Since yesterday, The Priest is available on Smashwords for free. As I explained in previous posts, I am working on widening my readership, and it seems that having a series of three or more books begs for a permafree. I am not sure what to expect exactly from this experiment, since The Ginecean Chronicles are a hard sell to begin with, but if I gain one more reader it would be worth it. At the moment, according to my Smashwords’s page stats, it seems that The Priest was downloaded 34 times. I’ll keep you posted, if anything noteworthy happens. Meanwhile, many happy readings to all of you, and have a fantastic week.
the priest
The Priest: New Year, New Promotion
Yesterday, The Priest was promoted by both eBookSoda and ENT. I dropped its price from $4.99 to $0.99 for the promotion, and waited for the results. Today, I woke and immediately checked the ranks, and found that The Priest had reached the 100 chart in the paid Dystopian Science Fiction Bestsellers list category. Not too bad.
New Marketing Strategies for The Priest
New month, new promotion strategy. As some of you know, the biggest obstacle an indie author meets in his/her journey regards visibility. Unless your book has received a certain amount of reviews collectively over four stars, the chances you can promote said book anywhere are slim. Among my three full length novels, The Priest is the only one I can push throughout the various sites that offer promotional services. It takes so much effort to raise your numbers that sometimes it feels like climbing uphill both ways. But, rest assured, I shall climb those suckers.
This coming holidays, The Priest is one of the books promoted in the science fiction section on Book Gift Guide. It is matched with The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I liked the idea behind this promotion, and the page stays on for the entire length of the holidays. Also, the price for a science fiction spot was the cheapest. Sometimes, it pays to be the lepers of the literature genres.
Tomorrow, The Priest will be featured on two different sites: The Fussy Librarian, and Read Cheaply. They are both mailing list based services 
I contacted a few months ago. By coincidence, they have given me the same date. I haven’t used them yet, but so far the communication has been great with both. Big bonus, both sites accepted my book for free.
On Tuesday, The Priest will be featured on Kindle Books and Tips in the spotlight section. This would be the third time I use this blog/mailing list’s services. In the past, I sold almost two hundred copies at 99 cents in two different promotions with them and repaid the cost of the add. For the spotlight add, I have discounted The Priest from $4.99 to $2.99.
After much consideration, and having sold three copies of Linda of the Night thanks to the Kindle Countdown Deals, I have removed Pax in the Land of Women from the program, but kept I Fantastici Viaggi del Principe, the Italian version of The Prince’s Day Out, enrolled. Since it is free add, I want to give the Amazon program one last chance.
The Priest: Second Day of Promotion
Reporting live, big emphasis on the “live” part. Free promoting isn’t for everybody, but I do have a few screenshot to show for it. Bear with me, proud mothers glow.
Italy
Germany
USA
India
England
Canada
Made the Top 100!
My little book, The Priest, has made it to the top 100 dystopian novels on Amazon. It’s sitting at #42 of the paid list. Tonight I’ll give my first lecture and I’m happy, excited, nervous, and on the verge of throwing up.
Small Things in Life and Amazon charts
Sharing space with two authors I admire on Amazon.it. Life is awesome!
Love is Love. Nothing Else Matters
A friend of mine, C.R.S., just posted a comment about my Ginecean Chronicles on Facebook and I must share.
“It’s day two of hearings in the Supreme Court regarding the equality of marriage for same sex couples and everyone is changing their profile picture to show support… A thought came to mind… how about if, in an alternate universe, it was it the other way around? What if in an alternate universe there were only same sex couples and heterosexual couples were “discriminated against by society and the Law”? Well…my friend Monica La Porta covers this topic in her “Ginecean Chronicles”…”
Friday Snippet #35
Sunny again in Seattle, which in a way matches my mood. This week was eventful, but productive. Monday, The Priest’s spotlight ad on Kboards was definitely a success and several bloggers were nice enough to play along. I moved 30 copies and it’s a record for me. I know the number won’t sound impressive, but it is for an obscure indie like me. The first book in The Ginecean Chronicles will be $0.99 until Monday, then it will be back to $2.99. The editing of Prince of War is slowly getting to the point where I can see the light and for that I’m happy too. Meanwhile, I’m still rewriting Her Book. Gaia’s story is a bit of a challenge, but the more I work on it the more I like it. For several reasons, I woke up every morning of the last seven days at unholy hours. First, it was Nero. Then, it was the security system’s battery setting off between 2:00 and 3:00am. Today, I had my first espresso at 3:15 am, apparently for no reason at all. It’s 5:00pm and I’m about to crash any minute now. But before posting my snippet, I’m happy to announce I’ll be on the Tweep Nation Podcast this coming Sunday the 17th at 6:00pm CDT. That is if I manage to sleep from now till then.
And now, for this Friday snippet, here are the opening lines of a project I started a year ago and abandoned. From the unfinished YA paranormal, All the Rainbow’s Colors:
It’s too cold to walk today. I look outside the window and there’s nothing I could be interested in. I should’ve my breakfast, but I can’t find anything I like. Today, I feel blue. Yesterday, I was orange.
The lady who lives in the complex in front of mine is already out. Normally, she comes out later. I lean out to have a better look at her. Yes, she’s definitely pastel pink. I’m tempted. I want to call her. Then, I remember I shouldn’t. I let her disappear behind the corner. I start to feel the first pangs of hunger. What can I do? I can go on until lunch, I’m sure. And then what? My nose is stuck on the window when I see it.
A color explosion. Melancholy Blue. Happiness Yellow. Rage Red. Tranquility Green. Falling in Love Pink. I can’t resist the call. I outreach my hand, and I splay my fingers.
“Milla! You are going to be late, again,” my sister, Rachel, calls from the hallway.
I close my hand in a tight fist.
“Milla! Hurry up. I’m done waiting for you,” Rachel adds.
“I’m coming,” I say, but I am still looking outside with longing.
Today, I don’t want to go to school. If it weren’t so cold, I’d walk. Walking charges me with positive energy, and when I finally step inside the classroom, I’m all yellow. When I’m yellow, school hours are bearable. Teachers aren’t boring. Students aren’t horrible. When I am yellow. But, today I woke up blue.
Monica La Porta 