For those of you who don't know anything about the books it is a children's fantasy story spread over three volumes and is aimed at an age group from about eleven to fourteen. I would like to also think that like many other childrens books it also appeals to an older audience too. The story centres around Prudence and tells of her life and struggles from unknown orphan to princess and rightful heir to a throne taken from her father shortly after she was born. Prudence is a fairy. She lives in a magical world that we in our world would perhaps know best as Avalon; a world that an ancient english king and his noble knights once fought hard to protect from human jealousies and misunderstandings.
It is then, very much a tale based on old english folklore with Arthur and his knights forming a very important backdrop to the story.
So getting back to the promotion, a few things became obvious when I reviewed the sales during this promotional period. First and foremost Prudence seems to be a lot more popular abroad than she is in the UK. This surprised me at first but the more I thought about it the more I realised that what so many visitors to this country seem to find so appealing about us is our history and heritage, and that this is perhaps what drew them to the book. However, during the whole three day promotion only one copy was sold in the UK! Hmmm..............
So, if my theory is correct and the attraction of the book was the quintessential englishness of the subject then is it that we here in Blighty are just a little bit blase about our heritage? Is it something we're a little too used to and it's a bit 'old hat'.
Perhaps I'm just over-analyzing and it was simply that the promotion for the offer on twitter and Goodreads (Both bigger in the US) had a greater reach than other stuff that I did to advertise. It's very difficult because knowing what attracts someone to your book helps with knowing how to promote it; the more you know the easier it is. And, when you're a novice like me you need all the help you can get! (Still not liking this whole 'having to promote your work' thing!)
Also it is clear that everyone loves a bargain - me included - so I would just like to say that if you have been living on another planet over the last week and missed all my incessant plugging about the promotion, you may like to know that both the first two volumes of the chronicles of Prudence are available to borrow on kindle for free. So if you would like to take a look, or if you're thinking of buying the paperback for a little person you know you can check it out before you buy! How good is that!
Kim
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