Hurry! Kindle #FREE Days for GHOST MOON! Steamy #Romance + A Mysterious #Haunting = Perfect Beach Read #Book!

The very first Kindle Free Days are here for Ghost Moon!  I have lots of events planned to celebrate, including a takeover in Author Kerry Blaisdall's FB Group Kerry's Kindred Spirits on Monday, 7/10...lots of giveaways and still time to join here!  

Then another takeover on Wednesday, 7/12 at 7 pm EST during the FB Summer Fling!  Still time to join this event as well...free books and giveaways all month long!  The Summer Fling Event can be found here! 

Kindle Free Days don't last long...only five days!  So hurry and grab your free copy of this Romantic Ghost Mystery!  Steamy Romance + Spooky Suspense = a Spine-tingling, Page-turning Beach Read! 🠋🠋

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE COPY FROM AMAZON!

#Kindle #FREE Days! Steamy #RomanticSuspense #books #amreading Hurry!

Kindle FREE days are here for Dangerous Currents ~ a steamy second-chance romance filled with dark secrets and heart-pounding suspense.  Grab your free copy from 2/1 to 2/5 and get lost in Malorie and Dean's story!  One fateful night tore them apart...will they get a second chance before a killer strikes?  

This Romantic Suspense is a bookstore recommended summer read, and I've included a few of my favorite review site quotes below.  Thanks for stopping by and happy reading!

"The suspense of who-done-it leaves you on the edge of your seat.  If you enjoy a romantic suspense that plays with your mind while the romance tugs at your heart, Dangerous Currents needs to be on your TBR list!" ~  Forget the Housework, I'm Reading (5*s)

"I'm a huge Romantic Suspense fan, and I must admit, Dangerous Currents kept me guessing until the very end.  Malorie and Dean are addictive to read...The second chance romance lit up my e-reader.  Talk about intense!  I started reading and couldn't stop...yes, it was that good!  Highly recommend." ~ N.N. Light's Book Heaven (5*s)

"Ms. Knight knows how to bring her characters to life!  We are invited into their heads, their hearts, to hear their thoughts, feel their fears...The tension that runs through Kathryn Knight's words, each page and scene, is razor sharp.  I love a story where I can honestly say 'I didn't see THAT coming!'  A second chance at romance, layers of suspense...priceless reading!" ~ Tome Tender Book Blog (5*s)

Dangerous Currents FREE on Kindle

Full Moon on #Fridaythe13th! ~ Why It's Rare + Extra-Spooky! #Friday13th History #Superstitions #FullMoon #Triskaidekaphobia

For fans of all things spooky, it doesn't get much more exciting than a Friday the 13th coinciding with a nationwide full moon...an occurrence that hasn't happened since 2000, and won't happen again until 2049!  A September full moon is known as the harvest moon, meaning it's the closest to the autumnal equinox on Sept. 23rd.  As someone who writes paranormal romantic suspense, usually involving desperate ghosts and mysterious hauntings, it's reason to celebrate.  Plus, you know, it's Friday! 

I embraced the number 13 long ago, since it is the date of my birth,

and there have been many years (including this one, in January) that my birthday fell on a Friday the 13th!  

A fear of the number 13 is known as Triskaidekaphobia.  I actually once worked in a building that lacked a 13th floor.  To me, this made little sense...did the people on the 14th floor not realize they were actually on the 13th floor?  Still, the button in the elevator did not exist.  Why does the number 13 get such a bad rap, anyway?

Some reasons stem from various religions.  In Christianity, for example, 13 people sat down to The Last Supper: Jesus Christ and 12 disciples.  The last to sit down, the 13th, was Judas Iscariot, who would betray Jesus. 

According to Norse legends, the 13th (uninvited) guest to arrive at a banquet of the gods was Loki, who then killed another god and set in motion a series of tragedies.

Historically, condemned people climbed 13 steps to the gallows.

A coven was traditionally made up of 13 witches.

In the deck of tarot cards, XIII is the card of death - a pale horse and rider.

Apollo 13 was the only unsuccessful mission to the moon; the oxygen tank exploded, putting the lives of the astronauts at risk.

Finally, 12 is considered a perfect and magical number in many disciplines and traditions.  There are 12 months, 12 zodiac signs, 12 days of Christmas, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Christ, 12 principal Olympian gods of the pantheon...the list goes on and on.  It follows, then, in some people's minds, that to add a number to 12 would make it unlucky.

That Friday the 13th is particularly scary may be the result of Friday's connection with executions.  The Crucifixion took place on a Friday, which was the day of the week executions were generally carried out in Rome.  America also has a history of holding executions on Fridays; thus, a day that combines two "unlucky" features becomes even more ominous.

If you feel like a full moon Friday the 13th is the perfect time for a ghost mystery, try one of my paranormal romantic suspense novels ~ many of them #1 Amazon and B&N Bestsellers:  Silver Lake, Gull Harbor, Haunted Souls, and The Haunting of Hillwood Farm.

And, one of my titles is FREE today on Kindle!  It happens to be the only book I've written without paranormal elements, but in this steamy romantic suspense, there's a very real killer...along with dark secrets and chilling revelations.  Grab your copy of Dangerous Currents on Kindle while it's free!  Happy Reading and Happy Friday the 13th ~ stay safe!

Ghost Mystery/Reunion Romance SILVER LAKE
has the perfect cover for today!

Dangerous Currents is #FREE on #Kindle! Second-Chance #Romance #Suspense #FridayReads #CapeCod #Books

One fateful night tore them apart...
will they get a second chance
before a killer strikes?

Kindle FREE days are here for Dangerous Currents ~ a steamy second-chance romance filled with secrets and suspense.  Grab your free copy from 9/11 to 9/15 and get lost in Malorie and Dean's story!  One fateful night tore them apart...will they get a second chance before a killer strikes?  

This Romantic Suspense is a bookstore recommended summer read, and I've included a few of my favorite review site quotes below.  Thanks for stopping by and happy reading!

"The suspense of who-done-it leaves you on the edge of your seat.  If you enjoy a romantic suspense that plays with your mind while the romance tugs at your heart, Dangerous Currents needs to be on your TBR list!" ~  Forget the Housework, I'm Reading (5*s)

"I'm a huge Romantic Suspense fan, and I must admit, Dangerous Currents kept me guessing until the very end.  Malorie and Dean are addictive to read...The second chance romance lit up my e-reader.  Talk about intense!  I started reading and couldn't stop...yes, it was that good!  Highly recommend." ~ N.N. Light's Book Heaven (5*s)

"Ms. Knight knows how to bring her characters to life!  We are invited into their heads, their hearts, to hear their thoughts, feel their fears...The tension that runs through Kathryn Knight's words, each page and scene, is razor sharp.  I love a story where I can honestly say 'I didn't see THAT coming!'  A second chance at romance, layers of suspense...priceless reading!" ~ Tome Tender Book Blog (5*s)

Dangerous Currents FREE on Kindle

To get news on future free days and sales
for all my novels, plus other book events
and giveaways, sign up for my newsletter!

Kathryn Knight Books Newsletter Sign-Up

The Haunting of Hillwood Farm hit #1! #Ghosts #Paranormal #Romance #Kindle #books

#1 in Paranormal Ghost Romance and Psychic Romance,
and The Haunting of Hillwood Farm also hit #1 in that
third category Paranormal Suspense that weekend!

A big thank you to everyone who took advantage of the Kindle Free Days for my latest release, The Haunting of Hillwood Farm!  The amount of downloads drove the title to #1 in two categories on Amazon in the free store, and with so many books out there, that's a big deal, even in the Free Store!  I hope everyone grabbed a copy enjoys the story...and if you missed the free days, no worries--there will be another opportunity in the next few months.  And next month, Dangerous Currents will be available for free (along with about 40 other Romantic Suspense titles!), so if you want to make sure you get the details, you can sign up for my newsletter here.  I only send out a newsletter twice per month, and I would never share emails from my list.  Be the first to get book news, giveaway offers, and sales and new releases from myself and other authors I feature.

This is my first experience with Kindle Free Days since 2013, when my publisher decided to partner with the new (at the time) program on Amazon called Kindle Select.  Basically, to take advantage of "free days" within the Kindle Select program, a title has to be available exclusively (at that time) on Amazon.  Gull Harbor had free days in 2013, and hit #1 as well.  It's gone on since to hit #1 in the paid store on many occasions, which is a *really* exciting event, so I'm hopeful this new book will have similar good fortune.

Why give a book away for free, anyway?  It certainly seems counter-intuitive, based on the amount of work that goes into writing a novel.  But it's a way to gain exposure in an extremely crowded marketplace, and the hope is that readers who enjoy the free story will become fans of other titles by the same author.  

It was certainly an exciting weekend and I'm grateful to all the readers who made it happen!  Happy Reading :)  

Gull Harbor - Amazon Best Seller! Kathryn Knight

Thankfully, sales are still going strong after Gull Harbor's debut on Kindle.  As part of Amazon's Kindle Select Program, the title was offered for free for 5 days in April, and it hit the #1 ranking in the Free Store in Fantasy Romance.  Many of my fellow authors were interested in how I promoted my free days, so last week I blogged about all the effort I put into spreading the word.  And as I researched ranking categories for that post, I discovered something that helped propel Gull Harbor onto a Best Sellers list in the Paid Store.

Paranormal Romance is a huge catch-all genre, incorporating stories that include vampires, angels, demons, witches, wizards, fairies, time travel, ghosts, shifters, and anything else an author's mind can conjure up.  At The Wild Rose Press, it's such a popular genre that we have two separate lines: Faery Rose publishes the "lighter" paranormals, such as angels and time travel, and Black Rose publishes the paranormals with a "darker" element, such as werewolves and vampires.

But Amazon is different, and I'm still learning my way around this enormous marketplace.  Both my novels are ghost stories--with human heroes and heroines attempting to unravel a mysterious haunting--which are not as numerous as paranormal romances involving vampires or demons.  I know from my personal reading preferences that the only "ghost" subcategory in Amazon falls under horror.  While there are a lot of spooky and suspenseful moments in both Silver Lake and Gull Harbor, I would never classify them as horror.  So I didn't give subcategories much thought, especially since our marketing department handles our book listings on all the various sites they are offered for sale.

If I understand correctly, each Kindle book can be classified under two categories.  Both my novels were entered as Romance>Paranormal and Romance>Fantasy.  Truthfully, with the millions of titles available on Amazon (over 2 million currently on Kindle), I never expected to see much of a breakdown for my titles other than overall ranking. 

But the exposure gained by Gull Harbor's free days paid off.  Even after the free promo was over, the title stayed within the top 100 Best Sellers in Romance>Fantasy in the paid store for a while.  And as I wrote up last week's blog post, I noticed something I hadn't considered before.

The Romance>Fantasy category has no subcategories to narrow the rankings down--but Paranormal Romance has four:  Demons & Devils, Psychics, Vampires, and Witches & Wizards.  I'd been so fixated on "ghosts" as the paranormal element in my books, it actually took me a second to realize Gull Harbor fits nicely into "Psychics".  In the blurb, Claire is described as a "medium"--but that's essentially short for "psychic medium".  While she's recently embraced her talent for communicating with restless spirits, she is of course completely human.  For that reason, I just wasn't thinking of her as paranormal. 

I fired off a quick email to our marketing director, and Gull Harbor was moved into this more narrow category within Paranormal Romance.  Since then, it has stayed on the list of Top 100 Best Sellers in Psychic Romance.  It soared as high as #5 out of those top 100, and is currently at #20. 

It's been thrilling to see my novel on the first page in the Paid Kindle Store.  While I know it won't last forever, I'm trying to live in the moment and enjoy the ride!  And taking time off from working on my YA paranormal to write and research that blog post truly made an impact for me this time...if only I'd taken the time to capture a screen shot of that #5 ranking! 

Hitting #1 on Kindle Free Days - Kathryn Knight

I'm still recovering from the whirlwind of activity before and during Gull Harbor's Kindle Select Free Days.  It was absolutely thrilling to see my novel climb in the rankings hour by hour, until it hit #1 in the Fantasy Romance category on day 4.  Gull Harbor also broke the top 10 in the Paranormal Romance category, and rose to #37 overall.  While #37 may not seem all that exciting, this was Gull Harbor's ranking out of ALL free books in all genres that day on Amazon - a grand total of 54,133 titles! 

Had to capture a screen shot!

This was my first experience with the Kindle Select Free Days.  My publisher was not yet a part of the Select Program when Silver Lake was released.  I'll admit I had mixed feelings about offering my new release up for free.  Anyone who's written a novel understands the figurative--and sometimes literal--blood, sweat, and tears that go into such an extensive endeavor.  The idea of giving that work away for free can be a bit painful.  But I never entered this business with the goal of making a lot money (good thing, lol!).  Like many authors, the most important thing to me is that my work is read, and hopefully enjoyed. 

So I decided to put everything I could into the free promotion days offered by Amazon.  I viewed this as an opportunity to increase my novel's visibility in an enormous marketplace.  And boy am I glad I did.  In addition to hitting #1 in the Free store during those 5 days, Gull Harbor has hung onto a spot in the top 100 Bestsellers in the Paid Store in its category since then.  I know it won't last forever, but I'm enjoying a tremendous bump in sales for both my books since the promotion.

I put so much preparation into making the most of my free days, I'm not sure I can point to any one thing that helped the most.  But I'll share what I did here for anyone looking to maximize their promotion efforts during free days.

Gull Harbor is in some pretty large categories.  There is no "Romance> Set in haunted house>Cape Cod" category, although I wish there were!  Since the paranormal element in Gull Harbor is a ghost, I could not get into one of the more narrow categories (vampires, witches, demons, etc.) within Romance>Paranormal.  I was stuck in the largest Romance category other than Romance>Contemporary.  Gull Harbor's other category, Romance>Fantasy, was only slightly smaller.  I knew I would have to really spread the word far and wide to get seen within these expansive groups, even as a free book.

I gave myself a budget of 0 dollars.  There are many places that will guarantee a feature for your freebie on their site for a small payment.  And I'm not saying those sites don't deserve monetary support--they do.  But I'd spent money in others places in the past few months, and I decided I was going to invest time rather than money for this particular promotion.

I started with some links from our marketing director and went from there.  Many sites offering free promotion for free books in turn had more links for similar advertising.  This site in particular grouped a large number of sites together: http://authormarketingclub.com/members/submit-your-book/.  I investigated every one I could find, reading the guidelines and taking notes.  I filled an 8x11 piece of paper with lists of places to submit my freebie to, along with their deadlines, tips, and etiquette rules.  If it was a forum, I registered in advance and learned my way around.  If the site allowed you to list your book well in advance, I filled out the information and sent it in early.  If a site wanted an explanation as to why they should pick your book, I took the time to write a sincere and hopefully persuasive response.  Yes, this took time and organization.  But I chose quantity over a financial investment, and enough sites featured my book to help me spread the word.

Then I tried to maximize my exposure on other social media sites.  I try to be supportive of authors I've connected with through my publisher, Twitter tribes, Twitter followers, and Facebook pages.  In turn, I had support in return from shares, retweets, and downloads.  I try not to bombard my Facebook followers with promotion, but since this was an offer for a free book, I asked people to share the Gull Harbor link.  I was amazed at how many people happily did this for me!  And I'm lucky enough to have some loyal readers who went above and beyond.  One reader shared my book's link on 19 Facebook pages!  I was truly humbled by the support.

I blogged, visited forums, posted in my Goodreads groups, and scheduled tweets and FB posts within The Wild Rose Press database.  My brother shared the link with his realtor loop.  I even handed out some postcards to a few cashiers at stores during the week.  Sure, it felt a tiny bit awkward...but it's a free book!

The downside of this kind of exposure is opening your book up to many, many readers who would probably not have chosen it had it not been free.  And people in general are 10 times more likely to leave a negative review about something that bothered them than to take the time to write a positive one about something they loved!  So less-than-stellar reviews are an inevitable consequence of the thousands of downloads it takes to hit #1. 

However, I try (sometimes it's quite difficult, lol) to find the silver lining in those reviews.  A lot of valuable feedback can be found in the useful criticisms.  Plus, anything less than 4 or 5 stars reminds me that I am doing my job: my novel has moved beyond the circle of comfort defined by family and friends.  My marketing efforts have been successful.  And while it's painful to have someone not find your work amazing, not everyone likes the same things.  Books I've found brilliant have received plenty of low marks from other readers.  Conversely, books I didn't like have thousands of happy fans. 

Thankfully, the feedback for Gull Harbor has been far more positive than negative.  I've had readers go out of their way to connect with me via email and Facebook to tell me how much they loved the story.  And since my only goal when I began this journey was to create stories people would enjoy - stories readers could lose themselves in for a few hours - hearing those kind comments renews my passion for work that is truly a labor of love.