Novel, Novella, Novelette? (What the heck?)

Probably 99% of the population knows what a novel* is. It's a work of fiction. Usually 300-400 pages (80,000 to 100,000 words) long. It's got chapters. It's got characters and plots and sub-plots. And it can take hours and hours to read, even if you're a fast reader like me.

Photo by Alberto G.© 2006

But you ask readers if they know what a novella or a novelette are, and they start scratching their heads (at least the readers I asked sure did!).

So what exactly is a novella and a novelette?

Lessons in Marketing (or How Not to Market Your Literary Short Story)

So the free promotion I participated in last week was a resounding success . . . for one of my titles.

Fallen Leaves reached a high of #53 on the Top 100 Free Ebooks on Amazon.com. Pretty darn good for a short story! It also garnered a glowing 4 star review!

But my other short story, Listen to the Rain, didn't fair so well. It started off well, with downloads pretty closely matching those of Fallen Leaves, and even reached the #100 spot on the Top Free Ebooks list. But then the 1 and 2 star reviews started showing up:

"There's no ending! It just stops with no resolution."

"The author leaves you hanging. Lame. Just lame. Thanks so much for robbing me of 10 mins of my life."

"The ending is 'meh' at best with absolutely no attempt at conclusion or catharsis."

Ouch.

4th of July Hangover (Free Ebook Event Extension)

The highly successful 4th of July Literary and Thriller Fireworks Free Ebook Event will now extend through July 5, 2012. Five of the literary fiction and thriller authors have announced they will continue to offer their ebooks free for a third day.

The authors, who are all members of the Backspace online writers organization (www.bksp.org) include Rachel Elizabeth Cole, Loretta Giacoletto, Mary Beth Daniels, Daniel A. Smith and Nora Carroll.

The ebooks included in the free promotion are:
• Fallen Leaves by Rachel Elizabeth Cole
• Chicago's Headmistress by Loretta Giacoletto
• Heteroflexibility: A Romantic Comedy by Mary Beth Daniels
• Listen to the Rain by Rachel Elizabeth Cole
• Storykeeper by Daniel A. Smith
• Hemingway Point by Nora Carroll

Free Ebooks!

Today nine literary fiction and thriller authors announced that they will be offering their ebooks free on Amazon.com (http://amzn.com/lm/R2WOWYEBBT2Q8E) during a two-day promotion. The two-day free ebook promotion named 4th of July Literary and Thriller Fireworks will take place on July 3, and July 4, 2012.

In the spirit of writers helping writers and as such making ebooks more easily accessible to readers, the authors who are all members of Backspace (http://www.bksp.org), an online writers organization, include Karen Dionne, Eileen Cruz Coleman, J.H. Bográn, Danielle Younge-Ullman, Rachel Elizabeth Cole, Loretta Giacoletto, Mary Beth Daniels, Daniel A. Smith and Nora Carroll.

The ebooks included in the free promotion are:

Sweetwater American by Eileen Cruz Coleman
Freezing Point by Karen Dionne
Falling Under by Danielle Younge-Ullman*
Assassin's Mistress, a short story by J.H. Bográn
Fallen Leaves by Rachel Elizabeth Cole
Chicago's Headmistress by Loretta Giacoletto
Heteroflexibility: A Romantic Comedy by Mary Beth Daniels
Listen to the Rain by Rachel Elizabeth Cole
Storykeeper by Daniel A. Smith
Hemingway Point by Nora Carroll

*Falling Under by Danielle Younge-Ullman will be free only on July 3, 2012, but will be discounted to .99 cents on July 4, 2012.

“The 4th of July Literary and Thriller Fireworks promotion is a unique opportunity to pick up some exciting thrillers and gorgeous literary novels from several talented members of the Backspace Writers' Organization -- for free!” said Darcie Chan, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the literary novel, The Mill River Recluse (http://www.amazon.com/The-Mill-River-Recluse-ebook/dp/B0051PRFLQ/)

Readers may easily download all ten free ebooks from Amazon.com on July 3rd and July 4th by going here: 4th of July Free Ebooks

Don't have a Kindle? Don't worry! You can download a FREE Kindle app for your computer, smart phone, tablet, or other electronic device here.