The Authorized Version

"How is your book selling," is one of the most frequent questions authors are asked it is right up there with "Where do your stories come from." And, yes, sales are nice. Who does not need money and feel good about a nice royalty check in the bank. But for very few of us is that the main point.

Writers write because we have a story to tell. We labor hard to tell it the very best way we can, and then we want to share it. Most writers today work almost as hard on promotion as we do on writing. Which, yes, can become getting the cart before the horse. Yet the motive behind it is the same: We want our stories to be read.

We write for all kinds of reasons: To entertain, to share information, to change opinions, to share our passion. At the end of the day, however, all that work comes to nothing if no one reads our books. Many writers will say, "I would write if I never made a penny." Which is just as well, because most of us do not make much. But have you ever heard a writer say, "I would write if no one ever read a word."

I suppose someone might, but I write for my readers. I want to share the stories and the people that fill my head. I want to give my readers the feeling they are there, in every scene, with my characters. I want to share events from history and the experiences I have had on my research trips. I want to be read.

So to me, the greatest joy of being a writer is YOU, my reader. Some readers even go so far as to write to me about their thoughts and experiences reading my books, some are so kind as to leave a review on Amazon or GoodReads, some connect with me on my author page on Facebook. All that is great, It is even fabulous, But the bottom line behind it all is readers reading my books.

That is why I love to give books away, and that is why I have 2 great giveaways for you this month.

First of all, I am participating in an Ebook Extravaganza. An All-Consuming Fire, book 5 in my Monastery Murders, is just one of 50 books from all genres and all ratings offered free now until September 20. You are welcome to download all 50 books, but do check the ratings to be sure the book will be right for you. By choosing one or all 50 you will also have a chance to win a 50 dollar gift card.

And secondly, I am so thrilled to announce that Glastonbury, The Novel of Christian England, has been accepted for a BookBub ad. Glastonbury will be free on Amazon twice this month: September11 and 12, and September 18 to 22. But the exciting thing is that on September 11, it will be promoted in the amazingly popular BookBub newsletter.

There are lots of newsletters that promote free or deeply discounted books for authors, including My Book Cave which is sponsoring the Ebook Extravaganza and provides a unique rating system for the books it offers. But BookBub is the great granddaddy of them all. Authors, myself among them, often apply countless times to have a book accepted by BookBub. And when or if one is accepted, we pay big bucks for the ad. Yes, that’s right. We pay a lot to give our books away.

It may sound crazy, but the drive behind it is not crazy at all, it is simply the desire of every writer to share their writing. It is the joy of being read.

Thank you for reading me.