Hello Out There! Anyone Home?

I recently got a few of my books up and running in DTB (paperback) and a couple more at Smashwords which allows greater distribution and more e-format downloading options. However, Smashwords has stopped selling for me altogether. I've gotten no sales according to my reports since early May. I wrote to them because I keep seeing numbers of downloads change though I see no sales. The answer was that they were working on it.

Working on what? I wonder. Some of my fellow authors, Mr. Patterson, for example say that they have many sales on Smashwords. I cannot believe that I've not sold a single book there in over two months. Strange.

What is really strange is that my book sales on Amazon in both ebook and paperback have increased and that means people are reading my books and coming back and buying the series. This naturally makes me think: "Hey! Someone out there likes the books!" This is good, but total silence in the review section and few, if any, emails makes me wonder if the books are being bought by robots or maybe from passing ET's who have sent emails and reviews from millions of light years away and I simply haven't received their wonderous comments yet. Or perhaps they are being purchased by Time Travelers who have posted in the future. Hmmmm? Am I onto something? Could it be that we are being studied as a race through the Red Cross of Gold series? How would that change the destiny of the human race I wonder?

Here be piranhas...

I'm going to venture out into the world of Amazon forums and try a few postings as soon as my account clears. For some reason, Amazon keeps telling me that I can't post because I haven't bought anything which is ridiculous. I've bought numerous things from Amazon.

As I was comtemplating the idea of trying a post or two there in the promotion threads, it occurred to me that Amazon is an apt name for those forums. The Amazon river is also full of vicious predators in the form of piranhas and other nasty critters. From what I hear, it is poster beware over there. I guess I'm used to being treated like a real human being over at the Kindleboards threads where the moderators actually moderate all the threads and the trolls and bashers are soon weeded out.

The last time I tried posting anywhere outside of KB, I soon found myself talking with someone who had the mind of a nine-year-old boy. The conversation started out well enough, but soon degenerated into a mindless stream of "Why?" "Why?" "Why?" Very disturbing and I imagined all sorts of images in my head not the least of which pictured me as the rear end of a jackass who had the audacity to think that the person on the other end of the cyberthread was an intelligent human interested in conversing about writing... oh, well. I'm hoping to do better at Amazon. I promise to obey the 10,000 rules for authors posting over there and hope for the best. Wish me luck.

Great News!!!!

I have just received an outstanding review from a formidable reviewer. Miss Red Adept who frequents the Kindleboards with many comments, quips and posts has made all of us quake in our boots due to her ability to write reviews like a professional. I have read many of her reviews and was actually dreading the day when she might finally read my novel and pass judgement... but my angst was all for naught!! Wonderful, wonderful news! Four stars... count them!! 1, 2, 3, 4!!!

I want to sincerely express my gratitude to Miss Adept for being an honest and straightforward reader not afraid to express her opinions for all to see... in my case this is wonderful... maybe not so good for others. Of course, she did include a 'Dislike' section, which I found quite refreshing. I have never been deluded into thinking that my book would be perfectly free from typos and formatting glitches here and there. They are the bane of all serious writers, but such praise from her completely took the pain out of hearing about the faults.

One of them, however, I did not find painful at all. She said that she did not care for Miss Meredith, who happens to be the leading lady. This is a good thing. Miss Meredith was never meant to be portrayed as a true heroine in the sense that many might expect of a heroine. She has much evolution ahead of her and therefore offers much room for improvement as the series unfolds. In fact, the entire series is about human evolution. The lead character, the indomitable Knight of Death, who has been around for over eight centuries is not quite so self-sufficient and wise as he, himself, had assumed, nor is he a perfect gentlemen or the greates lover the world has ever known. He is a very troubled individual with a long row to hoe ahead of him. Miss Meredith and the Chevalier du Morte must come to terms with their own shortcomings in order to grow and evolve into better and better examples of what true Knights of Christ might be.

Again, thanks Miss Adept for the input. Her review can be found at:

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Cross-Gold-Knight-ebook/product-reviews/B001J6ORUI/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending