How I have used my book titles to establish my brand
When a potential reader looks at a book product page in one of the on-line bookstores, the first two things they are likely to notice are a book’s title and its cover. A good title can not only capture a reader’s interest, but it can signal the genre and sub-genre of the book, the setting and time period of the story, and it can even reveal a little about the plot. In addition, if the book is part of a series, the title can help brand that series. I am going to discuss the titles of both my novels and my shorter works in my mystery series to demonstrate how a title can achieve all of the above. In 2009, when I published my first novel, Maids of Misfortune: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery, I knew it was to be Read more…
Beatrice Bests the Burglars and 10th Year Anniversary
Ten Years ago this month, I wrote my first blog post and published my first novel, Maids of Misfortune. I was also anticipating the birth of my first grandchild and about to turn sixty. Over all, a season of new beginnings. At the time, the self-publishing industry was in its infancy, and I had no idea whether or not anyone would ever read my blog or my book. But I had written the first draft of that book thirty years earlier, and just knowing that someone, other than my writers group and close friends, would finally get to meet Annie, the pretend clairvoyant, Nate Dawson, the handsome local lawyer, Dandy, the Boston Terrier, and all the other O’Farrell Street boardinghouse residents was enough. My plan, however, was to follow up that first book with a series of mysteries that Read more…
Taking Science Fiction Series out of Kindle Unlimited
Just a quick announcement that this is the last day my Paradisi Chronicles science fiction series (Between Mountain and Sea, Under Two Moons, Through Ddaera’s Touch–and the Boxed Set) will be in Kindle Unlimited. If you subscribe to KU, and think you might be interested in trying them, you will need to borrow them now because I’m not sure if or when I might put them in KU again. For those of you who don’t have Kindles and use other eReaders, watch here for announcements when the books show up in other retailers–which should be in a week or less. Thanks, M. Louisa Locke, November 24, 2019
Uneasy Spirits Free and Bloody Lessons Discounts
I like to promote the second book in my Victorian San Francisco series, Uneasy Spirits, in October, because it is such a perfect read for those people who like a little taste of the supernatural with their mysteries. Even though in this novel, Annie is tasked with unmasking a fraudulent spiritualist, her encounters with the young girl, Evie May, are just a bit disconcerting. In addition, this book let me explore the ways that San Franciscans, especially the Irish, celebrated Halloween in the late 19th century. So, until October 5, you can get the ebook version of Uneasy Spirits FREE on Kindle, Kobo, Nook, AppleBooks, and GooglePlay. For those of you outside of the US, this link will help you find a version on international retailers. And for those of you who buy the Amazon ebook edition, the audiobook version is Read more…
A Fall Update and some Discounts
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…
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