having it all

Nominate Disruption by Design on Kindle Scout
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Nominate Disruption by Design on Kindle Scout

Kindle Scout Campaign

My forthcoming new novel, Disruption by Design has been up on Kindle Scout since November 10th. To date, I’ve had 1336 page views, though Amazon doesn’t report how many nominations the book has. It did manage to hit the Hot and Trending list for seven hours in its first couple of days live. I’m hoping it makes it back there near the end of its month on December 10th.

Disruption by Design is Book 2 in the Having it All series, about professional 30-something women in Vancouver struggling to balance the challenge and fulfillment of their career with their search for love, family and home. It follows Bruce and Alexa, the best friends of Simon and Kate from Reconcilable Differences. – p.s. Eventually most of the key characters in Reconcilable Differences will get their own story (yes, I already know what happens, more or less!)

 

Cover of Disruption by Design by M A Clarke Scott author

What is the price of sacrifice, when love is the prize?

Alexa is a gifted architect. She grew up watching her mother pay a heavy price for love, at the loss of her freedom, her creativity and her identity – a price Alexa swore she would never pay. She spent her youth helping her working mom take care of their home, her sick father and her six younger siblings. Now nothing will stand in the way of her success.

Bruce has success in spades. He lives a life of leisure after selling his software company for millions. But money can’t buy the thing he desires most, and was deprived of as a child when his mother left him and his three older brothers in the care if his bullying dad- the love and nurturing of a woman, a comfortable home and a family of his own.

 

 

Although behind the scenes analysis of Kindle Scout results in few conclusions (see my 2016 Kindle Scout campaign analysis here), it’s generally held to be important to Amazon that a healthy percentage of your page views and nominations come in from external links. This round, I’m not doing so well, with only sixty out of those 1336 that could be attributable to my own marketing efforts, a mere four percent. You can help bump up this percentage!

Click here to check it out and if you like it, please Nominate it. And then share the link with other avid readers, too.

My impression is that, like every other tool and strategy available to independent authors, Kindle Scout has changed very rapidly in the last couple of years. Not one thing in this industry sits static very long, which is why authors and publishers need to continue to be light-of-foot and constantly monitoring and learning. Although not universally true, it seems to me more experienced, not-first-time authors are using Kindle Scout as a launching platform, in order to get more visibility for books they plan to release themselves in the near future. As I am.

It’s not that Amazon doesn’t still pick up the occasional book out of the enourmous public slush pile that Kindle Scout nominees represent. (For those not familiar, a “slush pile” is that huge pile of mostly unsolicited manuscripts most traditional publishers and agents have to dig and weed through to find that one jewel of a book that excites them enough to represent it.) But those odds never were very good. Whether traditional or new-age, it’s pretty hard to predict what next book which capture the public’s imagination.

Rejection Letter Peanuts cartoon

 

Click here to check it out and if you like it, please Nominate it. And then share the link with other avid readers, too.

Thank you!

 

 

Other places you can follow me

Booksprout LogoBy the way, I’ve discovered a fantastic new book platform. It’s another great way for readers and authors to find each other. It helps authors get Advance Reader Copies out to hungry readers in exchange for reviews. You can now hear about my new releases and deals in the Booksprout app.

Follow me in the Booksprout app!

Just download it, search for “M A Clarke Scott” and click follow! (Hint: In addition to my planned new release, I have another special offer coming up soon. See if you can find it!) Get the free Booksprout app →

Don’t forget Instagram

When not diligently editing the manuscript for Disruption by Design, I mostly hang out on Instagram these days if I’m spending time on social media. I guess I just like the visuals there, and the quick text-like bites of commentary, as well as the generally positive environment (unlike some platforms these days.) If you want to see all the photos I’ve posted (yes, there are some of my cats and what I’ve been cooking or eating) including travel and events and books, follow me here!

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COVER REVEAL: RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES

Reconcilable Differences cover

The final new book cover

 

RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: BEARING SCARS

Finally Reconcilable Differences is ready for publication. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, this is a book that was originally written over ten years ago. For all the revisions, it will always carry the scars of having been my first, and because of that, the vehicle for my learning curve as a writer.

 

In some ways, this seems appropriate for a book that’s about exactly that.  A woman, Kate O’Day, who carries the emotional and psychic scars of a long-ago sexual assault, and the emotional trauma of dealing with and healing from that over many years. Kate, like her story, has been in a long iterative process of revision, learning and rebirth.

 

I’m so happy to be able to share Kate’s story with you at last. It’s an important story, and as one reviewer said, “we get to ride along on this harrowing journey without getting too beat up along the way.” Reconcilable Differences explores how sexual assault can lead to repressed memories, PTSD, and compromised self-esteem that has deep and lasting impact on a woman and her ability to form lasting and intimate relationships.

 

I felt it was important to explore these subtler psychological dimensions, since they are rarely discussed, in the context of growing awareness of rape culture, and how it supports, prolongs and institutionalizes the oppression of women for the duration of their lives.

 

 

A HOPEFUL STORY OF HEALING & SELF LOVE

 

But this is not meant to be a dark or a radical book. My goal had always been to tell a love story. A sensitive and intimate exploration of one woman’s journey toward self-knowledge, self-acceptance and love. Although Reconcilable Differences isn’t a classic romance, it is a love story, as Kate navigates the reawakening of a love she lost long ago, along with her own sense of self.

 

It’s ultimately an optimistic story that hopefully resonates with readers, allowing insight into the inner life of a woman searching for identity, fulfillment, balance and love. In that regard, it speaks to us all.

 

HAVING IT ALL

 

Regardless of your personal experience, everywoman’s life shares certain common threads. Despite changes over generations, and from place to place, women have always had to struggle to find their place in society. No matter what choices you are given, or what decisions you make, there are always options, always consequences, always disappointments. I don’t think this feeling is particular to my generation, but I do feel that my own life is a reflection of this truth, and so I write with insight and authority on subjects that have touched me personally.

 

The Having It All series of novels is my way of exploring modern women’s lives as they try to integrate the particular circumstances of their families of origin and personal experiences with perpetually conflicting goals. How do we balance freedom with security, self-expression, identity and autonomy with love, family and belonging? As we variously lean in and try to participate fully in the world, we also need to keep a finger on the pulse of our inner lives to ensure that we don’t sell ourselves short. True empowerment means living fully in our own essence, and having the freedom to make and live with our choices without regret.

 

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?

 

This is a good moment to reflect on why I wrote this story, and why I believe you should read it. Women’s Fiction encompasses the woman’s journey no matter where or when or how she lives, and by donning the mantle, and walking in the shoes, of characters that are like, but different from ourselves, we learn. We become sensitized to the particular challenges women face, and we can apply those lessons to our own lives, hopefully for the better. We learn about the world, we learn about ourselves, and we learn about each other.
We are all on a journey, and honest compelling storytelling has always been an important way for us to broaden, deepen and strengthen ourselves for the road. I hope you join me on this journey and both read and enjoy Reconcilable Differences. There are more stories where this one came from!

 

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