Weird Westerns discussion
Authors
>
Self-promoting in the weird west
CONGRATULATIONS ASHE! That is awesome news!
Mod
A dude backed me for the last $115 I needed. Crazy.
Mod
Hi Everyone. I have a great horror book on sale today for Halloween! It's about a haunted swamp filled with monsters and a brave game warden that has to deal with them! I will point out it's set in modern times, but it has a weird western flavor to it. It's on sale for .99 today and tmrw and is free with Kindle Unlimited. I hope you check it out!http://www.amazon.com/Game-Warden-Bla...
TOOMSWOOD'S BLOODY MESS WESTERN SPECTACULAR
Hey All,
On December 10th I am having an event on my Facebook Fanpage for A Bloody Bloody Mess In The Wild Wild West. I will be doing contests, giveaways, games and giving insightful info about the book throughout the event. If anyone is interested in checking it out and join please feel free, the more the merrier!
https://www.facebook.com/events/75234...
Hi all, and thanks to Ashe for putting up this promo thread!I've been working on some Weird Western tales this year and I'm going to be self-pubbing those (and a mix of other genre fiction) in 2015. The first two books will both be WW, one containing a pair of unnatural revenge stories set post-Civil War, the other a coming-of-age novella about a Native American youth who undergoes a powerful transformation - of a sort. Here's the cover art for book one:
I've just uploaded that to Amazon, though I'll be putting it out through Goodreads as well. Because it's only available for pre-order at the moment you can't read a sample on the page, but I blogged an excerpt yesterday if anyone fancies taking a look at my writing style.
End Trails (on Amazon)
The Lying Room (an excerpt, on my blog)
Hey Andrew, how did you manage to upload these exceprts? I also don't understand how you managed to put your work out through Goodreads, as from what I have read, they are not taking any more stuff? Or maybe I misunderstood this? I really have no idea how all this works, and sure could use a hand. Sorry, I am posting this here, but I am so new to all this, I am just trying to tread water. As far as your book, it looks cool, and I am going to check it out.
Hi Clare,The first link I included there is to the book's page on Amazon - I've not added one to Goodreads because it hasn't actually been published yet! The second link is to a post on my blog, where I included a short passage from the book as a teaser, and because Amazon's pre-release pages don't allow the "Look Inside" feature.
I'm going to self-publish via Amz and Smashwords, but I'm not sure what you mean about going through Goodreads. I assume that adding new books to the system here is still possible.
Thanks for taking a look though!
Belated congratulations, Ashe, on making your Kickstarter fund! That's no easy task. Would have commented before but my participation in all things has been superseded by life, so I was late in checking out this thread.Since this is the self-promoting thread, I'll mention that my WW titled Gunslinger Greed is now available (like everything else, I've been remiss in giving it due attention).
Earl Claudius Wade is a gunfighter on the run for murder. After a near hanging, he escapes into the Black Hills where he realizes there are things more horrid than death and that he is being hunted by something much worse than a posse.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OHZYJ4C
Hi Mark, I just took a glance at your cover there and I was wondering if it's a good idea to have the word "shit" on your cover art? I like a bit of ripe language myself, but I can imagine some people would find it off-putting. Especially since "...give a damn..." would achieve the same thing and maintain the old-west style. Anyway, good luck with it!
Thanks for the well-wishes, Andrew! As for the word shit...anyone who is put off by that won't like the story. :)
Mod
As for the blurb, I half agree. It's not the word itself, but blurbs tend to be sorta neutral since they serve as hooks. But that's also usually a thing for physical books so with an exclusively digital book, whatevs.
This is the way I was thinking too. My stories there are more than a little grim, and there's some bad language in at least one of them, but I'd hesitate to put it on the cover (I was a little surprised to see it on an Amazon page at all, actually - I assumed they'd be more prohibitive than that). My feeling is that readers who wouldn't turn away from strong content IN a book may still frown on seeing it on the cover.
On the plus side, Earl Claudius Wade is a pretty good gunslinger handle.
I worry more about staying true to the spirit of a work than I do offending people or coming up with something tame but less fitting which may or may not prove more successful. Besides, were offending people a concern I never would have written Gunslinger Greed. There's some right twisted stuff in that little story. I was real happy to see Amazon allow the cover. Death to all forms of censorship! Lol Then again, given the raciness and violence featured on some covers, the word shit can hardly be considered controversial or bad taste in comparison. Glad you like his name!
Look at that, Mark you didn't even describe Gunslinger Greed yet you got me interested. Looking into it now.
Mod
Justin, hope you like the story! :)Ashe, I was unsure how Amazon would feel about profanity on the cover and that perhaps they would tell me to censor it.
I just noticed today that Smashwords' FAQ warns against profanity in a book's title, and "Excessive profanity or sexually explicit language in book descriptions" - but in both cases lists them only as "examples of pushing the line", not an outright prohibition (the specific context is of erotica, but I imagine it extends more generally). Not sure if either of those would also include non-title text appearing on the cover though.Sorry to make this all about that one detail, Mark!
I'm going to start some early promoting for my next WW ebook tomorrow with a cover reveal, but I discovered that End Trails was up to 6th on AMZ-UK's rankings for western/horror titles, and 17th on AMZ-US. Just goes to show what about two sales can do for you in the niches!
I have been up to #3 on the western horror, just behind Cormac Mccarthy and Blake Crouch. But like Andrew said, it's a niche thing and a few sales go a long way. Still cool though!
So, as promised/threatened, here's the cover art for the WW novella I'm publishing next month - I'd love to hear what you think:
[EDIT: yay, it's working!]
You can see a larger version and read a mini-blurb here, and anyone who subscribes to my mailing list before it comes out (also at that link) will get a free copy on the day.
Somewhere down the line I want to start earning money from my writing, but for now I'd settle for a bunch of happy readers writing happy reviews!
Mod
The short answer is: Yes.The long answer is: Although I have at two more books-worth of WW stories planned, they are not yet written. I'm going to start putting out a sister series starting in March (horror/dark spec fic, basically) so I can maintain regular releases through the first half of the year while I work on new material.
Some of that will be those two End Trails books, and ultimately I do intend to roll all four together... however, if they sell then I'll obviously aim to produce more. In which case, I may delay doing that until I've got book 5 ready to go while I work on 6, 7 & 8. No point having one compendium and not enough material to finish another!
A few days ago I finished a Weird West short story called "The Blood Creek Gold Rush" for an anthology. I had it edited and I've submitted it, they told me they will get back to me before March. I hope they like my story and include it!
Mod
Yeah, they're open until March so you still have plenty of time.
Ashe wrote: "Good to know."I did go a bit "Too Much Info" on you there, didn't I? :-)
Justin wrote: "A few days ago I finished a Weird West short story called "The Blood Creek Gold Rush" for an anthology. I had it edited and I've submitted it, they told me they will get back to me before March. I ..."
What anthology, if may ask?
What anthology, if may ask?
Mod
I did go a bit "Too Much Info" on you there, didn't I? :-)"
Nah. Though I might suggest doing 3 story editions if you're using POD services, since the page limit is usually like 750 to 850.
Phil: This one. Submissions are this point are for the second volume.
Might work on an idea I had and submit it, then. Thanks for letting me know!
Hey everbody, Brackett Hollister: The Werewolf Pack is FREE on Amazon today only! I know a few of you had asked me about it, so here's the link:http://www.amazon.com/Brackett-Hollis...
Brackett Hollister. Gunslinger. Magician. When his family was slain by a supernatural creature, Brackett dedicated his life to protecting the world from the forces of evil. Armed with both his guns and his magic, Brackett fights to make the dark safe.
When werewolves begin to gather in the old west, Brackett and his comrade in the battle against all things malevolent, African Warrior Chula, move to stop the wolves from overrunning all civilization. But the werewolves have a new leader, and he may prove to be more than Brackett and Chula can handle.
Pick it up if you are so inclined!
Thanks!
Mod
Yeah you were telling me that Ashe. I may do a giveaway or something at some point, you can't really play with the prices on the paperbacks too much.
Mod
Mod
I am doin a little snippet parade this month. Throwin out some of my favorite little bits of the book as enticement. Definitely not final draft yet but still good for enticement. Second one went up today on my site.
Justin wrote: "A few days ago I finished a Weird West short story called "The Blood Creek Gold Rush" for an anthology. I had it edited and I've submitted it, they told me they will get back to me before March. I ..."
I just submitted a short for that anthology as well. I don't know if they got back to you yet (I assume they did by now) but I hope they like mine as well!
I just submitted a short for that anthology as well. I don't know if they got back to you yet (I assume they did by now) but I hope they like mine as well!
Mod
They actually haven't gotten back to me yet Philip. The deadline is sometime next month or the end of this month if I remember correctly. So they will be getting back to me soon to tell me if my story is good.
Justin wrote: "They actually haven't gotten back to me yet Philip. The deadline is sometime next month or the end of this month if I remember correctly. So they will be getting back to me soon to tell me if my st..."
Yep, I just got my reply as well. They said that they should make contact between April 1st and may 31st.
Yep, I just got my reply as well. They said that they should make contact between April 1st and may 31st.
Weird Westerns
Books mentioned in this topic
Vampire And The Frenchman (other topics)Monster of the World (other topics)
Suckers (other topics)
End Trails - Two Stories of the Weird West (other topics)
Gunslinger Greed (other topics)
More...
Self-promoting is still weird.