Oh, the Treachery!

Temporarily FREE on Kindle!

Okay, so it's not really treachery. Maybe more of a slippery slope. But since I once broke my wrist by slipping on a flat, nearly level rock AFTER climbing down a cliff, I'm a little bit hyper-vigilant about slippery slopes.

It seems two of my books, FIRE DANCE and THE MUDLARK, are caught in a price war between Sony and Amazon. Sony marked them down to $0.00 (which as near as I can tell is a contract violation), and Amazon consequently matched the price (which is NOT a contract violation).

Temporarily FREE on Kindle!

I have no idea how this might have changed my sales numbers on Sony- and in fact I can't get any communication from either them or Smashwords, my distributor. But I can tell you Amazon reports that I've had over 35,000 downloads of my FOUR directly published books in less than a week.

So I should be excited about two huge bookstores giving away my book without my permission? You bet. Here's why:

At first sales of the other two, non-free directly published books as well as the three published by other publishers, dropped drastically. But within less than a day, they rose. They had been dragging after a four month run at the Top Seller lists on Amazon, and needed a little infusion of something. My plan had been to direct-publish a novella- my historical sea fantasy romance, SIREN, but formatting problems, three back-to-back conferences in April and a huge increase in cover art requests have slowed me down for anything that doesn't have a firm deadline. So Free Reads is just the boost I need right now to go along with the next release.

That's most likely about 20,000 new readers in the US and about 4,000 in UK, at least glancing at my books on their Kindles. And from my experience, a fair number of readers will go buy another book by me, once they've read one. I particularly like seeing my UK sales go up, tossing both HIS MAJESTY, THE PRINCE OF TOADS and LOKI'S DAUGHTERS into the UK Top Sellers lists. Before, they'd gone all but undiscovered.

So what am I going to do about Sony? Nothing, probably. Will they pay me? I don't know. But in the meantime, I'm issuing an open invitation to all readers. GO GET 'EM!

KINDLE SALES UPDATES

I haven't posted in awhile- I can't believe how busy I've become since the New Year, both with ebook sales and ebook covers. But the whole ebook worlds seems to be spinning so fast it's hard to see what is going on. So I thought I should drop by my own blog and tell you what I see.

The sales growth has been phenomenal in three months for my books, and a lot of other authors are reporting the same thing. It's clear, though, that sales growth is uneven, and a lot of authors are struggling, trying to get a toe hold in the market. I get asked a lot how to do that, and I really can't tell you how to do it. What worked for me began with a fabulous piece of luck, yet I have to say it's probably the only major piece of luck not directly related to hard work I've had in all my years in publishing. The rest was really a matter of working myself and my books into the right position at the right time, but without knowing ahead of time what that position and time would be. In other words, plain old perseverance.

But I'm happy to report that HIS MAJESTY, THE PRINCE OF TOADS has remained at the top of the Regency Romances for a solid month, and has been on the Top Selling Romances list for 48 days. How many sales does this take? Around 200 a day. Totals? For four books, in December I sold 1208 books, but January jumped to just under 6,000. And February, almost reached 10,000. With my other published books on Amazon, sales weren't as good, but they also have been rising. So I'm certain I sold well over the 10,000 last month. This month? Looking good but not nearly that kind of increase. And every day I have to sell more than before to keep my ranking. So some days I sell more books yet still drop in ranking. Some days the other way around. So, since I've been ranking between 29 and 46 in all Romances, I figure there are at least 50 other romance authors who are having the same kind of experience, or even better. I wonder how many books they're selling????

LADY WICKED is out!

I haven't been so excited about a book release since my first one back in 2000. But LADY WICKED is a very special book to me.

Available at Amazon, The Wild Rose Press,
 All Romance EBooks, etc.
http://tinyurl.com/4pvom2o

 It finalled in the Golden Heart twice, and won in 2005. It had a hard time in the post -9/11 era when few editors would buy historicals of any flavor, and particularly not those that weren't all light and fluffy. LADY WICKED isn't fluff. I do write fluff and love to do it, but although this book has lots of humor in it, it's definitely not the softest tissue in the box. But it's special because, as in all my books, love and justice triumph in the end. This time in a very memorable way. When karma comes around for my villains, it does a lot more than knock the wind out of them. I think this is the best ending I've ever written because, poetic justice really reigns.

Now, here it is! Launching with its first two reviews, both of them wonderful!

From RT Reviews:

RT Rating

Lady Wicked is not only a wonderful romance, it’s also a fantastic mystery. As this compelling novel goes from hysterical scenes to dramatic ones all while developing a captivating romance, readers may well wonder if Jacobs has created a Mr. Darcy for this generation.

 From Sizzling Hot Book Reviews:
POSTED BY REVIEWER VICKY AT 5:52 PM

Lady Wicked deals with what happens after all the balls and parties we so often read about in historical romances. We can all guess about the happy stories, but Lady Wicked gives us a look into what can happen when the other extreme happens. Delle Jacobs has done her research into the laws and social rules of the time, giving us a real feel for what was accepted and how it might have happened. While this is fiction and an extreme case, one understands that divorce seems to be a last step taken.

Lady Wicked is much more than a historical or even a divorce novel. We see Savoury grow as a person. He learns he has been wasting he life before now. He connects to his family home, to the ‘real’ people around him, and finds love for the first time. He may be in tarnished armor, but he is a true knight, rescuing not only Davina, but a couple other characters as well. Watching him become a man is so nice. Davina admits that she was not much of anything under her father, finding herself as she realized she was willing to give up all wealth and title just to get out from under her husband. She has to learn to overcome her own fear, especially of men, large men. This is not easy, and is to be expected after her abuse.


The twist to the mystery of Lady Wicked is great, and I really enjoyed it. There is some nice play on historical law, and the lead up to the romance works well. This is a definite read for historical lovers, and for those who like to see the underdog win as well. 

TWO NEW RELEASES!

Life is getting exciting! Two releases in one month! A whimsical contemporary Valentines Day novella from the Cupid Gone Wild anthology, THE BOSS WORE RED, co-authored with SamMarie Ashe, and released by eTreasures. Remember when I did that mock cover? Well, it spawned a story, and it's just plain fun!
Buy It on Amazon                                            Buy It from All Romance eBooks

AND LADY WICKED, Golden Heart winner and winner of many contests, will be released Feb. 25 from The Wild Rose Press. I have already been told by the Romantic Times reviewer that the review, probably in the April issue, will be the very highest RT can give!

Pre-Order it on All Romance eBooks!

Help Support Egyptian Author Olivia Gates on her Release Day

This came to me from my friend Deb Marlowe who got it from Bonnie Vanak. Please feel free to copy and paste it in your blog or wherever, since Olivia is unable to access the internet during the unrest in Egypt.

***

My friend Bonnie Vanak (who writes Egyptian-set historicals as well as wonderful Nocturnes!) alerted me to the plight of Harlequin author, Olivia Gates. Here's the info from Bonnie's blog:


As you know, protests are taking place in Egypt and the government has shut down internet communication. Author Olivia Gates, who lives in Egypt, has a February 1 release by Harlequin Desire called To Tempt a Sheikh. We'd like to get out the word about her book since Olivia cannot.


Let's support an author who cannot access the internet to promote her book.


To Tempt a Sheikh by Olivia Gates


He rescued hostage Talia Burke from his royal family's rival tribe and swept her into his strong embrace. But Prince Harres Aal Shalaan soon discovered there was more to the brave beauty than he knew. Talia held information vital to protecting his beloved kingdom…and she had every reason not to trust him.


Marooned together at a desert oasis, Talia couldn't resist Harres. Yet even as his sizzling seduction entranced her, his loyalty to his family and country would always make them enemies. Falling for the sheikh would be her heart's greatest mistake…but she feared it was already too late….


In stores February 1!


Available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Books A Million and bookstores everywhere. Also available at eharlequin both in print and as an ebook.


To read a first chapter and visit Olivia's webpage, click here.

KINDLE E-BOOK SALES ARE GOING THROUGH THE ROOF

Amazon Best Seller!

Over the last few months I've been keeping a close eye on the volume of my sales on Kindle, and recently realized that my efforts have a wider range of importance than just my personal experience and the books I'm personally selling.

Many of you know I received a phenomenal boost back in October when Kindle put two of my books on their 100 Free Reads list for five days, and that my sales numbers continued to be high (but not THAT high) for the rest of the month (actually have continued high). But you might not know what the long term ramifications have been. And you would be unlikely to know how that has put me into a position to observe the massive changes in the ebooks market in the last few months. I have kept records of how my books have moved up and down on the charts, but that is of interest mostly to me. One of the things that I think is of broader interest is in charting the advance of sales in general.

This Free Reads boost gave my books a visibility they didn't have earlier, and I've had at least one book on a best seller list since then. As long as there's one on a visible list, buyers can easily find my books because, especially if they like what they read, one book leads to another sale, and then another, which in turn propels other books onto best seller lists. That's how HIS MAJESTY, THE PRINCE OF TOADS got there. It was never a free read, but was discovered by readers who had liked FIRE DANCE and THE MUDLARK. LOKI'S DAUGHTERS didn't get quite this kind of boost, but it is now showing excellent sales.

Since I have several self-published books on Kindle, I am able to receive immediate exact sales reports and compare them with the rankings for my books. HIS MAJESTY, THE PRINCE OF TOADS consistently accounts for half of the sales for four books,  which gives me a perspective on what is needed to keep a book on the best seller lists, and how many sales it takes to improve the ranking. I decided after Thanksgiving to offer all of my books at 99 cents through the Christmas season, and originally had intended to return to the normal $2.99 price after Christmas Day. But my sales volume was so high, I changed my mind and have kept the low price. I'm aware that this low price means I can't get Kindle's 70% royalty rate, but I made the decision because I see my job right now as to grab buyers and hopefully develop a large group of returning readers. In looking at the numbers of "also bought" books sold, I believe this is happening because people who bought one of my books have a vary high incidence of buying the others.

Sales on Kindle since Christmas Day have risen to between double and triple the pre-Christmas rate, which was high to begin with. This appears to be a general trend on Kindle, and likely is a reflection of the incredible number of Kindle readers sold by Amazon this holiday season. Every day except one in the new year has shown an increase in volume over the previous day, and I am now selling at about 100 books a day (four titles). Today is on track to record perhaps as many as 120 books sold.

Because I can compare my actual real time sales numbers with my overall ranking, I can see I'm doing only barely better than other books in my genre and in historical fiction, so the top books must be selling individually at least 80-100 per day. Yet there's only one or two of those books even appearing in the best selling general fiction list.

At the top of the Regency list, it now takes about 50 sales a day to move upward in ranking from #7 to #6, but of course the higher the ranking, the more sales are needed, while at the lower end of the lists, just a few sales will move a book from 4,000's to 3,000's. Over all, this indicates to me that the volume of sales of Kindle books has more than doubled its pre-Christmas numbers, and possibly could be three times. In the most popular genres, it might be even higher.  Several times I have noted a sudden jump in my number of sales, yet my overall ranking lowered, which tells me other genres were having even sharper volume sales increases.

I seem to do well overnight, and my ranking is often better in the morning than it is for the rest of the day. I suspect this reflects Asian and European sales. This balances with my web page stats which show I have a fairly large following in Asia and Europe. My ranking is usually higher if I first check my stats at 7 a.m. than if I don't get around to it till 10 a.m. But I also see a big jump in early evening, which may be after-work surges.

Although romance is doing very well in ebook sales, the top positions are still dominated by mainstream fiction and thrillers. Ficton that appeals to men appears more likely to be represented on the general fiction list than fiction that appeals mostly to women. However, in November I noticed there were no romances in the top 20 fiction ebooks, but now they are appearing in the top 10. I don't know if this was a fluke or not.

In romances, ebooks clearly dominate the top ten, with only a few paperback showing up. Classics such as Diana Gabaldon's and Ken Follett's books continue to be in extremely high demand and consistently show high in the best seller lists. Historical romance is not selling as well as Contemporary romance, although it sells very well.

I'm not in a position to tell you about other genres, other than these very limited observations. But I'll keep watching, just because I find it interesting.

Delle

Delle Jacobs http://dellejacobs.blogspot.com
LADY WICKED coming 2/25/2011 from The Wild Rose Press
Every proper lady ought to have a rake in her life.

Laptop!

New laptop is here and it's gorgeous! However I am at the "I hate you I hate you" stage. Two hours to find out how to turn on the backlit keyboard- yes the info is there, but it's listed under a different model only, and you have to know that first without being told.

Why the #*!! can't manufacturers write simple, down to nitty gritty manuals anymore? Is it because men don't read manuals and they don't write manuals for women???

Now re-installing software and data. Photoshop is up- the brand new CS5 Extended, and I am salivating, just thinking about it, But must get back to my story which is nearly done. But I have to have the software installed first.