M.L.S. Weech's Blog, page 32

Two Four Star Reviews For The Week!

Greetings all,

I’m happy to report two reviews for a few of my titles.

The first is a very-kind Goodreads four-star review from C Cager for The Journals of Bob Drifter. I’m grateful the reader enjoyed it. I’m glad C discovered my book, too! Right before this post launched, I noticed Cager was kind enough to also post a review on Amazon as well. That’s really above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you!

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The other is a great review is one for Stealing Freedom from Paula Dyches, who put her kind four-star review on Audible, Goodreads, and Amazon. I just want to say thank her for what I call the “full support” (a review on all three platforms) review. I really do think this would make a great little Netflix movie. If you know a producer, I’d certainly be willing to talk.

This kind of support is really precious. Every review is gold in my eyes (even the bad ones). As always, I ask that if you’ve read one of my books, please stop buy one of those platforms and leave a rating and a review.

Thank’s for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

[image error]The cover image was taken from the book’s Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

It had been a while since I read The Problem of Pain, and I wanted to read this book because of the vibe I got while writing Musings on Christianity.

This book was truly awesome in a lot of ways. I liked it most because I truly felt like I was just sitting down and having a chat with Mr. Lewis. His prose was thoughtful, colorful and insightful. He presents core Christian beliefs in simplistic ways that a person can either accept or reject.

I feel like there are some who would feel a bit put off by some of the observations Lewis makes. The thing I would ask everyone to remember is that Lewis is humbly not an expert. He admits as much in the very beginning. He offers insights that helped him address critical concepts and several times states that if what he says doesn’t rub you right, “Just set it aside.”

[image error]This image of Mr. Lewis was taken quite a while ago. I’m honestly not sure where I found it.

The title promises exactly what Lewis delivers. His use of the word “mere” is in the sense of “only.” While there are several doctrines that Christians themselves could and do debate regularly, he sticks to the concepts that any Christian (and I agree) should readily accept.

This book is great for people who just want to know in essence what Christianity is about. It is not a theological analysis. It does not promote one denomination above others. It just presents Christianity in general terms.

It was honestly hard to put down. I love theory and reasoning, and this book lays out the faith in some very simplistic terms. I’m a huge fan of this book.

Visits From A Man Named Nobody PT 2

“He’s evil.” The admission somehow felt right and wrong to Paul. We was relived to have said it, but he felt guilty about it. 

“There is no one who is good,” Nobody said.

“Mom’s not evil!” Paul kept his voice to a harsh whisper, but he’d die before he let anyone say something about his mother, even in some roundabout way. 

“I see a distinction between evil and not good,” Nobody explained. He stood and made his way back to the backpack he’d left on the floor. “You know you could report your father, but you haven’t. She could also report your father, and you know that. And a part of you is angry at her for it.”

Paul opened his mouth to deny it, but the lie wouldn’t come. A tear rolled down his cheek. He endured the pain of each lash of his father’s belt, but a single thought that he held any anger for his mom broke him.

“I know you love your mother,” Nobody said. “And I know she loves you.”

Nobody opened the bag and rummaged around. The moonlight peering through the window wasn’t enough to see well in, so Paul couldn’t make out what the man was retrieving. 

“How do you know? What do you want? Why are you here?” Paul wasn’t sure which question was more important to him. 

The man came back to the bed. “Lie down on your stomach,” he said. “We need to dress those wounds.”

Paul stared at him. If the man was here to hurt anyone, he could have by now. Screaming would only wake his father, and then someone would definitely die. Running off to call the police would only bring them to Paul’s house, which would again wake his father and get someone killed. 

As Paul considered what to do, Nobody held out his hands, which were filled with bandages. 

“I’ve already told you I’m here to help, and I know what I know because I was very much like you once.” Nobody gently guided Paul down. “Be ready for the sting.”

That’s what mom always told me when she used to patch me up.

Paul focused his thoughts and started to breath deeply. As he sucked in a third breath of air, one of the wounds on his back seemed to light afire. Nobody was using peroxide to clean the cuts. Paul reflexively let out his breath. He used to cry out when he felt pain, but he learned not to after the only time he managed to wake his father from a drunken stupor. 

“Tomorrow,” Nobody said while cleaning another cut. “He’ll come in, right?”

Paul waited for the sting of Nobody’s efforts to pass before answering. “He’ll cry and say he doesn’t know why he does it, or he’ll try to explain he only does it because mom and me make him so angry. But he’ll get all weepy and beg us for forgiveness. He’ll buy mom some stupid present and talk about me like I’m the world’s greatest son. Then he’ll ask us to give I’m another chance.”

“How many chances will you give him?” Thankfully, Nobody had finished cleaning the cuts. Paul felt what had to be adhesive bandages being pressed along his wounds.

Paul thought about the question even as Nobody worked. “I don’t really forgive him,” he finally said. “But I’ve come to expect it from him. It’s just what he does. And Mom just lets him do it.”

“Doesn’t she try to take on the brunt of his beatings?” Nobody pressed another bandage into place. 

“She can’t handle it! Dad almost killed her last time.” His justification for why he stands in his father’s way confirmed the reason he had to do it in the first place. 

“And if he kills you?”

Paul realized Nobody was finished. He turned and sat up. Nobody was already back on his feet. He reached back in the bag to pull out some sheets. 

Paul could only shrug. If his father killed him, at least the beatings would be over.

“Reporting him wouldn’t be a betrayal,” Nobody said. “It might change how people look at you. It might change how people look at your mom. It would absolutely get your dad in trouble, but it might help him.”

“Prison doesn’t help anyone.” Paul said. He’d heard people talking about tall the horrible things that happen in prison. 

“Stand up so we can make change those sheets,” Nobody said. He continued even as Paul started to help. “Maybe bad things will happen to your dad in prison, but just a few minutes ago you were hoping I was here to take him away, so you’ve clearly thought about this.”

Every minute of my life. Every time he hits me. It’s all Paul ever wanted, someone to come take his father away. But Mom says losing Dad would kill her.

They pulled the bloody sheets off the bed. “If your father goes to prison, it might hurt your mom. She might get sad. I doubt she’d die. It would not be easy. The real question is how many more beatings do you think either of you could take?”

Nobody tossed a corner of the fitted sheet across the bed for Paul to put into place. The naked mattress had several blood stains. Not all of them were fresh.  “As many as I have to.”

“And if I call the police?” Nobody asked as he positioned his portions of the sheet around the corners of the mattress. 

“I can’t stop you,” Paul said. 

Nobody’s masked head turned toward him. “So you want me to do something you know needs to happen. You want me to do it, so it’s not your fault it happened.”

“You’re the grown up!” Paul said. “You just appear in my room. You patch me up. You help me make my bed.”

Nobody tossed the top sheet across the bed and tucked in his side as he spoke. “I’ve helped you do things you aren’t able to do.” 

“Then help me with my dad!” It was getting harder to keep his voice down. Years of beatings made him too afraid to shout, even a situation as crazy as this. 

“No,” he said. “I wont’ help you because you know what you need to do. You don’t need me to make this call. But I will tell you that you can. In this situation, you know the right thing to do. You just have to do it.” 

They finished tucking the sheet in, and Nobody bundled up the discarded bloody sheets and shoved them into his backpack. 

“How do I ever know I’m doing the right thing?” Paul asked. He wanted to. He wanted his mom to be safe. He wanted the beatings to stop. He wanted his father to be nice. He just didn’t know what to do to make all of those things happen. Isn’t the right thing the thing that will make everything right?

Nobody turned from his backpack and dropped something onto the bed. Paul stared at it until he could make it out. 

It was a Bible. 

…to be continued…

I’m About to Start the Beta Draft of Betrayed: A Thank you to Beta Readers

Greetings all!

I’m happy to report I’m about to begin work in the Beta Draft of Betrayed. This will be the last content draft and the last set of revisions. After this, I send it out for proofreading and then polish it up for publishing.

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I’d like to just take a moment to thank my beta readers!

First up is Bia Bella Baker, author of the HECCTROSSIPY series.

Next up are Tamy and Don Way. I actually met them outside an Ikea, and they’ve been supporting me and my work ever since.

I just want to thank them for taking the time to read Betrayed and offer feedback. The good news is they all liked it! Yes, they all had constructive feedback that I have to comb through and consider as I do this final draft.

I’ll say this much, Kira has been a challenge to write, and she’ll be challenging. Her arc is powerful, and I’m of the opinion that if I don’t get it right, the series will suffer greatly. I’d argue the next most important arc is Kaitlyn. Dom and Sal aren’t nearly as challenging because they’re more simplistic in nature.

I’ll start work on that early next week. While I was waiting, I got some more work done on Discovered. I’m just a bit over halfway done with the discovery draft of that story, and it’s looking solid.

I’m doing everything I can to get Betrayed out as soon as I can. It’ll take me at least a month to finish. Then I’ll need to give Sara time to proofread it. Then I have to apply those edits. So I’m hoping for a February or March release date. While Sara proofreads Betrayed, I’ll switch right back to Discovered, so it shouldn’t be nearly as long a wait for that book as it was for Betrayed.

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Again, I just want to thank my beta readers and let you all know where I’m at. I can’t thank you all enough for the support you give. I hope you choose to stick with me and continue to enjoy my silly little stories.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Dragon Avenger by E.E. Knight

Spoiler Free Summary:  Dragon Avenger by E.E. Knight is the second story in the Age of Fire series. It’s the story of a hatchling whose family is murdered, and now she must find her own way in the world. When the dragon hunter who killed her family returns, she seeks vengeance.

[image error]Cover image taken from the book’s Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Character:  Wistala is Auron’s sister. I hated her in a good way in the beginning. She was a pampered daughter who expected everything to come easy. That allowed her arc to shine. Who she is at the beginning of the story is nothing compared to who she becomes, and it’s very cool to see. Some readers dislike female characters who start out pampered, and I can understand that. I just don’t think it’s as overdone as some may feel. Then again, I wrote Sojourn, which has a similar character.

Exposition: I read this book right after the first book, which was still years ago. But based on the fact that I burned right through the whole series, I have to think the story is too compelling and fast-paced to have bad exposition.

Worldbuilding: So this is where the saga will get polarizing for some. The first third of this book contains the same events as the first. The difference is the reader sees the events through Wistala’s point of view. I personally found this fascinating. Sure, I knew what was going to happen, but it was interesting to see how other characters perceived the events. The other important thing to note is while a third of the book is old data, it’s only a third. The rest of the story takes us from when Wistala and Auron are separated to see what happened to her. I think more stories could follow this example, but I wouldn’t want to see everyone do it.

Dialogue: This is where the creativity of the worldbuilding described above shines brighter. Wistala is very different from her brothers. That shows in the dialogue. Knight develops the characters by crafting their dialogue to show their habits, thoughts, and tone.  

[image error]Image by Ebert Studio taken from the Penguin Random House website bio for the author. This image was taken for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Description: As with the first story, I was perfectly happy with the description in this book, but others who are more energized by elaborate description will probably be left wanting. .

Overall: This was the story that showed me the potential this saga has. It took a pretty darn good stand alone story and expanded what it could be. Where some authors would have written a million-page story switching from character to character, this approach gave us qualities tories in smaller chunks, and that was awesome!

Thanks for reading

Matt

Visits From A Man Named Nobody PT 1

The following is the first of my new testimony. Visits from A Man Named Nobody is a Christian Science Fiction story I had an idea for and decided to run with. As with all my testimony, I’m posting it on Sundays. Each part will be somewhere around 1,000 words, but it might not be a chapter.

Another thing to note: This is what I call a discovery draft. While I will revise and edit this story, you’re getting it right as it comes out of my head. I welcome comments and thoughts, but I hope you’ll understand that this is just another way to share my process with you as I also seek to continue to produce Christian content.

I don’t imagine you’ll see the connection in this first entry, but I assure you, this is absolutely a Christian piece (or at least it’s intended to be).

I hope you enjoy it.

One

Oct. 24, 2020 

27 Years Ago

Paul Autumn laid in his bed fighting back the tears that threatened to fall. The searing pain along his back actually helped. Dad was very angry, and the stripes from Dad’s belt split skin. It was worth it. Paul kept Dad from going at Mom, and that’s all that mattered. 

The screaming had stopped about thirty minutes before, so Dad must have passed out. Mom didn’t come in to check on him. She hadn’t done that in a year. Maybe she felt guilty. That didn’t make sense to Paul. He took on Dad’s rage just so he wouldn’t hurt her. Why should that make her feel guilty? It was his choice. 

Breathing hurt. The air around his bare back hurt. Paul tried as hard as he could to avoid moving because even thinking about moving caused him to yelp. He kept his head tucked into his arms and focused on breathing as slowly as he could. Every inhalation brought back memories of his father’s red face and the throbbing veins in his father’s neck as he shouted and swung the belt. Every exhalation brought back a memory of his father’s violent swings. Each memory felt as if he were still being whipped. 

He wouldn’t cry. He refused. Crying would be the same as admitting it hurt. Crying would show Dad he was able to hurt others, and Paul would never give him the satisfaction. His fervent thoughts didn’t stop his lip from trembling. They didn’t stop the tears from falling. 

I’m weak. I’m not strong enough! 

The air shifted in the blink of an eye, dropping down to freezing and then up to boiling and back down to normal. A strange electrical surge caused his ears to ring, and a light flashed behind him. Paul rolled over and cried out in pain. The fright of the moment made him forget about his back. Blood seeped into his sheets and clung to his back even as he sat up yelping in pain. 

Before the sting of pain had a chance to fade, Paul realized he wasn’t alone anymore. A man had appeared just about where the light had flashed a few moments ago. He wore a pair of gray slacks and a black pea-coat. A small, red bow tie peaked out from under the coat’s collar. The man wore a plastic mask under his shaggy black hair that made it impossible to see the details of his face, and the mask made Paul wonder if the man was there to hurt him. 

“I’m not here to hurt you.” The man whispered. Maybe he was trying to disguise his voice. “I’m here to help.”

Paul smiled. Maybe he’s here to take Dad away! Maybe he’s here to kill him!

The man shook his head as if he could read Paul’s thoughts. “No, not that way. I can’t do anything about your dad or your mom. But there is something I can do for you.”

“Who are you?” Paul thought about trying to reach under the bed for the bat that was there, just in case Dad ever took things too far. 

“I”m nobody, Paul.” He may have only meant to say he wasn’t someone important or someone Paul would know, but Paul decided to make that his name.

“The only way to help me is to get me and my mom away from here,” Paul said.

Nobody slowly moved toward Paul and sat on the corner of the bed. His leg ended in a perfect position to block Paul from getting to the bat. Paul noticed a black back pack where Nobody had appeared.

“You know you could do something,” Nobody said. “You could talk to a policeman or a teacher.”

Paul shook his head. “Mom doesn’t want Dad to get into trouble.”

“But you hopped I was here to kill him,” Nobody said. 

How’d he know? Paul tried to see though the opaque mask, but he couldn’t even make out the color of Nobody’s eyes. 

“Let’s just say I’ve been where you are, and I get it,” Nobody said. “I already know there’s nothing I’m going to say that’ll convince you to report your dad.”

“Mom says she can’t live without Dad!” Paul cringed in pain. Shouting caused the pain in his back to flare up. Worse than that, the shout might wake up his mother or father, and waking up his father would absolutely mean another beating. 

“They’re still asleep,” Nobody said. “They won’t come in.”

“How do you know?” 

“I just know.” Between his whispered tone and that mask, hearing Nobody was next to impossible. “Your mom says she can’t live without your father, but you know he’s going to kill one of you one day.”

“Mom says it’s not his fault,” Paul said. “He just gets this way when he drinks.”

“And who makes him drink?” Nobody asked.

“He’s stressed out about a lot of stuff.” The rehearsed words spilled out of his mouth. They were a reflex. He expected to hear the excuse because that’s how his mother explained it back when she’d come to comfort him in his room. Something about Nobody’s posture, maybe the odd way he tilted his head, made it clear he didn’t buy the explanation. 

To Be Continued

The Last Airbender: Why A Kid’s Show is Still Great Storytelling

My family and I recently finished re-watching Avatar: The Last Airbender (the series, not that atrocious movie).

[image error]Most of these images were taken form wiki pages. Please don’t sue me!

I think there’s an unfair stigma about “kid’s shows,” but I understand where it comes from.

You see, back in my day, cartoons were very thin. They had limited plots and shallow characters. Some still have those flaws, but that doesn’t mean that every animated show is bad or guilty of those crimes.

Avatar proves that on every level.

Broader Characters: All the characters on Avatar have deeper levels that a typical cartoon. They have virtues and flaws. They have differences that cause conflicts.

The relationships between the characters are themselves arcs. I think the biggest draw to the show is in the relationships formed and challenged throughout the series. Zuko’s relationships are particularly wonderful. We don’t see how loving Iroh is if we don’t see how fixated and selfish Zuko starts out. Just about the moment we’re ready to give up on Zuko, we meet Azula, and suddenly we understand more about Zuko, and grow to sympathize with him and even love him.

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Great Conflicts: Those conflicts I mentioned above give an emotional charge to what could have been a terribly shallow plot. Aang learns water bending. Aang learns earth bending. Aang learns fire bending. Fight. End.

Those things happened, but each of those plot elements are only part of additional, more interesting plot elements. The story does a great job of maximizing the directions stories can go.

Just these two simple things make a story so much more interesting, and it’s good entertainment. It’s not enough for things to happen to people. We need to care about those people. It’s also not enough for us to just see people, no one (no matter how sympathetic) is interesting if they are not doing anything.

This is the balance I think Airbender struck. We had a good mix of episodes that connected us to the characters (am I the only one who loved that episode in Book Two where we saw each character’s day?). We also had episodes where the characters moved. Sometimes they reacted (the episode where Azula was chasing them the whole time), sometimes they acted (the library). Yet even in those action driven shows, we still see character building moments.

So I just wanted to share a few thoughts that might help hopeful storytellers learn how important those elements are to a story. More importantly, I wanted to demonstrate how those elements elevate a story. Good character depth and conflict can make any style of story for any genre better.

Do you have some favorite episodes of Airbender? Do you have some other elements you enjoyed? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Dragon Champion by E.E. Knight

Spoiler Free Summary:  Dragon Champion by E.E. Knight is the first story in the Age of Fire series. It’s the story of a hatchling who must battle simply to survive and become the head of his family, but when dragon hunters seemingly kill everyone else in his family, he finds himself on a journey that will reveal more about his kind than he could have imagined.

[image error]This cover image was taken from the book’s Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Character:  I like Auron. He’s a very sympathetic character. This is a wonderful take on the hero’s journey from a dragon perspective, and Auron is a great character to do that with. He’s just a character trying to carve out a life, and every time he has the chance to feel like his life is beginning, that life gets turned upside down.

Exposition: Full confession, I read this book years ago. My reading speed isn’t nearly as fast as my blog schedule, so I’m going into my back catalog. That said, I wouldn’t have read the whole series if this story was dragged down. This story moved well, and Auron is such a great character, you find it impossible to stop reading.

Worldbuilding: This is where Knight shines. This book reads like a great stand alone hero’s journey, but it actually opens up an incredible world populated by a variety of creatures. It’s just amazing to see how it all comes together. On its own, this book has great detail and history. I’d recommend this for readers who like the idea of Tolkien’s work, but don’t want that much history.

Dialogue: This was better than average. Even now I can remember particular conversations (not the words but the tone and point of them). Those conversations helped connect me to the characters and understand them better. They were witty or dramatic as needed, but they were always memorable. I’d love to see an animated version of this book.  

[image error]Image by Ebert Studio taken from the Penguin Random House website bio for the author. This image was taken for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Description: Readers of the genre will probably want more than description than this story has, but I thought it was great. I got the exact amount of detail I wanted without getting bogged down. I could imagine the characters and scenes, and that’s all I want a book’s description to do.

Overall: This was a fantastic introduction to an absolutely wonderful series. It’s imaginative. It’s exciting. It has all the drama and power of a human story, but it’s populated completely by dragons. Fans of fantasy can’t miss this chance to read a great story.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Musings on Christianity 53

What Must We Know?

As deep and detailed as the Bible is, Christians must always be sure of the most important thing. We look at the commands. We look at the law. However, none of us can ever hope to perfectly live those commands, neither the letter nor the spirit. 

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).”

The fundamental Christian principle is the person from whom the name of the religion is derived. Apart from Christ, we are lost. It is Christ who lived the perfect life we couldn’t. It is Christ whose death paid the price we couldn’t. It is Christ’s resurrection that justifies those who believe in Him. 

Wherever else one’s Christian walk takes him, the Christian walk does not begin until one confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

A Christian life begins in mourning, for indeed we morn our sins, realizing the price that must be paid and understanding that we need a savior. The Christian life transitions to joy when we see Christ for who He is, our God in the flesh who was made to be sin so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

This is a humbling position to accept. I, for one, wanted to earn my place in the world. I wanted to earn God’s love, and I wanted to earn my “right” to go to Heaven. Realizing that there was nothing I could do to justify myself to a perfect and holy God demanded the realization that I needed a redeemer because I could not redeem myself. But there is a joy in this realization. Our God who made us does not need us. He doesn’t have to redeem us. He didn’t send his Son to die for us because He had to, for God existed before all things, and He will always exist. So why, then, did He do it? The answer is simple. He loves us, and He wanted to redeem us, and doesn’t want any of us to be lost (2 Peter 3:9). 

Living a life seeking to earn love and earn a way into Heaven was exhausting and fruitless. It wasn’t until I realized that love is a gift that I realized God’s love was already there. 

God shows His love for me (and everyone) in that while we were lost in our sins, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). 

So rather than work to earn a thing that can’t be bought, I now work content in the knowledge that God loves me. The mind shift is critical. I don’t work to obtain a gift I’ve already been given. Who does? Instead, I desire to do everything, not for the sake of what I already have, but in gratitude for everything I have been given. 

This means that whatever happens, if we hold fast to this truth and remember it always, God will work in our hearts and mold us to be more fruitful and pleasing to Him (Philippians 2:13). 

We are still human. We are still trapped in our human flesh. We will live and suffer and rejoice and celebrate as every human does, but it is not the things of this world we rejoice, cerebrate and suffer for. Instead, a Christian does everything for the Savior who redeemed him. 

This message is only burdensome to those who would seek to earn their place in Heaven or those who seek to justify their goodness by their own right, which is impossible since no sane person would ever declare himself perfect. This message is freedom for those who hear it because it declares a path to Heaven that provides redemption through Christ’s death and sanctification though the earnest desire to be more like our great redeemer. 

It is this message that I leave you with, dear readers, because it is a message that tells us we need not judge one another if we remember we seek to do everything to the glory of God. It tells us we need not fear because whatever happens on this earth is nothing because it is but an instant compared to the rest of eternity. It tells us that we have an example to follow in Christ and an advocate when we stumble. 

I hope this message reminds believers of the fundamental truth that brings us all together as a body of Christ, and I hope this message finds those who are seeking truth in a world dominated by lies. May our lord Christ watch over us and guide us all the days of our lives. May His peace and truth be a light that shines within us all the days of our lives. 

For our panel: What is your parting message to any who may be reading this?

The End.

Finally! A Promotion Website That Works! An Endorsement for Audio Book Boom

If you’ve been visiting this blog for the past few weeks, you may have noticed how many reviews I’ve had lately.

A few months back, I saw a huge spike in my audiobook downloads for Caught. For the longest time, I was baffled (but happy). But I wanted to see what happened. A flash of inspiration led me to google the book, and there I found it on this promotion website for free promo codes.

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You see, Shawn Compton, the wonderful narrator who did Caught, has a royalty share with me. When a copy of Caught is sold on Audible, he gets half of the royalty money. I can only assume he posted his promo codes, which all of us get, on this site, and boy did it work!

The site is Audio Book Boom. It has two sort of options. One is where they just post the codes for anyone to use on a certain book. The other, which I prefer, is where the promoter receives a shared form with a listener’s email and Audible review information. The promoter can then look at the person requesting a code and send a code out if they wish.

This is easily the best $12 per title I’ve ever spent on marketing. I think the price is fair since audio book codes for titles published after March 26, 2020 don’t receive royalties. They are still downloads, but the purpose for the ACX promo codes is to generate reviews and interest. At worst, this $12 gets you a number of reviews. At best it gets you reviews and royalties, but that only applies if your title was published before that date.

The first test run I did was for Stealing Freedom. The first run got me at least 15 downloads and at least 5 reviews. That means this was the first promotion website I’ve used where the money I paid was actually less than the money I made.

I did another campaign, this time for five of my six titles. In total, both campaigns earned more than 75 downloads and 15 reviews. Again, best promotion results by far. Those are just the direct numbers. I’m seeing follow-on sales for pages read in KU, purchased ebooks, and Audible.

[image error]This image was taken from the website so I could endorse their product.

I’ve never been able to land on a BookBub promotion (I would love to hit that lottery), but this is easily the best promotion because it gives me both downloads and reviews.

So if you are an author with a bunch of audiobook codes you don’t know what to do with, do this!

Thanks for reading,

Matt