General | Jon F. Merz

A Fog of Fury: A Lawson Vampire Mission – FREE!

On January 17, 2012, in Build a Bestseller, ebooks, general, gifts, how I write, lawson, ninjutsu, promotion & publicity, publishing, Uncategorized, vampires, website, writing, by admin

So, as part of my drive to find a huge bunch of new fans for all things Lawson, I’ve decided to make A FOG OF FURY, the Lawson novellas that was released in the first annual Supernatrual Ink. anthology, part of the Amazon KDP Select program for 90 days. Today & tomorrow, it’s absolutely 100% [...]

So, as part of my drive to find a huge bunch of new fans for all things Lawson, I’ve decided to make A FOG OF FURY, the Lawson novellas that was released in the first annual Supernatrual Ink. anthology, part of the Amazon KDP Select program for 90 days. Today & tomorrow, it’s absolutely 100% FREE.

That’s right, you can get a nearly 20,000 words of Lawson awesome for without spending a penny.

Nada.

Zilch.

If you’ve never tried Lawson before, this is your chance to get wrapped up in one of the coolest urban fantasy series around. Let his effortless lethality thrill you while his sarcastic sense of humor brings you chuckles. Lawson rocks and here’s your chance to see why.

Of course, if you’re already a Lawson fan, then this is a nice gift to start the work week back up with. And it’s also your duty to get at least two of your close pals to pick this up as well and get them hooked on the series. What have they got to lose? Only about an hour after which time they will promptly fall on their knees and thank you for delivering unto them the same Lawson awesome you enjoy on a regular basis. They might even buy you lunch. Or at least a pack of Twizzlers from the office vending machine.

So go forth and rejoice – A FOG OF FURY is yours free. Spread the word and help others find the radiance of Lawson as he dispatches bad guys with bullets and snark.

Have fun!

Get A FOG OF FURY here right now for your Kindle for FREE!

My Christmas List

On December 21, 2011, in boston nocturne, ebooks, general, gifts, life thoughts, promotion & publicity, publishing, silly stuff, Uncategorized, writing, by admin

Interestingly enough this year, a number of fans have written to ask what I’ve got on my Christmas list – that is, the things I’m hoping to receive. It’s a pretty short list, so I thought I’d share it with you. Pay attention to number 7. The fat guy with the reindeer fetish and red [...]

Interestingly enough this year, a number of fans have written to ask what I’ve got on my Christmas list – that is, the things I’m hoping to receive. It’s a pretty short list, so I thought I’d share it with you. Pay attention to number 7. The fat guy with the reindeer fetish and red suit always seems to forget that one.

Without further ado, I hereby present things I’d like to get for Christmas 2011…

More reviews on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com from fans of my writing. The more, the better!
More interaction on my Facebook Fan Page. Got a question? Ask away!
More fans telling their friends and family about my work. Expand my audience, people. Become a prophet!
More interviews on blogs, podcasts, radio, and TV. Keeping my name and work in front of people is critical!
More subscribers to my free newsletter. I love my subscribers!
More ebook sales, more print book sales, more deals!
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tia Carrere, and Kelly Hu. Not necessarily in that order. And yes, all three.

Thanks Santa!

Day of the Ninja

On December 5, 2011, in Build a Bestseller, ebooks, general, lawson, life thoughts, martial arts / self protection, ninjutsu, novels, promotion & publicity, Uncategorized, by admin

I have to admit, this one caught me by surprise… (Go ahead, laugh at the irony. I’ll wait, lol…) Today, December 5th, is International Day of the Ninja. Seriously. I’m not quite sure what exactly is supposed to happen today, but perhaps it’s as simple as creeping up behind your co-workers and scaring the snickers [...]

I have to admit, this one caught me by surprise…

(Go ahead, laugh at the irony. I’ll wait, lol…)

Today, December 5th, is International Day of the Ninja. Seriously. I’m not quite sure what exactly is supposed to happen today, but perhaps it’s as simple as creeping up behind your co-workers and scaring the snickers out of them. Or maybe you’re supposed to create your own global intelligence network. Not really sure.

In any event, I’ll take today and give a huge load of thanks to my teacher Mark Davis at the Boston Martial Arts Center for passing down his knowledge, experience, and wisdom to me and the other students at his school. I’ve learned so much from Mark, it’s impossible to say thank you enough times. The techniques, strategy, and lessons he’s taught me have literally saved my life numerous times. And I don’t say such things lightly. It’s because of his earnest dedication to the art of Ninjutsu and his humble attitude that enables him to continually have such a successful school.

Back in Japan in 2003, I took my 5th degree black belt test. If not for Mark and his teaching, I’d never have passed it successfully. And the success I’ve enjoyed in learning Ninjutsu has enabled me to enjoy success in all other areas of my life.

So, being that today is International Day of the Ninja, I’d like to humbly suggest that people in the New England area give Mark a call at (617) 789-5524 and schedule a time to come check out a great, fun class at his school. The dojo is filled with some of the friendliest, most successful people I’ve ever known, and you can’t help but have an absolute blast training.

Also, you should buy some of my ebooks because I mix in some pretty cool advanced Ninjutsu concepts in my worlds of fiction. How many authors do you know who have actually studied authentic ninjutsu for over twenty years? Support the Ninja Author!

And you should also go over and back my new project ZOMBIE RYU which mixes NINJA and ZOMBIES! Check it out!

October is Fan Month!

On September 26, 2011, in Build a Bestseller, ebooks, general, how I write, lawson, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, short stories, THE FIXER TV series, Uncategorized, vampires, website, writing, by admin

So as we draw to a close on September (huh? what? where did that month go, eh?) I thought I’d let you in on just ONE of the cool things that will be happening in October. I happen to love October. It’s my birthday month, it was my late father’s birthday month (we usually celebrated [...]

So as we draw to a close on September (huh? what? where did that month go, eh?) I thought I’d let you in on just ONE of the cool things that will be happening in October. I happen to love October. It’s my birthday month, it was my late father’s birthday month (we usually celebrated together, which was always nice) and Halloween happens to be at the end. So I thought it would be fun to turn this October into “Fan Month.” Everyday throughout the month, I will be calling one fan each day, thanking them for their support, and having a quick chat with them. It’s completely unscripted stuff and it’s your chance to ask me pretty much anything you want (within reason). I’ll be doing these video calls over Skype and recording them for everyone to watch. They’ll last about 10 minutes and it’s my way of saying thank you to a select group of folks who have been kind enough to buy my work and stand behind me as I travel this crazy path of being a writer.

All you need to do to throw your name into the hat and possibly get picked is be a fan of my work: and by that I mean you should be up-to-date on all of my writing, whether it’s Lawson or some of the standalone work I’ve done. Ideally, you’ve read most of my stuff and have questions about my writing process, my venture into indie ebooks, traditional publishing, TV production, etc. etc. etc.

Now, you’ve got to be okay with the fact that I’m recording these calls and using them as I see fit (which means I’ll make them public, cross-post them on Youtube and Facebook, and generally make them available for anyone to see and comment on) as well as be available on the day of the call (winners will be notified beforehand in order to schedule things properly.) But I think this will be a ton of fun. Each day Monday-Friday, we’ll do a fan call and then post them. I’m sure they’ll be amusing, entertaining, and will lead many people to the spiritual enlightenment they seek.

Well, maybe not that last one.

But they will be fun!

HOW TO ENTER: Okay, so let’s get to it. Want to chat with me? All you have to do is send your name, email, and your favorite line from one of my works (something a character said or something written in the narrative) to jonfmerz AT verizon DOT net. That’s it. I’ll start picking the winners immediately and scheduling the calls. Not up to speed on my work and want to get caught up? For Kindle users, you can find my work here. And for Nook users, the list of available work is here.

Get going!

Updates…

On July 29, 2011, in ebooks, general, lawson, Ninja series, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, short stories, THE FIXER TV series, vampires, website, writing, by admin

A lot of you have been asking when the next Lawson novel is coming out. As you might know, I walked away from a deal with St. Martin’s Press to publish the next Lawson because what they were offering was simply not good enough to make me want to partner with them again. That said, [...]

A lot of you have been asking when the next Lawson novel is coming out. As you might know, I walked away from a deal with St. Martin’s Press to publish the next Lawson because what they were offering was simply not good enough to make me want to partner with them again. That said, I’m committed to getting the next novel – THE RIPPER – out in a timely fashion for those of you wondering where Lawson is headed next. So, THE RIPPER will be out in time for the holiday season. In this next installment, we get to see a lot more of Arthur’s backstory from when he was a Fixer in London a long time ago. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I can’t wait to release it. It will be available first as an ebook. But I’m looking around for a publisher – preferably a publisher that “gets it,” when it comes to the new emerging business model of publishing – to sell print rights to the entire series. I want Lawson in print and even if I have to do it myself, I’m going to get him out there. (So if you know any cool publishers, please drop me a line…)

Also, OATHBREAKER is coming along nicely. Still not sure whether this will be a Lawson short story or a novella. But I expect to have that done by the start of the Autumn season.

Things are a bit slow right now because it’s summer and my sons are home, so my productivity has diminished quite a bit. Expect a LOT of stuff coming at you over the next few months, though. PREY will be out soon, DEATH MASTER will be out soon, and a bunch of other stuff. I should have news on a new series pretty soon as well as the progress on THE FIXER TV series. Trust me when I tell you this: the Autumn is going to be awesome. And busy. But that’s good stuff.

I’m out on Google+ now, so be sure to add me to your circles.

In the meantime, I’m preparing to release the next issue of my FREE newsletter and you should totally subscribe if you haven’t already. Also, make sure you’re all caught up on the Lawson series by grabbing the adventures out on Amazon for the Kindle or Barnes & Noble for the Nook.

Have a great weekend everyone & thanks for reading!

Lots of News

On April 11, 2011, in ebooks, film/TV, general, Hollywood, how I write, lawson, ninjutsu, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, THE FIXER TV series, Uncategorized, vampires, website, writing, by admin

So, this past Friday at 9pm, we launched the all-new, all-awesome website for THE FIXER. This is THE place to go for all things Lawson Vampire – the TV show, the book series, everything. We also debuted the new 30-second teaser clip, which you can see just by clicking on the screen shot to the [...]

So, this past Friday at 9pm, we launched the all-new, all-awesome website for THE FIXER. This is THE place to go for all things Lawson Vampire – the TV show, the book series, everything. We also debuted the new 30-second teaser clip, which you can see just by clicking on the screen shot to the left.

AND on top of that, we also debuted the brand new ebook THE ENCHANTER. You might know this better as THE MADAGASCAR MATTER project that I ran as a subscription only serialized piece a year or so back. The problem was, the story took on a life of its own and blossomed into a full-fledged novel of 81,000 words. So I turned it into THE ENCHANTER and put it out. The book is a Lawson adventure from the late 1970s when he’s in Madagascar with his former mentor Zero to run down a skeleton in the Council’s closet with roots running back to World War II. Fun stuff. It’s out for the Kindle and the Nook, or you can grab it on THE FIXER website, too.

And we have much more planned. This week, I’m working on THE SHEPHERD, a special Lawson novella written for some very special folks. That should be out soon. And then we’ll be debuting the extended cut of the teaser clip out on THE FIXER website. Look for that by the end of the week,hopefully.

More media attention is brewing. I have a lunchtime interview today, so that should be fun. It comes on the heels of a nice piece in the Boston Herald a week or so back.

Tons of other stuff happening right now. I’ll talk about it when I can.

EBook Sales for March 2011

On April 1, 2011, in Build a Bestseller, ebooks, general, how I write, lawson, ninjutsu, promotion & publicity, publishing, short stories, THE FIXER TV series, Uncategorized, vampires, website, writing, by admin

I sold 3421 ebooks in March. To say I’m thrilled would be an understatement. And if I thought February was great, well, March was even better. I saw a 46% jump in sales in March and it’s my goal now to realize that same sales increase with each succeeding month. Is it sustainable? I think [...]

I sold 3421 ebooks in March.

To say I’m thrilled would be an understatement. And if I thought February was great, well, March was even better. I saw a 46% jump in sales in March and it’s my goal now to realize that same sales increase with each succeeding month. Is it sustainable? I think it just might be. More people are flocking to ebooks and ereaders than ever before. And my numbers, as great as they are for me personally, are still a drop in a very, very big bucket. I still have hundreds of thousands of fans to introduce to Lawson. If I can be sure to introduce new Lawson adventures each month, retain readers from each book, and drive new readers to the series, I think it’s very, very possible to make good gains each month. We’ll see if I’m right.

The vast majority of my sales in March came from my Lawson vampire series. THE FIXER alone sold 953 copies on the US Amazon site. The other three novels all posted solid triple-digit sales and even the two novellas made it into triple digits. The Lawson short stories, while not as impressive sales-figures-wise, still managed to add several hundred dollars to my bottom line. And this next week will see the addition of a new Lawson novel, THE ENCHANTER (previously known as THE MADAGASCAR MATTER before it became a full-fledged novel) as well as a new novella titled THE SHEPHERD. I’m hoping that more and more people will find the series and really enjoy what I’m doing with it. Add to that the new redesign of THE FIXER website – which will be THE place for all things Lawson (including the TV series) and you have some very cool things happening right now.

For me, this new world of ebooks sales is extremely gratifying. I’m earning a very respectable wage on ebook sales (roughly $150 bucks each day) and I couldn’t be more pleased. I get a monthly check (net 60 days) which certainly makes things a lot easier to budget and plan for. I’d like to take a moment to say thanks to everyone who has purchased ebooks over the last few months. I write for you and I hope you really have fun with Lawson.

Oh, and by the way, PREY is coming soon. It needed a bit more revision work, but it will be out within the next month.

Cheap Reads, Free Reads, Radio & Signing

On February 18, 2011, in ebooks, general, lawson, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, short stories, THE FIXER TV series, vampires, website, writing, by admin

So, a real quick blitzkrieg post here… PARALLAX, my awesome psychic espionage thriller is now JUST 99 CENTS. ZOMG! GO! RUN! GET IT! Kindle Users | Nook Users DEAD DROP, a Lawson Vampire short story is FREE RIGHT NOW! ZOMGx2! GO! GRAB SOME! Kindle Users | PDF File Download Tonight at midnight I will be [...]

So, a real quick blitzkrieg post here…

PARALLAX, my awesome psychic espionage thriller is now JUST 99 CENTS. ZOMG! GO! RUN! GET IT! Kindle Users | Nook Users
DEAD DROP, a Lawson Vampire short story is FREE RIGHT NOW! ZOMGx2! GO! GRAB SOME! Kindle Users | PDF File Download
Tonight at midnight I will be on the incredibly popular Jordan Rich Show on WBZ AM 1030. It reaches 38 states & parts of Canada or you can listen to it streaming live right here!
Tomorrow at 1pm I will be signing copies of THE KENSEI at SEEK BOOKS in West Roxbury, MA so please swing by and say hello!

Official Launch Day for THE KENSEI – 10 Ways to Build a Bestseller!

On January 18, 2011, in Build a Bestseller, ebooks, general, how I write, lawson, ninjutsu, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, THE FIXER TV series, Tour 2011, Uncategorized, vampires, website, writing, by admin

Welcome all, to the Official launch Day for THE KENSEI. This is the street date for the novel, meaning that it is now pretty much everywhere in the various distribution systems. You should be able to find it anywhere…. So first and foremost: please go buy a copy. If you need to find out if [...]

Welcome all, to the Official launch Day for THE KENSEI. This is the street date for the novel, meaning that it is now pretty much everywhere in the various distribution systems. You should be able to find it anywhere….

So first and foremost: please go buy a copy. If you need to find out if a Barnes & Noble near you has it on their shelves, use this link: http://bit.ly/ejQpQD. Buying a copy is the single best way to support the book and help make sure we have more Lawson books in the future. And the paperback is better than the ebook, but if you’re only into ebooks, then by all means feel free.

Also, there are a number of ways you can help spread the word about THE KENSEI and I hope you participate in them. It makes today more of a party event and that -in my book – is always a good thing!

1. Change your profile picture to THE KENSEI cover art. (grab it out at Facebook Fan Page)
2. If you have a blog, write a blog post about THE KENSEI.
3. Take a picture of yourself holding a copy of THE KENSEI – preferably in a public space where others can see you. (Outside of the bookstore you bought it at is great!)
4. If you tweet, please tweet about today’s launch and use the hashtag #thekensei after your tweet
5. Make a point to tell four friends today – preferably in person about the book and ask them to buy a copy. if you can’t do it in person, then send out an email to some of your friends and let them know.
6. If you’re buying it online, please buy it at Amazon.com – and the print version of the book is better than ebooks. Remember: we’re trying to sell out the first print run.
7. Try to get others involved – have them talk to their friends about buying a copy. Word-of-mouth rules and can really make a book take off, so talk it up!
8. Post out any book forums, and sites (Goodreads, Shelfari, Library Thing, etc.) and talk to people about the book.
9. Swing by the Facebook Fan Page and post away, try to create a party atmosphere and get people excited!
10. When you’re done reading the book, please post reviews on Amazon and any other sites. Reviews help spur new sales!

I truly hope you all enjoy THE KENSEI. It’s a special book to me for a number of reasons and I’m looking forward to hearing what you all think of it.

Thank you so much for your support!
-Jon

7 Days, A Newsletter & A Contest

On January 10, 2011, in boston nocturne, Build a Bestseller, general, lawson, ninjutsu, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, short stories, THE FIXER TV series, Tour 2011, Uncategorized, vampires, website, writing, by admin

Wow, we’re just seven days away from THE KENSEI’s official street date – the day when the book should be in stores, literally everywhere and will start shipping from online retailers. I’m excited. Actually, I’m freakin’ thrilled. Lawson has a second chance at life and I’m determined to make sure he has a far longer [...]

Wow, we’re just seven days away from THE KENSEI’s official street date – the day when the book should be in stores, literally everywhere and will start shipping from online retailers.

I’m excited.

Actually, I’m freakin’ thrilled. Lawson has a second chance at life and I’m determined to make sure he has a far longer one at St. Martin’s than he did at that other house.

I’ve got a ton of stuff coming your way. The official book trailer will debut soon. Possibly tomorrow if everything gets sorted. And then there’s another video with me in it that will be released in another week or so.

And today, my all-new, all-free Boston Nocturne newsletter launches. It has news, free fiction, and much more. And the free fiction is a serialized Lawson adventure called MISSION: MALTA. But the only way to enjoy it is to subscribe, so make sure you sign up! And you can do that by putting your email in the block over there on the upper right side where it says “Get My Newsletter.” It’s that simple. Just sign up and you’ll be all set when the newsletter goes out later today.

Back to THE KENSEI…I’m announcing a very cool contest now. Here it is.

Ready?

Send me proof-of-purchase (or a copy of your receipt if you bought online) that you’ve bought a copy of THE KENSEI and you’ll be entered for a chance to win the sword used by actor Brandon Stumpf in the official book trailer for THE KENSEI. Brandon will be starring in the TV series based on the novels, THE FIXER, and I’m certain he’s got a huge future. If you win, not only will you get the sword, but a certificate of authenticity, and you can even have it autographed by Brandon and me. Each copy of the book counts as one entry, so if you buy three copies of THE KENSEI to give as gifts to friends and family, then you have three chances to win the sword. One winner will be drawn on May 28th, 2011. You can send your entries to

thekenseicontest AT gmail DOT com

Good luck!

Jon F. Merz

The Official Homepage of Jon F. Merz // Writer ~ Producer ~ Ninja