On freebies

From time to time I give away Kindle copies of my novels in an attempt to attract readers. My last three giveaways before this year netted 2, 2 and 3 people jumping on my offers. Free books. I could barely give them away. My most successful freebie days had been 21, 73 and a confounding 305 copies of The Adventures of Hank Fenn back in 2016.

I tried Hank this past Sunday for a two-day freebie event. Gave away 8 copies on Sunday, and was surprised when a freelance editor tweeted about it. I recalled her because she'd had good things to say about the same book back in '16. I retweeted the tweet.

Gave away 268 copies on Monday. Perhaps I should rethink Twitter as a marketing tool.

This morning I discovered I'd actually sold three books during/since the giveaway. Plus, someone started reading (36 pages, so far, per the Amazon chart) Hank Fenn on Kindle Unlimited.

For the record, those three purchases quadrupled my sales total for the year. Yes, perhaps I should rethink Twitter.

On better failure

Over the last half-year, I've been conducting a failed experiment that will now come to an end. I ventured away from an exclusive Amazon Kindle agreement (see December 2, 2017 post) to sell my novels through other outlets such as B&N and iBooks. I sold exactly ZERO BOOKS through this expanded distribution, while the books I did sell through Kindle garnered a smaller royalty than if I had stayed strictly with Amazon.

According to Samuel Beckett I'm right on course: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

Hmmm... Shouldn't it be: "Ever Tried? Ever failed?"

Be that as it may, all six titles are still on Amazon, as well as at Magers & Quinn in Uptown. 

Ask about all six at Subtext Books in St. Paul, even though they currently only carry this one particular title:

Thanks!

On ebooks

Over the last three years I've published my ebooks exclusively through Amazon Kindle in order to take advantage of their 70% royalty rate for doing so. Problem is I ain't sellin' any through them lately and have decided to expand to multiple vendors such as B&N, iBooks and others displayed in this post.

Today No Happier State is no longer under any exclusive contractual obligation with Kindle and will soon be available through these other outlets (as well as Amazon). The same will happen with The Cary Grant Sanatorium and Playhouse and The Adventures of Hank Fenn later this month, and the other three at the end of January.

Time will tell if this jump-starts my sales. One thing is for sure, your Facebook feeds will be deluged with links to these new outlets and for that I apologize.

Right...

On sale now!

THE GREAT AMERICAN SCRAPBOOK is physically available now at Magers & Quinn and located in a case (main aisle, just west of cash registers) featuring other upcoming events. Have at it—and my other novels, as well. Also, the release date for pre-orders of Kindle has been moved up to November 3—best I could do.

As if you need a reminder: Book launch is November 7, 7pm, Magers & Quinn.

I've changed my distribution so all my paperbacks will be available to purchase/order at any book retailer. To do so I had to raise the prices a buck or two. My apologies. Digital copies are still only available, dirt cheap, through Amazon (free Kindle app with purchase).

Enjoy!

On pre-order, launch news and some trepidation

THE GREAT AMERICAN SCRAPBOOK is now available for pre-order (Kindle version) and the paperbacks are winging their way here in anticipation of the launch at Magers & Quinn on November 7 (7pm). The pre-order business is only because it's complete and I promised the good folks at M&Q that it wouldn't go on sale before the launch. (Last time I did a pre-order nobody pre-ordered.)

For more launch info, and to catch up on the soundtrack for the novel, click here.

I've redone my humble website here to give notice of the new release. Have a look around see if anything interests you.

This new book seems to be a bit more stressful for me than my previous ones. The others were way more historical and all the real-life characters were dead. In this I'm using real live characters like Sherwin Linton, Anita from the Uptown Bar, Johnny Rey and Bill Murray, as well as friends who passed away far too young: Steve Foley, Kevin Foley and Kevin Calhoun Hazlett. Institutions like Bob Dylan and John Prine figure prominently without ever showing their faces.

Hope to see you November 7 and hope you enjoy the book(s).

FREE!

In the past weeks I conducted a bit of an experiment. Periodically I give away Kindle copies of my books. I think early on I once gave away thirty-some books over a two-day period; a couple months ago only three books were given away in a one-day promotion for Bonus Man. Three stinkin' books. For free.

Then I stumbled into a list of sites that'll promote your freebies for free. I signed up for eight of them. I also promoted the free dates on Facebook and two writers' forums, like I always do. One freebie site sent me an email that they had tweeted my free promo to 42,900 of its followers. Others sent emails and/or flooded my Facebook with their ads. With all this help I gave away 21 copies of Alice and Her Grand Bell. Five days later, using the same marketing plan, I gave away 15 copies of Bonus Man.

Unimpressed, I had another promo a week later, this time I used only Facebook—ignoring all the freebie sites and the writers' forums—and gave away 16 copies of No Happier State. Hardly worth the effort of dealing with all those freebie sites, though their ads are still all over my email and Facebook. Thanks. (Maybe I need to be on Twitter...)

On a related note, the good people at Cracked Walnut shared a review site called Emily Reads Everything. Seems she has a regular feature called “Awesome Indies.” Signed up, hopefully to get a review. Not sure about the term indie. It used to pertain to small, independent presses but lately has been taken over by self-published authors who don't wanna be called self-published. As a self-published author I hope I qualify. Seems like a great site. We'll see how it works out...

On to BONUS MAN

My third novel, BONUS MAN (Americana #3), will be out May 15 (on Kindle, followed shortly by the paperback, also available on Amazon). It goes like this:

BONUS MAN explores the life of Adam “Bonus Man” Bonifacius, a former Great War medic and participant in the Bonus Army March of 1932. The march, a gathering of veterans in Washington D.C. protesting compensations promised but not paid, is ultimately turned back by the U.S. Government with tanks and tear gas. Bonus Man hits the road determined to find a way into medical school—the bonus would've done the trick—and maybe a little revenge along the way.

The thing about revenge is, well, he's just not very good at it. He is good at removing bullets, a skill acquired under fire during the war and put into practice when Bonus Man runs smack into a John Dillinger prison break—leading to a gunpoint invitation to stay on as sawbones to the gang. It may not be medical school but it's certainly an education.

And Bonus Man falls in love. Twice. If that doesn't complicate things enough, the FBI has an agent on his trail who is convinced not only of Bonus Man's complicity in the Dillinger escape but also in the Lindbergh kidnapping. 

Also: May 15 & 16, my second novel, NO HAPPIER STATE, will be FREE (Kindle version). 

On pre-order

My second novel, NO HAPPIER STATE, is now on pre-order here, with a release date set for March 18. The paperback will also go on sale on that date. It goes like this:

While the menfolk carve Mount Rushmore above, Pêche Appleton sells her own tiny sculptures to the Depression-era onlookers below. Some find them offensive, particularly Taft-Stuck-in-a-Bathtub, the Cancan-Dancing-Presidents, and the whole Jefferson-and-the-Slave-Girl series. Pêche is married to Ernie, star shortstop for the town team, and NO HAPPIER STATE is their story of love, small town scandal and national political outrage.

Their love is at first sight when they're twelve. The scandal revolves around the baby. The outrage involves their friends: Steinke, a German-born Jew, sent to an internment camp because the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor and Bad Glove Hand, a Lakota Sioux, heads for Hollywood only to be blacklisted as a Communist—but not before implicating actor Ronald Reagan in the same plot.

Despite their own personal burdens—and the Depression and a World War—love and friendship prevail in NO HAPPIER STATE (Americana #2).

Also, ALICE AND HER GRAND BELL (Kindle version) is FREE March 12 & 13. Plus, we just received a new Amazon review!

On sale for $0.00

With sales hovering somewhere between lackluster and dismal, it's time for a promotion. FEBRUARY 20 & 21, ALICE AND HER GRAND BELL (Kindle version) will be FREE on Amazon! 

Yours for the taking!