As I wrote in my last post, I’m attempting a new way of
publishing a book. New to me, anyway: serialised publishing.
I wrote a short contemporary romance, To Catch a Billionaire
Dragon, in three parts rather than dividing it afterwards to equal sized books,
each with its own narrative arch and cliff-hanger. I wanted each part to, if
not stand entirely alone, at least offer the readers a pleasurable reading
experience, no matter which part they pick up, and maybe be tempted to read the
other parts too. To entice them further, the first part is free.
Or it’s supposed to be.
I published the first part a week
ago on Amazon and Smashwords. The latter allows books to be priced free, so no
problems there, but the former doesn’t, and the book is $/£/€ 0.99 there.
However, Amazon has a policy of price matching books, so that they can offer
the cheapest price. It was this I counted on – in vain.
Despite my efforts – and those of some helpful people that I
enlisted on social media – Amazon hasn’t matched the price of the first book to
that on Smashwords and other retailers. Which puts a serious strain on the
experiment.
All isn’t lost, though. The first book is moving well on
Smashwords, Nook and iBooks, and I’m hoping that the other two parts will eventually
too. The last part was published today, so it’s early days yet. However, as
Amazon is by far the largest ebook retailer, I’m missing out on a huge number
of readers who might want to download the first part free, and – maybe – buy the
other two parts as well.
I still hope that Amazon manages to match the price. But I can’t
do it alone. So, this in mind, I’m asking if you could help. If you have time,
could you go to this page and use the ‘tell us about lower price’ link there to inform Amazon that the book
is free here or here? Thank you in advance. I’ll let you know if it works.
Until then, I’m letting the book live its own life and
concentrate on other things. Like the next Two-Natured London book that I’ve
started writing. Coming up, Zach’s story. Stay tuned.
Happy spring to everyone, and happy Easter to all those who follow! I have been neglecting this blog lately — after promising to blog more diligently. Maybe with increased light I'll be more active here too.
I haven’t been completely idle. I’ve written a new short romance, To Catch a Billionaire Dragon, which despite its name doesn’t have actual dragons in it. It’s a story of Laurel, a fantasy author, who after a chance meeting with Logan, a New York businessman, decides to base a character of a dragon on him. He isn’t entirely happy about it, and he most definitely doesn’t like how she seems unable to see him and her dragon apart.
I’m trying a new model of publishing with this book. I’ve written it in three short parts, each about a ten thousand words, and I will publish it in three parts too. It’ll be interesting to see how that will work.
I have a cover for it too. I’m toying with the idea of having a slightly different cover for each three parts, so that readers won’t accidentally download the same part twice. What do you think?
Here is the first chapter for you. The first part will come out next week.
The elevator cage descended slowly towards the lobby with no regard
to the sentiments of its sole passenger. It had served the residents of
the Upper West
Side high-rise with dignity and decorum since the 1930s and it
wasn’t about to start speeding now. Sixteen floors took exactly the same
time to descend as
it always had, despite the modern engine powering the art deco cage.
To Laurel Maynard, the ride felt eternal. She was ravenous, having
lost track of time and working past a few meals—again. She wasn’t sure
of the time
now, but this was New York. Surely she could find something to eat
at any time of day. And preferably fast. She needed to get back to her
book.
The cage finally came to a halt and the brass-plated doors opened to
a small lobby. As always, the golden marble floors and columns, inlaid
wood
decorations, and gleaming brass detailing made her blink a few times
in wonder. She sure wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Or Brooklyn, as it was.
She hurried across the lobby, past the old doorman in a red uniform.
She nodded at him and saw his eyebrows shoot up. She was wearing
clothes, wasn’t she?
That wasn’t always a given when she was distracted with writing.
She glanced down as she went through the revolving doors. She was
decent, wearing her comfiest sweats, a T-shirt that had seen its best
days a decade ago,
and slippers with teddy bears on them. It wasn’t exactly high
fashion, but she was only headed for takeout. No one cared what she
looked like.
The place was packed full and she stared at the crowd in dismay. She
would starve to death before she reached the counter. A glance at the
large clock
behind it revealed that it was the worst peak of the evening rush
hour. No wonder she was hungry, she hadn’t had anything since breakfast.
Maybe she should
find a place that sold something more substantial than bagels and
salads.
But by then the line behind her was blocking the door and pushing
her forward, and she resigned to her fate. Eventually it was her turn
and she got a
salad, and a large bagel filled with lox too. She gritted her teeth
paying for them. She might be living for free in her agent’s apartment,
but she was
paying a king’s ransom in food.
The moment she was back on the street she bit into the bagel and
closed her eyes in bliss. Hungry or not, she would savor the first bite.
Someone bumped into her from behind and the food shot out of her
mouth, only barely missing the person walking in front of her. “Hey!”
But whoever it had
been had already disappeared in the crowd. Annoyed, she guarded her
food and hurried back to her building. She would eat the rest in the
safety of four
walls and a roof.
The doorman shook his head when he saw her, but she didn’t pay
attention to him as she ran across the lobby. A man had just entered the
elevator and the
doors were already closing. “Hold it!” She could not wait for the
damned contraption to ride all the way up and back down again.
It seemed the man had not heard her; the doors were almost closed.
But just as she was about to grudgingly resign to her fate, a hand shot
through the gap,
blocking the door sensor. The doors opened again and she got in.
And came face to face with the sexiest man she had ever laid eyes on.
The scent of food filled the cage, making Logan Avery’s stomach
rumble quietly. The day he’d had, it was a wonder he had managed a long
enough break to eat
a sandwich, despite his secretary’s best efforts to keep him
properly fed. He had better eat something before he headed out to his
dinner date or he would
embarrass himself.
Immediately at the heels of the mouthwatering scent came another,
more delicate and pure, which made an altogether different part of his
body take
interest. The woman it belonged to suited exactly the wood nymph
mental image the scent conjured—albeit an eccentric one. He stared at
her, baffled.
Average height, which meant she reached to his chest instead of his
chin, slender and small-breasted. Dressed in sweats and a tee so worn
his cleaning lady
wouldn’t wear them to work, let alone in public, and slippers of all
things. Were those teddy bears?
A mass of hazel curls was pulled into a haphazard ponytail, and on
her forehead she wore not one but two pairs of glasses. And was that a
pen in there too?
What on earth was she doing here?
“You know, servants use the back entrance.”
She turned to him and he realized she wasn’t fully aware he was
there. Her gaze focused on him only slowly, and the reaction wasn’t the
usual interested
flash of eyes followed by a slow, inviting smile he would then
answer with his own. He wasn’t used to being ignored by women and didn’t
know whether to
feel amused or miffed.
“Hmmm?”
“I said, the servants use the back entrance.”
“Do they?” She blinked, as if trying to figure out the reason for
the remark. “Fascinating.” And she actually sounded like she did find it
fascinating.
Logan suppressed an exasperated smile and soldiered on. “Are you delivering food?”
She glanced at the paper bag she was carrying and smiled, delighted,
as if she had forgotten all about it. She had a beautiful smile, the
kind that lit her
whole face and eyes too. It mesmerized him. Too many women in his
acquaintance only pretended to smile, their eyes as cold as their
hearts.
Her eyes were light blue, with a hint of hazel in the middle. Her
brows were slightly arching and darker than her hair. Her nose was
straight and lightly
dusted with freckles. And her mouth…
He swallowed as he watched her bite into the bagel she had fished
out of her bag. The look of bliss on her face was as unaffected as
everything else about
her. She savored the bite before swallowing it. Then she licked her
lips—and his erection shot to life.
The sensation was staggering with its suddenness. He leaned against
the wall of the cage to gain his balance. Closing his eyes, he breathed
deeply, trying
to gain control of his body. But it didn’t help. All he saw in his
mind’s eye was her pink tongue sliding around her sensuous lips. He had
to get out of
here before he did something stupid.
Just then, the lights flickered and the cage came to an abrupt halt,
pushing them both out of balance. Alarmed, they glanced at each other,
and for once
the woman was fully focused on him.
“Please tell me we’re not stuck.”
***
I hope you liked the sample.
And I believe I mentioned a book sale. It’s actually a free book! The Croaking Raven, my suspense/crime novel is free on Amazon until April 5th 2015. You can find it on Amazon US, UK and all the other Amazon marketplaces. If you like the genre, give it a try.
