Comeback Era? Maybe?
I took the last few weeks off (you may have noticed), and if you typically get State of Romance emails from me, I took that off, and I’m planning on taking May off too. My husband’s birthday is on Mother’s Day weekend, and it’s the first Mother’s Day without my mom. Grief has been hard lately, and I’m trying to be nice to myself. Which is why you haven’t heard from me as much as you usually do.
Most of us are aware that March was a shit-show, and for me, up until yesterday, April hadn’t been much better.
What happened yesterday, you ask?
I released a book I was VERY excited about. I wrote a number of favorite tropes into it, included a beloved family from one of my earlier series, and specifically wrote a very spicy scene, which I’ve been known for in the past. Toward the end, I decided to include a chapter from the POV of one of the very beloved characters from my earlier series, too.
On Sunday of last week, I sent out these ARC’s, crossed my fingers, and held my breath.
Almost immediately messages started pouring in that this reminded them of my writing from six years ago, and they were so excited to get fully into it. And I knew, this was different than the books I’ve released lately. My excitement rose, and I just tried to keep expectations to a minimum.
Y’all this book released yesterday and hit NUMBER TWO ON APPLE ROMANCE. I legitimately can’t tell you if my book has ever hit number two on Apple Romance before. It’s been in the one digits, but I’ve never been that low, that I can recall.
I cried. Sobbed like a baby. For those of you who have been in this business for a long time (like me), these ebbs and flows are HARD. This last ebb has been the hardest. And I know, realistically, I shouldn’t allow numbers to affect my self-worth. I know that, but numbers are what we have in this business. It’s the representation of what we’ve done, and besides income, the only way we can figure out if what we’ve done is successful or not.
What I Did Differently This Time:
ARC’S - I gave out a BUNCH of ARC’S, over 180 when all was said and done. Usually I give away less than 100. But I made the decision for the rest of this year, while I’m rebuilding, I want as many eyes on these books as I can get.
LEVERAGED ARC READERS - Once they had signed up, and were accepted for the ARC, I sent them some graphics, and simply asked if they wanted to, to post on social media as they read it, and at release.
DIDN’T USE PR, OR RELEASE BLAST FROM A COMPANY - I found these ARC readers myself through groups, IG, and word of mouth. I did pay someone to post sign ups for me. She was $75, which is half than the cheapest PR/Release Blast I could find. And what I find with PR/Release Blast is that they are KU heavy. I’m wide, and sometimes those don’t work for me.
PUSHED MY PREORDERS LIKE A MACK TRUCK - I get a lot of preorders, typically, if I have the next book in the series up, after the one before releases, but then I let it organically die down, until we get close to release. In the two weeks leading up to release, I had 125 preorders. I ended this preorder push with a total of 515 - my goal was 500.
NEXT BOOK ON PREORDER - Y’all, I have 76 preorders already on Amazon alone for the next book. I put up that preorder the night before the previous book in the series went live.
So now? I have some very good data that shows me what may be starting to work in 2026.
It’s obvious that I need to lean into small-town police or first responders, I need to continue to focus on found family, and it definitely needs to have those spicy moments. So that’s what I’m going to do.
I have an idea for a post-apocalyptic romance, set after a natural disaster, and I kind of want to release it next month for my 13 year publishing anniversary. It will be a novella, and I write fast. Even that, I’m leaning into found family, and ex- police. I have absolutely NO expectations for that. I’m using it as a fun write, to get me over my anxiety about what this world looks like these days on the political front. So we’ll even see if I finish it in time. If I do, I plan on doing a very short preorder, and letting it fly.
My next big release is in June, and I’ll start talking about that in two weeks.
Fingers crossed this is the jumpstart I’ve needed, and this gives me my confidence back.
Thank you all for reading, and being here!
Not gonna lie, might frame this motherfucker…LOL!
ETA: If you like to email me comments, my email isn’t working, and you can do so at laramie@laramiebriscoe.net
Congrats - sooo exciting to hear for you! I’ve been thinking that my next new release for a book 1 in series will be at .99c because the last time that I did that for a book 1, I got over 500 preorders, saw read through and interest in the series spike. I might give that another try. But I imagine YOUR 500+ preorders were full price at wide. I’d love to know how you did that. Hope you enjoy your break. On to the next book.
Congrats on your release!