R.E. McDermott's Blog

It’s Finally Out!

It’s time to dust the cobwebs off the blog and make a long awaited post.  

I’m pleased to announce Promises To Keep, the third and final book in The Disruption Trilogy is now available on Amazon. It’s been a long time coming and I appreciate your patience while I wrestled with bringing this complex tale to a satisfying conclusion. I hope you find it worth the wait.

Some of you may have noticed I’m now calling it The Disruption Trilogy rather than The Disruption Series. That’s because a tale of this nature can run on forever, and I feel readers deserve a conclusion at some point. This is that ‘stopping point.’ Hopefully you can put this book down with a feeling of closure, knowing you’ve read the whole tale.

Buy Promises To Keep on Amazon

Promises To Keep is available now in ebook format. Paperback and audiobook versions are in production and should be out within a few weeks. The audiobook release is somewhat dependent upon power being restored to the home and studio of the unsinkable Kevin Pierce, who is even now sweating in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. Please join me in holding a good thought for Kevin and his family and all the rest of the folks who were in the paths of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

In other news, the more observant among you might notice I’ve added new covers to both Under a Tell-Tale Sky and Push Back. I wanted to bring the covers together a bit visually, and I was assisted in that effort by the very talented Lieu Pham of Covertopia.com, who did an outstanding job. I couldn’t be more pleased with the result.

Depending on reader interest, I may re-visit the characters and the post-apocalyptic world of The Disruption Trilogy in future books, but those will be separate stories with the same characters, rather than a strict continuation of this story.

 

 

 

That’s it for now. I’ll be making announcements when the paperback and audiobook are available. I’ll close by thanking you all for your continued readership and support. Without readers there would be no writers.

Sincerely,

Bob

 

Push Back is Here at Last

Buy PUSH BACK on Amazon

 

I’m pleased to announce Push Back – Disruption Book 2 is now available on Amazon. I’ve been completely blown away by reader response to Under a Tell-Tale Sky, the first book of the Disruption Series, so I’m excited to continue the tale in Push Back, the second book in the trilogy. The story will conclude with book three, Promises to Keep, slated for release early next year.

This venture into post-apocalyptic fiction was quite a ‘leap of faith’ I made it with no little trepidation. I knew I had a terrific story, but there are always nagging self doubts. Would my regular readers follow me to a new genre, and if they did, would they like what they found when they got there? I’m pleased so say the answer to both questions was a resounding YES.

Buy UNDER A TELL-TALE SKY on Amazon

Push Back is now available on Amazon for the next seven days at a reduced price of US$ 2.99, with a corresponding price in other currencies. At the end of that period, it will revert to the full price of US$4.99.

If you’re wondering why I’m starting out with a price reduction, the answer is simple. I launch my books at a reduced price, keep them there a week, and notify the loyal readers on my mailing list so they can buy the book at a steep discount. This is my way of saying ‘thanks’ for their ongoing readership and support.

However (and I suppose, obviously) I can’t restrict Amazon purchases during the seven day launch period to just my loyal readers, so everyone gets the same deal. So if you aren’t yet a ‘loyal reader,’ I hope to make you one.

However, for this launch, I’m also taking the ‘discount offer’ a step further and offering an even better deal. Since Push Back is book two in a continuing story, I’m also offering the first book, Under a Tell-Tale Sky for the ridiculously low price of US$ 0.99, so readers who haven’t yet sampled the Disruption Series can dive right in.

Both books will return to full price in seven days, so act now to take advantage of this special offer. Click any of the embedded links or either of the cover images above to go to Amazon and grab these bargains while they last.

 

A New Release!

I’m pleased to announce my latest release, Under a Tell-Tale Sky, Book 1 of my new Disruption series. I’m branching out on this one, taking a whole new crew of sailors, Coast Guardsmen, and dissident soldiers on a journey through a post-apocalyptic world. I hope my readers have half as much fun reading it as I did writing it. The cover’s pretty cool, too!  Now quick, go buy it.

Deadly Crossing is Available

Yes, finally! And only six short months overdue!

Yes, that’s right Dugan fans, the new Dugan thriller is now available in ebook format on the various Amazon sites as well as Barnes and Noble. It’s in process on Apple iTunes and Kobo, and should show up there in 48 to 72 hours.

Deadly Crossing on Amazon US
Deadly Crossing on Amazon UK
Deadly Crossing on Amazon Canada
Deadly Crossing on Amazon Australia

Deadly Crossing on Barnes & Noble

If you like it, reviews are always welcome. Readers and word of mouth are pretty much my only advertising, so please don’t be shy.

The paperback will follow on both Amazon and B&N in a few weeks.

How even though I went ‘exclusive’ on Amazon, you can still get my next book on your non-Kindle device

This post is for my readers, and specifically my non-Kindle readers, to explain why I decided to enroll my books in the Amazon KDP Select program.

For some time, Kindle Digital Publishing, the Amazon ebook publishing platform, has been offering authors the option of enrolling their books in a program called KDP Select. There are numerous benefits offered ‘Select’ authors, principal among them promotional opportunities, increased royalties in certain markets, and additional revenue from participation in the Kindle Owners Lending Library. The one big drawback is exclusivity — if you enroll your ebook titles in Select, you have to withdraw them for sale elsewhere (i.e. Nook, Apple, Kobo, etc.)

For some authors, it was a no brainer, if you had minimal non-Kindle sales anyway, then Select was an opportunity. My situation was a little different, as about 25% of my readership was non-Kindle, primarily Nook. However, even at that, it looked like the smart long term move was to go Select.

But I was conflicted. I really don’t like the concept of ‘exclusivity’ in principle, and my non-Kindle readers were among my most supportive. Even if I could make more money, I didn’t really like the idea of abandoning folks who wanted to read my work, just because they didn’t have the most popular device.

So what changed my mind? Basically the writing on the wall. My non-Kindle sales began to lag, and the recent news out of Barnes and Noble isn’t very encouraging. They haven’t introduced a new Nook device in well over a year, and a recent report highlighted the fact that B&N has lost over one billion dollars (yes, that’s ‘billion’ with a ‘b’) on the Nook since 2010. There have been frequent shifts in management of the Nook unit, and within the last month they’ve laid off all of their hardware engineers. Even if you don’t introduce new products, you need engineers around to support the old ones, so I’m thinking B&N knows something they’re not sharing with the rest of us.

Now I can’t say for sure when the other shoe will drop, and I honestly hope the Nook survives in some form, but I’m not betting the farm on it. In an  increasingly competitive ebook marketplace, an author needs every edge he or she can get, so I’m giving Select a try. I only have to commit 90 days at a time, so if things change I can adapt.

However, I still had one big problem, and that was what to do about the readers that would be locked out of a ‘Kindle only’ distribution. I decided to compromise, for the next book at least. Since I can enroll books in Select individually, I decided not to enroll my latest book Deadly Crossing immediately.  I’m releasing Deadly Crossing on all platforms (i.e. Amazon, Nook, Apple, and Kobo) and will keep it there for a limited period, probably thirty days. After that, I’ll pull it from the non-Kindle sites and enroll it into KDP Select. That’s not perfect, but it’s about the only way I could figure to serve the needs of all my readers.

I don’t know exactly what the future will bring, so I can’t advise you on the best device. However, it seems to be a pretty safe bet that the various Kindle devices and the iPad will still be around. Amazon also offers a pretty healthy suite of free Kindle apps to allow you to shop the Kindle Store and read Kindle content on other devices (iPads, Smartphones, Android tablets, etc.)

Whatever happens a year or ten down the road, I hope I’m still here pumping out stories, and that you’re still here reading them, whatever your ereader.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What time is it?

With apologies to my many Italian friends.

Somali Pirates – Not!

Seems like the media went in search of pirates and ended up in central casting. Thanks to gCaptain for the link:

A Great Interview on The Book Guys

The Book Guys were kind enough to invite me on their popular podcast this week.  Join us as we discuss audiobooks and books in general.

Estrecho Mortal (Deadly Straits)

I’m pleased to announce that my terrifically talented translator, Pilar García Servert, has completed Deadly Straits. The ebook is now available under the title Estrecho Mortal.

If  you’re wondering why I’m announcing this on an English language site, the reasons are three-fold:
 
1. It occurred to me that some of you may know readers interested in the Spanish version. If so, please pass the word. 
 
2. This is the only site I’ve got. I hope to add foreign language support in time, but I’ve got a lot of balls in the air at the moment.
 
3. I don’t really know what the hell I’m doing, so I’m sort of making this up as I go along.  Marketing and promotion by trial and error.  Mostly error.

Any help is appreciated. The book is available from the following sites:

Estrecho Mortal on Amazon US
Estrecho Mortal on Amazon UK
Estrecho Mortal on Amazon Spain
Estrecho Mortal on Barnes & Noble
Estrecho Mortal on Kobo

Coming soon (but I’m not sure just when) to Apple iTunes stores worldwide.

Deadly Coast Giveaway Completed

My Goodreads giveaway of Deadly Coast is over.  A big thank you to all who entered, and especially those members who added Deadly Coast to their ‘To Be Read’ lists.  Your interest and support is greatly appreciated.

Signed copies of Deadly Coast will go out this week.  Congratulations to:

Lee Scarratt – United Kingdom

Jess Camilleri – Australia

Katelyn Lucio – United States