short news

Hey all,

sorry about the lack of posts,  I have been working with some other authors and donating books to some give aways. 

if you’re not a fan or Shannon Thompson, you should be – she is doing a contest  and one of the many prizes you can win is either an ebook or a physical copy of Rakasha (my horror book)

also if you are a fan of Horror & History,  my short Ekmuu is going to be in the Horrors of History anthology – the first story! 

and for those of you lucky enough to live in Colorado – the Metro area at least,  I will be live on October 27th, signing and reading from Rakasha – at the Mutiny Book Mall at 2 Broadway. 

I also will be working the Denver Horror film festival, with a table (to sell books) and I will be at the MileHighCon  as well, doing a panel about Demons and Undead.

over all a busy month,

tack on my 17th anaversery of my thirth birthday, and my poor head is going to explode.

Time to Roll the Dice

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Monday – my daily rant will be about the email from KPD.

You all know I released then re-released the book Rakasha.  The latest round, I also realized that there are a couple hundred versions in the wind that need to be updated.  I reached out to KDP and asked what it would take.  The email I got back was clear, tell them the changes and they will either

1)    Ignore it, if they don’t feel the changes are important enough to bother with a push.

2)    Email clients and enable new content to be down loaded at client’s options.

3)    Pull my book off the for sale list “pending”.

WOW, talk about rolling the dice.   I went ahead and told them about all the changes and I am now sitting and sweating.  If you down loaded the book before Sunday, you may be getting a notice telling you there is a new and improved version.  That or it will be yanked and I will have to start all over, needing to replace all my reviews (all 11 of them) and dealing with a gap in my sales/marketing.

Moral of the story, no matter how sick your mother is, don’t hit that publish button until you are one thousand percent vetted.

Also, just an FYI but as of Sunday at 13:01 MST Rakasha the audio book has been approved.  It is not a matter of waiting for ACX to put it up and make it available.  I plan on running a free day to celebrate.  I also put Rakasha on the “Match” program, so if you buy the physical version of the book, you will get a free download of the Ebook – in theory, and when that program goes live.

Updates from the semi soggy word of writing

Hello all,

sorry for the lack of updates, but for those that don’t know I live in Colorado.   Yes the state that has been all over the news, getting flooded.

My books arrived Saturday – how the UPS truck got into the neighborhood I don’t know, but they tossed my 15 books to my rain-soaked porch during the storm..

need less to say my Rakasha books like water less than my Rakasha demon does.

all 15 books are damaged, some just a little bit (water damage in the corner,bottom) and some are just beyond ruined.

the good news, Amazon is going to replace them all (I did tell them I could try to save some of them, but their customer service is going to just replace the lot – outstanding)

and on other related news,  my Rakasha Photo shoot is still a go for the 28th,  I have another person that is doing a photo shoot, so we are splitting the studio, and other costs.

and I didn’t realize this before today, but my voice actor has been posting Rakasha excerpts for me to review and comment on….. so now I need to sit down with the script, and listen to the parts, and approve, or request changes.

I have also hired a publicist for a month to see if she can get Rakasha sales moving.

its funny, Rakasha is not my ‘lead book’, if anything its my ‘bitch book’  I have less money for it then for my novels marketing allotment, but it is showing me all the things about what works, what doesn’t and how to do them.

still one hell of a piece of fiction, but it is such a polar opposite of my novel, I sometimes wonder how many of these lessons will apply.  for example, I can’t advertise on book bub- Rakasha is 18 pages too short (they do not accept Novellas)  and there are other places that do not do reviews of Horror books, so testing them will not work. Looks like there will still be more Trial and Error on Jamie Ryder then I like, but at least I should have some really basic information to build from.

My Evil Plan Worked.

I will have 15 copies of my book in hand to deliver to the mutiny café and that sales spurred my number up a smidge (took me off the bottom of the pile). Add that to the fact that I have already sold those books, and I am feeling pretty darn good!  I also may be working with someone to get more exposure and just maybe sales will start, after all October is a good time for Horror books!

the evil part of that paragraph?  it was cheaper to buy from Amazon [now that they discounted my book] then it was to buy from the publisher.  after you factor in the free shipping, and the fact that the order fulfillment date was 3 days sooner, and the fact I still get my authors share, there was no way NOT to order it that way!

On a sad note the photographer I was going to hire is done. His pictures are worse than mine!  He sent me four ‘nudes’ he was very proud of.  Honestly, it takes talent to mess up a pretty girl nude, but somehow he did it.  But I am taking that as a sign, after all either I am a better shooter then I thought, or at least I know someone out there sucks more than I do… Either way!

You all should be treated to the Raw photos sometime the first week of October, and posters should follow soon!

BTW – now that Amazon has only a single page for my book (both Print and Ecopy) getting it in a format you want is that much easier.

http://www.amazon.com/Rakasha-Legend-Hindi-Tiger-Demon/dp/1490560785/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378833998&sr=8-1&keywords=rakasha should get you to both.  Note that Amazon discounted it to below 5.00 – a bargain if you ask me (or any of the 11 people that have reviewed it)

time to get ready for October’s big marketing push!

 

Rakasha Review

Greetings all,

no real news on the publishing front, but I thought I would share a review I got on Good reads:

4.5 Stars. Where do I even begin with this? So the author warns all readers in the beginning of the violence, sexual nature and gore and if you don’t like these things don’t read this book. Well, I am not one of these people. I like all those things I however did not realize the degree of them! The Rakasha demon..she crazy!! The opening story of a biker who encounters the Rakasha left me with my jaw on the floor. Next was the longer stories of the origins of the demon and what not. I was glued to the stories wanting to know more yet I was freaked out and mortified at times as well. Chapter 8 is perhaps one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever read but it was extremely good as well! 

The author can write. The stories tell very well of the history of this demon and what its capable of. The author did an excellent job in the creation of this tale and his brutal and gory details will leave even the most proclaimed horror junkies shocked and at times grossed out. Believe me I take nothing away from it, its a great tale but I just cannot stress the violence that this book presents. Truly something I’ve never quite read before. I highly recommend this book to those who have the stomachs for it and for those who think they can’t be scared or totally grossed out. Read this book and tell me it doesn’t leave you somewhat scarred on the inside. To the author Robert Davis, I mean that last line in all good faith! Rakasha means for a great read.

Reviews like this, or any review that is positive,, give me a lot of juice to keep on writing.  its nice to know that readers are appreciating my work.   I hope someday to be able to make enough at this I can make it my full-time job, not just my hobby – but as long as I have fans, I am happy!!!

and if you haven’t yet, you should check out Rakasha.   In a few days, maybe a week, I will do doing my first Blog review of a book.  “Minutes till Sunset” by Shannon Thompson.   I also will be hitting Beginning of a Hero as well.  I sometimes think that because these two authors have ten to fifty times the following I do, they don’t really care about reviews.
Personally, even if I get HUGE (as in following, not Huge from spending too much time eating fast food) I’ll still love my reviews, and will be happy every time I see my book  reviewed or mentioned.  It would be rude of me not to reciprocate the favor, no matter how big they are or how small I am.

the Relaunch

Hello All,

as of today, the new RAKASHA   is out – the links  are still the same, and any one who purchased it should get it on your kindles sometime soon.  Its always difficult to do a re-release, it means you have to admit to your self that you could have done things better, and to admit that some of my decisions about editorial  content and lay out were not as solid as I would wish.   But if I am nothing else, I am a realist.  I rushed to publish, with good reason.  My first editor did as good a job as possible, considering that he had 6 hours to edit 12K words, and was packing for her own vacation.  it took John Mailing 2 weeks to reedit and working with Judith Briles, 2 stories I cut from the book were returned to the book.

I removed them originally because one felt ‘cliche’  and the other was too long with too many obscure demons (most people have never heard of a Naga or Ekimuu so I thought that the story had so many elements it would bog down the book.

but both my beta readers AND my content editor said “put them back in” one said the dropped story of “Jack” was their favorite.

The book will be free tomorrow 8/21/13  I would really suggest you pick a copy up.  the reviews for it are not paid, they are not from ‘friends’  SKN Hammerstone, ML Newman, and Kaine Andrews I meet both after I published, and the original works.  They all had rave reviews for the book, and have had nothing but kind words for the new work.

so my readers, time to hit the BUY.  if you just can’t wait until tomorrow, for less then a 1/4 cup of coffee you can have an excelent horror book, with new concepts on obscure creatures.

Full cover and Wrap

Reading Out Loud

Hello all,

In the grand race that I call “digging for an audience” Rakasha is moving somewhere between Glacier and Geographic speeds.  The editor has my final version, and I added so much to it, the book is going to be double the length of the original.

I also found a potential new direction for my Tiger Demon.   There is a company that will make it into an audio book.  They will want 1/2 of what I make, but will not charge anything up front.

I can see some advantages to this

1)   exposure  – there are 2 million books printed a year, but only about 150 thousand made to audio books.  Fiction is the most often converted.

2) The Risk to cost ratio is in favor of doing it.  It will cost me nothing, but I stand to make some money from it

3) its one more media that my name is tied to,

Creating a name is crucial. Rakasha is not supposed to make me rich (although if it did I wouldn’t object.)  So my readers, I would LOVE it if you would chime in and tell me, what am I missing ? The audio would be ready the start of October, the prime time for Horror media.   But there must be a down side.

Anyone ? Anyone ? Bueller ? Bueller ?

 

A new Hope for Rakasha

Hey all,

I just got back from Lunch with the lovely Lacy Tweedy, my new model for ALL of the upcoming Rakasha promotional items. Who knows, she may even escort me to one of the conventions I am doing in October.

She is the lovely .  I have to say I am impressed; She was early to our meeting, charismatic, photogenic and excited about the project! She keeps up with these qualities, and I can see a bright future for her. She is going to make a great Tiger Demon.  I just hope that I am able to help her achieve it while I achieve my own bright future!

It also looks like I have a make up artist to help on the practice shoot, so several ideas are now running around.

I will be posting more information, and maybe a couple of practice pictures

I have my copy back from the editor, so a new version of the book will be ready very soon – I still have to review it, and find any thing that needs to be done – but a new Rakasha will be out very soon.

<fingers crossed>

Rolling Along – another new ‘first’

Hey all,

 

busy busy busy – we are starting to get more and more submission for anthology,  I have re-edited Rakasha and should have a new one up VERY soon,  the Novel is coming along slowly but surely, just did a photo shoot as a photographer,  and I have put up my very first video on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io5yhWAdIsY

if you ever wanted to know what I really look like, or what I sound like, or about Rakasha’s or even what my writing cave is like you should watch it.

if the answer to all the above is no, you should still watch it!  after all it stars the incredible Robert Davis – author and professional miscreant!

I will have new update in a couple of days, maybe even share the story about “Captain E”  one of the most twisted inventions I have come up with so far.

have a good weekend!

Random updates

Hello All,

some news on several fronts, almost too much to make a coherent blog post, so I’m not going to even try – just put down the happenings, and we can discuss later.

1)  My circle of advisers for my Jamie Ryder book has not closed completely.  of the 3 people I was talking to (to make sure I was able to portray being deaf accurately)  1 of them is still working with me, one told me straight out to go away and the third simply nuked me on social media and refuses to acknowledge my emails.   Still the remaining one should be enough to keep exploring.  [oddly enough the last email I sent out to the 3 was asking how they wanted to be acknowledged in the book in November]

2)  My first book Rakasha is getting a relaunch in 6 days.  there were some grammar & punctuation issues.  not to the level that tripped up most readers, but ones that if you know to look, you’ll find them (things like “.  IE periods outside the quotes.

3) I may have a new model to get some pictures for Rakasha swag.  If she works for a price I can afford,  she very well could end up on a couple of different things as well as on one of my upcoming book covers.

4) my unemployment maybe coming to an end – at least a temporary end.  fingers crossed.

5) my Novel is at the professional editors.  unlike last time, when I asked someone to edit 12.5K words in 6 hours (leading to my relaunch listed above)  this time I have MONTHS to complete.  I am still anticipating a November release.  Soon Jamie Ryder: Possessed will be a real, breathing, touchable item.   with some luck, one of the people who ends up reading it will turn to an adviser in step 1, but I will see.

Hope your all doing well, and I will have updates for you soon!