# Bold new price: $1.99 (Western Romances - Easton Series)



## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

The second book in the Easton Hearts Series, _Untamed Hearts,_ is now available on Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Untamed-Hearts-Easton/dp/B002IT5SIA/

The first book in the series is available for 99 cents at:

http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-Hearts/dp/B0017I7XY0/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1

After six years of wearing the badge Roy Easton finds himself an outcast, aimlessly wandering an unforgiving Montana territory. His life seems a cruel joke until he meets beautiful, independent Margaret Farnsworth. Margaret, a promised woman, sees only that strong, capable Roy is just the man to guide her through the badlands in search of her brother.

As eastern-bred Margaret struggles to overcome the hardships of the west, Roy's pleasuring hands and kisses inevitably tear her between two worlds. A marked man, Roy can never give Margaret the respectability she deserves, yet he turns his back on his western code of honor as he dallies with the betrothed beauty.

Untamed Hearts is the second book in the Easton Hearts series.

Excerpt copyright 2009

Margaret thrust her hands onto her hips and stiffened her back ramrod straight. "Not that it's any of your business, but my brother sent a telegram to me, asking for my help. He's in trouble, and sick!"

Margaret felt fear squeeze her heart, and an urgent burning in the pit of her stomach at the thought of her brother suffering somewhere out on this endless prairie. She was driven to see him safe, and if she had to beat off every scoundrel and outlaw in this territory, including this one, well then by God she'd do it.

"Well, that makes me glad I'm not your brother," Roy scoffed.

"I'm glad, too! My brother wouldn't smell like cheap perfume!" she lashed back. Margaret was worldly enough to know that western men, like the wild territory, couldn't be tamed by the mere presence of grace and civility.

Roy winced visibly as he recalled the range-relief gal, the one who'd run her hands over his chest outside the mercantile that afternoon, marking his shirt with her two-bit whore scent. He awkwardly twisted his hat in his hands.

"Where's home?" he asked abruptly, so as to change the topic of conversation.

"Philadelphia," she allowed. "I traveled up the Missouri by steamboat, got off at the fort and," she waved her small hand, "those snakes offered to guide me the rest of the way . . . have you a name?"

Roy chuckled. "My mama, bless her soul, would tan my bottom for forgetting my manners with a lady." He yanked off his hat, and affected an exaggerated sweeping bow that propelled his thick dark hair forward to frame the hard angles of his face.

"Roy Easton."

Margaret softened. "Miss Margaret Victoria Taylor Farnsworth." She extended her hand and smiled. "And thank you for helping me out . . . out of my predicament."

Roy grinned at the woman who hauled a name long enough to need two mules to carry it. He reached to take her smooth white hand, inhaled her intoxicating rose scent, and, feeling a stirring in his groin, he stifled a silent groan.

It was the kind of trouble he didn't need, especially not now. As his hard cowboy hand met hers in a gentle clasp, he subconsciously registered the fact that she came from the gussied-up stock known as eastern nobility. Sure as steers stampede, those soft-as-silk hands hadn't known a day of hard work. His rough ones, by contrast, belonged to a hardworking rancher-turned-ex-lawman.


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## Jaasy (Feb 28, 2009)

Thanks, I just bought the first one...


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

Thank you!


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## sierra09 (Jun 20, 2009)

Anna, I've read the excerpt here and the preview on Amazon for the other book and both sound great. While historic western tales aren't normally what I read I do read romances if they have cowboys involved or related characters. If I had a Kindle or if they were in paperback you'd have another reader.  Best wishes with both books.


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

Thanks Sierra. I just purchased _Celtic Evil_. I think I'll enjoy it, as I love family sagas (even paranormal ones).

Anna


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

Thanks to everyone on this board for their support . . . I had my best month ever in August (sold 173 books between the two titles I have on Kindle).

Just finished _Gold Star Wife_. Campbell's empathy for the values of that post-WWII era came through brilliantly. I recommended her on an Amazon community blog last night (I hope it helped your sales LK!).

I've started Brendan Carroll's_ Red Cross of Gold_ and Sierra Rose' _Celtic Evil_.

Tonight I purchased _Look Away Silence_ (who can resist 99 cents?).


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

Friends

I'm a guest blogger at http://www.romancejunkies.com/rjblog/ today.

They use Wordpress software for their blog, and something is messed up as the formatting was stripped from my post, and the admin tried to fix it, but it is still a bit whacked. It must be Murphy's law of trying to promote my book. I'm going to blame Stacey Cochran -- I took his advice on a "blogging tour" (actually it was great advice -- I heard him talk about it on his site -- hey, who can resist a handsome guy writer with sexy titles like "Colorado Sequence" giving advice? Not me ;-)

Anyhoo, it's the story of how I came to write the first book -- my brain had to go somewhere far away and long ago while I was riding that #!?& bike to lose all the weight.

Anna


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## MrTsMom (Jun 13, 2009)

Don't you love it when you read about a book here that sounds interesting, follow the link to Amazon, and discover that you already bought it?

So many books, so little time.


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## Chloista (Jun 27, 2009)

AnnaM, these sound really good; I downloaded both.  Always did like cowboys!


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

Thanks Chloista!


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

Romance Junkies never fixed the formatting errors in my blog post :-(

But, you can read the post on my Amazon Author page:

http://www.amazon.com/$seoName/e/B002IYSC6U/


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

OK I'm just shamelessly bumping this thread because I mentioned this great board on a romance reader's blog. I hope other authors here are promoting the Kindle Boards book bazaar on other boards . . . the more traffic we have to this great site the better . . . lots of great book suggestions here.

Here's the post I commented on -- about death of the mid list:

http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/2009/09/30/the-death-of-the-midlist/


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

Over the weekend I decided to raise the price to 1.99 on my first book (Unbroken Hearts). I figured raising the price slowly is better than making one jump to 2.99 when the royalty structure changes.

Sales slowed yesterday, but it's difficult to assess based on one day (and it was a holiday).

Anyone else have data on what happens when you go from .99 to 1.99? 

Thanks.


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## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

AnnaM said:


> Anyone else have data on what happens when you go from .99 to 1.99?


From my own experience, it was a bad idea. I'd built up great sales momentum, and hiking the price killed it dead.

I'll charge more for my next book, but _The Ryel Saga_ stays at 99 cents from here on out. Sales over the weekend were remarkably decent.

CK


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

Thanks Carolyn. I'm wondering whether 2.99 will truly become the new price floor.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Anna, I've merged this with your previous book thread for your series...thanks!

Betsy


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## Carolyn Kephart (Feb 23, 2009)

AnnaM said:


> Thanks Carolyn. I'm wondering whether 2.99 will truly become the new price floor.


I hope not. People won't take a chance on indies at that price.


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

It's been 3 weeks since I increased the price, and sales have slipped. I'm making more money (actual revenue running at 10% more than March), but selling fewer books.

The good news -- I'm still selling enough to remain #1 in the Western category. Of course the bad news is exposure to fewer readers.

I'll keep it at $1.99 for now. I think $2.99 (right now) would kill sales. 

Unbroken Hearts on Kindle Store


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

I'm raising the price of second book in the series -- (_Untamed Hearts_) -- to 2.99. It will take a couple days for the change to go up on the page. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that this won't kill sales.

Ranking slipped on the first book when I raised it to 1.99 in early April, but I actually made more money.

A.


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

I'm raising the price to beat the rush at the end of the month. I just pushed the "publish" button, so it will go up within the next couple of days.

When I raised the price from 99 cents to 1.99 (on _Unbroken Hearts_) back on April 4th my sales dipped a bit but my revenues (profit) rose. Oddly, I also received more reviews (do more people actually read the book when they pay more for it?).

I raised the price of the second in the series, (_Untamed Hearts_), in early May (from 1.99 to 2.99). I also experienced a slight dip in sales on that title, but higher revenues overall. _Untamed Hearts_ is making nearly as much money as _Unbroken_ so far this month, and sales of that title are accelerating over last month. I consider that a good sign for July, when prices go to 2.99 and royalty rate doubles.

Let's cross our fingers and hope Amazon is building a business model that encourages indies to produce more content and make more money. This should be a win-win, and if not then Amazon isn't running their business to best advantage.

My hope is that Amazon is building a model which allows indies to earn enough to make writing a career choice, not just a hobby, while giving readers a good value. I think $2.99 is an excellent value price. It allows indies who start at a lower price (99 cents or 1.99) to quickly build revenues once they have name recognition.

OK, taking a big breath now, and I'll try not to freak out when my ranking drops on the lists . . .


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