Beatrice Bests the Burglars

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As I mentioned in my last post, as I do research for the next full-length novel, I am going to be writing four new short stories featuring minor characters from my Victorian San Francisco Mystery series. I am pleased to announce that I have finished the first story. On September 15, in celebration of International Cozy Mystery Day, I will be sending out an email to my newsletter subscribers with instructions on how to receive an ARC (Advanced Reader’s Copy) of this story—Beatrice Bests the Burglars––for Free. So, if you are interested, and haven’t yet subscribed to my newsletter, you might want to do so right now by clicking HERE. If you subscribe, you will get instructions on how to get the first volume of short stories (including Madam Sibyl’s First Client, Dandy Detects, The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage, Read more…


A Fall Update and some Discounts

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A Fall Update: As summer comes to a close, I’ve become very aware of the fact that in December I will have been a published indie author for 10 years. This means I have seen self-publishing change dramatically from the early days when I felt the need to explain that publishing through Kindle Direct Publishing and CreateSpace was different from publishing through a vanity press, to the so-called gold rush years when my income from the sales of my books had visions of sugar plums dancing in my head, to now, when I have come to understand that I am not willing to spend the time and energy that it would take (in both writing and marketing) to recapture the income level I was making in those gold rush years. I came to this realization this summer, when I encountered Read more…


BookSweeps Giveaway

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One of the pleasures of being an indie author has been having the freedom to write what I want–without being concerned if an agent or a publishing house will back my decisions. My Caelestis Trilogy, the three works set in the open source, multi-author, science fiction Paradisi Chronicles universe, is the result of this freedom, and I have watched as the audience for this work has slowly grown. However, while the feedback from people who are already fans of my Victorian San Francisco mysteries and have tried these books has been very positive, it has been a struggle to reach new readers in the very crowded science fiction field. One of the ways I have done this is to participate with other authors in various giveaway contests. Therefore, this month I have joined a Book Sweeps Giveaway. The two winners Read more…


Findaway Voices and Chirp: Are we entering into a new era for audiobook sales for indies?

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“Half of Americans over the age of 14 have listened to an audiobook in the past year…” ––Publishers WeeklyApril 25, 2019, from a survey conducted for the Audio Publishers Association. Audiobook revenues rose 36% in the past year—AAP report February, 2019 As I have posted earlier this week, the first book in my Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, Maids of Misfortune, is on sale for 99 cents on Chirp, an audiobook promotion site that, in partnership with Findaway Voices, has the potential to expand the audiobook market for indie authors such as myself. I haven’t done one of these long posts about the publishing industry and indie authors in a long time because, frankly, there seem to be so many other great sources of information out there (see my blog roll at the bottom of the page.) However, this Chirp Read more…


Introducing Chirp–A new way to find great deals on Audiobooks

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Starting today, the new audiobook version of Maids of Misfortune will be only 99 cents on Chirpbooks.com–-an audiobook promotion website that has recently been started by the folks who run BookBub.com, the premier ebook promotion company. This sale will last for just a few weeks. For those of you who like to listen to audio books, I highly recommend that you take a look at how Chirp works. Unlike Audible or some other companies, there are no membership or subscription fees. The discounts on audiobooks range from 99 cents to $4.99, and once you have bought the audiobook, it remains in your library (you have bought it not borrowed it.) You can ask Chirp to email you daily or weekly with the new deals within the categories you have chosen, or you can just go to the site and see Read more…