Tag Archives: book discovery

Adverse Reactions Book Tour: April 10–May 10

I’m doing a book tour! 🎉 Completely online, and only the third time I’ve ever done this.

The tour is organized by Maia of Silver Dagger, who goes above and beyond to showcase books, supporting not only the authors but also the book bloggers who participate. The packet of materials that Maia sends to the hosts is vast! She provides custom graphics (examples shown here), plus docs and html code — all designed for ease-of-use by the bloggers who host the tour. It’s quite the impressive operation! 😍

Tour Schedule & Giveaway

Pulling this kind of thing together and keeping up with all of the moving parts take real organizational skills. I’m grateful to the amazingly energetic and efficient Maia, who puts in long hours to support authors and champion reading, in all genres. Thanks, Maia!

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Amazon A-Plus Content for Authors

Authors, have you added A+ Content to your book pages at Amazon?

When Amazon first introduced that feature, I didn’t do it because I thought it made my book pages look junky. But recently I read a newsletter article, The Amazon A10 Update: 3 Things Every Indie Author Needs to Know, by Ferol Vernon at Written Word Media. Among the topics discussed, “Why A+ content and dwell time are suddenly critical ranking factors” caught my attention.

To quote from the raw transcript of the podcast (with some editorial cleanup for readability):

Long, eh, Ferol? I like long. 😃

Enthused, I went to KDP and clicked on the Marketing tab, and then on “Manage A+ Content.” My enthusiasm grew when I saw all of the new layouts (what Amazon calls “modules”). Many of the new templates are well suited to my books and to my temperament. I chose three different modules to present A-plus content on my book pages. In them, I included review excerpts along with cover images and brief descriptions. Below are screenshots of each module. (In real life, the A-plus content looks sharper on the actual book pages at Amazon. These screenshots are a tad fuzzy. Clicking on each image will take you to the actual book page, where you can scroll down to see what shoppers see.)

Adverse Reactions: A Novel of the Paranormal

ADVERSE REACTIONS: A Novel of the Paranormal by Deborah J. Lightfoot. A post-apocalyptic, paranormal, gritty modern Western.

The Original Waterspell Quartet

The Waterspell fantasy series by Deborah J. Lightfoot. Will Carin learn the mystery of her past or begin to understand the brooding lord who has taken her hostage? Epic fantasy in a four-book series.

The Waterspell Linked Sequels

The Waterspell Homecoming Duology by Deborah J. Lightfoot: The Karenina Chronicles and The Fires of Farsinchia, two linked sequels in the Waterspell universe.

Showcasing a Series

I seldom find any reason to praise Amazon, but I do like the new modules that authors can customize for our books’ A-Plus Content. The ability to assign multiple ASINs to each module is extremely valuable for showcasing a series. The four-book image, WATERSPELL Fantasy Series, shows up on each of those four individual book pages and also on the related page for the boxed set. The two-book image shows up on The Karenina Chronicles page and again on The Fires of Farsinchia page. Grouping the books in this way gives the reader a visual summary of the quartet (which is really one long story told in four volumes), and then the two-book image ties together the linked sequels that tell of Nina’s homecoming and her further adventures.

I don’t know whether this new A-plus content will make the books more visible at Amazon, or affect their ratings, but I like how the modules look on the individual book pages. Over time, I may further refine the content. As a product of a couple hours’ work, however, these three modules present my books in a way that satisfactorily makes the connections among them more obvious to the casual book-shopper. That’s a plus, indeed.

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A New Review for My New Book!

The first review is in for my latest, ADVERSE REACTIONS: A Novel of the Paranormal, and it’s a five-star gem! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ UK reader Alex Longbow shared this on Amazon:

ADVERSE REACTIONS: A Novel of the Paranormal by Deborah J. Lightfoot

5.0 out of 5 stars
Another brilliant book from Deborah J Lightfoot!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2026
Format: Kindle
Verified Purchase

Deborah J Lightfoot’s work is always a must read for me, and I have hugely enjoyed every one of her previous books. These have all taken place in her world of Ladhredin, a world that has become very real to me through the pages of her books. This new work, Adverse Reactions is a new departure for her, and an entirely new world is introduced to the reader. I was at once excited and intrigued by this, keen to see where Lightfoot would take me next. It’s fair to say that the world she creates is very different to Ladhredin, with magic playing no explicit part. Instead, paranormal ability takes the place of magic and lies at the core of the book. World building is skilfully managed, with the history, the land and the people introduced on a ‘need to know’ basis, so that the world is brought to us incrementally as the pages turn. I found this to be a very satisfying approach, and one which certainly engaged my interest throughout.

Our main protagonist, Devin, is herself in a process of self-discovery, which proceeds alongside this gradual revelation of the world she lives in. I found her story to be fascinating, her discovery of her own abilities and the revelation of her life history most engaging. In order to discover her true self she negotiates a precarious and engrossing path amongst characters who will variously support or challenge her as the story progresses. Devin has suffered terrible injustices and the manner in which she addresses these through the use of her developing paranormal powers is highly satisfying to the reader.

There is an exceptionally strong cast of characters in Adverse Reactions. The wholesome purity of some key relationships is balanced by Devin’s dealings with some very complex individuals, ones whom the reader is kept wondering whether they truly represent enemy or ally. In summary, Adverse Reactions is a thoroughly engrossing read, that offers some hints that there may be more to come from this context. I hope there is!

Thank you so much, Alex! 💙 I’m enormously grateful for your kind words and fabulous review. 🎉

~~~

To Learn More

Pre-publication reviews are excerpted here:
New Release: ADVERSE REACTIONS
A Bookish Striptease: Cover Reveal
ADVERSE REACTIONS: “Immediately immersive and thematically rich”
My Goodreads “Review” of ADVERSE REACTIONS
Book Launch To-Do List

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Book Launch To-Do List

When you’re stretched a little too thin, this is the sort of thing that happens. The president of an organization in which I’m active asked if I would update the design for a billboard that our group intends to display in October. In October! That’s so far in the future, it’s barely on my calendar. When I got her message, I sort of lost it, and I texted her back in a tone that was about as snappish as I’m able to be with such a good friend as she is. I wrote:

Yes, I’ll update the billboard design, but later. My March priorities:

😊 Support the March 18 launch of my new book. Social media, blogging, creating “Buy” links to the various retailers for both editions, ebook and paperback … the to-do list is long.
😵 Shepherd a $300 box of the paperbacks through UPS so the driver doesn’t leave the box sitting on the country lane outside my gate, in the rain this week.
😍 Wish for a friend to organize a book-launch party for me, maybe after the County Convention on March 21. I should have books in hand by then, and will be ready to sell and autograph them. $15 each, and each comes with a lovely print of a professionally drawn map of the book’s setting. (They retail for $18. For everybody who gives me $18, I’ll donate $3 to the scholarship fund.) Know anybody who might organize a book-launch party for me? 😉
🙏 Recruit more Safety & Security volunteers for our local No Kings protest on March 28. We have a Safety Lead plus ONE de-escalator. We need more people with the ability to stay calm and collected around MAGA hecklers. Know anybody with calmer-downer skills? ClearChannel won’t need the new billboard design until September. We have all summer on it. Let me survive March before I give it any more time or attention. 🙏

One Step at a Time

Happily, my friend was not offended by my somewhat snappish, whiny response. 😊 And after a good night’s sleep, I can tackle my to-do list in a calmer, more methodical manner. One step at a time.

Social Media: For me, that’s pretty much Facebook and Instagram, where I’m constantly stymied by the algorithms. If my post mentions “pre-order” or “where to buy” or “available wherever books are sold,” the algorithms cut the audience to nothing. I’m sure I should be more active on Goodreads and BookBub, but neither of those stir my interest. I tend to forget about my Amazon Author page, and I’m not convinced that many readers ever look at it. Any and all advice is welcome — let me hear from you if you’ve solved the puzzle of social media.

Blogging: That’s this, my scattershot blog which serves more as an online diary, a collection of random thoughts that are of limited interest to anyone except me, I fear. But I keep on, because some people do find and appreciate my annual reports about the effectiveness of book-promo sites. Those summaries are my small contribution to the writing community.

“Buy” Links: For my new book, those may be found at Books2Read.com/AdverseReactions. The ebook edition is currently available at 10 retailers. The paperback is available from Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

My $300 Box of Books: It’s on the way! UPS tells me it’s on the truck for delivery today. And though the sky is heavily overcast, the soaking rain from last night has stopped. A cold front is due through by midday, which will clear away the clouds but bring gusty winds. If my luck continues to hold, I’ll have the box of books inside and safely dry before the front arrives. 🙏

UPDATE ON THE BOX: The Universe continues to smile on my latest endeavor! 💫 My big box of author’s copies and pre-orders arrived this morning AFTER the rain had stopped and BEFORE the cold front comes to blow us off our feet this afternoon. 🎉 That perfect timing, combined with the snakeskin which was earlier shed in my garage (a hat-tip to my male-main-character’s hatband), makes me think the great grand Universe might be on my side with this book. 😁

Paperback Sales and Very Little Profit: I paid $300 for 24 books, ordered direct from the printer. If I sell them for $15 each ($3 off the list price) I’ll make a grand profit of $60 on the carton. That’s $2.50 a book. And people wonder why writers are poor.

The Swag: In my snippy response to my friend, I mentioned “a lovely print of a professionally drawn map of the book’s setting.” Here’s the map, by Tiffany Munro, cartographer, of Feed the Multiverse. I’m having the map printed on heavy, glossy paper, and everybody who buys a book from me in person will get a copy. 😍 It’s quite a lovely piece of work.

Fighting Fascism: ADVERSE REACTIONS: A Novel of the Paranormal is “Dedicated to every antifascist who joined the fight, from 2025 on, to defend American democracy against would-be dictators.” From that, readers may safely assume that I’m an antifascist, and I’m in the fight. Of course I’ll be in the street protesting the current badministration.

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My Goodreads “Review” of ADVERSE REACTIONS

Adverse Reactions: A Novel of the ParanormalAdverse Reactions: A Novel of the Paranormal by Deborah J. Lightfoot

Is one actually allowed to “review” their own book at Goodreads? Well, after a fashion. There’s a space for the author to leave comments, but it’s considered bad form (by most people, anyway) for the author to give the book a star rating. (I’d five-star it, naturally, but I’m biased.)

Here’s my “review,” copied from the book’s Goodreads page:


Adverse Reactions is the only true standalone novel I’ve ever written (although the fifth book in my Waterspell series, The Karenina Chronicles, reads as a standalone). Adverse Reactions: A Novel of the Paranormal began life in 2005 with a 24,000-word partial manuscript that stayed in a file cabinet for 20 years. The story never let go of me though, and finally I’d lived enough life and learned enough craft and gained enough understanding of people and history to finish what I’d started. I would really love for people to read this book. I’m proud of it. 😁

“This novel is immediately immersive, with an opening scene that sucks readers in with vivid sensory detail and a great sense of suspense.” —The Black List

“Thematically rich, as Devin faces constant self-doubt but eventually comes to find empowerment in the unique abilities that have made her an outcast.” —The Black List

“Relevant to the current situation in the world. Ostracizing others who are different out of fear and ignorance. Cruelty and inhumanity.” —ARC Reader

View all my reviews

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A Bookish Striptease: Cover Reveal

Now that I have a cover for my new book, I can do a cover reveal. 😎 Which will have to be on Bookstagram and here on my scattershot little blog since everybody in my personal Facebook world has already seen the whole cover uncovered, along with every draft of the surprisingly difficult process (beginning unsatisfactorily with one designer and ending, much more happily, at a completely different studio) that led to a usable image. Long ago, I learned a maxim, and life continues to prove its truth: Things take longer than they do.

Do you find these teasers intriguing? I would really love for people to read this book. Adverse Reactions is the only true standalone novel I’ve ever written. It began life in 2005 with a 24,000-word partial manuscript that stayed in a file cabinet for 20 years. But the story never let go of me, and finally I’d lived enough life and learned enough craft and gained enough understanding of people to finish what I’d started.

*The short blurb:

In the town of Purity, mental gifts earn you a bullet or a lingering death by mind-torture. Devin Perridin is the Syke who survived the horrors of the psych ward. Now the “One Who Got Away” is back for a reckoning. To defeat her tormentors, Devin must reclaim her shattered mind, aided by a denim-clad desperado and a generous helping of Old Magic. Survival was just the beginning: vengeance is next.

*The back cover copy:

In the remote prairie town of Purity, there are some who possess extraordinary powers of the mind. Their fate, if they are discovered, is death by a bullet to the brain. The wealthy, however, have an alternative way to die: they may submit to “therapy”—torture—at the Peaceful Hills sanatorium. For most of the inmates, it is a worse death than a sniper’s bullet. The asylum is brutally designed to snuff out every spark of psychokinetic power, turning a Syke’s brain to mush. Few inmates survive.

Devin Perridin does. She’s the One Who Got Away. But can she find her way back into her right mind? And bring a long-overdue reckoning to the town of Purity and its house of horrors? To exact vengeance on those who put her in the asylum, and avenge the murders of her fellow Sykes, Devin will need the aid of a denim-clad desperado—and a generous helping of Old Magic.

Release date: March 18

*From a professional evaluation: “Its accessible style of prose and teenaged protagonist would likely endear it to young adults, whereas its mature themes and technical accomplishments would likely go a long way with older readers. Because of the book’s literary merit it could definitely attract readers who would not normally consider themselves ‘genre readers.'” —The Black List on the subject of the book’s “Prospects”

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Waterspell Ebooks Now Available at Bookshop.org

This is a game-changer! Readers who prefer ebooks now have a truly viable alternative to the monopolistic Amazon monster. Ebooks may now be easily purchased and downloaded at Bookshop.org, where every purchase supports a local independent bookstore. Millions of writers, including ME, are absolutely thrilled! We’ve waited and hoped for this breakthrough.

Without further ado, here’s a list of my books and where you can purchase them at Bookshop.org. Did I mention? Every purchase supports a local independent bookstore. You can designate your own favorite indie. It’s a win-win-win for the reader, the writer, and the bravely determined independent stores who fight the good fight against an evil monopoly.

Waterspell Book 1: The Warlock
Waterspell Book 2: The Wysard
Waterspell Book 3: The Wisewoman
Waterspell Book 4: The Witch
Waterspell Boxed Set: Books 1-4
The Karenina Chronicles: A Waterspell Novel
The Fires of Farsinchia: A Waterspell Novel

Waterspell epic fantasy by Deborah J. Lightfoot

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ADVERSE REACTIONS: “Immediately immersive and thematically rich”

Today I received some personal good news that I NEEDED! An evaluation score of 8 from an industry professional at The Black List! 🎉

To explain my thrillment, I must first explain The Black List. It’s a “prominent online platform where screenwriters, playwrights, and novelists connect with film, TV, and publishing industry professionals, allowing writers to host scripts/manuscripts, get feedback from vetted readers, and gain exposure to agents, managers, and producers, originally stemming from an annual survey of best unproduced screenplays and now a major hub for discovering new talent and projects. It helps writers get their work seen by industry insiders, offering services like professional evaluations.”

I requested an evaluation of my latest novel, the not-yet-published ADVERSE REACTIONS, and got a glowing response. “Congratulations on your recent evaluation by our reader,” said the email. “Fewer than 5% of the projects hosted on the site have received an overall score of 8 or above.”

The publishing industry professional who reviewed my book gave it an overall score of 8 (out of 10) and posted this:

Strengths

“This novel is immediately immersive, with an opening scene that sucks readers in with vivid sensory detail and a great sense of suspense. In fact, the sensory detail of the book’s prose is one of its strongest qualities … Adverse Reactions is also thematically rich, as Devin faces constant self-doubt but comes to find empowerment in the unique abilities that have made her an outcast. In some ways, the book feels like an extended metaphor about how mental illness is treated in today’s world and what it means to embrace one’s neurodivergence. There is also compelling thematic commentary on modern psychiatric practices and treatment methods, with the author skillfully exploring the negative consequences of supposedly ‘getting well.’ … This novel has few weaknesses.”

Wow! THAT is the sort of reaction that restores my faith in … well, in myself. I have agonized over this book. I started it in 2005; wrote a rough 24,000 words, then shelved it for 20 years; finally “finished” it in 2026.

Now I wait to see if any publisher or filmmaker shows interest in the book. The Black List is sending my work out for additional evaluations, and if the overall score remains at 8 or above, the book will get featured (top-listed) where more industry pros will see it. I’m not getting my hopes up, but this validation of my writing was a great thing to come home to, on the heels of my grocery run this morning. 😍

Prospects

The professional reader’s evaluation closed with an analysis of the book’s prospects. I’m both excited and frustrated by the evaluator’s conclusion:

Adverse Reactions would likely perform quite well among adults and young adults alike. Its accessible style of prose and teenaged protagonist would likely endear it to younger readers, whereas its mature themes and technical accomplishments would likely go a long way with older readers. It would certainly make sense to at least start by marketing the book to pre-existing fans of supernatural/fantasy books, perhaps at special conferences or bookstores that cater to these genres; however, because of the book’s literary merit it could definitely attract readers who would not normally consider themselves ‘genre readers.’ For this reason, it would be important to make sure the book receives coverage from reputable book-related publications and/or prominent figures in the literary community.”

Well, OK. I can certainly market the book to pre-existing fans of supernatural/fantasy books, most especially the loyal readers of my Waterspell series. If I self-publish, I might be able to get it into bookstores and possibly hand-sell it at conventions and the like. But how in the world do I get coverage from reputable book-related publications or prominent figures in the literary community? If I had those kinds of insider connections, I’d be enjoying a great deal more financial success in my writing career. It goes back to who you know, and I don’t know many people. I’m an introvert and a bit of recluse. <sigh>

But all of that aside, I’m absolutely delighted to get an enthusiastic evaluation from a publishing industry professional. I long ago gave up submitting my work to agents and editors, who take forever to respond, if they deign to respond at all. The Black List removes the tedium of old-fashioned manuscript submission. Their roster of professional readers will respond in one week, or within three weeks at the latest. It’s not free, nor especially cheap. Evaluations cost $150. But Guild members (Writers Guild of America or The Authors Guild) get a substantial discount. I’ve belonged to The Authors Guild since 1995, and thus I paid $120 for the pro evaluation. And because it scored an 8, The Black List is giving me two additional reviews for free! That’s a pretty great deal. 😍

The Black List

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Book Promo Sites: My 2025 Results

Here’s my annual analysis of my marketing efforts. This is pretty much all that I do in the way of marketing: I run (or try to run) a promo every month in a different email/newsletter.

The bar graphs are screenshots from my Amazon KDP reports. Each blue bar shows the total number of my books that were ordered that month. Since I have a six-book series, the full-series promo at Written Word Media tends to bring in the most orders. A full-series promo is pricey at $170, but cost-effective for promoting six books at one time.

2025 was a case study in what happens to my sales when I DON’T run a promo. I was so shocked and discombobulated by events in Spring 2025, following the inauguration of cheetolini, I forgot all about scheduling promos. As a result, my March-April-May sales were flat-flat-flat.

To perk things up, I scheduled a short stack in June, running a promo at Robin Reads on June 18, followed by the Fussy Librarian on June 20. July got skipped, but my Full Series Promo at Written Word Media on August 31 continued to produce results into September.

To finish the year on a rising note, I scheduled another double-promo in November: BookRaid and Robin Reads. Then wrapped things up in December with the always-reliable Book Barbarian, a site that specializes in fantasy and science fiction.

Overall, my ebook and print sales were down in 2025. My best results came from audiobook sales. My Featured Audiobook Deal at Chirp was a wild success, by my standards. I don’t know if Chirp (BookBub) was impressed by the final tally of the month-long sale, but it was definitely a boost to my spirits and my income, seeing hundreds of audiobooks sell, and gaining several nice new reviews.

In 2026, I hope to return to a regular monthly promo, adding EReader News Today back into the mix. I missed ENT entirely in ’25, but I’ve submitted Book 1 of my Waterspell fantasy series for a January spot there, in hopes of grabbing a place before their month’s newsletters fill up.

Most of these promos cost $45 to $65. Doable on a budget, even mine.

To compare these results with what I’ve experienced in earlier years, check out these posts:

I hate marketing and I’m really bad at it. Running paid promos in newsletters is the easiest and most effective approach I have found. What promo sites do you recommend? What have your experiences been with pay-per-click ads at Amazon, BookBub, and Facebook? I have tried those, but I’ve found them to be way overpriced and ineffective for my books.

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When AI Describes Your Book Better Than You Do

A recent email informed me that somebody who reviewed my Waterspell boxed set at NetGalley had updated their review, more than a year later. Curious to see what had changed, I Googled “NetGalley Waterspell books,” thinking that would be the quickest way to find a web page that I had not looked at in more than a year.

What came up, to my fascinated delight, was a lengthy Google AI Overview of my little publishing empire. I copy-pasted the overview, wanting to save it and, frankly, learn from it. As much as I detest all AI-generated books (a novel should be written by a human, and ONLY by a human), there’s no denying that AI can often do a better job than the author, when it comes to summarizing a book.

For a writer, no question holds more terror the inevitable, “What’s your book about?” We are too close to our own work. We know the nuances. We know that a book is “about” a lot of things. There are subplots, themes, side-quests. Knowing what we know, it’s very difficult for most of us to give a succinct response to the “What’s it about?” question.

Therefore, when AI offers me its take on the matter, for free, I won’t turn up my nose at the help. Here’s how Google’s AI Overview responded to my rather lazy “NetGalley Waterspell books” search query:

“Highlighting the series’ immersive quality and addictive nature”

NetGalley hosts digital review copies for Waterspell, an immersive, cross-genre fantasy series by Deborah J. Lightfoot, featuring the core quartet (The Warlock, The Wysard, The Wisewoman, The Witch) and sequels like The Karenina Chronicles, praised by reviewers for its world-building, characters, magic, and romance. The series is designed to be read in order, following a continuous story, and offers boxed sets for convenience on platforms like NetGalley for reviewers.

Key Aspects of the Waterspell Series:

  • Genre: Epic Fantasy with elements of mystery, adventure, slow-burn romance, and dystopian undertones.
  • Story: A multi-generational saga focusing on family, magic, self-discovery, and overcoming danger in a richly detailed world. (Italics added by me. I like this.)
  • Characters: Compelling, complex, and morally gray characters, with main protagonists Carin and Verek central to the original quartet.
  • Structure: Originally a trilogy, it expanded to a four-book series (Books 1-4) and continues with linked sequels.
  • Readability: Intended to be read in order as one continuous story, though the sequels offer deeper dives into new characters like Nina.

How it Relates to NetGalley:

  • Review Copies: Publishers (like the one for Waterspell) use NetGalley to offer free digital advance reader copies (ARCs) to book reviewers, bloggers, and industry professionals to generate early buzz.
  • Reviewer Feedback: NetGalley hosts reviews from readers who have received these copies, with comments highlighting the series’ immersive quality and addictive nature.

Where to Find It:

  • Official Site: waterspell.net for author info, series details, and sales.
  • Retailers: Available as ebooks, audiobooks, and print on major platforms (Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, etc.).
  • Boxed Sets: Convenient bundles for the first four books are available, often through books2read.com/WaterspellBoxedSet.  

Thank You Kindly!

My original reason for googling “NetGalley Waterspell books” fell by the wayside — I did not find out what “updates” the reviewer had made, more than a year after the fact. But never mind that: I got something useful out of the search. Thanks, AI summarizer!

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