Trevor’s Song is part of the Smashwords Summer Sale.

It’s July, so that means one thing: the Smashwords Summer (winter for you Down Under) Sale!

As always, my books are free for you, so help yourself. Pick up one of my past titles, enjoy Trevor and the Trevolution. Let me know if you want to see a third Trevor novel or a fifth Demo Tapes compilation — or even a complete set, with each and every story in chronological order. I can and will do any or all of these for you.

But this year, I’m going to lay down a challenge for you. On August 2, 2019 (so, a year and a month) from now, my daughter is headed to Yellowstone National Park with the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. They picked 13 of their ZooU students for this trip, which is run through Ecology Project International. They’ll be doing a week’s worth of research, conservation work, and more. They’ll be camping in the back country, bear spray at the ready. It’s a nine-day trip, the longest she’ll have been away from me. And she’ll be doing something I’ve dreamed about! Talk about adding insult to injury…

So. What’s the challenge I’m handing down to you?

It’s this: If you decide to pay full price for any of my books at Smashwords during the month of July, when they are on sale and you could have them for free, I’ll put 100% of my royalties to the cost of her trip. It’s not a cheap trip, and she needs some gear before she goes, too. Thankfully, because we are a Scouting family, we have some of it. But she still needs some.

Want to donate directly to her and skip the books, since you’ve already read and loved them? You can do that. She and I would both love that.

Regardless of what you choose to do (if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!), take some time and wander through the Smashwords Summer Sale. Find some good deals.

And no matter what, remember to leave a review! Nothing helps an author more — except telling your friends about something you’ve read — than leaving a review. Even if it’s as short as “I liked this because…”

Negative reviews may prick an author’s pride, but when written constructively, they are helpful to both the author and future readers. I encourage you to think long and hard, but not to shy away from a negative review.

And, as always, if you need help writing a review, holler. I offer a steep discount on review help. That’s how important they are to me.

Happy Smashwords searching! And if you haven’t joined the Trevolution yet, why not? It’s FREE.

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.