Yesterday I announced the new website where you can read my pulpy horror novelette Through the Guts of a Beggar for free. Well, it's funny how things work out sometimes. I was talking to David B. Silva about him posting an announcement on Hellnotes about the new site, and we got to talking and as it turns out he was slated to appear in the same volume of Tooth & Claw as my novelette. In fact, the story in question -- "New to the Neighborhood" -- was still in a file on his computer, having not been published anywhere yet. So what did I propose? Quite simply to include his story along with my e-book, a kind of bonus if you will. So for a limited time Dave Silva's "New to the Neighborhood" is included in the Kindle version of the e-book for just 99 cents until the end of the month, when the price will go up to $1.99. (Fun fact: Dave won the Bram Stoker Award for his short story "The Calling" in 1991, back when there wasn't Twitter and Facebook and message boards for people to constantly spam you about their stories and beg for votes.)
Through The Guts Of A Beggar Redux
About two years ago I had the idea to release a novella I'd written in high school online. Yes, e-books and e-readers existed then, but they certainly weren't as big of a deal as they are now. At the time I thought making a website with a decent layout for the chapters would be beneficial in a marketing standpoint, and so I found the right template and theme and went about making it work. I even had the idea to offer a PDF of the novella for those willing to donate 99 cents. Of course, not too long afterward the whole e-book thing really kicked off, and e-readers started to become as common as cell phones (well, okay, maybe not quite that common ... yet). I made the novella available as an e-book and pretty much left it at that. But you know, the strange thing is the original website still gets traffic. Sometimes a lot of traffic. It's been linked to maybe three or four places that specialize in free online fiction. Every once in a while someone will leave a comment at the site, which then in turns reminds me that the site is still there. I'd since taken off that donate-99-cents-for-a-PDF button but decided to add some links to the e-book. And since then, I've seen that people have been checking out those links. Have they been buying? Not all of them. But at least it's there. Sort of like a billboard, in a way.
That's the trick with self-promotion (something I'll talk more about later in the week): it's never really done. Sure, some authors are lucky and all they have to do is write a book or story and publish it and their readers do the work for them, linking to it on Twitter and Facebook or reviewing it on Amazon or whatever. And then you have others who aren't so fortunate and who have to bust a hump (is that even the right term?) to get people to even acknowledge that their work exists.
Anyway, so I was thinking about my online novella and how it was still attracting readers and I wondered if there were any other stories I could do that with and then I thought that if I did find the right story it would all come down to whether or not I could find the right template and theme and so late one night last week I started playing around and found a template and theme I thought was perfect and spent about two hours creating this.
And that, really, is about it. So if you've always wanted to read Through the Guts of a Beggar but didn't want to a) spend the outrageous price of 99 cents or b) pay with a Tweet or Facebook post for a PDF, then here's your chance to read the original novelette for free. And if you do read it and happen to enjoy it, feel free to pass the link on to someone else you think might enjoy it too. Gracias.
Hooligans
The new online issue of Bluestem has gone live. It features a bunch of fiction and poetry and nonfiction, including my story Hooligans. It also contains audio of me reading the story. So you can, you know, read the story or listen to me read the story or read the story while you're listening to me read the story or listen to me read my story while you read another story or, well, the possibilities are endless!
Spooky Nook Giveaway Contest
The Calling -- which I announced last week -- won't be available until April, so for now I present you with a "prequel of sorts" called Spooky Nook. The 10,000-word novelette tells the story of Kevin Parker, a writer whose wife has been missing for eight months, who encounters a familiar old woman with an odd request -- a request that will introduce him to a surprising evil.
While Spooky Nook is connected to The Calling, the novelette is meant to be a standalone story. Readers do not need to read one to enjoy the other. However, included after the story is a special sneak preview of The Calling, featuring the prologue and first three chapters.
Spooky Nook can be downloaded for $0.99 at the following places:
- Kindle (US)
- Kindle (UK)
- Nook
- Smashwords
Some fun facts:
- The term "first novel" is thrown around a lot (many "first novels" are really second, third, even fifth novels), but The Calling is in fact my first completed novel. I originally wrote it back in college and, through the years, have tweaked parts of it here and there. Many writers eventually become embarrassed by their first novels, but I have always had a soft spot for it, and that's why I'm making it available soon as an e-book. Spooky Nook was always supposed to be a "prequel of sorts" to The Calling, the idea being that the novelette could be released a few months before the novel to gain reader interest.
- Spooky Nook was written in 2005, back before there were Kindles or Nooks, so no, this is not a story about a haunted e-book reader. (Come on, you know you were thinking it.)
- The novelette's working title was "Anna and Stephen King." That's all I'm saying about that. Except that it now brings me to our giveaway contest.
Prizes:
- 1st place: Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished by Rocky Wood with David Rawsthorne & Norma Blackburn, published by Cemetery Dance. This oversized signed limited edition slipcased book originally retailed for $75 and is out of print. (Note: this is not signed by Stephen King)
- Runner-up: Oblivion by Jay R. Bonansinga, published by Cemetery Dance. This is a signed limited edition that originally retailed for $40 and is out of print.
- Runner-up: She Wakes by Jack Ketchum, published by Cemetery Dance. This is a signed limited edition that originally retailed for $40 and is out of print.
Contest rules:
To enter, purchase a digital copy of Spooky Nook and e-mail your receipt to robert [at] robertswartwood [dot] com (paying with a Tweet or Facebook does not make you eligible for the contest). This will throw your name into the virtual hat. To increase your odds of winning, you can do the following:
- Link back to this post via Twitter, Facebook, your blog, etc. The more places, the better.
- Review Spooky Nook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, Smashwords, and any other suitable place. The more places, the better. Please note this means honest reviews.
- Mark Spooky Nook as to-read at Goodreads.
- Review any of my three other e-books -- The Silver Ring, Through the Guts of a Beggar, In Solemn Shades of Endless Night -- at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, Smashwords, and any other suitable place. The more places, the better. Please note again this means honest reviews. You do not have to purchase any of the e-books to review them (there are Pay With A Tweet or Facebook badges on each page), but if you feel the undying need to purchase them, feel free.
For each of the above, include the links in the comment section of this post. Try to nest all your links together if possible. The contest ends March 31st, midnight EST, and the 1st place winner and two runners-up will be e-mailed shortly afterward and announced here on the site. Good luck, and have fun.
Third Time's A Charm ... Sorta
Yesterday the results of the 4th Annual Micro Award were announced, and the winner was ... not me. Instead it was “Choosing a Photograph for Mother's Obituary” by Kevin A. Couture which appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of The Antigonish Review. I did, however, come in second place, or as the runner-up with my story “Seven Items In Jason Reynolds’ Jacket Pocket, Two Days After His Suicide, As Found By His Eight-Year-Old Brother, Grady” which appeared last April at PANK. It has always been a favorite of mine, and I'm thrilled that it placed where it did with the award. Here's some of what Alan Presley, the new Micro Award administrator, had to say about this year's stories:
Congratulations to Kevin A. Couture for winning the 4th Annual Mirco Award and the $500 prize! His outstanding story, "Choosing a Photograph for Mother's Obituary," returns the realist tradition to the winner's circle. This poignant narrative, told exclusively through snapshots, paints a remarkably vivid picture in under 400 words. Well done, Mr. Couture!
Congratulations are also due to Robert Swartwood for taking the first-ever Runner-up award and a $100 prize. Mr. Swartwood entered this year's competition as the Micro Award's only two-time finalist. He can now add this to his already impressive résumé. At just under 1000 words, "Seven Items In Jason Reynolds' Jacket Pocket, Two Days After His Suicide, As Found By His Eight-Year-Old Brother, Grady," presents a compelling mystery.
The other eight finalists are quite a diverse group, including literary fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and more. It is interesting to note that six of the ten stories this year touch on either birth or death in some fashion. I suppose this is reasonable as those are arguably the two most important events of one's life.
Check out the site for details on the other finalists (one of them being Hint Fiction contributor Natalie McNabb) as well as some interesting stats, such as how many stories were submitted, whether they were by e-mail or via post, and from what countries they came from. A big thanks to Alan Presley for pumping some fresh blood into the Micro Award (it had been stopped for awhile there) and for this year's judges Megan Arkenberg, Gay Degani, and Chad Simpson. And a big congratulations to Kevin and the other finalists.