My FREE Novella Is Now Available, and Why I’m Giving It Away.

You can get it here immediately: The Underground Railroad Ball.

Click the link, type in your email address, and you’ll be taken to a page where you can download it for multiple readers, such as Kindle, Nook, Apple, or as an ePub file or a PDF, which you can print out and read that way if you prefer. You can even read it online. 

I like using the free Kindle app to read books on my iPhone. It’s easier because I always have it with me and I can read it in the dark while my girlfriend sleeps. If you need help downloading or finding a way to read it, let me know. I’m happy to help.

This is a 21,500-word novella. It’s an immediate prequel to my first book, Rampage on the River: The Battle for Island No. 10.

It’s about Chester E. Newman, who is a sheriff’s deputy in Detroit at the onset of the American Civil War. He wants nothing more than to gain his captaincy in the 2nd Michigan Cavalry. To do so, he must recruit a company of men, but all his plans are thrown into chaos when runaway slaves and slave catchers come to town. With the Fugitive Slave Act still in force, Newman must walk the fine line between his oath to the law and what’s right in his heart. 

I’m giving it away to build my email subscriber list. Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to inform your readers of new releases, specials, and appearances. Sure, I have a decent following on social media, but those platforms don’t show all my followers every post I put out unless I’m paying for ads, which I do, but they’re expensive! Plus, you can lose your social media account, but no one can take away your email subscribers.

Marketing experts say that writing and giving away a “reader magnet” is a good way to entice people to subscribe to your list. It also gives them a sample of what to expect from you as a writer. It’s best to write something that’s connected to your series, but not essential reading. Usually, a prequel or a side story about one of your characters will do.

I knew I wanted to write one when I started my email subscriber list, but I wasn’t sure what it’d be about. I wanted something that would lead into my first book, Rampage on the River. In Rampage, Carl fights a duel with Klaus over an incident that happened at a ball the night before the novel started. I wanted to explain that in more detail, but didn’t feel I had enough for a story until one day it hit me.

I was in the shower when the idea came. Carl’s captain is a sheriff’s deputy at the beginning of Rampage on the River. What if he was involved in a caper with runaway slaves, slave catchers, the Fugitive Slave Act, and the Underground Railroad? Even better, there’s a real historical story of a daring rescue of a fugitive slave in Detroit that I could use as an inspiration for my story.

I loved it! I immediately texted my girlfriend and told her the idea, then copied and pasted that text into my notes so that I wouldn’t forget by the time I got to writing it.

I was still writing The French Fiasco at the time. I resolved that The Underground Railroad Ball would be the very next thing I wrote. Furthermore, even though it would be a novella (short novel) and free, I would pour my heart into it. It had to be as good or even better than my six previous novels.

I gave myself six months to write, edit, and distribute it to my subscribers. Fueled by passion, I did it in two and a half. I’m extremely proud of the result. I get excited every time I see a new download has occurred. I may be giving it away for free, but I think this was an investment that will pay dividends for years to come.

I currently have 107 subscribers on my fledgling list. I hope to have at least two hundred when I announce the pre-order for my next novel, Black James, which will probably come out sometime over a year from now. I’m running my list through MailerLite, which is free up to your first thousand subscribers. I figure by the time I get to a thousand, it’ll be well worth it.

So join my email subscriber list, download The Underground Railroad Ball, and tell me what you think! I’d love to hear from you! You can even review it here.