Touches of Austen – Page 6

And the Answer is… 📇 Survey Results and So Much More

In this edition of The Saturday Broadsheet: The January Kobo promo is running. I’ve got some writing decisions to make. And do you like giveaways? (If so, I’ve included something extra for last. 🙂 )

Writing News

This week, I added another chapter to both His Irreplaceable Belle and Marrying Elizabeth book 5.

Last week when I wrote this email, I mentioned I hoped to get a chapter of His Irreplaceable Belle written after I completed writing the email. I am happy to report that I did get that chapter done.

Also in last week’s Saturday Broadsheet, I asked for input about what I should consider writing next. (Only) 25 readers replied and I have those results below. According to the chart, it looks like a Darcy Family Holidays story could be what I work on next. However, the Teatime Tales story option is a rather close second in these results. Poor James Atwood will have to wait for his tale to be told until a bit later this year.

Publishing News

Her Secret Beau is now available in the Kindle store for purchase or to read with your Kindle Unlimited subscription if you have one of those.

Book Promotions

As I posted yesterday, I have three box sets included in a 40% off promotion at Kobo until January 27, 2020. [𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 16 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘴.] You must use the 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙙𝙚 𝙅𝘼𝙉𝘽𝙊𝙓 at checkout to get 40% off. You can find these three box sets at these links:

Dash of Darcy and Companions Cottage Collection 1 https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/a-dash-of-darcy-and-companions-cottage-collection-1

Dash of Darcy and Companions Cottage Collection 2 https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/a-dash-of-darcy-and-companions-cottage-collection-2

Darcy And… A Pride and Prejudice Variations Collection https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/darcy-and

I’m planning to do a few book promotions this year as part of working towards the business goals I have made my focus for 2020. Because of this, I have added a menu item (under the Leenie B Books option) here on the blog to keep track of the current promotions.

FYI: If you are a subscriber to my mailing list, you’ll often get early notice of upcoming sales — there is one coming up that I told my subscribers about, but I am not planning to release those details here until the promotions begin.

Book Review

Of course, I had to go with a review for Her Secret Beau since that book just released this week. 🙂 According to Amazon.com, this is the newest review on this book. Several have been posted already, which is exciting. At the time of my writing this post (Friday night), I think I have used all of the other reviews as posts on social media except for this one. I’m really trying not to miss any of the first reviews.

Back to the above review. Here are three things I love about this review:

First, I really like the description of the books being perfect for a cold wintry (or rainy) afternoon. Like many of my books, these are on the shorter side of things. Her Secret Beau came in at 46,761 words which is the longest book to date in this series. The first two books, His Beautiful Bea and His Darling Friend were 22,402 and 32,221 words each respectively. 🙂 So if the trend continues, will the next one be over 50,000 words? 😀 Probably not, but one never knows.

Second, the review is very correct in saying that this is not a Jane Austen Fan Fiction story. They are original sweet Regency romances that happen to be written by an author who loves Jane Austen and has chosen to create a few characters and plot elements that nod to Miss Austen’s works. (I like the game aspect of weaving in those little hints of Austen and hoping that readers will have as much fun finding them as I did putting them in there. If I remember correctly, J.W. Garrett included some of these nods in her review.)

Third, I’m glad this reviewer added that the plotline with Felicity is not wrapped up. This is an intentional “open loop” because that speed bump is scheduled to become a weaving, winding road of its own when I write Felicity’s story. I plan to get to her story as soon as I am done writing Mr. Norman’s story. (For those who have not read Her Secret Beau yet, Mr. Norman is a substantial secondary character in this book. And, also, what are you waiting for? LOL)

These are all awesome things that give readers, who are deciding on whether or not to read this book, a few more details about what to expect and should help them make a well-informed decision.

Are they looking for a nice long read? Or a quick read?
Are they hoping for a retelling or variation of a Jane Austen book? Or something that is more Austenesque?
Are they really into reading series where there are some things left unresolved in one book and then picked up in another? Or do they prefer everything to be firmly finished in every book?

This review will help them answer these questions, and that is wonderful.

Thank you so much, AvidReaders for reading and reviewing Her Secret Beau.

Something Extra for Last

My Book Cave Ereader/$50 Gift Card Giveaway

I have used My Book Cave to promote some of my book sales in 2019, and I intend to keep using them in 2020. In fact, I currently have a promotion scheduled with them. Anyway, they send me emails about promotion opportunities on a regular basis. Sometimes I read those emails, and sometimes I don’t. 🙂 Today, I read the email and found this lovely little tidbit.

They are giving away a Nook or Kindle ereader or a $50 dollar gift card to iTunes, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon every month in 2020 unless you are outside of the US or Canada. International winners will receive the gift card option. You can enter to win at this link:

https://mybookcave.com/giveaways/ereader/

There is a spot to check if you want to join their mailing list, but if you read below that, it is not required and does not impact your chances of winning. I looked for this because I did not want to send you something with strings attached.

That is it for this week. Have a lovely weekend! I’ll be back on Monday with some music and a story excerpt.

~*~*~

MAILING LIST PATREON

A New Release, A Kobo Promotion, and A Question for You

Happy Saturday! I’m happy to see you back here today. I hope you had a good week. Mine went pretty well. I am actually feeling like I might finally get to the top of this writing mountain with some goals and plans in place for the coming months — or, at least, a start to those goals and plans. 🙂 Here’s some of what is going on in my writing world.

Writing News

I got a good bit of writing done this week — 2 chapters of His Irreplaceable Belle and 1 chapter of Marrying Elizabeth (book 5).

I spent one evening rereading Kitty and Lorcan’s story and getting all the chapters I have written of that scheduled on my blog and at Patreon and then pairing them up with images. Finding those images took a while, but then, that can be a fun research hole to fall down. 🙂

I have begun thinking about what other writing project I will start next. I am considering doing some revision work to a few of my current Teatime Tale stories and making them longer (about the length of my Nature’s Fury and Delights stories) and writing a few new ones. However, I am only in the planning stages now, and there are other options like the next Other Pens story or the next Darcy Family Holidays story.

A Question for You

Do you have a preference as to what I write next? I’d love to hear it. I have made a form that you can find at this link, where you can just check off what your choice is. The form will remain open until Thursday, January 23, 2020. That way I can have some results to share with you in next week’s Saturday Broadsheets.

Publishing News

Tuesday is the day! Her Secret Beau will be live to read in Kindle Unlimited and to buy in the Kindle store. The paperback is already available.

If you were one of the fortunate few who got an advance reader copy, you can start reviewing through the paperback page.

This is the link to the paperback edition of Her Secret Beau on Amazon.com.

And don’t forget that you can also recommend the book on Bookbub.

This is the link to Her Secret Beau on Bookbub.

Kobo Promo

Calling all Kobo Readers:

I three boxsets that have been selected to be part of a Kobo promotion:

A Dash of Darcy and Companions Cottage Collection 1
A Dash of Darcy and Companions Cottage Collection 2
Darcy And…A Pride and Prejudice Variations Collection

This promotion is administrated by Kobo, and there will be a promotional code that must be used at checkout to receive 40% off these boxsets. I do not yet have this promo code and will likely not have it until the sale has started. This promotion will run from January 22, 2020, to January 27, 2020.

Book Review

This is an older review for Mr. Darcy’s Comfort. I selected it, first of all, because I wanted to show a Bookbub recommendation this week for those who might not have ever seen one before. At Bookbub you can follow author and reviewer, and you can like and comment on the recommendations. The second reason I selected it is because this is one of the novellas in Dash of Darcy and Companions Cottage Collection 2 which is part of the Kobo promotion this week and will be entering Kindle Unlimted in February.

I must say that I was delighted to hear that Mr. Collins was intriguing. (He is not the Mr. Collins you might expect. 🙂 )

KU Changes Reminder

Remember that the Choices series will be leaving KU on February 16, 2020, and that A Dash of Darcy and Companions Cottage Collection 2 will be entering KU right around that same time, which means that boxset and the individual titles will be leaving the other vendors just before that.

In Closing

Thank you to all who took advantage of or shared about the free days for Her Beautiful Bea and the 99 cents days for His Darling Friend. They went very well. It’s exciting to think that there are several readers who are going to get to meet the characters in this series for the first time.

Remember that you can share your preference for what I write next at this link. I will take your input into consideration as I continue to make my writing plans.

Have a lovely weekend! I’ll be back on Monday with some music and a story excerpt.

~*~*~

MAILING LIST PATREON

Music Monday: Remembering You (Robin Spielberg)

PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY MEOWMEOWBB ON JUNE 25, 2011.

This is one of the songs on my Music to Write By playlist. It’s really pretty and has a wistful romantic air to it. It’s definitely just the right sort of music to get the writing mind working. I have decided to pair it today with this scene from His Darling Friend because Roger shares a sweet little remembrance about Victoria and a frog. Do you remember it from when it was the Sweet Tuesday story last year?

AN EXCERPT FROM His Darling Friend (Chapter 7):

“We will start from the top of the table, of course, with Amelia.” Mrs. Abernathy waited for her daughter to join her where she stood near the door to the drawing room in which all the houseguests were gathered to wait for dinner.

“Shall we see who it is who will dine with you?”

Miss Abernathy said an eager yes as her mother shook a bowl containing several small pieces of paper. She swirled her hand inside the bowl and pulled out a name. “Oh! How delightful! Mr. Carlyle.”

The gentleman straightened his jacket, crossed the room, and offered his arm to Miss Abernathy, whose waited only until her daughter and Mr. Carlyle had left the room before looking around and calling Victoria forward.

Of all the inane ideas! Roger crossed his arms and leaned against the wall near the window. The woman was obviously assigning gentleman dinner partners at random, but she was proceeding through the ladies based on status. Victoria was well-dowered. It was not something she published nor was it a fact she kept secret. He glowered at two gentlemen who had started whispering when Victoria’s name was called. He did not like it. His friend did not need any fortune hunters scampering after her.

“Mr. Clayton,” Mrs. Abernathy said.

Roger blew out a breath. It could be worse. She could have been stuck with Carlyle or one of those whispering gents.

Lady after lady was summoned forward and gentleman after gentleman was assigned as a partner.

“Is this not the best?” Grace said as she took Roger’s arm. “It is such a surprise! I do like surprises.”

“I do not,” Roger replied.

Grace giggled. “I will admit I had hoped I would be assigned someone different.”

“I hear Ainsley has a chit waiting for him at home,” Roger whispered.

Grace’s smile slid into a frown. “Does he indeed?”

“I have not asked him, of course, but that is what I have heard. We should proceed with caution.”

She tipped her head. “What do you mean we?”

Book Promos, A Preorder, and KU changes

Welcome to the inaugural edition of The Saturday Broadsheet — your weekly update on all that is happening in my writing life.

Writing News

I started my writing sessions this week by spending some time researching a few things for His Irreplaceable Belle. Mostly, these were visual inspiration items and picking character names.

As of this moment, as I write this post and before I get to my writing time today (if I get to it), I have only added one more chapter to the story, which brings me all the way to chapter two. 🙂

However, I am going to post the first chapter of that story here on my blog on this coming Tuesday. It’s already uploaded and just waiting to be released. And yes, that makes me nervous to start posting a story when so little of it has been written. Hopefully, I will get another chapter written tonight (although it’s looking doubtful), and a couple more chapters written next week, and then, I will feel more relaxed as I will be several weeks ahead. (I’ll also be able to get back to writing Kitty’s story then, too.)

Along with a bit of writing and research, I have also been super busy getting things ready for a couple of promotions. If you read my Friday Feature post yesterday, you already know about these things, but I am going to repeat those promos here anyway.

His Beautiful Bea (ebook) is FREE in the Kindle store until January 14, 2020.
The price of His Darling Friend (ebook) will be $0.99 USD (with other prices also reduced) starting Monday, January 13, 2020, until Friday, January 17, 2020.

The only other writing news item I have for you this week is that I have an Austen Authors post this coming Tuesday, which will be about Her Secret Bea and will include a giveaway of one copy of the ebook version of this story.

Publishing News

Her Secret Beau (ebook) is currently on preorder and will release on January 21, 2020. The print edition will release earlier because I would like to have the two editions linked and the page count corrected before the actual release day.

Love Someone – Lukas Graham – Violine Cover (Daniel Jang)

…“How do we have guests?” Grace asked as she checked her appearance in the mirror while Walter straightened and fidgeted with his clothing. “I did not think anyone would know we had arrived back in town until at least tomorrow.”

In the mirror, she could see his grin. “What have you done?”

He shrugged and shook his head. “It is a secret,” he whispered…

[From Her Secret Beau, Touches of Austen book 3]

Published to YouTube by Daniel Jang on June 28, 2019

If you're interested in the lyric version of this song, you can find a lyric video here.

We have come to it — the week when both Grace’s and Mary’s stories draw to a close! I will have to take both stories off the blog soon as I am going to be getting them ready to publish. I will also be taking Apple Blossoms down for this same reason. So, make sure you get your reading done within the next week.

Another thing which is changing soon is the set of books in Kindle Unlimited. Willow Hall will be leaving Kindle Unlimited on November 19, 2019. If you are a KU subscriber, make sure you have all those books (or the box set) downloaded before that date. You can still read after that date if you have already downloaded the book. Continue reading Love Someone – Lukas Graham – Violine Cover (Daniel Jang)