Being a wide author means I make my eBooks available worldwide to all customers on all eBook platforms. In addition, I sell eBooks and audiobooks directly to readers and listeners from my own store.
That also means that publishing my stories in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited (KU) program is rarely a choice for me because that requires exclusivity in Amazon’s ecosystem. Which follows that my books are virtually invisible on Amazon. And there’s only so much I’m willing to pay to play on the platform.
A strategy I often employ to generate sales on Amazon is to create book bundles of standalone stories, once I have removed them from every other storefront in the world, and enroll the book bundles in Amazon’s KU program. Employing that strategy allows readers who prefer reading using their KU memberships to discover and read my stories for FREE.
One concern with book bundles and collections however is a reader may own one or more of the featured stories and may not wish to purchase it again.
Amazon does not have the ability to inform a reader they may already have bought a story that’s featured in a book bundle.
To help mitigate that concern with my newest release not only have I clearly listed the titles on the product page (as I always do) but I have also included each of the standalone stories’ covers on the bundled book cover itself.
I cannot say that I will always employ this design tactic. I cannot even say how long I will stick with this particular cover. I am just trying something different.
Here is the original cover design I considered and may still use at some point:
About Rational Exuberance: Pride and Prejudice Variations Collection
Where rational sensibilities—restraint, duty, and decorum collide with exuberance—emotion, passion, and abandon.
Rational Exuberance
A collection of Pride and Prejudice variations featuring Love is Here and Now Gone, Once He Made a Beginning, Intentions and Mishaps, Wait for Love: Expanded Edition, and Somebody Else’s Gentleman: Abridged for All Audiences. Includes a bonus First Look at Unspoken, a poignant Darcy and Elizabeth love story you will not want to miss.
These stories were previously published. Check your Pride and Prejudice variations library today. If some of the stories featured here are missing, grab your copy now.
Once He Made a Beginning
After his failed proposal at Hunsford, Darcy suffers a devastating accident that alters the course of his future. Overwhelmed with concern, unresolved feelings, and self-blame, Elizabeth Bennet finds herself compelled to stay by his side throughout his recovery.
Is this fate’s way of giving them a second chance, or are some wounds too deep to heal?
Love is Here and Now Gone
Upon accepting Darcy’s second proposal, Elizabeth’s marriage is not what she expects. Rather than tenderness, affection, and everything she hoped for, she finds loneliness and heartache instead. Darcy has never loved anyone as he loves Elizabeth—is it any wonder her refusal left him reeling? A man once rejected may offer his hand a second time, but does that mean he will also offer his heart?
Intentions and Mishaps
Unbeknown to each other, Darcy and Elizabeth are determined to make their first Valentine’s Day as husband and wife unforgettable. Alas, the hands of fate cannot help but intrude. What happens when good intentions and a litany of mishaps collide?
Will their first Valentine’s Day be remembered as a series of misfortunes, or will they discover that the simplest pleasures linger longest in the heart?
Somebody Else’s Gentleman (Abridged for All Audiences)
By all appearances, Mr. Darcy is the rightful property of a wealthy young lady in London. Why else would he remain silent on the subject if it were not true? What happens once he arrives in Hertfordshire and lays eyes on the bewitching Elizabeth Bennet? What if the young lady from town is Miss Caroline Bingley and she decides to befriend Elizabeth?
In the ensuing game of love, which young lady will end up in Mr. Darcy’s arms?
Wait for Love: Expanded Edition
While visiting her friend in Kent, Elizabeth finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Mr. Darcy, whose refined demeanor masks a passionate heart—a heart he ardently proclaims belongs solely to her.
Imagine if Darcy had offered his hand in a more gentleman-like manner. What if the revelation of his role in separating her beloved sister, Jane, and Mr. Bingley casts a shadow over Elizabeth’s budding feelings?
Torn between her sensibilities and her principles, will Elizabeth obey her heart’s inclination and give Mr. Darcy a chance to prove his worth, or will the weight of misunderstandings and misgivings keep them apart?
This sweet, romantic 18,000-word expanded edition, while very much a short story itself and intended for all audiences, will satisfy your desire for a charming escape with Darcy and Elizabeth, where a happily-ever-after conclusion is guaranteed.
Unspoken (A First Look)
Elizabeth is employed as the companion to Mr. Darcy’s ailing wife, Rosalie. In the heart of Pemberley in Derbyshire, she finds herself bearing witness to the deeply private conversations of a married couple navigating illness, regret, and enduring devotion.
This “First Look” reveals the closeness that exists between her and Rosalie, the tension that simmers beneath Mr. Darcy’s careful restraint, and the turmoil of envisioning a life that every fiber in her being dictates she must not.
If you are as excited to read the stories as much as I hope you are, buy or borrow your copy today. Read it now or at your leisure.
Happy reading!
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