AJ Harmon Becomes an Amazon #1 Best Seller and Makes the USA Today Best Selling Books List

(Newswire.net — October 10, 2014) Portland, Oregon — 

 

Contemporary Romance Author AJ Harmon Becomes an Amazon #1 Best Seller with The First Class Novel Series and makes the USA Today Best Selling Books List.  

Google is said to have scanned 33 million books globally and Amazon Kindle shows 3.4 million English language eBook titles available for download with almost 1,000 new titles uploaded every day. The odds are stacked against new indie authors claims Claude Nougat in a blog post titled “To Self-Publish and  Perish: Buried Under 3.4 Million E-Books.”

The statistics above make this story an even more interesting phenomenon. Self-published contemporary romance author AJ Harmon has an Amazon #1 best seller and USA Today Best Selling Book with First Class Family, the complete collection of books in the First Class Novels series only 21 months after publishing her debut novel in November of 2012. The collection includes 9 books and a bonus novella about the Lathem brothers – 7 hot, hunky wealthy bachelors who reluctantly surrender to love after meeting their perfect women.

“Wow! What an adventure this has been. Two years ago I was a bookkeeper for a non-profit and now I’m an Amazon Best Seller,” stated Harmon smiling from ear to ear. “I was in a pseudo book club with some of the women at work. We’d talk about what we were reading and suggest books. They were all raving about the 50 Shades of Grey series and were astonished that I hadn’t read it and had no desire to. Finally I gave into the peer pressure and read them and what happened next changed my life forever.

“I told my friends that I didn’t love the books,” AJ continued. “They got all up in my face over it. It was as if I’d insulted their mothers. In self-defense I retorted I could write a better book in my sleep, to which my colleague replied, PROVE IT!

“I thought about it for a few days and said, why not? So I started writing. I wrote about what I wanted to read about in a romance novel. Me! A middle aged woman who’s smart, loving and passionate,” Harmon grinned and her cheeks blushed. “I had no idea what to do with it when I was done. So it was time to tell my husband.”

Harmon wrote her first three books while working full time during the day and writing in the evenings. Unlike so many would-be authors, AJ had a secret weapon, or should I say three – her family. Her husband accepted the challenge of marketing the books. Her son, a digital wizard, took over the formatting and graphic arts, and her daughter had just passed the bar and did what attorney’s do. They became their own little publishing company, launching AJ’s new career and the family business.

“We’ve worked very hard to get to where we are today. The first goal was to write fun, entertaining books that women could escape to for a few minutes during their busy day,” AJ explained. “Then we had to entice readers to try them and review them. I felt so validated and happy when the series made it to Amazon’s Top Rated Romance list and was amazed when we reached #1.

“Now we were ready for the big promotion, offering the whole series for only $9.99 to get some massive exposure. Using social media, fans, and BookBub, we announced our series to the world. On the very first day, we became the #1 best seller in romance novel collections and family sagas. First Class Family was the 6^th best-selling book out all of 3.4 million titles. That’s a good day. We were hoping that by the end of the week we’d make the USA Today list, which we did, and now we’re hoping for the New York Times Best Sellers list when it comes out next week.” She held up her crossed fingers. “I owe a big thank you to all the fans and book bloggers who gave my books a try and loved them enough to share them with friends and romance readers from around the world.

“And I want to thank E.L. James for writing her books. I’m so happy that they were not my cup of tea, because it’s helped me discover my passion for writing and a love for the readers who enjoy them,” Harmon continued.  “I have a great deal of respect and admiration for her and anyone who makes the effort to write, edit and publish a book because it’s damn hard work. A few people have claimed my books are too vanilla for them and that’s okay. At least I was brave enough to try something new and test my limits and for that I’m truly grateful.”

If you’d like to learn more about romance author AJ Harmon visit her website or follow her on Facebook, Google+ and YouTube.