R.E. McDermott's Blog, page 2

Deadly Coast Giveaway

Calling all Goodreads members! Enter the giveaway to win a signed copy of Deadly Coast.  Nothing to buy. Giveaway closes February 10th.

If you’re a reader who doesn’t belong to Goodreads, now is a great time to join. It’s completely free and has great benefits. Check out the giveaway and other features of Goodreads by clicking on the link below.

Goodreads Book Giveaway


Deadly Coast
by R.E. McDermott

Giveaway ends February 10, 2013.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

 

Enter to win

 

Deadly Straits Pre-Christmas Sale

A Great Stocking Stuffer at $1.49

As some of  you may recall, when I published Deadly Coast, the second book in the Dugan series, I experimented with lowering the price of the first ebook Deadly Straits from $4.95 to $2.99.  I’d hoped the lower price would increase sales of the first book and folks who liked Dugan and company buy the following books. I’m pleased to say both ebooks have sold steadily (Thank you!), but strangely enough, the lower price seems to have had a limited impact. In fact, Deadly Coast at $4.95 is selling as well as (and at times, better than) Deadly Straits at $2.99. Go figure?

Based on experience, I’ve decided to return Deadly Straits to the regular $4.95 price point, but there’s a bit of a rub. Prior to making that decision, I committed to a ‘pre-Christmas promotion’ with related advertising. That’s  a departure for me, as I seldom advertise. First because it’s expensive, and secondly because it never seems to be very effective. However, I try it once in a Blue Moon, hoping something will work. In this case, I’ve pre-paid my $$ and the advertising will go forth, starting tomorrow. So, for the next few days, Deadly Straits will be available on Kindle and Nook for only $1.49.

I hope the low, low, price might increase my sales rank on Amazon and B&N, and thereby gain me a bit more visibility (and visibility equals increased sales) on those sites during the critical post-Christmas buying season.

So, if you’ve read and liked Deadly Straits, and have friends or family members with ereaders, this is a great time to give copies as inexpensive gifts (or buy your own copy if you haven’t read it yet).

So how the heck do you give an ebook as a gift? Actually, it’s pretty easy.

On Amazon

1. Go to the  Deadly Straits page

2. Click on “Give as Gift” in the upper right hand corner.

3. When the next screen appears, send the gift to your own email.

4. You will get an email with a redemption code and instructions for claiming the book. Just print this email out, fold it, and put it in the recipient’s stocking.

(Note to Amazon UK users. I’m sorry but the ‘gift’ function doesn’t seem to be there on Amazon UK.)

On Nook

1. Go to the Deadly Straits page

2. Click on “Buy as Gift” (Just to the right of the orange “Buy Now” bar near the bottom center of the screen.)

3. Follow the on screen prompts, and when the screen appears asking you where to send the gift, send it to your own email.

4. You will get an email with a redemption code and instructions for claiming the book. Just print this email out, fold it, and put it in the recipient’s stocking.

(Full Disclosure – I’ve used the Amazon process before and it works well. I have no personal experience with the B&N gift process.)

And by the way, if you’re in a buying mood, consider ‘gifting’ a copy of Deadly Coast as well, still a bargain at the regular price of $4.95.

OK, that’s the end of the commercial. I hope this might help you fill up those stockings (at least the toes ). We’re set for a great Christmas here in Tennessee and wish you and yours all the best of the season from the McDermotts.

Deadly Straits – The Audiobook

 

Well, ‘tis the season,’ and things are starting to look ‘Christmassy’ in the McDermott house. The tree is up and decorations abound, and as usual, I haven’t even begun to do my Christmas shopping. I suppose I’d best tear myself away from working on book three and get to that.

This has been a great year, all tolled, and it closes with a significant event (well, significant to me, anyway).  Two days ago, the audiobook edition of Deadly Straits was released by Audible.com, an Amazon subsidiary.

This audio version was narrated by the super-talented Todd Haberkorn, and I couldn’t be more proud of the finished product. Given the large cast of characters of varied nationalities, genders, and accents, Deadly Straits presented a daunting challenge to any narrator, but Todd nailed it. Whether the character speaking is Dugan, Gillian, or Borgdanov, Todd transports you, and really puts you in the moment. I’m extremely pleased with this audio version of Deadly Straits, and I think the audiophiles among you will enjoy it as well. FYI, after listening to Deadly Straits, I immediately commissioned Todd to do an audio version of Deadly Coast, with a delivery expected early next year.

You can access the audiobook version of Deadly Straits and listen to a sample here –> Deadly Straits on Audible.com

Audible.com is offering this audiobook version Deadly Straits at special introductory pricing of $7.49, a 70% discount from the regular price of $24.95. (And by the way folks, unlike the pricing on my ebooks, I have absolutely no control over audiobook pricing. By contract, Audible.com sets the price.)

And speaking of Audible.com, it’s a great source of audiobooks at tremendous savings. The best part is that it offers a ‘no questions asked’ exchange guarantee. If you download an audiobook and don’t like it for any reason, you can exchange it free of charge. Give it a try if you’re so inclined. You’ve really nothing to lose and a world of great listening awaits.

Pirates and Armed Guards

There’s long been a drumbeat in the popular media asking why someone wasn’t doing something about the problem of piracy.  Now that some people ARE starting to do something, there seems to be the inevitable second guessing. “But what if they’re not pirates, but innocent fishermen?”

Here’s a clue. If they’re speeding toward your ship armed to the teeth, they’re probably pirates. If they’re running away, they’re likely fishermen.

Problem solved.

Here’s an interesting recent video from CBS News Nightline on the subject.

Senior Moments

I’ve been head down working on the new book and haven’t posted it a while. However, I was recently sent this video and decided it was too good not to share. Thanks to Mike and Barbara for the link.

Frictionless Sharing – Another Great Reason to Hate Facebook

DILBERT © 2012 Scott Adams. Used by permission of Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.

OK, I confess. I’m oblivious to the ins and outs of Facebook.  At one time I tried to fine tune my Facebook profile and author page. I read articles and blog posts, and books for dummies and idiots, but I could seldom seem to get things to work as advertised. And on those rare occasions when I finally mastered a feature, it seemed like Zuckerberg and company went out of their way to change it.

In the end, I abandoned my dream of being a Facebook power user and joined the plodding masses, grateful when something worked, accepting when it didn’t. Life was much less stressful as a Facebook slacker.

I guess that’s why this whole “frictionless sharing” thing caught me by surprise. Evidently it’s been around a while, but it’s only impacted me in the last month or so. I began seeing posts with great headlines leading to stories or videos I might actually want to access. The problem was, a click yielded not the story, but an intercept screen. Seems I could access the content with a single click, but there was a catch (isn’t there always).  By that single click, I’d authorize the original site’s app access to my Facebook info, and then, the screen informed me:

“This app may post on your behalf, including videos you watched, articles you read, and more.”

Nothing about this sentence fills me with confidence, but it’s the last bit I find mildly sinister. What the hell does “and more,” mean exactly? Call me paranoid, but it sounds a lot like “trust me.” Whatever his considerable talents, Mr. Zuckerberg is demonstrably rather cavalier in regard to privacy rights, so I think I’ll pass, Mark.

Evidently (and thankfully), I’m not alone in this opinion. Robert Wright, at The Atlantic has a great article about the feature, and in another post there, Alexis Madrigal outlines how the concept could undermine your right to privacy.

In the end, I’ve protested by just refusing to play. When I see an intercept screen, I immediately exit, regardless of how enticing the headline. I don’t think I’m alone in that either. Last week PC World ran an article reporting that users are abandoning purveyors of frictionless sharing in droves. Let’s hope that continues.

Because the privacy issue aside, the whole concept is, well — dumb.

Something goes viral because a lot of people like it and share it with their friends. Those friends in turn, share it with their own friends. At each step in that process, there is a human being deciding A) whether they like it, and; B) whether they think their own friends will like it. When all those individual judgements prove correct, the result is rapid and widespread distribution, and the percentage of the recipients actually reading the content is relatively high.

But what happens if we ‘automate’ the process? Does everything go ‘viral?’ What about the article with the great headline I abandoned after reading one paragraph because it was crap? Or the article I clicked on by accident? Or the one I read because it was specific to some research I was doing for a book?  Do any of us really want to be bombarded with reading lists from every single one of our Facebook friends?  I don’t even want to read a lot of the stuff I read, much less everything someone else reads.

There is a word for information of dubious relevance, mindlessly disseminated. It’s called spam. It seems to me that “frictionless sharing” threatens to undermine the entire concept of “going viral.” In fact, if  the intention of  “frictionless sharing” is to remove barriers, it’s had just the opposite effect for me. I find I’m passing on articles I really want to read, just because I refuse to let my Facebook profile be hijacked as a spambot.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that feels this way. What about you? Do you see any redeeming value in ‘frictionless sharing,’ social or otherwise?

A gritty British crime drama – I think

With apologies to my many British friends, I couldn’t resist this post.  Thanks to The Passive Guy and Matthew for sharing the link.

Inside the Kowloon Walled City

Before it was demolished in 1992, the Kowloon Walled City was thought to be the most densely populated place on Earth. Canadian photographer Greg Girard in collaboration with Ian Lamboth,  spent years photographing the place before it was torn down. The photos are amazing.

See them all in this article from the Daily Mail.

The Osprey – An Amazing Predator

In keeping with my theme of not having much of a theme, I’m posting this amazing video of an osprey that a friend sent me.  It’s not about ships/writing/humor, but I think you’ll agree that it’s pretty cool.

Adding Drama to Your Story

Every writer struggles with the task of adding tension and drama to their tales.  If only we’d known that all it really takes is a big red button!