Indie Books at Big Discounts: The Smashwords Sale

Here’s a bargain-priced way to discover new authors: the Smashwords 2022 End of Year Sale. You’ll find substantial discounts on thousands of titles throughout December. Go to https://smashwords.com/shelves/promos Search by author name or explore by genre. The Smashwords store is the largest indie bookstore on the internet. Have fun shopping!

(And yes, my books are there—at 50% off, thanks to Draft2Digital teaming up with Smashwords.)

#SmashwordsEOYSale #smashwords #ebook #sale #books2read #indiebooks

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#Sale Shaman’s Blues PAPERBACK $4.23 on Amazon!

Ever wished paperbacks were as cheap as e-books? Amazon has discounted brand new copies of Shaman’s Blues to $4.23. If you were thinking of buying the e-book from them, please buy the paperback instead. Take a free trial of Prime and get free shipping. Snag a few copies as gifts. Tell friends about the sale. I have no idea how long this #discount will last. Amazon must be losing money on it.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/1544708130

Are you confused? If you know me, you know I publish my books widely, read e-books on a Nook, and don’t promote Amazon. So why am I urging you to buy the paperback (and not the Kindle edition) from them, especially when their price is the same for both the e-book and the paperback?

Because …

Amazon’s rules allow them to lower the e-book royalty when they are price-matching another store (which is not the case) or matching their own price for the physical copy.

I normally would get $3.42 in royalties for the e-book, but they’re paying $2.90. At this unexciting 76-cent discount, the e-book is selling at the same rate it would at its normal $4.99 price, which means I’m earning less for the same number of sales, i.e. $52.00 less per hundred sales.

Perhaps they think this is a good strategy for them, because I sell a fair number of e-books on their site, but not many paperbacks. It’s not a good strategy for me. If I want to sell the e-book at a lower price, I’ll drop it to 99 cents for a week and promote it all over the place. $4.23 is not an incentivizing sort of price for an e-book.

But it’s a huge bargain for a paperback!

What would happen if hundreds of people ordered the $4.23 paperback? So far, Amazon is paying the full royalty on the paperback, $3.77 for the $4.23 book. The printing cost is $5.22. By their own choice, Amazon loses $4.76 for each paperback sale. If 100 people buy it at $4.23, Amazon will lose $476.00. Will they notice? If a thousand people buy it, they’ll lose a lot more. Will they put the price back to $14.99? If they do, their rules will require them to pay me the full royalty on the e-book.

If I get no results on their pricing, you’ll still get an inexpensive paperback copy of an award-winning mystery, and that’s a win. I hope you enjoy it.

Shaman’s Blues

The second Mae Martin psychic mystery

On the eve of her move to New Mexico, psychic and healer Mae Martin gets a double-edged going-away gift: beautiful music by a man who’s gone missing, and a request to find him. In her new home town, she quickly runs afoul of a questionable psychic who runs a health food restaurant. When Mae confronts her, the woman disappears—either to Santa Fe, or into another dimension. Now Mae has two missing persons on her hands. Finding them may prove easier than learning the truth about either or getting one of them, once found, to go away again.

The Mae Martin Series

No murder, just mystery. Every life hides a secret, and love is the deepest mystery of all.

#99 cent sale Shaman’s Blues

The second Mae Martin Psychic Mystery. On sale for 99 cents through October 20th. Available from all e-book retailers.

Short and Sweet, Quick and Quirky, and #Free

The Outlaw Women is free on all e-book retailers through July 15^th.

Folk healer and seer Rhoda-Sue Outlaw Jackson knows her time on earth is running out when she hears the voice of her late husband telling her she has only but so many heartbeats left. She’s had a troubled relationship with her daughter, and has little hope of passing on her extraordinary gifts, either to this difficult daughter or to her granddaughter. With the final hour around the corner, she brings her family together for one more try. Can she leave the world at peace with them, as well as with her legacy?

This prequel to the Mae Martin Psychic Mystery Series introduces Mae at age ten, as seen through the eyes of her grandmother.

Reading Cheaply or #Free and Getting Through

Free

If you can’t afford books right now and don’t do Kindle Unlimited, Scribd is an option for people who read e-pub e-books. They offer a free one month introduction. All my books are in Scribd. (But not Kindle Unlimited—an author can’t do both because of Amazon’s exclusivity requirement for KU, and I am committed to keeping my books widely available.) If you don’t read on an Apple, Kobo, or Nook device, you can install Adobe Digital Editions on a computer to read e-pub e-books. You can also borrow e-books from many public libraries.

This link will take you to all e-book retail sites for my books, including Scribd.

Inexpensive

If you like to get e-books from a preferred retailer,  The Calling is free everywhere through April 23, and the other books in the Mae Martin Psychic Mystery series are now $2.99. The boxed set of the first three books is only $4.99. Small Awakenings, a collection of essays on mindfulness, is 99 cents. When the free promotion for book one is over, the price will be also be discounted. Discounts will last as long as the economic disruption of the pandemic lasts.

Getting Through

I hope you stay well. I’m coping by reading, writing, and socializing six feet apart outdoors. Walking and running are free. So are squats and pushups and home yoga practice. I’ve been calling friends and family I can’t travel to visit, reminding myself that for now, distancing is love and respect. We’ll get through this.

 

First in Series #Free

Discover a variety of mystery series, from crime fiction to mystical to historical, with a #freedownload of the first book.

 

 

 

 

 

Ant Farm by James M. Jackson

Botulism as a murder weapon. A hit man who calls himself the Happy Reaper. Villains who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets.

In this page-turner, we meet Seamus McCree, a single father who wants to fight for the little guy against those who abuse their power.

When police can’t figure out why someone murdered thirty-eight retirees at a Labor Day picnic, they ask Seamus, a financial crimes investigator, to follow the money. He’s anxious to move from behind his computer to the front lines to help investigators ask the right questions.

As Seamus untangles a web of financial chicanery, those threatened place a target on his back.
And there are consequences. He’s willing to risk his own life to bring justice, but when his actions place his son in danger, Seamus must overcome his deepest fears.

The Calling by Amber Foxx

The first Mae Martin Psychic Mystery

Obeying her mother’s warning, Mae Martin-Ridley has spent years hiding her gift of “the sight.” When concern for a missing hunter compels her to use it again, her peaceful life in a small Southern town begins to fall apart. New friends push her to explore her unusual talents, but as she does, she discovers the shadow side of her visions— access to secrets she could regret uncovering.

Gift or curse? When an extraordinary ability intrudes on an ordinary life, nothing can be the same again.

The Mae Martin Series

No murder, just mystery. Every life hides a secret, and love is the deepest mystery of all.

Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle

Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray’s Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon’s powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge.  Rival barristers contend for the murdered man’s legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve.

Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.

Mae Martin Book One #free Aug.-Sept.

The first Mae Martin Psychic Mystery

Obeying her mother’s warning, Mae Martin-Ridley has spent years hiding her gift of “the sight.” When concern for a missing hunter compels her to use it again, her peaceful life in a small Southern town begins to fall apart. New friends push her to explore her unusual talents, but as she does, she discovers the shadow side of her visions— access to secrets she could regret uncovering.

Gift or curse? When an extraordinary ability intrudes on an ordinary life, nothing can be the same again.

The Mae Martin Series

No murder, just mystery. Every life hides a secret, and love is the deepest mystery of all.

Free on all e-book retail sites through September 23.

First in Series #Free in February: Fall in Love with a New Series

Explore three different takes on paranormal mystery: esoteric, comic, and psychic.

Under the Stone Paw

 Book one in the Power Places Series

A forgotten family legacy. Six crystal keys. One shot at unlocking the secrets beneath the Sphinx. 

Anne Le Clair, a successful, young attorney, has always managed to remain free from her family’s gothic past—until now. When she inherits her eccentric aunt’s antique necklace though, she finds no escape from its secrets. Anne is immersed in a crash course of forbidden wisdom, secret societies, and her family’s own legacy. She soon discovers that her aunt’s necklace is one of just six powerful “keys” that, when combined with the other five at the appointed time, unlocks the legendary Hall of Records. However, another group, the shadowy Illuminati, is working behind the scenes to uncover the same powerful secrets—and make them their own.

Katherine Kurtz, author of the Adept series, says “ . . . one of the best esoteric novels of the past decade.  Crater knows her way around Egypt and its mysteries.  Evil Illuminati, ancient artifacts, and conspiracies abound. Surpasses the Da Vinci Code.”

Download

                                       Blasted Bloomers

Prequel to the Loon Lake Magic Series

Tonya is shocked when the hunk of her daydreams asks her out. He must be toying with her, or is he? To make sure he likes her, Tonya snitches magic panties from the notorious Witch of Loon Lake. Will her risky plan end in triumph or disaster? Read this free urban fantasy book to find out. Expect a little bit of mystery, a touch of romance, and hair-raising suspense in this comic tale of Loon Lake magic.

Download

The Calling*

 The first Mae Martin Psychic Mystery

Obeying her mother’s warning, Mae Martin-Ridley has spent years hiding her gift of “the sight.” When concern for a missing hunter compels her to use it again, her peaceful life in a small Southern town begins to fall apart. New friends push her to explore her unusual talents, but as she does, she discovers the shadow side of her visions— access to secrets she could regret uncovering.

Gift or curse? When an extraordinary ability intrudes on an ordinary life, nothing can be the same again.

The Mae Martin Series

No murder, just mystery. Every life hides a secret, and love is the deepest mystery of all.

Download

Bonus: If you click on this link to sign up for my newsletter, you can also get the series prequel free.

 The Outlaw Women

Folk healer and seer Rhoda-Sue Outlaw Jackson knows her time on earth is running out when she hears the voice of her late husband telling her she has only but so many heartbeats left. She’s had a troubled relationship with her daughter, and has little hope of passing on her extraordinary gifts, either to this difficult daughter or to her granddaughter. With the final hour around the corner, she brings her family together for one more try. Can she leave the world at peace with them, as well as with her legacy?

This prequel to the Mae Martin Psychic Mystery Series introduces Mae at age ten, as seen through the eyes of her grandmother.

*Free  promotion  for The Calling ends Feb. 25

Indie Mystery #Bargains

Spend Your Gift Cards on some Indie Mystery Bargains

Desert Jade by CJ Shane

Tucson detective Letty Valdez joins Chinese cop Zhou in Desert Jade, a fast-paced mystery-suspense. Intrigue, action & romance!

Sale price .99   Buy

 

Mae Martin Mysteries Books 1-3 Boxed set by Amber Foxx

 The Calling

A missing father. A mother with a secret. A professor who might be a shaman—or a fraud. As Mae discovers her gift of “the sight,” she overturns her own life and the lives of those around her.

Shaman’s Blues

A gifted musician disappears. A questionable seer vanishes, to Santa Fe or another dimension. Finding two missing people proves easier for Mae than learning the truth about either—or getting one of them, once found, to go away again.

Snake Face

Musician Jamie Ellerbee needs Mae’s psychic aid. His tour is being trailed by bad luck, an anonymous fan, and a strange new friend—who may not be a friend after all.

No murder, just mystery. Every life hides a secret, and love is the deepest mystery of all

Sale price $2.99  Buy

 

 Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun  by Lois Winston

When Anastasia Pollack’s husband permanently cashes in his chips at a roulette table in Las Vegas, her comfortable middle-class life craps out, and she’s left with two teenage sons, a mountain of debt, her Communist mother-in-law, and a loan shark demanding fifty thousand dollars—all before she’s accused of murder.

On sale for 99 cents on iTunes from Dec. 24th thru the end of Jan.

and on Kobo in Canada, the UK, Australia, and India Dec. 24th thru the end of Jan.

and on B&N from Jan. 21-27

Buy