I love movies. If you put a gun to my head and told me to choose between movies and books, I’d probably tell you to just go ahead and shoot me.*
*(NOTE: If I ever get famous enough to have rabid, crazy fans, please do not track me down to try the aforementioned hypothetical.)
If you’re like me, you’ve got your predictions. Come March 2nd, you’ll be around a TV, computer, or projector watching the Tinseltown’s big night.
So why not make it interesting? Standing offer: If you can beat me at predicting this year’s winners, I’ll gift you (or a friend) a free copy of either one of my Click Your Poison ebooks. I’ll post my picks just before the event starts, so please send me your own choices before that to qualify. All you have to do is fill out the form below.
The complete list of the nominees (with trailers!) are here.
Almost 18 months ago, one of my Air Force Academy classmates was hit by a drunk driver. He was lucky enough to survive but recovery has been difficult. Alan lived just down the hall from me at USAFA, so when I learned that his family was raising funds for his recovery, I knew I wanted to help spread the word.
Now through the end of the month, you can go to the Run for Alan fundraiser site and pledge support for Alan or get others to sponsor you through running or walking throughout February. New people who join and raise at least $25 I will send a signed book.
Just to reiterate, if you raise at least $25, I will sign a copy of either MURDERED or INFECTED and mail it to you, free of charge.If you already own the book, I’ll send it to whoever you’d like.
From the website:
In September of 2012 Alan Martinez (US Air Force Academy C/O 2006) was hit by a drunk driver on his way to work. He suffered serious brain and body injuries. Over a year later, Alan has been making incredible strides towards a full recovery. In order to get to his physical therapy treatments, however, his family is in great need of a handicapped-accessible van.
This fund-raiser will directly support the family in purchasing the much needed van. The proceeds will go through the local non-profit church, enabling your contributions to be tax-deductible.”
January 9th Good morning, again! Today Book Blast is set to go out and, with (fingers’ crossed) the continued buzz from yesterday’s promotion, this should make for an exciting day. I don’t know about you, but I could hardly sleep a wink. Whattdya say we see how much action happened overnight?
NOTE: CLICK ALL IMAGES TO ENLARGE
2686 Downloads as of 0600, January 9th.Woo-hoo! Made it into the coveted Top 100.
Two interesting points of order based on these stats. First, is that I’m still listed in Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure (an old category) as well as Science Fiction > Post-Apocalyptic (new category). Could this be because my update is still “processing”? I’m not sure. I’ll have to watch carefully as this develops. Second, even though my rank has surpassed the Top 100 free books in the kindle store, I only gave away 450 copies over the course of the entire night. Which leads to…
LESSON LEARNED: Be patient/don’t panic. Within the first two hours of the day, my rank got worse and shot up to #99. If this is a race to #1, that means I’m not doing well… or does it? Amazon’s best seller ranking is elastically flexible and doesn’t necessarily correspond to current downloads. Maybe someone else’s rank simply processed before mine? I could just need some time to catch up. Tough to say. Amazon keeps their ranking algorithm a closely-guarded secret, but it pays to go with the flow. Just keep doing what you know you should be doing, and let the ranking system do its thing.
Here’s a mid-day update, after Book Blast has gone out:
4113 Downloads as of 1400, January 9th.Back to “increasing!” Slow and steady wins the race today.
Interesting to note that the categories are still switching. Could this be a good thing? It’s putting me on several different categories throughout the day (the maximum allowed is two), so I can’t see how it would hurt… Hmm. But the main point is that it’s getting better. From all I’ve heard and read, Book Bub is the behemoth service that’ll push any promotion over the edge. So if I can just keep climbing the charts, no matter how slowly, I should be in for a treat tomorrow.
The snowball is your book promotion. The more people you get to help push it along, the bigger it’ll get until it eventually starts feeding itself.
The afternoon was spent doing more promoting and marketing, of course, which leads to another…
LESSON LEARNED: Set up everything beforehand. I started contacting book sites a month out, but I found a great list of resources I was planning to contact during the promotion. Big mistake. Just going through with everything I’d had planned, to include continued social media marketing, took up all my time. You should have everything ready to go before you promotion starts, so the most work you have to do during the event involves the copy/paste function.
It’s getting late. Let’s do one last look at the stats before bed:
5358 Downloads as of 2200, January 9th.Still increasing and — BONUS — now it’s topping 3 categories!
It’s getting significantly more difficult for INFECTED to climb the ranks, but at least it still is. And with tomorrow set to be my “anchor day” I’m hopeful. You might also notice 3 more sales of MURDERED in 24 hours. Not exactly the boost I was hoping for, but it’s still early (and I’m thankful for each sale I get). Time to try and sleep and prepare for the exciting conclusion tomorrow…
Too cool not to share! I found this on Geek in Heels where it looks like it’s going viral. What’s your type? If you want to take the test, you can do so here.
I haven’t taken one of these tests in years, so I took it again and got INTJ… I guess as someone who plots multi-universe books, I probably could have guessed I’d get “The Mastermind.” What about YOU? What character are you?
Hey! Amazon deleted that 1-star review written in Dutch!
Haters need not apply
It would appear that the 1-star review of INFECTED was deemed invalid by Amazon’s filters, but… Why do you care?
I doubt you do. This post is a blending of narcissistic and cathartic, which I believe comes out to narcotic, and fits the definition of a substance offering a hollow, fleeting happiness that will consume your life if you let it.
But that’s what blogs are for, right? Sharing the good and the bad. Exposing shortcomings.
Like this one: I actually cared about a review written in Dutch that said my book “wasn’t for people with actual zombie experience” (according to google translate), whatever that means. In my dark hours I would see zonder inspiratie flash across my mind and I’d wonder if maybe this was the one guy who had it right. Maybe my writing is uninspired. Maybe he’s the only one with the guts to tell the truth.
The fact that the review was taken down (no, I did not “flag” it or anything of the sort) doesn’t eliminate doubt. Comes with the territory, I guess. But it helps.
I’m in trouble if and when my books ever go wide and–God forbid–thousands of people review it and some small percentage is negative. I realize that will happen, and I’ll be fine. Even if all those negative reviews get to stay up, I’ll know that all the positive reviews are unquestionably valid.
See? That’s what this did. It’s a good thing. Okay, enough narcotic. It’s Halloween! Time for a zombie author to celebrate.
Oh, and if you hear a scratching at your door, you may want to look through the peephole before you open up to give out candy:
Tell all your friends, we’re all dressing up like zombies and bar hopping downtown. This is not a sanctioned event by the city or any business (we’re going flashmob-style) so expect some shocked looks…
It’s Zombie time again! Last year we took the bars in SLO by storm to celebrate the release of INFECTED, and now the “second wave” of the Zombie Apocalypse is coming to San Luis Obispo!
You can’t keep a good thing dead.
After my last blog post I couldn’t help but think, friends are the best marketing tool you could ask for. It’s a funny thought, I know, but it’s true. Brian, the zombie pictured above, (and the groom in question) has been one of the biggest champions of my book and no convention can possibly give you more buzz than a friend who supports you.
Last year’s Walking Dead Pub Crawl was his idea, and while he won’t be home from his deployment for this year’s event, he’ll be there in spirit. And I look forward to standing next to him at the altar.
Please join us! I hope to make more great friends at this year’s event.
I promise to give 45% less creepy stares this year. (fingers crossed)
I just got invited to sell my book at “Walker-Stalker Con” in Georgia. It’s a zombie convention where the cast of The Walking Dead will be present to sign autographs.
The bad news? I’m a groomsman at a wedding that weekend!
And I got a call from the Ft Hood PX (only the largest US military shopping outlet in the world) asking if I’d do a Halloween signing. Which, if not for the wedding, I could do an epic roadtrip and hit both. Pack the Prius full of books and make it a thing.
Obviously, I want to be part of the wedding (love you Brian & Emily!), I just wish they didn’t conflict. The gods mock us mortal men!
Positive spin: my ‘little book’ is starting to get some big attention. There’s always next time, right? Right?!
Yes, I know it’s a Tuesday. But today I’m trying out WordPress’ new Embed Facebook Posts feature, and at the same time letting my readers know about Trivia Friday. As you can see from the post below, every Friday I plan on asking a trivia question, and the first person to get it right will win free stuff. Hooray for new features!
July marks over 1000 copies of INFECTED sold in less than 10 months! Since September 17th, roughly 750 ebooks have sold. Since November 13th, roughly 250 paperbacks have sold.
Thanks so much to all my awesome readers who’ve enjoyed the book and shared it with others. None of this would be possible without you! I am ‘eternally’ grateful (zombie pun intended)…
The horde grows! Yesterday my website crossed into 10,000 views and I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to all my faithful readers. You guys make it all worth the while.
That’s it! Back to work.
PS — Should have some news on Click Your Poison book #2 soon…
It’s time once again for the SuperBowl of Cinema!
Good morning, again! Today Book Blast is set to go out and, with (fingers’ crossed) the continued buzz from yesterday’s promotion, this should make for an exciting day. I don’t know about you, but I could hardly sleep a wink. Whattdya say we see how much action happened overnight?
Author James Schannep 