The Perfect Gift for book-lovers

The family of an old friend of mine had a very simple formula for Christmas Day, ensuring everyone received the perfect gift. They all bought each other a book. The biggest challenge was when buying that special book for their family member, my friend always bought a book she wanted. But she had a solution for that too: “As long as you read it with clean fingers before wrapping it up and putting it under the tree, nobody would be any the wiser!”

My dear friend comes to mind as Christmas draws near and I’m so excited to have a book of my very own to wrap and give at Christmas. Since hitting #1 on Amazon and seeing my book on their Gift Ideas page, I have been inspired to offer “Write About Me” as the perfect gift this Christmas.

My publicist has booked a day, with champagne, for signing and wrapping my gift for your family and friends. We want to make sure the books arrive in time so we have two mailout dates:

• December 6 and December 11

There are two ways to order:

• Buy HERE via Big Cartel
• Email your order to booksales@thewordmint.com.au with all the details

And Merry Christmas to my dear friend whose very own personally-signed and wrapped copy of “Write About Me” is on its way x

Remembering Ursula Barwick

By Melissa-Jane Pouliot

Ursula Dianne Barwick is a missing person. She would have turned 43 on August 14 this year. It is 26 years since we have seen her.

“Write About Me” is inspired by Ursula, who is my first cousin. She was born in Quirindi NSW on 14 August, 1970 and the daughter of Peter and Cheree (now deceased) Barwick. Ursula is the second name of my grandmother. Her middle name is after my mother, Cheree’s only sister, who said Ursula was the most placid, contented baby she had ever known. Mum said she never cried when she was a baby – ever.

Ursula was like a sister to me. We did everything together as children and into our teenage years. She taught me how to ride a pushbike and a motorbike. She taught me how to laugh until my cheeks and sides hurt. She taught me the words of songs such as Jessie’s Girl and Hot Chocolate and Dr Hook classics which I still remember today because we would sing them over and over and over again.

The last time I saw Ursula was in Quirindi when I was almost 15 and she was nearly 17. My memories of the months after she left her home town are vague, and dates and times aren’t clear. 

What I have learnt since publishing “Write About Me” is that Ursula boarded a train at The Entrance to go to Sydney at around this time – new information that has come to light means we need to look into the exact dates. Police reports say it is August 14, 1987 but it is more likely early September. Family members put her on the train believing that she was going to stay with friends, set up a new life and get a job.

Ursula’s story does not end with Write About Me. I am currently working on my second novel.

Related articles

• Write About Me (thewordmintmelissajane.wordpress.com)
• AFP endorses Write About Me
• Channel 9 Mornings TV Interview about Ursula and Write About Me

Why BookBub works for authors and readers

BOOKBUB SAYS…“We only feature books that are bestsellers or written by a bestselling author, were published by a top-tier publisher, or have received strong reviews from critics and readers.” BookBub website home page

It’s been an exciting weekend in The Word Mint thanks to BookBub. And as a result “Write About Me” is now a #1 Bestseller as well as an Amazon Hot Seller, Hot New Release, Top Rated and Gift Idea! Sales have also jumped by a whopping 600% in the days after the promotion finished. Happy Dance!

After the promotion finished, Write About Me is holding steady at #1 in several categories.

How did I get onto BookBub?

My Amazon publishing mentor and a group of international authors she introduced me to put me onto BookBub to promote “Write About Me” with the global reading market as my target.

What happened next?

I submitted Write About Me via an online form and waited with anticipation to be accepted. As their website states very clearly above – they only feature top quality content and I wasn’t sure my self-published debut fiction novel that was only about 4 months old would pass.

Accepted!

Yay! After BookBub accepted my book, all I had to do was pay $110, schedule my book to be free for the duration of the promotion and let BookBub do the rest.

Results of previous paid campaigns?

I had just trialled a paid Facebook campaign for Halloween, targetting Vancouver and London and setting my age group from 16-64. It cost me almost $100. Although Facebook tells me more than 20,000 people viewed my post the results were appalling. There were minimal downloads of my Kindle version on Amazon while the book was free and there were no follow up sales. I received only about 10 post likes and no new page likes for The World Mint.

Would BookBub deliver?

I was losing confidence in attracting a global audience despite getting great reviews and feedback on my book from everyone who was reading it. Was BookBub any different?

BookBub explosion

Just a few hours after BookBub posted the image below on their Facebook page, more than 9000 people had downloaded it. For the next 12 hours this tally rose and rose, as did my rankings.By the end of the promotion more than 26,500 people were reading Write About Me.

BookBub Facebook Post

Rankings during promotion

During the promotion the book reached #4 in the entire Kindle store. It was #3 in Mystery, #4 in Literary Fiction, #1 in Drama – it seemed that everywhere you looked on Amazon, there was the amazing cover that my brother from fashion label LP33.3 designed for Write About Me.

Below is a Screen Grab Brag Gallery.

Related articles

• How to Discover New Books When There are Millions Out There! (claudenougat.blogspot.com)
• Why Are Publishers Giving Away Bestselling Books for Free? (thebookinsider.wordpress.com)
• Why I’m Giving My Books Away For Free (juliefarrellbooks.com)

Australian stockists of Write About Me

Thank you to all the wonderful stockists and bookstores of Write About Me. It is very exciting to see it on the shelves next to other favourite books of mine, and to get your calls asking for more books!! Bookstores have to work very hard to keep books on their shelves, so please support these independent stores by buying your very own copy! And don’t be afraid to ask for a signed book  – I’d be more than happy to sign one and send it to your favourite bookstore for you.

Follow this link for a full list of stockists and keep your eye on this blog for profiles on some of these great independent bookstores!

Related articles – although two of these articles are from the US, I believe they ring true no matter where you are in the world:

• Support Your Local Independent Bookstore! (femmesfatales.typepad.com)
• More bookshops join our stockists’ lists! (christmaspresspicturebooks.com)
• 45 Great American Indie Bookstores to Support This Holiday Season (hernameisgrace.me)

Write About Me

The first fiction novel released via The Word Mint’s bookstore is called “Write About Me” and it’s ranking as #1 on Amazon Kindle. Inspired by a true family tragedy, this novel by Melissa-Jane Pouliot is based on the 26-year mystery of her cousin Ursula Dianne Barwick, who went missing in Sydney Australia in 1987. The Australian Federal Police National Missing Persons Coordination Centre has endorsed the novel. 

ABC radio interview about AFP endorsement here

More information on National Missing Persons Website here