Mary Lydon Simonsen's Blog: What readers are saying about The Second Date, page 6

Sale of The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy - Today Only

TODAY ONLY! The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy is available for sale as an eBook on Nook and Kindle for only .99 as part of Sourcebooks Twelve Days After Christmas sale. Here is a link for the complete list of books.

Fill Up Your Kindle or Nook

Tomorrow morning, just about the time you are enjoying your morning coffee or tea, six Austen Authors will place 28 of their eBook titles up for sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This is a three-day sale (1/2, 1/3, 1/4). Here is the list of titles with their prices.


Mary Simonsen$0.99For All the Wrong ReasonsMr. Darcy’s Angel of MercyA Walk in the Meadows at Rosings ParkCaptain Wentworth Home from the SeaThree’s A Crowd, A Patrick Shea Mystery (Kindle Only)*
$2.99Mr. Darcy Goes to War (Kindle Only)*Darcy on the HudsonMr. Darcy Bites BackBecoming Elizabeth Darcy (Kindle Only)*
Abigail Reynolds$0.99Morning LightA Pemberley Medley
$2.99Mr. Darcy’s RefugeMr. Darcy’s LetterBy Force of Instinct
Marilyn Brant$0.99Double Dipping
$2.99On Any Given SundaeHoliday Man
Shannon Winslow$0.99Mr. Collins’s Last Supper
$2.99The Darcy’s of PemberleyFor Myself Alone
Maria Grace$1.99Darcy’s Decision
$2.99The Future Mrs. Darcy
Regina Jeffers$1.99The First Wives' ClubSecond Chances: The Courtship Wars
$2.99A Touch of VelvetA Touch of CashémereA Touch of GraceHonor and Hope: A Contemporary Romantica Based on Pride and Prejudice
Great way to start the new year!

*I have a promotion on Amazon for these titles. When that happens, Amazon has exclusive digital rights for 90 days. Once that time period has expired, the titles will become available on Nook.

Happy New Year!

Wherever You Are (Military Wives with Gareth Malone) Official Video

Thank You Very Much (Part 1)

One of my favorite Christmas scenes from Albert Finney's A Christmas Carol

Sense and Sensibility - Location, Location, Location

“In 1795, as Jane Austen was writing Elinor and Marianne, to be revised in 1797 and 1798 as Sense and Sensibility, Britons were experiencing the first financial crisis of Austen’s lifetime, the economic results of a harvest failure of biblical proportions.” Dr. Sheryl Craig in "The Economics of Sense and Sensibility"
This is the opening paragraph of one of the most interesting articles I have ever read about the economics of Jane Austen’s novels. The crop failure mentioned above affected everyone in England, but most especially the poor who were already struggling to get by. A population existing on the edge of starvation looked to benefactors and the government for assistance: “John Dashwood and the Members of Parliament initially promised to provide for those entrusted to their care, and surely it is no coincidence that Austen’s characters and her contemporaries were destined to be disappointed.”
What I did not realize when reading Sense and Sensibilitywas the importance of “place.” Norland, the Dashwood ancestral home, is located in Sussex. At the time S&S was written, “one in four people living in Sussex were classified as paupers. Another problem was that the taxes collected to aid the poor were being diverted…” and did not reach the poor.
The book's bad boy, John Willoughby, lives in Somerset, “a difficult county for the poor… The wages were low…, and the poor taxes were also low… Perversely, Willoughby is not only a wastrel, he is fully aware of the fact and yet unwilling to curb his excess.”
But there is an entirely different attitude toward the poor in Devon. The recently widowed Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters are rescued by Sir John Middleton. “The reader’s first clue that Mrs. Dashwood’s relative is a very different kind of man [from her stepson John Dashwood] is the placement of Sir John in Devon. The poor rates of Devon were progressive and above the national average." An example given of the benefits of this progressive attitude toward the poor is that milk, considered a luxury in most of England, was a part of the daily diet of the people of Devonshire.
The people of Jane Austen’s time would have understood that by leaving the stingy John Dashwood and Sussex behind, the fortunes of the Dashwood women would improve in the more generous Devon. The placement of John Willoughby in Somerset was a hint that this man was going to be trouble for Marianne Dashwood.
S&S is all about "place" and possibly "name" as all three men whose lives interact with the Dashwood women are named "John."
I would recommend that you read Dr. Craig's entire essay which is available here.

Rita Hayworth Is Stayin' Alive

Whoever put this video together did one heck of a job!

Free Download of a Killing in Kensington on Amazon

On 12/5 and 12/6, A Killing in Kensington will be available for free download on Amazon Kindle. Here is the description from the back jacket:

Detective Sergeant Patrick Shea of London's Metropolitan Police and his new partner, Detective Chief Inspector Tommy Boyle, have been handed a high-profile murder case. In the penthouse of Kensington Tower, playboy Clifton Trentmore lay dead with his head bashed in, and the investigation reveals a man who was loathed by both sexes. With too few clues and too many suspects, Shea and Boyle must determine who hated Trentmore enough to kill him. But as Patrick digs deeper, he finds his suspects have secrets of their own.

A Killing in Kensington is the second in the Patrick Shea mystery series. 

If you enjoy Law and Order UK, you will enjoy A Killing in Kensington.

I hope you will download the story and share the title with a friend. It is really helpful to an author who is trying to break into the mystery genre. Thanks.

Writers and Readers: A Partnership

I think everyone at Austen Authors would agree when I say that we have the best fans/friends in the book business. Because of the internet and social media, we are able to share our love of the writings of Jane Austen with people from every part of the globe as if they were our next-door neighbors. Because of this, a symbiotic relationship has developed between writer and reader. You rely on the author to provide a compelling, well-written story, while authors are dependent on readers, not just for the purchase of our books, but for telling your friends about a story you have enjoyed.
Because self-published authors are so dependent upon Amazon for their sales, we have to pay attention to what drives book sales on their site, and it has an array of metrics to measure a book’s popularity. For example, below the title on the book’s main Amazon page is a “like” button. Apparently, if you get fifty “likes,” your book is more prominently featured on other Amazon pages. The tags near the very bottom of the page will place your book on other Amazon lists. For instance,  Mr. Darcy’s Bite  has “tags” for paranormal and Gothic, among others. If the book does well, it will appear on these lists, greatly increasing the chance of a reader finding my book.
This is where the reader plays a huge role in helping an Austen author or any author whose books they buy. If everyone who visited a book’s page clicked on the “like” buttons and the “tags,” it would be a huge help in bringing that book to the attention of other readers. The insert shows exactly what you can do to help your favorite authors.
Even more important that “likes” and “tags” are reviews. Last week, I used a program provided by Amazon to offer my novel,  Becoming Elizabeth Darcy , for free download for three days. While contacting the different sites that get the word out about free books, I found that many of them would only take your book if you had six, eight, ten, and in one case, eighteen reviews of four and five stars on Amazon! Yikes! Eighteen stars. That’s a tall order, especially if its a new title. But these sites insist that most readers will not download a book, even if it is free, if others have not taken the time to review the book.
I’ll be honest with you. I don’t review every book I read, and if I would give a book a one or two-star review, I just move along and don’t do anything. But, on not posting negative reviews, I now hold a minority view. It’s like anything else. If you bought something at the store and you were pleased with your purchase, you usually don’t call the seller or customer service to praise the item. On the other hand, if you are really displeased or disappointed, you might very well make that call or write that letter. This natural inclination drives negative reviews, and the anonymous nature of reviews on Amazon allows people to write some pretty harsh stuff.  Believe me, I know. I keep a box of Kleenex handy in case I get a one-star review.
So what am I asking you to do? If you like a book, any book, please consider writing a review on Amazon, or if you don't like Amazon, there are other sites: Goodreads, Shelfari, and Barnes & Noble. If you have the time, I/we would appreciate it if you would go the extra step and click on the “like” button and every tag the author has set up at the bottom of the Amazon page. Because most of us at Austen Authors are now self-publishing our own titles or plan to do so in the future, little things make a big difference. Small actions do add up. Thank you for your help.
P.S. My mystery,  A Killing in Kensington , is available for free download on 12/5 and 12/6 on Kindle.

Last Chance for Mr. Darcy's Bite + Giveaway

Today is the last day to buy Mr. Darcy's Bite on Nook or Kindle for only $1.99. Tomorrow the price goes back up to the $9.00 range. Prefer paperback? Mr. Darcy's Bite is available in paperback on Amazon for only $6.00.

Candy Morton is hosting a giveaway of an e-book of Mr. Darcy Bites Back , the sequel to Mr. Darcy's Bite on her blog, So Little Time... The last day to enter is December 5. Mr. Darcy Bites Back is also available in paperback at Amazon.

Enjoy a good mystery? Stay tuned for information on my British police procedural, A Killing in Kensington , coming up next week.

Last, but not least, the giveaway on Kindle for Becoming Elizabeth Darcy was hugely successful. Nearly 10,000 copies were downloaded. This is a good way to let people know about this book and my other titles as well. Thanks to everyone who participated and thanks to everyone who has bought the book--any book--of mine!

Everyone, have a good weekend.