Welcome, new folks!

Hi, there. If you've joined the mailing list recently, I want to make sure you get your free Frosthelm book, Traitors Unseen. If you haven't gotten it, you can get it free here (the site will ask you to sign up for this newsletter, which you're already getting) or here from Smashwords. It's also on Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. Please, enjoy with my compliments.

A new fantasy adventure is on the way!

I participated in NaNoWriMo this November, as I have for five years running now. I wrote every day of November, and I hit the official 50,000 word target back on around November 21. I got a little slower over Thanksgiving with family visiting, but I ended up with a total of 67,333 words written.

I'm really excited about the book (which I started on November 1 just after midnight). It is another humorous epic fantasy novel with strong buddy elements, like Flames Over Frosthelm, but set in a new world that's a bit goofier than the world of the Inquisitors' Guild. There are two main characters. One is Lady Isovar, a fierce and valorous knight, and the other is her not-at-all fierce and somewhat less valorous squire, Chevson. They go on an epic journey reminiscent of the stories of medieval knights errant and meet all kinds of weird (and hostile) people.

I'm probably about 80% of the way through with this first push, so I'll hope to keep working and get a first draft done by the end of the year, with a release in the first half of 2024. I also have my second thriller, What Grows From The Dead, to revise and publish, which I'm hoping will be early 2024. I'm nearly ready to share a cover with you for that one.

Some good numbers

My books are not a huge business (yet!) but I had a good November, my third-best month ever in terms of revenue (which means I made about $429 in revenue). Not enough for groceries and utilities, but getting somewhere.

Here's how it looked. First, here are my sales. You'll notice a huge peak around November 10, when I got my second BookBub featured deal for Kenai.

The BB featured deals have a major impact, much more than other advertising, but you have to apply, and they're hard to get. This one was in non-US markets only, which makes it smaller and cheaper, but it went pretty well, with about 320 sales of Kenai at a deep discount (so I made about $0.30 each). It did have a marked effect on Kenai's reach, as you can see in the monthly page reads:

Kenai (in blue) gets bigger right around that Nov. 11 time frame, and it stays strong for the rest of the month.

The BookBub deals are always big for me. I've had three, one global one and two non-US ones. They've created my three best months, as you can see here. The big yellow spike was the global BB deal for the Inquisitors' Guild box set.

In terms of how things are going over time, 2023 has been a much bigger year, but that's probably due to these BookBub deals - I applied all through 2019-2022, but I never got one, and now I've had three, which has been great. I don't know if they'll be as strong in the future, or whether I'll even get anymore, but for now, I'm seeing the whole book thing growing and doing well:

Blue here is the Inquisitors' Guild box set, which I released in 2022, but which has had two BookBubs this year. Red in the top graph is Daros, which had a great 2021, and red in the bottom is Kenai, which is having a great 2023, with Got Trouble (purple) also doing well as a new release. Most of the books ordered in 2023 (bottom graph) were at a steep discount, but they still count as sales.

Some stories to try

I'm part of several author collectives, and we share each other's work to try to help all of us reach more readers. In many cases, the books we share are are free or discounted. Sometimes, they ask that you sign up for a newsletter like this one. Here are some new books I have to share this month:

First, I have Memoir of the Last Survivor by Luna Fox and F. Lowberry, a tale of a man fleeing the Academy of Dracomancy and persecution by an invading army. From the cover, there's definitely a dragon, a castle, and some magic, all of which are good ingredients, and its Amazon reviews are uniformly positive.

Next up is a free sample of Time's Trodai by Patrick Penwright, a story of a time-traveling soldier on a quest to defeat time enemies and recover ancient artifacts. There's a princess he meets, too, so all kinds of great elements here. You can try the sample for free and see if the book is for you.

Third, I have The Survivors by Richard Rimington. This free prologue begins a wide-sweeping space opera series (one that is, like my Kenai, entered in the SPSFC). Note, these Survivors are not the Last Survivor (see above).

Finally, I have Wedding of the Torn Rose by Brian Mendonça. This free epic fantasy book starts his series about two people thrown together in a kingdom full of intrigue, Throatians, arranged marriages, and other cool stuff.

Thanks

I really appreciate your being part of my little literary world. I've got two books nearly finished and on the way to you in 2024. I'm really excited to share these with you and to choose some new projects for the new year.

I hope you and your friends and family are finishing up the year healthy and safe. Happy reading!

May the Bloodmother watch over you - 

Dave