Charlotte Collins on Audiobook!

Posted on May 21, 2013 by JenniferBecton

CC Cover for Audio2

It’s here! Charlotte Collins: A Continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is now available on audiobook at Audible.com and is coming soon to iTunes!

This is the first audiobook I’ve produced, and I was quite nervous about finding just the right person to narrate it. So I was beyond thrilled when I connected with Anne Day-Jones, a British actress who has had numerous TV and movie roles and voiced video games as well. You can read more about her work here.

Because of Anne’s talents, the audiobook truly came to life. Her narration goes beyond mere reading. It’s as if I’m somehow watching my characters even though I can’t see them. Her voices for the Charlotte, Maria, and Mr. Basford gave their characters so much depth and emotion, but I also loved the voices she used for the older, more humorous characters. Mrs. Card is a particular favorite.

Thank you, Anne, for all your hard work bringing Charlotte into a new venue, and I’m so glad you agreed to voice “Maria Lucas” and Caroline Bingley as well.

I hope you will all enjoy the audiobook!

Posted in Audiobooks, Caroline Bingley, Charlotte Collins, Charlotte Lucas, Jane Austen, Jane Austen Experience, Jane Austen Sequels, Maria Lucas, Personages of Pride & Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice, Pride and Prejudice sequels | Leave a comment

Updates

Posted on May 17, 2013 by JenniferBecton

For the past nine days, I took an unusual vacation. I spent the whole time learning and riding with my pal and Riding Fear Free: Help for Fearful Riders and Their Teachers coauthor Laura Daley, who flew from California to South Carolina, to spend time with me at fabulous One Oak Farm Paints and Quarter Horses.

Laura and Jennifer, Photo by Cheri Steele of One Oak Farm

Isn’t Darcy pretty?

Here we are again:

On the Trails at One Oak

On the Trails at One Oak

But I digress.

I am slowly catching up on work, but I’ll hit the highlights.

  • At Fault is updated in all ebook versions, including the Southern Fraud Thriller Box Set.
  • The paperback updates of At Fault are in progress but will take longer due to the proofing time required. The paperback will be off sale temporarily.
  • The audiobook version of Charlotte Collins is still in the validation stage. I expect it to be on sale in the next week or so.
  • The audiobook version of “Maria Lucas” is back from my awesome narrator and will be available soon.
  • I am behind on all email. I’ll get back to you soon. :)
Posted in At Fault, Audiobooks, Horses, Riding Fear Free, Southern Fraud Series | 1 Comment

Giving Yourself Permission to Write Crap

Posted on May 14, 2013 by JenniferBecton

Posted in novel writing, writer's block, writing, Writing Fear Free | Leave a comment

Swearing

Posted on May 5, 2013 by JenniferBecton
I hit this button more than I realized in At Fault.

I hit this button more than I realized in At Fault.

When the first reviewer mentioned that there was a different level of swearing in At Fault than in the previous two books in the Southern Fraud Series, I didn’t think much about it. Then another reader mentioned the amount of swearing on my Facebook page. This morning, I found another review that mentioned swearing in Absolute Liability. Three is a pattern, and so I decided to look more closely at the language I had chosen for the Southern Fraud Thriller series.

That’s right, I counted the swear words in each book. I’m not going to break it down word by word for you because that would be boring, but after a count, it was clear that At Fault had twice as many expletives as the previous books.

I never intended my books to be “clean” mysteries with no foul language, violence, or gore, and I am comfortable with the precedent set by Absolute Liability with regard to language and description. Bad guys swear; cops swear; that’s the way it is. But I do believe that because the books are in a series, I set up expectations in book 1 that needed to be followed in all subsequent volumes. Readers should expect the same type of language and descriptions in all the books in the series based on what they read in the first novel, and I had inadvertently given them something different in book 3.

This morning, I edited At Fault so that the language matched the precedent set by the first two books. In fact, it now has fewer swear words than Death Benefits. I apologize for failing to maintain the precedent I had set and promise to do better in the last three books of the series.

Updates to the ebook versions of At Fault and the box set of Southern Fraud Thrillers are in progress, so please check for them at Amazon, BN, and Kobo in the next 48 hours. Updates take longer at the other retailers, but they should be there in the next week or so.

Posted in At Fault, Publishing Fear Free, Southern Fraud Series, Writing Fear Free | Leave a comment

Joint Promo and BookBub Results

Posted on May 1, 2013 by JenniferBecton
Warning: Math Ahead

Warning: Math Ahead

In April, I had promotions on books in both genres, both different and both successful.

First, the ladies at Indie Jane and I had a group $.99 sale, pooling our marketing power for the benefit of the whole group. I had low expectations for this promotion because I have offered Charlotte Collins for sale at $.99 in the past and never sold enough to make up for the lower price. I credit the strength of my friends’ books–Attempting Elizabeth and Loving Miss Darcy (Brides of Pemberley)–for pulling Charlotte Collins up to its highest sales rank ever, making it into the top 1000 for the first time ever. It also had its strongest month in terms of sales.

This example shatters a longstanding myth. In the trad pub world, your book gets one month to prove itself in terms of sales, and then it’s done and removed from the shelves. But with indie pubbing, your book has all the time in the world, and you can slide down the bestsellers lists and climb them again years after the book is released.

Second, I promoted Absolute Liability at Amazon, BN, and Kobo using BookBub. I priced Absolute Liability at $.99 and lowered the other two books in the series to $1.99 even though they were not officially part of the promotion. I paid $460 for the promotion and earned it back through sales of AL in less than 24 hours, and sales of all three books continue to be strong even after raising the prices. Thanks to this promotion, Absolute Liability can now add BN Nook Best Seller to its existing title of Amazon Kindle Best Seller. The Nook edition hit number 10! And on Amazon, it topped out at 114 on the Kindle Best Sellers list, made the Movers and Shakers list, and went to number 1 in Mystery Series and 4 in Women Sleuths. Sales of the other two books also soared.

This promotion finally answers the question “How do I get my books seen at BN?” Here’s one answer: use BookBub. This provided enough visibility to raise my sales at BN across the board. It also provided some visibility at Kobo, but far less than at the other two venues. I will use BookBub again.

The conclusion? Advertising works, but you have to find the right venues. Some of these promotions may not cost a dime, but sometimes you have to be willing to risk some money. If you decide to try BookBub or other venues, let us know how they work for you. I’ll keep you posted on future promotions too.

Posted in Publishing Fear Free | 1 Comment

Random News Round Up: War of Words Edition

Posted on April 23, 2013 by JenniferBecton
Pistols at dawn!

Pistols at dawn!

Every few months or so, proponents of traditional publishing and fans of indie pubbing engage in a steel-cage death match. This month’s edition has been entertaining, mainly because of the extra fun vitriolics.

Here are a few articles for you to consider:

 

Then everyone under the sun started talking about it.

Entertained yet?

Seems like everywhere you look, someone is up in arms over something someone said about their momma.

Here’s how I look at these dust-ups. They’re informative. Read them in order to keep up with what’s going on in the industry, but for heaven’s sake, use your head and interpret like Spock: without getting emotional about it. It’s important to keep up with the news and changes to publishing, but it’s not important to jump into the fray and defend your opinion to the death. Sure, say what you think, but don’t let it descend into name-calling. (Although it is entertaining to watch, so on second thought, go ahead if that’s what you want to do.)

I’ve got nothing against traditional publishing. I’m neither yearning for the “prestige” of a deal nor standing at their doors with flaming torches. Heck, if the right company offered me the right deal, I’d consider it. I’d go hybrid under the right circumstances. (Hear that, Amazon? Call me.) But I’m also not going to sit around, twiddling my thumbs and waiting for that offer to come, and I’m not going to feel bad about it. I’m going to continue earning my own living using the means available to me and not waste time getting caught up the drama.

Posted in e-books, Publishing Fear Free, Random News Roundup | Tagged | Leave a comment

Southern Fraud Ebook Sale

Posted on April 16, 2013 by JenniferBecton
At Amazon, BN, and Kobo

At Amazon, BN, and Kobo

Amazon
BN
Kobo

Posted in Absolute Liability, At Fault, Death Benefits, e-books, Sale, Southern Fraud Series, thriller/mystery | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Indie Jane Spring $.99 Sale!

Posted on April 14, 2013 by JenniferBecton

Spring Sale

The gals at Indie Jane are all putting one of our Jane Austen-inspired ebooks on sale starting 4/14 and running through 4/26.
Attempting Elizabeth by Jessica Grey $.99 on Amazon, BN, and Kobo
Loving Miss Darcy by Nancy Kelley $.99 on Amazon, BN, and Kobo
Charlotte Collins by Jennifer Becton $.99 on Amazon, BN, and Kobo
Posted in Jane Austen Experience | Leave a comment

For Mrs. Gillham

Posted on April 11, 2013 by JenniferBecton

And because it amuses me.

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Posted in Southern Fraud Series, writers | Leave a comment

Decoding Marketing Advice

Posted on April 3, 2013 by JenniferBecton
Is marketing advice leaving you frustrated? Me too.

Is marketing advice leaving you frustrated? Me too.

So far this year, various self-publishing experts have recommended the following courses of action for garnering success in the indie publishing industry:

1. Don’t buy advertising. I wrote a post about it here.

2. Don’t create an author platform. Stop blogging. Don’t engage in social media like Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter.

  • L. L. Barkat says blogging is largely a waste of time for experienced writers in 2013.
  • Konrath has a blog, but doesn’t do much with Twitter and Facebook.
  • Here Jane Friedman suggests that first-time and aspiring narrative driven authors in the traditional publishing world might want to desist, but indies should probably keep it up. However, this news seems to be spreading as thought she suggested that everyone stop. Here is her definition of platform, which again, she still recommends that indies build.
  • Jody Hedlund says blogging is a waste of time too, but she’s still going to continue.
  • Elizabeth S. Craig urges writers to focus on writing before platform building. Sensible advice.

Okaaaaaaaay, so if it’s a waste of money to advertise and a waste of time to have a platform, blog, or use social media, then how do I get my books in front of readers? How do I get my books seen? What avenue of marketing is left to me if everything listed above is a waste of time?

On the surface, it seems that the general consensus for marketing in 2013 is to:

  1. Allow retailers to take over the bulk of marketing using their internal marketing algorithms (Customers Who Bought Also Bought feature, free bookstore promotions on Kindle Select and/or Kobo, etc.)
  2. Keep writing and publishing more good books. Sensible advice.

But what happens when you realize that some retailers’ internal marketing is better than others? That some retailers do next to nothing to make your giveaways visible to readers? Oh, and they don’t even have a way to tell you how many you’ve given away? That at certain retailer websites your book cannot even be found in generic searches of the keywords you chose? That your books cannot be seen on some retailer sites unless readers already know they are there? Oh, but no blogging or social media or ads!

Well, you’re screwed. Continue reading →

Posted in Online Book Marketing, Publishing Fear Free | 1 Comment