This week, my publisher is hosting a major sale to celebrate their 15th anniversary, which, in my humble opinion, is quite an achievement. Let’s face it, sapphic romance and fiction have struggled to find a large enough audience to support the many wonderful authors over the years. A number of publishers have gone out of business and closed their doors, not able to weather the storms that occurred since sapphic books were first published by Naid Press. But I’m getting off track. With this massive sale, coinciding with Pride Month, I wondered about the history of sales and bargains over the years. I discovered some interesting tidbits that I’d love to share with y’all. Here they are in no particular order:

Before there was actual money, people exchanged goods and services through bartering. Bartering has its own unique method of offering sales or bargains, as people would often haggle with one another, even though the term “haggle” did not emerge until 1570.
The first coin can be traced back to 640 BC, developed by King Alyattes of Lydia. China was the first to use paper money in the eleventh century. Jiaozi was a form of promissory note, created because paper was far easier to carry around than coins. Unfortunately, a new occupation as a counterfeiter came soon after. To make it harder to counterfeit the notes, multiple banknote seals were added.
However, the true architect of bargains and sales was Frank Woolworth, the American entrepreneur and founder of the first Woolworth retail chain in the United States. As the story goes, Woolworth was shy and not very competent as a salesman; thus, he was easily conned into selling items at a lower price. When his boss heard about his incompetence, Woolworth dumped all the seasonal goods on the counter and put up a sign that said, “All at 5 cents.” No one can resist a sale, so all the goods were sold out within a few hours, and the ultimate sales formula was born: people will buy nearly anything that’s discounted by 50%. It was considered the first five-and-dime store, the ancestor to The Dollar Store. It was a similar concept because at first, everything in his store was a nickel (also known as the first nickel store). His concept was to have set prices (items for a nickel or a dime).

Although Affinity’s sale doesn’t cut their books in half, as that would ultimately bankrupt us, we have decided to include every single e-book in the sale. Now, that’s quite the sale. Of course, you can get my latest book, The Kitten Trap, for $5.25, and the same price for The Love Demand, which has several places where a main character, Lacey haggles with the locals for goods and then ends up paying their original price or more because she’s just that wonderful. Haggling is mere entertainment for her. She’s a delightful character, so I hope you’ll take advantage of the sale and check her out. In fact, you’d make my year if you bought more than one of my books at this great online sale. Click below for the links!