Book 3 (Alien Contact : Titan) Has Been Approved for Premium Distribution

...which means that it will be available online at Barnes & Noble, the Apple Bookstore, Sony, Kobo, Diesel and others within a few days to a couple weeks. It is already available on Smashwords and Amazon.

Smashwords often seems to have a queue for this approval process for 'Premium Distribution'. In two of the last three books, I made a special request for 'expedited' approval after the book sat for three weeks or so in a 'Pending Approval' status (in this case since about May 5th). I knew it would be approved since it passed the 'autovetter' process and didn't have any format issues. That's what can hold up things. Some people just need a little prompting.

Book #4 Will Be a Zombie Book

It won't be a sequel to 'Flatline Virus'. I've begun the plot development research and character lines.

Massasoit Arts Festival 2012

Today, two of my paintings were exhibited along with about 70 others. I didn't win anything, but I did feel pretty good about how my work compared with the others on display. I agreed with the jury's decision for top honors. I did notice a higher than average number of people who stopped and looked at my iguana painting which I named 'Liz Odd'. It is different than most others. It's one of my best works so far.

I may enter next year. It was fun trying. I'd like to think my work will get better.

Early 'Alien Contact : Titan' Sales from UK

I'm happy to see that early sales of Book 3 are coming in from the UK. Bo, the Titan Mission's Astrobiologist, is the main character from the UK in the book. He's a likeable character. Very bright with a good sense of humor. He plays an important role at the end.

Alien Contact : Titan [Book 3] is Published!

I have uploaded the final edit of 'Alien Contact : Titan' to Smashwords and Amazon. Both are in review now. Smashwords is my distributor who will distribute the book to Apple, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Kobo and others. An image of the book is on the right of the blog. It is priced, like my others, at $2.99.

Description....

Two Titan missions followed the successful manned exploration of Europa in 2135. The 'First Contact' there engendered great enthusiasm for more exploration and discovery. Several of the most advanced technology-rich nations followed with manned flights to worlds in the solar system where life might exist.

Both the Chinese and the joint US/UK missions found life on Titan. Or it found them.

Meanwhile on Earth, the world's top two superpowers, US and China, were close to an armed confrontation relating to claims made on the Republic of China, formerly known as Taiwan.

Captain Ray Haskins of the joint US/UK mission to the Saturn moon, Titan, was the father-in-law of the captain of the other Titan mission, one from China. Ray hadn't seen his only daughter in 10 years. His son-in-law was the reason why.

The setting has the makings of a chilly family reunion on Titan, almost 900 million miles from earth and 290 degree below zero...an unforgiving father-in-law, an insensitive son-in-law, and an unusual cast of alien life forms, one of which may bring about the end of the human species.

Book 3 is being edited....It's Finished...except for the editing (duh)

Yep, it's finished except for the editing. And the title. And the description I need for the retailers.

Retail Book Sales by Channel for 20012 So Far

I thought I'd report my retail sales of books by channel thus far for 2012:

Apple Bookstore - 46%
Amazon - 22%
Barnes & Noble - 25%
Kobo - 5%
Sony - 1%
Smashwords - 1%

For the first time, Barnes and Noble shows more sales than Amazon. I can't be sure if the time frames are equivalent for each since I receive Amazon's results directly and the rest are reported to me through Smashwords, my distributor. Still, it's a change. Apple continues to outsell them all. I keep the pricing the same across all channels, so that doesn't account for any of the difference.

Book 3 is Moving Along - Word Count is Past 20,000

I've been concentrating on painting lately, but writing has been on my mind. I got to a point in the plot where I wasn't fully satisfied with its direction. So, I've slept on it...and slept on it. Slowly, it began to gel and now I'm writing again. You can follow the words written in the 'Book 3 - Word Count' box down to the right on the blog. I've been able to keep up more than a 500 word a day pace. I don't expect this to be as long as the zombie book, but the conclusion should satisfy all or most.

I still don't have a title yet, but I've been working at that, too. It would be nice to call lit something other than 'Book 3'.