Now for something completely different

Well, it's been a big day. Sometime in the night "A Time for Poncey" went live at Amazon without a hitch, which is a major thing in this time of high-tech. All I'm waiting for now is for it to show up on Goodreads. If any of you like it enough, feel free to rate and review it on Amazon and Goodreads. Here's a hint for all you insiders: The first free giveaway will be this Thursday.

Now it's off to the next project, in earnest. It will be another collection of Southern Gothic stories exploring spiritual themes, but these will have no connection to each other. I'll also throw in some poetry for good measure. The flagship story, which I think will be called "Little Egypt Ain't Home," will be available for free online soon. I'll post a link here so all my devoted blog fans can find it. Also included will be "Spinning Wheel," which is now available for about a quarter at AlfieDog.com. A few of the stories are written and ready to go, and I've spent a good part of today sending them to literary journals. If any see the light of day, I'll let you know.

With that I wish you all a wonderful Labor Day weekend. I'm going to take a nap.

The big day approaches

Well, tomorrow is the big release day. To get the direct link to Amazon first, join our Facebook page. "A Time for Poncey" will be available only in .mobi, the Kindle-friendly format. However, the first story, "You Can't Count What Isn't There," will continue to be available on Smashwords for the next few months, and it will be posted as a free download at St. Celibart soon. It is also still part of "The Job: Based on a True Story," "Feallengod" and "Wars of the Aoten." Yesterday was another free giveaway of "The Job" through Kindle Select, and more than 500 copies were taken. So thanks to everyone who's got a copy, and I hope you're blessed and see your relationship with Christ more clearly. Same goes with "Poncey."

"Madness Is In Their Hearts"

Dr. Hurley's Snake-Oil Cure has posted the first part of "Madness Is In Their Hearts," so please give it a look. Even if you don't want to read it, click on the link and give them a page hit. The story is part of "A Time for Poncey," for which I will soon start turning the marketing gears, looking at a Sept. 1, 2012 release. It's classic Southern Gothic writing based on Ecclesiastes, with a wicked twist of humor. So please help get the word around by directing folks to Dr. Hurley's. I think you'll find some other interesting arts there as well. Thanks.

New Marketing and Old Media I

Well, I've obviously not been around here much lately, and I doubt I will be in the future. I must not be doing this tagging thing right, because this blog does not come up very high on searches that I need it to. "Christian humor" may just be too ubiquitous on the web. Anyway, here's another review, someone who obviously didn't get it. Why do these reviews always end up on Amazon, but the insightful ones don't? One of the big hurdles I've encountered is that online reviewers say they're prepared for Christian fiction, but then don't read with that in mind. There's a real possibility that they can only handle the most obvious of Christian content. Just waiting for that next "Left Behind" story.

So, anyway, it's on to phase two. I determined long ago that blog reviewers have no influence at all, and that to get exposure to a large audience, the traditional media is still necessary. But my strategy was to collect enough minor reviews to throw myself to the traditional media wolves again, and so I have. At the beginning of this gambit, which started last Labor Day, I sent copies cold to a number of magazines and other outlets, and mostly got zero response. Today I sent out a dozen emails to some of these - Christianity Today, CCM Magazine, &c. - with links to the better online reviews. My hope is they'll do a little research and decide I'm legit. If I get anything to show from this, I'll let you know.

New Media and New Marketing XX

Well, I've not been around here for awhile, and I've got to mention that I'm about to give up. I continue to get good reviews for "The Job," for instance this new one at Simul Iustus et Peccator, but these things don't seem to ever show up on Amazon, Goodreads, B&N, Smashwords, &c. &c. where they could actually do some good. As well, a quick googling of some of my key words to this blog shows that it's not showing up even on the first 10 search pages. So what's the point? (or "pint," as I nearly typed). This blog has three followers, and I'm one of them.

On top of that, I was shut out of the Independent Publisher Awards, the only contest I had a chance to be recognized in. I'd entered in the humor and religious fiction categories, and came away with nothing. Not really surprising, but the winner of silver in religious fiction was "The Sherlock Holmes Church Mysteries." This was an author who stole an iconic secular literary character, long after its creator was dead, and adapted it to her agenda. And she gets an award for it. So I'm pretty close to giving up any kind of marketing. It's not what I should be about, anyway. Success in the marketplace is not the raison d'etre of art and literature, and certainly not of the Church.

Back to the Old Grind

Well, this has been enlightening. As reported, a feature on DailyCheapReads.com boosted sales of "The Job" at the Kindle store, although not to the great effect that I first thought. The next day, sales went back to zero, and it's been that way ever since. So getting on a prominent website can substantially help a book, but once it's no longer at the top of the front page the effect is over. The only thing I can think of to do with this is, since these sites are mostly blogs, is every time a new feature or review is posted, leave a comment about the new post. Probably won't garner much attention, but what else is there?

In other news, the second installment of the Poncey stories is finished in first draft, and the opening story is undergoing its editing process. Don't know what I'm talking about? Stay tuned for more details!