Last chance to get ASSOCIATED PRESSURE for free on your Amazon Kindle! This new Siegel City story, set in the world of OTHER PEOPLE’S HEROES, is a great introduction to a new cast of characters. The eBook edition also contains a special bonus — the first chapter of the upcoming Siegel City novel THE PYRITE WAR. Tomorrow the price goes back to 99 cents, so grab it now!
Archive for the 'Other People’s Heroes' Category
You fans of Siegel City have waited a long time between visits to that town, and I really do appreciate your patience. As we speak, I’m working on the final draft of the new book, The Pyrite War, which I hope to have out later this year. But before that, I’ve got one more taste of the city, the last Siegel City short story before the next Siegel City novel, a very short piece called Associated Pressure.
This story is a quick visit with Copycat and company in the days immediately following the Battle of Simon Tower. With so much changing in town, the new LightCorps holds a press conference to explain what’s happening to the public. Problem is, one of them (guess who?) has some trouble keeping his story straight.
There will be two ways for you to get this new story. You see, I wrote Associated Pressure specifically for a special edition comic book put together by the fantastic folks of the New Orleans Drink ‘n Draw Society — a group of local writers and artists that I’m very proud to be even tangentially associated with. This Saturday, as you may know, is Free Comic Book Day in North America, the annual event when comic book publishers and stores give away thousands of special edition comics to their customers, old and new. This year, the Drink ‘n Draw guys thought it would be fun to put together a book of stories by the local talent for us to give out at the FCBD events. If you’re in the New Orleans area, I’ll be at BSI Comics in Metairie giving away copies of the book, as well as recording a Showcase podcast and selling paperback editions of Other People’s Heroes, The Beginner, and Opening Night of the Dead.
“But Blake,” you say, “I don’t live in New Orleans. I don’t live anywhere near New Orleans? As a devoted Siegel City completist, how can I possibly obtain this new story for my electronic book collection?” Funny you should ask that, friends. Even if you’re in New York, Cucamonga or Walla-Walla, Washington, from May 4 through May 8, you’ll be able to download Associated Pressure from the Amazon Kindle store absolutely free. Got a Kindle? An iPad? A smartphone? A computer? (If you don’t have any of these things, please tell me how you’re reading this blog, I’m intensely curious.) Then you can download the free Kindle App and buy any and all of my books, and snare this newest story for nothing at all.
Sure, you could go there now and plunk down 99 cents for it, but I’m asking that you don’t do that. I want Saturday, Free Comic Book Day, to be the big download day, the day everybody gets it and bumps it up the sales list. The higher its place on the list, the more people will see it, which will lead to more downloads, which will hopefully lead to more downloads of the paid books, which will eventually get me featured on Oprah’s Book Club, which will make me stupidly wealthy and allow me to achieve my lifelong dream of taking a bath in silver dollars.
You, friends, can make that happen.
Oh — and did I mention that the eBook edition of Associated Pressure also happens to include the first chapter of The Pyrite War? That’s right, guys, I’m sneak previewing you.
So on Saturday, if you can, come on down and get the book from BSI. If you can’t — or even if you can, for that matter — download Associated Pressure on Saturday, May 4. And as always, the best way you can help is to write a review on Amazon or your own blog.
And thanks, as always, to the enormously talented Jacob Bascle for providing the cover art!
It’s time again, my friends, for my annual Christmas gift to you, a new short story. And this year, we’re going back to Siegel City and Josh Corwood. Every Christmas Eve the heroes of Siegel City come together to raise a glass to their fallen friends. On Josh Corwood’s first Christmas among them, he learns of an apparition that has haunted Simon Tower for years… a mysterious, nameless phantom, who may hold some of the Tower’s biggest secrets yet. This short story continues the tale of Other People’s Heroes with a gateway into the past of Siegel City, and a glimpse into its future.
So how do you read this story, do you ask? It’s simple, guys. If you’ve got your Amazon Kindle, it’s available in the store right now for a mere 99 cents. But just between you and me, the reason I charge even the 99 cents is because you can’t make a book free on Amazon unless it’s enrolled in their special program, which I’ve decided not to do for reasons.
The Ghost of Simon Tower in the Amazon Kindle Store ($0.99)
But let’s say you don’t have a Kindle… or you don’t have 99 cents, because your kid needed that Tickle-Me Emilio Estavez doll I hear all the kids are crazy for this year. I feel you, my friend. Now before long, the book should be in the Sony Reader store, the Kobo Store, the Nook store, the iPad store, but all of those things take a bit longer than Amazon. So for the rest of you, friends, the book is now available at Smashwords.com, and at Smashwords, for a limited time, it’s absolutely free. Yep, for the whopping price of nothing, you can download the book in any format you want, ready to load on your Nook, your Kobo, your iPad… and yes, even your Kindle. And if you don’t have any of those, there’s also an option to read it in PDF format or HTML, right there in your web browser. So if you’re a fan of Siegel City and Josh Corwood, there is literally no reason not to check the book out right now.
The Ghost of Simon Tower in the Smashwords bookstore (FREE!)
As always, my friends, I ask just one favor of you. If you like my work, please post a review of it online — at Amazon, Smashwords, wherever you happen to get it. Reviews help the book get attention, attention gets more sales, more sales means Blake can keep writing stuff like this. And after some of the hints I drop in The Ghost of Simon Tower, I think you’re really going to be excited to see what I’ve got planned for 2013.
Special thanks to the great Jacob Bascle, who once again has come through with a great cover for the book! Merry Christmas, everybody!
Other People’s Heroes
My first novel, Other People’s Heroes, is superhero adventure. Josh Corwood is a reporter for Powerlines, the premiere newsmagazine covering the heroes of Siegel City. Josh has always dreamed of joining the heroes, but his world is thrown into upheaval by a pair of discoveries. First: he has a power of his own. And second: the heroes of Siegel City are all fakes. The villains are actors, the fights are choreographed — it’s like professional wrestling on a much bigger scale. In this comedy/adventure, Josh attempts to blow the lid on the cover-up, only to find himself embroiled in a mystery about what happened to the real heroes of Siegel City, and about the nature of heroism itself. You can listen to the whole thing in the Evercast, or buy it as an ebook!
- Amazon.com Kindle Store ($2.99)
- Barnes & Noble Nook Store ($.299)
- Smashwords.com for every eBook format ($2.99)
- The iPad/iPhone/iPod bookstore ($2.99)
- Available in print from CreateSpace ($15.99)
- Available as a free audiobook download at Podiobooks.com ($0.00!)
A while back, just for funsies, I whipped up some images of the heroes of Siegel City. I’m no artist, mind you, so I used the Hero Machine template. Here’s what I came up with:
Back when I was making the book blog circuit, trying to find people willing to review Other People’s Heroes, I got a particularly kind review from the Magic Is In Words blog. This afternoon, I did a little interview with Katie, the site’s author. I tell her a little bit about the creation of the book, give an exclusive preview of the sequel, 14 Days of Asphalt, AND you have a chance to win a free eBook edition of Other People’s Heroes (y’know… if you don’t have one already). Check it out!
01
Aug
11
Another Thank-You…
It’s August first, my friends, and that means a couple of things. First, it means I’m going back to work so soon it almost makes me want to weep. Second, it means my birthday is in a mere 24 days (I am accepting Amazon.com gift cards). And third, it means the monthly Kindle sales for Other People’s Heroes have once again been tallied up.
As you may remember, the June sales more than tripled the May sales. I wasn’t expecting a performance quite that good in July, and I was right, but July did continue to improve on June, increasing sales by a little more than 35 percent. Again, it’s not money that will make me rich, but it will definitely come in handy. My goal, for the time being at least, is for each month to improve on the previous month. If I can keep that going, I’ll be happy.
Hopefully, I’ll have a second novel to add to that tally very soon. My graphic designer (hi, Heather!) has gotten the software she needs to really cut loose, and as soon as she’s got a cover for The Beginner I’ll be tossing that your way as well. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who has supported Other People’s Heroes, and I hope you’ll be there for The Beginner, the upcoming Kindle Single The Restless Dead of Siegel City (the Halloween-themed follow-up short story to OPH) and the already-available A Long November and Other Tales of Christmas. By the end of the year, I intend to have at least those four products available in every eBook store.
And in 2012, even more.
Well, friends, for the last few months I’ve been deluging the hell out of you with each new announcement about the myriad ways you could get your hands on my novel, Other People’s Heroes. I’m very happy to announce that, as of today, it’s available in every conceivable format a person can experience the original novel. I’ll have nothing new to announce for OPH until somebody backs a truck full of money up to my house to make a movie about it. So let’s review…
- If you’re old-school… if you prefer to get your books on paper, you can order the print version from Amazon’s Createspace. The print version will cost you $15.99, but it comes with my undying affection.
- If you’ve got an e-reader, you have several options. Those of you with an iPad or iPod, you can just turn on your device, cruise to the bookstore, and do a search for the title or my name.
- Owners of the Amazon Kindle can get the book in the Kindle bookstore.
- If you’re the proud owner of a Barnes and Noble Nook device, the book is available in your store.
- And if you have any other e-reader, you can click on over to Smashwords.com, download the book in your preferred format, and upload it to your device. Oh — and ALL of the e-reader versions, no matter your format, cost a measly $2.99. You’re paying more for that for coffee at Starbucks, people.
- And finally, let’s say that you like your books in audio format. Let’s say you’ve got a long commute and you like to listen to books on the road. Cool. As of July 13, OPH is available to you as well. Cruise to Podiobooks.com and subscribe to the audiobook version of OPH, read and produced by yours truly. Oh yeah — and the audiobook version? ABSOLUTELY FREE.
So that’s it, right? We’re done? You’re never gonna have to hear me pimp my books again?
Oh, friends. Don’t you know me better than that?
At the present, I’ve got not one, not two, but four fiction projects in various stages. So here’s what you can expect in the future, probably in the order that you’ll see them become available.
- The Beginner, my second novel, is completely finished and edited and ready to go to eBook and print. The only thing I’m waiting on is new cover art. I’d really like to get that done before I go back to school, but that’s up to my graphic artist (a.k.a. my sister, Heather.)
- Lost in Silver, my fantasy novel for young readers, has been sent off to beta readers for their thoughts and commentary. Once The Beginner is done, my publish-fu will be dedicated to getting that in shape to release.
- 14 Days of Asphalt, the sequel to Other People’s Heroes, has been in the works for a long time. As of last night, I have finished work on the second draft. Once LIS has gone through the beta process, I’ll be asking for betas again to take a look at that one.
- And finally, my new year’s resolution back in January was to write or revise one of my fiction projects every day. With 14 Days finished, I need something else to start working on today, because I’ve hit it every day so far. So today, friends, I begin work on a new project. It’s actually the sequel to Lost in Silver, the continuing adventures of Linda Watson and her friends, and the continuing exploration of the strange worlds of Evertime. I’ll give you the title to chew on: The Light Man.
Damn, I’m busy aren’t I?
11
Jul
11
In case you hadn’t heard…
Well, it’s back to reality for me. Erin is home and as great at last week was, I’ve got a thousand things I’ve fallen behind on that need me to step up and get back to work. So while I do still owe you guys the traditional photoblog and post about our visit, that will probably wait until tomorrow.
Today, before I dive back into the other things I’m still working on, I thought I would throw out a newish plug for a newish version of Other People’s Heroes. Last year, before the book came to the Kindle or the Createspace store, before there was any way to sit down and read it except shelling out for a used copy, there was still a way to experience the story. Listen to it. I sat down beginning last summer and recorded an audio version of the book, which I released (more or less) weekly in a podcast form. But that was never intended to be the “permanent” edition of the audiobook, if for no other reason than I didn’t do the sharpest job on editing out flubbed lines.
But earlier this summer, I went in and cleaned up the audio and presented the new version of the audiobook to the good folks at Podiobooks.com, the site that also released my Christmas novella A Long November as an audiobook. After just a little tweaking, the book was accepted and added to their slate, so beginning on July 13 you’ll be able to download the audio version of A Long November. You can download all of the chapters at once, or you can set up your podcast software (such as iTunes) to download an episode at a time with whatever frequency you want.
Oh yes — and it’s free.
You’ll get the entire unabridged text of the novel (not the two bonus short stories, though) for absolutely nothing beginning this Wednesday! So tell your friends, spread the word, and if you’ve got a Facebook account (I know ya do), you can even attend the launch “event”! (You don’t actually have to go anywhere, don’t worry.) Just go to the Other People’s Heroes launch page at Facebook and say you’re attending! And tell your friends!
One of the many features I like about Amazon Direct Publishing is that you can get realtime, up-to-the-minute numbers about how many copies of your book were sold in the Kindle store in any given month. And ever since I put Other People’s Heroes in the store back in March, I’ve kept a close eye on those numbers, hoping against hope to see them skyrocket. And while saying they’ve “skyrocketed” would be an exaggeration, they’ve most definitely been going up.
I launched OPH in late March. There weren’t many days left in the month and sales were… let’s say “modest.” In April, when it got to sell for a full month for the first time, they were less modest. And in May, when reviews started to appear on the many, many book blogs I submitted to and begged for a review, numbers rose a bit more. Still not huge numbers, but bigger. My goal in June was to do better than May. Just one more than May, I decided, and I would be satisfied. So I was surprised when I matched May sales on June 15.
And the rate of sales kept going up. Wonderful, I thought. I may actually double my May sales before the end of June.
But checking the final June numbers, I see that doubling didn’t happen.
The numbers tripled.
Let me say that again. May. Times. Three. Plus a few more.
It’s still not “quit the job, start writing full-time” money, don’t misunderstand me. It’s far from that. But it keeps getting higher, and that’s a remarkable feeling. And what’s more, the numbers have reached a level where I can no longer dismiss it to myself by saying, “It’s just people I know.” Don’t get me wrong, I love you guys, but selling the people reading this blog today books at 3 bucks a pop isn’t going to make a career. I need to spread out, I need to expand, and that seems to be happening. And I truly, deeply believe I have all of you to thank for that.
So thank you.
But it’s not over yet.
I’m going to ask you again, humbly, hat in hand, to help me keep spreading the word. If you know someone with an e-reader, tell them about the book. You know a comic book fan? Point them towards the print version. Put it on your Facebooks, your Twitters, your Google+ (whatever that is). And on July 13, when it hits Podiobooks.com, let people know that they can download a free audiobook version.
And stay at the ready, my friends, because very soon I hope to add the new version of The Beginner to your eBook library as well, and I’ll be asking for this help all over again.
Lest we forget, here are the ways you can get Other People’s Heroes right now:
- Amazon.com Kindle Store
- Barnes & Noble Nook Store
- Smashwords.com (For every eBook format)
- Also available in your iPad/iPhone/iPod bookstore!
- And available in print from CreateSpace!
Have a great July, my friends! And thanks again!
As you may have heard in yesterday’s post, I’ve finally got Other People’s Heroes back in print, so those of you who haven’t got the eBook because you don’t have an e-reader like a Kindle, Nook, iPad, Kobo, Blackberry, Blueberry, Schnozzberry, or Frankberry can finally get yourself a copy. You’re welcome!
So where does that leave the book, then?
Well, there’s really not much left for me to do with it. At the moment, I’m currently going through the audio files I recorded last year, fixing some errors (if you listened to it, you probably noticed the occasional flub or repeated line, especially as I got close to the end and got tired). Once that’s done, I’m going to upload those cleaner files to Podiobooks.com so that they’ll have a permanent home among the greatest free audiobooks on the web. And after that?
Well, until a producer comes to town with a big ol’ check to make the movie version, my work on OPH will be officially done.
Fortunately, it’s not the end of Siegel City. I’m working now on the sequel to OPH, 14 Days of Asphalt, and this October I’m going to release the Halloween short story The Restless Dead of Siegel City as a Kindle Single. After that, I’ve got two other works in progress set in the world of Siegel City — the tentatively-titled Cross Purposes and The Pyrite War. And I’ll get to those eventually. I swear. Consarn it.
And in the meantime, here (once more) are the links to all the places you can get Other People’s Heroes in its various forms:
- Amazon.com Kindle Store
- Barnes & Noble Nook Store
- Smashwords.com (For every eBook format)
- Also available in your iPad/iPhone/iPod bookstore!
- And available in print from CreateSpace!
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