Tag: Kindle

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“The Suspect” Now in the Kindle Store

Hey Everyone — Just to let you know, my new short story, “The Suspect,” is available now in the Kindle store for 99 cents. I plan to put it up, in ebook form, in other online bookstores shortly. It’s my first real piece of crime fiction, which I’m really kind of psyched about. It’s a short story, and I think works as a short story, but will probably become part of a longer project I’m working on. Anyway, if you have a Kindle, I’d love to know what you think! If you’re a reviewer and have a Kindle or Kindle-compatible e-reader, I’d love to send you a free e-copy.

Though there’s no dance in this story, I am (of course!) planning to weave dance into the longer project I’m working on. And I promise, nothing Black Swan-esque 🙂

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Swallow Discounted for the Holidays

Just letting everyone know I was able to reduce the price of the paperback version of Swallow to $9.99 on Amazon. The price of the ebook is still 99 cents; Amazon and Kobo have it discounted to $.89. I intend to raise the ebook price after the beginning of the year though. But I will probably keep the price of the paperback as low as I can for a while. I know not everyone has, or likes to read with, an ereader 🙂

Thank you again for all of your tremendous support you guys!

Here is the link to the Kindle edition (above is the paperback version):

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A Psychologist Likes Swallow!

Swallow just received a very good review from a psychologist and top 10 reviewer on Amazon! I was a bit worried since the book is mainly about a psychological condition, and a psychologist is one of the main characters, so I’m thrilled she liked it. The psychologist in the book is very Freudian, which is I guess is not the norm today. Anyway, it definitely helped me to get over the sting of my first one-star review! That’s okay – knew I’d have to get one at some point…

I’m also having fun sending the book out to international bloggers. It recently received a good review from a blogger, Violet Crush, in Singapore, and Blue Archipelago Reviews, in England. And I just sent it out to a blogger in Australia. I’m having too much fun 🙂 The kindle version recently went up on the Amazon U.K. site. I don’t think as many readers in the U.K. use e-readers and my Amazon.com reviews don’t seem to be transferring, so if any British readers of this blog would like a review copy (or if anyone else wants to review it), please let me know!

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BRIEF BLOGGING BREAK

Hey you guys, I just wanted to let you know I’m in the process of re-modeling my website a bit. I should have the new site up very soon – I’m hoping the beginning of next week. At this time any new posts here are not automatically going to transfer over which means I’ll have to manually add everything. So, I probably won’t be posting again until the new site is up.

Thank you SO much to everyone who is being so wonderfully supportive of my book, by the way. The Kindle version is still on the Amazon top 100 list and is still at this time at number 1 on the legal fiction and anxiety disorders lists. I’m more thrilled than I could ever express. I’m just so happy people (well over 1,000 now!) are reading it.

Anyway, will be back soon! In the meantime, happy first international dance day everyone!

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PLEASE PLEASE!

Hey you guys! I have the hugest favor to ask 🙂

So my novel in e-book form has been climbing the Amazon best-seller charts, winning awards and getting good reviews. I’ve been told that if it continues with this success that there’s a chance I could get picked up by a good publishing company, which is my dream beyond dreams! So, I’m just asking you all to spread the word! It’s about a young Manhattan attorney with an anxiety disorder called Globus Hystericus, and it’s comical in places, but also very serious. Reviewers have found it both entertaining and thought-provoking. People who like books about lawyers, women’s fiction, or books about anxiety disorders seem to be liking it the most. It’s currently 99 cents in e-book form and is $14.99 in the paperback version. But since the e-book version is doing so well and people seem not to mind taking a chance on a new author at that price, I’m trying to get the word out about that one. So if you know anyone who reads e-books (the Kindle version is downloadable onto any e-reader as well as a PC or Mac) and likes the kind of fiction mentioned above, please let them know!

Thank you so much you guys!

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KINDLE AUTHOR INTERVIEW

I am today’s interviewee on the new blog, Kindle Author, which is for people who are thinking about publishing their books via Kindle. I think it’s my longest interview yet and I blabber on and on about my own writing and publishing journey, the reader outreach I’ve tried to do, and the advantages I’ve found of publishing in e-book form. If you’re an aspiring author, I highly suggest subscribing to that blog; he’s got some really good interviews up.

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DRIVE-THRU INTERVIEW, AND SWALLOW MAKES LEGAL THRILLER BEST-SELLER LIST ON AMAZON

Today I have a short, “drive-thru” interview on fabulously wonderful indie author Jenna Elizabeth Johnson’s blog, Hello Kruel, Kruel World.

I met Ms. Johnson on the Kindleboards, where I’ve connected with a number of really kind and supportive indie authors. I joined Kindleboards after hugely successful indie-turned-traditionally published author, J.A. Konrath, suggested the site as an excellent way to connect with other authors and readers of Kindle books.

It seems to have worked in my favor sales-wise as well because last week, due largely I’m sure to my reducing the price of my Kindle book to 99 cents (for at least the duration of the summer), my Kindle sales skyrocketed, putting Swallow on a couple of Amazon top-seller charts: Anxiety Disorders, and Legal Thrillers. Sales have slipped a bit over the weekend but it spent nearly all of last week in the top 10 of those two lists, which was really surreal.

Funny thing is, strictly speaking of course my novel is not a legal thriller, but the way Amazon categorizes things, since it’s legal fiction and since Amazon reviewers have tagged it with words like “lawyer,” “legal,” and “criminals,” it was categorized as legal, and the only root category for legal fiction it seems is Mysteries & Thrillers. So I guess that’s how that worked. Others have mentioned they had the same thing happen: a legal comedy and a novel whose protagonist was a lawyer but had no other connection to the law were both categorized as a legal thrillers too. Anyway, it’s not like I don’t have a product description and several reviews for people to read before deciding whether or not to purchase.

And, even though my book focuses on the main character’s anxiety disorder, it is largely about her job as a criminal appeals attorney, and representing a certain segment of society. That’s one huge thing I was hoping people would come away knowing more about after reading. So, although I worried at first about it being mis-categorized, I think it’s actually a good thing that it ended up there; it’s a sign to me of what I should be writing anyway. The book I’m working on now is more in that vein – it’s about a shooting witnessed by various people, from different perspectives.

Anyway, I’m just so thrilled some people are reading it. Thank you again to all of my wonderful, wonderful blog readers who have been so supportive! And to my new indie friends 🙂

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WHAT INSPIRES YOU? DANCERS AND CONVICTS OF COURSE!

There’s a short interview with me, about my book, up on Kipp Poe’s blog.

I met Mr. Poe, an author, on the Kindleboards, which I’ve just recently found. If you have a Kindle, or have downloaded a Kindle app onto another kind of e-reader, it’s an excellent message board where you can chat with other Kindle owners and readers, as well as authors of Kindle books. If you don’t have some kind of e-reader – I can’t believe I’m saying this – but I highly recommend one. A lot of e-books are really low-priced compared to physical books (owing to the comparatively low production and distribution costs), and I’ve found reading books digitally surprisingly enjoyable, which I never thought I’d say. They’re easy to fit in your bag, you can read anywhere because of the internal light, and, like I said, you can buy books for a small fraction of the regular price.

About a year and a half ago, when I needed a new cell phone, I bought  an iPhone and downloaded the various e-reader apps to test how I’d like reading books digitally. I didn’t think I would but I needed a new phone and was sick of T-Mobile so I figured what the hell. Now I read so much on my iPhone – not everything but a great deal. You can buy Kindle books (if you have an Amazon account) directly through the phone without having to be connected to a computer. And of course they download right away; no waiting for delivery. Only real drawback of the iPhone is the short battery life… I’ve heard the Kindle and iPad don’t have those problems though.

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FOREWORD, SMASHWORDS, AND SHE-WRITES

Swallow received a positive review in ForeWord Reviews this week, which made me very very happy. ForeWord is an industry magazine, specializing in independently-published books and is read by librarians and booksellers and the like. The reviewer called me an “exuberant writer” — both in the book and here on my blog! Hehehe, no, really?!?! 🙂 I so love the last sentence.

Also, I’ve made the book available on Smashwords, which is an e-book seller and distributor. I know lots of people don’t have a Kindle and some were having problems downloading the Kindle ap to their computers or iphones, etc., so on Smashwords it is available in a variety of formats for virtually any kind of e-reader, including your computer. It’s been approved for the Apple iPad and should be on that soon. And pricing is the same as on the Amazon Kindle.

Finally, on Thursday night the newish writer organization SheWrites had its first NYC get-together, at the chi chi Marc Forgione bar and restaurant in TriBeCa. Huge turnout! I got a t-shirt (above) since I was one of the first five to arrive. And those of us who’ve published did a book exchange. So, I ended up making off with two books — The Last Bridge, a really intense-looking novel by Teri Coyne, and The Futurist’s Mistress, a book of poetry (which I don’t read nearly enough of) by Lorraine Schein. If you’re a writer (you don’t need to be published and you don’t need to be female; you just need to be supportive of women’s writing) I recommend joining. It’s free and fun and there are great networking and socializing opportunities.

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PEACE AND HAPPINESS IN THE NEW YEAR

 

You guys, Happy New Year!

…when I promise to be better about blogging 🙂 I’m sorry about being so lame for the past month– I mean, two posts this week??? Getting this book out has just been so time consuming. Speaking of which, it’s now out in the Kindle version, so if you have a Kindle reader, it’s cheaper than the print version.

Anyway, happy New Year’s Eve, happy New Year’s Day! Will talk to you all again in 2010!

Above photo of Alvin Ailey’s Revelations by Andrew Eccles.

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

 

Hi you guys. Sorry I’ve been so bad about posting lately. This book –argh! Took me a ridiculously long time to figure out my Kindle conversion! If I wasn’t so computer dyslexic…. Anyway, Kindle version should be up soon on Amazon. Will post when it is.

I have a few blog posts to write — about Alvin Ailey and about Rasta Thomas’s Rock the Ballet which, okay, I admit — I liked!!! — despite (or perhaps of) Roslyn’s almost hilariously scathing review! I liked it, but can definitely see how others wouldn’t.

And Alvin Ailey — they’re in the midst of their City Center season (which ends January 3rd). I’ve loved most of their season premieres — there are several — namely Hymn and Divining by Judith Jamison, and Dancing Spirit by Ronald K. Brown (photo above of Matthew Rushing in Dancing Spirit, photo by Paul Kolnik). Hymn is a really breathtaking tribute to Alvin Ailey — the man himself. It was made in 1993 right after he passed away. It’s with spoken word by Anna Deavere Smith, based on her interviews with Jamison and the company dancers from that time, and on Ailey’s words themselves; choreography is by Jamison. And, Divining and Dancing Spirit are both part African, part ballet / modern. Dancing Spirit starts slowly, then builds to a really beautiful crescendo. Audience went nuts with applause after it premiered, and justifiably so! Definitely do try to go see it before the season ends.

The “20 years” tribute to Jamison’s time with the company is also a great program. Exposes you to excerpts of many of the ballets she commissioned over the years, which I now want badly to see.

Oh, interesting tidbit: one of my friends told me she sat next to SYTYCD’s Tyce Diorio at one of the Ailey perfs, and he highly recommended to her Hymn and Divining. So, see, I know what I’m talking about 🙂

I also need to blog about Nine, the film, which I saw yesterday. Thought it was okay, not as good as I was expecting. The musical numbers were excellent — especially those led by Kate Hudson, Judi Dench, and Fergie. But the story line is rather boring and slow-moving. And I hate to say this but this is the first thing I haven’t loved Daniel Day Lewis in. He just didn’t become the character to me, like he normally does; just couldn’t inhabit this role. Weird because his Unbearable Lightness of Being character had many of the same flaws, and he was so much more believable as Tomasz than he was here as Guido. Anyone else seen it?

My website (and, thus, this blog) is going to be up and down a bit over the next couple days because I’m having some of the pages re-done. But I will resume blogging very soon. In the meantime, get thee to Alvin Ailey!

Oh, and happy holidays 🙂