E-books aren't your cup of tea? I am also offering one paperback in a giveaway over at the English Historical Fiction Authors blog. Head over there and enter by commenting with your e-mail address. (Available internationally.)
Showing posts with label Free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Free. Show all posts
Monday, April 30, 2012
Kindle or Paperback: Two Ways to get I Serve FREE This Week
E-books aren't your cup of tea? I am also offering one paperback in a giveaway over at the English Historical Fiction Authors blog. Head over there and enter by commenting with your e-mail address. (Available internationally.)
Friday, February 24, 2012
Road from the West - Free on Kindle This Weekend
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ROAD FROM THE WEST: BOOK I OF THE CHRONICLES OF TANCRED
A tale of Courage, Conquest, Intrigue, and Honor.
You've heard of the Knights Templar, you've heard of Richard the Lionheart—now learn the story that started it all with the adventures of the First Crusade.
Haunted by guilt from the past and nightmares of the future, a young Norman named Tancred takes the cross and vows to be the first to free Jerusalem from the infidels. As he journeys to the Holy Land, he braves vast deserts, mortal famine, and the ever-present ambushes of the enemy Turks—but the greatest danger of all is deciding which of the Crusader lords to trust. A mysterious seer prophesies that Tancred will find great love and great sorrow on his journey, but the second seems intent on claiming him before he can find the first. Intrigues and passions grow as every battle brings the Crusaders one step closer to Jerusalem. Not all are destined to survive the perilous road from the West.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
They Weren't Going to Buy Your Book Anyway
One of the features that Amazon is offering with its new KDP Select program is the ability for you to list your Kindle book for free for up to five days during each 90 day period. This feature has been the subject of much discussion among authors. Is it savvy, sensible, or even fair to give away for free something on which you have spent so much blood, sweat, tears, and time? Some authors would say no--they can't afford to give away free books, even free e-books which have no production cost for the author/publisher. It is not unreasonable to expect the public to pay for their work, and they do not want to miss out on the royalties that these books would have earned. Others argue that giving away free books for a limited amount of time is a wonderful marketing tool. It gives your book exposure to a wider audience and provides a way to garner more word of mouth advertising and reviews.
Below is a video interview with Neil Gaiman on "Copyright Piracy and the Web" that addresses this very topic. Gaiman shares that in countries (like Russia) where his books were pirated on the Internet, his sales actually increased. The Internet pirates (who were essentially giving away free copies of his books) were introducing his work to a whole new audience who then became fans and purchased his works legitimately. These people would have never taken the plunge to buy a book from an unknown author, but after becoming familiar with Gaiman through a "free copy" of one of his books, they were happy to shell out some dollars--or should I say, rubles--for other books by their new favorite author.
To authors who say they can't afford to give away free e-books, Gaiman (in a nutshell) says: "You're not losing sales by doing a free promo. The people who download the free book weren't going to buy your book, anyway."
Having embraced Neil Gaiman's line of reasoning, my publishing company, Madison Street Publishing, is doing a couple of free promos this month.
I Am My Beloved's: Christian Devotionals for the Bride to Be, by Amy Hayes, is currently free on Amazon Kindle through tomorrow (Friday, February 3).
My own book, Road from the West: Book I of the Chronicles of Tancred, will be offered in a free promotional later on this month. Stay tuned for more details.
Below is a video interview with Neil Gaiman on "Copyright Piracy and the Web" that addresses this very topic. Gaiman shares that in countries (like Russia) where his books were pirated on the Internet, his sales actually increased. The Internet pirates (who were essentially giving away free copies of his books) were introducing his work to a whole new audience who then became fans and purchased his works legitimately. These people would have never taken the plunge to buy a book from an unknown author, but after becoming familiar with Gaiman through a "free copy" of one of his books, they were happy to shell out some dollars--or should I say, rubles--for other books by their new favorite author.
To authors who say they can't afford to give away free e-books, Gaiman (in a nutshell) says: "You're not losing sales by doing a free promo. The people who download the free book weren't going to buy your book, anyway."
Having embraced Neil Gaiman's line of reasoning, my publishing company, Madison Street Publishing, is doing a couple of free promos this month.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Man Who Did Not Keep His Word
Have you ever promised something that was not yours to promise? What did you do then? Did you keep your word or did you break it? At that point, which is the worse option?
At the Council of Clarendon in 1164, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was bullied into making some concessions to Henry II that allowed the king undue power over the Church. Later, Becket regretted and rescinded his words. When he was reproached with oath breaking, Becket answered this: “If we lapsed at Clarendon (for the flesh is weak), we ought to regain our spirit, and in the strength of the Holy Spirit rise up against the ancient enemy, who tries to make the one who stands also fall, and prevent the one who falls from getting up again. If under a guarantee in the word of truth there we conceded there or swore unjustly, you know that by no law are we obliged to that which was unlawfully sworn.”
I have always admired Thomas Becket for these words, for admitting that he had been wrong and then trying to correct his error as best he could--even though such backpaddling could only tarnish his reputation further. An oath, according to Becket, is not a thing that is holy in and of itself. An oath may be sinful, a work of the devil. And when an oath is sinful in its conception, it is an even greater sin in its completion. Better, says Becket, to be forsworn than to commit a second sin for the purposes of honoring the first.
It's been nearly ten years since I first befriended Thomas Becket. I attended a small liberal arts college in Northern Idaho named New Saint Andrews College where students were required, to obtain their bachelor's degree, to write a senior thesis on a subject of their choosing. Thomas Becket and I had met early in my junior year during a class on saints and hagiography. I knew, with hardly any hesitation, that this man was my choice for a senior thesis. I spent a year exploring his life through the primary sources of medieval chroniclers and his own letters. I watched him turn from chancellor to archbishop, from a man of the king's coin to a man of the true cloth. And I had the pleasure to write about his transformation, his trials, and his martyrdom in one-hundred-and-ten pages that I then defended before a panel of faculty members.
If you have not become acquainted with this remarkable man, I urge you to take the opportunity to do so. The Life and Death of Saint Thomas Becket: Type of Paul, Type of Peter, Type of Christ is now available for FREE on Amazon Kindle from February 25 to February 29. This copy of my college thesis also contains a free three-chapter sample of my debut novel I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince.
At the Council of Clarendon in 1164, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was bullied into making some concessions to Henry II that allowed the king undue power over the Church. Later, Becket regretted and rescinded his words. When he was reproached with oath breaking, Becket answered this: “If we lapsed at Clarendon (for the flesh is weak), we ought to regain our spirit, and in the strength of the Holy Spirit rise up against the ancient enemy, who tries to make the one who stands also fall, and prevent the one who falls from getting up again. If under a guarantee in the word of truth there we conceded there or swore unjustly, you know that by no law are we obliged to that which was unlawfully sworn.”
I have always admired Thomas Becket for these words, for admitting that he had been wrong and then trying to correct his error as best he could--even though such backpaddling could only tarnish his reputation further. An oath, according to Becket, is not a thing that is holy in and of itself. An oath may be sinful, a work of the devil. And when an oath is sinful in its conception, it is an even greater sin in its completion. Better, says Becket, to be forsworn than to commit a second sin for the purposes of honoring the first.
If you have not become acquainted with this remarkable man, I urge you to take the opportunity to do so. The Life and Death of Saint Thomas Becket: Type of Paul, Type of Peter, Type of Christ is now available for FREE on Amazon Kindle from February 25 to February 29. This copy of my college thesis also contains a free three-chapter sample of my debut novel I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince.
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