Kings and Birthdays and Books! Oh, my! by Susan Helene Gottfried

I can't believe it's April 12 already. This has become a very auspicious day in my life – although it was special before this.

You see, April 12 is my birthday. That's why it was already a big day around West of Mars. Susan made it around the sun one more time; let's party!

That was enough for me – until I went and published a book and realized how nice royalties are. So way back in 2009, I decided that all I wanted for my birthday, from friends and family and strangers, was book royalties.

It didn't go great. It went sort of like the request last year that all I wanted was royalties and iTunes gift cards. That was it. Two things. Pick one. It should have been easy, right?

Well, it was. In a sense. I mean, I got the royalties. But those iTunes gift cards? I didn't see a single one. The closest I came was the big display that made me pout the next time I set foot in the grocery store. It was sad. No one should stand in their local A&P and pout over iTunes gift cards.

But the royalties? Now, that's another story. I made those happen. I released an e-book-only short story called Mannequin. I told the world to spend a whopping 99 cents on my birthday gift – and they'd get to keep the goods. All I wanted was those royalties.

You guys came. You bought. So did strangers. For an hour there, Mannequin was ranked a spot above a Stephen King story in the Amazon short story rankings. It was close to the top ten. Maybe it made it in, but if it did, it wasn't while I was watching.

It was the best way to spend my birthday that I've ever encountered. It was so good, in fact, that I decided to not only do it again, but make it a tradition, as well. So much for a stress-free birthday… or, in this case, a stress-free run-up to my birthday, as I deal with cover art and formatting and proof copies and promotion and review copies and all the other busy work that comes with a new release. I even sent out event notices on Facebook and Goodreads, so all my friends and followers will know that something's happening today and they can come be part. I hate those notices; they are too much like spam. Sometimes, though, it's worth risking the ill-will, and birthdays are certainly a good reason for it. So is a brand-new book.

So once again, stop in at my pages at Amazon or Smashwords. Check the Smashwords affiliates like Barnes and Noble and Sony and Apple. Maybe they've listed the book already (but probably not). Join the birthday fun, if you'd be so kind.

After all, you get to keep the gift. Me, I get the royalty.

And in the end, that's all it takes to make this girl happy on her special day.