Meet Catherine Bybee: Amazon, USA Today and WSJ Bestselling Romance Author

I can’t tell you how excited I am to be interviewing Catherine Bybee on this blog!  First of all Catherine, congratulations on the huge success of your number 1, bestselling romance, Wife by Wednesday.  Without giving too much away, could you tell us a little bit about it?

Wife by Wednesday combines a historical romance theme; dashing Duke needs a wife to inherit his father’s wealth, and meshes it with a modern setting of a contemporary romance. A sexy hero and snarky heroine with a ton of honesty and this romance takes off.


What do you think have been the biggest factors in the massive success of Wife by Wednesday?   

I have a couple of theories of why Wife by Wednesday has done so well. First, I hit the promo at a run. I tweeted, and not just for the purpose of getting people to buy my book, but to chat and connect with readers and other writers. I did lower the price which made it easy for new readers of Catherine Bybee to give it a try. I feel this made a big difference in the long run. Once I made it onto the top 100 books on Kindle the book sold itself.

The cover is amazing, and it has helped my sales. Bad cover = Bad sales.

The blurb is catchy and I do think the book itself delivers what I say it will. A quick, sexy read with a HEA that will keep you smiling.

I did do a book tour for a couple of months and found new places to travel online. I had review after review that praised the book. All of these things help and I’m incredible lucky this story resonated with my readers.

As for sales… let’s just say that I’ve reached nearly 200,000 readers with this book so far.

Wow! That's a lot of books! Your seven other novels were mainly published by Wild Rose Press.  Why did you decide to self-publish Wife by Wednesday?

I decided to go solo on Wife by Wednesday because I have yet to see a contemporary romance soar to the top of the charts with a small press. Having freedom to lower the price of the book and force the book to be in print isn’t something you can do when a publisher owns the rights. Now that I’ve seen the success being an Indie published author can achieve, I’m going to stick with this method for a while. I’ve hired an editor and a person who can format my books for me to free up my time to write. I already have an amazing cover artist.

Are there any plans to make Wife by Wednesday into a movie and who would you choose to star as the hero, Blake Harrison, and the heroine, Samantha Elliot? 

No plans yet, but I am on the lookout for a producer. This is the perfect book for a chick-flick. LOL – As for Hollywood Talent… Lord, I’m not sure I can answer that. I think I’ll ask my readers who they see as Blake and Samantha.

I love the design of your book cover for Wife by Wednesday.  Can I ask who did it? 

Crystal Posey. She designed my website as well. Amazing isn’t she?

She certainly is! What are you working on at the moment? 

I am in final edits of Highland Shifter, the 4^th book in my time travel series. I’m super excited to be self publishing the next three books in this series. I won’t be letting them go for a buck a book, however… but they are so worth a few extra dollars. I can’t wait to share Simon’s story with the world.

Married by Monday, a follow up to Wife, will be out in the very near future. And then there is Fiancée by Friday which will come later this year.

When you are not writing, what do you like doing in your free time? 

My family and I travel a lot. You’ll hear me talking about ‘The Big Rolling Turd’ this is our RV and if you’ve ever seen the movie with Robin Williams, you’ll understand the term. Follow me on twitter and the hashtag #BRT and you’ll hear all about our RV adventures.


What advice do you have for other authors out there? 

Keep writing. Do you know how many authors call themselves writers but they seldom sit down to actually write? A ton.

And don’t think for a moment that you can be a successful author and not be heavy on the promotion and marketing end of this job. It’s all part of the same pie.

Finally, do you have any parting comments that you would like to share with us?

Of course… buy my books. LOL – No, how about “Pay it forward”… If you read a book you like, write a review and tell a friend.

I hope to see my readers at either the Romantic Times Convention in Chicago this spring or at RWA Nationals in California this summer.

Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

If you Google ‘Catherine Bybee’ you’ll find me everywhere.

Website: www.CatherineBybee.com

Twitter: @catherinebybee

Facebook: Both a fan page and a public profile under Catherine Bybee

Thanks for the interview!

Thank you so much Catherine for taking the time to come here and tell us about yourself and your great books.  I hope 2012 will be even more successful for you!