Wipe the blood off your phone or iPad, and get your undead fingers ready for screen tapping, because the Summer of Sludge is about to begin. In just a few days (on 06/05/14) Sons of Sludge will be launching on Amazon.
But what does it mean for a book to "launch"? Simply put, it is a release, just like the opening night for a movie or the grand opening of a new store. But the reason I use the term launch instead of release is because it is a more active word. I don't just want to release this story, I want to propel it forward past the millions of books already available. I don't just want to "put it out there", I want it to explode in the faces of potential readers.
With the way Amazon works, every author wants their title to be in the top 20... or even top 100. When you're there, browsing readers who aren't exactly sure what they want to try out can see your book, possibly click on it, and maybe even choose it.
And there's more than just the Top 100 list of every Amazon book available. There's Top lists for sci-fi, romance, political, self-help, horror (that's me!), young adult (me again!), etc. Find yourself in any one of those lists, and your chances of gaining new readers dramatically increases. But being absent from them, however, might ensure your book is never found.
More sales leads to more exposure, which leads to more sales, which leads to... You get the idea.
So how does one land a coveted spot in the Top 100 of anything? It's not so much the total number of sales over the entire time your book is available, but rather a healthy spike within a concentrated amount of time, particularly in a day. Between selling 5 everyday over a month (total 150), or only 100 for the whole month, but all on a single day, you'll want to get that single day pop.
That's what a launch day is all about, and that's where you come in.
If you have zero interest in getting your hands on this book, fine. Not everyone likes the same kind of book, not everyone has enough free time to read, and not everyone likes to read books from a screen. I get that, and I'm not trying to pitch to uninterested readers.
But if you are planning on reading Sons of Sludge, I humbly suggest/recommend/insist/demand (don't make me make you!) downloading it on the launch date, 06/05/14. This increases the chances of putting it in any one of those Top lists, and kicking off the Summer of Sludge with a bang.
If you don't own a Kindle, and you've never downloaded an ebook from the Amazon Kindle store, the steps to getting S.O.S. are as easy as human-brains pie:
1. Get an Amazon account. It's free and only takes a few minutes to set up.
2. Get a Kindle Reading App. There's one for nearly every device imaginable (smartphone, tablet, Mac or PC), and it's also free and only takes a few minutes to set up. Here's a link: CLICK THIS. Then you just sign in using your Amazon account (see Step #1).
3. Get Sons of Sludge. It'll be $3.99, it's a great summer zombie read, and you'll be helping out your favorite indie author (me again!).
I'll see you on 06/05/14!
