kate rothwell

Someone to Cherish -- only 99 cents through October 22! And this is cool. You can buy the book AND the recording for only $4 . actually I got that wrong. I finally checked the page and the combo is even cheaper than I thought:  Kindle book price: 99¢ Audiobook price: $1.99 Total price: $2.98 I've been doing this for a while with other people's books--buying the cheaper (or free) Kindle copy and then heading over to audible to get the cheap audio version. It hadn't occurred to me that this cheap-o method was open to people who want my book until I found this link at addicted to thrift.  If you hate the Zon, you can get it through Smashwords and use this coupon code RH67C  to lower the price to 99 cents at check out.  No cheap audio for you, though. Sorry. Have we promo'd enough for the day? Yes. ALSO Here's a picture of a pug in a costume, lifted from Funny or Die. labeled pugkin spice latte.   So yummy.

I'm sure you're all dying to find out how the big NEW BOOK ( Love Between the Lines ) campaign went. * Here's what I did: --gave away the book for 2 days on Amazon --nabbed myself a spot on a few websites where I promo'ed until my fingers fell off** Bev Kendall's place , bookbinge, Tina Donahue's place , and at least two other sites that I can't recall now . And it's time to point out that people like Bev, Holly and Tina are wicked generous, sharing their space and bandwidth with other writers. Yeah, I should do that again, but the two of you who show up here don't comment, I'm okay with it but I feel dumb when there are visiting authors. --bought a couple of one day ads, like sponsoring Kindle Direct (why? I don't know) let's not forget that I actually bought an RT ad long ago. (why? I don't know) And that the book got a pretty good review at RT and elsewhere...but that's in the past, so moving along to the three day ...

and in other news, I showed my kid the serenity prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference. and he introduced me to Lord Byron's prayer for poo: O Cloacina, Goddess of this place, Look on thy suppliants with a smiling face. Soft, yet cohesive let their offerings flow, Not rashly swift nor insolently slow. This demonstrates why you want to raise nerds. 

Oh. My. F. . .Gracious me. So much win and lose in the same moment. My book is #4 in the category! Wonderful. . . but WAIT A SECOND. The category should be "romance, victorian" Not this. Ugh! #4 in  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Historical This book is not a mystery. There is a mystery in it, but I know my genres and this book is mostly a romance. I'm hoping that if the Lady Georgie books are considered full-blown real mysteries then some readers might grant this the same status. But uh oh. I don't think so. Who is the patron saint of authors? I'm lighting candles to him/her now. ** __________________________________ ** I have the candles lying around because our power went out last night at about 9 p.m. A drunk driver ***** smashed into a utility pole around the corner.  Impressive accident. ***** In a couple of days, when the outraged reviews come in, ### I plan on ...

In celebration of Love Between the Lines release, I'm giving away books--including Love Between the Lines . (Hey, promo makes no sense to me either) These three are free through October 15. Here are the freebies.... Thank You, Mrs. M 4.5 stars! This is a sweet, funny and emotional tale. This modern take on Daddy-Long-Legs, by Jean Webster, has wonderful, fully developed characters... This incredible story will appeal to adult as well as young readers. -- RT Bookreviews Magazine Thank You, Mrs. M. is a wonderful read...This is a poignant and enjoyable read. -- Night Owl Reviews This is not just Daddy Long Legs gender-reversed and updated for shock value, but a thoughtful and really interesting re-imagining of how the story might play out in today's world. There are light homages to the original, which add a bit of extra glow to the romance if you're a fan, but what really made the story for me were the differences. It turns out the unknown philanthropist, h...

Apparently when I launched my latest self-pity party, other attendees showed up. Authors who have had horrible reviews wrote to me to complain. They're staying private--not revealing their identities because they're professionals, unlike some people** . I wasn't going to mention this issue again, because who wants to be known as the continuously whiny windbag? But I'm not stopping yet just because it's finally turning fun. I'm working on the details of a new author support group. There first order of business, of course, is the monthly prize for the worst review. I'm thinking chocolate or w h ine. An old group I used to belong to handed out a cowbell for the annual absolutely worst review, but the competition grew too fierce. We also had teeny tiny little buckets with the word "always something new to throw up about."  on the side. What else could this new support group do? I'll bet there are other authors banding together out there to ...

and an ancient wodehouse and a historical from the 80s and I have absolutely nothing to say about any of them. Usually I'd have an opinion. . . ok, wait, I do. The mystery, by Julia Spencer-Fleming, is the sixth in a series and I haven't read any of the others. I'm getting back story in a perfectly natural way, no big info dumps. People who can write series like that -- series in which readers can pick up any book and not feel lost -- those writers deserve some kind of prize. It's too early to wake up and I'd like to fall back asleep...and the best way for that might be to mentally design this prize. Maybe a stretch of road would work. I've gotten a couple of letters about my bad reviews and I want to buy those note-writing people lunch or at least a cuppa. (One reader pointed out that the book seems to promise some hot bro on bro sex, or at least tension, and those guys barely hug.) I also want to beg the note-writers to leave reviews, but I have some dignity...

I am absolutely not sitting around fretting about this stuff, y'all. Other people are just talking to me. Anyway. Quite a few people have come out with this statement (or variations of it): Book reviews are more negative across the board. Do you believe it? As for me -- I have no idea. I haven't seen any kind of proof, but okay. For this blog entry, I guess I'll take it as some kind of truth. There's the whole ad hominem issue, authors and their strong/dumb opinions are too easily accessible by readers, conversations take place. And readers aren't going to be quiet about their own responses.  But leaving out the personality factor..........If reviews are more prone to negativity, then I say the reasons are perfectly reasonable, as in this makes some sense.  1. There are many more books out there and many more are self-published. That's the most obvious drrrp reason. 2. But there's also the removal of the reverence. Back in the day, people would pi...

but apparently other people don't. I was afraid of that.* You have to wonder how people who get huge numbers of stinky reviews for their first book ever manage to keep going. I’m fairly demoralized with two bad reviews and I can’t imagine how it would feel if this was my only book. We authors tell each other not to check Amazon or Goodreads, and that's good advice -- just because it’s too much work to get back to normal operating speed after being slapped in the face with a bad review. Yes, yes, such an overdramatic response, but any author can tell you--that's how it feels. Really. It's the feeling, the internal authorial response, that contains the greatest quantity of suckage. The fact of a bad review is out in the world hardly matters. Much. Anyone is allowed to leave bad reviews, for Pete’s sake. I resent my own inability to ignore it. I hate how it entirely unfloats my boat. I get swamped and there are no life vests onboard. (“May day! May day!”) Authors wi...

"The plot is rich in detail and subtle in message, and Peter’s relationship with Colin is thoroughly and playfully sexy, joyfully leading readers through a truly romantic journey toward happiness." --STARRED review, Publisher's Weekly Happy release day to me!