Neil D. Ostroff's Blog, page 4

More Promo!

In my quest to have the #1 downloaded paid book in America, Day 2 of my two day promotional blitz for my previous bestseller DROP OUT finds me on these major ebook sites.

Choosy Bookworm - http://www.choosybookworm.com

Kindle Nation Daily - http://bit.ly/1J3HOgn

Ereader café (Deal of the day) – http://theereadercafe.com/

Book Gorilla – a subscription based book mailing list.

** Thank you all for your support and shares. I’m close to hitting it!

going for #1

In my quest to have the #1 downloaded paid book in America, Day 1 of my two day promotional blitz for my previous bestseller DROP OUT finds me on these major ebook sites.
http://www.Digitalbooktoday.com

http://wp.me/p6txNL-7az

http://ereadernewstoday.com/bargain-a...

http://www.bargainbooksy.com/

In additional to numerous interviews and blog visits, I’m also inviting my large, fan-based platform to put out the word. Though Amazon stats claim to be real-time there is actually a several hour lag between paid sales and bestseller ranking. According to paid sales at this moment, I should be getting close to the top 1,000 in the entire Amazon library of more than eleven million books with another 36 hours of heavy promotion to go. I’ll post ranking as I (hopefully) near #1.

Just Amazing!

Amazing! Just when I thought my writing career was over; just when I started to slip into a deep, dark hole of despair; a spark of opportunity reignites it. It started months ago when I realized that pumping out twelve novels in a three year period can sometimes create immature and unseasoned work. So, after I finished my last novel I decided to take time off from writing and take a fresh look at my large collection of work.

I began by re-reading and editing my entire three book sci/fi series. Reading these books after a two year absence was like opening up an old home and seeing what needed to be dusted. Although the stories were fundamentally sound, I noticed many areas where I could improve on the stories and make them non-stop page turners. I spent three months in revisions before finally being satisfied with the work.

I started on my other books, gradually tightening each one until I, other writers, and my critique group, deemed them perfect. The aging process with manuscripts is much like the aging process of fine wine, being away from it for a while you notice subtle intricacies. This process took another six months and during that time I gave up the notion of becoming a bestselling author, being satisfied in the knowledge that I had written what I believed to be fantastic stories and if nothing else I would be respected for that.

A few weeks ago, I put SILENT INVASION the first sci/fi in the series up for free on Amazon. I placed a few promo spots and let my social network and author’s platform know of the promotion. To my utter astonishment and surprise, the book quickly went to #1 in the free store for children’s and YA science fiction and stayed in that position for six days. This sparked an increase in sales in my other books, both sci/fi and literary thrillers. I also noticed my Amazon prime page counts were soaring. Not only were the books downloaded but they were actually being read!

Fueled by the renewed interest in my material I decided to put my bestseller, DROP OUT on somewhat of a virtual promotional tour. I let my social media network know that the book was going to be featured on several sites and sent notice to my followers. Low and behold, the book shot up to #22 in all of literary fiction and went below the 1,000 mark in the entire paid Kindle store. More pages are being read and more of my books are selling.

I’m still riding that wave right now and last I checked I was still hovering @ 40 ranking for literary fiction. My sci/fi stuff continues to sell and I’m just finishing the last of the editing for one more of my older books and then I am going to start a new one, my thirteenth. I want to thank my readers and let aspiring authors know that with the interconnectivity of the world today there are always opportunities to be exposed and just when you think there’s no point to it all, with a little perseverance and drive, good things do happen.

To learn more about me, my books, and my writer’s journey please check out my blog: ALWAYS WRITING. Thank you.
http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

Wow! New 5- star review and a feature spot on FKBT!

5- stars Definitely recommend it
By Sandra K. Stiles on July 5, 2015
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I loved this book. There was the slightest sexual scene in the book. I don’t enjoy reading things like that but it didn’t detract from the overall book. We all remember 9/11. At first I wondered if I was reading an autobiography. The descriptions of the inside of Tower 1 and the scene depicted in the story as people tried to escape rivaled many descriptions of those who had survived. The reader was carried along on this journey with the main character to the point of merging with and becoming the main character. I say it takes a lot to pull me that far into a story. I loved that it was written in first person. This is probably the best way to tell this story. It is what made it feel like an autobiography. For anyone who gravitates to those stories about 9/11, this must be put on your must read list. I will warn you that some of the descriptions are graphic , but well done. I will definitely see what else this author has written since this was the first book I had read by this author, and it wasn’t one that was given to me as a review request. I am glad I read it and whole heartedly recommend it.

http://wp.me/p2b82w-75r

All FREE today!!! All FREE today!!! Until 6/29 Currently #1 Amazon best seller

SILENT INVASION - Currently #1 ON AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ZQTWPW
UK- http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...
CA – http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B006Z...
AU – http://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B...


They are here! They are hidden among us! They will stop at nothing to destroy us!
Prepare for the adventure of a lifetime!
Middle school student Tim Madison’s life gets crazy when a strange visitor takes him aboard a magnificent spaceship to train to prevent a future war. Ruthless aliens called Tarnacki are constructing a massive extermination army deep inside Earth readying to unleash a shocking attack and no one can see it coming!
Returned home Tim races against the odds to formulate a plan to protect the world. Danger escalates quickly! Time becomes his enemy! He must do something truly incredible and fast! But even risking everything to stop the Tarnacki isn’t enough! It requires selfless acts of bravery that he never could have imagined! Can he stop the invasion before all humanity is destroyed?

AFTER
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0050Q8D8U
UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...
CA – http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0050...
AU - http://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B...

High school student Nick Murray’s sudden death is not natural. Something non-human killed him.
Entering the afterlife is like joining a syndicate. There are rules, regulations, and immortal entities in positions of great power. The devil, who has been banished to the lower levels for eternity, craves this power and will do anything to attain it. Including destroying all of humankind.
Nick’s soul is sent back to the world of the living and into the body of a high ranking soldier. He must stop the devil from inciting a nuclear catastrophe and forming a zombie attack force from the newly dead. When the body Nick occupies is executed for treason, he discovers a horrifying secret about his own origins that may destroy everything he’s fighting to save. Has everything he’s been led to believe about the hereafter been a lie?


AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S8KCXKY
UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...
CA – http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00S8...
AU - http://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B...

End of life is only the beginning.

Collin Weaver dies in a horrible car crash. A beautiful woman named Heaven appears at the wreck like an angel of mercy, but Heaven is no angel. Heaven thrusts Collin on a harrowing journey during which he must observe the final moments of ordinary and extraordinary people. Collin participates in heart-wrenching games of life and death to decode the human experience. He must learn the reason for his having been alive before his soul can advance to a higher state. Until the grandest revelation of all shows him the meaning of everything.

Times are a changing!

As most authors now know Amazon is going to start paying authors for the amount of pages read and not for each complete book. I’m not certain how I feel about this. On the plus side, it could free readers up to explore more books if they are only going to pay for it if they like it. On the negative, most casual readers never finish a book or do it over a long period of time. And how about if readers skip a section? What will it do to royalties?

Of course, there are other options for authors. You can publish with Smashwords or through any of the other hundreds of ebook outlets. But let’s face it, Amazon is king! I’m not sure how this new policy is going to change the publishing industry but it will change it. And then what’s next, paying musicians for how much of a song is listened to?

I, like hundreds of thousands of others, am a slave to Amazon and how they control their merchandise. The industry is changing and I will be forced to change with it. I am an author who needs an outlet to reach his audience and almighty Amazon is my king.

Please check out my blog ALWAYS WRITING to learn more about my books and myself.

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

Storming the marketplace!

It’s been a long while since I last posted and a lot of changes have happened in my life, but now I’m back! I’m oiling up the promotion machine and getting my books out there. First, I totally re-edited and re-wrote my entire middle grade sci-fi series THE GALACTIC WARRIOR series. Three books brimming with action, adventure, and wild aliens. I’m giving away the first book in the series, SILENT INVASION from June 25-29 on Amazon, so if you haven’t read a copy now’s your chance to see what the hype is all about.

Next, I’ve scheduled several promotions for DROP OUT which is my bestselling novel to date (more than 10,000 copies sold). One is with Riffle Books, another with People Reads, and another with FKBT. I’m also running a free promotion for AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, my inspirational/philosophical novella. This intense story has touched so many lives I’d rather the book be read by everyone rather than making a few bucks off the story. The free promotion for this one starts June 23-27.

And last, I’m also running a free promotion for my paranormal adventure AFTER. This runs from June 24-28. I know that for now I’m giving away three of my books but that is in the hope that readers will like my style and my can’t-put-me-down stories and get interested in my other seven books.

All this promotion aside, I’ve also started the outline for the second book in THE END TIME series and written notes for my planned wildly eclectic philosophical adventure NEVER BORN. I’ll be working on both manuscripts throughout the summer.

One more thing that I think is worth mentioning… recently I’ve seen a lot of authors continually re-titling and redesigning their covers. Some even use a pseudonym pretending to be a different author. These writers are taking advantage of the marketplace by falsely claiming a new title has been written and then making a quick sale off unsuspecting fans. I absolutely abhor this practice. I do believe authors should continually update and revise their manuscripts as errors are pointed out but to blatantly proclaim a new book was written is just hogwash. I still believe that books are an author’s work of art and once titled should be held in that regard. There may come a time when standards and the marketplace force me to change the covers of my books but the title and more importantly my real name will always be the same underneath. Thank you very much.

To learn more about my books and myself, please check out my blog: ALWAYS WRITING.

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

Beginning and end of everything!

It has finally happened. I knew it would. It destroyed the music industry why wouldn’t the publishing industry be next? What am I talking about? Piracy!

My wonderful online writers group has just informed me that almost all of my books are being pirated by “legal” websites. This means that with enough research nearly anyone can download my books for free. This being a relatively new menace, I doubt most people know of these sites but it is only a matter of time before all published books will be able to be read for free with a click of the mouse much like a song can be heard instantly through Utube with no royalties going to the artist. This sucks.

Back in the mid-1990’s the band Pearl Jam lost millions trying to fight the same powers eventually shutting down the most popular music sharing site at the time, Napster for copyright infringement. The result was hundreds of new music sharing sites popping up without abandon. This is now happening with ebooks and it is a tide no artist can stop.

Writing books is in my blood and cannot be quelled much like a musician has to make music and a painter must paint. So what can I as a writer do and how do I accept this unalterable change in the industry? I’ve already watched my sales slowly dwindle through the months and my royalties getting less even though I am publishing more books and my audience, blog hits, and followers continues to grow. Should I get angry and rant and rave that none of this is fair? That I spent twenty-five years writing furiously to reach this point in my career only to have it sideswiped by the never ending throes of technology? Or should I be flattered that I am popular enough in the world to even have my books pirated on these sites? Do I just give up? These are questions I cannot answer right now.

Please check out my blog ALWAYS WRITING to learn more about my books and myself.

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

Distractions

Well, here I am again finally having time to post what I’ve been up to. As I’ve mentioned before I’ve been busy re-writing my three-book middle-grade sci-fi/fantasy series. This series should be available by the beginning of summer which is perfect timing for the summer reading/vacation season. I’ve also begun to outline a new literary/fantasy/spiritual novel tentatively titled, NEVER BORN. This title accurately describes the gist of the novel. Should be a fun write… if I can get to it.

Being a natural writer (meaning I’ve always done it and can’t imagine not) I now find it starting to become a burden (perhaps that’s too strong a word how about ‘chore’) to find the energy to write. It’s not that I’ve lost the continuous inner voice, it’s that life is now handing me many more distractions than ever before. But this is a good thing.

You see, I’ve recently purchased a new home in New Jersey on the back bay. Whereas my life before living in a small town was mainly writing with the occasional mowing of the lawn, I am now afforded everything from fishing, boating, and crabbing; to walking the beach, watching sunsets, and listening to the surf. I am beginning to find these things as satisfying to my soul as writing.

I believe all serious writers come to a moment in their lives where they wonder if all the alone time, all the sacrificing of social events, and friendships, and relationships are worth the effort to create stories. There is always the inner voice and always the sudden impulse to jot notes or record something observed, but as life chugs constantly forward and you realize your time on this planet is running down, you begin to understand what is most important in life; doing what makes you most happy. I touched heavily on this subject in both my books DROP OUT and AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, and I believe it with all my heart.

As my fifth year anniversary of parting ways with my NY agent and becoming an indie writer comes to fruition, I am humbled by the fact that over 90,000 copies of my books have been downloaded. I have fulfilled my childhood obsession of getting my stories into the hands of readers and I am content. Emails I’ve received from readers will sustain my hard work and I am honored that so many have been affected. Although I may not have gotten rich (there’s still time) I have brought joy and adventure into people’s lives.

As I spend more of my time living out life on the waterways and beaches of south Jersey I refuse to feel guilty that my writing time and marketing has diminished by a few hours a week. I will still pump out books (it would be impossible for me not too) but they may come fewer and farther between. I just can’t see myself locked in my office on beautiful sunny days anymore when there is so much to do in the world. I can still pump out five books in two years as I’ve done in the past, but at what sacrifice? You only live once and you can’t get that time back. Not all distractions are bad.

To learn more about my books and myself, please check out my blog: ALWAYS WRITING.

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

On Sale Now!

My latest dystopian sci-fi THE END TIME is being featured on Free Kindle Books and Tips. It's on sale today! Please check it out. Combined reviews 4.6 out of 5 stars.

In the future there is a device that will show you how and when you will die. Bob Bradly has forty-eight hours to save everyone on the planet.

http://wp.me/p2b82w-6C2