Saturday, February 9, 2013

What's wrong?

Please be honest. Jumping In Puddles - hasn't made the slightest bit of a splash. So what's wrong? The cover, the blurb, the price? Too much choice out there? Everyone want rough alphas rather than funny ones? Too much sex, not enough sex. Don't like paranormal? Don't like me?

I thought Jumping in Puddles was one of my better stories but I'm obviously not connecting somehow. Any ideas as to what I can do?


In a desperate desire for a few comments or even better - a few reviews, I offer an ecopy of this book for the first person to ask for it. Which will be no one I suspect. There, that's the sort of mood I'm in!





Jago doesn't just inherit a title after the death of his parents, he's saddled with the crumbling money pit of a mansion that's been in his family for centuries. With his medical career on hold, he struggles to secure the future of Sharwood Hall, trudging uphill with no finish line in sight.

The sins of a past generation fall on faerie Ellie and her family, and each year they must trek to the exact center of the UK to recharge their energy. Until they find the Kewen, treasure guarded and lost by their ancestors hundreds of years ago, they're banished from Faerieland. Ellie's father has spent fifty years searching, now it's his eldest child's burden.

As a stunning woman sweeps into Jago's world in a thunderstorm, he can't stop thinking she's too good to be true. For little reason other than her sweet and generous heart, Ellie is helping to put Sharwood to rights and leaving him more and more suspicious she wants something other than him. When family and duty clashes with trust and love, it's debatable whether a perilous leap of faith, directly off a bridge into treacherous waters, will keep lovers from being swept apart.

10 comments:

M Joseph Murphy said...

There might not be anything wrong with the book. Maybe it's just waiting to take off.

The cover looks attractive and professional. Whoever did it is a very talented artist. However, neither the cover nor the artwork suggests elements of sex or the paranormal.

If you want to find out if price is the issue try dropping the price a dollar. See if that increases sales.

If no one else has offered yet, I'd be happy to review it.

Barbara Elsborg said...

I can't drop the price. It's set by the publisher so I'm stuck with that! I have had an offer to review but you are the first on my blog so if you'd like a copy, email me at bjel at btinternet dot com and tell me what format you'd like. Thank you!

Fred said...

I sense no dire consequences in the blurb that compel the character's actions. I come away thinking there's a guy who's running out of money and a faerie who's searching for something, and there's a love story in there somewhere. I'm not sensing passion. I'm not sensing burning desire. I'm getting facts that don't necessarily seem all that inportant such as her father having searched for the treasure for fifty years. I'd re-focus and make the passion and treasure the focal point.

Trader Mare said...

Barbara, I love the cover of this book! And I did purchase a copy of it, I just need to clone myself so I can read and work and take care of everything else that gets dumped on me! And I loved Rocked, another one of your stories involving faeries! So pretty much the answer here is lack of time and a growing TBR. And I also have Starting Over waiting for me on my Kindle! I see that you have been on twitter more, and that's good too, since many of the readers that I hang around with are there. But as for Jumping in Puddles, I absolutely love this cover!

Arlene said...

I love this story and think that yes, time may be all it needs to take off. The cover makes me smile every time I look at it. Chin up!! More and more readers are becoming fans, espiecally after it seems so many stories are ones that are read and promptly forgotten, while yours are so fresh, fun and memorable page turners.

Barbara Elsborg said...

Thanks for your comments, guys! I need to tweet more I know, I know! It's time as Tradermare says. I have a growing TBR pile that I keep adding to instead of reading!

noralea said...

I am a fairly new fan. I started with Chosen. And then tried to read your books in the order they were written. So far, An Ordinary Girl is my favorite along with Strangers. I read a lot of paranormal fiction, my favorites being about werewolves and vampires. Out of your paranormal books Misfits was my favorite.

I did read Jumping in Puddles. I loved the cover, but the only reason I read it was because you wrote it. I would have to agree that the blurb did not catch my attention. There is no meat to it. Unfortunately, I didn't find too much meat on the inside either. I usually love your characters' sense of humor. But I did not enjoy Jago. I just did not connect with Ellie either.

All that said, I see a lot of potential for Ellie's siblings having great mysterious sequels. Her sister is struggling with some kind of demon, and her brother is more than he seems.

shadow said...

I loved everything about this book, including the cover. Jumping in puddles was exactly what caught my attention. But the reason why it might not catch the attention of more people might be....that it comes across as chick-lit, which it is not. Also, it does not come across as a hot book for romance readers, it is....and I have read all your other books and am familiar with your style... but this one just does not appear as a sexy book.

Barbara Elsborg said...

Thanks for those comments, Noralea.Starting with Chosen must have given you a very skewed view!! I'm supposed to be writing a sequel for Micah and Oberon but not getting very far yet. I had thought about books for all the siblings - as I did with the Trueblood clan but if Jumping with Puddles doesn't sell, I likely won't continue.

Barbara Elsborg said...

Thanks, Shadow. Yep, that occured to me too. It's a lovely cover but it's not a sexy cover. It does look like chick lit. And although we shouldn't judge a book by its cover - I do! It's hard not to be influenced.