Tag: Amazon

Pinch Me

Five Hundred?!

About a week ago I realized that Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort was nearing five hundred reviews on Amazon, and I took a moment to let that soak in. When I wrote the book I never dreamed anyone other than my small group of friends and maybe a few family members might read it. Okay, maybe I dreamed others might take a chance on it, but I certainly wasn’t making any bets.

I’d really thought of Mayhem as a stand-alone novel—that explains its length. For better or worse, I wanted to get as many loose ends tied up as possible. Chalk that up to being a rookie author.

Then, lo and behold, readers I’d never even met began reading the book and asking for a sequel. Of course no miracles were involved other than a generous fellow author, Lori Roberts Herbst, taking the time to show me how to advertise on Facebook. That she retains her sanity after working with me is the true miracle. Check out her award winning cozy mysteries on Amazon.

Mayhem remains my best selling book, but its sequel, Wedding at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort is gaining traction. And I’m hoping we’ll have Reunion at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort ready to publish in time for it to qualify as a summer read. Oh, and there’s a spicy little romance, The Cowboy and the Executive, with my name on the cover, as well.

Pinch me, but gently, please. I bruise easily.

Peace, people!

http://Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort (The Happy Valley Series Book 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PDRH2Q9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_47JVD6SR1X1PRRYXQDJP

Toot! Toot!

I haven’t tooted my own horn here in a while, but when I checked Amazon today I realized I had more than 150 reviews—most of them of the five and four star variety. http://Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P76RBRD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_CBSVP0EG2BHS8SPG4S28

Now if I only had a horn!

https://images.app.goo.gl/zNDujbCuJPusiyB78

Peace, people!

One Hundred

I’m excited to announce that my first novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, has officially garnered over one hundred reviews on Amazon. The number of reviews teetered at ninety-nine for several days, and impatient person that I am, I thought they might never cross into triple digits. Yet here we are!

Thanks to everyone who’s read and reviewed my book. I appreciate your support so much. And if you have yet to read it, I hope you’ll take a chance and add a little mayhem to your life.

Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P76RBRD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_405M3C2H9MDYHV3SEFG3

Peace, people!!! And thanks again. Kisses all around. 😘

Letting People Down Since Way Before 2021

My first novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, is doing well right now. It’s received 96 ratings and/or reviews on Amazon, and all but four of those are of the four and five star variety. The one star rating threatened to undo me, and the two star didn’t exactly cause me to jump up and down in celebration, but when I put them in perspective they didn’t bother me quite as much.

I love reading the reviews. When I’m feeling low I read through them and bask in the really good ones and when I’m feeling terrific I read through the less positive ones to see what I can learn. It’s my weak attempt at balance.

I love the juxtaposition between these reviews:

Proof that beauty is truly in the eyes of the beholder.

The funniest review I received wasn’t on Amazon, though. I discovered it on my Facebook author’s page and it’s made me giggle more than once. I hope this reader will hold on for the sequel.

I’ve experienced the exact same feeling, and I get it. The heart wants what the heart wants. All I can say is, Dear Reader Whose Name I’ve Scribbled Through, Wedding at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort is being edited and revised right now, so don’t despair. And please don’t throw tomatoes my way.

Peace, people!

http://Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P76RBRD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_3B4RG80QB3PBVZXZK2CH

We’re Number 384! We’re Number 384!

Okay, so “We’re Number One“ is a lot cooler and easier to chant, but for one brief shining moment on Sunday morning my first novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, came in at number 384 on Amazon in the Women’s Action and Adventure Fiction category.

And I know what you’re probably thinking—“Leslie, dear, there are likely only 384 entries in that very narrow category…”

However, having tracked my book since it was first published I can assure you that’s not the case. I broke into the top 500 about a month ago after being well above 1,000 for the longest time. And even as I write this I’m back to #505, so it’s always changing. I can’t get too cocky.

I’m wondering if there’s a category in which Mayhem might be number one? How about Women’s Action and Adventure Fiction Featuring Quirky Jugglers? I’d almost bet I’d be in at least the top five.

Peace, people.

http://Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P76RBRD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_A4MFPQMX415MVVMWDXEH

Okay, I Panicked

Since publishing my book through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, I check the book’s status on the Amazon site at least twice a day. Mostly I want to see if there are any new reviews, but I also still get a thrill from seeing a book with my name on it for sale on the website. It’s a rush,

This afternoon, though, when I checked on Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort it was gone from the Amazon website, and no matter how I searched for it, I couldn’t find it. I had a panic attack. What had happened? Was I banned? If so, why?

But then I noticed that none of the books written by a Leslie Noyes was showing up in a search. My friend Leslie Morris Noyes’s outstanding book, Willing, was missing as was the book, Back to Pakistan, a Fifty Year Journey by Leslie Noyes Mass. In my paranoid state I concluded that SOMEONE had a vendetta against people named Leslie Noyes.

I shook my fist at the heavens. Then I contacted Leslie Morris Noyes who in turn contacted Amazon. I’d have done that myself, but couldn’t find the number. At any rate, by the time Amazon returned her call the books had been restored to the site. Whew.

And who knows why the books went missing in the first place? Maybe it was a glitch, or maybe a sign from the universe that I need to finish my second book. Or maybe, just maybe, someone does have it in for Leslie Noyeses… We may never know.

Peace, people.

Have not read this, but it looks interesting, and I love the author’s name. Has a nice ring to it.
You really need to read this. Super smart and sexy.
My baby.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

If anyone ever writes my biography they should use the title “A Day Late and A Dollar Short.” Truly everything I’ve ever done has been “assbackwards” to use my mother’s terminology.

Case in point: I published my book, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, on Amazon on November 30, 2020, but it didn’t occur to me to create an author page on Facebook until March, and now it’s April and I finally realized I probably need an author page on Amazon, as well. Every other author I know created both prior to publishing,

At any rate, here’s the link to my Amazon page. I should have called it “About Damned Time.”: https://www.amazon.com/Leslie-Noyes/e/B091S7J61W?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_w0m_abau_000000&fbclid=IwAR3gbyRG0Iq0CmkaGdIfmQ_agxWBIzz3NsKAcg-tM3mghjtUqs_L-JLEHoY

It’s nothing fancy—mostly because I only vaguely understood what it was I was supposed to do. Honestly, I need a minder to hold my hand and guide me through every minute of every day.

Or a genie! That’d work.

This lamp sells for around $25.00 on Walmart.com. Genie optional.

Peace, people.

Celebration

My book, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, just garnered its 50th review on Amazon!

It’s been a really tough week for a variety of reasons, so I’m going to celebrate quietly.

If you haven’t yet ordered your own copy of Mayhem, it’s only $2.99 as an e-reader on Kindle and $11.99 for the paperback on Amazon. I know the author (me) would appreciate it. And if you have read it and enjoyed it, tell someone else.

Peace, people!

Hindsight is Twenty Something

A few days ago I had what I thought was a brilliant idea. Sales for Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort have been good, but reviews were a little light. The reviews the book received were outstanding; there just weren’t that many of them.

So, I thought, why not have a drawing on my Facebook author page? When the number of reviews reached 40, I’d draw a reviewer’s name at random and give away either a Scout’s Honor coffee mug or a signed copy of Mayhem. Cool, huh?

Except I didn’t take into account that many reviewers on Amazon use nicknames or initials instead of their actual names, so for the last couple of days I’ve been trying to figure out who “Keek” is, and who among my readers might be “Amazon Customer.”

Also, and this is both a wonderful thing and an almost impossible impediment, I don’t personally know at least five of the reviewers! How would I contact them if they won?

Sometime this weekend the number of reviews not only reached, but exceeded the 40 mark. I was able to track down all but two reviewers through connections on Facebook and friends of friends, but those two were untraceable. I felt awful, but went ahead with the drawing as promised, and notified the winner.

So, any suggestions for future giveaways are welcome. I believe this was good for book sales and review numbers, but as Mayhem wanders away from my core group of friends and followers, it might be impossible to track down a winner. This one has given me a massive headache. But I’m also smiling!

Peace, people!

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