April 21, 2020 Newsletter
Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing for a free copy of The Infinet audiobook in the last newsletter. The winners have been notified, congratulations to everyone who won!
On a related note, last week I learned that Chirp audiobooks selected The Infinet for their sci-fi audiobook of the day promotion on May 5. Chirp is a sister company (or maybe a subsidiary) of BookBub, which is by far the biggest ebook promotion service. Like BookBub, getting a Chirp deal is kind of like winning the indie author lottery because they are very selective. But unlike BookBub, where you have to pay them $400-700 for the promotion, because Chirp promotions are a new service, they aren't charging me anything for it. Because of this, I had no say in the discount price they set, but that's fine, I'm just trying to get the book in the hands of more readers. So on May 5, they will be setting the price for the promotion at $0.99 for 30 days. So if you missed winning a free copy you will be able to get it for almost-free starting in a couple of weeks.
I also discovered that, as of Monday evening, the audiobook is doing pretty well on Amazon:
#499 in Hard Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#1,388 in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#2,608 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)
As an indie author who has spent next to no money on advertising, seeing it get even this high organically on its own is quite exciting. It's also creating a lot of urgency in me to get the second book done since a lot of the reviews for the first book end with something to the effect of "Loved it, looking forward to book 2." Anyway, more on book 2 progress if you're interested at the end of the newsletter.
Book Contests and Giveways
Dystopian & Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi
Starlight - Sci-Fi and Fantasy E-Book Giveaway
A Bright, Cold Day in April
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Gem is the most important person in the world to Marcus, and the only woman he’s loved since his mom died, but he hasn’t seen her in days. Marcus has no choice but to do what it takes to find her and get her to safety before the cataclysm, no matter what he may lose along the way.
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Writing Updates
I reached a milestone of sorts with Book 2 of the Trivial Game trilogy (The Infinet Directive) in that I've completed the dictation phase of the first draft. The raw dictation is always pretty rough, so I have to clean it up before I can consider it a true first draft. I've already finished cleaning up the first half of the book, so now it's on to the second half. I'm feeling good about the plot and especially the character development, and am getting anxious to get it into the hands of my advance readers. I'll be sharing some more sample chapters in May for my newsletter subscribers as well. ✍️
Recommended Read
I finished reading The Fold by Peter Clines recently and enjoyed it. The main character was interesting as was the plot, although things got a little wonky at the end for me. It's $12.99 on Amazon at the moment which I think is too high, but it's definitely worth checking out of your local library, it's an easy weekend read.
My wife and I also watched the new sci-fi film Code 8 on Netflix, which was ironically at #8 on Netflix's new top-10 most popular shows list the day we watched it. It has a similar premise to Amazon'sThe Boys, and we both found it pretty entertaining. I had been curious to see it because it got its start as an independently produced short film that went viral and helped the directors raise $2.5 million on IndieGoGo to film a full movie. Go indies!
Until next time, stay at home and stay safe!
John