Just got back from the ECWC Reader's Event: Passport to Romance here in Seattle. What a fun evening of meeting readers, giving away swag, and soaking in the high energy from all those fabulous writers.

Originally, I promised that I would give away my Hell to Pay trilogy to one lucky reader who signed up for my newsletter. 

However, because of the fabulous people I met, I'm going to give away THREE trilogies and TEN copies of book #1, Immortal Flame.

Just because.

Here's the list of lucky readers:
All three books (digital) of the Hell to Pay series
1) Kimmerow
2) Deborah P.
3) Lisa C.

Ten winners of book #1, Immortal Flame
1) Shelley F.
2) Siana
3) Kim F.
4) Jenn D.
5) Suni A.
6) Lori H.
7) Sara Y.
8) Heather R.
9) Madeline O.
10) Camille S.

(Methodology: Random numeral generator online. https://www.random.org)

I will email each of you to find out which digital format you prefer. If for some reason, you don't get an email from me, feel free to contact me through my contact page here. The only reason I can't reach you is because your handwriting is as bad as mine. (My excuse is I'm a doctor. I know, not a good excuse....)

Thank you all for coming out to the Passport 2 Romance readers' event!

Happy reading!

Oooh, that's an ominous title!

But really, the question should be twofold: 
What's the point of writing? And what's the point of writing romance?

Because those are different questions, aren't they? Maybe we can answer both.

Another list, if you will. Because lordie knows I love lists.

#10) We write to keep in contact with what it is to be human. Nuances of behavior, quirks, motives for actions -- writing is studying the details and then depicting humanity, sometimes in its rawest form.

#9) Because a story isn't your story until you've told it. That's right. Everyone has a story in them. But not everyone can get that story on paper. That takes special skills. However, if you can write it and shape it, then that's real power. Wow.

#8) Writing is better than photoshop. You can make readers see or feel anything, with a turn of a phrase or a tweak of a sentence. You can make different readers see or feel different things with that same phrase or sentence.

#7) Conveying information in written form is something that has tied mankind together for centuries. That common thread to record events and people around us continues even today. My carpal tunnel is just happy we don't have to chisel anything to do it nowadays.

#6) Writing gives us hope. Minus that paranormal vampire romance writer who shall remain nameless who flippin' killed off a heroine in one of her most recent books (dude, that is WRONG), romance is otherwise a safe literary venue of hope. There's an unspoken contract in every romance novel: somehow, we'll get a HEA (or HEA-for now, and that's okay too). In a world full of crazy, sometimes you need to read about the endless combinations of ways that hope, happiness, and love still can survive.

#5) It beats the heck out of cleaning the house.

#4) For this writer, the act of creation is catharsis. If every day you deal in suffering, pain, stress, and fear, then writing can morph those feelings into something beautiful. I've said it before: I might not be practicing medicine if it weren't for getting back in touch with my writing roots. Either that or I'd be heavily medicated.

#3) There are nice people who write, too. And we all like to talk about a lot of the same things. Pleasantly. Over dinner and stuff.

#2) There are nice people who read romance. And we all like to talk about a lot of the same things. Pleasantly. Over chocolate and stuff.

#1) Because nothing says, "I'm in control" like knowing you can take anyone who ticks you off and show that person for the total poophead they are. On paper. And then we can exact retribution in the precise manner in which we are not legally allowed to do, here in the real world. Yeah. Take that, jerky pants!

Unicorns and rainbows bonus: Write to make people happy. Write to make yourself happy.

Practical bonus: Write to make money/support family/pay bills. (Sometimes this is possible, but don't count on it until there are years of checks that have come in.....)

Here’s what happened. In true Mr. Magoo fashion, and by some miracle of God, somehow I convinced the fine folks at Crimson Romance to help secure a BookBub deal for 2 of the 3 books in my Hell to Pay series. How? Because I’m a numb-nut and have no idea what questions I can and cannot ask.
 
So I asked. Because I didn't know any better. (I >did< ask nicely, which could have helped.)
 
Whaddaya know? They did it!
 
Not only did they secure a BookBub deal, but here’s how it went down. On the date of Book #3’s release (regular price), Book #1 was FREE for 5 days and Book #2 was 99 cents for 5 days.
 
What did I do to help out? I had secured postings on about 15-20 blogs/book review sites, as well as had the support of some fellow authors for this week. Crimson also supported the deal on their social media platforms, which reached an even wider audience.
 
In the article, I am referring to my Hell to Pay series.
Book #1: Immortal Flame
Book #2: Relentless Flame
Book #3: Flame Unleashed
 
 
Part 1) What were my goals for that book release week/BookBub week and beyond?
 
#1) Frankly? Get out my rankings out of the dump. Book #1 was running anywhere from 200,000 to 900,000 on Amazon’s rankings and Book #2 was sinking into the abyss around 1,400,000-1,900,000. Not good. I was actually at a point where I’m like, dude, if only 5 people have seen Book #2, then what’s the point? Should I continue this writing thing?
 
#2) Get Book #1 in front of more readers, and hopefully gain more reviews. Ah, a double-edged sword. For Book #1, I had a rating of approximately 4.20 on Goodreads prior to the BookBub deal. For the first 10 days, that rating actually went UP, a phenomenon that I think is like the “early adopter” satisfaction rating on technology items.
 
Then, after that wave passed containing what were likely the most enthusiastic readers, those ratings dropped some. Okay, yeah, that hurt, but then I got philosophical. You know what, not every book is each person’s cup of sunshine. Hey, people have different opinions. That’s okay. I reckon if my book is on the upside of a 3.0 on Goodreads, especially since I’m a new/unknown author, then that’s a fair accomplishment.
 
#3) Meet or exceed the average download projection for a free book listed on BookBub site. So, for a free paranormal romance, BookBub's site states that an average of 16,500 downloads is a reasonable expectation.
 
#4) Benchmark against a somewhat similar, but more successful/prolific/experienced author. So I picked Holley Trent (seriously, read her books, they’re fabulous!), since she writes paranormal romance for Crimson and also had a series book release on the same day as my Book #3 released. I figured if I could be in the same zip code as far as rankings of my Book #3 compared with Holley’s Book #2, then that would represent some measure of success.
 
Part 2) What happened?
 
God’s honest truth, every day of that BookBub week was like Christmas. The high I got, watching those ratings drop – there’s nothing quite like it. At it’s best, Book #1 held the #6 slot overall for free Kindle books on Amazon, which frankly shocked the socks right off of me!
 
Book #1 even reached #1 in Kindle > Romance > Paranormal > Psychics and #1 in Kindle > Romance > Paranormal > Demons and Devils.
 
Does that mean it’s a bestseller? I think not, because of the free deal part. Feels kind of like cheating. But it was such a fabulous feeling watching those numbers hit that high ranking. I had no idea that would happen.
 
Total downloads of Book #1, according to Crimson’s executive editor Tara Gelsomino? Approximately 17,500, which beat the BookBub projection. However, even publishers can’t get all the data out of all booksellers. I don’t know why that is, but the book publishing industry has smoke and mirrors that I still don’t understand. So the download number is admittedly based on incomplete data.
 
How about Book #2? Well, it was listed at 99 cents, and the overall Amazon Bestsellers Rank settled out around #1,000 during that week, which was a fair piece better than over the ranking where it had been floundering before.
 
Part 3) 1 month later, what happened?
 
Am I a NYT bestselling author, ready to quit her day job, take baths in champagne, fend off offers of representation by high-powered agents, and write full time?
 
Nope. Not even close.
 
But this deal has energized my desire to write, no question about it. In fact, while the BookBub deal was occurring, I revised the first book in a new series, started writing the second book in the new series, and then did rough outlines for books three and four in the new series. Man, I was on fire! (In a good way, not a need-for-skin-grafting kind of way.)
 
As far as rankings and sales go, doggone it if the numbers don’t continue to chug along in the 65,000-120,000 ranking overall, with a few sales/day for the past several weeks. Big improvement from before the BookBub deal.
 
And Book #3, the book that was quietly at full price through all of this wild ride? It’s hung out in the mid #30,000-90,000 Amazon Bestsellers rank since the day of release. So, yes, in the general vicinity of Holley Trent’s book. Considering she has written 10x more books and has 10x the experience, the fact that my Book #3 hung with her book release made me feel like some level of success was accomplished.
 
Part 4) Questions
 
Would I do a BookBub deal again?
 
You betcha. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. (God-willing and my publisher supports the promotion deal.)
 
There’s a smart blog post going around that talks about how to market a new book release. The basic gist is that you go back to Book #1 and market it hard again. With each release in the series, you’re supposed to go back to that first book and promote it along with the newly-released book.
 
So along those lines, yes I’d do another BookBub of Book #1, especially if I’m getting ready to release a new series or release subsequent books in a new series.
 
 
Could I have done it on my own?
 
Absolutely not. The ranking changes, the book sales, the increase in reviews and ratings had about 10% to do with my efforts and 90% to do with Crimson Romance’s willingness to advocate for the BookBub deal and support this new author. BookBub deals aren’t impossible for a complete indie writer to achieve, but it’s my understanding that the deal is more difficult to obtain.
 
 
Bottom line
 
Write, write, write. Research the business. Read articles on marketing and publishing and try to understand how this information applies to you. And it doesn’t hurt anyone to simply ask a question. The answer might be no.
 
But sometimes, the answer is “yes”!
 
 
 

 
Thanks to @gwenhayes @holleytrent and @chronic_mom for inspiring this list!
 
10) Christmas title, gay romance: “We Three Kinds of Orient Are” (Yup, someone's been sniffing the myrrh.)
 
9) Option #2 for Christmas fella love story: “Deck the Balls” (I’d like to know what trimming the tree entails.)
 
8) Harlequin Presents type: “The Loan-Strapped Assistant Manager's Secret Babymama" (Same scenario, but just way less glamorous when it’s not a Tycoon. Yeah, see? Caught you passing judgement.)
 
7) Harlequin Presents option #2: "Broke Stepbrother's Questionable Relationship Choice" (Holley Trent made me put something in here with “Step” in the title)
 
6) Harlequin Presents option #3: "The Not-Very-Good Playboy’s Mediocre Score"
 
5) How about something in a suspense category? “The SEAL’s Quiet Vacation Where No One Abducts Anyone and No Guns are Fired” (Yippee, no flashbacks!)
 
4) Inspirational? “The Amish Widow’s Secret Cell Phone” (Gosh, don’t tell Obidiah!)
 
3) Historical: “A Butler of Her Own” (Ah, girls, we can only hope!)
 
2) Historical #2: “The Reluctant Prostitute” (She wasn’t super successful)
 
1) Erotica: “Befuddled”  (It’s always a 1 word title, often a verb that can be liberally misinterpreted. Or a random phrase like “Contort With Me”)

*Disclaimer: My sincere apologies if any of these items, by some karmic freak of the universe, are really book titles. I had no idea.