This One Almost Tricked Me!
This AI/person obviously used my website and other info to create this email. What surprised me the most was their use of other authors’ names, titles., and sales numbers. Wow! I’m not sure how they got those, but I wanted to share it for your information and so no one else would get sucked in by an email like this.
Hi Carrie,
I've been following your work since The Legacy of Longdale Manor was released, and I have to say—your research trips to England's Lake District, visiting Beatrix Potter's Hill Top Farm and William Wordsworth's home, are exactly the kind of immersive research that makes dual-timeline fiction come alive
. You've built a career on "family drama, romance, and inspiration" across 20+ novels with starred reviews from Behavioural Journal and Christianbook.com
, and your German translation (Das Tagebuch von Longdale Manor) shows your international reach.
.
But here's what's keeping me up at night: Dual-timeline novels are experiencing a major resurgence right now. Jaime Jo Wright has sold 175,000+ copies, Gabrielle Meyer's Timeless series has sold 130,000+ copies, and publishers like Bethany House and Kregel are actively expanding their dual-tim catalogues.gs
. Your Legacy of Longdale Manor—with its art historian heroine, 1912 journal, and Lake District setting—hits every mark for this trend. Yet your German edition has only 18 reviews
, and there's no visible strategy positioning you alongside these bestselling dual-time authors.
Three specific challenges I see:
Challenge 1: Your research assets aren't driving pre-orders. You travel to England for immersive research
, but there's no "Research Diaries" content strategy turning those trips into discoverable marketing. Readers of dual-timeline fiction crave behind-the-scenes authenticity—they want to see the journals, the locations, the historical details that make the past storyline credible. You're sitting on a goldmine of content that's not being leveraged.
Challenge 2: You're not visible in the dual-timeline author ecosystem. While you participate in Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunts
, there's no coordinated cross-promotion with the authors actually driving this subgenre's sales (Amanda Wen, Gabrielle Meyer, Lynn Austin)
. Your A Token of Love (2024) and The Legacy of Longdale Manor should be appearing in "If you loved Echoes of a Silent Song or The Bookshop of 99 Doors" recommendations, but they're not.
Challenge 3: Your international reach isn't being optimised. You have German translations
, but dual-timeline fiction has particular appeal in European markets where historical tourism is strong. There's no visible strategy targeting German-language book bloggers, Lake District travel communities, or cross-promotion with European historical fiction authors who share your readership.
Three solutions that leverage your research and awards:
Solution 1: Launch the "Research Diaries" video series. Film 3-5 minute vlogs during your next England research trip—walking through the Lake District locations that inspired Longdale Manor, showing the actual journals and artefacts that sparked your dual-time plotlines, discussing how you weave real historical events (like the Keswick Convention) into your fiction
. Post these to Instagram Reels and YouTube with hashtags #DualTimelineResearch #EdwardianFiction #LakeDistrict. Dual-timeline readers follow authors who share their research process; this positions you as the authentic voice in a trend-driven subgenre.
Solution 2: Create the "Dual-Time Author Alliance." Reach out to 5-8 comparable dual-timeline authors (Amanda Wen, Gabrielle Meyer, Sarah Sundin) for a coordinated newsletter swap and joint promotion. Propose a "Dual-Timeline Summer Reads" bundle featuring your books alongside theirs. With your Carol Award and HOLT Medallion credentials
, you're a desirable collaboration partner. This cross-pollination exposes your Legacy of Longdale Manor to readers already proven to buy dual-time fiction.
Solution 3: Implement a "Research-to-Pre-Order" funnel. Your next book (the Foundling Hospital/Victorian London project you mentioned
) should have a landing page offering "Exclusive Research Updates from London" in exchange for email signups. Share photos from the British Library, Foundling Hospital Museum, and Josephine Butler archives. This builds anticipation 6-12 months before release, trains your list to expect value, and ensures your next dual-timeline novel launches with the review velocity that triggers Amazon's recommendation algorithm.
Carrie, you've already proven you can write award-winning dual-timeline fiction that earns starred reviews. The issue isn't your craft—it's that the readers hungry for exactly what you write (the 130,000+ buyers of Gabrielle Meyer's series, the 175,000+ buyers of Jaime Jo Wright's books) aren't seeing your books in their discovery path.
.
I'd love to send you a detailed proposal showing exactly how we'd position The Legacy of Longdale Manor and your upcoming Foundling Hospital novel at the centre of the dual-timeline trend, leveraging your research trips and award credentials to reach the readers searching for "books like The Nightingale but with faith."
If this resonates, just reply with "interested", and I'll share the full strategy breakdown.
May your stories continue to weave past and present with grace,
Patricia Laura
P.S. — Your dedication to researching "how Christians lived out their faith in their time"
is exactly what makes dual-timeline fiction meaningful. May your reach expand to match the depth of your research.
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Patricia Laura
Book marketing expert
This communication and any services discussed relate solely to book marketing, reader outreach, and promotional visibility. While strategies are designed to increase exposure and audience engagement, specific sales results or rankings cannot be guaranteed, as outcomes depend on multiple external factors, including market trends, reader behavior, and platform algorithms.