Increased book sales! Why? How?

  Recently, beginning around mid January, sales of ‘FORGIVEN’, the first case in the series of ‘The Mystery Maxims of Jake Spade’  have increased substantially for some unknown reason. How did it happen?

  I’m not complaining mind you…far from it. I just wish I knew if there exists some media exposure causing this increase in sales…where is the uptick coming from?  Is it something that Amazon is doing? Sometimes they post ‘new releases’ alongside the best sellers listing. Not the total best seller listing, but the ones that are genre specific, the sub-listings, like: Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Private Investigators. I’ve looked at these new releases for some time now but have yet spotted my book being offered there. WTH!

  If this extra exposure could be located, maybe I could influence it more with my comments (like on a blog). Or, maybe someone has said something about FORGIVEN on Goodreads? Hard to tell, I don’t surf Goodreads much. Researching where this uptick is coming from could take incredible amounts of time. Time I don’t have. Time away from writing, adding more content (and mystery twists), to the second case, ‘ABANDONED’, currently taking more time to complete than I would like.

  It’s just, you know, nice to see sales of your book increase even though you have no idea what caused it. Hopefully, those extra sales will turn into reviews. ‘Reviews,’ from everything I’ve read about the subject of reviews, help alleviate some anxiety from the book purchase. Consequently, when a book has a decent amount of reviews, sales seem to go up. Good or bad reviews, no difference. Potential readers love to peruse both the 5 star and the 1 star reviews for some unknown reason. I prefer 5 star…but that’s just me.

  If you are one of the recent buyers of my book, Thank You. You’ve made my day and month, and year. Just to remind you, FORGIVEN is the first in the series of many others to follow. It’s a shorter book (novella), so it doesn’t take much time to read. And, it’s NOT a gruesome, murderous depiction of a mystery…it’s a investigative-type piece, with twists and turns with unique resolutions to unique quandaries. Most people find it touching in its final pages. The final resolution might be something Holmes might do…except it comes from Jake, his great-great-great grandson, 120 years post Sherlock.

  It’s always a pleasure to correspond with readers about whatever it is they want to talk about; the book, where they can get it, maybe a writing or publishing question, whatever. Leave a comment here on the blog or PM me at FB, or email me at: garrymgraves at gmail dot com.

  Regards, Henry H.H. Hittlebloome, Author.

Any writers out there? Any wannabee’s?

  The second case in ‘The Mystery Maxims of Jake Spade,’ (it’s called ABANDONED recently changed from FORBIDDEN), has a storyline or premise around kidnapping. Sooo, the narrative will contain some interesting plot twists and hopefully a thesis going beyond what a reader might normally expect in a kidnapping crime story. You know – the typical money drop and police involvement, the boring-scripted ending where the victim is found and the perp is caught just in time. And yes, I’m aware of the Mel Gibson twist where he refuses to pay the ransom, in the movie by that name (Ransom). I’m just wondering – is there any other kidnapping plot schemes that haven’t been thought of in a crime story? Have any in mind?

  Now comes the second reason for this blog entry. From reading one of my favorite writers (who also commands a incredible audience on his blog), JA Konrath, has given me an idea about soliciting a ‘participant’ in the story’s writing. Participant meaning: he asks other writers to contribute a follow-up story to one of his already published books where he adds, deletes, and somewhat massages the contributed story with his own input, knowledge and critical eye…making a total book offering to be published. Naturally, they both co-author the book and sales royalty. It’s really a godsend to an aspiring writer…to be co-authored with an established writer like Konrath, with his name recognition and following. James Patterson does this all the time.

  Okay…you get where I’m coming from?

  Am I wanting a co-author for ABANDONED? No. My writing (or ego) is not at a point where I could ask someone to co-author with me (my author-name commands little reader recognition). However, I am offering someone (or more than one) the opportunity to be a part of my next project: ‘Case Two – ABANDONED.’ Being a part of the story means: me accepting your storyline contribution (however small) resulting in your name being included in the acknowledgements as a contributor. That’s it! Sounds exciting huh? Thought so.

  Seriously, if you are interested in participating or want to hear more specifics about participating, then either email me at: garrymgraves at gmail dot com or leave a comment here or on Facebook. Also, should you have any keen sensitivities, insight, imagination, etcetera, etcetera, about this ‘participating-author’ idea or the book’s premise…then please elaborate via the below comment section. It’s always fun, and informative, reading what others think.

  Thanks for dropping by and please come again.

Many Regards, Henry H.H. Hittlebloome, Author, ‘The Mystery Maxims of Jake Spade’ series.