What is success? Doing the numbers . . .

I just finished a two-day free book giveaway on Amazon Select. It was a wild ride! Within one day, my two novels soared up to #5 and #67 in the free Kindle book ranks and the books were downloaded over 24,000 times at the US site, 1,200 times at the U.K and even the German site showed over 50 giveaways.

These are amazing numbers. Of course, we all know that the word FREE is very alluring. People love freebies and they grab stuff, even if they don’t need or really want it. We all love a good deal, right?

The question now is: Will this temporary high translate into an expanded audience and future sales? Well, to begin with, over 25,000 people have one or both of my books on their Kindle. If only half of them read them and some of them like them, they may come back for more (I better right more books, right?) One thing is for sure, my books have gone viral, and for me that’s a wonderful thing. Only time will tell what the outcome will be in the long run. I noticed that my ranks for paid books have gone up and that’s encouraging. More exposure, more visibility.

Numbers have never been my strength, obviously one reason I have gone into languages and literature and not into mathematics. I don’t think that numbers and money have had any kind of influence on why or what I write. Now, I’m not Mother Teresa and I like a nice big fat royalty check as much as the next guy or gal. However, if money was the issue here, I would certainly not waste my time being an independent author writing novels about love, art, and family.

So, while I am excited about the numbers that resulted from the freebie days, what gets my heart beating even faster is the realization that there are people out there who read what I wrote. Some simply enjoy the stories, some may not like them, but for some they resonate on a deeper level. I received several emails from readers in Canada, thanking me for one of the books they read. And a reader in Germany wrote a review of An Uncommon Family and mentioned that he could relate on a very personal level to Karla’s desperate search for a real family. Wow. These kinds of personal statements from people all over the world make me feel that I don’t just write for myself but that I am able to communicate something which matters to someone else as well. That is a deeply satisfying feeling and one that keeps me going on the path I chose.

I would like to thank all my readers and fellow authors and friends for the encouraging words and the support I received.