Well, first of all, I made The Lost Years: Helen & Lalitha a free download, and then I made Prisoner no longer free, but priced at 99 cents. (I think it is one of my best stories, and easily worth more than the price I've set. But stories that sell on Smashwords are, I believe, priced very low, and that's what readers are looking for.)
Immediately, of course, Prisoner stopped selling; in fact nothing has sold for the last few days! The message is clear: I may give away my stories, but I may not try to sell them. (On the other hand, there are a few steady sales on Apple Books, and Barnes and Noble, for which I'm grateful.)
Lalitha, meanwhile, priced to move as a free download, has not sold a single copy, which is frustrating for me. I think that story, which is not an essential part of the Sharon story, except for establishing essential background for the character Sita, is nevertheless a lovely, romantic story on its own, with several fascinating characters, even though they're essentially adults.
Prisoner, which was downloaded enthusiastically, is certainly a great story, but it is set in a fantasy universe, and the characters are in their late teens. I wonder whether that's the secret of the popularity of Prisoner?
Meanwhile, I commissioned an artist to supply for me a cover for Lalitha, and she delivered a few hours ago. The main illustration for the cover is shown here. It depicts the unofficial 'wedding' where Helen and Lalitha are informally married according to a Hindu rite. I'm pleased with how Lalitha has been drawn, but in the story Helen has been a worker in housing construction, something which I did not make clear to the artist. Still, I do see Helen and Lalitha in the artwork, and I think it is just perfect. Whether it will help to make the book more attractive, I cannot say!
Kay
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