Raising the Price

The fact that I make more money from a person who would borrow “Chuck Hammer and the Invisible Squadron; A Vendetta’s Wage” than one who would purchase it outright for Kindle presents a quandary.

To promote my work I allow it to be borrowed by Kindle device owners for free. There is a monthly fund to be divided between all the lenders per how many times their work had been lent in any given month. It averages something over $1 according to what I could glean from Kindle’s e-mail news letters.

Also to promote my work I have put the price of my largest work to date at $0.99. This would provide me with about $0.33 per sale; far less. The $0.99 price has been a topic of many discussions and criticisms. The main issue being that after putting in thousands of hours of work into a novel, if one would work fairly consistently on one’s novel for over a year, a $0.33 return per sale will never bring a return close to the value of ones investment of time and creativity unless perhaps one is among the top ten Kindle sales leaders.

I value my labors and feel it is only proper that I raise the price of “Chuck Hammer and the Invisible Squadron; A Vendetta’s Wage”. By the end of this month of March the price will be raised to $3.99, so if you were thinking of purchasing it time is running out to save a bit of coin. Of course you Kindle device owners will still be able to borrow the work for free. Yes it seems pricey for a short novel when others can acquire it for free, but you could always buy yourself a Kindle, which is the goal of the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library. A promotional print limited edition will be out soon. If anyone is interested in signed copies let me know.

The second of the Fortunes of Chuck Hammer Series will hopefully be out by the end of the year.

Kindle Select

Good news. You can now read my latest e-book, “Chuck Hammer and the Invisible Squadron, A Vendetta’s Wage,” for free.

Yes, …but only if you own a Kindle device; an e-ink reader or Kindle Fire.

Kindle has created a ‘Kindle Owner’s Lending Library’ where a device owner can borrow an enrolled book for free with no return date once a month. A fund set aside each month is divided among the corresponding authors per how many times their book was borrowed out of the total number of borrows. Just by borrowing a book you are eligible to post a review.

So make Chuck Hammer your first choice.

An eligible e-book must be exclusive to Kindle. I am not clear as to the exclusivity of printed versions. The FAQ say I am free to promote a printed version but that was not what I understood from the terms and conditions. I may make my first book available also.

And yes we have a new dog. Ike was too much for my brother, or at least for his wife, as they have two toddlers also. Lots of energy and slightly troubled as he didn’t get out of his kennel too much of his first year, now 17 months. He’s being a bad dog, sneaking into the bedroom and jumping up on the bed. He’s just pretending to be sleeping.

Borrow Chuck Hammer today. Just click on the “Prime” button on the sales page.

Second Edition

The second Kindle edition of “Chuck Hammer and the Invisible Squadron; A Vendetta’s Wage” is published. Bigger an better this version has been greatly improved. Only $0.99 Add it to the Kindle’s you are gifting this Christmas.

One truly needs to step back from ones work at least a month to refresh the eyes to one’s own work. The first edition was put out a bit to hastily as I was making my last stand to try to avoid bankruptcy.

I received some help from a former editor. He reviewed parts of the book and based on his corrections and advice I revised the entire work. I identified some confusing passages and corrected them. It reads smooth and easy, packed chuck full of adventure and intrigue that most ages can enjoy.

A print version may be a year away. At times I will review this work again as I work on future volumes of The Fortunes of Chuck Hammer Series. I hope to be working on all of the next three volumes in the series by the end of the new year. After the print edition of this first volume I would hope to get another volume out each year or so. I have come to realize a book will take two years at best to produce. And the future volumes will be much longer than this introduction to The Fortunes of Chuck Hammer Series; “A Vendetta’s Wage.”

The following volumes will be;

Chuck Hammer Rebooted, Loyalty’s Fertile Soil

Chuck Hammer, Judgment Day, A Journey for Home

Chuck Hammer With Absolute Resolve, Surviving the Monsters

I also have another short story from the Great War developing along with “The High School” and “The Last Day.”

As my writing improves in the future I will put out a second edition of “Struggles,” but rather than “A Pair of Short Stories” it may be “A Book of Short Stories” At that time I will take the current book out of circulation, increasing its value if my books should actually draw a following.

Coming Soon

Many look at these current days of hope, promise and potential devastation as a sign of the last days. Different groups have different interpretations of how the last days will unfold and to where they will lead.

But until that day, a second Kindle edition of “Chuck Hammer and the Invisible Squadron, A Vendetta’s wage” will be coming out soon; most likely by the end of the week. Gone will be the over use of the passive voice. The content has grown and clarity has been added to a few areas that didn’t read well.

Where as I have received some help from a former editor on the upcoming second edition, I cannot say that this edition has been professionally edited either.

Should be available by next Monday if not sooner for $0.99; a price reduction.

What the …Malware?

I have suspected for some time a problem with blogger in publishing posts on all my blogs. After publishing my first book I have been taking more and more time on my blog posts, striving for a higher standard of finish on all my writing; spending more time editing. Yet, I noticed changes I had made to the posts were not saved when I finally published to the web.
But I do not believe it is blogger that is the problem. I have come to notice this on all my writing, namely my latest book. And it has not been just on our desktop which has the most exposure to the Internet. And it is not just on the computers using Windows 7 or Office 2010. I have an old computer free from the Internet still using Windows 2000 and word 98 which I did much of my work on before I got myself a new (not the latest and greatest) laptop with Office 2010. On all these computers I have a significant number of changes that were not saved as I saved the work carefully along the way.
All this suggests a serious threat to my computer security. What is more disturbing is that it is on all my computers. It must be some kind of malware tied to the Word file of my books, which I started on a very old laptop, also using Windows 2000 and Word 98. the only other option would be I have a serious stalker problem.
So my latest Kindle publication is far less refined than I had previously thought and I need to review it and may take it down. I have since received a bit of editing help and made some small revisions on the first in the Fortunes of Chuck Hammer Series. I hope to get a second edition out for Kindle by the end of the month. An edition I may print out and send to publishers along with the opening to the next book in the series and a copy of my first book.
In fact I may upload “A Vendetta’s Wage” to Create Space, not buying any of their assistive services, and purchase finished paperback copies as it will be cheaper than printing them off from my printer and binding them in cheap paper, clear faced binders; over $5 each.
This first in the Fortunes of Chuck Hammer Series can be considered an introduction. It will be followed by three trilogies and a finale; ten more books.
I have switched my font for my blogs, now published with Windows Live Writer, to Georgia. The favorite of the author of this new book I heard about on public radio; “Just My Type: A Book About Fonts.” I always liked Georgia myself though I preferred Arial, but I will defer to the professional. For my books? It has to be Bookman Old Style.