# 5 Star Review for 33 Summers



## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

Hello all. I just wanted to drop in and let you all know about my novel that was just released in Kindle form. It is called 33 Summers and tells the story of Jack Mathis a baseball player from Rhode Island that has a ton of talent, but gets caught up in drugs and alcohol. This is my first of what I hope to be several novels. You can check it out here. http://www.amazon.com/33-Summers-ebook/dp/B003FGXL9S/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Thank you for your time, and if I broke some kind of code of conduct please set me straight I wasn't sure where I should place this.

Darren L. Pare


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## Dana (Dec 4, 2009)

Welcome to the Kindle Boards! 

33 Summers by Darren L. Pare


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks Dana I appreciate the welcome.  Thank you for uploading the book cover as well.


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## DonnaFaz (Dec 5, 2009)

Welcome, Darren.  The readers and authors here are friendly and helpful.

~Donna~


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

Thank you as well Donna for the nice welcome.


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

I was looking for some ideas on good places to find readers. I don't want to spam people I just want to get the word out. What are your ideas?

Thanks in advance,

Darren http://tiny.cc/i77pa


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

I am going to bump this to the top because I am still looking for advice.

Thanks,

Darren http://tiny.cc/y4xn7


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

Maybe I'm being dense today, but are you meaning e-readers or readers for your book?  
I downloaded a sample of your book.
deb


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## mistyd107 (May 22, 2009)

Sounds great added it to my TBR!!  welcome


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## DonnaFaz (Dec 5, 2009)

Darren, there are threads with marketing ideas in the Bazaar. Take a few minutes to look around. There's a treasure trove of info here. The authors have tried lots of things and are very free with info to help you.

~Donna~


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks to everyone for their advice and for sampling my book, it is very much appreciated.

Darren http://tiny.cc/y4xn7


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

Donna, 

I did find some good information in there thank you very much.

Darren


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

Taking off on another post, what do you think of my cover?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Darren,

Friendly reminder: we do ask that authors not 'bump' their threads more often than once per week. You _are_ responding to specific questions/comments, but that could certainly have been done via one post rather than 3 on 3 consecutive days. Remember, this policy is not to stifle anyone, but to give everyone a fair share of time on the front page of the Bazaar. . . .

Thanks,

Ann
Book Bazaar Moderator


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

I need a new cover for my book and was wondering if any of you authors would know a good inexpensive place to go to get this done.

Thank you in advance,
Darren http://tiny.cc/y4xn7


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

Sales have been kind of slow for my baseball novel 33 Summers.  I am just looking for any advice you might have for a first time author.  What has worked and what hasn't worked?  Any advice is appreciated.

Darren


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

dpare71 said:


> Sales have been kind of slow for my baseball novel 33 Summers. I am just looking for any advice you might have for a first time author. What has worked and what hasn't worked? Any advice is appreciated.


Hi Darren,

How do you define slow sales? Maybe I can help you a bit.

My fantasy novel Firefly Island







was released for Kindle in early April. I'm happy with its sales, and here are some good ways to promote your book:

* Have a personal website about yourself and your writing, and also offer some free content. On my own website, http://www.DanielArenson.com, I offer free writing tips, free stories, poems, and more.

* Participate on facebook, myspace, and twitter. These are great places to meet readers!

* Meet readers online in places like Kindleboards.

* Keep working on the next book! In the future, new releases can help promote your backlist.

If your book is good, word of mouth will spread, and you'll find more and more readers.  Good luck!


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

I think part of my problem may have been my price was too high.  It was $4.99 now dropped to $2.99.  I guess people expect something for just about nothing.  As much work as I have put into my book it seems a shame to sell it for so little.


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## Ben Lacy (Apr 20, 2010)

You and I are in a similar market (sports fiction).  I've been posting to the Amazon message boards, particularly the genre threads.  There's one for sports as well.  I created my own for boxing.  

Price is definitely tough.  There are so many cheap and even free Kindle books, it's hard to attract anyone without low prices.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

dpare71 said:


> I think part of my problem may have been my price was too high. It was $4.99 now dropped to $2.99. I guess people expect something for just about nothing. As much work as I have put into my book it seems a shame to sell it for so little.


 As a first time author, thus an unknown. you should probably price it more like 0.99 but no higher then $1.99. You need to make your book excessable, to build up a fan base. Also think of it like this, your selling pixels. Some people wont see it the same as a hard back book. My family still look at me funny when I say I'm selling a book, but I don't have anything physical to show them. Only whats on a computer screen.


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

dpare71 said:


> Sales have been kind of slow for my baseball novel 33 Summers. I am just looking for any advice you might have for a first time author. What has worked and what hasn't worked? Any advice is appreciated.
> 
> Darren


I just sent a sample to my Kindle


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

With regard to your cover, who's your target audience?


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

The target audience is sports fans, but it is more than just a book about sports it is about relationships as well.  Do you think the cover paints me into a corner?


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

Has anyone had any problems lowering their Kindle price.  I have tried lowering it twice and it still is at its original price.  Maybe the hand of fate stepping in, but any ideas?


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## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

How long have you waited?  It can take a couple of days for the price to go through.  (Also, you have to make sure you do all the check boxes in the publishing form.)

The other thing that happens once in a while is that you somehow get kicked into "internatioanl" even when you're in the U.S., so the price will appear to be two dollars higher.  Usually quitting your browser and coming back fixes that.

Camille


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

dpare71 said:


> The target audience is sports fans, but it is more than just a book about sports it is about relationships as well. Do you think the cover paints me into a corner?


Well, I'm a girl, I don't do sports but the cover doesn't bother me. I have the sample but didn't buy it because it has some formatting issue that would really annoy me in a full length book. The 1st pages of each (chapter I assume) are 3/4 blank, and all the paragraphs have double carriage returns, just to name a couple of format issues. The writing is good though.


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

dpare71 said:


> The target audience is sports fans, but it is more than just a book about sports it is about relationships as well. Do you think the cover paints me into a corner?


That's the same target as mine. My MC is a teen-age ice hockey playing girl. I do think the cover paints you into a corner a bit. I'm not a fan of sport, but sport/relationships will draw me in. I may not have picked your book based on the cover alone. (though I have now!)


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

I have waited a couple of weeks and the price change didn't go through, but I just might keep it there for a bit.  

Thanks for the insight on the cover and I will see what I can do to address the formatting issues.  Thank you for bringing those to my attention.


Also thanks for the kind comments on the writing.


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## DonnaFaz (Dec 5, 2009)

dpare71 said:


> I have waited a couple of weeks and the price change didn't go through, but I just might keep it there for a bit.
> 
> Thanks for the insight on the cover and I will see what I can do to address the formatting issues. Thank you for bringing those to my attention.
> 
> Also thanks for the kind comments on the writing.


When you changed the price are you sure you dotted your i's and crossed your t's? You have tick the box saying that you have right to publish the work AND you have to tick the 'publish' box as well. Go check dpt.amazon.com again. If you ticked all the right boxes, then write to dpt customer service. They're usually very responsive.

~Donna~


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## DonnaFaz (Dec 5, 2009)

One more thing...you don't have to wait until someone responds to your question on this thread. Feel free to private message anyone here at KB. Just click their name in the top left area (above their avatar) and you'll be taken to their profile page. From there you can send them a private message. I've sent private messages to many of the authors here and each and every one has been friendly and helpful.

~Donna~


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

Okay authors where do you go to get your covers done?  I think it may be time to change mine up.


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## EliseBell (May 20, 2010)

My mom says she likes the cover. Especially for portraying what the book is about. She says it inspires the image of a baseball player being chewed up spit out and used by the game.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

I'd work on getting that price change done as your first priority. Call them, email them what ever it takes, as 4.99 is way to high for an unknown author in a not super hot genre. Now if the pitcher is a vampire, or better, the whole team, as it travels the circuit. then I could see you making some money following the teams life at baseball and love for 4.99


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## EliseBell (May 20, 2010)

Sharlow said:


> I'd work on getting that price change done as your first priority. Call them, email them what ever it takes, as 4.99 is way to high for an unknown author in a not super hot genre. Now if the pitcher is a vampire, or better, the whole team, as it travels the circuit. then I could see you making some money following the teams life at baseball and love for 4.99


Hahahaha Sharlow, why didn't I think of that! I am not sure they would take it in non fiction form though if I said I was a vampire teen mom. I should write a mock version of it. I could write: The way to deal with rumors is to find whoever is spreading them and drain them of blood. They won't be talking much after that.


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## Sharlow (Dec 20, 2009)

EliseBell said:


> Hahahaha Sharlow, why didn't I think of that! I am not sure they would take it in non fiction form though if I said I was a vampire teen mom. I should write a mock version of it. I could write: The way to deal with rumors is to find whoever is spreading them and drain them of blood. They won't be talking much after that.


lol, I like it! I'm always full of ideas, more then I could ever write, but i like your improvement, I really laughed and liked that, so much so I read it to my daughter and she got a kick out of it. Yep, that is definitely the way to stop rumors.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

I'm sure there are a large number of baseball discussion boards out there. If you get on some and mention your book - without being too heavy handed about it - that might be a good source of sales.


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

EliseBell said:


> My mom says she likes the cover. Especially for portraying what the book is about. She says it inspires the image of a baseball player being chewed up spit out and used by the game.


Okay Elise maybe I will stick with the cover, because your mother gets it and so should others.


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

I just dropped the price of my novel, 33 Summers, from $4.99 to 2.99.


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

I just wanted to share the latest review of my book with you all: http://networkedblogs.com/56lu6


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

I am lucky enough to be given the Indie Spotlight, check it out here. http://www.theindiespotlight.com/?p=2076


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

This is a great book, folks. Jack needs to get out from under the weight of his obsessed father, deal with the suicide of someone close to him, and try to overcome a drug problem later in life.


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Today's featured author at the Indie Spotlight is

Saturday: Darren L. Pare - 33 Summers

http://www.theindiespotlight.com

Come up and read and leave a comment.

Edward C. Patterson
& Gregory B. Banks


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks to some nice publicity I am only two books away from have my best sales month ever.  Thanks to the Indie Spotlight for their help as well as my friends at booksonbaseball.com.  Come join the party and be the one to put me over the top.

Darren


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

I did manage to have my best sales month in July thanks to some great readers from here and other places. August has started off rather well. You can check out an interview of mine on the Kindle Authors blog: http://kindle-author.blogspot.com/2010/08/interview-darren-l-pare.html

Thanks again,
Darren


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

August has been even better than July, so thank you to all my readers.  If you haven't read 33 Summers yet, well consider this your engraved invitation to do so.


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## dpare71 (Apr 8, 2010)

I wanted to share with you a five star review I received earlier today.

I am usually a romance reader, or a bit of suspense. 33 Summers was a bit out of my box but after having bought the Kindle, I discovered that I had so many more options that I decided to spread my wings. I have always enjoyed sports so i did it, I purchased 33 Summers. I loved it, right up to the somewhat unexpected ending and that is all I will say about that. It definitely kept me captivated and I look forward to another work from Darren Pare.


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