publishing

 by Jon F. Merz

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

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!

🙂

in Build a Bestseller / ebooks / general / gifts / how I write / lawson / ninjutsu / promotion & publicity / publishing / Uncategorized / vampires / website / writing 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

More New Lawson!

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!

in Build a Bestseller / ebooks / graphic novels / graphic novels / lawson / novels / promotion & publicity / publishing / short stories / Uncategorized / vampires / website / writing 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

Frosty The Hitman A Blazing Success!

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

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

My Christmas List

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…

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

Thanks Santa! 🙂

in boston nocturne / ebooks / general / gifts / life thoughts / promotion & publicity / publishing / silly stuff / Uncategorized / writing 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

Zombie Ryu: The Gathering


I’ve launched a brand new project using Kickstarter called ZOMBIE RYU: The Gathering. This is the first in a planned trilogy of books about an elite group of warriors and a 16 year old girl who must battle zombies in feudal Japan while searching for the evil monk who unleashed them. It’s got samurai, ninja, and zombies.

Can’t you just feel how awesome this is going to be? 🙂

Nonstop martial arts mayhem, outlandish battles between the living and the dead, and the struggle between good and evil played out against the backdrop of feudal Japan, an exotic landscape, and the hidden destiny of a very special girl.

If I’d pitched this to traditional publishing, it would take months to get an answer. And I don’t like waiting, so I’ve launched it on Kickstarter to see if I can drum up the necessary funds to produce the book. The incredible Greg Ruth is coming on board to design the cover if we get the funding we need and if we do better than our goal of $18,000 I’m hoping I can convince Greg to do some interior illustrations as well. The thing about Kickstarter is that it’s “all or nothing,” in other words, if I don’t reach the goal of $18,000 in the next 13 days, no one gets charged for backing the project.

So your support is crucial to the success of this entire project.

Please take a moment to visit the official page for it, check out the rewards I’ve set up for backers, and consider supporting it. I’d also appreciate you spreading the word to friends and family via social media like Facebook, Twitter, and even blog posts.

in Build a Bestseller / ebooks / life thoughts / martial arts / self protection / novels / promotion & publicity / publishing / Uncategorized / writing 0 comments