Stephen Drivick's Blog - Posts Tagged "nook"

Hello. This is my first blog, and my first blog post ever.

First, ...who the heck am I? Well, I am a 43-year-old CAD drafter from Woodstock, GA that happened to write a zombie apocalypse novel.:)

It didn't start off as a novel. One day, around Halloween, I decided to try something creative, and write a zombie-themed short story. I used some elements from some thoughts I had about a post-apocalyptic world that I had rattling around in my brain. Add some zombies, and a story was born. It was called "Among the Dead." I wrote about 2500 words, and that was that.

Or so I thought. I couldn't stop. I added more and more till I had about 65,000 words or so. None of them were any good, but it was at least neatly typed in Open Office.

Then I heard about Amazon's KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) program, and a plan was born. Could I actually do it? I set out to challenge myself to publish to Amazon. After all, I had given Amazon a lot of money over the years. Why not see if I could get some back.:)

First came three self-edits. I read through my manuscript(actually, first I started calling it a manuscript), then brought out the RED PEN and started crossing things off. First, it was just a few words. Eventually whole passages and even chapters began to fall. After the bloodletting, there was a quick trip through ErrNet.

Next was a trip to a real editor. I sent it to eBookEditingPro.com. I was nervous. They were the first people to read my mess besides me. I spent the next week or so regretting my decision to write. Would they edit it, or would they sent it back with a email heckling me?

It came back with some helpful edits that I incorporated into the work. EBookEditingPro.com did an excellent job ...they actually made it sound like a book people could read!:)

Home stretch time. I built the book on Leanpub.com (great service), and they made nice, clean, ebook-like files for the Kindle, NOOK, and other readers. A title change to "Sometimes We Ran"(Among the Dead was already taken-damn), and then it was ready for the world ...I hoped.

Still with me? I set up an account with Amazon, uploaded files, including a killer cover, and set my creation out into the world for all to see ...like a Frankenstein's monster.

It sold two on the first day, and I was thrilled ...someone actually is reading it. Holy crap. It was exciting and scary at the same time.

I've glossed over a lot. It was not as easy as I made it seem. There were nights that I wanted to throw my computer across the room. There were nights I cursed my editors, Amazon, Leanpub, and others for talking me into this. All in all, though, it was a great experience.

Do I feel like a writer? I don't know yet. I am kinda playing this by ear for now. If it turns out I have fun doing something creative, I'll keep at it ...at least until Amazon tells me to stop.:)

Would I do it again? You bet!:) How about "Sometimes We Ran 2"?

Keep reading.

Sample from Sometimes We Ran: A Story from the Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter 1

Sightseeing

Of all the things you could find on the road during a zombie apocalypse, the undead kids were always the worst.

I mean, the regular undead and the dogs were bad enough, but the kid versions really messed with your head. I watched from my hiding place among the gas pumps as the little walking corpse shambled around the parking lot. She had been a little girl, really cute and adorable. Her dress, or what remained of her dress, was a little pink frilly job with lace at the neck. She dragged her right leg behind her. The foot was nearly chewed off, and the bones were exposed. Her chest cavity was pretty much gone, and her lower jaw was missing. The only sound she could make was a horrible gurgling sound, like someone was pouring milk down her throat as she was trying to scream.

What was she, seven, eight years old? Damn shame. She's never going to grow up, go to school, or dance at a prom.

Never going to bring home a boy that pisses off her Dad.

I noticed she was clutching a headless doll. It was blood stained and extremely filthy. I think that detail unsettled me most of all. Sometimes you see the dead walking around clutching the last thing they ever touched. It could be an empty gun from their last battle, or a steak knife, or even something as mundane as a coffee cup. The kids usually have a teddy bear or some other favorite toy in their cold, dead hands.

The headless doll was a new one. I'd never seen a zombie holding one before.

I watched for a few more minutes. She didn't notice me among the gas pumps, so I guess she was pretty far gone. Usually these zombies catch on to fresh meat pretty quick and come running for a quick meal.

I knew what I had to do. I knew I had to put her down before she drew more of her undead friends to the gas station. I drew my gun and stepped out from my hiding place to put the little bastard out of her misery. She noticed me and began that horrible noise they all make. It's usually a high pitched squeal, or a low, menacing growl. Without her lower jaw, though, it was more of a low gurgle that raised goose bumps on my arm. No matter how many of these things I put down, that sound still causes the the little hairs on my neck to stand up.

Then there's the eyes. They are usually yellow or red. The yellows are more common, but it's the rare reds that could be a problem. They're more violent and hungry, and will attack on sight. With Red-Eyes, you shoot first and run away quickly.

And you better hit them in the head. It's the only way to put them down. Just like in the movies. Sometimes that doesn't even work on the first try.

One of her eyes was gone; the other was yellow. She raised the arm without the doll and started dragging herself over to me, very slowly.

Sometimes these things can be pretty fast. I recall an incident with one a few weeks ago. It was a soccer mom, I think. I stumbled on her in another parking lot somewhere long ago. For a minute, I thought she was a survivor, until I saw her dead, yellow eyes and the fresh blood on her designer clothes. She had been feeding. Her victim was a younger girl, a teenager. I hoped it wasn't her daughter. Maybe her meal had been part of her carpool or something.

She was one of the fast ones. As soon as she saw me, she made an unholy shriek and ran in my direction. I was ready, and took her out with my rifle. It took two shots. I missed on the first, and hit her in the shoulder. The second shot got her right between the eyes. She was going so fast, she actually ran for a few more steps before falling. I put a bullet in her last meal too, just in case.

The little girl zombie at the gas station wasn't going anywhere fast. She could barely move under her own power. Besides her mangled right foot, most of the bones and muscles in her legs and lower extremities were either broken or missing. As I approached, I circled around her to assess the situation. The best she could do was turn slightly and moan. She was too far gone to be able to chase me.

The back of her head was mostly gone as well. How the hell was she still walking around? Some of these things can be tough customers. I've seen a few with missing limbs crawling on the ground to find their next meal. Others had the skin mostly peeled from their bodies, their skeletons exposed like a realistic Halloween costume. Sometimes, they're burned or crushed beyond recognition, but still walking around and feeding. Then there were the dogs.

Nobody figured that dogs could turn. They ate infected meat from the ones walking around, and then they turned into undead dogs. The turned dogs were always bad news. They're a hell of a lot faster, and they work in groups. It's good old-fashioned nightmare fuel. You must always avoid the dogs.

I followed the little girl zombie for a few seconds, getting ready to blow her rotting brains out. I also looked around to see if she was alone. I didn't want any of her undead buddies sneaking up on me. It was just her and me in this former gas station. A long time ago, people would stop here on the way to work to gas up their cars and continue on with their ordinary lives. Mom and Dad would fill up their coffee cups with inexpensive brew and the kids would buy their sugary snacks. Now the only remaining cars are the stripped hulks abandoned here when the fuel ran out. The coffee and sugary snacks are long gone. Mom and Dad and the kids are dead, or walking around feeding on the living as one big happy zombie family.

It really hurts to think about the old world, before it all went bad.

The little girl zombie stumbled, and fell at my feet. She reached for me in hunger. It might have been my imagination, but I almost saw her begging me to kill her and put her out of her misery. I put the gun up to her head. I wanted to tell her it would be okay, and that her perpetual nightmare was finally over. They are never grateful. They're just animals, living only to feed. I pulled the trigger, and her head exploded like an overripe melon.

Scratch another Yellow-Eye.

I turned my attention to the gas station. I took a quick look around to see if there are any more nasty surprises inside. You can never be too careful. Not in this new world.

The building was clear. The place, a virtual time capsule, was frozen at the exact time the stuff hit the fan. All the gas was, of course, gone. Also gone was most of the food and water. What was left was either spoiled and useless or spread on the ground. The floor was a macabre mixture of smashed food, garbage, and dried blood. A few spent shotgun shells were scattered on the black-and-white tiled floor. This place must have been a war zone when everybody tried to find safety. I could almost see the throng of people trying to buy or steal anything that wasn't tied down. The first few days of the outbreak were pure hell. I didn't find much: a few unopened bottles of water and a few batteries. Everything else was useless. The register was crammed full of old twenty dollar bills. Maybe someone could use them as toilet paper.

I found a few unopened packages of beef jerky near the cash register. Beef jerky is not my favorite, but you can't pass up a meal when it presents itself. I bit off a sizable portion, and started to chew. The dried meat was salty and felt a little like shoe leather in my mouth. I ignored the horrible taste, and swallowed. It went down hard, but the nourishment was welcome. I threw a few packages in my backpack. It might come in handy someday. I finished my little snack, and then started poking around the counter looking for more goodies.

I heard a noise behind me. Without thinking, I turned around with my handgun already drawn. All these weeks on the road running from the undead have honed my skills to a fine point. The slightest noise gets me ready for battle.

It's only a cat. I've drawn my weapon on a skinny, little gray cat with a big round face trying to eat a bloated sugar doughnut on the floor. One of its paws was mangled beyond repair. Like me, this little guy has had to struggle a bit to survive.

So far, all the cats that I have encountered have been normal. I bent down, and extended my hand palm up to show that I was friendly. The cat would have nothing of it, and arched its back. It showed its teeth and howled a little bit. I guess it had gone a little feral.

Okay, little fella. I'll leave you alone. Just to show him I wasn't a bad guy, I ripped a few pieces of beef jerky into bite-sized chunks, and dropped them in front of the cat's nose. Hunger overcame fear, and it pounced on the small meal like a playful kitten. Enjoy, little buddy. Maybe one day you can help me out of a jam. I waved goodbye to my little feline companion, and walked outside into the fading sunlight.

I thought about staying the night here. My legs and back were aching, and I could use a nice long rest. However, the little girl zombie may not have been alone. I decided to walk on down the road. When it gets dark, I'll find a place to bed down and rest. You do not want to travel at night. Things get much worse at night.

As a walked away from the gas station, I noticed the sign It said $3.58/gallon for regular unleaded. Not a bad price for gas during an apocalypse.

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Available for sale in the Amazon Kindle bookstore. $2.99, or read for free with Kindle Unlimited.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CZLEYZE
*****************************************

Thanks for reading!

Well it happened. I made another milestone. Sometimes We Ran just sold its 50th copy.

It's not a bestseller or anything, but to me this is pretty good news. I didn't think it would sell anything.:) I'm glad people are reading and are, hopefully, enjoying my work.

The news isn't all good. Still have a goose egg in the Nook, Kobo, and Apple camps. Maybe it takes more time for their zombie fans to find the books they want.:)

Chapter 1

One Year, and One Month After the Zombie Apocalypse

There are times during the zombie apocalypse when you must run.

This was one of those times. Me and my road companion, Claire, were now running for our lives from three very hungry Red-Eye zombies. We had been scrounging for supplies in an old store when we came upon a nest of about half a dozen of the dead bastards resting in the back room.
I pulled my gun and dispatched two. Claire took out one with her weapon of choice, an aluminum baseball bat. One good swing, and she caved its head in. Then, three more got caught in the door trying to chase us. Not wanting to be overrun, we took off, with the three monsters right behind us.

Now we were running at full speed down a dusty road with hell bearing down behind us. I shot a quick glance over my shoulder. The three zombies were just keeping up with us, neither falling behind or trying to catch up. Their plan was simple. They would wait for us to get exhausted, then they would pounce on us.

Then they would feed.

The road ahead had no cover. There weren't even any abandoned cars or buildings to duck into. The store we had been checking for supplies was the only structure around, and it was full of undead. There was simply no place to hide. Claire and I were surrounded by deep, foreboding forest. We would have to use the woods to escape. It was the only way out. I just hoped nothing else horrible lurked in the trees.

I looked at Claire. She was running at full speed with her head down, her small legs churning. As if she could read my mind, she looked up for some guidance on what to do next. I pointed toward the dark forest, and possible salvation. We turned in unison at the first gap, and headed into the trees.

Almost immediately, the sunlight dimmed and the temperature cooled. Warmer weather had returned a few weeks before and the afternoon temperatures were starting to climb a bit. The coolness of the forest was almost refreshing. I could smell the decaying leaves beneath our feet. I wished we could stop to enjoy it. I shot a fleeting glance backward to check on our pursers. They had followed us into the woods and were hell-bent on making us a meal.
I could feel myself getting tired. The chase was taking a toll on my middle-aged body. A slight numbing pain began to radiate from my legs and lower back. I sensed that Claire was beginning to fade as well. Even though she was half my age, a lack of food had left us a little weak from poor nutrition. I was tempted to tell her to run on and I'd catch up later. I knew full well that the Red-Eyes would surround me like a wounded deer and then eat me. Claire knew that too; she would never leave me behind.

It was time to fight.

I put on a burst of speed and cut off Claire. I grabbed her hand, and pulled her into a hiding place behind a large group of trees. We leaned back and made ourselves as small as possible.

“What are we doing?” Claire said, between huge gulps of air.

“We're not going to get away. We can't outrun them, and they won't get tired,” I said, trying to control my breathing.

I drew my handgun and peeked around the tree. A light breeze tickled the trees above me, causing the branches to sway and the leaves to make noise. The birds chirped happily, unaware of the drama unfolding below.

The three Red-Eyes stopped a few feet away. They seemed to be confused. They lifted their heads and sniffed the air in unison, trying to find us. Claire and I have found that the Red-Eyes had developed an excellent sense of smell and hearing. If Claire and I were quiet, we might have a chance to take them out.
Couldn't do much about masking our smell. Neither of us had a bath in a while.

I watched from our hiding place as the undead looked around. They slowly got closer to the tree. One of the trio caught a scent and ran off in another direction, disappearing into the woods and leaving the other two behind. The trio was now a pair. The odds were at least a little more in our favor.

One of the two remaining Red-Eyes began to approach the tree. The other one stood a few yards away, beating the bushes. I tensed and waited for my chance.

I turned to Claire. “Get ready to run,” I whispered. She nodded, and got her bat ready.

The nearest Red-Eye continued to sniff the air, and approach our hiding place. It was a young one, a teen-age girl who had been about fifteen or sixteen years old. She was tracking us, but hadn't seen us yet. She got close to the tree and began to walk around it looking down at the ground. It was time to counter-attack.

She looked up, and I put a bullet in her face. She screeched and fell down at my feet, dead. Her dying screams had alerted her companion, a young male in a tattered hospital gown. He hissed in my general direction and came at me. I got off another shot, but it hit him on the shoulder. It's very hard to shoot when you are running.

Claire had taken off at the first shot. She slowed a little so I could catch up to her, and we started to run again at full speed. The little break at the tree had done us good. Although not fully refreshed, we had both caught a second wind. My shot had slowed the last Red-Eye down. We might have a chance.
Claire ducked into the weeds and onto a gravel path in the woods and I followed. We ran a few yards into a power-line easement. The trees and brush had been clear-cut for huge metal towers to carry main transmission lines from some far away power plant. There was no cover.

“Dammit!...Sorry. Now what do we do?” Claire said.

I could hear our undead friend thrashing through the woods coming down the path. Soon it would be face-to-face with us. “Go wide. Stand over on that side. If he goes for you, kneecap him with the bat.” Claire often incapacitated our adversaries by slamming her bat into their knees.

“What about you?” she said, as she put some distance between us.

“I'll put a bullet in his head,” I said, getting ready for battle.

The Red-Eye broke into the clearing and stopped a few feet from our position. He stared at us both and sized up the situation. After a few seconds, he made a decision.

He started going after Claire: my one-hundred-and ten pound, five-foot-nothing, zombie- wrecking machine.
She didn't flinch, but stood her ground with her bat ready. The Red-Eye approached with foam dripping from the sides of his mouth, growling like some kind of mad dog. When he got close enough, he lunged. Claire was too small and too fast. She avoided his attack, and side stepped away from his reaching, greedy hands and flashing jaws. In one fluid motion, she swung down with the bat and made contact with his knees.
The zombie yelped and tumbled to the ground. The blow to the knees had done something to the joint, and he tried to crawl away from his ultimate fate. Now it was my turn.

I walked up, with gun in hand, preparing to put him out his misery. I aimed at the center of his head and started to pull the trigger. The undead monster flipped over on his back and raised his arms in self-defense. I paused at this strange behavior. The Red-Eye was on the ground with its hands in front of its face. I had never seen one behave like this. It knew it was going to die.
It almost acted alive.

“What are you waiting for, John? Kill it!” Claire yelled from behind me.

I pulled the trigger and put a bullet in its head. It slumped down to the gravel with a large hole in its forehead. Dark blood, black as night, began to leak onto the groomed gravel path.

“Why'd you hesitate?” Claire asked, brushing herself off.

I was still a little shocked by the zombie's behavior. It took a few seconds for me to answer. “Don't know.” I managed to say. “It put its hands up like it was begging for its life.”

Claire poked the corpse with her bat. “Yeah...I saw that too. Creepy.”

****************************************

Available for purchase in the Kindle bookstore. $2.99, or read for free with Kindle Unlimited.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HUGWWQC

Thanks for reading!

Sometimes We Ran: A Story from the Zombie Apocalypse has been published for 90 days.

90 days ...Not a whole lot of time in the grand scheme of things. However, I feel like celebrating. So everyone don your party hats. Sometimes We Ran is now on sale for the low, low incredible price of $1.99. That's right ...you save a dollar. It's available for Kindle and NOOK.

But you better hurry. The sale ends Monday 8/26.

Shameless promotion ...done.:)

Sometimes We Ran 2: Community is published on Leanpub. It will be coming to an ebook store near you soon.

Here's the rollout schedule, barring any more sick breaks:

-publish to Leanpub
-download to my devices to check the files and make any adjustments
-MOBI files to Amazon(They are the biggest, so they get it first.:))
-EPUB files to Draft2Digital(NOOK, Kobo, Apple)
-EPUB, MOBI, and PDF files to DriveThruFiction
-PDF files to CreateSpace for print copies
-PDF and EPUB to Libiro.com
-do some promotion
-profit! (I hope.:))

That's it. If you absolutely need to read it right now, you can get it from Leanpub.com. They have instructions on how to download. You can even pick how much to pay!

Thanks for reading. See you soon zombie fans.

Sometimes We Ran 2: Community has started to rollout to the sales channels! It is currently available on Amazon for your Kindle. Other ebook stores will follow.

Kindle link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HUGWWQC

NOOK, Kobo, and Apple will follow. DriveThruFiction will also be included in the fun.

And don't worry print lovers...a paper copy from CreateSpace is in the works.

I hope everyone enjoys the book. Keep reading everyone! Thanks zombie lovers.

Sometimes We Ran 2 continues its rollout to the general zombie-loving public!

Now available for:
NOOK: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/somet...

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eboo...

Apple, DriveThruFiction, and a print version coming soon! Libiro is out of action while they update, but I'll hit it with PDF and EPUB copies when they reopen.

"Dear Amtrak Residency Applicant,

On behalf of Amtrak, I’d like to thank you for submitting your application. The response from the literary community has been absolutely tremendous and we are very grateful to have had the opportunity to read so many heartfelt applications. We had over 16,100 applications and had the difficult challenge to select only 115 semi-finalists. The quality of applications was high, which made our decisions even tougher. We evaluated each applicant based on the quality and completeness of their application package, as well as the extensiveness of their social community and ability to reach online audiences with content.

After carefully reviewing all the applicant packages, I regret to inform you that your package was not selected to move forward in this year’s residency selection process."

Well, the Amtrack thing didn't come through. This is the nice email they sent informing me of the bad news. At least they didn't complain about the format, spelling, or grammar on my application.:)

---------------------------------------

Got a one star review for Sometimes We Ran in the NOOK bookstore. Like Amtrack, there was no mention of bad spelling or grammar. The one star doesn't make me too mad. I'm just glad someone is actually reading it on their NOOK!:)

Amazon has made another move.

First, it was an e reader that changed how we read (and purchase) books. Then they came out with the Kindle Fire, a tablet that made Apple sweat a little. Just this year, they added a device to stream data to television, and a actual smart phone!

No way around it, Amazon is trying to rule the world. I, for one, welcome our new overlords from Seattle. :)

A few years ago, they added Kindle Direct Publishing and turned the book business upside down. It's hard to grasp the power this gave to potential authors ...like yours truly, for instance. Now anyone could type a few words, make it into a book, and publish for the world to see and critique. People will pay to read your work. The publishing world hasn't been the same since.

Then, they went one better. Amazon created the Select program and let Prime members borrow your book for free. You still get paid though, because Amazon will give you a portion of a pool of money that they put up in the program. Many authors became Kindle millionaires almost overnight.

Now they've done it again, and it's sending the same shock waves across the interwebs.

Amazon has a new program called Kindle Unlimited. You pay a small monthly fee, and you can check out a lot of books to read. The authors who enroll in the program get a portion of money put up by Amazon. It's similar to Scribd and Oyster, but Amazon is putting its sizable muscle to good use boosting the program. This new program has stirred up so much emotion, #KindleUnlimited trended on Twitter for a short time.

Sounds good, but there's a catch. Authors must be exclusive to Amazon. That means no listings for NOOK, Kobo, Apple, DriveThruFiction, etc. And if you think you can sneak it by the mighty 'Zon, you can't. They'll find out, and send you a friendly email.

So, how do I feel about the program? Like anything Amazon does, it's not going into this half-ass. They are putting their considerable monetary and marketing muscle it, and they're really trying hard to woo authors. I have no doubt Kindle Unlimited is going to be a rousing success ...for authors and readers.

I've done okay with Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing. Eighty percent of my book sales come from the Kindle bookstore. CreateSpace, Amazon's paperback division, is also good for 3 or 4 sales a month as well. And I can't lie, sales are a little slow in the other bookstores. It would be nice to simplify, concentrate efforts on one bookstore, and get a little more exposure.

Will Sometimes We Ran go into Kindle Unlimited? Still trying to decide. I'm not a big fan of exclusivity. I hate to think of someone in the NOOK, Kobo, or Apple world not being able to read my work if they want. Many authors have told me that if a fan wants to read your book, they find a way.
A little exposure might be good, and my non-Amazon sales are flat anyway. The whole thing about selling books is that readers have to see you among all the books out there in the world. Amazon does a good job with programs that get people reading your book. The more you are seen, the more copies you might sell, then you get a higher ranking, and it goes on from there. Write a good story, (I think I did that part right) and you could become a Kindle bestseller.

Very tempting.

It might be worth a try. Maybe I'll just put the first book in and see what happens. If it goes well, the second book can join the first. It's a three month commitment, so it takes a while to see if it works or not. If neither book catches fire, I can republish on the other platforms. So, I might give it a try next month.

Or maybe I'll change my mind again. Or maybe Amazon will take over the Earth, and the decision will be made for me.:)