Read an E-Book Week

Sunday marked the start of Read an E-Book Week, a new initiative to introduce more readers to ebooks and their lasting place within the world of content. Obviously, given my success with ebooks last month, I’m very interested in introducing more readers to my work, so a week long push to drive more people to ebooks sounds like a great idea to me. If you’ve got a Kindle, you can check out a complete list of my work by clicking here. And if you’ve got a Nook or other e-reader that handles the epub format, please click here to see what’s available.

Sunday, I also passed something of a milestone. On the 6th day of March, I sold my 1000th ebook of the month. That’s pretty damned cool. My ebook experiences are definitely opening up a whole new world of possibilities and I’m thrilled to meet so many new fans. if you’ve read one or all of my ebook offerings, I hope you’ll recommend them to several friends so my audience continues to grow through

Later this week, the next issue of Boston Nocturne goes out, so make sure you’re subscribed to it since the next installment of the free Lawson adventure MISSION: MALTA will be in the newsletter. Also, later this week or early next, my debut column over at Inveterate Media Junkies goes live. I’ll post details on that when I have them. It will make for interesting reading, though…

The End of Fabruary

Bunch of stuff to talk about today…

Last week was spent suffering through a nasty bout of the flu. I was down for most of the week (the worst was actually over in about two days, but the lingering effects sucked) and spent all my awake time finishing off my final Rogue Angel novel. I’ve had an absolute blast writing on that series, but after eleven novels, I’m pretty burned out. The folks at Gold Eagle are fantastic to work with and I really enjoyed my time with them.

But I’m excited about things ahead for one big reason: the preceding month has been renamed to “Fabruary.”

Let me explain…

I’ve always viewed the coming ebook revolution with something of a jaded eye. After a decade or more in this business, I’m always wary of supposedly “new” things. But I’ve also been playing around with ebooks for a few years now. I had some early success with it with regards to Parallax and then, after putting out a host of novels, short stories, and a few other things, my sales flatlined at about $100 earnings each month for the last year. That means I was making about a hundred bucks on sales of everything I had out on the Amazon Kindle platform. Not impressive, by any means – especially when I’d read blogs by other folks like Joe Konrath, Amanda Hocking (she just bought a house for cash with her ebook earnings), and even some closer friends and colleagues – all of them were enjoying some serious success.

And I wasn’t.

So, I decided to try to remedy that. At the end of January, I put my entire Lawson backlist – four novels, a novella, and four short stories – out on both the Kindle and the Nook platforms. In February, I also debuted a new novella, SLAVE TO LOVE, and then in late February, I reworked the cover of Parallax, dropped its price to 99 cents, and put an excerpt from THE FIXER in the back of it. The goal was to use Parallax as something of a gateway drug to my Lawson series.

The results have been amazing.

Thanks to a series of incredible covers, the Lawson backlist is selling very well, indeed. As of this moment, THE FIXER alone has sold 450 copies on the US Kindle store alone. Priced at $2.99, the novel has earned me $900 and change this month. That’s 100% gorgeous passive income – and it’s 9 times what I made in total for the previous 9 months.

Ah, but I’ve got more than one Lawson novel. I’ve got four. The other three are all selling triple digits. The novellas are closing in on 3 digits and the short stories are selling very well.

So, by itself, the Lawson backlist was generating very strong sales during the shortest month of the year.

Then I dropped the price on Parallax. Until I reworked the cover, I’d sold 4 copies all month. After I dropped the price to 99 cents, I sold many more copies. As of last Friday, I’d sold just over 150 on the Kindle and perhaps 50 on the Nook.

But on Saturday morning, something incredible happened: Barnes & Noble featured Parallax in an email promo to its customers. Nothing elaborate; just a simple shot of some book covers. Parallax was featured in its “thrifty reads & great stories” section. I had no idea this had happened until very late Saturday night. Saturday morning, I saw that Parallax had suddenly sold 55 copies and I thought, “huh, interesting.” I continued to watch the numbers climb all day and into Saturday night. By midnight, it had done 347 copies for the day.

Incredible. My sales rank in the Nook store was beating the likes of JD Robb/Nora Roberts and I was on par with ebook success Amanda Hocking. I had no way of knowing if the trend would last, but yesterday, I sold 233 copies.

Staggering.

I have no idea if the Parallax burst will last, but I’m thrilled to have gotten such an amazing push. I’ve sold 25 copies this morning. You can still get it for the Nook HERE and on the Kindle HERE for just 99 cents. It’s a great book, one of my best.

So, with all that said, I’m very excited. The ebook revolution means that I have the freedom to write whatever I want and get it out there as soon as it’s ready for mass consumption. No longer do I have to slave over a proposal and hope that an editor in New York understands the scope of the project, gets excited, can then pitch it to a room full of supposed experts, gets the green light to acquire it, makes a decent offer (lol), and then tells me the book will be out in about a year. Now, if I have an idea I think is cool, I can just write the thing and put it out. If it flops, no biggie. If it’s a hit – all the better. But the amount of time and number of hoops to jump through for me to reach my readers has now been drastically winnowed.

After all, it’s always been about the readers. Or rather, it should have always been about the readers. That hasn’t always been the case with the traditional publishing model.

But now, it can be.

Am I through with traditional publishing? Probably not. But I will say this: my attitude has been changed tremendously given the success I’ve had in the shortest month of the year. I have big plans to get a lot more material out for ereaders – more Lawson, new series, fun stuff – a veritable ton of things that have only been ideas and “failed” proposals until now. (I say “failed” only because they didn’t sell in the traditional publishing world.)

The landscape is changing. Dramatically.

Borders has gone bankrupt. Is B&N going that way, too? Probably not since they adopted an ebook strategy. But the thing about ebooks is this: they’re not going to stop. And more people will get an e-reader. I love the feel of traditional books, but even I have been reading some things on my iPhone lately. We’re either at a tipping point or beyond it now. Millions are reading ebooks and millions more will soon join them.

Traditional publishers need to seriously revamp their contracts. Right now, the industry standard is 25% net on ebook sales.

That’s crap.

And as much as they may insist that costs are high for producing an ebook, it’s a bogus argument. I can put an ebook out on the Kindle and it takes me perhaps thirty minutes to do. Same for the Nook. I can hire someone to design a great cover.

So why would I give a publisher more than 50% of the proceeds from ebook sales?

For me personally, there’s a lot to think about in the coming months. Where do I want my career to go? With THE FIXER TV series moving ahead, do I want my books tied up by a traditional publisher that doesn’t pay me a fair rate?

Before the ebook revolution, the folks in New York (by and large) determined the destinies of writers.

Since the ebook revolution, that power has shifted. On a seismic scale. Writers now control their destinies. We can write what we want and sell it to our readers. Fewer middlemen means a lot of very good things, indeed.

I’m excited.

For the month of Fabruary, I just broke $3,000 in earnings for my ebooks. 30 times what I’d earned each month for the previous year. (and frankly, there are many writers making a LOT more than that right now, so my potential for sales isn’t going to go down, it’s going to go up as I a) produce more material, b) the number of folks reading ebooks climbs, and c) the number of e-readers sold climbs…)

That kind of success can make a person stop and think.

And it should.

So, while I do that, here’s a new review of THE KENSEI and a fun little Q&A with Talya. Enjoy!

The Lawson Vampire Series on Kindle

I’m happy to report that the first three Lawson vampire novels are now available for download in Amazon.com’s Kindle store (THE SYNDICATE is still processing). Simply click the thumbnails below to order them. By tomorrow, you’ll be able to read the first five novels on your Kindle (although I hope you’ll pick up a paperback copy of THE KENSEI since I really need your help selling that print run out – if you want more Lawson!)

Your Weekend Reading

So THE KENSEI has been out in stores for four days now and I’m thrilled at the response it’s getting from readers, fans, and reviewers alike. People are posting pictures of themsevles with the book over on my Facebook Fan Page, which I absolutely love.

But I hope to keep the momentum going this weekend and see a whole bunch of people go and grab THE KENSEI at their favorite bookstore. Buying the paperback version helps me a lot more than the ebook version since selling out the first print run is vitally important to getting more Lawson books out! And remember, if you buy both and ebook and print version, it count as TWO entries into the sword giveaway contest (send receipts to thekenseicontest@gmail.com for a chance to win).

To help you, I’ve listed all the places you can buy THE KENSEI below:

Canadian Friends:

UK Friends:

So please get out there this weekend and pick up a copy or two! Be sure to tell your friends and family, too! Thanks!

Looking For Some Lunchtime Reading?

I hear ya.

You’re bored at work.

Still haven’t been able to get to the nearest Barnes & Noble to grab that amazing book THE KENSEI by some schmoe named Jon F. Merz.

And you’re staring at a computer screen, trying to get excited about that microwavable meal you brought to work.

Well, I’m here to help. Just point your smart phone’s QR Code Reader app (tons of free ones around) at the image below and enjoy! INTERLUDE: A Lawson Vampire short story – my way of saying thanks to all of you who have purchased THE KENSEI and all of you who will. As soon as your camera takes the picture, it will download the .pdf file containing the story. I hope you enjoy it.

Rock on and rejoice in all things Lawson!

INTERLUDE: A Lawson Vampire Short Story

Grease covered my fingers. I had a mouthful of the steak-and-cheese sub and chewed very, very slowly. The barrel of a gun aimed at you can make everything slow down. Even when you can’t see it.

The man across from me in the red plastic laminate booth smiled like he’d just managed to win the lottery and bed Hollywood’s hottest starlet in the same afternoon. “Caught you with your pants down, Lawson. Imagine that.”

I swallowed. Outside, the mid-afternoon sun stabbed westward and as it did, I caught the glint off the scope atop what was no doubt a sniper rifle on a roof across the way.

I let my eyes track back to the man in front of me. “Whoever that is, he any good?”

“He won’t miss.” Stegman pointed at the sub. “Want to finish that? Your last meal and all.”

I frowned. Stegman was supposed to be in Helsinki right now. Not sitting across from me in a booth in a pizza joint in Allston. A first class ticket for a 5:30pm flight on Fin Air sat in my breast pocket, proof the Council wanted me to hunt Stegman down and execute him for laundering money for Moscow’s new power elite. Stegman’s activities would draw attention from Western intelligence agencies and could possibly expose the fact that a race of living vampires existed in secret alongside humanity.

Not cool.

I took a sip of the Pepsi and leaned back, keeping my hands on the table so One-Shot-One-Kill across the way didn’t get jumpy. “You know it won’t end with me. The Council will just send another Fixer after you.”

“Killing you like this will give them pause,” said Stegman. “And allow me to disappear from their radar.”

I smiled. “Not possible. The Council will find you. Eventually.”

“By then it won’t matter. Not once I have enough money to find the Cloak of Despar.”

I smirked. “You’re hunting folklore?”

“Laugh all you want, but you know as well as I what that cloak will enable me to do when I find it.”

I frowned. Every vampire child knew the Legend of Despar and how he’d supposedly worn a magical cloak that kept him safe from a wild pack of humans intent on hunting him down as he made his way through the Khyber Pass almost three centuries back. Given to him by the vampire monks of Tibet, the cloak allegedly made the wearer invisible and acted like amazing armor in case of battle.

But it was a fairy tale. And no one I knew actually believed it.

Correction: Stegman apparently did.

“You’re chasing a legend.”

He shrugged. “You think so? I don’t. I found Despar’s journal, written after he successfully made his way home to Florence. He left specific instructions for locating the cloak.”

“And you know where it is?”

Stegman frowned. “Almost. I have one or two things I need to acquire before the exact location can be discerned.”

“Hence the money laundering operation you’ve been running.”

“The collapse of the Soviet Union left a power vacuum. Now there are people coming to power with no knowledge of how to grow their money.”

“Or hide it.”

“Naturally.” Stegman grinned and looked out of the window. “Corruption is a natural by-product of chaos. The Russians need someone they can trust.”

I shook my head. “You’ll attract too much attention. You know the Council can’t allow that.”

Stegman eyed me. “You’re out of your league here, Lawson. The man on the roof will kill you the moment I give the signal.”

“He’ll need a bit of luck to take me down through the plate glass window here. I figure the distance is at least a thousand feet. Plus wind. He’d better know his stuff.”

“He does.”

The way Stegman said it didn’t fill me with much confidence. It was entirely possible he’d tracked down someone who knew how to make that shot easily. There are a lot of vampires who wouldn’t mind taking a Fixer out.

We’re so unappreciated.

I stared at Stegman. “So, you get the cloak and then what? You keep laundering money for other people?”

He shook his head. “I’ve been funneling most of it into an offshore account in Grand Cayman for months now. The money buys me the life I want. The cloak affords me the security I need.”

“Not much of a life always looking over your shoulder.”

Stegman glanced at his manicured nails and shrugged. “You manage.”

I smiled. “Most of the people I meet end up dead very quickly.”

“Except me.”

I hefted the large cup of Pepsi and shook my head. “Don’t count on it.”

As Stegman frowned, I jerked my right hand, launching the Pepsi all over the window even as I already started to slide out of the booth around to where Stegman sat.

The plate glass window shattered as the first round crashed through, scoring a line across the back of the seat and impacting the floor inches from my foot.

I yanked Stegman down and out of the booth, using his body to shield my own as another bullet slashed through the air. Those sniper bullets would fragment lignum vitae wood into my bloodstream and that would make for a real unpleasant day.
The two people behind the counter screamed and high-tailed it for the back door.

My exit.

“Let’s go.”

Stegman put up a fight until I drew my pistol and thunked him on the side of the head with it. His body went limp.

The sniper would need to break the rifle down and stow it before coming down. We made the back door and I risked a look outside. I’d only have a problem if Stegman had back-up.

But no bullets shattered the doorjamb and I eased us outside, keeping Stegman’s body in front of mine.

The wail of sirens told me my time was limited. Human cops would swarm all over the area, looking for the culprit who shot out the windows at the pizza joint. That meant the sniper would run.

Stegman started to come around. I jerked him up by his collar. “Who’s the shooter?”

He shook his head. “You’ll kill me if I tell you.”

“You’re dead either way, buddy.”

I could see the look in his eyes. Stegman had never impressed me as much of a big fish and the look of acceptance now confirmed it. Not all of the bad guys I chased were impressive.

“He washed out of a Specter unit for drug use.”

I frowned. Specter teams were the guys who didn’t make the cut to become Fixers and instead served as security for vampire towns and villages. Drug abuse wasn’t limited to humans, though.

“Thanks.”

Stegman looked up at me, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore. I pressed the barrel of my pistol to his chest and squeezed the trigger. A single pop sounded and Stegman’s face contorted in agony as the wooden fragments exploded into his bloodstream. His fangs extended their full length and then began to retract as death came for him.

I let his body slide behind the dumpster and glanced around. The sirens were about ten seconds away and I needed to be anywhere else.

I hoofed it around front then slowed, finding my way to my car two blocks further down as the first cruisers screeched to a halt behind me. I gunned the engine and slid out and away from the commotion. Better for me to be elsewhere.

My cell purred in my pocket. Niles, my Control. I flipped it open. “Yeah?”

“You at the airport?”

“No need. Stegman found me.”

“Interesting.”

“He brought a friend. He got away.”

There was a pause. “That’s a bit unlike you.”

“Guy was a sniper. Had the drop on me from a thousand feet.”

“We know who he is?”

I smiled. “Not yet. That’s where you come in.”

“I assume you’ve got details.”

“Former Specter. Washed out for drugs.”

“We can work with that. What happens then?”

“Only so many holes a guy like that can climb into. Just a matter of me finding the right one.”

“Before he finds you.”

I smirked. “There is that small possibility.” I hung up the phone and cruised down Commonwealth Avenue toward the city. As the evening descended, one more shadow would slink across the city tonight.

At least until I found him.

END…?

Did you enjoy this? Leave me a comment! And please grab a copy of THE KENSEI – you can order it from any of the following links:

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