Do Free E-books Increase Sales?

Do Free E-books Increase Sales?

I'm trying an experiment. We hear so much about free e-books and $.99 books in the present market climate. Especially for authors e-publishing their backlist, we have to ask the question—How do readers find us? With over 70 books for sale, about a quarter of those in e-book form, how do readers know my backlist from my current titles?

For Easter week, I gave away my re-release LOVE IN BLOOM, now an e-book, with a coupon at Smashwords.com. I've done this before and had about a dozen downloads. This time a blogger who posts free books picked it up and I had over 200 downloads! But I didn't sell any of my other backlist titles there. I sold two on Amazon. My husband, wise man that he is, told me to give those readers a chance to read LOVE IN BLOOM and maybe sales would go up! To give the readers who do return to my backlist a bonus, I lowered the prices on MOM MEETS DAD to $.99 on Amazon and Smashwords. The price cut hasn't reached Barnes and Noble yet. I'm going to allow the price to stay at $.99 for the month.

Something else I did when I decided to put up my backlist was design the covers all similarly. They have an identifying arch with my name as well as my logo. Since I have titles from three different publishers, I used a different color for each publisher but all in the same style.

I'm building a following on Twitter and Facebook and enjoy posting regularly. My e-books are listed on my website and my Facebook author page. If either writers or readers have suggestions on how to help readers find those titles, I'm interested! Please feel free to comment or e-mail me. And remember, MOM MEETS DAD is $.99 for the month of May at Smashwords and on Kindle. Happy reading!

Karen

Little Things Matter: In Life And In Writing

One of the things I love about my cats is that they live in the moment! And they seem to appreciate the smallest gifts—the little things. I was labeling varieties of tomato plants on popsicle sticks. London and Ebbie seemed bored with another rainy day and no rainbows from the suncatchers. So I tossed a popsicle stick to each of them. Like kids, they each need one of their own. They played and played with them, batting them around, just lying on the floor watching them, moving the sticks a tiny bit with their paws and then sitting on them. The sticks were such little things that were giving them pleasure and exercise!

Life is made up of day-to-day moments. Some of them are important and some of them just shore us up for the next one. We've had a week of cloudy days and rain. But I found this beautiful little flower in my garden today along with the wonderful daffodil. And I smiled broadly, taking in the sun and letting it fill me up. I told myself to relax for just ten minutes, breathe and appreciate every little thing in my life, just like London and Ebbie can.

When I'm writing I have to, of course, concentrate on the big moments, the conflict moments, the most emotional moments in a relationship. But to give my characters real life, I have to concentrate on smaller moments, too. In my February release, His Daughter...Their Child, the hero and heroine ride to a canyon. The scenery, the striated canyon walls, the junipers growing by the stream, affect the emotions in the scene. It's a backdrop that allows them to stop and appreciate the feelings that are growing for each other. Little things that were common from a shared history in high school--like chocolate milk and biscotti at a friend's B&B--help them connect once more.

We know we're supposed to stop and smell the roses. I love doing that, too, when they're blooming. But I think we miss so many opportunities to smile, to fill up, to brighten someone else's day. I've found the little things matter--in writing...and in life.

To Update A Re-Release Or Not

Today I'm going to discuss a dilemma veteran writers face—to update or not to update? I've had over seventy novels published by traditional publishers since 1991. Every writer is facing the "new" world of publishing which includes the e-reader world. I've often had readers ask me for copies of my first novels, but I couldn't provide them when they were out of print. I've had the rights on eleven novels for some time now, but was waiting for the right opportunity to do something with them. Suddenly writers and readers have been thrust into a digitalized world and there is more demand for ebooks. I waited because in 2000 Harlequin tried a demo program for ebooks that I was a participant in that didn't take off. Now the market is different.

When I set out to e-publish my re-releases, I thought I'd just have to learn about reformatting, nuclear option, the style requirements of each digital publisher and finding an artist to develop a new cover. But after I uploaded my first two published novels whose plots revolved largely around a non-tech world (1992-93), I started reading the rest with a different eye. I decided to update them. The basic plots were still universal and, to my surprise, timely! A small town doctor (LOVE IN BLOOM) must make a career decision. A hero with a special needs sister (KIT AND KISSES) finds a heroine worthy of his love. A massage therapist helps a type A personality single dad de-stress (RIBBONS AND RAINBOWS). Two eight year old girls who are best friends want to see their parents—a single mom and a single dad—fall in love (MOM MEETS DAD). I think you get the idea. But, of course, the technological advances were missing. When I wrote these books, cell phones weren't common. We were listening to tapes not CD's. We watched videotapes not DVD's. So I went through seven more books with an eye to making those changes—along with a few others I found along the way. A former English teacher can never stop editing. But, also, I didn't upload two of the titles because I didn't feel they could be updated successfully.

So I guess this is a question I have for readers and writers. When a writer brings out her re-releases, do you want those stories updated? Or do you want them preserved in the time in which they were written? All comments and discussion much appreciated! With coupon code MA29F Readers can download a free version of KIT AND KISSES at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48129.

I mentioned what I was making for supper on Twitter, and a new friend asked me for the recipe. I thought readers might be interested, so I've posted it here. I love to cook (that Italian heritage idea that giving food is giving love) and I have basic recipes that lend to different variations. This is one of them. Enjoy!

My version of chicken chili (We go light on the spices.)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large sweet onion (about a cup)
1/2 cup grated carrots
5 tablespoons flour
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
2 cans chicken broth (14.5 oz cans)
2 cans Great Northern beans
1 can black beans
1 1/2 cups cut up cooked chicken (I bake an extra large breast when we have chicken the night before and use that. Rotisserie chickens work well, too, but that adds salt.

Topping can be sour cream, cheddar cheese, chopped tomato or whatever suits.

I use this basic roux (oil and flour mix) for everything from mustard chicken to a thyme beef gravy for turkey meatballs. You can adjust it according to your taste.

Using a high sided skillet, slightly heat the olive oil on medium, then drop in onions and grated carrots. Stir until the onion is translucent. The carrots will steam further in the cooking process. I mix flour, chili and cumin (you can add more of the spices if you like it hotter) and then sprinkle that mixture over the onions and carrots. Stir for a minute or two until the flour and spices are worked in.

Once you have a paste, pour in one can of chicken broth. Stir until gravy-like and then add the other can. Cook on medium to medium-high for about two minutes, constantly stirring to thicken. I use canned beans to make this a quick recipe, but I rinse them with water to cut sodium. I just open the cans, drain, use water from the spigot, shake them and then add to skillet. Stir in chicken(again as much or little as you want).

There are two ways you can cook until done. Either just let the chili on the stove and simmer for about 20 minutes. Or the method I like—just dump the chili into a crock pot (I spray mine with Pam) and turn on low for about three hours. The beans soften more, the spices have more zest, and the chili is ready whenever you want it!

There are so many variations on this. You can chop peppers and add them instead of the carrots. You can mix in chopped tomatoes with the chicken. I try to keep it as low salt as possible by rinsing the beans and not adding any additional salt. But salt to taste. It tastes even better the next day!

Cats and Exercise

Since the winter weather doesn't want to give up, I thought I'd blog about something to keep us healthy during the year, especially in the winter. Did you ever notice how and when cats exercise? No one has to tell them to do a full body stretch when they wake up from a nap! Or to roll on their backs and reach up to the ceiling. Or to flex their paws and lay out long and lean against their scratching post. They relax in the sun to soak in Vitamin D, and at least twice a day they run through the house for aerobic exercise. Batting fake mice and tinfoil balls around the room as well as chasing rainbows from the sun catcher are extras they add when they are supercharged with energy. All of it comes naturally.

Humans on the other hand do not naturally take care of themselves, especially when it comes to exercise. Winter becomes harder on us as we age, especially if we don't belong to a gym or to the Y or join a walking or exercise class. When I was younger, I rode my bike, worked out at a gym, and did aerobics. But a back injury and then a knee injury put me on the sidelines where major exercise is concerned. I have fibromyalgia, so stretching has been part of my routine for many years as is exercising in a pool. It's amazing what a half hour two to three times a week can do for a body. So even if we don't like to or can't jog, or play sports, or swim, we can at least stretch. Maybe if we copy our cats' exercise regimen, we'd be healthier!

Birdhouses and Books

By now, you can tell I'm always thinking about plots and books. If I'm in the garden, I'm peaceful and one scene might play right after the other in my mind. Today we put up new birdhouses. The old ones were falling apart. The roofs had worn through with the weather. The new ones are colorful and easy to see from our patio. This morning I was thinking that all the houses need are tenants. There are three birdhouses and I'm guessing that bluebirds, wrens and barn sparrows will be moving in. I can't wait to see the activity.
Studying those birdhouses and waiting for tenants, I was considering my new book. It's the third book in the series. I introduced the heroine in books one and two, so I know her to some extent. In the synopsis I fleshed out her character and the hero's. But I won't really know my people until I write about them and watch their backgrounds change and take shape. The secondary characters will evolve chapter after chapter. In a sense, I'm waiting for my tenants to move in! I'll get to know them each time I pick up my tape recorder and visit with them. Birdhouses and books. Hmmm. Who would have thought?

Twinkle Lights and Spring

I love twinkle lights. At Christmas we have them several different places—on bushes outside, along a garland on the stairway, in the wreath on the door. They add brightness to the holiday and to the dreary winter afterward. Now...as organized as my husband is, he likes to put all the decorations away at once. Yes, it makes logical sense since they go in the basement in a not-easy-to-access place. But this year I asked him not to touch the wreath on the door. Decorated with aqua gauzy ribbon, blue-green pine cones and white twinkle lights, it brightens long dark nights. But now we're approaching the first day of spring. Ebbie and London are watching the birds outside the window. Robins are arriving in droves. My Beatrix Stanley orchid irises are blooming and daffodils and hyacinths are sprouting. So this weekend, the twinkle-lighted wreath will come off the door.

We need a little brightness in our lives all year through. The bright colors of spring will decorate my gardens and my life. And I'll save the twinkle lights for next winter, enjoying the sights and scents of a brand new season today.