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Quality Audio Stories Forthcoming!

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February 15, 2013
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IMG_20130215_140212 I have a friend in town that has a brand new recording studio! Zoo Station Studios is open for business and he’s charging $30/hour at this point. Here’s the picture of the booth that I spent some quality time in today.

By the end of the week I should have two short stories recorded. I will be putting these up for sale. I had to pay for the production, so I’ll be asking you to pony up for the product. Business is business and business must grow. That’s especially true now that I’m unemployed in the traditional sense. So, soon you’ll be able to buy versions of “With Power Comes Responsibility” and an unpublished anywhere (though soon available in e-print from Flying Island Press) story called “Stand Up Fight”.

Both of these stories weigh in at 7,000 words and that means around a half hour to forty-five minutes of audio. I was thinking of charging $1.99 for this pro-quality recording. Sound off in the comments about the cost, your interest and anything else you’d like to say. If these do well then we’re looking at a pro-quality audio versions of Archangel books one and two.

More details as they transpire!

Suitable For Spooky Reading!

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October 15, 2012
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You want some tales suitable for Halloween reading, I know you do! Here are the ones that meet that criteria. Click the links, get the tales, and relax with a mulled beverage, but don’t blame your nightmares on me!

Tales of the Grim Reader vol. 1 – This trio of macabre tales takes place in the weird little town of Lumiere and features a book store I came up with called “The Grim Reader”. It’s heavily influenced by my love of EC Comics and all of the weird, twisted children they spawned. I hope you enjoy them and if you do there will be more to come in this world.
Smashwords

Bitter Release – A young soldier finds himself trapped in a cave in with only a case of absinthe and his memories to keep him company. Will he escape or find his only release in the embrace of the green fairy?
Smashwords
Amazon
Old Friends – Dmitri and Piotr have a gentleman’s agreement to meet four times a year. Well it’s a gentleman’s agreement if a vampire and a werewolf can be called gentlemen. Piotr has missed it and it’s up to Dmitri to rescue him at the risk of exposing their secrets.
Smashwords
Amazon


Through A Glass, Darkly – This combines the following short stories:
“Fetch” – A parish priest investigates the death of his parishioner, only to be faced by the reality of supernatural evil.
“Power in the Blood” – Reggie is tired of getting beaten down everywhere he turns. He finds a new strength, but at what cost?
“A Good Samaritan” – Trudi and her friend stop on the road to help a stranded motorist and confront the walking dead.
“The Good Doctor” – Selling potions and trinkets to protect people from the all to real supernatural perils that surround them provided the Doctor with a good living, but it may lead to his death.In one volume you’ve got demons, zombies, blood suckers, and werewolves. That’s a recipe for a good night’s reading, if not a good night’s sleep.
Smashwords
Amazon

Let Go – Faced with the atrocities he’s committed to keep his wife and son safe and provided for, Chris is forced into a bitter decision. He must find a way to let go of his family and move on. But in a world gone to hell, is there any other choice?
Smashwords
Amazon

 

 

Powerful Spirits – Dr. Emil Lazarus, town drunk and physician to the unserved Chinese in 1906 San Francisco, is able to see and speak to the town’s deceased population. Long time companion and ghostly philosopher Chin Lao brings him dire news of a creature that is consuming the local spirits and may eventually jeopardize the living. Defeating it may require Doc to join his only friends prematurely.
Smashwords
Amazon

The Way of the Gun – Kickstarter

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October 4, 2012
fiction, pimpage
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Some of you may remember my experiment on something called The Lessons of the Gun. I am writing a novelette and I am giving away the first six thousand words to whet your appetite. So far there haven’t been too many takers. That’s okay. That kind of thing happens in experimentation. I’ll continue to let it ride.

There’s been an addition though, a sort of “LEVEL UP”, to the mix. I approached five authors about writing a story in this world and we’re doing a Kickstarter. There will be six stories total in this world, including mine. If you’ve already chipped in for the story I’m writing you’ll still get it. If the Kickstarter succeeds you’ll get the edited version.

So what’s all this about?

The short stories in this anthology will have all of the action and adventure that you’d expect from a Sunday matinee shoot’em up with a dash of philosophy and tension as ancient codes deal with an increasingly modern world.

In addition to my own story, this anthology will contain works by some of my favorite authors. Jake Bible, the mind behind Dead Mech and The Americans, Justin Macumber, author of the military sci fi novel Haywire, Zach Ricks, editor of Flagship magazine and author of his own Weird Western series, Jared Axelrod, creator of the rich world behind Fables of the Flying City and Doc Coleman podcaster and author of the steampunk series Crackle and Bang.

The goal is five thousand samolians, which will go towards paying this fine people, as well as an editor and cover artist. As of the writing of this post we’ve hit $640, which amazes me. Even more amazing is that three people pledged at the $100 level. For that they get a character named after them in their choice of author’s story, the e-book, and the printed book signed by all authors. Pretty sweet deal.

So go have a look, let me know what you think, and help us make this happen!

Death & Magic (The Barefoot Healer) – Ebook Giveaway

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June 20, 2012
fiction, pimpage
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Congrats to Marie and Michael for winning last weeks books! I’m changing up the rules a little so read carefully. If you’ve already won, please feel free to comment, but I really want future e-books to go to folks that haven’t won anything. Just one book this week as I’m caught up.

The book this week is Death and Magic – The Barefoot Healer Volume 1 by Steven J. Pemberton. Sounds pretty interesting!

A murder mystery set in a school for wizards.

When apprentice wizard Adramal moves to a new school to complete her training, she discovers that several ritual murders have been committed by magic, threatening the fabric of the world. The evidence points to the killer being one of Adramal’s teachers, and the City Watch recruit her to go undercover to unmask the murderer. Can she find what she needs before the killer strikes again or – worse – without blowing her cover and putting her own life in danger?

114,000 words, equivalent to about 350 pages in paperback.

So how do you get it? Merely leave a comment below and your name will be dropped into the virtual hat.

I plan on giving away a book a week this year, but none of them will be my own. Why? Well, I believe in helping introduce people to new authors and nothing does that like FREE! The contests will be as simple as leaving a comment on the blog, or showing me that you’ve left a review on Amazon or Smashwords of books you’ve picked up in the past. I’ll try and change things up to keep them interesting, but by and large you won’t have to work hard.

If you’re an author and you’d like to pitch your hat into the ring, let me know. I’m not asking you to give me anything for free. I plan on buying your e-book from Amazon/Smashwords as a gift for the winner. So in addition to you getting your name out there, you’ll also get a sale for the contest. The most I can budget per week is $2.99, so if you have a book in the $.99-$2.99 price range let me know. I reserve the right to turn you down, but I will try and do so gently. I’d like to have a variety of genres represented.

If you have a free book and would like me to just get the word out I can do that, but you won’t be part of my contest. If your book is more expensive and you would like to donate a copy, that works too.

Shoot me an e-mail, a DM, or leave me a comment to enter your book.

Ginnie Dare: Blockade Runner – Snowflake Pt. 5 “Ginnie’s POV”

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June 18, 2012
fiction, writing
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Part five of the snowflake model has you write a page for each character’s story arc. Essentially the story from their POV. I decided to do this as a sort of “debriefing”.

Virginia “Ginnie” Dare Debriefing Report – It’s been a busy few months since we left the colony at Eshua. I’ve adapted the Eshaun crystal to a variety of applications. The most success I’ve had is making it jam the current level of scanner technology that I’m aware of and pushing that past theoretical limits to cover tech that I’m not aware of. I kept Dad in the loop on this one since he was still a little upset about the secrets I kept from him and the rest of the crew. That’s understandable I guess.

I also decided that I want to be more involved in the daily goings on onboard the Helena. As a result I’ve learned more about how the ships runs and about navigation. Dad says that if I’m ever to run a ship, something I’m not convinced I want to do, that I need to be at least familiar with every function. It made him happy and it kept me occupied when I puzzled over something particularly challenging.

All of that was set aside when we got an emergency communique from Rafe a while back. An old friend of Dad’s is the President of the colony there. Some research told me that they’re important to the manufacture of elements used in the Peeg. Apparently they decided to secede from the Commonwealth. That happens occasionally, a colony figuring that they’d do better on their own. So far as I’m aware there’s never been a successful attempt. The Commonwealth always manages to convince the colony that there are far more advantages to staying in the fold. That’s not to say that there arent’ independents out there, but once you’re part of the “happy family” you’re in to stay.

Dad shared with the crew that we’d been hired to take them some important supplies, things they depend on a steady supply of and won’t get once the net is tightened. Not everyone was on board. It surprised me that Jonas didn’t want us to get involved. It took time to get the supplies together. During that time I worked out a way to get us in under the SDF’s security net and a way to burst communicate with them once we set up a station on the planet itself. That will make future communication easier.

Once we made it into the system proper, everything ran smoothly. We didn’t run into a problem until we literally ran into one. None of us expected the SDF to seed the system with mines. Apparently they were attracted to us even with the cloaking I used. The first one caused minimal damage. Jonas said they primarily serve to alert the locals to the presence of undesirables and aren’t typically configured to cause major damage.

We stopped the ship and Jess and I went EVA. Unfortunately one of our cargo pods was badly damaged and ejected itself. We weren’t able to re-attach it and were in the process of rigging it for towing when Jonas showed inbound SDF scouts. The only choice we had was to route the pod to a nearby satellite while the Helena went on to the planet. Dad said that he’d set up secure communications and either get a tug out to us or come back in the Helena. We agreed to coordinate one they offloaded the main cargo pods.

Thankfully our pods are equipped with sufficient motivators for brief in system travel. It’s hardly a replacement for an actual shuttle and it’s usually used for the rare situation where we can’t get the Helena to a cargo elevator. The satellite was close enough that it only took us an hour to arrive. In a day that seemed doomed to failure after failure there was a malfunction in the thrusters. Jess was able to bring us in, but she broke her leg during the landing. To say that I was nervous is an understatement. She assured me that she’d be okay and the medkit we had access to agreed. I set up the secure transponder so that the second Dad was able to communicate we’d be synced up. In the process I discovered that we weren’t alone after all.

Unfortunately, once I unscrambled the encrypted radio transmissions, we found out that the people were terrorists bent on destroying part of the colony, using the Helena to do so. We weren’t able to contact anyone without risking unwanted Commonwealth attention. So it was up to Jess and I to take care of them. First I was able to set up the transponder to scramble any outbound communications. That meant they wouldn’t be able to trigger anything remotely. Second, I was able to make it seem like someone or something was passively scanning the moon. That kept their heads down. Jess was able to rig up some directed energy weapons and we made it seem like they were being pinned down by SDF forces.

We kept up the siege until dad contacted us and arrived, followed by the SDF. I found the tracking device with Brad’s help and was able to trace it back to the President’s aid. After that things went even more pear shaped. I had to end up giving my research on the cloaking device over to the Commonwealth. They took the terrorists into custody and their representative seemed to listen to reason. They took down the blockade and let us go on our merry way, for now at least. The whole thing makes me even more glad that I’m not entering the academy.

Ginnie Dare: Blockade Runner – Snowflake Pt. 4

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June 15, 2012
fiction, writing
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This is step four in the Snowflake method.

By this stage, you should have a good idea of the large-scale structure of your novel, and you have only spent a day or two. Well, truthfully, you may have spent as much as a week, but it doesn’t matter. If the story is broken, you know it now, rather than after investing 500 hours in a rambling first draft. So now just keep growing the story. Take several hours and expand each sentence of your summary paragraph into a full paragraph. All but the last paragraph should end in a disaster. The final paragraph should tell how the book ends.

I would love to know if you see any major problems or if there’s anything that interests you particularly about this process or the results so far! Sound off in the comments.

The settlers of the gas giant Rafe, one of the primary sources of fuel used in Perry-Gamblin drives, are seceding from the Commonwealth and have been cut off from aid by a government blockade. The Dares have been hired to run supplies to them in secret, able to do this thanks in part to modifications made using the Eshuan crystal. The succeed in getting through the first layer of the blockade without being spotted. Halfway between the outer ring of security and their destination they hit a mine that damages one of their cargo pods. They must make an emergency stop to repair it before they go on and they have to do it before Commonwealth forces arrive.

Ginnie and Jess to go EVA and repair one of the the damaged pod. It takes longer then they realize. The damage will not allow them to repair the connector and there’s no easy way to get it back on. Jess can jerry rig something, but before they’re able to the ship picks up an incoming scout. The only choice they have is to steer the pod to a nearby moon using emergency thrusters, and park it there. The Helena continues to Rafe and must maintain radio silence. They plan to get a tractor to come retrieve the pod along with Ginnie and Jess in 24 hours or less. Unfortunately the pod’s systems are damaged too and it crashes on the moon, injuring Jess.

Ginnie goes to find a place to set up an encrypted beacon she fashioned from the damaged parts of the pod’s radio. They don’t want to use it until the Helena is closer, but it needs to be on the highest point she can find. During her explorations she discovers what she thinks is a colony outpost. It strikes her as odd since there’s nothing important on this moon. She hacks into their channel and discovers that they’re terrorists, plotting to destroy the settlement making the Commonwealth and the Dares look responsible. Ginnie and Jess must find a way to stop them not only to save the colony, but to save their shipmates who will be caught in the attack and all without alerting the Commonwealth to their presence. They come up with a plan equal parts A-Team and MacGyver.

One of the agents working for the Liberation Front (President’s aid? Choochus?) gets a signal knows that the jig is up and sets the backup plan in motion. He alerts the President to the existence of the bomb and accuses the Dares of being in league with the Commonwealth. There’s a tense showdown. Jonas uses his military experience to help disable the bomb, but that doesn’t ultimately free them of suspicion. The President makes them leave and promises that they will work it out latter. While the Dares are on their way back Choochus alerts the Commonwealth to the Dare’s presence in the sector and via an improvised tracking device he planted gives them their coordinates. The Dares make it to the moon and succeed in recovering Ginnie, but a host of Commonwealth ships block their retreat.

The Dares reveal the presence of the Liberation front and their plans. Ginnie and Jes are able to produce the captured terrorists. Ginnie is able to get the tracking device and prove that it belonged to the president’s aid. The President is able to use this incident as leverage to ask for the blockade to be stopped. Colonel Delaney decides that having the terrorists is proof that the blockade is too much of a hardship on Commonwealth citizens. The Dares also offer to give up their “cloak” to the Commonwealth in exchange for amnesty for running the blockade. They are granted it, provisionally, and leave the sector for the return trip home.

Ginnie Dare: Blockade Runner

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June 9, 2012
fiction
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This is the beginning of the snowflake for the Ginnie Dare: Crimson Sands sequel.

Step One: While running a shipment of fuel to a planet who’s seceding from the Commonweatlh, Ginnie and Jess get stranded on the planet’s moon where they discover a plot to destroy the secession making the Commonwealth look responsible.

Step Two: The settlers of the gas giant Rafe, one of the primary sources of fuel used in Perry-Gamblin drives, are seceding from the Commonwealth and have been cut off from aid by a government blockade. The Dares have been hired to run supplies to them in secret, able to do this thanks in part to modifications made using the Eshuan crystal. A malfunction in the ship’s systems require Ginnie and Jess to go EVA and repair one of the pods, which results in the pod getting ejected along with the women causing them to be stranded on a nearby moon. While waiting for the ship to return and pick them up, they discover terrorists on the moon, plotting to destroy the settlement making the Commonwealth look responsible. Ginnie and Jess must find a way to stop them not only to save the colony, but to save their shipmates who will be caught in the attack and all without alerting the Commonwealth to their presence.

Benefit Anthology

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June 4, 2012
fiction
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The origin of this idea goes back to my Grandmother’s funeral. A large chunk of my family came down for it, including my cousin and her husband from Toronto. We got to talking about Canadian stereotypes and I said something along the lines of “what do you do, feed the mean ones to polar bears?”. This resulted in a tweet, which resulted in a short story idea that I banged out in Evernote. My cousin was diagnosed with Crohn’s recently, so I thought it would be a cool thing to sell the story and donate the proceeds to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada.

Sadly, I don’t yet have the audience to make that into something significant by myself. Also, it seems, short stories in general aren’t the hot sellers that longer works are. Are there exceptions to the rule? Sure, but I thought I’d raise the bar a bit. So I put out the call to authors who call Canada their home. I figured that it would be somewhat likely that they’d already have some short stories that take place there. The response so far has been great.

Now I’m opening the door to submissions. I’m not going to go the duotrope route, not yet and probably not ever. That’s a good way to get a lot more slush than I want. For now it’s limited to this blog post. What am I looking for?

Story: 2000 to 7000 words.

Genre: Science fiction or fantasy, all sub genres except for dark and erotica. Literary fiction or autobiography may be acceptable as well.

Original work or reprints.

Include your submission in the body of an e-mail.

If you cannot, or will not, submit in the body of an email, please submit the document in .rtf format with the following:
1) A title page separate from the body of the text, with your Name, word count, story title and contact information in the top left corner. You may include a synopsis of your story, but it is not required.
2) Make a page break ()
3) Then the body of your text with the title at the top and centered.
Use industry standard manuscript formatting. (See this example for more details)

Email all submissions to scott@scottroche.com

What I am looking for in a story – There are really only two requirements outside of length. The story must take place in Canada. The story must also make me laugh. Becky, my cousin, has my sense of humor (I’m older so I claim it), and I figure what makes me laugh will likely make her laugh. If you can’t do both of those things don’t send anything in. I’m a genre fiction reader, but if you want to send me something real, or some straight fiction just keep those two things in mind. Submissions close when I get enough quality stories.

What I hope to produce – I’d like to get around fifty to seventy-five thousand words worth of work. That’s anywhere from ten to twenty stories, maybe a few more. From that I will produce an ebook, a print book, and an audio book. As a contributor you’ll get the audio and the ebook and my heartfelt thanks. If you want a print book I can likely get you one at cost.

This benefit anthology is in no way affiliated with the CCFC or any other organization.

Ebook Giveaway – Legends/The Sekhmet Bed

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May 31, 2012
fiction, pimpage
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Congrats to Jon Spear for winning Eat At Joes and Between the Land and the Sea!

Two more books this week. The first is Legends by Paul Elard Cooley

In a time before the written word, a young warrior, the last of his kind, does battle with the ancient evil threatening his people.

Pursued by the supplicants of an ancient religion, a man travels from the Indus Valley to Akkad to seek those who can write the symbols of history.

Legends is the first installment of the Garaaga’s Children series. The stories of the god Garaaga, its half-human progeny, and its worshipers, blend history with supernatural fantasy and ancient mythology. From the cradle of civilization to the modern world, Garaaga’s Children transports readers through time and the rise of a new religion.

The second is The Sekhmet Bed by Lavender Ironside.

Queen Ahmose knows her duty: to give the Pharaoh a son. But she is young, and has just watched her closest friend die in childbirth. If the Pharaoh plants his seed in her she will die the same way, in a pool of blood, surrounded by wailing women. She has her husband’s love, but a king must have an heir…and even the Pharaoh’s patience will run out. Meanwhile, a lesser queen – Ahmose’s own sister – has given him three sweet, bright children, all of them boys. Ahmose knows her grasp on the Pharaoh’s heart is loosening.

Desperate, she begs the gods for courage to become a mother. They give her more than courage: she is granted a vision of a shining prince, her son – a gift for Egypt who will bring glory to the land. He will be more than the son of a king. He will be the son of the god Amun.

But when the child arrives, it’s a girl.

Ahmose knows the vision was not wrong. Her daughter Hatshepsut has a male soul, and Amun intends the girl to rule. But the Pharaoh will not scandalize Egypt by proclaiming a female successor. If she cannot convince the Pharaoh to accept Hatshepsut as his heir, everything Ahmose loves will be destroyed.

So how do you get these? Merely leave a comment below and your name will be dropped into the virtual hat. Winner gets both!

I plan on giving away a book a week this year, but none of them will be my own. Why? Well, I believe in helping introduce people to new authors and nothing does that like FREE! The contests will be as simple as leaving a comment on the blog, or showing me that you’ve left a review on Amazon or Smashwords of books you’ve picked up in the past. I’ll try and change things up to keep them interesting, but by and large you won’t have to work hard.

If you’re an author and you’d like to pitch your hat into the ring, let me know. I’m not asking you to give me anything for free. I plan on buying your e-book from Amazon/Smashwords as a gift for the winner. So in addition to you getting your name out there, you’ll also get a sale for the contest. The most I can budget per week is $2.99, so if you have a book in the $.99-$2.99 price range let me know. I reserve the right to turn you down, but I will try and do so gently. I’d like to have a variety of genres represented.

If you have a free book and would like me to just get the word out I can do that, but you won’t be part of my contest. If your book is more expensive and you would like to donate a copy, that works too.

Shoot me an e-mail, a DM, or leave me a comment to enter your book.

Eat At Joe’s/Between The Land and The Sea – Ebook Giveaway

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May 14, 2012
fiction, pimpage
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Sorry for the delay. Life has been busy! A huge congrats to Rob Rowald for winning Haywire and Tales from the Horsham Ghost Society!

Two more books this week. The first is Eat At Joe’s by Tony Whitford.

Meet Joe Smith, Native American, Restaurant owner and all around good guy. Joe isn’t feeling too good today. His back is killing him, and the feeling that the world around him is trying to tell him something keeps nagging at his thoughts. Shadows shifting in the darkened corners of the morning, the oppressive Texas heat and the sound of horse hooves on the sidewalk behind him seem to be an undeniable warning of things to come.

Joe knows he has a great life. His daughter is getting good grades in school and the business is doing really well this year. The softball team is winning and life is treating him better than it ever has, but the words of his grandfather keep coming back to him. The blood beneath the concrete and steel of the city is crying out to be heard.

Welcome to Amarillo, Texas, Joe’s Café will be opening soon. Come in and have a cup of coffee, meet the folks at “Eat At Joe’s,” and hold on for one wild ride.

The second is Between The Land And The Sea by Derrolyn Anderson

Marina is a privileged girl who’s had an unusual upbringing. Traveling the world with her scientist father, doted on by her wealthy and glamorous neighbor Evie, Marina’s life seems perfect.

Everything changes in the summer of her sixteenth year when she is sent to live with her Aunt Abby and Cousin Cruz in the lovely seaside town of Aptos, California.

Only a few weeks after arriving, sixteen year-old Marina has nearly drowned twice, enchanted the hottest guy in high school, and discovered a supernatural creature. If she can manage to survive some increasingly dangerous encounters with unpredictable mermaids, she might be able to unlock the mystery of her past and appease the mysterious forces that want something from her…

And maybe even find true love along the way.

So how do you get these? Merely leave a comment below and your name will be dropped into the virtual hat. Winner gets both!

I plan on giving away a book a week this year, but none of them will be my own. Why? Well, I believe in helping introduce people to new authors and nothing does that like FREE! The contests will be as simple as leaving a comment on the blog, or showing me that you’ve left a review on Amazon or Smashwords of books you’ve picked up in the past. I’ll try and change things up to keep them interesting, but by and large you won’t have to work hard.

If you’re an author and you’d like to pitch your hat into the ring, let me know. I’m not asking you to give me anything for free. I plan on buying your e-book from Amazon/Smashwords as a gift for the winner. So in addition to you getting your name out there, you’ll also get a sale for the contest. The most I can budget per week is $2.99, so if you have a book in the $.99-$2.99 price range let me know. I reserve the right to turn you down, but I will try and do so gently. I’d like to have a variety of genres represented.

If you have a free book and would like me to just get the word out I can do that, but you won’t be part of my contest. If your book is more expensive and you would like to donate a copy, that works too.

Shoot me an e-mail, a DM, or leave me a comment to enter your book.