SULLIVAN'S WAR - Free July 11-12!

This Friday and Saturday (July 11 & 12), my action-adventure sci-fi novel Sullivan's War will be free at Amazon! Also free is the associated story "Sergeant Riley's Account," which gives a little background to Sullivan's War but is by no means crucial to understanding it.

Follow the appropriate links below to get your free copies. If you like Sullivan's War, please visit this page to read about the rest of The Sullivan Saga. Also note that The Sullivan Omnibus, which collects the entire story, is on sale for just $4.99 through Sunday, July 13. Details here.

Get your free Kindle copy of Sullivan's War at:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Get your free Kindle copy of "Sergeant Riley's Account" at:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

101 Thoughts on Self-Publishing -- 016: Host Your Fellow Writers

This is my blog. It's all about me. You came here to read about me. You want to know what I have to say! Right? Hello?

Well, sure. To an extent. But you're probably also here because you like science fiction or just books in general. You might be here (and reading this) because you're an author yourself. So if all I did was talk about me and my books, well, unless I have a new release or other special announcement, chances are you've already heard it.

So how do I keep you coming back? How do I get you to keep visiting and seeing that list over to the right of all the wonderful books I have available for purchase? Occasionally, I suppose I'll have to blog about something other than me and my books. It's... it's a great burden, but it must be done.

One thing I like to do in particular is host book features for other authors. Unlike writing reviews or conducting interviews, these are really, really easy. In about five minutes you can have a new blog post about another author's book, helping them out, but also increasing the value of your blog's content. Readers get to see something new and, even while they're reading about someone else's book, your name and book titles are right there for them to glance over at (like in the sidebar). Plus, that other author is going to drive traffic to your blog. I've even seen people land on my blog while Google searching for information about the books I've hosted.

I don't mean for this to sound so blatantly self-serving. I really do like helping out other authors, and as solitary an act writing is, once you've been doing it for a while, you'll come to realize just how valuable the connections you've made with your fellow writers really is. We have strength in numbers, and any opportunity to help each other out should not be passed up. But for those of you who, for whatever reason, don't do much of it, I'm just trying to give you a little extra incentive.

So, since people love numbered lists, here's what you need for a quick, easy book feature which will add value to your blog and keep readers coming back for more:

1. The book blurb.

2. Links to the book and the author's website/blog.

3. An image of the book cover.

4. An image of the author (optional)

And that's it. You can organize it in any way you find aesthetically pleasing. If you have read and enjoyed the book, it's a nice touch to add a comment at the beginning saying so.

Also keep in mind that if someone does post a book feature for you, offer to reciprocate. And don't forget to share the post on Facebook, Twitter, etc., whether you're the host or are being hosted. If someone's hosted you, it's especially important to share it far and wide as thanks. But it's good for you, too. Sometimes a reader just needs to see your book presented in a different context to get interested in it. 

So go find an author you like and send them a message offering to host a book feature! I want a 500-word essay on my desk by the end of the week about how mutually beneficial it turned out to be. (That's a joke. Please don't send me essays.)

Until next time,

Michael K. Rose

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If you're enjoying the series so far and would like a single page to bookmark, I'll be adding each of my 101 Thoughts on Self-Publishing here. Also be sure to subscribe by email (see the box in the sidebar) to be automatically notified about my new posts.

101 Thoughts on Self-Publishing -- 015: Your Book is Not Static

I recently changed the covers for several of my books. I had been unhappy with a few of them for a while, and lagging sales prompted me to finally do something about the lackluster appearance of those books.

So far, I have received many great comments about the new covers and I believe the updated look had led to a boost in sales.

While I was updating the covers, I also took the opportunity to upload new eBook files with updated "Also Available" sections with hyperlinks directly to each book's Amazon page. The "About the Author" section also received an update.

It is important to remember in this digital age that your book is not a static entity. Uploading a new eBook takes only a few minutes, and with print on demand technology, even print copies can be easily updated, and there's no reason you shouldn't make those updates when you need to. (Note: minor changes do not require a new edition with a different ISBN number, but if you do a major revision, you should produce a second edition.)

If you do decide to give your books a bit of a makeover, here is a list of several things to consider:

1. Make sure your list of available works is up to date. If you release a new book, it should be fairly easy to go back and add it to the lists in all your other books. Remember that these days most people are reading on tablets, so hyperlinking to a web page about the book or even the Amazon product page is a good way to encourage readers to go for the next one.

2. Check that your author bio is up to date. If you've released the fourth book of a series but the bio only mentions three, or if you've received an award or made it onto a bestseller list, you can mention these things in your updated bio.

3. Some authors like to include quotes from reviews or other authors at the front of their books. If you do this, be sure to add any really good quotes that have come in since you first published. Once your book has been out for a while, you'll have a lot more quotes to choose from.

4. Re-check for formatting errors. There's always a chance something slipped through the first time, so giving your book a page-by-page check is never a bad idea. Look for proper indentation, chapter/section breaks and, in the case of print copies, page numbers, margins and proper spacing.

5. Fix any spelling/grammatical errors. When I re-did the covers for The Sullivan Saga, I did a complete read-through of each book. If you have the time, this is not a bad idea--plus, if you're writing an ongoing series, doing this can remind you of characters or plot points that you can still build upon. Also look for repetition of words in the same paragraph, awkwardly written passages and anything that may cause confusion. Even small changes in this area can greatly improve the reading experience. If you don't want to do a complete read-through, there's still a possibility someone has sent along a few typos they noticed. Don't forget to find and fix them.

6. Make sure the organization and formatting of each book in a series is the same. For example, if chapter numbers are left justified in one book but centered in another, standardize them. In print editions, make sure you use the same fonts throughout.

***

If you're enjoying the series so far and would like a single page to bookmark, I'll be adding each of my 101 Thoughts on Self-Publishing here. Also be sure to subscribe by email (see the box in the sidebar) to be automatically notified about my new posts.

New Release: THE SULLIVAN OMNIBUS!

The entirety of The Sullivan Saga is now available in a single volume: The Sullivan Omnibus! This collection includes Sullivan's War, Sullivan's Wrath and Sullivan's Watch as well as the novelette "Sergeant Riley's Account" and the short story "Sleep," both of which take place in the same universe.

The omnibus is on sale for just $4.99 through Tuesday, July 15. Get it for your Kindle here:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Prepare For an Epic Science Fiction Adventure!

Richard Sullivan is a wanted man. He’s killed key politicians on both Earth and his home planet of Edaline. When his reasons for doing so are revealed, Frank Allen, the agent assigned to the case, begins to question his own loyalties. His pursuit of Sullivan takes him across the inhabited galaxy and sets them both on an adventure that will change the course of human history.

New Release: REIGN OF BLOOD OMNIBUS by Alexia Purdy

Get the entire post-apocalyptic adventure in one volume! 

Included in this omnibus package are books 1-3 with 2 bonus short novellas. A highly imaginative post-apocalyptic series that is not your usual dystopian read. All packaged together to keep the action and adventure nonstop!

Together, these 3 books and 2 short stories have 373+ Amazon reviews! A highly anticipated and loved series which packs a punch and is made to devour, literally!

Get it for just $3.99 for a limited time!

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Reign of Blood #1:

"Never tease anything that wants to eat you. My name is April Tate and my blood is the new gold. Vampires and hybrids have overrun my world, once vibrant with life, but now a graveyard of death shrouded in shadows. I fight to survive; I fight for my mother and brother. The journey is full of turns that I am quite unprepared for. And I'm just hoping to make it to the next Vegas sunrise..."

In a post-apocalyptic world, a viral epidemic has wiped out most of the earth’s population, leaving behind few humans but untold numbers of mutated vampires. April is a seventeen-year- old girl who lives in the remains of Las Vegas one year after the outbreak. She has become a ferocious vampire killer and after her family is abducted, she goes searching for them. What she finds is a new breed of vampire, unlike any she has seen before. Unsure of whom she can trust, she discovers that her view of the world is not as black and white as she once thought, and she's willing to bend the rules to rescue her family. But in trying to save them, she may only succeed in bringing her fragile world crashing down around her.

Disarming (Reign of Blood #2)

The world has changed. One must adapt to survive or hold on to the crumbling shards of humanity.

April continues to hold her fragile world together, but the ties that hold her family together are quickly unraveling. Rumors of a massive human underground settlement draw her to the shadows of the city once more in search of other survivors more like her, even with the hybrid vampires opposing her every move.

The darkness hides secrets along with the continued threat the Feral Vampires create, but a greater evil hides within the city. Something tells April that the humans will be less than welcoming of her, and that's if she can find them before the Vampires do. Joining sides with the enemy might be the only choice she has left.

Amplified (Reign of Blood #3)

Who wants to be the prey in a world full of hunters?

In the aftermath of the end of her world, April Tate decides that it's high time to leave the city that never sleeps, Las Vegas. After learning the origins of a Zompire Plague remedy, she risks her life to steal the antidote, makes the decision to separate from Jeremy for a while, and joins a small band of new and old comrades on a trip to the Pacific Coast. There they search out a legendary hive of vampires who are more than just wild, blood drinking creatures, they could be the very people she needs to help her.

On a mission to save the last of humanity, April will use the antidote to save some from eternal damnation, but will her decision bring hope for the future or create an ever bigger, unforeseen devastation?

Resonant (Reign of Blood Prequel)

Surviving is worse than death…

As the first days of the end of humanity tumble across the city of Las Vegas in the form of an overwhelming viral infection, turning almost everyone into vampire-like creatures, April Tate will find out what it really means to survive. What does it take to make it out alive in a place where everything is but a withered echo of its former self, and death does not come willingly?

Elijah: The Miel Chronicles (A Reign of Blood Companion Story)

These are the journeys of Miel, the Keeper of the journal.

The workings of heaven are shrouded in mystery and myth, leaving us to only theorize as to what awaits us when we pass.

There are those among us however, that are special cases.

These are good people that have committed a horrendous crime, such as murder.