of the story and can write like that if you tried, is the sign of a good writer. It might look simple, but it is not.

Thank God I didn't know this before I started my first novel. I said those above fated words while reading a Susan Wiggs romance one summer. It seemed to me that there was nothing to thinking up a compelling story and then just typing it out. No offence to the author but sheesh, just write a handsome man, a woman the reader would care about, a nice setting, story and BINGO! Publication.
I was so confident, I started writing in the fall and had a spring power outfit hanging in my closet for an inevitable meeting with my editor in New York.

In some ways it's wonderful to be so confident. I'd just been on a family vacation in Canada, over the border from Eastern Washington, and decided to set this blockbuster hit on a lake, like the one we'd just been to. And then I started writing. And deleting. And writing. And deleting.
This wasn't my first novel, but it was my first romance. I'd already written a Women's Fiction that had been rejected by some of the finest agents and editors in NYC, so you see, I wasn't totally green. Just unpublished and uneducated about the process of novel writing. Aside from a few workshops on the Hero's Journey, I had no clue. I didn't even read romance but after reading Susan Wiggs' novels, I thought I might start.

Then I read somewhere that the second book doesn't usually sell. It's purpose is solely to babysit the dust bunnies under your bed, The third book was the one that would sell. Regardless, I finished the book, sent out a queries, and got rejected by some of the finest agents and editors, not only in NYC but all over this fine country. It was unanimous. No one wanted it. No one wanted the first thirty pages, let alone the full manuscript. Although I loved the high concept, no one else did. I'd written a story about a modern day Goldilocks and the Three Bears, something that apparently would sink like a lead hard copy, and I was told repeatedly that it was a bad idea. It had either been done to death or couldn't be done, I can't remember which.

That was bad news to me, who had a series all planned out with Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk about modern day women who find themselves in similar circumstances to the nursery stories. The completed romance was titled Goldy and the Bayers, about a rock singer who suddenly retires and escapes the media by hiding out at her lake house, only to find herself spying on the family next door - the Bayers.

The completed manuscript collected dust for several years while I continued writing. I'd gotten too far in to quit now. I had thousands invested in Writers' Conferences and posit notes and felt I owed it to myself to prove that writing a book and getting it published was super simple! Dammit!
When I saw a call for Fairytale stories by Entangled Publishing, I ventured under the bed to get Goldy, and sent the pitch to several other publishers while I was at it.

Then I got a shovel, a pick ax, and a big garbage bag and started editing and cleaning up the first three chapters. When several publishers asked for the full, I smirked and told myself to dig out that Power Suit for NYC. Turned out I hadn't exactly written a romance. No siree. According to several agents who almost considered representing me at this point in my almost career, the story wasn't formulaic enough. Apparently there is a definite formula to follow for romance and I hadn't done that. In the first few pages my hero did not catch the protagonist when she fell off a ladder in her Daisy Dukes, his hand getting tangled in the jean rips, until they broke apart, embarrassed. I wasn't sure what the formula was, but when one of the queried editors suggested some easy changes to make it fit the formula, I gladly said yes and signed on the dotted line. Thank you Ally Robertson!

Writing romance is not easy. And it isn't just me who's had a hard time at this. Most writers will tell you that if you think it's easy, the joke is on you. Writing a romance (and a believable sex scene, while we're talking about it) takes a ton of skill and talent. It is not the walk in the park it looks to be and next time you read a novel that's as smooth as a piece of crustless cheesecake, think about the craft that goes into writing your entertainment.
How about it writers? Anyone ever heard that romance writing is easy?

Kim Hornsby is the author of Amazon Bestseller, Necessary Detour with The Wild Rose Press, originally named Goldy and the Bayers.

How To Write A Book Review

I have most of my epiphanies in the shower and today was no exception. Here's my amazing realization for today:
Non-writers find it difficult to write a review for a book they like. I almost slapped myself on the forehead when I realized that it's probably hard for people to write what they liked about a book if they, themselves, are not writers.They are the blessed readers so why should they be able to write?
And so my friends, here is my blog on how to write a quick review to help support your favorite writers and ensure that they won't spend the week in the fetal position wondering why no one has reviewed the book that took them two years of their life to write.

Short Version:

Fill in the blanks
"I just finished reading___ and ____it."

Long Version:

First, to review, you sometimes have to buy the book, then usually wait a day or two. Amazon has a little old school teacher in a room timing how long it takes you to read a book and won't let you review even if you're a graduate of the Evelyn Woods speed reading course until she says the time is up. When you're ready, go to the book's Amazon page, click on 'like' on anything associated with this author to do a very good deed, then scroll down the page where you found the book for sale and click on 'Write a Review'.

First it asks you to rate how many stars you'd give it. 5 is fantastic and this means that you enjoyed the book immensely. Not necessarily that it will be awarded the Golden Amazing Book of the Universe Award but just that it was a great read for that type of book. Eg) if it's romance, don't judge it by a Pulitzer Winning Novel about World Peace. And remember, you can give anyone you want 5 Stars. You don't have to save just one to give out in your whole lifetime.
3 Stars is a bit of a downer for most authors so keep that in mind if you go to hit 3 but really liked the book. As my mother said, if you can't say anything nice...
I tend to only review the books I really like. The world does not need my rant if I didn't like something. But that is entirely up to you.

Then move on to the box where you must use a set amount of characters to describe your experience with the book. This does not have to be beautifully written and if it is, the review is often removed. Amazon thinks authors should not review each other's books and again, that schoolteacher in a little room will notice a gorgeously written review and pull it before you can sign your name.
In your review of the book you just finished, you can start by saying that you enjoyed the book, it was a fun distraction, a beautifully written novel, made you laugh out loud, loved the characters, related to the setting, the humor, the dialogue, liked the writer's style, look forward to more books from this author who didn't disappoint. This type of feedback is lovely to read, as an author. No need to write something unique. A compliment is always unique. If it's hard to fill up the necessary words, say I can highly recommend this book to anyone who likes______.
Here is a simple, yet wonderful review of one of my books:
"Great Book!"

If you feel compelled to write something negative, then remember the critique rule - sandwich your negative comment between two compliments. Writers are sensitive people and they get the idea if you didn't appreciate one aspect of the book. No need to get carried away. I once read a three paragraph rant about a book that made me want to read it right away (and verbally pummel the person who wrote the review).
You don' t need to use your real name. Choose a user name and be anonymous. (A scathing review written anonymously is considered as a chicken-shit move among authors BTW). Click when you are done and know that you have helped further a writer's career by taking the time to lend your endorsement. I guarantee that for the moment the author reads your positive review,they are thanking you in their hearts and letting out a big sigh to say 'someone out there liked what I did'.
If you are a Goodreads user, copy your review and paste it to Goodreads so the author can be liked over there too. www.goodreads.com

If you read this blog because you want to write a review, I commend you. Thank you from all the authors out there who check daily to see if anyone likes their books.

Over and out.

Kim Hornsby is the Amazon Bestselling Author of The Dream Jumper's Promise, a three-time award winner with over 65,000 downloads and 223 reviews. She lives in the Seattle area and writes novels while trying to keep a clean house and raise two children to not be thugs.