Freehold Friday: I’m baaaa-aaaaaack!
Howdy Freeholders!
Man it’s been a while, but I assure you the rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated. Okay, so no one was really going around saying I was dead or anything. In fact, those readers out there who’ve contacted me privately know I’m not dead—you know what? Nevermind. I’m back.
Why the long absence?
Well, for starters, my family and I moved into a new house in a new state. Moving in general is exciting, but also a lot of work and stress. When you throw into that caring for three little kids and a dog, remove your significant other from the situation (my wife was basically in training out of state in Georgia and Texas and Missouri the whole time with the exception of some time off around Thanksgiving) and things can get a little dicey.
But all that’s behind me now. We’re settled (or settling, there’s still boxes everywhere) into the new Freehold and my office is set up (I have an office!!) and actual windows so I can see outside and be inspired—um, I just saw a coyote take a dump in my backyard. Well…I guess that’s…inspiring.
Other than moving and getting kids over scarlet fever and strep throat (yeah…THAT was fun too) and transferred to new schools, I can honestly say my writing has suffered.
But fear not—I’ve started editing my newest creation, CME, which I talked about last year as being an episodic, serialized story. Well, the first season is written, now I just have to make it readable. That said, I’m free to start outlining my next book, which will be the further adventures of Cooper Braaten (no, that’s not the title)—so all you Wildfire fans out there take heart.
What else? Oh—so hang on to your butts—I’m going to be launching the Freeholder Podcast in the very near future. I’ll discuss prepping, preparedness and writing with a little bit of the apocalypse thrown in for good measure. You won’t want to miss it—yeah you’ll get to hear my voice and probably have a good laugh at my amateurish attempts to join the future (ten years ago blogging was where podcasting is now…I imagine video blogging will be the next thing). Anyway, as launch day gets closer (I still need to get some equipment, but I’ve already got the first episode planned out) I’ll be sure to give you all the details.
And finally I’ll be officially launching the my ARC team. What is an ARC team you ask? Well, I’m glad you asked as I’m going to tell you. ARC stands for Advanced Reader Copy. What this means is an author voluntarily gives a ready-to-publish book away to certain readers who want to help said author by reading the book before it’s released and then leaving a review if they liked it on release day so the book gets a jumpstart in the Amazon charts.
Everyone wins—the reader gets a free copy of the book and the author gets those more precious than gold reviews. For a book just starting out, a decent number of good reviews will make a HUGE impression on new buyers and an even bigger one on Amazon’s algorithms.
There’s a catch though—this requires a commitment. The ARC club won’t be for just anyone. Sure, anyone can get in on the ground floor, but only if you’re signed up for my mailing list. And then, the only way to stay on the ARC team is to prove (send me a picture/screen shot of your review posted on Amazon) you did your part. Those people that do, will get the next book for free. And so on. Oh, and if you drop off at some point you can always get back in, just send proof and you’re back on the team, no hard feelings. That said, because I treat this seriously, I expect ARC team members to be serious about it and people who don’t provide proof are out.
That’s not all—ARC team members, since they will have advanced copies of my books, will have first crack at seeing inaccuracies or anything that needs improving and comment to me about it. That will likely earn you recognition in the book (I’ve seen authors create whole characters based on their own highly contributive ARC team members!) and everlasting fame and glory. All that and you get a free books to read.
Yeah—you heard me right. I’m offering you every one of my future books FOR FREE if you volunteer to do 5 minutes worth of work after you read each one of those books.
Anyway, like the podcast, I’m getting close, but not yet ready to launch all that. I kinda need a new book to have an ARC team and CME is in editing, so…
Okay, so this is turning into one of those “Goals for 2017” things that other people do, but what the hell, tis the season and all that.
What’s after CME and the Cooper book? Well, this year is the year I’m going to diversify. I’ll have details later…like months later…but PA fiction isn’t the only genre I’ve written in. I’ve got some sci-fi and historical fiction books that have been written or mostly written and are just waiting to be edited and released. I’ll use a new pen name so things won’t get too confusing, but needless to say, I have learned an awful lot from my PA fiction that I can’t wait to apply to my sci-fi and historical fiction for a more gritty, realistic read. Those books, since they’re already written, should be able to come out in quick succession, leaving me free to continue writing the stuff that brought you here in the first place.
’Cause everyone loves writing about the end of the world!
Well, maybe I’m just a little twisted, but it is kind of fun to think up new disaster scenarios and plop people in them and see how they get out. Or if they get out. Or if anyone gets out…
If I can get just one person thinking about prepping or personal safety or situational awareness then I’ll be happy. I’m not an EMT or a first responder, so I can’t help out those who do help out when disaster strikes, but maybe if a few people out there think about things differently they won’t need to be rescued…
Ugh, okay, I’m ending this here before we trip into a full on public service announcement.
Keep your heads down and your powder dry, my friends.
