Trevor’s Song as part of Read an Ebook Week again this year.

Can’t wait for the Running Wild Anthology of Stories to come out with my newest creation, Undaunted, in it?

Me. Either.

But there’s a nice way to tide you over for the next not-quite-ten days. It’s Read an ebook Week over at Smashwords, my favorite of the ebook retailers. (They pay the best royalties out there, if you’re wondering why they are my favorites. And they do NOT play the games that certain big retailers do. Ahem.)

So between now (well, it started on Sunday the 4th but man, have I been busy, between an unusually busy March and the launch of the Running Wild Anthology of Stories) and March 10, ALL of my previous books and stories will be FREE over at Smashwords. If you want to get some short story reading in between now and the release of Undaunted, I recommend Broken or any of the Demo Tapes anthologies.

(If you’re looking for Mannequin, one of my favorite stories, it’s over at Wattpad now, along with a never-before story from the Trevolution.)

So… have at it. Happy reading. Discover something new while you’re at it.

And don’t forget: reviews help sell books, so leave 2c worth of thoughts about what you liked and didn’t like. Yes, even one-star reviews are valuable, so don’t be afraid to say you didn’t like something.)

And pre-order Undaunted and the rest of the anthology, why don’t you?
Amazon
B&N
Rakuten/Kobo
iTunes

What do you think? Does Trevor’s Song need an updated cover?

I always encourage my clients to wait until January or even February in a new year to publish their book, because while the “People get new e-readers for Christmas and need something to read” is a sound strategy, experience has taught all too many of us that indie titles tend to get shoved down on visibility lists in favor of more established authorial names. That can sink a person’s book, and fast.

Count on Smashwords to enter the end-of-year fun and be a disruptor by offering another of their famous site-wide promotions. (Okay, the extent of the promotion is up to each individual author, but they offer every one of us a chance to join in the fun.)

So, yeah. From now until January 1, you can pick up any number of great reads — old and new, within the bounds of familiarity and without — for free or discounted prices. And yes, some books will still be offered at full price.

Some. Not mine. If you’ve ever wanted to read anything I’ve written, my faves of the bunch are Trevor’s Song, Demo Tapes 1, Demo Tapes 2, and Broken.

If you’ve got those four and want more, here’s the link to my profile. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a longer list of books at the end of 2018? That’s one of my many goals.

As always, if you pick up or are gifted a book (any book!) this holiday season, think about leaving a review once you’ve read that book. Reviews help authors in multiple ways — and yes, a well-thought-out negative review can be helpful! (As always, if you need help with a review, holler. I charge $5 per review, and that’s a steal for what you’ll get.)

Here’s to a great 2018.

It’s that time again! The Smashwords Summer Sale!

I know I’ll be perusing the offerings and loading up my ereader with books I’ll stress about not reading in a timely fashion — why don’t you join me? We’ve got all month for this ebook goodness, so c’mon! Let’s get some deals!

If you haven’t caught up on the Trevolution, all my books are FREE this month. Go pick ’em up.

Of course, you know by now I’m a HUGE champion of the value of reviews, so be sure to say thanks for the freebie by leaving a review. At Smashwords, at GoodReads, at that big behemoth of a bookseller that sells more than just books these days and now runs the national economy. You know who I mean; the point is that it doesn’t matter — leave a review!

Yes, even a negative review helps, so be kind if you need to, and be as constructive as possible. Some of us only read 1- and 2-star reviews!

That, of course, extends to my own books. But really. You’re not going to find 1- or 2-star reads on my page. Nope.

Trevor Wolff did not blame others for his own issues, thankyouverymuch. Not that being ugly was an issue; issues, you could fix somehow. Ugly, you were just stuck with.

It’s free everywhere but Amazon (sigh — but feel free to report it!):
Smashwords
B&N
iTunes/iBooks/Apple
Amazon
Kobo
Overdrive
Scribd

For all that boy had been through, Trevor never stopped seeking the joy in life.

It’s free everywhere but Amazon (sigh):
Smashwords
B&N
iTunes/iBooks/Apple
Amazon
Kobo
Overdrive
Scribd

“We can make that sappy shit happen ourselves. But how often do you get to take on the bad guys and save the world?”

It’s free everywhere but Amazon (sigh):
Smashwords
B&N
iTunes/iBooks/Apple
Amazon
Kobo
Overdrive
Scribd

Things were about to get good; getting kicked out now would not be smart.

It’s free everywhere but Amazon (sigh):
Smashwords
B&N
iTunes/iBooks/Apple
Amazon
Kobo
Overdrive
Scribd

It’s that time of year again! It’s Read an e-Book Week, and since my books are old (and could use some new reviews to freshen them up), they’re all free this week.

Go grab one. Or two. Or all of them. Who cares; they are FREE. (and only for one week)

And remember: nothing says thanks for the freebie like a few words of review. It doesn’t have to be a lot of words. Even “I loved this!” helps a lot. But if you’re feeling brave, go and tell us why.

Happy reading this week! Me, I’ve got a print book on loan from the library. How’s THAT for crummy timing?

(and those of you keeping track, I’m writing this up on Friday and the eye is still status quo. No new tear in the retina. And yes, the stupid gas bubble is still there. I’m starting to think it’s a permanent addition.)

“A flag,” Trevor repeated. “A ShapeShifter flag. For our fans to pledge their love and shit to. You know… one nation, all for one, buy the inevitable shitty records and defend them to the death when people let themselves think mean words about us. A flag.”

It’s free everywhere but Amazon (sigh):
Smashwords
B&N
iTunes/iBooks/Apple
Amazon
Kobo
Overdrive
Scribd

It’s Read an E-Book Week! And, as I do every year, to celebrate, I’ve discounted all my books so you’ll be extra tempted to pick them up and join the Trevolution.

My catalog is getting bigger, deeper, even though I’m doing more editing than writing these days.

The best part of this new age of publishing, I think, is that your books can be on sale forever. They never go out of print. And weeks like this are perfect for reminding you of that.

Older, newer, it doesn’t matter. You can pick them all up at Smashwords and whoa, Nelly! Look at that discount!!

Yes, even my newest release, not even six months old yet. Broken, the short story you just gotta read.

So what are you waiting for? Go get some copies and read an e-book this week!

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As an experiment, I’ve enrolled both Trevor’s Song and King Trevor in the Kindle Matchbook program.

I have reservations. I’m not a huge Amazon fan, and print sales are … well, quite stagnant. I get it: most of my readers are e-book readers. You guys don’t want print copies.

That’s why I’m skeptical of the entire program. But… nothing ventured, nothing gained. And at the very least, it’ll give me more information the next time a client asks me about it.

Go on. Prove me wrong. Make this worth doing.

(and, hey, if you think about it, go and add a few words of review at Amazon, GoodReads, B&N, or anyplace else you can think of. You’d be surprised how influential YOUR words can be.)

Have you seen it yet?

Probably not, as it’s not quite live at all the various retailers. Start looking, though.

I’m talking about the new cover for Demo Tapes: Year 1.

Yep, that’s it. Another cover done by the amazing Lakota Phillips, and I don’t know about you guys, but in this cover featuring Little Trevor, I see all the loneliness and isolation he must have felt before he grew up and learned how to take on the world.

Print copies will be coming as soon as I get off my overworked duppa and reformat and upload. Stay tuned.

Just a tee-hee  moment.

As I’m working on the new look for West of Mars, I’m doing some surfing and checking out  my own books at the various retailers. I was in the Kobo store when I noticed that Trevor’s Song is listed as both fiction and non-fiction, at least in terms of in-store rankings (and that it’s ranked higher in non-fiction).

It’s a flattering thing, really, that people think Trevor Wolff is a real character. After all, as a writer, that’s my aim: to create characters who live and breathe.

Somehow, though, I never meant it to be taken quite like this.

I can hear you. “Come ON, Susan. It’s April. If I look at when you published your other books the past couple of years, it’s about the time for your annual birthday book release. So where is it???”

It’s coming. Just a delay because we’re going to put new covers on Demo Tapes 1 and 2 and bring you Demo Tapes 5. They’re all being professionally formatted, too, so they’ll look better on your readers.

Print versions will follow at some point. I’m not sure when.

And I’m not sure when the special surprise will follow, either.

Truth is, not only have I asked a lot of my cover designer and my formatter, but I’ve been kind of unmotivated this year. I’m so focused on editing and other behind-the-scenes the work here at West of Mars that my own writing has fallen by the wayside. I’ve learned an invaluable lesson about my writing, and I’ll bring that to you in a longer, more thoughtful post that any of you are free to send to Passive Guy.

Hang tight. More Trevor and Mitchell is on the horizon, and I particularly like Demo Tapes 5. But then, I like them all. While DT1 is still my all-time favorite, it’s hard for me to choose the runners up. Go and weigh in with your favorites — both collection and outtake — in the comments. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

As is my tradition, I’ve set my entire catalog to FREE this week in honor of Read an E-Book Week, an annual event that just might be at the end of its life as a promotional tool. But gosh darn it, it’s still fun!

When I joined my first Read an E-Book Week five years ago, it was still a struggle to get people on board with digital books. This was, of course, before Kindle. Before Nook. Before Kobo. By promoting our books at Smashwords, we were able to give people cheap or free options and show them this great new world that was waiting to be explored.

But then came the slew of e-book readers. Then the e-reader tablets, the Nook HD and the Kindle Fire. And people began adopting e-books like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Today, e-books make up a sizeable chunk of the book-buying habits of millions. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I do know, as many authors do, that I sell WAY more e-books than print. (of course, I’ve also doubted my print sales reports for awhile now, and know of other authors who’ve verified hinky things happening on that front.)

Anyway… regardless of whether or not you’ve ever read an e-book or not, Smashwords remains one of the best places to find new books, especially during Read an E-Book Week. Pick up any titles of mine that you haven’t grabbed yet, and then surf around a bit. See what else is out there.

Yes, some of it will be lousy. Go into any bookstore and pick ten books at random. I guarantee you at least one will be lousy, if not more. But I also guarantee you that you’ll find at least one book that is so outside the norm, so cleverly executed or well imagined, that you’ll find yourself hooked.

The best part of working outside the traditional structure is that the rules are different, and in the self-publishing world, there’s room to stretch and break boundaries. To throw traditional formats and genres out the windows and invent new ones.

Come join the ride. There’s amazing books being written.

Regulars around here know that Mary at BookHounds and I are both Rock Fiction lovers. We’re also friends, which isn’t much of a surprise when you think about it. We’ve got books and music to bond over, after all.

So when this Share the Love hop came about, with the idea being that the participating bloggers would give away copies of undercelebrated books, Mary decided there was only one thing to do: Feature me and Trevor.

She’s offering a print copy of Trevor’s Song and three digital copies of it, as well — but I’ll sweeten the deal. If you’ve got Trevor’s Song and want one of the other books in the Trevolution series, ask Mary if you can swap it out. You may even want to get one of the retired copies of Demo Tapes 1 or 2 — the new covers are in the works!

Go on over and enter! Last I checked, your chances were pretty good, but that was ten minutes after the post went live. Who knows how it’s doing now?

Enter before February 14.

And those of you who remember the old Win a Book blog I used to run, yes, I DO miss writing these posts!

See these covers?

They belong in a different era.

Time to retire them. Put some better covers on some great content.

Pick up your print copies now, at Lulu, Amazon, B&N, or anywhere else you can think of. As of February 1, they’ll be gone. This cover will become a collector’s item — and you know you’re a collector of Trevor Wolff, right?

What about the digital edition? Well, stay tuned for that. And more. You e-book readers are going to be very very pleased with what I’m cooking up.

Yep, it’s one of my favorite months of the year: The Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale!

Why Summer/winter? Because e-book readers live all over the planet, and on half the planet right now, it’s winter. I’m not sure I could ever adapt to snow in July, but maybe I could. It’d be quite the adventure to find out.

Back to the sale… Head over to Smashwords. Pick up some of your favorite works of Rock Fiction, browse for some goodies, or even have some fun with the coupons I’ve set up for my own books. I know you guys have all seven, so why not take this opportunity to introduce a friend … or five… or ten… to the zany antics of Trevor, Mitchell, and the gang?

Here’s a hint: all it’ll cost you is the time (mostly; you can afford a buck for the King, right?). This month is all about spreading the word, so let’s get that word spread, far and wide!

Since I’ll be doing a booksigning at the Pennwriters conference in May, I’ll be picking up some print copies of the books to sell.

If you need an autographed print copy of any of the Trevolution books, now’s the time to speak up and let me know!

I hope to be back next week with a Featured New Book… but I need a book (other than my own!) to feature!

This would have been the third year I’ve told you guys that all I wanted for my birthday was book royalties. We did it two years ago with Mannequin, then last year with King Trevor.

So what’s the holdup?

Me.

I dawdled. Dragged my feet. Debated hiring an e-book formatter (the awesome Deena at e-Book Builders. Tell her I sent you.), hesitated about asking the uber amazing Lakota Phillips if she’d step up for her boy and do the art again. Tried to do the formatting myself.

I suck at formatting.

So… the book’s not coming out today. This year, the birthday gift will be late. But it’ll be here, and you will NOT want to miss this one. Be sure to read the intro… it confirms what many of you have suspected. And that’s all I’ll say about this, so move along…

Save your pennies… the price will be the usual: $2.99 e-book and $9.99 trade paperback (I hope).

And yes! Because this will be the best-selling Demo Tapes anthology yet (no easy feat, since Demo Tapes 1 has been out since November 2008 and is still the top-selling anthology), I’ll be folding some of the royalties you guys generate into having Deena reformat Demo Tapes 1, 2, and 3. Lakota’s already on board to give 1 and 2 new covers, as well.

There just might be a special something for anyone who leaves a review of ANY of the Trevolution books (including Mannequin) anywhere online. Stay tuned for that…

Have I mentioned there WILL be a Demo Tapes 5?