Tag Archives: ebooks

KNIGHT’S LATE TRAIN Book Cover Contest!

KNIGHT’S LATE TRAIN

Time for another:

BOOK COVER CONTEST!

If you pick the most popular book cover from the selection below, you’ll be entered to win a box of Christopher Elbow Artisan Chocolates.

And the winner is?
And the winner is?

So which eBook cover for my next men’s action/adventure thriller novel best draws you in and makes you want to read the story? To be eligible to win, make your selection and post it in a comment at the bottom of this page (or by email) by July 13, 2012. The winner will be announced on this website on Saturday, July 14.

Click on the images below to see larger, more detailed slides:

What do you think?

Is #1 too hokey looking?

Is #2 too overdone with the fire?

Is #3 unrealistic and way over the top with the cherry-red-hot snowblower stuck on the front end?

Please give me your selection, thoughts and comments by July 13, 2012 in order to be eligible to win a box of some really delicious Christopher Elbow Artisan Chocolates!

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Jazzy Brass and James Rollins Need Your Help with a Fun Contest!

Many of you know Jazzy Brass, my canine heroine from my men’s action/adventure series “The E Z Knight Reports,” is also a hero of sorts in real life, too. Well, she needs your assistance this time—and you can have a lot of fun while helping!

Our heroine golden retriever is unofficially teaming up with New York Times super-bestselling, action-thriller author James Rollins (in his free time, when he’s not writing bestselling novels, he’s a veterinarian—Huh? That’s right!) and his Sigma Force to help raise money for the Humane Society with a neat and fun contest. Two heroes teamed up together to help animals–wow! So, you want to be a superhero and join them, right (you’ll have to provide your own cape)?

What do you get if you win, you ask? I’ll give you a hint…this is so cool…you’ll love it…wait for it…wait…here it is–I told you it was great: IMORTALITY!

PLEASE check out James’s blog post on Goodreads (click!) and then visit his Sigma Store (click!).

Jazzy Brass and I thank you–and I know James will, too!

Chocolate & Mystery Lovers’ Contest!

The top three words that cause mystery readers to snap their heads and say, “Huh?”

“Chocolate,” “Mystery” and “Contest”

And the winner is?

And the winner is?

And it’s all rolled into one post: The Brainstorm Thriller Novel Cover Contest! is going on now through June 15!

You could win a box of the coolest chocolates ever: Christopher Elbow’s Artisan Chocolates–they’re designer, wildly flavored chocolates at their best! You’ve never tasted chocolate like this before, guaranteed–and you’ll love ’em! Check it out!

To enter, all you have to do is select the most popular choice of eBook cover for my thriller novel Brainstorm (it’s a mystery, it’s a thriller, it involves a taste of sci-fi and now chocolates, too!). On June 16, in a random drawing from those who’ve picked the most popular of covers, I’ll select the winner. Be a part of it!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

BRAINSTORM EBook Cover Contest Winner!

This cover design stuff is so difficult, but so very important, as well. So I asked for your help and you gave it to me! Thanks so much to everyone who participated.

J-4

J-4

J-5

J-5

M-7

M-7

We had a tie between J-4 and J-5 for the most attractive and professional-looking cover.  The names of those who selected one of these two covers were then entered into a random drawing, and Tom Wingo of Oklahoma came out the winner! Again, thanks to all of you who entered the contest! Now it’s up to  me to decide which one to use (I’m actually leaning toward a slightly modified M-7)!

Congratulations, Tom! Here’s your 9-piece box of Christopher Elbow’s famous Artisanal Chocolates:

Okay, I’ll actually send you the real thing! But you have to promise to tell everyone how much you enjoyed them!

Check out Christopher Elbow Artisan Chocolates at this link: http://bit.ly/bNJLZp .

Amazon Restores IPG Kindle EBook Titles!

I knew it would happen–the question was when. Amazon and IPG have just reached an agreement to allow IPG eBook titles to be restored on Amazon. In other words, as of today, they’re playing together nicely once again. Although it may take a couple of days, all IPG Kindle eBooks should be once again listed as before. I can only say that I’m thankful this did not affect me and my eBooks!

You can find the whole scoop at Publisher’s Lunch: http://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2012/05/standoff-ends-ipg-and-amazon-agree-to-terms-on-ebooks-and-titles-are-restored/ Check it out!

Kindle eBook Readers–New Data! How Do You Like Kindle Select?

I hope Kindle eBook customers enjoy Kindle Select as much as most Kindle Select authors do. I feel like it’s been a great boost for most of us who have dared go exclusive with their program.

As for myself, I’ve had a total of over 16,000 downloads of my books since January 4, 2012. Of those, a bit less than 10% were “paid,” the rest being “free” downloads. Although that ratio of free to paid seems a bit high, I feel that most of the folks who downloaded my books for free were looking specifically for free books and wouldn’t have been my readers, otherwise. Although free, with that many downloads, my titles became much more visible, which in turn helped get them more “paid” sales.

Don’t get me wrong, I like getting paid for my work, but I also like the idea of having my work out in front of so many readers, as well. If you figure that it takes the average reader twelve hours to read my average novel, and if all 16,000 books downloaded were actually read during that three-month period, on average, 75 people would be reading my books, 24 hours a day, every day.

When I think of this, in my mind I picture a large college classroom with 75 filled seats in which each person is reading one of my books on their Kindle. Then, at the 12-noon shift change, everyone gets up, finished with another one of my novels, and 75 new readers come in to begin reading. Okay, I’m a bit nuts. Still, just the thought of entertaining so many people for 12 hours is really neat!

Finally there is data available on the first three months of the Kindle Select program. On the link below you’ll find some of the numbers as well as endorsements from several authors. I believe this blog article I’ve linked to tries to be objective, but it’s hard to look that way when most everything you read is positive.

Readers and authors alike, check it out: http://www.publishyourownebooks.com/kdp-select-results-after-3-months/

Agency Model vs. Traditional Pricing: EBook Price-Fixers Fixin’ to Settle?

This just in: Apple and five major “price-fixing” publishing houses are fixin’ to settle with the US Justice Department after conspiring to control prices with their “agency model” vs. the standard and traditional way of retail pricing? Maybe. It looks like three of the big five publishers will.

What does this mean for the consumer–the eBook reading public? Maybe a check in the mail for all the over-priced eBooks they bought in the past, and much more reasonable pricing on big name, traditionally published authors’ eBooks in the future.

What does it mean to the “indie” authors who’ve found this time in publishing history to be a welcome boon to their publishing dreams? Perhaps stiffer competition with the brand name authors’ books? Maybe?

What do you think? Give us your dime’s worth–please comment!

But check out in this online Wall Street Journal article, first: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304444604577337573054615152.html