My Best Month Yet...in Amazon!

This July has been the best month (read as most book sales) I've had in Amazon since I started last year, a little over a year ago. The four books certainly make a difference. There's kind of a multiplier effect. Since Book 3 (Alien Contact:Titan) just appeared in Apple and Book 4 (Pulseless Pandemic) has not yet appeared (should be soon as it has been approved for Premium distribution in Smashwords) in the Apple bookstore, I am looking forward to result there. The same goes for Barnes and Noble where the same is true. Apple should have a huge effect on sales as it is my largest sales channel.

Finally! Book 3 - 'Alien Contact:Titan' Now Available in Apple Bookstore

It's July 25. The book was published in late May. For some reason, the channel to Apple took a really, really long time. But it's there and that's what counts. I sent a couple emails to Smashwords, then tried updating the version with a new upload and a larger format cover. Whatever it took worked.

Pulseless Pandemic Now Available on Amazon and Smashwords

My book #4 is now available on Smashwords and Amazon. It's a Zombie adventure. Smashwords will be distributing to Apple, Barnes and Noble, Diesel, and Kobo, etc. over the next week or two. The story starts in Africa with the virus making a cross-species jump from the great apes to humans. It's a killer like ebola and HIV. But worse. It reanimates the dead. You'll follow the threads of an airline pilot bitten just outside of Kinshasa in the Congo; an infected US Senator returning from Paris; a shipment of gorilla and chimpanzee meat to New Orleans causing mayhem in the Big Easy. This is how the virus has spread worldwide in a matter of weeks. We have a few main characters who find refuge and are able to defend it against invaders, live and dead. The language is a little more coarse than I've used in prior books and I've managed to throw in a little romance and sex, a first.

The first three books are:
1. Flatline Virus - When Zombies Evolve
2. The Origin of Homo Optimus: Humans, Aliens & Superbrains
3. Alien Contact: Titan

Book 4 is 'Pulseless Pandemic' (The Zombie Outbreak) !!!

The book is uploaded to and submitted to Smashwords and Amazon. It is therefore now pending review. Smashwords is my distributor for Apple, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Diesel, Kobo, etc. There is a several week delay before the book will be seen on the ebook shelves, sometimes less.

This time I wrote the book on an iPad. This was convenient and fun. The trouble is I had too many paragraph returns. I had to omit them all. Pain in the butt job which I could have avoided. The format part of ebook publishing is the least fun. But it's done and hopefully everything will pass muster.

I've included the book cover off to the right on the blog for viewing. The brief description is as follows:

Book Description

It developed in the great apes of the Congo basin, making a cross-species jump to humans, like ebola and HIV.  Its status blossomed into a world-wide pandemic.  A virus, so virulent, it killed nearly every one it infected. And it didn't stop there. The virus caused the dead to reanimate. The walking dead fed on the flesh of the living, causing the disease to spread geometrically.

From Africa to the rest of the world, we follow several threads of mayhem, death, survival, reanimation and more death. These include a bitten airline pilot on a flight to Paris; a New Orleans celebratory bushmeat dinner for the local African population which turns into tumult in the Big Easy; a freighter headed to the Bahamas with a tainted cargo, a special passenger and an infected crew; a deathly ill U.S. Senator returning from Paris who spreads the disease in the Capitol; and a special game buffet of gorilla and chimpanzee meat flown into Key West from Kinshasa in the Congo which launches the story of our main characters. We follow them to the end of the story. They find a place of refuge they think is safe and survive a number of assaults by the living and the dead. A heavy measure of violence, a lesser measure of sex.

The unhappy circumstances unravel to an apocalyptic ending where a cure is created, but the end is perhaps uncertain. 

Book #4 is Finished

1. The book is finished.
2. I have a title, but I'm not solid on it yet. The word zombie will be in it, probably as a subtitle. By the way, I only use the word zombie once or twice in the book. There are a number of other synonyms for the Z word.
3. I'm working on the cover.
4. I've finished the editing.
5. In addition to the cover, I have to put into ebook format with all the Smashwords wording and my marketing for my other books at the end.

New Book & 4000 Page Views!

New Book...The writing is finished. It's at 47,500 words or so, I still have a lot to do before it's ready to publish. I need a title which I'm working on. I need a cover which I'm also working on. I need to edit it which I've started. Generally I go through a number of edits before I'm satisfied. The book may get a little longer as a result. Also, this time I didn't place chapter headings in all the places I need. That will be part of the edit process.

The story takes us from the Congo where the virus originates (like the Ebola or AIDS virus, the simian connection is unmistakeable in a place where nasty diseases boil up from time to time). It spreads quickly and widely from there. We'll follow some of these connections. Some of them cross as the story unfolds. The scene becomes apocalyptic with only the hope of a cure for the disease. Also included is a romantic entanglement for spice.

Also, the blog just passed 4000 page views, another milestone.

Update for Various

1. The e-book sellers have sent the word down that book covers will be required to be at least 1400 pixels or so, way up from about 500 pixels. Apple may be driving this, but Amazon is also on board. I've got to believe that the iPad, especially the new one with HD (retina display) is the reason. E-book readers will want to see a larger book cover than the little thumbnail image they now see. Apparently, the old covers won't be required to be changed, but I will endeavor to send in a larger image for each of mine. It will take a little extra work, since I don't have the original larger one, especially for my first Zombie book.

2. The draft of Book 4, my second Zombie book, is at 30,000 words now and moving along.

3. My third painting exhibition just finished up on June 30th at the Taunton Art Association. I had some positive comments about the Misty Woods in the Morning and the Seggreganset #2 painting. I will be fixing my signature on the latter as it should be less of a distraction (smaller, less angled per a constructive comment by an experienced painter).

4. The blog is approaching 4000 page views.