boston nocturne

 by Jon F. Merz

THE KENSEI Contest

Apparently this got missed in all the excitement of the book’s release, so I want to make sure everyone knows about it! We are giving away the sword we used in THE KENSEI official book trailer!

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. And yes, ebook sales count as entries, too – ALTHOUGH, I REALLY want people to buy print copies so we can sell out that first print run! One winner will be drawn on May 28th, 2011. You can send your entries to:

thekenseicontest AT gmail DOT com

Good luck!

Buy THE KENSEI at Barnes & Noble | Buy THE KENSEI at Amazon.com

in boston nocturne / Build a Bestseller / ebooks / gifts / lawson / ninjutsu / novels / promotion & publicity / publishing / THE FIXER TV series / Tour 2011 / vampires / website / writing 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

7 Days, A Newsletter & A Contest

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!

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 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

Welcome to 2011: The Year of Lawson

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a great holiday season filled with wonderful memories. Now, it’s January and it’s time to get back into the swing of things. For me, this means getting ready to herald the debut of THE KENSEI, my long-awaited 5th Lawson Vampire novel, from St. Martin’s Press. To that end, I’m engaged in a lot of stuff right now. Tons of promotion around this title is coming. This week, I launch my newly-revamped FREE newsletter, BOSTON NOCTURNE – which you should sign up for right now since it’s going to feature a FREE serialized Lawson adventure called MISSION: Malta along with a lot of other really cool content.

Additionally, I’m still working on finishing up THE MADAGASCAR MATTER, so if you’ve subscribed to that, don’t worry – the end is coming and it will be chaotic mayhem, to say the least!

From the publicity plan I’ve laid out, you’ll pretty much be hearing about another review or interview every weekday from January through April. My goal is to sell the holy nuts out of this book and I’m always grateful when others retweet or share my posts. The more people who know about Lawson, the better. Just last night, THE KENSEI got a fantastic review over on RomFan Reviews. Many more of these will be coming. You can also read my first interview of the new year over at The Novel Blog. They’ll be adding a review soon.

Look for added pages out here on the website – including a bunch of freebies you can download. There’s a lot ahead this year – trust me, you’re not going to want to miss it! 🙂

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 by Jon F. Merz

End of the Year Contest

So 2010 is drawing to a close and 2011 looms large with all sorts of awesome craziness bearing down on us all – namely the long-awaited release of my 5th Lawson vampire novel, THE KENSEI. As part of the gazillion things I’m doing for promotion around this title (and Lordy am I doing a LOT of stuff to promote it – check out the schedule late next week here and on Facebook if you don’t believe me…) I’m launching a brand new version of Boston Nocturne complete with graphics, free content, exclusive freebies, and much more. MISSION: MALTA, a brand new Lawson adventure debuts in the first issue of the newsletter next week and will run in serial format throughout the year – 100% FREE just because you guys are the best fans an author could ever hope for.

Anyway, I want to get a TON of subscribers for this newsletter. Thousands, in fact. And I’ve been pimping the hell out of the newsletter. Right now, I’ve got several hundred subscribers.

I want more.

So, here’s the contest part: get all your friends and family to sign up for the newsletter by going here: http://bit.ly/hBHz7t. You can use that link to pass along to your friends. Repost this on facebook, Twitter, any bulletin boards, email it out to your friends and family and colleagues. And then keep track of who among your contacts signs up. I get a notification every time someone new subscribes, so it’s simply a matter of you letting me know who was your referral. Easy, yeah?

Whoever sends the most new subscribers to Boston Nocturne gets the following:

  • 1. A signed ARC of THE KENSEI
  • 2. A signed cover flat of THE KENSEI book
  • 3. A signed copy of the actual book THE KENSEI when I receive my copies in a week or so.

Pretty cool, right?

There’s no time to waste. I’d like as many new subscribers as possible before the first issue of Boston Nocturne ships late next week. Go forth and strong-arm, cajole, persuade, seduce, extort, bribe, sweet-talk, whatever – just get more subscribers for my newsletter and the one who delivers the most wins that cool KENSEI prize pack.

Contest begins now and ends Wednesday, January 5th at 11:59PM.

🙂

in boston nocturne / lawson / ninjutsu / novels / promotion & publicity / publishing / Tour 2011 / website / writing 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

The Week Ahead…

Got a busy week ahead:

  • I’ll be sending out the next chapter of THE MADAGASCAR MATTER later today. This has been on-hold lately because of the other projects I’ve been involved in as well as some personal stuff that cropped up. In any event, we’ll be back on a regular schedule now, after leaving Lawson in a lurch (as I normally do, lol). So if you’ve subscribed to the ongoing serial, look for the next chapter coming your way soon!
  • Rewrites continue on the YA adventure series and I’ll be getting that back to my agent later this week. I’m excited about this one because it’s going to be big. Very big. More news when I can share it.
  • I need to rework a beat-sheet for the feature movie I’m working on.
  • Along those lines, I’m reading over a book my manager in LA wrote, so that should be fun as well.
  • I’m looking over website redesign plans for the new website for THE FIXER that will hopefully be unveiled this autumn. It will be the destination for all things Lawson. Stay tuned!
  • Got a few investor meetings lined up as well.
  • …and, of course, more training.

Seeya!

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