Web Fiction Guide, Goodreads & Death

I got an e-mail a few days ago from the editor of a place called the Web Fiction Guide, which is "a community-run listing of online fiction.  We list anything that is original and story-oriented (we don’t list fanfic or erotica), and that is available to read for free online.  As with other online media (blogs, webcomics, etc.), some of it’s good, and some of it’s not.  Our goal is to help you find stuff you want to read." Anyway, it seems one of the members submitted The Silver Ring, so now it's listed on their site, which is nice.

Speaking of The Silver Ring, I'd uploaded it to the Kindle Store a few weeks ago just to get it out there. Sold a few units but that was it. I quickly realized what promotion is all about, so (shamefully) I visited one of the message boards for Kindle users and mentioned the novella and got a few more units sold. This, as I understand it, is the way to become successful. But I'm sorry, I still can't bring myself to do the whole song and dance, at least not yet ...

But having the novella on Kindle got it listed at Goodreads, which then allowed me to sign up as a Goodreads Author ... which is cool and everything, though the truth is any Joe Schmoe can self-publish and be listed as an "author" too, so it's really not that big of a deal. Still, for those interested, my "page" can be found here.

Finally, regular readers of this blog will remember we have a pet rat named Ralphie. He's had some trouble these past couple months, dealing with tumors, and while we've been able to stay on top of them for the most part, a tumor has appeared in a new spot, a place that wouldn't be beneficial to try to have taken out, so, well, now we're just taking it day by day and hoping for the best.

Oh, and I'm posting the Hint Fiction anthology guidelines tomorrow, July 1, so depending when you read this they might already be there. Check out the Hint Fiction page for more details.

Ain't She A Beauty?

Well yes, this is a new site -- actual friggin website, baby -- but the title of this post refers to the piece of art below. You see, I recently uploaded my sf action novella The Silver Ring onto Kindle. I set the price so that it would be as cheap as it can get (right now 95 cents), hoping that people will take a chance on something priced so low. Remember, the point of launching the novella wasn't to make money but to try to gain readers.

Anyway, Amazon recommended that I add some kind of image for the cover. But I didn't have any proper images. Fact is, when it comes to graphic art, I'm quite the novice.

So I did what any desperate individual would do -- I contacted an old friend of mine, Wyatt Perko, who makes his living doing graphic design (among other cool things).

I e-mailed him, asking if he could make up a quick image, just a black square with THE SILVER RING and ROBERT SWARTWOOD centered in the middle in white.

All I wanted was something to upload, something to keep that pesky "no image available" off the page.

But what does he do?

The crazy bastard goes all out.

Feast your eyes, people:

I don't know about you, but I love it. Sets the perfect tone for the novella. If the thing were an actual printed chapbook, that's the exact cover I would want. Has an otherworldly, pulpish nature to it that just kicks ass.

So yeah, the novella is available on Kindle right now for the low low low price of 95 cents.

Of course, if you don't own a Kindle (and even if you do), you can still read it absolutely free at the main site.

(Oh and yes, the new website -- I'll post more about that later.)