Benjamin Wallace's Blog, page 20

Dystopia Inc. Starts Today

The stories of Dystopia Inc will explore the effects of corporate culture becoming national culture. Think Office Space meets 1984. I hope to release a new story every month. This is the first one.

Welcome to the world of Dystopia Inc

The future brought economic collapse. Opportunistic corporations snatched up the world’s nations at bargain prices and now control every aspect of our lives. The stories of Dystopia Inc. will explore this future. A future where corporations reach into our very lives. A future where the CEO decides all. A future where some Fridays are Blue Jean Friday if you are so inclined.

 

The War Room

War rages in southeast Asia. It is the least popular of those currently raging and public support is waning. It’s up to the Department of Marketing to rally the people and their wallets or all will be lost. For this task, they enter the war room. Someone brought bagels.

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Big Box of Books Giveaway

Want a signed copy of Dumb White Husbands vs Zombies plus 8 other great books? Of course you do. Who wouldn’t? Well, that person is a jerk and you shouldn’t hang around with them anymore.

All you have to do is follow us on Twitter and you’re entered to win these awesome tales:

A Chorus of Wolves by Alex Kimmell
The Key to Everything by Alex Kimmell
Lost in Space: A Father’s Journey There and Back Again by Ben Tanzer
Dumb White Husbands vs. Zombies: The Zomnibus by Benjamin Wallace
Apocalypticon by Clayton Smith
Pants on Fire: A Collection of Lies by Clayton Smith
Billy Purgatory: I Am the Devil Bird by Jesse James Freeman
Joe Vampire by Steven Luna
Joe Vampire: The Afterlife by Steven Luna

Enter here

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Note: The Big Box of Books may not be delivered in a big box. Perhaps a large envelope?

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Holy Crap! Free Books!

 

DUMB WHITE HUSBAND vs THE GROCERY STORY

Three years ago, I wrote a story about a husband sent to the grocery store. I wrote it because I thought it would be funny. I had no idea it would be one of my most popular stories and lead to many more adventures with many more husbands. I certainly never thought it would lead to the husbands facing the zombie apocalypse.

The original Dumb White Husband story is available for free on Barnes and Noble.

 

 

ALTERNATE REALTY

One of the biggest challenges in selling inter-dimensional realty is finding the perfect home for a young couple. Especially when the wife has an issue with dinosaurs.

Sign up for my newsletter and I’ll send you a copy of Alternate Realty.

 

 

 

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What if corporations ran America?

Some people think they already do. With armies of lobbyists, lawyers and war chests fueling super PACs, people say companies get their way over the needs and rights of the people. But, in the future,when world governments default and the corporations assume the debt and take total control, things will get much, much worse.

 

What will it be like to live  under corporate rule? When we turn from citizens to employees? When profitability comes before liberty? When HR reaches into our very neighborhoods and tells us what is and is not appropriate and how we should be considerate of everybody’s feelings when we say things like that? When Blue Jean Friday becomes a national holiday?

Sign up for my newsletter and be the first to find out in a new series of short stories from the world of Dystopia Inc.

And don’t even think of skipping the blood drive.

 

 

 

 

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Help me help you help others

Good afternoon. I need your help.

I’m trying to exercise my generous nature by offering the very first Dumb White Husband shorts story for free forever. But, I can’t do it alone.

The only way to get Amazon to give my story away is if they see that it’s being given away other places. They eventually lower the price to match it but they have to know about it.

That’s where you come in. If you would be so kind, I’d like to ask you to tell Amazon that Dumb White Husband vs the Grocery Store is free at Barnes & Noble.

It’s 3 easy steps:

1. Go to the Amazon page for the story.

2. Scroll down until you see “tell us about a lower price”

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Click on “website” and tell them you saw it at this link ( http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dumb-... ) for free.

That’s it.

It would be a tremendous help and everyone likes free stuff. Right?

 

Thank you,

ben

 

 

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New Releases!

I’m excited to announce that I’ve got two new releases available today.

BACK TO THE WASTELAND

In this short story, Jerry finds himself chained to the wall of a Piggly Wiggly about to face death match justice. A surprisingly common form of governing in the apocalypse.

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THE SECRET WAR BETWEEN THE STATES

It’s a game of spy vs. spy during the American Civil War. Agents from the south are in pursuit of the mystery behind the creation of Mary Shelley’s monstrous doctor and the Pinkertons are right on their heels.

Buy it now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading.

ben

 

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Coming Soon: UnCivil

I’ve  been working with a friend on a new series of stories and I’m happy to say that the first will be available soon.

Locked in a desperate war The Union and The Confederates are scrambling to gain any advantage over their foes.

In the North, the president has enlisted the aid of Allan Pinkerton who has formed a special division of his detective agency to explore the unexplainable.

In the South, the Knights of the Golden Circle will pursue any lead to keep the South free of Northern influence.

Both sides are locked in a dangerous game of spy vs spy as they explore the mysteries of American folklore and beyond.

The stories of Uncivil explore this secret history of the war between the states.

Uncivil: The Immortal Engine

Deep with the Organ Caverns, the KGC has discovered information leading them to believe that stories of Mary Shelly maybe more fact than fiction. Snipes, a skeptical agent, is sent across Europe to trace the history of the Modern Prometheus and locate its true inspiration as well as two missing agents.

Daniel Lansing isn’t far behind. The Pinkerton man shares a history with Snipes and his presence in Europe leads the KGC agent to question everything he believes as they both pursue the Immortal Engine.

Uncivil: The Immortal Engine will be available soon. Sign up for my newsletter to be notified when it is released.

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Using My Words: Writing Resolutions for 2014

Here comes 2014 and once again everything in the book monkey world has changed. The latest is that traditionally published books are now being price competitively against indie books. We little independent authors no longer have the price edge. And with that, all of our advantages have been stripped away.

So, going forward into the New Year, what does that mean? How do we compete now?

It’s simple. We just have to be better than them.

All things being equal as they are now, we just have to write books that people want to read more than theirs.

My personal plan is listed below. I’d love to hear yours as well.

1. Write better

2. Have fun

That’s it.

Happy New Year,

ben

 

 

 

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Using My Words: It Has Stopped Being Fun

It’s stopped being fun.

I lost my job earlier this year and put all of my effort into my books. I looked to them to make up for the lost income so my kids would stop telling me, “I’m hungry, Dad!” I was steadfast in the idea that, with a full day devoted to marketing, I could make every title a huge success. So, that’s what I did. And, something happened. Things started slowing down.

I released my first book two and half years ago when the ebook “revolution” was just getting some steam—when everything was changing. And the changing hasn’t stopped. I’ve tried to keep up with the trends: free books, Bookbub, pricing, blog tours, interviews and such.

I’ve read blog post after blog post. I’ve delved into market research. I’ve tried to find the right time to Tweet, to blog, to offer a promotion. I’ve tried countless ways to rip people’s attention away from whatever they’re are doing to tell them I made jokes about the apocalypse, old pulp novels, action-adventure tropes and dumb white husbands.

I’ve pulled every lever. I’ve pushed every button. I’ve tried pushing and pulling in different sequences. I did less writing and more mulling over the next plan, the next promotion, the next stunt. It’s frustrating. What I loved has become the biggest source of frustration in my life. And it all had one big effect. It stopped being fun.

So, I’m done. I’m done with the levers and buttons. I’m done with worrying about sales numbers. I’m not going to worry that the big publishers are finally setting reasonable prices and how that will affect indies. I’m done with trend watching and, thank God, I’m done with market research.

It’s not fun.

I never wrote a book to win an award. I never wrote a book with the goal of making the NY Times list. I never wrote a book to fit a popular trend. I wrote books because it was fun. Having fun makes me happy. Somewhere along the line, I seem to have forgotten that.

So, after analyzing everything for two and a half years, after looking at what’s worked for others, after reading the latest assumptions of what may be happening here or there,  after looking at projections, after reading countless books and blogs on book marketing here’s my new marketing plan—fun.

Fun with a capital F, U and a little n because it’s funnier that way to me.

That’s it. That’s my mission statement. That’s my brand platform. That’s my strategy. That’s my list of tactics. That’s my criteria for my next project. It’s my motto and my creed. Unless that’s not what a creed is. I never really understood creeds.

Even in this post I’ve spent too much time talking about all the boring stuff. So, I’ll end it here.

There’s fun to be had.

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Get As Good As You Give

It’s better to give than receive. But receiving is pretty great, too. In fact, with the exception of contagions, it may be even better.

Give or receive? It’s quite the moral dilemma, if my understanding of what dilemmas and morals are is right.

Even if I have confused morality with greed, I have a solution for you. My books allow you to both give and receive, thus allowing you to appear generous while satisfying our greedy little hearts.

All of my novels are enrolled in Amazon’s Matchbook program which means, when you buy the print version, you’ll get the ebook for free. You can see where I’m going with this. You get to give your friend, loved one, coworker or favorite sanitation engineer the gift of a really fun read while hoarding the ebook version for yourself.

Giving AND getting. This is the true spirit of the season.

Happy Holidays, everyone.

ANY OF THESE COULD MAKE YOU THE GREATEST GIVER/GETTER IN HISTORY

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