Scott Kelly's Blog, page 4
June 2, 2015
Promote the Ghost
My plucky little mystery novel about a boy and his pseudocide is doing unnervingly well on its two-day free period. With very little advertising on my part, it has risen to the #1 Crime Fiction novel, and the #6 Mystery/Thriller/Suspense book overall on Amazon. All on the free lists, of course, but you’ve got to start somewhere. Go and pick it up today for free if you’ve been waiting, because it’s returning to full price tomorrow.
May 17, 2015
[sic] promotion
I’m running a promotion on [sic] this weekend, and things are going well. Here’s [sic], currently ranked the #1 free Kindle “hard-boiled mystery” novel on the site. It’s also at #9 for mystery overall, and #4 for “Coming-of-age.” And still rising, actually…
May 4, 2015
April 8, 2015
April 7, 2015
January 16, 2015
Update
Hello, world. Thought I’d ��let everyone know what’s going on.
In mid-2013, I backed out of self-promoting and publishing for a time, in order to get things aligned. Since then, I’ve written a new novel (maybe my favorite yet) and I’ve had The Blue and [sic] professionally edited. For reasons, only the old version of [sic] is available online right now, but that may change in the future. The updated version of The Blue is on Amazon now, with considerably less typos than the last version.
That’s the main reason I took the time off – to get things in order, to polish up my existing work, and to bolster the whole thing with a third book that gives a clearer vision to readers of the sort of author I am. I’ve never wanted to promote myself as anything less than��a quality author who produces lasting work, and delivering on that promise takes time.
So, it’s now 2015, and my agent is reviewing Keep the Ghost. Depending on the outcome of that, we will either see my commercial re-launch in second/third quarter of 2015, or… well, or else some other, bigger news will occur and then I’ll have a publishing deal.
If you’d like to read/review my new novel, send me an email (scott@scottkellywritesbooks.com) and I’ll see about setting you up with an advance copy.
About Keep the Ghost:
Kayla wants to fake her death – she honestly thinks pseudocide will set her free. She’s met a��couple��of strangers who claim to make a living of it, and they’re willing to teach her how. And poor Sean Reilly, the Irish exchange student living in her house, has stumbled on her plan. When Kayla��begs, Sean agrees to help. I mean, only with little things, nothing too serious: tell the police she wasn’t wearing a life jacket, skew the time frame, and omit a few key facts.��Except, nothing goes according to plan. When Kayla vanishes,��the police begin suspecting Sean of being��more than a helpful witness.
As evidence mounts, the police zero in – there’s no way out: thirty years if he accepts a plea, or he can roll the dice on the death penalty. His one chance at freedom is to follow in Kayla’s footsteps, and reach out to the enigmatic strangers who make a life out of pretending to be dead. They call it enlightenment, but Sean calls it crazy. Will he have the strength to take the plunge? And if he does, who will come out the other side?
May 1, 2014
Keep the Ghost
About halfway finished. It’s going to be a good one.
January 24, 2014
Keep the Ghost
About time I give you an update. [sic] has been rewritten entirely as a novel called Eureka, which my agent is shopping around right now. The new draft is not available anywhere online, and won’t be for at least a year. If no one picks it up, I’ll release it myself.
The text is about 60% different when compared to the old draft, with a chapter or two now totally replaced with new material. I did this because an editor at one of the world’s largest presses took a shine to [sic], but couldn’t get it over the line with his coworkers, largely due to the roughness that comes from being a twenty-something novelist. Stick with me, guys – I’m working on it.
I also did some very heavy editing on The Blue. It’s up on Amazon in its new form. It was also a bit rough around the edges, though the changes here were more cosmetic than in [sic]‘s case. I’m preparing for a more major launch, and before that, I want any work I’m selling to hold up to inspection when new readers look at it. Each of these books is important to the larger story all of my novels are telling.
Last, I’m about 10,000 words into a brand new novel. I haven’t mentioned it before, and right now it’s titled “Keep the Ghost.” It is an existential mystery in the same vein as [sic]. If you’re interested in test-reading, let me know.
June 24, 2013
June update
Greetings – I’m deep in my cave, rewriting [sic]. Half-way through, now. It’s looking… so much better. Everything is much more polished and life-like. Once I finish this, something may or may not happen, at which point I may or may not have a bunch more news.
Somewhat related – did a photoshoot with a professional photographer, should have some new headshots coming up. Hard to look like a pro when all you’ve got are selfies.
Moving along.
April 19, 2013
The End of the Blue
Everything that you need to figure out what happens to Derek is written in the book.
I’m going to discuss the ending of The Blue here, as some people have been confused by it, and perhaps my personal interpretation will give them some of the closure.
This is a major spoiler alert. I am going to openly and blatantly discuss the last few pages of my novel, so please do not scroll down and read unless you are not bothered by it. I’ll attach my analysis in a comment after this post, to reduce the risk of accidentally spoiling the story.
