A Quick Thank You
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A Quick Thank You

This isn’t going to be a long post. I wanted to pause and take a moment to thank everyone who participated in my Red Litten World BookBub sale last week. Being so close to the holidays I didn’t know what to expect, what I got was a wild week. I ended up selling over nine-hundred books, and on Saturday Red Litten World climbed Amazon’s Dark Fantasy and Paranormal & Urban charts. I took a screenshot for posterity, you can see it below.

Red Litten World Amazon Bestseller Ranking

I’ve run BookBub sales a few times now, and every time I find myself stunned by the outcome. BookBub is a powerful tool, but there is more too it than that. The truth is it couldn’t happen without you. Even if you didn’t buy a book this go around, you helped me get here, and for that, I am forever grateful.

So, thank you. Thank you for making my week. Thank you for buying my books. Thank you for leaving reviews. Thank you for telling your friends. And thank you for giving me some of your time and letting me take you on a journey. There are a lot of books available to read, I’m humbled you read mine.

It's Old Broken Road's Birthday!
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Happy Birthday to OLD BROKEN ROAD

Today marks the birthday of the second book in the Bell Forging Cycle and the most divisive: Old Broken Road. I say divisive because it gets a lot of interesting reactions from readers, some folks love it, some do not. It’s certainly the creepiest and most “Lovecraftian” of the three. It also won’t be the last time we see Waldo Bell adventuring beyond the levels and warrens Lovat. Book Four (whose name is out there for those bold enough to look) promises to take us into parts beyond, but probably not in the way you’re imagining.

Divisive or no, 2017 has been a good year for Old Broken Road. Earlier this year, and thanks to a BookBub sale it was propelled to the Amazon Best Seller list, and I ranked among Amazon’s Most Popular Authors in Science Fiction and Fantasy for a brief time. It was a good month, February.

So Happy Birthday, Old Broken Road and thanks for a great year. Remember! All month long you can pick up a signed version of any of my books and receive free shipping from my store. (US only, sorry.) Just use the code: BFCMONTH on checkout. The code expires Halloween at midnight.

If you’ve missed it, I’ve been posting a lot of Bell Forging Cycle related content this month. Make sure you check out some of the following posts:

It's Raining Books, Hallelujah! It's Raining Books, Amen!
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It’s Raining Books, Hallelujah! It’s Raining Books, Amen!

Apologies to the Weather Girls, but I couldn’t resist that title. (Also, I’m surprised at how literal they went with that video. Damn.)

It’s been a wild and strange week so far and I have some positive developments that I want to share. Documenting the journey of writing/publishing/promoting has always been a mission of this blog, both good and bad, and it’s time for some good.

On Sunday, I launched another promotion through BookBub, my second, in it I discounted Old Broken Road to 99¢. (I also discounted The Stars Were Right, because, why not?) I’m happy to report the promo has been a wild success. More than I could have ever expected. Here is Old Broken Road’s ranking at the height of the sale:

Height of Old Broken Road sales!

Sales were solid and steady, and as you can see it became a best seller in quite a few categories. I saw a lot of people picking up The Stars Were Right and Red Litten World, which was encouraging. As a result of this promotion, there are a lot of new readers just now experiencing the Territories for the first time. Welcome to the company, roaders. I sincerely hope you enjoy the ride as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I also hit another milestone, one I am quite proud of:

Author Rank

For a few glorious days, I was listed on Amazon’s Most Popular Authors in Science Fiction and Fantasy for the Kindle. Amazon Author Rank a new-ish list that highlights and tracks the bestselling authors on the platform. I got to be one of them, and for a while, I was ranked higher than two of my writing heroes: Kurt Vonnegut and Stephen King. It was a surprise, so much so even I had issues with it.

https://twitter.com/KM_Alexander/status/825958883889799169

I’m still sorting through my emotions. I am flattered that so many people decided to jump in a read some of my books, I’m humbled to see that you’re willing to give my work a chance, and I’m excited to hear what you think. Please, feel free to drop me a line at any time good or bad. Don’t forget to leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon. Reviews are what allow me to do promotions like this one.

Old Broken Road will continue to be on sale through next Monday. You can find out more on this post including links to all the stores.

The Stars Were Right Print Proof
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It’s Been A Good Week

I started this blog to document my journey as I began writing. I’ve have always wanted it to be as candid and honest as possible. So I have made sure to share ups and downs, highs and lows. I have talked about my fear. I have talked about rejection. I have shared my successes. I want to let others out there know they’re not alone, we all struggle through this creative process. Through it all I have trudged forward, writing my strange little novels, and working to create the best books I can.

Well, something pretty amazing happened Monday, and to stay on theme I wanted to share it with everyone here. A few weeks ago I was able to secure a 99¢ promotion with Book Bub—a daily deal promotional site for ebooks. That promotion launched on Monday, and well… I sold a lot of books. A lot. I have nearly doubled my readership and as a result The Stars Were Right took off and began flying up the charts.

Then this happened:

The Stars Were Right hanging next to Hugh Howey's WoolYep, that’s my book sitting next to Hugh Howey’s Wool on Amazon’s Best Sellers in Science Fiction Adventures list. It also ranked pretty high on a few other lists:

The Numbers Were Right
By Monday’s end I was feeling pretty overwhelmed, and excited, and flattered, and humbled. It’s incredible that so many folks took a chance on me and my book. I didn’t expect this. Sure, I expected a few sales, but nothing of this magnitude. Since this was a promotion it stuck around for about a day before slowly settling back down, but I had to share even my momentary rise with you.

I really look forward to hearing from all my new readers. I hope you thoroughly enjoy meeting Wal, exploring Lovat, and discovering just a small sliver of The Territories. Feel free to drop me a line at any time and let me know what you thought. There’s a lot more to come in The Bell Forging Cycle and I am glad to have more of you join me on this crazy adventure!