My ARC Results

With Inn Dreams it was the first time I seriously targeted ARC readers, by which I mean I paid for the privilege. For a genre like mine, the results were fantastic. I know there are authors of fantasy or other popular genres who get bombarded with ARC requests, but contrary to what some articles claim, women's fiction just isn't that popular.*

*I believe these article writers are looking at a handful of big-name (trade published) authors who sell wildly. That's hardly representative.

With Voracious Readers Only, to date I've gotten 38 ARC requests. Mind-blowing. I'm not counting on many reviews, but just getting my book into so many hands is a reward in itself. I am noticing that there is a shelf life for this type of promotion. In the past twelve hours I've only gotten one request. It's possible this will pick up over the weekend when people have more time to browse, but I'm not heartbroken over the lag.

My appeal on Goodreads netted me perhaps three takers. (I've lost track.) One of them left a Goodreads review, which was a mixed bag. She gave it four stars, but went on to say that she knew who the culprit was long before the reveal. Yes, I knew I was giving that away, but my thought was...I don't know what my thought was. I guess there was no good way to hide it, and perhaps readers would enjoy seeing this person get their comeuppance. At least the reviewer didn't say the book was a "real slog" to get through. She also noted that "by no means" was the love interest the focus of the story. Yep, that's the difference between women's fiction and romance. In my books the love interest is really an accoutrement. See my trouble with genre labels? No one gets them.

One of my newsletter subscribers requested an ARC and she liked the book a whole lot better than the above-referenced reviewer. 

As for BookSprouts, there's really nothing to say. Still not one taker after all this time. I feel like a real chump for signing up with them.

I submitted my book for a LibraryThing giveaway, but haven't gotten the go-ahead yet. This wouldn't start until July, so I don't care (?) I mean, I always care, but this site isn't going to do much for me.

The Fussy Librarian had a 40%-off sale, so I scheduled Inn Dreams for June 29. I've had little to no luck with them in the past, but the promo was cheap and I'm apparently a sucker for a deal.

Next week I'll take a stab at some of the other promo sites (the cheap ones). But I'm kind of over it now. That's maybe a bad attitude, but when I'm working on a new project, that is what claims my focus. 

And yes, reading reviews disheartens me. Will every reviewer say that I gave away the villain? Probably. I hadn't intended to read the review; I just wanted to see the star rating. 

Authors, if you can help it, steer clear of reading your reviews, especially if you're sensitive or lacking in confidence. 

I guess what those criticisms do for me, though, is give me the drive to make my next book better.

That's something.