At last count, Hometown was up to 57 reviews, and most of them were very positive (52% 5 star and 25% 4 star bay-beee!). Unfortunately, I haven’t received the boost in readership that I expected when I hit fifty reviews. Apparently, while something does in fact happen at twenty reviews, the additional boost at fifty is a hopeful indie writers’ urban legend.
As I read through these reviews, though, I’ve seen a number with questions or issues that I’d like to address. And no, that’s not my way of saying I’m going to go through and curse out my 1- and 2-star reviewers. That’s just self-destructive and pointless. There’s some genuinely interesting stuff here.
Oh, how about this: You went to high school with these characters. Oh, sure, their names were different, and maybe even they were two or three people, but still… Every single one of them.
This book is set in small-town America (specifically in Upstate NY) in the ’90s. It’s your typical high school–drama club, psychos, chorus, child prodigies, football, monsters, field hockey (??), more monsters, preppies, murderers, homecoming, insatiable evil, racist assholes, prom, parties, ghosts, friends-turning-into-lovers, strict parents, bad parents, the hip hangout joint run by a hippie, lynchings, grandparents, a horrible, horrible past, and completely inedible school lunches. See? Just like your high school.
Check out the rest of the review! And when you’re done with it, check out Hometown!
I’ve got good news and bad news when it comes to the reviews I’m getting for Hometown. The good news is that I’m up to 45 reviews, tantalizingly close to the 50 reviews that will get Hometown into Amazon newsletters and other promotions. The bad news is that I’m starting to get my first one- and two-star reviews, which are bringing my overall rating down.
So if you’ve read Hometown and liked it and haven’t reviewed it on Amazon yet, now’s the time!
It’s the Fall of 1994 in the small milltown of Belford, New York. The leaves are turning, the kids are going back to school, and the heat of Summer is giving way to a cool, misty season. It happens every Fall.
Only this Fall, people are disappearing into that mist. Some people are found torn apart, some people are found dead for no reason, and some people aren’t found at all. Other people see strange things in the mist: ghosts and campfire stories.
There’s something out there in that mist. Something old. Something that has slept for a long time, but has now woken up hungry. Maybe the people of Belford could resist it, but as the terrible Fall wears on, more and more of them start…changing. Acting bizarre and violent. In the end, only a small group of teenage defenders are left to make their stand.
Hey all! In conjunction with the Bookbub promotion starting tomorrow, I have dropped the price of Hometown to 99 cents! The promotion lasts 11/16 through 11/23, but you get the lowered price NOW. See how I take care of my fans? Of course, it was always free on Kindle Unlimited. And if you like it, consider checking out the rest of the library.
After literal years of trying, Hometownhas finally been accepted for a BookBub promotion!
For those who aren’t familiar, BookBub is one of the most well-known and respected book promoters on the internet. Hometownis about to get a BIG boost in visibility. Hopefully the rest of the library will get pulled along on its coattails a little bit.
The reason that’s good news for YOU is that Hometownwill be available for download for $0.99 from Saturday 11/16 through Saturday 11/23! That’s 1/3 regular price! If you missed the free giveaway back in September (sorry, Amazon only lets you do so many of those), here’s another chance to save some money. And of course, it’s always free on Kindle Unlimited.
Don’t forget to leave a review if you like it!
(And if you really like it, consider checking out the rest of the library – more books coming soon!)
In addition to the new story, check out the new Inspirational Media Page for a collection of Youtube clips that have entertained or inspired me over the years. I’ll be adding to that as time goes by.
As you all know, over Labor Day weekend I held a free giveaway of Hometown. It did well, at least by my standards, moving about 1,500 copies.
Then…it did better. I expected for it to sell a few copies after the “sale” ended, get a few extra page-reads on Kindle Unlimited…
(For those of you who aren’t familiar, The way Kindle Unlimited works is people buy a monthly subscription, then they’re able to read any books enrolled in Kindle Unlimited for free. All of the subscription fees go into one big pot, and the authors get paid based on how many pages get read from one of their books. All of my books are enrolled in it, because although I’ve only ever had a few dozen pages read a month and thus gotten pennies, more established authors say that it’s an even bigger earner than actually selling the books.)
And I have indeed had a few sales. A few more than I expected, but still only a few. But since my Labor Day Sale ended, I’ve had thousands of page-reads on Kindle Unlimited. I couldn’t understand it until I saw that little factoid above on Twitter. That’s when I understood: the Labor Day Sale is what brought me over the top: that was when I went from eighteen customer reviews to twenty-one. Who knew it could make such a difference? Not only am I getting more page-reads, my sales rank is skyrocketing in the Occult Fiction and Occult Horror categories, which of course helps boost visibility even more. There are several positive feedback loops going on here.
So what I am going to do is I am going to beg…I am going to beseech everyone who has read this book and who has enjoyed it to please…please put a review up on Amazon. The goal is to get those reviews up over fifty – hopefully well up over fifty – so that second level of visibility boost kicks in.
Please. If you’ve read it, if you liked it, post a review. It’s the single most important thing you can do to help me right now.
Well, I’m afraid the Hometown Labor Day Sale has come to an end, but I am glad to announce that it has been more successful than I dared to hope. Not only were there more free downloads than I dared to hope, but a lot of people are reading Hometown on Kindle Unlimited. And that, my friends, is something where the priced never goes up. If you’re on Kindle Unlimited, head on over to Amazon and read Hometown today, just as free as it was during the Labor Day Sale. Find out the truth of what happened that terrible Fall in Belford so many years ago.
And if you should happen to like it? Please leave a review. If you write a review on your blog or website or – I hardly dare hope – create some fan art, please contact me and I will be beyond happy to signal boost for you.
More than 1,000 copies moved in the first day of the sale alone! I am so honored!
If you like the story, please remember the leave a review and pass the word. If you have a blog or website of your own, please consider posting a review there, and please let me know about it if you do. I will be more than happy to signal boost for you.
