Working To Improve Skills

Greetings all,

A while back, I did a post about using other skills to reduce overhead costs. The idea is whatever you know how to do (as in you’ve received training or instruction), is one more thing you can do that you don’t have to pay others to do.  I still affirm that even if you are a paid editor, you should have another editor look at your work. Editing is a funny thing. A person can be pretty blind to his own work. I know I am.

Anyway, one area I wanted to improve on was my digital illustration, and I had a few pieces I wanted to share to show how I’ve been doing.

 

This image of Grimm is one I’ve recently done. I took the cover Collin Fogel did for Bob’s Greatest Mistake, and made a few changes. This is all digital art done with Adobe Illustrator. In my own opinion, this is fairly novice work. It doesn’t look like a kindergartner did it, but I wouldn’t’ expect anyone to commission me as a digital artist.  I was reasonably satisfied with it, but it was missing something. Then I realized my biggest complaint with it is the clothing. I’m not very good with digitally illustrating cloth. So I mean to work with this more and improve my overall skill.

I’m much happier with Naruto, but when I step back and look at it in comparison to Grimm, I realized a few things. First, this is a portrait. I don’t have that many clothes to deal with, and the style of this picture is different. I think I have a pretty good grasp of gradients and faces.

So what do I do with this? Well, I’m still practicing. Any skill is honestly just a matter of time and practice. Talent helps reduce the time, but there’s no level of skill that practice can’t attain.

The idea is to increase the options I have when I go to shows. I anticipate a world in which I offer convention goers digital anime-style portraits of themselves. I won’t ever sell licensed material, because that’s frankly copyright violation. Sure, people do it, but the copyright owners can always come collect whenever they get in the mood, and I don’t want to be in the blast radius when that bomb drops. But, I CAN do portraits of people and my own characters.

I aspire to do art from my own work along with the portraits to increase what I can offer potential customers. I’m nowhere near a place where my books alone can profit me in a convention. I’ve even mentioned in previous blogs that I measure my success on books sold, not money made. Adding products and services to my table can shift that metric.

So what do you think?  What would you like to see me try next? Is there a character from one of my books you’d like to see me try and illustrate? I will do fan art (because I’m not ever going to sell it), so if you have another character you’d like me to try, let me know.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

2019 State of the Weech!

Greetings and happy new year to all!

2018 was a tough one for one very specific reason, but there were so many blessings both in my personal life and as an author.

I’ve now started a tradition, and I mean to maintain this one in which I let all of you know what my plans are for the year.

Last year I released four titles! The individual parts of The Journals of Bob Drifter, An Unusual Occupation, Bob’s Greatest Mistake, and Something Always Remains. I finished off the year releasing The Power of Words anthology. That gave me the chance to work with Heidi Angell, Richard T. Drake, and TW Iain.

I sure hope to release four titles every year, but this year might be a bit tough.  I’ve gotten a feel for the effect married life has on me, and so I’ve found a rhythm. There were delays though, and that might slow down the release pace. We also are only doing one convention (AwesomeCon) in 2019.

So without further ado, here are my plans for what I hope is a fantastic 2019.

Jan. 1: Repressed is live and doing well (more on that next week). It does provide more information regarding Kaitlyn from Caught, but it’s still different in that it’s absolutely a YA novel. It’s 99 cents from now until the 15th, when it goes to it’s normal price of $2.99. I’m still worried Betrayed isn’t going to be ready for a 2019 release (I’m trying. About 20 percent through the discovery draft as I type this.) So I wanted to give people who liked Caught some kind of story in that world that would hold them over until Betrayed is ready to go live. Kaitlyn is an awesome character, and I wanted her to have all the limelight.  The Audible version of that book is in production. I’m currently reviewing the files, and hope to have my feedback to Kenzie within two weeks, so I’d expect the Audible version to be available by February.

Jan. 25-29: Caught’s birthday bash!  Caught turns 2 years old Jan. 28, so to celebrate its birthday, the ebook will be free Jan. 25-29. This is something I mulled over last year but didn’t have enough of a handle on. Now that I understand KDP a bit more, I can work these in. I want to celebrate these wonderful blessings God has given me, and this is the best way to do it.

March 1-4: Bob’s birthday bash!  On March 3, Bob turns 4! (I’ve been a published author for four years! Huh!?)  Just as with Caught, I’m making Bob’s story free!

April 1: Sojourn in Captivity.  I’ve had this finished for a while. I meant to publish it last year, but Power of Words took on a life of its own, and so the release schedule shifted a bit. Sojourn in Captivity is more or less a prologue to Images of Truth. Images of Truth features a different main character, but Elele, who is a main character in IoT, was so amazing and powerful, I wanted to go back and look at just how far she’d come. I took a risk with this story. It’s written in first person, present tense. Much like with Repressed, I wanted to push myself as an artist. The way I do that is looking at a genre or style I don’t like and trying to do it in a way that satisfies me. I honestly feel this story turned out wonderfully! It’s powerful and emotional while challenging me in both the style (see above) and the structure. You see, I like nice, proactive characters.  Elele is a spoiled brat, and, as the title indicates, she’s literally prevented from taking action for a major portion of the book. I couldn’t be happier with how this turned out. It’ll be available for preorder some time in March, and it’ll go live April 1.  It’s already finished (and the cover is awesome), so I feel confident with that promise.

Even more on this! Once Sojourn comes out, I’ll release a single flip book which will contain both Repressed and Sojourn. I love flip books, and this gets me another physical book I can sell at conventions. Also, both these stories feature compelling young female characters, and I think they’ll fit well together.

July 1: So if I want to release four titles this year, something has to come out around here. I’m working on one project, but that might not happen. Could I get Betrayed ready to go? I have no doubt that I’ll get through a few drafts by then, but I don’t know that I can finish it. You see, Betrayed looks to be about the same size as Caught, which makes me happy. I want the whole series to be composed of fast-paced, action-packed quick reads. I can’t promise Betrayed will be ready by then, but I will try, especially if the other thing I’m working on doesn’t happen.

Oct. 1: Stealing Freedom: Stealing Freedom is my novella contribution to The Power of Words, so if you’ve already read that, you’ve already read this, but I think it’s (to date) the best story I’ve written, and all of us authors wanted a chance to let our stories stand alone. So I’ll wrap up the year releasing this independently so you can grab it up and enjoy it.

Now I’ll just run down the list of projects I have in various stages of development. I’ll try to order them by how I think they’ll get released, but it’s just too hard to tell.

Betrayed: As I’ve said, I’m about 20 percent through the discovery draft of that story, and it’s going well. This has become my primary project, and I’m certain it will be out by Jan. 1, 2020, if it isn’t out sooner! This book features Dom much more prominently, and expands the scope of some of the events hinted at in Caught. The main characters of that story are Sal, Kaitlyn, Dom, and Zac, a new character who the government orders to take down Oneiros.

Hazel: This is the comic book I’m working on with Collin Fogel, my best friend in junior high and the cover artist for my first book. He’s received a lot of interest in the project, and I’m working on the actual text boxes for the first ten pages of the first of three issues. This is happening; it’s just a matter of when and through what publisher.

Hunted: This is the third and final book in The Oneiros Log. I have the main plot line down, but that’s about it. It will be the next thing I jump on when I finish drafting Betrayed. I’ll let the discovery draft of Betrayed sit while I outline Hunted. That will let me make sure I get my foreshadowing down and tie up any loose ends in the saga. It will be a main project in 2019, but it definitely won’t hit the market until 2020.  This book will feature Kaitlyn and one newer character you’ll meet in Betrayed.

Sonnets for my Savior: You’ve seen the weekly blogs I’m doing. I’ll eventually compile those sonnets into a book. My wife intends to do illustrations for it. This is an offering to God, who’s blessed me with this gift, so I wanted to do something that was completely devoted to him. It’ll come out in 2020 (after I finish all 365 sonnets and get an editor to glance at it). It might be delayed a tad because completing 365 water paintings is far more difficult than writing sonnets, so my wife might need more time.

The 1,200: This was actually something I intended to release a while back, but it just felt like getting The Oneiros Log done was the right call. If you liked The Journals of Bob Drifter, you might get a kick out of some of what happens. And if you look very closely, you might see some familiar faces. I might actually weave this in while editing Betrayed and/or Hunted. The question is when it will come out. I’m going to take a hard look at this story and make sure it works. I’ve developed quite a bit as an author, and so this story deserves an edit with my now more-critical eye. I plan for this to be released sooner rather than later.

New Utopia: I finished a draft of this story and realized it was two books. I intend to go back into this and expand each half into a duo-logy.  It’s a fun story. I call it Mistborn meets Avatar. Again, this only needs revisions and edits, but everything is pretty much waiting until The Oneiros Log gets finished.

Mercer: This is a series I plan to write like episodes of a tv show. Each season will have a specific plot, and each season will consist of a run of novellas.  I call it Dresden Files meets Bones. I honestly haven’t done much with it yet, but it’s going to start flying out of my fingertips as early as this year. Having something to work on that’s shorter will give me a way to release titles without forcing the larger works I write.

Perception of War: Images of Truth: So I was pretty deep into the discovery draft of that story when things derailed. I started Sojourn for an Anthology I thought I was going to publish with the HMS Slush Brain. Then I decided to write the entire Oneiros Log (I wasn’t going to write the other two books until my brother heard the plot points.) So this book kept falling back. I love this series. I love this idea, and I plan to play in this universe for years to come. I just have no idea when I’ll get back to this main book. (Feels like after Oneiros Log, while I edit New Utopia.)

Leah Saldawn and The Nick of Time:  I wrote the discover draft to this ages ago (Saleah wasn’t in high school yet, and now she works at a school). I let it sit because it’s unrelated to other books and for a much younger audience (10-16). I don’t like leaving things on the shelf, so I’m not sure when I’ll fit it in, but I will eventually. There’s a thought about seven books here, but we’ll see how things go. This one’s written, so it will get published.

Even as I type this, I’m stunned at how much is here. When I look back at March 3, 2015, I see a dude who was just stoked to see one of his books in print. Now I’m a steadily-producing author with a release schedule and readers who actually look forward to his next book. This dream-come-true is simply more evidence of God’s grace and absolutely made possible because of people like you! Thank you so much for your support. Thank you so much for reading my work and visiting my blog. Thank you for coming to see me at conventions and telling me what you thought of my work (even if it wasn’t very fun to hear). I’m honored to be where I am, and I look forward to seeing where the journey takes me next.

Thanks for Reading,
Matt

 

 

Want Another Free Book? Please Help my Next Giveaway Top the Last One!

Greetings all,

A few months ago (April), you all helped me a tremendous amount by spreading word about my giveaway for An Unusual Occupation, which still on sale for 99 cents).

Starting today, since Something Always Remains is about to drop, Bob’s Greatest Mistake is now free until July 29. It’s a fun way to celebrate the countdown to the last part of Bob’s journey (thus making Bob available pretty much any way someone wants him).

Here’s where I need support. Last time, we got a ton of downloads and a review, and the more visibility I gain, the more likely others will see it. If you haven’t already picked up Bob’s story in one way or another, please click on the link for Mistake and give it a free download.  Just doing that would go a long way and be much appreciated.

If you’ve already read Bob’s story, please leave a rating and review. I hope you enjoyed it, but it’s okay if you didn’t. Any reviews and any ratings help to get that visibility going. More importantly, I love the feedback.

The next level up would be to share the link via WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, smoke signals or low-priced yodelers (those high priced folk are just overpaid primadonnas).

Helping get the word out would mean the world to me.

Last time, I had little demonstrations of appreciation.  I’m up to 800 followers, so I have to up my game.

If I get 100 downloads, I’ll do 100 pushups (I’ll try to do them in two minutes, but that’s a goal, not a guarantee).

If I get 200 downloads, I’ll karaoke a song of my followers’ choice.

If I get 300 downloads, I’ll reenact a scene of a movie of my followers’ choice.

If I get 400 downloads, I’ll narrate one chapter of any book my followers’ choose (with voices).

If I get 500 downloads, I’ll recreate the “My Little Buttercup” scene from Three Amigos.

If I get 600 downloads, I’ll perform an original song I’ve written.

If I get 700 downloads, I’ll reenact the entire Thriller dance.

If I get 800 downloads, I’ll see if I can’t think of something truly special (I’m open to suggestions).

As of now, you can get all three parts of Bob’s story for $2 (99 cents for An Unusual Occupation. Bob’s Greatest Mistake is free. Something Always Remains is available for a 99-cent preorder).  Normally (and even now) the complete Journals of Bob Drifter is $5.99.  So you’re getting the same story for $3 less. This will remain so until July 29.

I hope you all will give Bob’s story a try. At the very least, I hope to have a little fun with this particular campaign. No matter what, I always appreciate you for stopping by and seeing what I’m up to.

 

Thanks for reading,

Matt

 

Some Updates and A Sale!

Greetings all,

Sorry, no review this week as I have a couple things going on I wanted to let everyone know about. Fear not! I have a ton of stories and books ready to review, and I’ll work my way down the list.

First for some money-saving news: An Unusual Occupation, the first book in The Journals of Bob Drifter, will be 99 cents from today until Aug. 1, which is when book three, Something Always Remains (currently available for preorder also for 99 cents), goes live.

Remember, July 25-29 is when Bob’s Greatest Mistake is free for any who want to give it a try, so you can pretty much get three books for two bucks if you do so in this window of time.

Second: I’m happy to say Repressed is finished! It’ll go live Jan. 1. I’ll be doing some things leading up to it, but I’m happy to know that book is pretty much ready to go to print.

Third: The beta draft of Stealing Freedom is done, and the entire Power of Words anthology is off to my editor for the last round of edits.  That book is well on schedule to go live on Oct. 1.

On a related note (is that Three A?), I’m happy to announce the narrators for The Power of Words audiobook.  Please join me in welcoming Lisa Negron and T.W. Ashworth as the narrators for that book.  I went through a lot of reels and auditions to find those two, and I’m certain they’ll do an amazing job.  Our goal is to get the audiobook out as close to the same day as the other versions as possible.  I’m thrilled to have them, and I hope you all take the time to share in my excitement, maybe send them some sort of social media love telling them thanks for narrating what I believe will be an amazing anthology.

Fourth: I’m officially working on Betrayed: Book Two of the Oneiros Log. I’m just getting the new characters figured out, but that’s my pure focus for the foreseeable future. To those waiting, please be patient and know that the wait is coming to an end.

Fifth: The last book of the Oneiros log will be next, and I mean to start working on a series of novellas I’m very excited about.  My intent is for the novellas to sate my readers while I work on the larger projects in between.

I think that’s everything! I’m so thrilled you’re all taking an interest in my work. I can’t tell you what a privilege it is to tell stories and share them with the world. I hope you’re as excited about the next few months as I am!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Something Always Remains is Now Available for Preorder!

Greetings all,

I’m so very happy to announce that the final part of The Journals of Bob Drifter is now available for preorder on Amazon!  You can preorder Something Always Remains here.

The book will be 99 cents from now until two weeks after it goes live.  It goes live Aug. 1, so the sale will end Aug. 14.  After that, it’ll go to its regular price of $2.99.

The deals don’t end there.  From July 18-Aug. 1, An Unusual Occupation will be on sale for 99 cents as well.  That way you can get two-thirds of the story for $2.

Bob’s Greatest Mistake will be free, that’s right free (said in a cheesy commercial announcer voice) from July 25-29.  I’ll make a post on the 25th regarding that, but I’ll be asking for your help again.  You all did an amazing job helping get Occupation so many downloads, and I hope this next free campaign is even more successful.  I’m thinking about more “stupid human tricks” I could do. I’m open to suggestions for ways I can show my appreciation. If you have any ideas, feel free to comment below.

Each of these benchmarks will be met with a blog post of its own, but I wanted to be sure I let you all know the plan for this moving forward.

Please remember, these three stories, An Unusual Occupation, Bob’s Greatest Mistake, and Something Always Remains, are all parts of a complete story that’s out and available (see the first link back at the top). Breaking this into parts was done to allow readers a way to try a portion of the book for a smaller financial commitment. I just wanted Bob’s story to be as accessible as possible, and this felt like the best way to do it. (Also, I love Collin Fogel’s art, so I could resist getting more of it.)

I hope you’ll all give my work a try. If you already have, please be kind enough to offer a rating and review on Amazon and Goodreads. Man! Those things are important and helpful to indie authors like me.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

The May Book Cover of the Month Begins!

 

Happy first everyone! As is now officially tradition here on my blog, it’s time to start a new book cover of the month competition.

Siren’s Lure by Frost Kay joins 31 brand new covers this month.

You can vote all the way through the tournament, supporting the covers you like best through each round. I like to make sure people get the credit they deserve, so please show your support. Please vote and share as much as possible to get people a chance to pick their favorite.

As always, I’d appreciate it if you tag the authors and artists if you know them. I try to tag or friend every author I can, but sometimes it’s hard to track someone down. Max participation is a huge deal to me. The more people who vote, the more recognition these authors and artists receive, and I want this to be as legitimate as possible.

Image taken from Pixabay.

If you are the author, let’s remember to be good sports! 1) Please feel free to message or contact me at any time. 2) Please feel free to like, share, text, ask for support, and call everyone you know. I absolutely want max participation. However, if you’re going to offer giveaways or prizes, please offer them for voting, not just voting for you.

Also, while your summoning your army of voting soldiers, please make sure you ask them to vote in every match. Part of the idea of this is to get exposure to as many artists and authors as possible. By all means, if you can get 1,000 people to vote for your book, do it. Just please also send some eyeballs to the other matches.

A final note to authors and artists: I currently have links to the books’ Amazon pages. If you’d prefer I switch that link to sign up for your newsletter or like your social media page or whatever, just send me the link and let me know. I want this to help you. I want this to be as helpful as possible, so whatever you need me to do to facilitate that, just let me know.

I hope you keep having fun. Please, vote, share, and discuss as much as possible.

All you have to do now is head over here to vote!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Benchmarks and Thanks! The Initial Results of My Giveaway With Both an Emotional and Marketing Perspective

Greetings all,

Last week was a whirlwind for me a in a lot of ways. But for those interested in marketing and for those interested in my life as an author, I thought it’d be nice to simply give a look at the results for my giveaway.

Premise:

I knew I had Bob’s Greatest Mistake coming out (it’s out now, and still 99 cents until May 15). I wanted to get Bob some visibility, and I knew this option from KDP was available. When I do anything, I like to have reasonable expectations. I also want clear, measurable goals.

Goals:

Get Bob on the top 100 list.

Get at least 100 downloads.

Get 25 reviews.

Reasoning:

Getting Bob on the top 100 list for his category gains the visibility I wanted. The more I can get Bob in front of viewers, the more likely it is someone will give him a chance. Giving copies away now and getting him on that list could gain those I call loyal readers.

Knowing how many followers I have on various social media, Choosing a small fraction of that number (about 10 percent), I felt was reasonable. It still meant there were people at least rooting for me and willing to help out. If those downloads become reads, that’s even better.  But…

…. if those reads become reviews, now we’re talking. If I earn 25 reviews on Amazon, first, it means 25 more people actually read my book, which is awesome! Also, This gets me more visibility on Amazon. This number should be enough to start getting Amazon to recommend it to other readers.

Results:

Bob made it as high as #31 on Amazon’s Free Paranormal Thrillers category! Honestly, Bob’s never sniffed a ranking that high before. This achievement alone would be enough to consider this campaign a huge success, but it didn’t end there.

I had 140 downloads for Bob. For those who read this post, I offered little demonstrations of appreciation for each benchmark, and we hit 100.  Not quite enough for a karaoke song, but still, so many people turned up to give Bob some love!  This puts me past the 500 mark in terms of “sold” books.  Sure, they were free, but at the end of the day, people picked my book. There are lots of free books out there in the world, and you all chose to give mine a try. That matters. I appreciate it! It means the world to me. I even sold a few copies of Bob’s Greatest Mistake and Caught. Again, even if this was all that happened, I’d call this a huge win. That said, the 100 copies people picked up in five days was more than 1/4 of the books I’d sold in the last three years.  Like I said, success!

It’s too early honestly to talk about reviews. While I did post a review that appeared during the giveaway, I’m not convinced that copy was downloaded during that this. I’m pretty sure that was an individual who bought the book earlier and finished it in a very timely manner. If I hit that 25 review benchmark, it would be the first time I’d run a campaign of any sort and had remotely this level of success. I’m eagerly refreshing the page and looking for reviews, but I still think it might be a tad early for anything to come up just yet. This is even more likely if anyone is as remotely loyal to their TBR as I am. Sure, Brandon Sanderson has automatic head-of-the-line privileges in my TBR, but everyone else has to wait their turn.
Those Emotions:

I’m still in awe of your support. I’ve been at this for a tad more than three years. The blog’s been going for a bit more than a year (I think). It’s just amazing to see how far it’s come and how willing you all are to lend a hand. I can’t repay it. I can’t thank you enough, and there aren’t enough words to express my gratitude anyway. I can only hope that I continue to post content you’re interested in and write stories you love. I hope you enjoy the first part of Bob’s journey as much as I do.

If you have any  questions on logistics, feel free to ask in the comments. For now, I just wanted to sing the praises of a successful campaign.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

The April Book Cover of the Month Begins! (Following a quick announcement)

We interrupt this blog for a brief announcement. Bob’s Greatest Mistake is live! It’ll be 99 cents from today until the 15th. I’d be honored if you would be kind enough to pick up a copy!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

Happy first everyone! As is now officially tradition here on my blog, it’s time to start a new book cover of the month competition.

Metal and Stone by Kevin Potter and The Past is Never by Tiffany Quay Tyson join 30 brand new covers this month.

You can vote all the way through the tournament, supporting the covers you like best through each round. I like to make sure people get the credit they deserve, so please show your support. Please vote and share as much as possible to get people a chance to pick their favorite.

As always, I’d appreciate it if you tag the authors and artists if you know them. I try to tag or friend every author I can, but sometimes it’s hard to track someone down. Max participation is a huge deal to me. The more people who vote, the more recognition these authors and artists receive, and I want this to be as legitimate as possible.

Image taken from Pixabay.

If you are the author, let’s remember to be good sports! 1) Please feel free to message or contact me at any time. 2) Please feel free to like, share, text, ask for support, and call everyone you know. I absolutely want max participation. However, if you’re going to offer giveaways or prizes, please offer them for voting, not just voting for you.

Also, while your summoning your army of voting soldiers, please make sure you ask them to vote in every match. Part of the idea of this is to get exposure to as many artists and authors as possible. By all means, if you can get 1,000 people to vote for your book, do it. Just please also send some eyeballs to the other matches.

A final note to authors and artists: I currently have links to the books’ Amazon pages. If you’d prefer I switch that link to sign up for your newsletter or like your social media page or whatever, just send me the link and let me know. I want this to help you. I want this to be as helpful as possible, so whatever you need me to do to facilitate that, just let me know.

I hope you keep having fun. Please, vote, share, and discuss as much as possible.

All you have to do now is head over here to vote!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

1 More Day! 1 More Chance for a Free Book! Also, a few updates!

Greetings all,

I had a few announcements to get out to you all, so I took a chance to type up a quick list!

First:

An Unusual Occupation is free for just about another 24 hours. You can download it on Amazon until 11:59 p.m. PDT (which is a bit off from my other scheduled events since I’m on the East Coast).  Bob’s Greatest Mistake will go live May 1! You can still preorder that for just 99 cents.

Second:

I’m still pleading for help getting word out about the giveaway. You’ve all been so amazing, so I’m asking for just one more day of shout outs, tweets, and shares. How much have you already helped? A historic amount. I currently have 110 downloads! I seem to remember promising to perform a trick if I hit that benchmark, so here you go!

I have offered more tricks, but I need your help to hit the benchmarks to make them happen.  I’ve promised to karaoke a song of your choice if I get to 200 downloads.  We’re 73 votes of that as of this moment.

Third:

I’m happy to announce I’ve finished the beta draft of Repressed, my novella featuring Kaitlyn from Caught. I’m proud of how it turned out, and I hope this Young Adult Paranormal Drama gives those of you waiting for Caught’s sequel something to tide you over until I get that out to you, hopefully in the winter of 2019.

Next up is the developmental draft of Worth of Words, and I work on getting that story and all the Power of Words Anthology stories ready to go.  Once that’s finished (Hopefully next week some time. Definitely in two weeks.),  I’ll be looking for beta readers. If you like science fiction and clever thieving or heist stories, I’ll be sending out a call for beta readers on that story as soon as I finish this draft.

Once I finish Repressed (one more draft!), I’ll start outlining and drafting Betrayed, Book Two of the Oneiros Log.

Thank you all for the support you’ve shown so far! I’m so grateful! Check back tomorrow to start voting on the April Book Cover of the Month!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

 

Want a Free Book? I’m Asking for Help to Get My Work Out To the World!

Greetings all,

An Unusual Occupation, the first part of The Journals of Bob Drifter, is free on Amazon April 26-30!

We’re just days away from when Bob’s Greatest Mistake, the second part of The Journals, goes live, and this giveaway is my way to celebrate the countdown.  Mistake will remain 99 cents from now until May 15, when it will go to its normal $2.99 price. So this is essentially a chance to get two stories (or two thirds of Bob’s story in particular) for just 99 cents.

Here’s the part when I ask for help.  Having Occupation as a free release does a lot for an author. The more people who grab up the book while it’s free, the more visibility it will have on Amazon. The more visible the title is, the more likely it is other people will see the book and give it a try. This is an easy way to help me out. All you have to do, is click on that first link, and get a free copy of a story I’m very proud of. I hope you read it. I hope you enjoy it. No matter what you think, I hope you leave a rating and a review. But if you just grab up the title while it’s free, you’re doing me a tremendous favor.

What else can you do? Share the link. Share this blog. Tweet it. Instagram it. Anything you’d be willing to do to get word out would be a great gift and blessing to me.

Naturally, I hope everyone who grabs the title reads it. I also hope that people pre-order Mistake or even just grab up the full story, but the primary goal of this giveaway is to gain visibility and draw attention to the other titles I have available.

To make things fun, I’m offering some silly little rewards for helping.  I currently have about 700 followers. So:

If I get 100 downloads, I’ll show off my pushup with no feet.

If I get 200 downloads, I’ll karaoke a song of my followers’ choice.

If I get 300 downloads, I’ll reenact a scene of a movie of my followers’ choice.

If I get 400 downloads, I’ll narrate one chapter of any book my followers’ choose (with voices).

If I get 500 downloads, I’ll recreate the “My Little Buttercup” scene from Three Amigos.

If I get 600 downloads, I’ll perform an original song I’ve written.

If I get 700 downloads, I’ll reenact the entire Thriller dance.

I hope you all will give Occupation and Mistake a try. At the very least, I hope to have a little fun with this particular campaign. No matter what, I always appreciate you for stopping by and seeing what I’m up to.

Thanks for reading,

Matt