Hello, Hungry Readers,

Today I have two terrific books and an explanation for what happened with the Amazon price match on Romance Book Blast Day.

Bookshop links included.

The English Understand Wool is a short story by Helen DeWitt that I cannot remember who recommended to me, but I adored it. It does all sorts of things that make writers go, oh my. I think it’s an excellent story of some raised with a very specific set of values, thrust into a unique situation. I recognize that’s very vague, but I think going in with very little info really helps.

John Chu’s The Subtle Art of Folding Space is about if the world had imagineers, and if you realized some rogue imagineers were messing up the world in a way that specifically targeted your family. It’s also about family acceptance and lack thereof, and recognizing when you’re own family just can’t be there for you.

So, about that Amazon price match. To pull back the curtain a bit, Amazon doesn't allow authors who are not in Kindle Unlimited to set their books to free. Amazon, like other platforms, also has a rule that your price on its platform should match other platforms. So if your book becomes free on other sites, they have an option where you can request a price match. So, knowing about this I set Repeated Burn to free a little early and requested the price match providing them links to several sites where it was free.  And I was advised they were working on this and would get back to me in 24-48 hours. 

I checked in with other wide authors. Some had gotten price matched right away, but a few were also having issues.

I checked again the following day and was told my request was already being reviewed. The following day I was advised they needed more time and would continue to review things. Once the book blast day had already passed, I kept checking because while the surge had moved on, I certainly wanted to give readers who prefer Amazon, the option, even late.

Amazon had instead raised the price. I had set the price to $0.99. They raised it to 1.39. Cheaper than 1.99, sure, but not free, and not the price I had set. 

Anyway, the book blast has passed. A number of readers were able to get my book through other retailers. Hi, if you found me though the book blast! Hi, also if you've been here all along. 

So, what have I learned? To build more cushion in, because the price match is slow. To prep the alternative (book funnel/direct sales) ahead of time so I can get that link up with the others. 

Anyway, if you have been patiently waiting for Repeated Burn to be free on Amazon, hit reply, I'll get you a copy. 

Happy reading, folks!