Sunday, January 9, 2011

Kindles Present Endless Author Possibilities

"The special combined edition: the first of its kind for Kindle??







Remember the days when you'd sign a major contract, get a big ass check in the mail, and just spend a year or so partying like a rock star in New York or Los Angeles or Lincoln, Nebraska for that matter? There was nothing else to do because after all, your book probably wouldn't be hitting the shelves until at least a year from contract execution.

I remember my original editor for The Innocent telling me to "Take a break," at the lobby bar of the hotel we were staying at for Bouchercon back when that novel was first about to be published by Delacorte.

All that's changed now with the new publishing model which includes heavy reliance on Kindle and E-Book sales. It's no longer cool for an author to write one book a year or every two years (Egaads!). Authors now can, and should, try and write at least a couple of novels a year, including some digital shorts. Readers with Kindles can now read more books simply because of the ease and convenience of downloading them and also because they can afford them. It used to be a bit of a strain on a budget to invest in a $30 book. But now you can have that same book for anywhere from $.99 cents to $9.99, hot off the digital press.

Other exciting opportunities also exist for authors, publishers, and readers. For instance, my bestselling Kindle novel, The Remains has been teamed up with Aaron Patterson's bestselling novel, Sweet Dreams to form one of the first ever special edition, two thriller Kindle packages which is now available from StoneHouse Ink for just $4.99. I'm not advertising the "Sweet Dreams/Remains" special edition so much as I'm alerting you the reader and author as to the great opportunities that now exist for us all.

It's because of these ops that I'm able to make a living and you dear reader, don't have to go broke because of it. Everyone benefits.

So what's on the horizon?

Digital shorts that will eventually be collected into a special edition volume. Collected non-fiction volumes, collected blogs, entire single author fiction cannons, special "uncut" editions of novels, special "cleaned up" editions of novels, etc. The opportunities are endless.

So long as the product is worth the price of admission and so long as we authors keep honing and improving our craft, we'll keep churning out the work for you. Oh, and thanks but no thanks, dear editor. This author isn't interested in taking breaks. I've got two novels going now and I can't wait to finish them so that I can start two more. After all, 'm a writer. That's what I do.

For a ton of Reading Ops, head to WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

Sunday, January 2, 2011

"Apostle Rising" Author Richard Godwin Hits The Airwaves!

"Hey man, nice knife!"





As an author I often asked to blurb other author's new upcoming novels. The positive to this is that I not only get turned on to new and exciting writing, but I get free stuff. Namely books!!! The downside is I simply don't have the time to blurb all the books I'm asked to blurb so almost certainly I'm missing out on some great new offerings. I'm almost never disappointed with the books I blurb and in fact, I see a real trend coming about of noir authors who are taking real chances with their style, their use of POV, tense, imagery, etc., as opposed to the garden variety white bread dullness the NYTs insists we purchase on a weekly basis. One of these real risk takers I speak of is the British author Richard Godwin whose new novel, Apostle Rising, kept me up most nights while I was in Florence, Italy, trying to write my own new novel. Thanks a lot Richard! One of these nights you're going to wake up and find me standing at the end of your bed with a French knife in my hand. Ok, that's a little dramatic, but that's precisely what it felt like to read his new thriller. It's that good. So what's it really all about? Check out this new radio interview here and see for yourself. Then go hide under the covers!!!

http://www.theauthorsshow.com/