Busy Day Today, Tomorrow Looks The Same

Over the last few days, I've been working with Kelly IT services on a potential job working with Joomla out in Oswego, IL.  I'm not sure what the job entails, but they've asked me to come in to the recruiter's office tomorrow for a face-to-face screening prior to putting may name and quals in front of the client.  The job could pay up to $25 and hour.  The only downside to this is that Oswego is quite a haul at an hour's drive.

Also, Ashley Ellis, another IT staffing firm, called today to arrange for a phone screening tomorrow afternoon.  I had applied last night for a position which the recruiter said had closed, however they have other positions that I could be a fit for so they want to learn more about me.

Today was supposed to be a relatively relaxing day.  Amy took the kids to her mom's, as her mom offered to give me a day off.  I had originally planned to spend the day working on Avenging Angel, but it started with trading emails with Kelly IT including a phone call to make arrangements.  After that, I spent some time on the phone with fellow author and my good friend Lakisha Spletzer.  We went over some ideas on how to tie in The Alliance Chronicles to some of her books.  It looks like we may set up a collaboration of some kind for "The Sword of Draesoneth" as I'm considering including werewolves in the story.

After talking with her, I chatted with Joe from Gotham's Finest.  There were some concerns about the organization and structure of the group which needed to be discussed.  By the time all of that was said and done, it was past lunch time.  Over lunch, I relaxed and read more of President George W. Bush's book "Decision Points", which has been a wonderful read so far.  While I've read biographies in the past (namely John Madden's "Hey Wait A Minute, I Wrote A Book, Maj. Greg Boyington' biography and another book called "Chicken Hawk" which was about a chopper pilot's experiences in Vietnam"), Pres. Bush's book is the first presidential memoir I've read and really gives some great insights on his time in office and what led up to his run for president.

I squeezed in some time playing Mass Effect, and before leaving to pick up the kids, I recieved the call from Ashely Ellis.  So yes, it's been a very busy day.  I can say that my clothes are at least ready for tomorrow.  I just need to pick out a decent tie to wear.

Kindle Sales of Ascension Are Impressive, At Least To Me.

Ascension:  Book One of The Alliance Chronicles has been on Kindle for only a couple of weeks now and has earned 6 sales (or downloads, if you want to look at it that way) which may not be too impressive to too many people, but to a self published author, 6 sales means that 6 people were impressed enough by the book to want to purchase it.

As of this writing, Ascension ranks at #36,439 on Kindle's rating system.  Pretty decent.  Not the Top 100 of all books for Kindle, but still decent.  I'm not sure where it falls in the top 10k of science fiction on Kindle, but I'm certain with a few more sales of the edition that the numbers will improve?

So why am I worried about the numbers?  It gives me a glimpse in to the popularity of the book, if the book is selling and overall it makes me feel decent as an author. It lets me know that the chances of people seeing this book and being interested in it are improving.  Granted I try to market the heck out of the book on Facebook and Twitter, its still nice to see the results

So next up is Avenging Angel:  Book Two of The Alliance Chronicles, where I will be picking up from where I left off with Ascension.  Can I describe the book in a few words?  Sure.  Decent In To Hell comes to mind, complete with evil deities and evil zombie cyborgs.  I don't want to give away too much of the book as it will be coming out sooner rather than later, but I will say that you will get to learn more about several of the characters, and maybe even a glimpse in to Migichinan history.

 So, if you have not had a chance to get it, now is the time to go get a copy of Ascension on Kindle or in print and get ready for Avenging Angel, coming soon!

Ascension: 2nd Edition and Kindle Format

It's hard to believe its been over 7 years since the 1st edition of Ascension was published.  7 years of really just letting the book languish under contract to PublishAmerica.  That contract came to an end recently, allowing me the freedom to bring the book back in 2nd Edition format as well as Kindle edition.  Of course, PA started offering Kindle formats, but Lord knows what royalties they'd offer.  I could have gone Kindle format, but to do that, I would have had to by books.  I got tired of their crap after a while, asked to be taken off their spamming list and allowed my contract to expire.  I had the option to buy out my contract, but $99 seemed a little like extortion.  I chose patience.

I didn't really start writing tonight to bitch about my former publisher.  I wanted to plug Ascension.  It's not out in 2nd Edition and Kindle formats and I got the proof for the print copy today!  I was totally amazed by Amazon's CreateSpace service.  The book looks fabulous, the cover art (though I created it) was spot-on, and it looks like a BOOK and not some wimpy little... book that PA put out.  Sorry, bitching again.

Oh... the Kindle Edition looks great too!  I was concerned (at first) about how it would look, would it be readable and so on, but after my wife showed me the copy she put on her Droid X, my fears were eased and I am really a happy camper.

Up next is Avenging Angel.  The book is in fact written, I just need to re-read it, make some edits and changes and then go for it.  I'd say look for it to be released in the next three months or so.

Stay Frosty!!!