Would You Visit A Waterfall In 7° Temps?

Dec 28, 2022 4:01 pm

Hiya, wonderfully weird Teutonic fantasy reader! How's the weather in your neck of the woods? Last week, almost the entire U.S. had a big cold snap right in time for the holidays. Of course we didn't get any actual snow where I live in South Carolina, but it sure felt like a wintry wonderland outside! ❄

Read on to find out just how many copies of Gift of Fire we sold during it's 99¢ run. Then dive into the tale of the quick hike my husband and I took on Christmas Day—to two spectacular waterfalls in the North Carolina mountains.

And you'll find the usual book fair & recommended reads down at the bottom.

🔥 Gift of Fire's Sales Stats 🔥

I'm really and truly amazed at how many eBook copies of Gift of Fire we managed to move while it boasted its discounted price of 99¢. This is the first time I've released Book 1 in a NEW series since I published my debut novel, Arcane Gateway, all the way back in March 2021.

And I gotta admit. This was a much more impressive release than that one. 🙌

For reference, when I published Arcane Gateway, I had no newsletter. Almost no social media (just a Facebook and Instagram with 10 followers on each). And the usual batch of "Ooooh you're writing a BOOK?? I'll buy it! I'll buy it! 🤩" friends & family watching my progress on my personal FB account.

FYI to all of you as-yet-unpublished authors out there. Friends & family will buy your first book. After that? You'll never hear another peep from them. I promise.

Unless they actually enjoy reading your genre.

That's why even us frightened introverts have to step into the wide, cruel world once we publish our creative works. And it's terrifying. 😬

So back on March 10th, 2021, when I published Arcane Gateway at full price, I got 17 total sales (14 Amazon, 2 Apple, 1 Google Play).

That was it. Every single sale came from friends & family. Then not a copy moved again until I advertised 99¢ sales & eventually got a BookBub.

Now that I've (hopefully!) grown older & wiser? 👀👀👀

Gift of Fire's stats

Amazon - 168

Apple Books - 6

Google Play - 2

Kobo - 5

Nook - 11

Direct Sales from PayPal - 12

Total royalties earned: $80 🎉

That's 204 total sales! Such a BIG improvement from when I started out a year ago, and it's all thanks to YOU! I love you so much for being a weird, wonderful reader willing to follow my Teuton witches along on their journeys to love. 💖

Now the goal is to make back the money I spent producing Gift of Fire. All of which went to the cover art & copyright fee. We've got to make $445 before we'll see a profit. That means we've got $365 left to go. Should happen faster with the eBook being at full price, as long as we keep on yapping about the book to all our reader friends & asking our libraries to buy copies for our communities.

Let's get it done! 😎

❄ Winter Wonderland ❄

OK, now that I just gave you the hard & fast numbers, how about a quick trip into a woodsy winter wonderland?

On Christmas morning, my husband and I took a drive into the North Carolina mountains. The plan was to visit two extremely popular waterfalls in the Pisgah National Forest. Why? Because on Christmas morning, there shouldn't be THAT many people congregating in such places. They ought to be home opening gifts.

Well, guess what?

We were right. 🎁

Our first stop was Moore Cove Falls, a 1.2 mile (about 2 kilometer) out & back hike. The last time we went here was about 8 years ago, since these days we tend to visit "unpopular" waterfalls. (Introverts, remember?) 😉 There's been some improvement to the trail since then, and we encountered not one soul.

Our second stop was Looking Glass Falls, a powerful roadside waterfall that might be the most popular one in this part of North Carolina. My husband and I have visited several times, and each time we've had to park a LONG way from the waterfall itself. But on Christmas morning?

There were only 3 other vehicles in the parking area when we arrived. ✊

Here's proof of the frigid temps for our wild winter adventure. 😱

Afterward, we drove into Hendersonville, NC and ate a hearty German dinner at the Haus Heidelberg restaurant. The perfect end to our hike! And no, we didn't take any pictures of the food. We were too ravenous to waste time.

By the way, have you picked up your copy of Winter Wonders yet? It's a FREE anthology available on BookFunnel for just another month, and its chock full of wintry & holiday paranormal romances. My husband just started reading it a few days ago, and he's given it 2 thumbs up.

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/8vf3yn51uc

Winter Sexy Fest? 🤨

If you haven't read enough sexy stories to keep you sated this holiday season, make sure you browse all of the eBooks waiting for YOU in this limited-time book fair. Lunar Rising is hanging out amid its peers, if you haven't read Ilsa & Horst's love story yet. They both reappear in Gift of Fire, and it looks like they might pop into Gift of Stone, too!

✨ Check It Out! ✨