Between Books--Writing Them I Mean by Marilyn Meredith

I should be heaving a sigh of relief--my next Tempe is finished and by the time this appears, I'll have fixed the first set of edits and will have sent it off to the publisher.

I'm in the middle of my blog tour for A Crushing Death, which takes time and attention.

However, I have an empty feeling because I'm not working on a book. I don't even have many ideas for one.

It will be the next in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series and there are some loose ends in the characters' lives that I can pick up and use to weave into the plot. But the problem is, what plot?

The method of murder for A Crushing Death came from an author friend. Once I did some research to find out what that was, I was off and running. The ideas came tumbling in.

Anyone want to make a similar suggestion to me on how to murder someone? I've used all number of ways--the usual gun fire, several stabbings, a head chopped off, overdose of prescription meds, building collapse, and illegal drug use--and I'm sure other methods that aren't coming to me at the moment.

What would you like to see happen to a specific ongoing character?

What kind of crimes do you think should happen in my small beach community?

Am I asking too much? Probably, but I need all the help I can get.

I feel weird and yes, a bit empty, because I don't have a work-in-progress.

Any ideas you'd like to share?

Marilyn who is also know as F. M. when it comes to Rocky Bluff.

My Experience with Giving Away a Book on Kindle

Because I'd been reading so much about the give-aways on Kindle, I decided to try it myself. The theory behind this practice is if you have a series and offer on free, those who like the book will buy others in the series.

I chose Angel Lost which is #7 in the series for a couple of reasons--it is one of my favorites and I love the cover.

I chose the dates for it to be free then submitted it to many sites that promote free Kindle books--many sites were free, some charged a few dollars, and I also used BookBub which is expensive, especially for mysteries. BookBub has thousands of subscribers. One thing I didn't know is that it takes time for them to approve your submission and the date you wanted it to be promoted. I had a bit of a problem with the scheduling. Because of the cost, I probably won't use them again.

The last time I checked with my publisher, nearly 52,000 had been downloaded and 107 were purchased.

What I hoped would happen did, and sales increased with the other books with the first one in the series, Final Respects, selling 92 and all the other titles anywhere from 30 plus to 20 plus. Because I'm with a publisher, of course this will not end up being a whole lot of money. And during this time period, no print books were sold at all.

(And aside: What I'm noticing even at in-person book sales is people are asking if the books are on Kindle and not buying the print books like they used to.)

For two days, the book was #1 in Kindle freebies and #1 in police procedural freebies.

Another plus in many ways is the big increase in reviews for Angel Lost. Fortunately, most of them are positive, but there are some interesting ones.

A couple have given away important plot points. (Probably I'm the only one who will ever bother to read all the reviews.)

Some don't like it because they called it a Christian book. I didn't write it as a Christian book--but there are characters who go to church--a devout Catholic, some who pray. Just like people I know. The fact that there is an angel who appears on a store window seemed to offend a couple.

One criticized me for leaving some plot points hanging. (Did it on purpose.)

Others loved the book for the same reasons that were criticized.

What I've decided is that this proves that readers are all unique in what kind of books they like and dislike.

It took a lot of work to do the necessary promotion.

Will I ever do it again? Not any time soon--but I do hope I've gained more readers for the series.

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith