Random TDG Updates

I'm so happy I could just cry. Finally my stars in Amazon US have gone up. From a 1 star flogging *shudder, retch* to a comfortable 3.5 star hug *cartwheel, yippee*. No doubt now I've said this the star count will plummet. Sigh. Most authors see far greater sales/downloads in the US side of Amazon than in the UK but obviously I was going to be the contradiction to that rule. How large is the difference? UK: 23,600  US: 630 ... I kid you not.

People say they don't take star ratings into account (I don't when I buy books), but I can’t help but think that is not the general public opinion. Though the price of my book fluctuates from free to $2.99 on the US side the main difference has been that UK has a 4 star rating and US had a 1 star rating. Older Kindle readers over the big pond don't seem to get my writing style and have the most to say. Great. *Thin smile* Ah, totally off topic, but I got my first pay check from Amazon yesterday and I ran up to my boyfriend and screamed “In your face!” Then ran away cackling madly and let him chase me around the living room. It was all very fun. It made the whole Indie thing seem more real and plausible – strange as it sounds (the money thing not the inappropriate reaction thing). I might actually be able to make this work as a viable career option rather than an addictive hobby.

Anyhow, in Barnes & Noble I‘ve got over 1300 ratings with an average 4 stars *psycho grin* iBooks is groovy too with over 400 ratings in US and 170 in UK again 4 star average *really disturbing psycho grin*. Nearly all reviews 3 stars plus mention they want to or will read the second book, which bodes well indeed for A Demon Day. Did I mention I'd finished the first draft yet? Well, I have, and I think it may be the best thing damn I've ever written ;) Oh ... and editing sucks.


Reviews still elicit a strong reaction from me. I smile, I wail, I cry, I laugh, I bitch, I dance around ... all depending on what's been said. Wasn't that supposed to go away after a while? The comments about bad editing are also starting to slowly die out. I think a month or so ago I said by April I was hoping I could put that behind me.

Moving on, I passed 60,000 downloads of TDG in four months. I get a lot of readers commenting that the book was recommended to them which is astounding. I only recommend books I really like so I’m beaming about that. I still have no idea what my iBook stats are. Smashwords reporting says 0, but I feel this figure may not be entirely accurate, lol, but I’m giddy enough with what I've got. If all readers of TDG came and sat in The O2 Arena at one time you’d fill it up – three times over - which is a great way to put a number into perspective, lol. Considering I've been so busy with the day job and my promotion has been exactly jack, I dub my first ever book release a success.