Dean C. Ferraro's Blog
September 26, 2022
BookBub Featured Deal
So I recently submitted my first novel, Murder in Santa Barbara, for a Featured Deal with BookBub. For those not familiar, getting accepted for a Featured Deal with BookBub is like the Holy Grail for authors, especially new ones.
Per their website, "BookBub is a free service that helps millions of readers discover books they'll love while providing publishers and authors with a way to drive sales and find new fans. Upon joining, members receive unbeatable deals selected by our expert editorial team, handpicked recommendations from people they trust, and real-time updates from their favorite authors."
I read about some authors submitting their books 20-30 times for a Featured Deal, without getting accepted. Low and behold, upon my first submission, I was accepted. Needless to say, I was very excited for the opportunity, without fully understanding its magnitude.
As I write this today, I fully understand. My Featured Deal for Murder in Santa Barbara started yesterday, wherein readers could purchase the eBook from several mainstream retailers for only $0.99. What impact did that have on my sales? Well, let me put it this way, of the over 12 million kindle books on Amazon, Murder in Santa Barbara reached as high as #238 overall, and # 4 among legal thrillers.
Riding the coattails of Murder in Santa Barbara, I discounted my second novel, Murder in Vail. As hoped and planned, it sparked those sales significantly as well, taking that book to several best sellers lists.
For the record, as an attorney and a writer, as I sit here today reviewing the impact the BookBub Featured Deal is having on the success of my books, I am a breathing, typing legal thriller! Thank you BookBub!
Per their website, "BookBub is a free service that helps millions of readers discover books they'll love while providing publishers and authors with a way to drive sales and find new fans. Upon joining, members receive unbeatable deals selected by our expert editorial team, handpicked recommendations from people they trust, and real-time updates from their favorite authors."
I read about some authors submitting their books 20-30 times for a Featured Deal, without getting accepted. Low and behold, upon my first submission, I was accepted. Needless to say, I was very excited for the opportunity, without fully understanding its magnitude.
As I write this today, I fully understand. My Featured Deal for Murder in Santa Barbara started yesterday, wherein readers could purchase the eBook from several mainstream retailers for only $0.99. What impact did that have on my sales? Well, let me put it this way, of the over 12 million kindle books on Amazon, Murder in Santa Barbara reached as high as #238 overall, and # 4 among legal thrillers.
Riding the coattails of Murder in Santa Barbara, I discounted my second novel, Murder in Vail. As hoped and planned, it sparked those sales significantly as well, taking that book to several best sellers lists.
For the record, as an attorney and a writer, as I sit here today reviewing the impact the BookBub Featured Deal is having on the success of my books, I am a breathing, typing legal thriller! Thank you BookBub!
BookBub Featured Deal
So I recently submitted my first novel, Murder in Santa Barbara, for a Featured Deal with BookBub. For those not familiar, getting accepted for a Featured Deal with BookBub is like the Holy Grail for authors, especially new ones.
Per their website, "BookBub is a free service that helps millions of readers discover books they'll love while providing publishers and authors with a way to drive sales and find new fans. Upon joining, members receive unbeatable deals selected by our expert editorial team, handpicked recommendations from people they trust, and real-time updates from their favorite authors."
I read about some authors submitting their books 20-30 times for a Featured Deal, without getting accepted. Low and behold, upon my first submission, I was accepted. Needless to say, I was very excited for the opportunity, without fully understanding its magnitude.
As I write this today, I fully understand. My Featured Deal for Murder in Santa Barbara started yesterday, wherein readers could purchase the eBook from several mainstream retailers for only $0.99. What impact did that have on my sales? Well, let me put it this way, of the over 12 million kindle books on Amazon, Murder in Santa Barbara reached as high as #238 overall, and # 4 among legal thrillers.
Riding the coattails of Murder in Santa Barbara, I discounted my second novel, Murder in Vail. As hoped and planned, it sparked those sales significantly as well, taking that book to several best sellers lists.
For the record, as an attorney and a writer, as I sit here today reviewing the impact the BookBub Featured Deal is having on the success of my books, I am a breathing, typing legal thriller! Thank you BookBub!
Per their website, "BookBub is a free service that helps millions of readers discover books they'll love while providing publishers and authors with a way to drive sales and find new fans. Upon joining, members receive unbeatable deals selected by our expert editorial team, handpicked recommendations from people they trust, and real-time updates from their favorite authors."
I read about some authors submitting their books 20-30 times for a Featured Deal, without getting accepted. Low and behold, upon my first submission, I was accepted. Needless to say, I was very excited for the opportunity, without fully understanding its magnitude.
As I write this today, I fully understand. My Featured Deal for Murder in Santa Barbara started yesterday, wherein readers could purchase the eBook from several mainstream retailers for only $0.99. What impact did that have on my sales? Well, let me put it this way, of the over 12 million kindle books on Amazon, Murder in Santa Barbara reached as high as #238 overall, and # 4 among legal thrillers.
Riding the coattails of Murder in Santa Barbara, I discounted my second novel, Murder in Vail. As hoped and planned, it sparked those sales significantly as well, taking that book to several best sellers lists.
For the record, as an attorney and a writer, as I sit here today reviewing the impact the BookBub Featured Deal is having on the success of my books, I am a breathing, typing legal thriller! Thank you BookBub!
August 3, 2022
Murder in Vail Coming August 23, 2022
If you enjoyed Murder in Santa Barbara, the wait is over. The highly anticipated book #2 in the Joshua Rizzetti series is being released on August 23, 2022.
For two decades, a secret mystery has lingered over the quaint mountain oasis of Frisco, Colorado like a dark stormy cloud before an epic blizzard. A treasure of gold worth millions. Does it truly exist? Or is it a myth, embellished over time?
Deputy District Attorney Joshua Rizzetti and his girlfriend arrive in Colorado for a much-needed vacation. Fresh off the heels of narrowly escaping murder, relaxation and recreational skiing are the perfect prescription to distance their recent knock on death's door. But after only a couple days of leisurely bliss, their peaceful travels take a deadly turn.
Unwittingly, Josh and Kristen find themselves entrenched in a decades-long treasure hunt that's left nothing but mystery on its backtrail. Proving itself more difficult than a double black diamond run, the golden riddle becomes a murderous slope, bombing downhill at breakneck speed. All in a seemingly endless search for a golden treasure—a prize that may be nothing more than a hoax.
Only by swiftly deciphering a cryptic message can Joshua prevent his dream vacation from becoming his worst nightmare. Will he solve it in time, or crash in a fatal wipe out?
For two decades, a secret mystery has lingered over the quaint mountain oasis of Frisco, Colorado like a dark stormy cloud before an epic blizzard. A treasure of gold worth millions. Does it truly exist? Or is it a myth, embellished over time?
Deputy District Attorney Joshua Rizzetti and his girlfriend arrive in Colorado for a much-needed vacation. Fresh off the heels of narrowly escaping murder, relaxation and recreational skiing are the perfect prescription to distance their recent knock on death's door. But after only a couple days of leisurely bliss, their peaceful travels take a deadly turn.
Unwittingly, Josh and Kristen find themselves entrenched in a decades-long treasure hunt that's left nothing but mystery on its backtrail. Proving itself more difficult than a double black diamond run, the golden riddle becomes a murderous slope, bombing downhill at breakneck speed. All in a seemingly endless search for a golden treasure—a prize that may be nothing more than a hoax.
Only by swiftly deciphering a cryptic message can Joshua prevent his dream vacation from becoming his worst nightmare. Will he solve it in time, or crash in a fatal wipe out?
November 30, 2021
Inspiration Can Come From Anywhere or Anyone!
My family recently started watching a new television show. Well, it’s new to us at least. Oddly enough, it’s a show filmed in New Zealand. It’s called 800 Words.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s a show about a father, his son and his daughter, who move from Australia to New Zealand, after the passing of his wife. In an effort to start over, they move to a town where the father vacationed as a child.
It has a classic theme of family, relationships, friendships, loss, humor and life lessons. What makes it unique is that the father is a columnist, who writes a column in which he always uses exactly eight hundred words.
As one might expect, the inspiration for his columns comes from events, lessons, relationships and the everyday trials and errors in his life. But it is in the calm, relaxed setting of sitting in front of his computer, with his retrospective on life, that his articles come to life.
Prior to the year 2020, I never would have thought that I ever would be watching a television show from New Zealand. Totally unexpected, yet inspirational!
Funny thing, is that in a year of the unexpected, it is the unexpected that has brought me the most inspiration. Is it coincidental that the year 2020 has given me a 20/20 perspective on life? How so, you ask? Well, let me quickly take you back thirty years, when my initial inspiration to become a writer began. . . and soon thereafter, ended.
My first inspiration to become a writer was sparked by a television show I watched when I was in college. For those of you old enough to remember, it came from the T.V. show Doogie Howser M.D. A child prodigy and genius, Doogie, the title character, graduated from high school in nine weeks, graduated from Princeton University at age ten, and became a physician at the age of fourteen. Surprisingly, it was not his significant accomplishments at such a remarkably young age that inspired me.
What inspired me was at the conclusion of each episode. Typically, each episode would end with Doogie making an entry into his computer, making observations about the circumstances and situations he had experienced in that episode, and the lessons he learned. So inspired, I too would make an entry into my computer each evening, expressing my take on life after the events of my day. It was then that I truly experienced the joy of writing.
Regrettably, my passion for writing got sidetracked when I decided to go to law school. Unfortunately, I ignored some of the signs in front of me, which in hindsight seem so clear. Most notably, when I was applying to law schools, an obvious sign hit me over the head, yet I was oblivious to it at the time!
After having written my essay for my law school applications, I had some friends proof read it, to give me feedback, before I submitted my applications. The response from every single one of them was a slight variation of the same message… “you shouldn’t go to law school, you should be a writer!” But with tunnel vision, and my sights set on law school, my writing career gathered dust on the back of the shelf like Woody after Buzz Lightyear first came into Andy’s life.
Better late than never, and twenty years later, sparked by the birth of my first child, my inspiration and passion to write was rekindled. It was then that I started my path to fulfill one of my life-long dreams… to write a legal thriller and best-selling novel. I set a goal to complete my book in eighteen months. Believe it or not, that time frame seemed realistic at the time. Boy, was I way off! Eighteen months later, I had written about twenty-something pages.
As before, life got in the way of my writing. One child became two, sleep became a distant memory, spare time became diaper changing time, and twenty years became thirty. My writing, once again, was a distant memory.
Meanwhile, a few years ago, when my daughter was in the third grade, she won a poetry contest and had her poem publish in a book. Yep, that’s right, my daughter was published at eight years old, while I continued to waste years not pursuing one of my biggest passions! It was then that she expressed her desire to become a writer someday. My response to her, “You are a writer, and you’re amazing!”
And so here I sit. And so finally, here I write. Inspired by my son’s infectious energy and smile and my daughter‘s talent and remarkable accomplishment at such a young age, the students have become the teachers. Many kids want to grow up to be like their parents. I’m proud to say, I want to grow up to be like my kids.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s a show about a father, his son and his daughter, who move from Australia to New Zealand, after the passing of his wife. In an effort to start over, they move to a town where the father vacationed as a child.
It has a classic theme of family, relationships, friendships, loss, humor and life lessons. What makes it unique is that the father is a columnist, who writes a column in which he always uses exactly eight hundred words.
As one might expect, the inspiration for his columns comes from events, lessons, relationships and the everyday trials and errors in his life. But it is in the calm, relaxed setting of sitting in front of his computer, with his retrospective on life, that his articles come to life.
Prior to the year 2020, I never would have thought that I ever would be watching a television show from New Zealand. Totally unexpected, yet inspirational!
Funny thing, is that in a year of the unexpected, it is the unexpected that has brought me the most inspiration. Is it coincidental that the year 2020 has given me a 20/20 perspective on life? How so, you ask? Well, let me quickly take you back thirty years, when my initial inspiration to become a writer began. . . and soon thereafter, ended.
My first inspiration to become a writer was sparked by a television show I watched when I was in college. For those of you old enough to remember, it came from the T.V. show Doogie Howser M.D. A child prodigy and genius, Doogie, the title character, graduated from high school in nine weeks, graduated from Princeton University at age ten, and became a physician at the age of fourteen. Surprisingly, it was not his significant accomplishments at such a remarkably young age that inspired me.
What inspired me was at the conclusion of each episode. Typically, each episode would end with Doogie making an entry into his computer, making observations about the circumstances and situations he had experienced in that episode, and the lessons he learned. So inspired, I too would make an entry into my computer each evening, expressing my take on life after the events of my day. It was then that I truly experienced the joy of writing.
Regrettably, my passion for writing got sidetracked when I decided to go to law school. Unfortunately, I ignored some of the signs in front of me, which in hindsight seem so clear. Most notably, when I was applying to law schools, an obvious sign hit me over the head, yet I was oblivious to it at the time!
After having written my essay for my law school applications, I had some friends proof read it, to give me feedback, before I submitted my applications. The response from every single one of them was a slight variation of the same message… “you shouldn’t go to law school, you should be a writer!” But with tunnel vision, and my sights set on law school, my writing career gathered dust on the back of the shelf like Woody after Buzz Lightyear first came into Andy’s life.
Better late than never, and twenty years later, sparked by the birth of my first child, my inspiration and passion to write was rekindled. It was then that I started my path to fulfill one of my life-long dreams… to write a legal thriller and best-selling novel. I set a goal to complete my book in eighteen months. Believe it or not, that time frame seemed realistic at the time. Boy, was I way off! Eighteen months later, I had written about twenty-something pages.
As before, life got in the way of my writing. One child became two, sleep became a distant memory, spare time became diaper changing time, and twenty years became thirty. My writing, once again, was a distant memory.
Meanwhile, a few years ago, when my daughter was in the third grade, she won a poetry contest and had her poem publish in a book. Yep, that’s right, my daughter was published at eight years old, while I continued to waste years not pursuing one of my biggest passions! It was then that she expressed her desire to become a writer someday. My response to her, “You are a writer, and you’re amazing!”
And so here I sit. And so finally, here I write. Inspired by my son’s infectious energy and smile and my daughter‘s talent and remarkable accomplishment at such a young age, the students have become the teachers. Many kids want to grow up to be like their parents. I’m proud to say, I want to grow up to be like my kids.
