Jennifer Becton's Blog, page 15

Absolute Liability
Book 1 in the Southern Fraud Thriller Series

On the Amazon Kindle Best Seller List for 8 Weeks
On the Indie Reader Best Seller List for 3 Non-consecutive Weeks

Meet Julia Jackson. Apparently, she’s been abducted….

A woman is taken at gunpoint from the downtown office of Southeastern Insurance, and the police believe the victim is Special Agent Julia Jackson. Only it isn’t true.

Now, with the help of her new partner Mark Vincent, state fraud investigator Julia Jackson must find justice for the woman who was taken in her place.

As Vincent and Julia begin to unravel the multimillion-dollar frauds that led to the abduction, they encounter a cast of quirky characters, one of whom will go to desperate lengths to hide a deadly secret.

Things only become more dangerous as bodies begin accumulating around town, and Julia must discover the truth before the abductor comes to rectify his mistake.

Signed paperback now available!

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Buy Absolute Liability Now

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Absolute Liability, unsigned $9.99Absolute Liability, autographed $10.99

*7 percent sales tax added in South Carolina only. USPS flat-rate shipping boxes are used for domestic purchases. International flat-rate shipping is also available. If you have any trouble with your order, please don’t hesitate to email me.

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Book Clubs: Download discussion questions (pdf) by clicking the following link: Absolute Liability Discussion Prompters

The post Absolute Liability (Southern Fraud 1) appeared first on Becton Literary.

When Charles Bingley and Mr. Darcy made proposals of marriage to the Bennet sisters at the end of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Caroline Bingley was both distressed by her brother’s choice of bride and humiliated by Mr. Darcy’s rejection of her.

And she made her objections known.

Now banished from her brother’s household, Caroline must return to her mother’s home in the north of England until she can make amends with both Bennet sisters. Desperate though Caroline may be to return to polite company, she absolutely refuses to apologize to Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and instead, she seeks an alternative route back into society in the form of Mr. William Charlton, heir to a barony.

Through her existing connections with Mr. Charlton’s sister Lavinia, Caroline begins to infiltrate the household in the hopes of securing the gentleman and his title for herself. However, she must also contend with her vexing emotions regarding Mr. Patrick Rushton, a once-wealthy landowner, and the meddlesome opinions of Mrs. Rosemary Pickersgill, the companion sent by her brother.

When all that Caroline has ever dreamed of attaining—an ancient family name, a title, and a home of her own—is finally within her reach, will she grasp for it even if it means disregarding the workings of her own heart? Or will she cast off the trappings of society and give herself to true love?

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Buy Caroline Bingley

Amazon: Kindle or Paperback

Audiobook-Coming Soon!

Audible

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The post Caroline Bingley appeared first on Becton Literary.

Lots of great sales today for Amazon Customers! Here is a link to all the deals: Happy Amazon Prime Day – July 15 – Exclusive Deals for Prime Members – Shop Now

Here are some highlights for readers:

Amazon Prime Day – Fire HD 7 – Just $79, Regularly $139
Amazon Prime Day – Kindle – Just $49
Kindle Unlimited Sale (up to 40 percent off)
Save 47 percent on DVD of Austenland

Not a Prime Member? Start a free trial here: Happy Amazon Prime Day July 15 – Exclusive Deals for Prime Members – Start Free 30-Day Trial

The post Amazon Prime Day Sales appeared first on Becton Literary.

Every now and then, I like to reevaluate my use of social media and websites. With the speed that technology changes–Hello, Snapchat!–I probably need to do it more often.

This little musing on social media goes hand in hand with my writing process experimentation (trying to write more efficiently and make the best use of my writing time). If I’m writing, I want it to be something that my target audience will read and truly enjoy. I’m not sure this blog is getting that job done. What’s more, I couldn’t find many author blogs that seemed reader-oriented. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

This leads me to wonder if my writing time might not be better spent working on novels and not on blogging.

All the social media marketing types hype author blogs. You have to have one in order to reach readers. But my blog reaches other indie authors, not readers. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if my goal was to reach out to other writers and share info. That was part of my original goal.

Success!

Now my goal has changed. I want to focus on reaching readers.

Yes, writers also read, but from what I can tell about my site use, it seems that people just pop in occasionally–very occasionally no matter how often I update–for some publishing news or writing process tips. I don’t know that I’m driving interest to my books using this blog format.

I want to write something that interests my target audience: those who read my novels. These people may or may not be interested in writing one themselves. Much as I enjoy composing the occasional blog post, I’d rather be writing fiction, and fiction is the thing that interests my target audience.

Basically, I have no idea how to reach readers in a blog format. I understand how it works on Twitter and Facebook, but I need help figuring out what readers want to see on an author’s blog.

Do non-writing readers even care about an author’s blog? It won’t hurt my feelings if the answer is no. I am pretty sure non-writers aren’t looking for tips on how to write more efficiently or what’s going on in the publishing world.

Do I share tidbits from my real life journal-style? Do you want to know that we are painting our main living area a new color? Agreeable Grey, if you’re curious. I haven’t decided whether or not I find it agreeable. Do you want to know that my cat has been murdering small woodland creatures?

Agreeable Grey with Disagreeable Murder Cat

Or that I’m watching Supernatural for the first time and loving it?

Castiel. Because I can.

But I’m not trying to be a home decorating blogger or a wildlife conservation blogger or a TV critic. I’m trying to write fun books that provide meaning and distraction in a sometimes overwhelming world. I want to put my time where readers want it.

And I’m not sure it’s in writing rambling blog posts like this one.

The post Can an Author’s Blog Really Reach Readers? appeared first on Becton Literary.

Here’s the skinny (emphasis added):

Starting next month, the e-commerce giant will pay independent authors based on the number of pages read, rather than the number of times their book has been borrowed.

The move is aimed at authors enrolled in Kindle Direct Publishing platform – which lets authors set list prices, decide rights and edit the book at any time – and is applicable to ebooks made available via the Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library programs. Read the rest here.

Don’t freak out. This applies to lends, not sales.

The post Kindle Unlimited and KOLL to Pay by Words Read appeared first on Becton Literary.

I’m giving my early readers time to work on Shock Loss, so I’ve been researching for my next project: the Halloween installment of the Holidays with Jane short story collections. I’m writing based on Mansfield Park. Here are the other two:

I am using my new writing process/outline plan, and I’m going to try to report back occasionally to talk about how the experiment is going. This could be a huge fail. We shall see.

Today, I began the outline, a process I described here.

I completed a vague outline of the entire story and also sketched out some scenes in part 1.

1,352 words in about 2 hours of work. At this point, I don’t expect high word output because this is the planning phase. I’m pleased so far. I know the direction of the story, and I have a strong beginning.

Other Posts on My Writing Process Experiment

Intro
Helpful Books
Shock Loss Early Results

The post Writing Process Experiment 2.0 appeared first on Becton Literary.

The early draft of Shock Loss is finished. It came in at nearly 58,000 words. That’s not including the 18,000 words I deleted.

Gah!

What’s up with that? I thought planning was supposed to eliminate word waste. I have some theories.

I started my writing process experiment in the middle of my first draft of Shock Loss. I began the book in July 2014, but then I was forced to take more than 7 months off. I didn’t get back to serious writing until the end of March 2015. After that much time off, I had developed some new ideas that required rewrites. And even then, I didn’t start my new process until mid-April. It’s really not fair of me to blame the word waste on the new process. This was an unusual process from start to finish.
I discovered that my rewrites often take place as a result of changing how (in what order) I want to reveal information. I’m not searching for my plot (ie. what happens when). I’m searching for the best ways to unravel the mystery for the readers. Using my new planning techniques on a “straight-line novel,” where the action is linear and the author isn’t trying to conceal any part of the plot, might result in less word waste than in the mystery/thriller genre I’m currently writing. I’m going to try the process on my next modern Jane Austen short story. (See the most recent JA short here: Holidays with Jane: Spring Fever (Volume 2)). I’ll report back.
I will also use the same process on Sunset Clause, which will be my next novel project. I’ll report back on that too.

If anyone has tips on how to plan to reveal info, that’d be great.

The post Writing Process Experimentation: Shock Loss in Editorial Phase appeared first on Becton Literary.

Thank you to those who gave everything so that we can be free.

Sergeant York, a riderless capparisoned horse, moves into position for the start of Brig. Gen. Bain MicClintock’s funeral ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony May 18, 2011.

The post Memorial Day 2015 appeared first on Becton Literary.

To win a free paperback copy of Holidays with Jane: Spring Fever, visit Austenesque Reviews and leave a comment on Meredith’s review of the book.

Here’s a snippet from her review of my contribution to the book. (Hey, it’s my blog, I can promote shamelessly here):

LYDIA REIMAGINED – Jennifer Becton

Premise: Even though George broke her heart years ago, Lydia Bennet comes to his wedding to finally show everyone she is no longer the wild party-girl who used to worship him…

What I Loved: That Lydia is reformed! I loved that she used her pain and awareness to transform her wild ways. I also loved seeing her strike up a romance (unintentionally) with someone else! She was admirable and adorable. The premise worked perfectly and the conclusion was wonderfully satisfying! Loved it! One of my faves!

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway on Meredith’s blog!

Also, we’d also appreciate it if you’d spread the word on Twitter by clicking this handy button: Tweet This

The post Giveaway! Holidays with Jane: Spring Fever appeared first on Becton Literary.

One Day Left!
Get Absolute Liability and Death Benefits for only $0.99 on Kindle!

The post Absolute Liability and Death Benefits on Sale appeared first on Becton Literary.