A.L. Knorr Update, January 2018

Where on Earth am I?

I am currently in jolly old England. I arrived from Tuscany on December 21, and you can imagine that the transition from warm sunny Firenze to chilly sombre London was a bit of a shock. As I type this, rain is spattering against the panes of my windows and a thick blanket of clouds is nestled low over the chimneys of the city once known as The Old Smoke. London is a big, crowded, noisy, busy place – for this farm girl and Canadian, it can be a little overwhelming at times.

So why am I in London?

It’s a place rich with history, incredible architecture, and offers every opportunity of a big city  – museums, galleries, restaurants, theatre, libraries, parks. I’ll stop before I start to sound like a tourist leaflet. I also have some good friends here and am already enjoying time with them. And hey, 12 degrees and a bit of rain still beats a -30 cold snap on the prairies!

I’m also here for the 20 Books Conference which takes place in two weeks and which I am speaking at (eek!). I’m excited to finally be meeting my co-author Martha Carr, and my publisher Michael Anderle (in the flesh as opposed to over wires) as well as many other indie authors. I can’t wait! I’ve been doing this solo for two years now, its time to rub shoulders with my peers.

I plan to stay in London until at least April, but possibly beyond, I’ll be sure to keep you posted. 🙂

What else is new?

 

 

Transcendent, The Kacy Chronicles, Book 4

This story is well underway and I am loving it! Watch for the cover reveal and sneak peeks in early February if not before. I think you’ll love this final instalment because it will answer all the questions, close up all the open loops, and reveal some potentially shocking plot twists and turns!

You’ll find that this story brings together all your favorite and not so favorite characters from the first three Kacy Chronicle stories: Jordan, Sol, Toth, Arth, Eohne, Allan, Jaclyn, Prince Diruk, Balroc, Belshar, plus the addition of a few new characters you’ll be sure to either love or despise.

I have to say that Toth has become a particularly beloved character, both from the readers perspective and from my own. I may have a spin-off story up my sleeve for this particular Nycht gent should I get requests from readers for more of him. So be sure to let me know!

The Elementals, Book 6 in The Elemental Origins Series

The most requested, most anticipated of all of my stories… this book is currently underway and I am determined to take great care with this story, as your satisfaction hangs in the balance. This story brings together all the Elemental girls in the frequently dubbed ‘sleepover book’. It’s what I’ve most been asked about and for and what I’m most excited to deliver in the coming months.

The story is more Petra’s than the other girls, as there were several unanswered questions in Born of Air, but don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of Targa, Saxony, Akiko, and Georjayna to be had as they all play a critical role. You’ll also see the return of a few of the male characters you met in previous books, but I’ll keep which ones under wraps for a few weeks yet.

Watch for the launch date announcement!

A.L. Knorr became a USA Today Bestselling Author!

Yes. It happened this month. I’m super excited to have accomplished this so close to the beginning of my career as an author, after all, I only recently passed the one year mark in publishing.

One of my readers, who has also become such a huge help in an editorial role as well, pointed out that readers would probably find it interesting how an author earns the coveted ‘bestseller’ status I so recently earned with the story Returning, in the boxed set called Sirens & Scales. What a great idear, I thought, I’ll do a blog post about that. (Thanks, Nic!)

Making a ‘list run’, as we authors call it, is a very expensive and time-consuming endeavour. Many readers are under the impression that becoming a bestseller happens kind of by accident when a book sells enough copies to beat out the competition. The truth is, it is very intentional, and it costs $10,000 or more to even have a chance of making a bestseller list like USAT or NYTimes. Sales happen because of marketing, and marketing doesn’t happen without dollars.

Several months ago, I saw an opportunity to work with Rebecca Hamilton on a boxed set with a mermaids and dragons theme. If you’re one of my readers, you’ll know why I jumped at the chance to get my work into this boxed set – I love writing mermaid stories! It’s my thing! So, I applied to join the set and was accepted, along with 25 other amazing and talented writers.

Because the set was ‘list-aiming’, authors had to contribute dollars (minimum of $500) to the marketing of the boxed set, with the aim of pooling resources and getting the books in front of as many eyeballs as possible. The objective was to hit the USAT so that all of the authors involved could claim their bestseller status and get their work into the hands of thousands of readers. With our combined labour and readership, the set would have a much better chance of making a bestseller list than any solo title could ever hope to have. Thanks to some awesome management from Monica Corwin and Rebecca Hamilton, we did it!

I’m now able to claim my ‘letters’, as we call them.

As Nic pointed out, the next goal should be to make the list with a solo title. And I think she’s right, I would love to achieve this, but I think it’ll take a while to get there.

Thanks to everyone who purchased Sirens & Scales and helped us hit our goal!

Descendant and Ascendant are both available in Audio!

Super excited to announce the first two books in The Kacy Chronicles are available in audio format and are narrated by the very talented Michael Naramore! Click the store links for more info.

DESCENDANT – USA  UK  CAD  AUS            ASCENDANT – USA  UK  CAD  AUS

 

Born of Fire is now available in Audio and Born of Earth is in Final Production!

Narrated by Gabra Zackman, who did an amazing job with Born of Water, Born of Fire the Audiobook has recently been released for your listening pleasure! For those of you who like to drive a lot, find reading difficult, or like to walk and listen to a good story, audio is such a wonderful medium. I used to road bike and listen to Sherlock Holmes episodes while the miles sped by.

That’s it for now! I’ll write again next month, and as always, please feel free to write me at my Facebook page, the VIP Reader Lounge, or email me at abby@alknorrbooks.com