Website | Jon F. Merz

OATHBREAKER & DEADLY TRIO Now Available!

On January 20, 2012, in Build a Bestseller, ebooks, how I write, lawson, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, short stories, Uncategorized, vampires, website, writing, by admin

It’s Friday and it’s been a busy week. Outside, I’ve got several inches of snow (finally) and more on the way for tomorrow. In short, it’s a perfect weekend for reading – you know those days? When the weather’s blowing hard and you’ve got nothing to do but stay inside and curl up on the [...]

It’s Friday and it’s been a busy week. Outside, I’ve got several inches of snow (finally) and more on the way for tomorrow. In short, it’s a perfect weekend for reading – you know those days? When the weather’s blowing hard and you’ve got nothing to do but stay inside and curl up on the couch, maybe with that steaming mug of coffee, tea, or cocoa, listening to the crackle of the fireplace while your heart races along with the plot of great story.

I’ve already got my book picked out for reading tomorrow. And here are my contributions, if you’re looking to expand your Lawson library:

OATHBREAKER, a new short story is now out on its own. It’s also part of the SIX TIMES DEADLY collection, but this is the standalone version. It’s only 99 cents and meaty at 6,000 words. This time around, Lawson enters the hospital undercover to find out who is bleeding patients dry – but what he discovers is actually a whole lot worse than was previously thought.

Get OATHBREAKER for Kindle | Get OATHBREAKER for Nook

And then…

If, for some inexplicable reason (say, you were off-planet fighting alien invaders or possibly got kidnapped by clowns and forced to perform mime for the last six years) you haven’t yet gotten into the Lawson series, I’ve bundled three novels into one great ebook, DEADLY TRIO, which collects THE FIXER, THE INVOKER, and THE ENCHANTER into one volume for only $9.99 (which saves you about $3 bucks over buying them separately). LETHAL TRIO will be out within the next few days and collects THE DESTRUCTOR, THE SYNDICATE, and THE RIPPER into one volume for the same $9.99 price.

Get DEADLY TRIO for Kindle | Get DEADLY TRIO for Nook

So there you have it: two releases to go along with earlier this week’s A FOG OF FURY novella (HERE for the Kindle & available for the Nook in April). Grab ‘em all and you’ve got oodles of fun reading for the entire weekend – regardless of whatever weather you might be experiencing.

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!

More New Lawson!

On January 5, 2012, in Build a Bestseller, ebooks, graphic novels, graphic novels, lawson, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, short stories, Uncategorized, vampires, website, writing, by admin

Yesterday saw the release of the next Lawson novel, THE RIPPER, which puts Lawson back in Boston trying to uncover the identity of a serial killer while dodging a Chinese assassin, dealing with Marty’s advances, counseling Niles, and dealing with Arthur’s past. It’s a chaotic mix of non-stop action and mayhem. And sales have been [...]

Yesterday saw the release of the next Lawson novel, THE RIPPER, which puts Lawson back in Boston trying to uncover the identity of a serial killer while dodging a Chinese assassin, dealing with Marty’s advances, counseling Niles, and dealing with Arthur’s past. It’s a chaotic mix of non-stop action and mayhem. And sales have been very good indeed!

You can grab your copy of THE RIPPER for the Kindle here and for the Nook here.

But THE RIPPER isn’t the only new adventure out…

Earlier today, I released SIX TIMES DEADLY, the first Lawson story collection featuring six short stories: The Price of a Good Drink, Interlude, Red Tide, Enemy Mine, Rudolf The Red Nosed Rogue, and Oathbreaker. Along with those six stories, I also included some cool bonuses: the script for the first part of the Lawson graphic novel and the first two chapters from the Talya spin-off novel series CODENAME: BELLADONNA. Yep, you heard right: there’s going to be a Talya spin-off novel series. It’s been in the works for a while now and with the advent of ebooks, I can actually write what I want without having to appeal to the whims of New York City publishing. I have three Talya novels sketched out and expect to complete the first one this year. I’m excited about it; Talya’s a great character and well-deserving of her own series. Hopefully, the fans will enjoy it.

You can grab SIX TIMES DEADLY for the Kindle here and >for the Nook here.

And finally, FROSTY THE HITMAN is now available for sale. This is the freebie short story I gave away on Christmas Day, but that window has now closed so if you want it, it’ll cost you 99 cents. You can grab that for the Kindle here and for the Nook here.

Next week, I’ll be releasing OATHBREAKER on its own, but if you want this new story now, you’ll have the get SIX TIMES DEADLY.

I’d like to thank all of you who have bought THE RIPPER. I’m very pleased with it’s rapid sales and success. And I’m especially thrilled to be finding so many new Lawson fans out there! Enjoy the new adventures – more are coming!

Frosty The Hitman A Blazing Success!

On December 29, 2011, in Build a Bestseller, ebooks, gifts, lawson, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, THE FIXER TV series, website, writing, by admin

So, at midnight on Christmas Day, as the 24th ticked over into the 25th, I launched the annual Christmas freebie that I write for friends and fans. This year’s entry was FROSTY THE HITMAN, a 5600-word story. Along with the story itself, the ebook contained 3-chapter excerpts from both THE FIXER and THE INVOKER, an [...]

So, at midnight on Christmas Day, as the 24th ticked over into the 25th, I launched the annual Christmas freebie that I write for friends and fans. This year’s entry was FROSTY THE HITMAN, a 5600-word story. Along with the story itself, the ebook contained 3-chapter excerpts from both THE FIXER and THE INVOKER, an author’s note from me, an invitation to subscribe to my free newsletter, and a list of all the current Lawson adventures as of December 2011.

I put the blog post out and wondered what sort of reception it would get, how many people would download it, etc. etc. My hope was that I’d get about 200 downloads of the story, especially considering it was Christmas Day and a lot of people would be otherwise preoccupied. In addition to my blog post, I set up automatic tweets announcing it on Twitter. I also asked for a small group of my fans to Tweet, Retweet, and post things on their blogs and Facebook to help spread the word. Then I sat back and waited to see what would happen.

Today’s the 29th and as of this writing, here are the results:

Total number of downloads: 1836
Kindle file downloads: 966
Epub file downloads: 444
.pdf file downloads: 426

Christmas Day and yesterday saw the most traffic. Yesterday is not surprising since I sent out a bulletin to my newsletter subscribers about Frosty and they certainly responded. Plus, I got a mention over on Books On The Knob about Frosty being free. That exposure definitely helped!

In addition, I picked up roughly 50 new subscribers to my newsletter. My Christmas Day post also received a large number of Facebook “likes,” which then show up in the person’s timeline (thereby potentially leading more people to the post). It was also +1′d out on Google+ by twelve more people, earning me some penetration on that social media website as well. As far as tweets and retweets go, the bit.ly tracking showed that 1,159 people clicked the link, 25 people shared it on Facebook, and it was retweeted well over 100 times.

Then there were the comments and tweets from people who hadn’t read Lawson yet. Of the nearly 2,000 downloads, I’m hoping that at least 25% are new to the series. 500 potential new readers is a pretty great gift to get for giving something back to my already-awesome fans.

So, to everyone who helped spread the word about Frosty, my sincere thanks. This year’s freebie gift was an fantastic success and I couldn’t have done it without you all helping and downloading away. As 2012 comes roaring in, Lawson is going to have an even bigger year than 2011. Tons of new adventures, big movement ahead on the TV production, and more news besides. Keep talking Lawson up to your friends and family – we’re going to be doing some amazing things together and I want everyone of you along for the fun-filled ride!

Happy New Year & thanks!
-Jon

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!

Website Improvements

On September 1, 2011, in publishing, Uncategorized, website, by admin

Thanks for taking part in my survey – your feedback is important to me and helps me better serve your wants and desires. I look forward to reading your responses!

30,000 EBooks

On August 24, 2011, in Build a Bestseller, ebooks, how I write, lawson, Ninja series, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, Ran, short stories, THE FIXER TV series, vampires, website, writing, by admin

Today marks a nice milestone: since February of this year, I’ve sold 30,000 ebooks. When I started putting up my backlist in late-January, I had no idea what I was in for. Would everything flop? Would it take off? The results are pretty damned awesome, actually. 30,000 is a great number (although I’m obviously shooting [...]

Today marks a nice milestone: since February of this year, I’ve sold 30,000 ebooks. When I started putting up my backlist in late-January, I had no idea what I was in for. Would everything flop? Would it take off?

The results are pretty damned awesome, actually. 30,000 is a great number (although I’m obviously shooting for 100,000 by the end of the year) and knowing that I’m finding an audience for my work is truly a blessing. The majority of my sales are for my Lawson Vampire series and that’s good news as well. Given everything (hint, hint) that will be happening soon around THAT, it’s good to know that more people are discovering Lawson every month. In fact, out of the 30,000 ebooks I’ve sold, I’d say roughly 25,000 are sales of my various Lawson adventures, more on the Kindle than on the Nook, but strong everywhere. Lawson has proven his worth as an enduring and endearing character. He’s not for everyone (only the sexy people, lol) but those who know him seem to enjoy him.

Even with the summer slowdown, my ebooks have continued to sell consistently across the board. I’ve got new releases coming soon, plus plans to offer pretty much everything in print. And audio as well. Big things are afoot for the Autumn months. But you’ll hear more on that in the coming weeks. Plus, I hope to finally be able to reveal who my publisher is for my new Fantasy series. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I’d like to add one final thought: thank you. Thank you for being a supporter of my work. Thank you for talking it up to friends and family. Thank you for hopping on-board the adventures I create and allowing me to whisk you away into the crazy chaos that is my fiction. With your permission, I’ll gladly be doing it for many, many years to come.

Have a great day and thanks again!

3-Book Deal

On August 8, 2011, in Build a Bestseller, ebooks, how I write, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, Ran, website, writing, by admin

So, last Friday on my way to Canobie Lake Park, I got a nice call from my agent who told me that we had a nice offer from a new publisher for a 3-book deal. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited. I’ve wanted to work with this particular editor for a while and I’m really [...]

So, last Friday on my way to Canobie Lake Park, I got a nice call from my agent who told me that we had a nice offer from a new publisher for a 3-book deal. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited. I’ve wanted to work with this particular editor for a while and I’m really looking forward to his tutelage and being able to expand my writing skills. This is a new genre for me: specifically, sword & sorcery, but I’ve always wanted to do a series in it since I grew up devouring Fantasy series as fast as I could read ‘em.

I can’t reveal the publishing house just yet, nor can I tell you the editor’s name, or the actual working title of any of the books (although I will be able to hopefully soon), but let’s just say it’s good to know that I’ll have three new books coming out into bookstores – and I’ll be reaching a whole new audience for my writing.

I’ll still be doing my indie publishing of ebooks and the various projects I have going on there will continue. But I don’t like putting all of my eggs into one basket; I like knowing that I’ll have print books out in stores, ebooks for the ever-growing global community that loves them, and TV/film projects as well. I’m an entertainer – so I’ll make sure my work gets out into whatever format it needs to be in in order to make sure it reaches its audience.

In the meantime, if you haven’t read my ebook NINJA yet, which is available for the Kindle, perhaps you should.

Just sayin’

>wink< >wink<

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!

How To Really Sell EBooks

On July 5, 2011, in Build a Bestseller, ebooks, how I write, novels, promotion & publicity, publishing, Uncategorized, website, writing, by admin

I’ve been getting a lot of email lately asking me how I sell as many ebooks as I do. Since starting to seriously sell ebooks in Late-January 2011, I’ve sold over 20,000 of them and June was my best month to-date. I haven’t sold a million ebooks yet, but I’m making a very nice income [...]

I’ve been getting a lot of email lately asking me how I sell as many ebooks as I do. Since starting to seriously sell ebooks in Late-January 2011, I’ve sold over 20,000 of them and June was my best month to-date. I haven’t sold a million ebooks yet, but I’m making a very nice income right now and people who follow me on Twitter and Facebook have been asking if I’d share some of what works for me. So I decided to put together a real quick, down-and-dirty ebook of what I do to make my sales. Having recently read another ebook purporting to tell how the author sold gobs and gobs of ebooks and been sorely disappointed at the stunning lack of concrete steps, I made sure my ebook is full of actual tactics and steps anyone can do right now that will help add sales to their bottom line. These are the actual steps I use myself.

Thus “How To REALLY Sell EBooks” was born. It’s quick. Just 7200 words, but it’s jammed with the stuff I use to sell my ebooks. And it all starts with Twitter. My basic premise has always been: if I have more followers on Twitter, then proportionally, I ought to be able to find more readers among all of those followers. That’s just common sense. And by far the biggest and best tool I use to develop and expand my follower numbers is Tweet Adder. This incredible piece of software is the single best investment I’ve made in my ebook selling. It fully automates everything, and that means you spend a LOT less time on twitter and more time writing ebooks. I can’t recommend it highly enough. In full disclosure, I recently became an affiliate for them because I happen to believe in the product so much. So If you do choose to buy the software, I make a few bucks.

In any event, “How To REALLY Sell EBooks” is now available for both the Kindle and the Nook. It’s priced at $4.99, which is the same price that other ebook selling guides are currently selling for. The steps I outline in my book will give you a lot more bang for your buck than the other guides. And there’s no worthless anecdotal padding of the book. It’s lean and mean and designed to get you moving ebooks. After all, you’ve got other books to write! I hope you check it out and find it useful!

Buy it for the KINDLE | Buy it for the NOOK

Jon F. Merz

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