S.L. Baum's Blog, page 4

Insta Love

For those who don't like the "instant love" idea… an explanation... 
(caution: spoilers)

I think I am an old soul. I have always loved old movies; old musicals make me smile. If you haven't watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and sang along with all the songs, and rooted for the boys after they stole the town girls, and smiled at the multiple wedding scene at the end… then maybe you and I will be forever on a different page in life. I mean, hey, Adam married Milly on the very day he met her!
Or Gigi… and watched as she blossomed from girl into woman: only to discover that she was deeply in love with an old family friend. Gigi and Gaston married as soon as they realized that they loved each other… after one date…

Or Where the Boys are… that movie takes place over college spring break. Merrit and Ryder fall "in love" over the course of one week.


Then there are my parents. They met at an Air Force dance and were married 5 months later. And the only reason they waited that long is because they each had to turn 18 first for it to happen. They just celebrated their 51st Anniversary!


One of my friends in High School had parents that met and married all within a 3 month span of time… insta love does happen my friends.


I don't view Charity and Link as simply an "insta love" situation. They each have a reason that they are drawn to the other. There is a familiarity and a comfort that they feel with one another, because of the bizarre link that they have in their past.


For Charity – it is Roger… Link is a part of him; she senses a connection immediately. She looks at Link and feels that love. For Link – it is his grandfather… He has great memories of sitting with his gramps and going over old photos, he has seen Charity all his life. He feels that she is a part of his life.
Of course, I realize that "love at first sight" doesn't appeal to everyone. And I am in no way bagging on the people who viewed it negatively when they reviewed my book. Everyone, and yes, I mean everyone, is entitled to their opinion. I just thought I'd share mine.

The FREE experiment... results :D

So as I posted a few weeks ago, I was attempting to get Amazon to offer my first novel - A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones) -
for FREE on Kindle. It happened pretty quickly. On Tuesday 11/15 Amazon chose to price match with Apple iBooks (which had already lowered my book to free) and within 24 hours I had over 10K downloads...

I made it up to #7 on Amazon's top 100 free Kindle book list. Downloads slowed over the next week and a half, but I was(am) amazed by the number of new potential readers I have received.

I say potential because I realize that there are many people downloading every free book available (whether it is in a genre they enjoy or not) and some may never get around to reading it and some may just not find it to their taste. But that's okay!

After 10 days free the book went back to paid...
it continued to sell - making an appearance at #2 on Amazon's Movers and Shakers list for Kindle and then reaching the spot of #251 (that is out of every single book in the entire Kindle catalog). I was a happy camper...

But that seemed to be a glitch of some sort because 3 days after being removed from the free list it was put back on the free list once again. From what I can tell, Amazon is price-matching with a site called Kobo... because that is the only place where I can find A Chance for Charity still offered for free. I haven't asked Amazon for the price to be raised (although I could email them and request it). I've just decided to see how long this lasts... how many new readers I can get. So far the response from new readers has been wonderful. I have new "Likes" on my FB page and new followers on Twitter... I have new reviews, FB comments, and emails from new readers letting me know that they enjoyed the series. It is a blessing!

So... here is the count... as of today 12/6/2011... after 3 weeks of being a FREE Kindle book... just over 35,000 copies of A Chance for Charity have been downloaded. This has led to increased sales of  My Link in Time and the companion novella Of Fire and Brimstone.

The series is growing a larger fan base and that is exactly what I had hoped for!

Trying the FREE book route...

It seems that to get the attention of new readers, in the eBook world right now, it helps to have a free title available for download. This is a no risk trial run for a new reader. He/she can try out my writing and decide whether or not they want to read my additional books. So, I've decided to give it a try. I've reduced the price of the first novel in The Immortal Ones series to $0.00 - that's as cheap as I can make it folks - on Smashwords.

Smashwords distributes my novels to iTunes, Sony, and Kobo (to name a few) ... but I've always uploaded to Barnes & Noble on my own. I've decided to let Smashwords distribute to B&N as well, because I am unable to price a novel below $0.99 when I upload directly. So soon, within the next 2 weeks, my novel will be FREE at all these outlets. My hope is that when Amazon is notified that it is free at other distributors, they will match the price. This is my only way to attempt a free book at Amazon (as they do not currently let me distribute via Smashwords).

Sound confusing? Well it is to me too. But I would love to offer my first novel to all the eBook readers out there for free (for a limited time)... and this is the path I must take to do so. I hope it works! Cross your fingers for me.

In the meantime you can download A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones) for FREE @ Smashwords so CLICK HERE for your free copy!

5***** review by the Paranormal Romance Guild

A Chance for Charity - S. L. baum

5* review by the Paranormal Romance Guild

A Chance for Charity - S. L. baum

5*****Stars


Book- A Chance for Charity
Author- S.L. Baum
Publisher-Amazon Digital Services
Genre- Paranormal Romance
Rating YA




So, let's get the hard stuff out of the way. What a great YA book for young teens. The storyline was so intricate and compelling, I almost forgot the rating!!!  In doing reviews, I have read YA pieces and not many books have I loved.  S.L. Baum, step right up and take a bow!  Stephanie Meyers started the YA hysteria into the paranormal genre with Twilight. Ms Baum has written a wonderful first book for her Immortals with no sparkle but with lots of clout. 
Charity, AKA Emily, is an Immortal relocating to a small town with another Immortal couple as her "family". During the unfold, we learn that Charity, nee Emily, is reliving her high school years, again, to keep a low profile for the 'family'. They are not vampires, just Immortals who live long, have extra powers, and want to be left alone to live their lives. However, that's not to be: they are being hunted by Levitcus and Ezekiel, brothers who have spent their lives hunting down immortals. 
We have Charity meeting her new High School classmates, humans/mortals, who she befriends. We meet Lincoln who arrives in town for the ski season to work at the local hardware store.  Charity/Emily is 17, and Link is 22. Their attraction is immediate.  I loved the writing, the storyline, the friendships, and the background of our characters. The story is believable, fun, and light hearted, but doesn't deter from the underlying seriousness of the final showdown. 
Emily allows Link to know who and what she is, both past and present. There is an overall strength, love of life, and fun to the story that I had no trouble accepting.  Link knew from the moment he saw Charity...his heart was taken. The twist for this novel was, Hello Mortal...and it is a HE for a change. Link has to prove himself to Emily's immediate and not so immediate family, and that he will be there for her. And when that happens...hold on to your seats!!!
 I read some reviews prior to reading this book and Twilight was alluded to. Is every 17 teen book a twilight story??? NOT!! But not every 17 YA novel is this good. The second Immortal book might be just out or soon to be released...If it is, I would ask the author to send me a copy.  There are some unanswered questions and parts of this story that have whetted my appetite for more. I, for one, would enjoy reading an addition to this journey and I just might be able to give it another 5 star review if it is as well written as this one!!! Thank you, S.L.  Baum, for a good read. 
Review by Gloria Lakritz
Review Chair and Senior Reviewer for The Paranormal Romance Guild

**Thanks so much - to the Paranormal Romance Guild 
for this wonderful review**

Visit the guild at ParanormalRomanceGuild.com

It is a wonderful meeting place for the lovers of
Paranormal Romance!!

I added page tabs!

I knew it was probably a very easy thing to do, but had simply never investigated it. So, today, I finally did a google search and ended up at a sight with tips for blogger (Tweak My Blogger). In a few minutes I was on my way... and now I have page tabs and posts on those pages... amazing :)

Please take a moment to click on them... cuz they work and everything !!

Dream a Little Dream...

I've always had the most interesting dreams… reoccurring dreams… typical dreams… sexy dreams… dreams that seem like a movie… dreams that end up being stories that have to be written down and shared.My first reoccurring dream, the one that I still remember some 35 years later, involved King Kong. I had it so often as a child that I still remember the details…In the dream I go to a theme park and there is a ride called King Kong. It is as large as the real King Kong and you take an elevator up to the top of his head. The ride is actually a huge slide that is inside his body. You start at the top, slide all the way down, and exit out his feet. Something goes terrible wrong when I get up to the top. You see - there is a switch in the back of the Giant Ape that says REAL/RIDE and when I get up to the top and enter King Kong's head… someone switches it to REAL!! (Hey I was 5 years old – it made sense back then).So little me is stuck in his head as he comes to life and breaks away from the supports. He starts rampaging around the town, and through King Kong's eyes, I can see everything that is going on. But I am stuck inside. How do I get out? I am trapped inside a gigantic ape that is destroying the town!!I woke up sometime after that point. I think I made it out a few times and was able to switch him back to RIDE. Thank goodness!! During High School and College I would wake up some mornings and actually grabbed paper and pen to write down different dreams. They were so vivid and I knew they would fade if I didn't get the details down. The one that came to me on more than one occasion (and the one that will make it into print someday) involved teens that were driving somewhere and some kind of an explosion caused a rock avalanche. They were trapped on both sides and couldn't drive out from the lake area they were passing by when the avalanche occurred. A swim in the lake… some alien/supernatural events happen… and some of the teens don't leave the lake the same way they entered… I'll save the details for the story. I think I'll start that one soon. I've been thinking about it a lot lately.I have the typical naked dreams… going to school… going to work… I always manage to conveniently cover certain parts of me with a random item… newspaper, a hat, my purse, my hands :DI also have to loose teeth dream more than I would like. That one oooks me out the most! I hate waking up from it. I have to run my tongue across my teeth when I wake up, and chomp my jaws together, just to make sure that all those teeth are still in place and aren't falling out. I can actually feel then moving around while I talk, in the dream, and then they slowly start falling out. Ack – I seriously hate that dream!!Ladies… When I got preggers the first time, I read that I would have some dreams that were adult themed. Ummm… yeah… that happened. I have three kids and during each pregnancy I had some AMAZING dreams… If you didn't get them when you were pregnant… so sorry… you missed out… big time :DMy dreams are remarkable to me. I am so thankful that I am able to recall them after I wake up. I should write more of them down. I guess the ones that I take the time to transcribe are the ones that were meant to stay with me. Charity and Link are here now. I thought of her while awake, but she really came to life in my dreams. The story that I am working on now was first a dream. Most of the time, I just dream a small scene… my imagination has to take it from there… to flesh out the story. Where did these characters come from… where are they going… what drives them? I love exploring those avenues. My writing is precious to me… and so are my dreams…

The Novella is Live!

Well - I reached my goal - finished the novella - sent it out to Beta Readers - made revisions and edits - and hit the Publish Button... on Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook, and Smashwords!

I am glad to have the next story in The Immortal Ones series out there for readers.

Coming Soon

Look for

Of Fire and Brimstone
(The Immortal Ones
Elizabeth's Novella)

by the end of August.

It's coming soon...

almost here...

I'm so excited!!

Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Smashwords... The Distribution Game

I have been self-publishing my work for a little over a year. In the beginning it was a VERY slow process. The first distribution outlet I uploaded my book - A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones) - to was Amazon.

You see I had written a book. It had been sitting on my computer for months... finished... and I hadn't done anything with it. In March of last year my Hubby decided to buy himself a Kindle (his dad had bought the first Kindle model as soon as it was released and told everybody he knew about it). When I saw my Hubby with that second edition Kindle, it just struck me... this eReader thing is simply going to explode. I was poking around the Amazon site in April and saw a note about self-publish and by May I had made the decision to upload to Kindle. I played with the book file and got it ready... then in the first week of June 2010... I hit the publish button!

June - 7 copies
July - 14 copies
August - 11 copies
Sept - 28 copies

As you can see I was going nowhere... fast! I had published, but how could I get the word out? I had dumped a few hundred dollars into Google Ads, Yahoo Ads, and building my website... and that had done very little. Blogs, Facebook, Message Boards, Twitter, finding a great group of Author & Reader Friends (Al's Place)... that is what helped me. That and more places to upload. When B&N announced their PubIt platform (for self-publishers to upload for Nook), I uploaded there. Soon my books were selling over 100 copies a month. Then I uploaded to Smashwords.

I released the sequel - My Link in Time (The Immortal Ones - Book Two) - at the end of March 2011. During March, April, & May of this year I was selling well over 1000 copies a month.  Then at the very end of June... My books were placed into the Smashwords Premium Distribution catalog, which added Kobo, Sony, & iTunes (I sold a few extra copies in June even though it was almost the end of the month when my books showed up those websites - I'm still waiting on July numbers)... also Diesel and Scrollmotion.

While summer months and Amazon's BIG SALES on Traditionally Published Kindle books have slowed my Kindle sales numbers... my Nook sales numbers are on the rise... and I have high hopes for the Smashwords Premium catalog. So I continue to play the game.

I keep trying to get the name S.L. Baum out there... to make The Immortal Ones a recognized series... and to produce more work. There is a novella coming out soon, that will be an addition to The Immortal Ones series... Of Fire and Brimstone (The Immortal Ones - Novella). Look for it near the end of this month.

And wish me luck... because as we all know the distribution game requires so much luck!!