Bradley Convissar's Blog, page 3

Do Free Books on Amazon Help?

It's amazing what selling a book for free on Amazon can do.  Not for your career, mind you, but for that free book alone.  Sadly, at least for an Indie author at the beginning of his career, free book sales do NOT automatically convert to paid-for book sales.  Don't get me wrong.  I didn't expect it to.  And I understand why it happens.  So I am not disappointed.  Let's look at why:

Last Dance of a Black Widow, a 3,000 word short story went on sale yesterday for free.  Within 24 hours, it became:
#1 free short story#2 free horror#49 in free Kindle (All)
Pretty good, right?  Well, it will stay up there for a day or two and then slowly slip down the ranks (as unknown books by unknown authors do), replaced by the good-old standbys by established authors and the classics.  I passed Dracula and Amanda Hocking, but they'll slip by me again soon.

Now, let's take a look at the true effects of free books.


Okay, let's be honest... people see something for free, they snatch it up.  it happens with music, it happens with books.  People will go to the top 100 Kindle books, go to the top 100 in the genres they like, and they'll download anything that looks even remotely interesting.  Why not?  It's free and takes up minimal space on their device.  But how many people will actually read it?  A half?  A Quarter?  Ten percent?  We as writers have no idea.  And most people will not read it right away.  And I'm one of those people; I have tons of free stuff on my Droid X and i read it when i read it.  So there is the first hurdle:  how many people actually read the free stuff and when will they read it.

Now comes the conversion aspect: how many of those people actually become fans who are willing to pay for yourself.  Again, we'll never really know.  But I think it has less to do with price and more to do with time.  So you've uploaded a book and now 2500 people have downloaded it.  And 250 people have read it.  How many of them will actually buy a book from you?  This isn't the seventies.  Or eighties.  Or even nineties ,when there was no or little internet and only thirty television channels.  People read to entertain themselves and all they had to read was what the Big 6 gave them. 

But today, int eh 21st century, we have internet and web show and movies on demand and hundreds of channels and people who read, people who are willing to look Indie, have a plethora of choices.  More than ever.  And like I said earlier, I don;t think it is the $.99 or $2.99 price tag which affects whether or not people will read you.  It's whether or not you're worth their TIME.  Let's be honest, time is at a premium with so much to entertain us, and if someone is going to buy a book, they have to commit the TIME, which is worth a lot more than a couple of books.  I know about if I spend 3-4 hours reading a book and I don't like it, I'm more upset about the wasted time than the $.99.  So if someone reads a free story and is bored, or there are too many spelling/grammar issues, then they won't want to waste their time buying something from you.

So do Indie writers get new fans from free books.  I'm sure.  It's just not going to be evident right away because people generally don't read books the day they download it, if they even read it at all.  It can be weeks, or months, even (though I think people will read short stories sooner because the size allows for a quick diversion instead of a large time investment).  So it may take time.  It can take weeks or months. 

But I know one thing: the lack of instant gratification won't deter me from offering free books.  The more that I publish, the more my name is out there.  The more chances of someone telling a friend about me.  The more chances that someone will review something.  The more chances someone will be intrigued and buy a $.99 novella.  And if a free short leads to a single fan, well, it's done its job, hasn't it?

Thanks For Participating!

Okay kiddies, thanks to everyone who participated here. Very entertaining. Anyway, since I'm not giving away anything physical, and since I appreciate your interest, I've decided to just give away coupon codes here for my 2 novellas for everyone if they are interested. Please don't post these everywhere, please. Anyway, coupon code for Dogs of War is FZ76Z and it expires 12/1/11 and the code for King of the Merge is WE84T and that expires 11/9/11. If you decide to download and read either of these stories, I hope you enjoy them. And if you enjoy them, please, write a review at Amazon. I hope everyone had fun hopping around. Thanks.



We had a great time trick-or-treating.  My son was Optimus Prime, my daughter was, as previously noted, a chicken.  She basically ran around all night screaming "Bok bok!"  And now my wife and I get to steal all of the chocolate because both kids are allergic to milk.  
Hope everyone else had a great Halloween.

The 2011 Coffin Hop is Here!

Before I actually write anything, here are the details of the Coffin Hop, though I'm sure that you already know them:


1) HAVE A SPOOKY FUN TIME!

2) INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND SPREAD THE WORD!

3) THIS TOUR STARTS: Monday, October 24, 2011 at Midnight (PST)
    THIS TOUR ENDS: Monday, October 31, 2011 at Midnight (PST)
    Winners will be drawn and posted November 1, 2011

4) MEET AND MINGLE WITH THE AUTHORS! EXPERIENCE A NEW DESTINATION AT EVERY STOP! PARTICIPATE IN EVERY SITE'S CONTEST AND BE ENTERED FOR CHANCES TO WIN MULTIPLE PRIZES! EVERY BLOG VISITED IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!

5) PARTICIPATION AT ALL SITES IS RECOMMENDED, BUT NOT REQUIRED. THE MORE SITES YOU HOP, THE BETTER YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING PRIZES.

6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE A SPOOKY FUN TIME?


And don't forget to return to http://www.coffinhop.blogspot.com/ to visit for participants.


So, us participants were asked to do 2 things:

Write a Halloween-related blog and Give away some prizes.  First things first, what do I want to say about Halloween.  We'll start with the picture below and go from there.  By the way, I'm the one on the left, the dead guy, not the one with the boobs.  That was... let's see... 16 years ago, back when I was a Freshman in college.  Back when I was young and thin.  Ahh, those were the days.






Anyway, that picture was taken in a street car on the way down to the French Quarter.  Next to Mardi Gras, Halloween is the wildest night in New Orleans.  And I got to see four of them.  If you went wandering around the french Quarter on Halloween without a costume, you got crap thrown at you.  Simple as that.  You better be dressed up when you went down town.


Best costume I ever saw down there?




Yeah, I know this isn't a costume... and for those of you who aren't familiar with the devil above, it is Tim Currey from the movie Legend, which also starred a young Tom Cruise.  Anyway, my first year down there, I saw this guy wandering around.  Well, a guy in this costume.  But it just wasn't a simple costume.  I don't know if the guy wearing it was just very tall or if he was on stilts, but he was TALL.  And he was wandering around the French Quarter towering over everyone else.  It was neat to see.  And kind of scary.


Back to me... as you can see from the first picture, I liked dressing as a zombie for Halloween.  Why?  Not out of any innate love of zombies.  It was... well... cheap.  New Orleans is filled with thrift shops, and an old suit could be had for $10 or $15.  And makeup was $5.  Even a pre-bagged vampire costume was more expensive.  So for four years in a row, I was a zombie.  My Junior year, I didn't even have to buy a used suit- I got a pair of scrubs for free at the hospital where I volunteered.  And I was a zombie doctor.


Ah, I miss New Orleans.  I miss Halloween in New Orleans.  But I've moved on to the next stage in my life, and now I am taking my two kids, 2 and 4, trick or treating instead of getting dressed up and partying.  Oh well.


My 4 year old son is going to be Optimus Prime.  My wife gave my 2 year old daughter a choice between a monster and a chicken from Old Navy.


She chose the chicken.


I'm thinking of putting a little red paint around the beak.  Make her a killer chicken.  Pictures next week.


On to contests.  I'm a busy man.  I am a poor man.  Nothing fancy here.  All I'm doing is giving away a digital copy of each of my novellas, one "Dogs of War", one "King of the Merge", in any digital format you desire.   Only $.99 at Amazon but a copy can be yours for free.  If you are interested, just leave a comment on this post with your e-mail address.  Winners will be chosen the night of October 31, 2011, and winners will be announced the following day.  If you're a horror fan and tired of the over the top gore and violence and yearn for the more psychological styles of King and Koontz, you may very well enjoy my works.  And don't forget to follow my blog, Like me on Facebook (Bradley Convissar author), and follow me on Twitter (@bconvisdmd).


And don't forget to floss.  


Hey, I'm a father and husband first, a dentist second, and then a writer.  Hopefully one day I'll be able to flip those last two.











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Fotoshop of the Gods cover

Cover for my 3rd upcoming novella, Fotoshop of the Gods, my homage to King's Wordprocessor of the Gods.  A re-imagining, if you will.


Are my covers professional?  No.  Do I have fun making them?  Yes.  Yes I do.  And I like that all of my covers have a similar theme and setup: one of five black and gray backgrounds, a picture, and the title and my name in the same place and same font.  Because of the similarities, if you see one, you'll instantly recognize the others

New Novella- King of the Merge

My newest endeavor, the 18,000 word King of the Merge, a horror/thriller/ghost story, was published earlier this week.  At it's heart, it's a story about how guilt, real or perceived, can shatter a vulnerable mind.  As you can see, it did very well the first week it was out, almost, almost, cracking the top 20 in horror:

So, thanks to everyone who picked it up, and if you haven't yet, click the link below and it will take you right to the Amazon page.  Only $.99.  What do you have to lose?

Story Behind The Story- Stolen Honor

Was was my motivation behind writing "Stolen Honor"?  Click on over to Darkest Days Publishing and find out!  http://darkestdayspublishing.blogspot.com/2011/08/story-behind-story-stolen-honor.html

The Box by Brian Harmon- A Review

Any time I read a book about a box, or where there is a mystery box involved, I hope that the author is not tyring to recreate or ripoff Clive Barker's Hellraiser mythology.  Thankfully, that is not the case here.  Also, whenever I read a book about a box, I hope that Gwenyth Paltrow's head is not inside.  On second though, I hope it is inside, because that means she will never make another movie again.  (If you do not understand this reference, go see the move Seven.  Now.)  Alas, her head was not inside the box.
But I digress...
I will start off by saying, so there is no confusion, that I enjoyed this book and fully intend on reading the rest of the series.  It is an easy 4 out of 5 stars, and would be 4.5 if that was an option
In the end... well, that is one of my two problems with the book.  First, since this is only part one of a six book series, and since it is only a 50,000 word long novella and not a full book, this particular volume was created as a starting point.  As a teaser.  There is adventure, and it is a good ride, but nothing is accomplished.  Sure, there is character evolution, a very important ingredient, but there is no real end.  It's like reading the Wizard of Oz and the movie stopping when they reach the Emerald City; the ride has been fun, but the end is not there.  Don't get me wrong... there is an end to the story, and a logical end to it, but it felt like the end of part one of a longer book.  But that's the point, I guess, to novelized novellas/books... to give the reader reason to buy the next.  Again, don't get me wrong, the reader gets their money's worth from the book.  I didn't feel cheated.  Just don't expect an end that wraps everything up nicely.  Many more questions are created than answered when the book finally ends.
And my second issues, and this is minor, is that I wish that the author had given more of the mythology surrounding the world he created.  Everything is faceless and nameless, both literally and figuratively, and while the writing is excellent and the story is intense, evoking all sorts of emotions (like horror is supposed to), I wish more of the history and mythology had somehow been explored more so this vivid, disturbing world could be defined a little more.
So, in conclusion (yeah, I know, sounds like a term paper), The Box was a great read.  Tense, fun, creepy, with likable main characters and enough mysteries to keep you turning the pages.  I look forward to the rest of the series.

"Where were you when..."

This is one of my favorite questions: where were you when a certain event happen.  What made me think of this now and want to write a post on it?  Because I live in New Jersey, and last Wednesday all of my patients asked me: where were you when that earthquake hit?  I'm going to tell you, but a little bit later.

In my experience, there are two particular events that I was asked about for weeks afterwards by friends and family, and they both stick in my mind very clearly to this day.
The first is, "Where were you when OJ went on the run?"  I don't know why this event sticks to well in so many people's heads, but it does.  You ask people about this event, which occur ed almost two decades ago, and they remember.  Like I said, I remember exactly what I was doing.  I was leaving a Moody Blues concert with my parents at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia.  We got in the car, turned on the radio, and were instantly regaled with the tale of OJ's wild car chase with Al Cowlings in his white Ford Bronco.

The second is, of course, "Where were you on 9/11."  And I remember this very well for two reasons.  One, it was only ten years ago and I was fourteen.  And two, I watched it happen.  No, I wasn't in New York.  I was in Newark, NJ, in dental school, watching from the parking lot as the Towers fell.

And that brings us to Tuesday, August 23, 2011.  The day the "Great One" hit Virginia, sending aftershocks up and down the East Coast.  Every day over the past week, at least half of my patients have asked me what I was doing at that moment.  "I hope you wren;t taking out a tooth," many of them asked with a smile.  And I smiled back and said, "Yes, that's exactly what I was doing."

You see, I was extracting a tooth.  The patient is an old friends of mine.  He is well over six feet tall and built like a NFL linebacker.  Tough SOB.  And the extraction, well the extraction was a bear.  The roots were caught under the bone and it just wouldn't come out.  Anyway, as I was working, I felt the shaking begin.  And my first thought was that it was my friend shaking because the extraction was pretty brutal.  So I stopped to give him a break.  The shaking didn't stop, though.  I looked at him and he was fine.  He asked me if we were experiencing an earthquake.  I told him I guess so.  We waited another 30 seconds for it to end, then got back to work.  And that was that.

So not terribly exciting, but kind of bizarre nonetheless

So if you live in the northeast, what were you doing when the Big One hit?

Quick Review of Duma Key by Stephen King

 I just finished reading one of Stephen King's latest novel, Duma Key.  Ever since Bag of Bones, I have been less enthusiastic about King's new novels, and often wait several years to read them.  Don't get me wrong, I go out and buy them as soon as they are released, but I let them fester on my bookshelf while I attend to shorter paperbacks.  I did the same thing with Cell and with From a Buick  8.
The funny thing is, once I start reading one, I am instantly engrossed and quickly reminded that, however dull the book appears from the description, it is better than 95% of the books out there.   And once I started, I flew through the 600 pages in two weeks (if I had extended periods of time in which to curl up and do nothing but read, i would have finished it much more quickly).
It's not great story-wise, but it doesn't have to be because King's prose and characters are strong enough to engage you.  It's no Shining or the The Stand or It, those that we now consider classics, or even Desperation or Needful Things, which are newer classic in my mind, but it isn't as slow and ponderous as Insomnia or Gerald's Game. 
I'm not going to go into plot details because the plot itself is irrelevant when it comes to a King review, especially a quick mini-review.  A great author like King can make even the most inane plot enjoyable (for example, The Regulators, a Bachman Book, released along side Desperation.  Stupid story, but still readable.)  What makes or breaks King are the characters and the pacing, and both are executed well in Duma Key.
It's a good read, a quick read despite it's girth, and worth the time.

Belinda Frisch, Author: On Pricing Self-Published Work

Belinda Frisch, Author: On Pricing Self-Published Work