Kindle Giveaway Blog Tour

Creative Spirit & Troubled for UK Kindle

In the spirit of creativity and the belief that no book should be left for dead, Creative Spirit (published in the US as The Manor in 2005) and Troubled (published in the US as The Home in 2006) are now alive in the UK and for English in multiple other territories (though currently NOT the US and Canada).

Coming soon; John O'Dowd's mystery Pale Blue Jesus.

Looking for Beta Readers!

Haunted Computer Books is preparing a handful of titles for fall release, and while we love reading, it's always good to get a fresh set of eyeballs on the work before it goes into production.

If you're a passionate reader with an eye for detail to check spelling, grammar, and logic, or just someone who wants an "advance look" at something and willing to review for Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari, and the like, we'd love to have you on the Beta Team. You get an acknowledgment in the credits and, if it helps, a line on your resume, plus you're the first kid on the block to find out what the twisted brains at Haunted Computer Books are cooking up next!

If you're ready for the challenge, email Scott at hauntedcomputerbooks AT yahoo.com. Thanks for your support.

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Tips for chipping in

The Skull Ring broke the 1,000 barrier so Uncle Scottie will be giving away faaahbulous prizes! Thanks much. If it does really well, say, cracks the Top 300, I've got more junk--er, esoteric rarities--to put on the pile. We're playing all week so I appreciate anything you can do to nudge it along. It tickles me to death that wonderful people like you can do what a major NY publisher's advertising budget can't guarantee. It's hard for me to show it without my grinning face (above), but I am incredibly humbled and grateful that you choose to put some of your positive energy behind me--it feels like wind beneath my wings.

Here's some more tips that help make a book more visible--if you hang out on Amazon, any of the communities are great places for conversation--if you like stories, books, movies, etc., you will find kindred spirits. If my book seems appropriate, you can click "insert product link" and type "skull ring kindle" and it will show the book, click, and it pastes the link right in the comment. Or simply copy and paste [[ASIN:B003980ELA The Skull Ring]]

You can also create "Mania Lists" and "So You'd Like To..." at Amazon. I always have fun with these, like "Ten scary thrillers" as recommended by "an aspiring writer" or "a lazy hack" or a "sleep-deprived maniac." Put in some of your favorite books. If mine is one, so be it!

One simple thing is to tag the book--on the Amazon product page, http://www.amazon.com/The-Skull-Ring-ebook/dp/B003980ELA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267495552&sr=8-1, add or click on tags such as "thriller," "suspense," "mystery," "romantic suspense," "indie author," "psychological thriller," etc. The important thing is to be genuine. Only do what you feel good about and are comfortable with.

Write a review if you feel like it. The number of reviews is actually more significant than the "star ranking." Better to have a three-star average with 200 reviews than a five-star average with five reviews. That means people are taking the book seriously. Reviews take a few days to post so they don't add that "instant impact," but they can help people make a decision to try the book. Again, be genuine. If you think it's a three-star book, put three stars. If you think it's a one-star book...go pick on James Patterson!

It's also up at Smashwords in other ebook formats, http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/9523.

Old-fashioned word of mouth is still the best promotion. If you have a friend you think would like the book, please let her know (I know, not everybody has a Kindle or Nook yet, but the paper version should be available in a couple of weeks.)

Again, thanks so much. The best is yet to come.
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The Skull Ring now available at Amazon and Smashwords

Suspense novel The Skull Ring is now live for Kindle at Amazon and for Sony, ePub, Stanza, Palm, and other formats at Smashwords. Hope you will give it a look.

Julia Stone is piecing together childhood memories of the night her father vanished. When she discovers a strange silver ring, the past comes creeping back. She finds messages inside her house, the cop who investigated her father's disappearance has followed her to the mountain town of Elkwood, and the religious local handyman is trying to save her in more ways than one. And now a sinister cult is claiming ownership of her body and soul...


The official launch is still March 1, at which time giveaways will ensue based on the book's success that week at Amazon. Hope you'll chip in as a Microchip and support working-class fiction!

#1-#2-#3

Thanks to some wonderful support from people in the Amazon forums community, The Red Church shot back up to #1 in Christian science fiction and fantasy, and is currently #2 in ghosts for kindle and #3 in "ghosts" overall, plus cracked the 1,000-ranking mark for the first time. (In Amazon rankings, lower is gooder, meaning #1 is the best seller.) I am enjoying writing more than ever and it means so much to be able to freely create and connect with readers.

And great partners like Neil Jackson at Ghostwriter, S.D. Sullivan, and L.C. Glazebrook, as well as loving support at home, make all this so much more meaningful. Here's Neil's new cover for "Burial to Follow." The man is talented. Thanks, you all, and please sign up to be a Microchip. It looks like The Skull Ring should also be able to crack the 1,000 barrier, at which point we're dumping in a lot more prizes.

Become a Haunted Computer Microchip and get free books

Haunted Computer is grateful for readers who take time to try new works in a world already crowded with far too much information. We also understand that word of mouth is our secret weapon in the war for attention. Well, we don't think of it as armed conflict. We prefer to believe we are sharing an intimate journey of dreams to make sense of this wild, wonderful world. Or we're insane.

If you like to blog about books, or agree to a minimum promotional commitment for the release day of our book (posting on Facebook, Amazon post, etc.), we'll be happy to give you a free PDF, Mobi, Sony Reader, ePub or other digital file of the work. In return, you get an advance read, you're an official Microchip, and from time to time we will have some tangible stuff to give away. On March 2, we will randomly give away a hardcover copy of Peter Straub's new thriller "A Dark Matter," and the 100th Microchip enrolled will get a signed, limited edition hardcover of the Brimstone Turnpike anthology.

How cool is that? You can say you knew Haunted Computer Productions back when it was just an electronic gleam in the world's laziest hack's eye. Plus you'll be supporting working-class books and writers. Heck, you're helping build the Haunted Computer!

If all that sounds weird enough to drag you in, please email hauntedcomputerbooks@yahoo.com with the subject line "Microchip."
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