Ready to Roll on Ahead

Okay, so, at least one of you felt it was important I promote my new novel as much as possible before getting into a new one. Others feel it’s just as important to get into a new book and get the product out there so your customers — loyal readers who maybe liked what you wrote — will have more stuff they can read when they finish the first one.

I believe it’s got to be a balance of both. I’d love to have a “publicist” who could promo my work, but I’ve seen “publicists” posting to Facebook and Twitter with little to no success. I’ve seen authors chase around all over their regional area going to “book signings” and such, all for a handful of sales.

Thank goodness eBook publishing means I don’t have to do any of that. It also means, while I should try and get people interested in my product, most of the people who read it will do so because they found it on Amazon themselves.

I read an article my buddy Bryce sent me a link to, on a blog by a young lady who’s trying to generate enough loyal fans — those that read everything and anything the author writes — to make her employment full-time writing. I’d love to be there too, but she had some stuff on her blog which made a load of sense, wasn’t that hard to do, and might have been key in making things happen for her. She had her best month ever in May and while she’s not sure if she’ll duplicate her results, the fact she made more than she did on her day job is very appealing.

Anyway, she had some tips and things on her blog I might try. After all, what’s it going to hurt? I’ve got not very much to lose.

So, for me, I’m going to dig in to Scrivener and start my next book. Not because I don’t value the advice of those saying I need to promo this book — I do appreciate the input and will heed the advice to the best of my ability — but I also need to have product for readers to acquire. If I don’t, there’s no sense in trying to market this one. (In addition, I’ve learned series do better than stand alones, and sticking with one genre per pen name helps. Great. Now I needanother pen name to use. *Sigh.)

That being said, I’m going to go forth and begin the writing process on my next book, which has an outline (albeit not horribly detailed yet), and get the ball rolling on that. My wife, the loving and supportive person she is, is excited about a book whose subject doesn’t in the slightest excite her. That is, she doesn’t even like the subject matter but finds the story compelling and wants to read it. I’m honored by that. I think she’s worth rewarding.

Finally, I sent out a few copies of my newest novel before I released it (the night before, it’s true, but still). If you got a copy and have read it, or are reading it, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. I haven’t got any so far, and I really need as many of those as I can to boost the visibility of the book. Add tags as well, if please. On the other hand, if you don’t like the book, please don’t speak about that. Lie. (Just kidding. Gotta take the lumps with the good, just like in a bowl of mashed potatoes.)

Have a great weekend everyone. See you on the other side.

-JDT-

Lousy Timing

Of all the luck! Wouldn’t you know, when I’m trying to announce the release of my new novel, the hits on my blog plummet to horrific lows?!

Of course, this is intentional somehow. I’m certain there’s a conspiracy to keep the eyes of the public away from my book. And while I’ve had almost 150 downloads during the first two days it was free, that’s a tiny fraction of what I got when I did the same thing with my short story collection A Fine Cast of Characters. It got over 1100 downloads.

Of course, NONE of those were from the lending library of Amazon’s Kindle, which would have generated an income, but still. So far, things don’t look good for the exposure of my first complete novel to be released. And now I’m torn between trying to decide whether to sandwich trying to write a new book in here with the promotion or just wait for a bit until the dust settles.

Speaking of sandwiches, I love egg sandwiches. Fried egg sandwiches, to be exact. You take bread and make toast out of it, then you fry a couple of eggs with broken yolks to a consistency which you enjoy and doesn’t run down your arms when you try to eat it. I like mayo and a touch of mustard for condiments, and just a pinch of salt and pepper for flavor. If you really like texture with your eggs, you can top with some crispy fried bacon, and a bit of cheese on top never hurt anyone who isn’t lactose intolerant. Muenster, Gouda, American, Swiss and thin mild Cheddar all make great choices.

So, am I desperate or what?

Have a great Wednesday, and I’ll see you later in the week.

-JDT-

Published! AND LINKS!

We’re published…again!

My newest book, Scales of Justice, is uploaded to Amazon’s Kindle Book store, and snugly stored into their Kindle Select Program (which means it’s exclusive to Kindle format and Amazon for ninety days). It hasn’t gone live yet (as of this writing, at least), but it will very soon and when it is, I’ll be sure to This post is now update with links!

Scales of Justice on Kindle US!

It’s free starting tomorrow, Tuesday, June 26, 2012, and will be ONLY until Saturday, June 30, 2012, so download yours NOW! Woo!

The process was MUCH fun. I got my bud Sherri to help me with a read-through, and of course, my loving wife gave it a read through for me every step of the way, too. I think it turned out very nice. If you’d like to see the cover, just click here and check it out.

So, thank you for indulging my repeated talk about this phantom work, but it is, at long last, finished and out into the world for anyone to see.

How’d you do over the weekend? Build any robots? Save any planets? Rescue any princesses or princes?

-JDT-

Disturbing Things Done with a Violin

There are certain things which simply shouldn’t be done, musically.

For instance, I’ve been listening to a smooth jazz station on an Internet streaming audio site over the last couple of months. I like the jazz for the most part. It’s usually saxophone-driven, maybe guitar-led, but it’s tempo is nice and it’s not as grating as a lot of lyrical music. I’m very finicky, if you haven’t noticed.

So anyway, one day I was working at my computer and heard a violin playing a familiar melody. I couldn’t place it at first, but it was familiar enough to make me stop and pay attention to the background music, and bring it to the fore. I turned the volume up and listened.

It was a violin playing the melody of Sweet Child of Mine. You know, the late ’80s runaway hit from Guns ‘n Roses.

I giggled the whole way through the song. I couldn’t believe someone so talented with an instrument would want to play that song, never mind record that song AND pay for the rights to do so. Axl Rose is still laughing.

Since then, I’ve heard more things like this. I heard a violin — and, in these instances I feel fully justified in calling it a “fiddle”, frankly — playing something familiar but just outside memory’s scope. I looked at the artist and title, and found theentire album was a string quartet playing AC/DC.

I nearly fell out of my chair. The song I heard was TNT. On a fiddle.

Apparently playing classical arrangements of old rock tunes is hip.

I’m very out of it.

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho…

It’s been painfully hot here the last few days. Today is going to be more of the same, to be sure.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the car had an air conditioner, but no such luck I’m afraid. I have only myself to blame. But the day is coming — probably beyond most of the heat, unfortunately — when I will again have a car, and it may in fact have a working air conditioner. The glory!

On the other hand, it could be worse. I could be at the mercy of public “transportation”, which ain’t much to speak of ’round these parts. I suppose I could rent one for the duration of the heat wave, but with my luck, that will last until October.

And I have to confess, during my drive home — in the heat of the afternoon — I’ve been pretty comfortable. I remember being a sweaty, drained mess most hot days, but the Lord in His graciousness has seen fit to give me nice breezes, long shadows, and easy traffic. So I’m doing all right.

Today at work is more research on the same programming problem. I’ve decided to try and bring our little intranet site into the 21st century and write the new page in ASP.NET, rather than classic ASP. New technology, same ol’ dunderhead. I’m in too deep and can’t figure it out. *Sigh*

Well, hope you’ll have a nice day. I’m going to try. I should have a book cover to show you in the next couple of days. I’m shooting to have it published this weekend. It will start out as free for the first five days, so be sure to pick your copy up if you’ve got a Kindle!

God bless, all!