Kindle Countdown Sale!

Now through March 5th, 2014, you can get both of my suspense/thriller novels for just $0.99 each. Normally $3.99 each, so this is a steal! Also available in the UK. Kindle Select members can still get the book for free. Enjoy! :-)

Price Drop! Aisle Six!

I'm cheap, not easy...there's a difference.

In preparation of my upcoming sequel release in January (Divisible by Six), I've lowered the cost of my debut book to the bargain basement price of $0.99 on Kindle, Nook, and more. That's right, you can now purchase my entire novel, all ~70,000 words of it, for about the price of a pack of gum. Full of substance with absolutely zero calories and no chewing required. So, if you've been on the fence, jump off and lay down your dollar. I promise, it's worth a Washington.

Remember, you don't have to own an ereader to buy an electronic copy. Both Amazon and B&N provide downloadable apps for either your smart phone or PC. Or, click on the "more" link above to go to Smashwords where you can download it in PDF form.

The Same Six Questions - Nancy Fulda

Thanks for stopping by The Same Six Questions! If this is your first time, welcome! This feature is all about independent authors and the fantastic work they're producing. If you're an author and would like to be featured, click here for more info.

Today's guest is author Nancy Fulda. Welcome Nancy!

Thanks, Andy! I'm a trained computer scientist, an author, a cancer survivor, and an incurable dance fan. I'm also the mother of a child on the autistic spectrum and the evil mastermind behind AnthologyBuilder.com. Yeah, I know. That's a lot of hats.

Well, thanks for taking some time out of your busy schedule, Nancy!

Now it's time for The Same Six Questions!

1. Have you published a book yet?

Yes! Dead Men Don't Cry is a collection of 10 science fiction stories that originally appeared in print and online magazines. It includes my first award-winning story ever. Also two Writers of the Future finalists and my 2006 Apex Digest Halloween Contest winner. (I'm afraid readers will have to wait until the next collection for my Jim Baen Memorial contest winner. I don't have rights reversion on that one yet.)

The stories are thought-provoking, occasionally disturbing, but generally optimistic about mankind and our future on this and other planets. They were a lot of fun to write, and I hope readers will find themselves pondering the stories long after they've turned the last page.

The book is available in paperback, Kindle, Nook, and DRM-free formats.

2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Since about the fourth grade. I brushed it off as a childhood fantasy, though. I went to college, traveled the world, founded a family, and still wound up back at the keyboard inventing imaginary cultures. I guess there are some parts of yourself you can't leave behind.

3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction? What was it about? When did you write it? Do you still have it?

*laughing* It was an ambitious novelette about a winged unicorn named Brimstone who set off on a daring journey to unlock the secrets of her universe. I can still hear her tagging along behind her mother, whining: "But I want to know!" I wrote it in the fifth grade, I think, on my Dad's PC using WordPerfect 5.0. Alas, the floppy disk it was saved on is no longer readable by any modern computer.

4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

It happened when I sold "The Man Who Murdered Himself" to the Phobos Science Fiction Anthology. There were a lot of great authors in that anthology: Virginia Baker, David Walton, Eric James Stone, James Maxey... I remember flipping through the galley, reading the biographical information and thinking, "If I can make it into an anthology with these people, maybe I can make it as a writer after all."

Ironically, it was my children who made writing a reality for me. Without children, I would have taken a full-time job doing software development. But I wanted kids, and I wanted to stay home with them. Programming was too brain-intensive for a new mother, but writing worked great. In fact, a large number of the stories in Dead Men Don't Cry were typed one-handed while I snuggled a sleeping baby on my lap.

5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

Good heavens, I wouldn't want to meet any of them! Imagine the flack they'd put me through. "Why did you kill my mother?" "What do you mean, I'm not sentient?" "What kind of author would invent a reality with plasma bees and alkaline lakes?" Nope. Let 'em stay between the pages of their stories. They're less inconvenient that way...

6. It's a dark and stormy night...you're alone in the house...there's a knock at the door...you open it, look out, and proceed to scream like a little girl. What's on the doorstep?

I'm trying to remember the last time I screamed like a little girl. I think it was at a family picnic where a pesky wasp kept buzzing at my clothing and I just couldn't take it. I had a small baby at the time, and I swear, those maternal hormones make me hypersensitive to poisonous insects. I loved tarantulas before I had kids. After? Uh-uh. But I think I'm getting off topic. What was the question again...?

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Thanks so much, Nancy! I had a moment of nostalgia for floppy disks...then I remembered how unreliable they were and it passed. ;) For more of Nancy and her writing, check out her blog and Amazon author page, or find her on Twitter.

Why Cheap Books Won’t Ruin the E-Publishing Industry

Lately, there’s been a bit of a kerfuffle about how 99 cent ebooks are going to ruin the book publishing industry. That, somehow, by introducing thousands of new self-published “authors” to the booming epublishing industry (if you hadn’t heard, Amazon recently reported esales overtaking paper sales for the first time), it’ll take down the industry as a whole. As if the appearance of a cheaper alternative is the death knell of anything! It’s not going to go away, people! It’s just going to change!

As Americans, we are well aware of the introduction of cheaper alternatives. Pick up almost any consumer item on the shelf and you’ll more than likely see “Made in [insert favorite Asian country here].” But, that doesn’t mean you (A) can’t purchase said item, or (B) find that item with a “Made in the USA” label on it (though the label itself might still be made in Japan, but I digress). The same could be said of many consumer items.

Ebook pricing seems to be a rather contentious topic for some ebook authors though. Presently, most traditional (ie, big six publisher) authors ebooks are priced in line with their tangible (paper) publications. I don’t particularly understand buying an ebook for $8.99 when it costs significantly less to produce than a paper version. For nontraditional authors, the price line seems to dip below $3.99. I’ve debated my introductory price for Multiples of Six and feel that $2.99 is a fair starting price to ask. I’ve worked hard on it and I think it’ll be entertaining. But, only those who purchase and read the book can decide whether or not the work is worthy of the price point. And, I hope they’ll take the opportunity to tell me so one way or the other.

However, what seems to be happening of late is a smear fest against authors listing their works for $0.99 (the lowest amount Amazon will accept, other than free). Without reading the work, people are automatically disparaging the authors of these works. They claim they are diluting the virtual bookshelf with 99 cent trash. Now, mind you, they may be right. I’m sure there are plenty of slapped-together, typo-filled, incoherant novels out there, luring in readers with the 99 cent price tag. Hey, who doesn’t like a bargain? But, guess what? Consumers are pretty smart. If you buy something on the cheap, then you expect a certain quality. If the product matches the price point, then who is to complain? The consumer has only shelled out a buck and the author has, essentially, made not claim that their work will be worth more than that. If there is a sense, on the part of the consumer, that they haven’t gotten their money’s worth, rest assured that the author will hear about it.

Let’s think about it in terms of frozen dinners. You’ve got your top of the shelf--ahem--Stouffer’s and Mary Callender’s, then you have your Hungry Man, then you’ve got your Banquet. The Banquet is on sale for 99 cents and the picture looks kinda like the one on the Stouffer’s. You give it a try. You know you can’t expect the Stouffer’s quality--ahem--, but you can’t really complain about spending a buck. Now, either one of two things will happen. The consumer will either realize the error of his ways and never trust another $0.99 frozen meal again or the consumer will be satisfied with what they received in exchange for their money. No, it wasn’t Stouffer’s, but it was adequate and got the job done for a bargain price. Happy customer.

So, ok, get to the point then. The 99 cent price point won’t kill publishing. The influx of crappy writing won’t kill publishing. Consumers are pretty smart cookies (mmm…cookies). Give them what they want at the price they want and they’ll keep coming back. Give them crap and they won’t. And, in the end, the cream will rise to the top as it always does. And, just think, the top will be that much higher with so much more crap underneath!