#286: Free ebook.  Free download of my futuristic thriller, The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan, today, Friday, and through Tuesday, July 2, on Amazon.  What happens when paranoid U.S. government officials decide their elderly agents and top scientists are becoming security risks with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s?  The year is 2030.  Meet DHS agent Ashley Scott and Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Eduardo Ortega. They battle a government conspiracy that goes far beyond an attack on the elderly who possess classified information.  But is it really the government conspiring? A shadowy group led by a man called Raven lurks in the wings, manipulating events for his own benefit.  Download…and enjoy.  (As always, a review is appreciated—take a wee bit of time to let other people know how much you enjoyed the book.)

#287: A heartfelt thanks.  I want to thank all who participated in the promos of Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder and Angels Need Not Apply.  If you downloaded both these freebies, don’t forget The Midas Bomb, the first ebook in the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series.”  Think of it this way—you can have the entire series for the price of The Midas Bomb (FYI: it’s not easy for me to change prices on my Infinity books).  By the way, in the chronology of my wacko alternate universe, The Midas Bomb is the first book.  All my books so far are related through this chronology.  While I have many “what-ifs” in my e-coffers to work on in the future, and some of them won’t fit into this chronology, but so far that hasn’t been the case.  (Again, a review would be appreciated of any and all of these books—the wee bit of time it takes you lets other readers know about the books.)

#288: Something to look for.  No Amber Waves of Grain, the sequel to Full Medical and Evil Agenda, is nearing completion.  This will make the “Clones and Mutant Series” into a trilogy.  In order to avoid spoilers, let me just say that it will involve many of your same favorite characters from the first two books, plus some new ones.  Also on the immediate event horizon is Paso Dobles in a Quantum Stringscape, an anthology of speculative fiction short stories that will include a newly revised version of my novella, From the Mother World, which appeared in serialization in this blog.  (I use the term “speculative fiction,” as championed by Margaret Atwood, because some of these stories are about horror and paranormal, not just sci-fi.)  I’m hoping for an early fall release of both these ebooks.

#289: Another heartfelt thanks, this time to my interviewees.  Last Wednesday, novelist E. F. Watkins graced this blog with an enlightening interview about her writing.  Next Wednesday, novelist A. J. Colucci will do the same.  Thanks to both these authors for their candid and interesting answers.  I met them both at BooksNJ.  Who said book fairs are worthless?

Are you an author who wants to be interviewed?  Contact me and we’ll decide if it works.  My time and blog space are limited, but it’s a great opportunity to generate some internet buzz about you and your books.  You don’t have to be an indie author, but that’s not a negative either.  Do you want to interview me?  Same deal.  A contact form is provided at this website.

#290: Book sales data.  I was discussing the idea of whether book sales have saturated with fellow author Donna Carrick and marketing expert Penny Sansevieri a few days ago.  There is some agreement that there is a saturation effect.  Simply put (my words, not theirs), the belief is that there are more books available now than can possibly be read—there just aren’t enough readers.  I’m a voracious reader, for example, but if I just consider book reading, I read about 30 books per year between personal entertainment and my reviewing activities.  I tend to focus on sci-fi and thrillers, but I also do mystery and non-fiction.  Using my reading as an optimistic extrapolation, you can do some math and see why I’m worried about saturation.

What’s surprising is that there are no consistent and timely data for book sales, either in general or genre-specific.  When you see stats on book sales, they are generally limited.  It’s very difficult to see where the industry stands, who’s reading what, and what genres are heating up and those that are cooling down.  The influence and relevance of indie authors and publishers, for example, is like the tip of an iceberg.  The NY Times, for example, famous for its best-seller lists, only does sampling—their or anyone else’s lists are consequently suspect.  There is a perceived saturation, but no real proof.

#291: ebooks on the rise.  Some studies suggest that the rate of percentage increase in ebook sales relative to pbook sales is diminishing.  This means that the percentage is increasing, but more slowly as time goes by.  This might be more perception than reality because, again, there are no complete data to support this because of indie publishing.  Traditional publishing houses are like the Titantic.  There are icebergs ahead but they don’t know how dangerous they are—the iceberg has lots of its mass below the surface.

By the way, the increase in ebook sales and the sales of e-readers and tablet computers makes you wonder why so many book reviewer blogs don’t accept ebooks!  It almost seems they’re living in the 20^th century still, not the 21^st!  This contributes to the dearth of reviewers out there.  This alone could be a driving force in the saturation mentioned above.  Honest reviews are traditionally necessary for book sales.  I can understand how reviewing sites no longer accept review requests, but is this because they insist on hardcover and ARCs?  Equally troubling are small presses who produce only hard covers and trade paperbacks and expect me to review an ARC or hardcover.  I’m taking the pledge of not doing that anymore.  I enjoy reading from my Kindle.

Back to the main topic: It’s clearly difficult today to create a wave above the average sea level of other books, let alone a tsunami.  That means that it’s harder to make a living through writing.  The rational piece of advice to all indie authors: don’t give up that day job until you can retire comfortably.  After that, it’s time to shine.  Moreover, you can enjoy a new freedom with your writing—you can write what you enjoy writing without the worry of the traditional publishing circus (agents, publishers, editors, marketers).  You’re also free to write about what you don’t know, spending time on research that will make your book a better book.  It’s a special opportunity for adventure that didn’t exist just a few years ago…enjoy it!

In libris libertas….

[If you enjoyed this post, please support this blog: buy, read, and review some of my books.]

This entry was posted on Friday, June 28th, 2013 at 4:00 am and is filed under News and Notices from the Writing Trenches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.