Doug BrotherofCats Dandridge

Today is the end of the KDP Select Promotion for The Deep Dark Well, and I must say that it went better than I expected. On Monday the book was ranked 105 on the list of freebies on Kindle, and Number 1 among High Tech Scifi. It was listed there on the page for all to see. I also received several offers for reviews when they were book finished reading the book. If half of them pan out it will really help, plus I expect some from those who didn’t offer to do so. I want to thank all the wonderful people who retweeted my tweets during the promotion, in particular those at the Independent Author’s Network (IAN). IAN is a great organization with a lot of talented authors, so check them out. I also wanted to thank all the book bloggers and free book promoters out there who gave me some much needed publicity. I appreciate each and every one of you, and will try to mention you by name in a future blog. I happen to think that The Deep Dark Well is a damned good science fiction novel. But in today’s market if no one knows that the book exists it doesn’t matter if it’s a lost Ray Bradbury. And one person can only do so much to promote their own stuff.
I did make some mistakes in this promotion. In one case I posted to a facebook page where I shouldn’t have direct posted, working from some erroneous or old information that said I could. In another I submitted to a freebie promotion site much too late, and they didn’t start promoting until the fourth day of the five day promotion. I know there were others. I am planning to promote another book on KDP Select in October, and will take some of the lessons learned by these mistakes into it. Unfortunately not all of my books fit into the same category. Because I chased that elusive dream of a publishing contract I made sure every book was completely different from the last. I still have some more novels to put through the rewrite stage and publish on the net, so the pattern will be continued for a little longer. Then I will concentrate on the fantasy and scifi series I am putting out this year, as well as some sequels to The Deep Dark Well.
Next up will be a promotion for my Urban Fantasy Tale The Hunger. It involves vampires, but not the sparkly vampires that seem to be so popular these days, nor the clubbing vampires that kill, then drink and dance the night away. I followed the pattern of the Bram Stoker vampires who rise each night to kill, then sleep. The hero of the story, Lucinda Taylor, was a woman who had been forced into prostitution and drug addiction after her husband beat her and threw her out of the house. She attacks her pimp when he won’t give her what she needs, and gets her throat slit for the trouble. A passing vampire, attracted by the smell of blood, finishes her off, and she rises three days later as a vampire. At first she is controlled by the lord who took her life, but when he dies she is a free agent. And she embarks on a crusade to kill the same kind of men who tormented her in life, pimps, drugs dealers, the abusers of woman, and those who run the crime families that perpetuate the misery of women like she was. She makes sure that those she kills do not rise, taking their heads or burning them. Many are after her, the church, the FBI, an ancient vampire who is afraid she is bringing too much attention to those who prefer to hide in the shadows, and a giant of a man who was her one mistake, rising from the dead and bent on vengeance against her.
Unfortunately The Hunger has not received much attention, partially, I think, because of the great number of vampire tales out there. But it is different, a gritty tale of crime and murder, with street language and street behavior. It is definitely an adult tale, not for the kiddies or the faint of heart. And I believe it is as good a novel in its own way as the Deep Dark Well. I would not have released it as the second book of that first release tandem if I didn’t believe that. Hopefully its promotion on KDP Select will garner the attention I think it deserves, from those who want their vampires evil and bloody.