To Be Read or Not To Be

That is the question.

Do authors really care about making money? It would be nice, right? I would love to get a $750,000 advance, buy my dream house, make millions off movie deals, and settle nicely into a comfortable writing schedule with no pressure.

But that's not what motivates me, and I bet it's not what motivates you, either.

What motivates us is being read.

We are motivated by that pivotal moment when the reader gasps aloud with our character, when our character's feelings become so real that the reader cries along with them, or fears for them, or is moved by them. We are motivated by readers who think about our book and our characters long after the book is over, who dream about our characters, who beg us to write more because they refuse to believe that these characters could be OVER, that they are nothing more than figments of imagination who only existed for a few pages.

I would love to have career as an author. Right now it's a hobby. And an expensive one, at that. But I'm thrilled that in the past few days, thousands of people have downloaded my book. Thousands of people are reading my book. And I hope they are falling in love with my characters. I hope they are feeling just a bit of the emotional connection I felt while I wrote the book.

If you haven't snagged it, Perilous is still free. For now.

http://www.amazon.com/Perilous-YA-Suspense-ebook/dp/B0045JLQCI

Can I make it?

Today is day #2 as a free ebook for Perilous.

And thanks to all of you who are helping me spread the word, I am now ranked #42. While of course I hoped to have thousands of people downloading (and reading!) my book, I hardly new what to expect.

I actually saw a woman on Facebook mention that she downloaded my book. Three hours later, she said she loved it. I was like, "What?? You read it in three hours?" But besides that, I felt like, "Really??? You read it and loved it?"

My hopes are up.

I'm raising the bar. Now I want to get into the top 20 so I'll be on the first page on Amazon.com. Can I do it? Can Perilous make it that high? It's #1 in children's fiction right now, which is totally amazing. AMAZING. This is what we always want, as authors. To see copies of our books moving, flying off the shelves.

I'm inspired and excited. But I can't do this on my own. Whatever you're doing is working. PLEASE KEEP DOING IT!

Thanks you for helping me feel successful!

It's Free!!

Can free be overrated?

Image from http://www.fundchat.org/2011/07/12/the-cost-of-free/

I love free things. I'll give something a shot if it's free that I wouldn't if it weren't.

But what about books? The Kindle world is weighed down with FREE. Does free make you think it's inferior quality?

Not me. I think FREE is a great way to get the attention of someone not willing to take a chance on you, even if your unknown book by unknown you is only $2.99. FREE means zero investment. If they don't like it, nothing lost.

Which is why I'm excited to announce that for the next FIVE DAYS, Perilous is FREE.

If you haven't snagged your copy, do so now!

And please help me spread the word! Click on the facebook and twitter links beneath this post to tell all your friends about this FREE book!