vampires

 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!

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 by Jon F. Merz

October is Fan Month!

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! 🙂

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 by Jon F. Merz

30,000 EBooks

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!

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 by Jon F. Merz

Updates…

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!

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 by Jon F. Merz

Upcoming Releases

Time to check out what I’ve got coming up for release very soon…

1. THE SHEPHERD: A Lawson Vampire Mission – Lawson in Pakistan & Afghanistan? Yup. Look for this to be released next week on the Kindle & Nook.
2. OATHBREAKER: A Lawson Vampire Short Story – Lawson in the hospital? Yup. Based on my recent stay in the hospital, this one will be out in a few weeks on the Kindle & Nook.

Less firm in terms of release dates are the following Lawson adventures:

3. THE RIPPER: A Lawson Vampire Novel – Probably October
4. CANARY TRAP – A Lawson Vampire Mission – December

What else am I working on? How about a throwback to the old men’s adventure series novels like The Executioner, The Destroyer, and the like? Yup. It’s a brand new series from me and it’s going to be horrifically violent and filled with non-stop action, fighting, gun battles and more. The first adventure in the series is called BLACK WIDOW RISING, but that’s all I’m saying right now. Look for a release around mid-summer.

I’m also working on a series of satirical essays, channeling some of my sarcasm into print. God help us all. The first essay should hit in a month, maybe less. Prepare yourselves. No one shall be spared, lol…

Joe Nassise and I are also finishing up the first novel in our supernatural/SF/action series HELLstalkers. I’m hoping we have book 1 out by the end of the summer.

And finally, I’ve got a few traditional print projects firming up. One of them has an offer (even though I can’t talk it up yet) that we’re trying to “expand,” so to speak. I’m excited about it and the editor I’d be working with. But no can say no more right now so no ask me, m’kay? Thanks.

That’s about it. Remember to spread the word about my writing if you like what I’m doing. Your words to a friend’s ear sells more ebooks and keeps me looking stylin’ in my corduroy leisure suits. And really, what better purpose is there in life?

And if you’re missing out on any of my ebook goodness, you can fill up your Kindle and Nook with everything I have just by clickety-clicking the links below:

Jon F. Merz on the Kindle | Jon F. Merz on the Nook

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