Kindle Select and Free Downloads are really working for me!!

Until a few days ago, I didn't really feel like updating my blog or actually even working much (I freelance, so if I don't work- guess what? I don't get paid.). My excuse in December was the holidays and the kids being out on winter break. They didn't go back until January 10th so we traveled to NC and went looking for snow. My husband was pretty cool with it... for the first six weeks, but now the hints have been coming in. You know the kind- The ones that start the evening off with- "So honey, what did you do today?" or " Any new projects fall in your lap recently?" or the more subtle ones like- "Uh, I'd like to take you to dinner this weekend and get a babysitter, but maybe we ought to wait since we need to save up some."  This one usually works really well b/c I love to eat out and my tastes run more to the sushi side than the Mickey D's so I'm not a cheap date.
So I've been working hard since January 31st. Yeah, Yeah, I know you can see this blog date is February 2nd. Anyway, I've been doing some book editing, hiring illustrators and book-cover designers, and have been dragging through the muck of formatting my ebooks for sale on Kindle. 

Now here's the good news. With the new Kindle Select feature, you can upload your ebook and offer it free for up to 5 days each month. I look at it as a great way to get super exposure and some potential new readers, who will hopefully like the books enough to turn around and buy them when they are on the expensive side of .99 cents.(- note the sarcasm here!) See I'm not planning on getting rich with these, especially when you consider you only get 30 cents of every dollar- but I do intend to create enough that maybe, just maybe, one day my books will be recognizable and I can afford a sushi dinner out from one month's royalties. Last month I only made eleven dollars so you can see that I'm a patient woman. That doesn't even buy me one Rainbow roll here in Palm Beach County's cheapest sushi spot.  

Anyway, when I clicked on my report sheet today for Amazon Kindle, I had the best surprise waiting for me. My little kids book - named after my first born daughter, Peyton, had made it to the #2 spot in amazon's Parenting category. It's a cute little story about a penguin who is a picky eater.  And to top it off further, a book that has had only one or two sales in the last 6 months has now climaxed to the #1 spot in Parenting for summer camps. (That equates to about 165 downloads in the last 12 hours it was up- so I am now a firm believer in this Kindle Select program). I advise all writers to give it a try, especially if your books weren't selling before. At the very least, it may generate some positive feedback which is like money in the bank when people only search for books with a high number of stars. I just loaded up another book, named after my second daughter- you know we have to be fair, right? Can't do for one without doing for the other! Anyway, it should be live tomorrow and it is called Kendall Macaw loves her Ma. Yeah, I know, I'm a glutton for self-promotion- ha ha. Anyway, I'll let you know how it is received. 


Well, I'm off to work on other things and I promise to try to do better on my blogging. I will have some interesting pictures to post soon as well, for all the people like me who made  a new years resolution to get in shape. I started the P90X three weeks ago. Three very sore, very long weeks ago which means I still have 9 more weeks to go. Yeah, I'm saving that for another blog....when I can lift my arms up to the keyboard screen and have enough energy to actually type the letters again!  

If you get a chance, the books are free on Kindle until February 6th I think, so take advantage and get your free download- or hey- support a fellow blogger and spend a buck and help a stressed mommy out!!!!!