Win a Free Kindle

Win a Kindle

Several of the MG/YA authors over at Kindleboards.com, myself included, have gotten together to giveaway a Kindle and tons of ebooks. It’s free to enter, just sign up at the Kindle 'Indie'pendence website. Winners will be chosen on (or around) July 4^th (thus the contest name).

You can get extra entries for things like tweeting the contest, linking to it on Facebook, etc.

The most extra entries are given for reviewing one of the organizing author’s books. You get 20 free points for posting a review on a retailer site (Amazon, B&N, SmashWords, Apple Store) and an extra 5 for each site you cross-post it to. So, if you post a review on Amazon, B&N, and SmashWords, then you’ll get 30 entries.

Now, if you are like me, you’ve probably already spent your monthly budget on ebooks, even the 99¢ ones. I know money is tight for practically everyone, so I’m giving free copies of my short story collection: Monster Mashup. At 20,000 works, it’s a quick read and there’s no requirement that you leave a review. But if you do, you can rack up 30 or more entries.

I’ll give away up to10 copies to the first 10 people who post a comment in this post. Either, post your e-mail in the comments, or if you don’t want to do that, then post a comment and e-mail me at: mikejware@gmail.com

Be sure to let me know what format you’d like it in: PDF, ePub or Mobi (for the Kindle). If I get more than 10 requests, it will be the first 10 to post comments. So, post a comment, even if you plan on e-mailing me.

If you aren’t into MG shorts, check out the contest, with 16 authors, you're bound to find another great book! Just remember you have to sign-up to win and you have to send a message to:  kindleindiependence at hotmail .com to get your extra entries (for posting reviews, links on your blog, etc).

Update: We're doing it again this year, but giving out TWO kindles! Enter here (ends 7/7/21).

New Lower Kindle Price $114, With a Catch

I went to Amazon's site this morning and noticed they are selling the $139 Kindle for $114, if you agree to automatically receive ads on it. Apparently this offer has been up for at least a few days (I'm not sure how I missed it, as I order from Amazon a couple times a week for business supplies).

So, for $25 off, you get the WiFi only Kindle, but you agree that Amazon can automatically display ads on it. The good news is that, at least for now, the ads only show up on your homepage and your screensaver. I haven't taken the time to read the fine-print, but I wonder how much leeway they've left themselves in changing when and where the ads display.

There's all sort of neat things you can do with ads in ebooks: Ads that appear when you turn the page. Links that appear right in your book, transporting you to an advertiser's webpage if you click on them. Ads inserted between paragraphs. Wait, did I say, 'neat things'? I meant, horrible things. There's few more devastating ways to mess-up the reading experience than break the reader away from the story with an ad.

Yes, Amazon is known for being very consumer friendly. I've had great customer service almost every time I've had an issue. But still, I don't trust any corporation with power over my valuable reading time. I know many of you are like me, so busy, that it's hard to find even 15 minutes of uninterrupted time to read. Is it really worth $25 to risk those few golden minutes?

Honestly, I'm really surprised Amazon didn't lower the price below $100, the magic price point that really would drive sales. It seems like a big misstep on their part. If you've never worked in marketing, sales or retail, you may not know that $99 is one of the biggest sociological price points.

Now, I'm not 100% against the idea of a few ads in between books. If the terms are clearly spelled out (which they might be) and they have some sort of expiration date; even, say three years (which they don't appear to); then I might be willing to sign myself up for something like $50 off.

But indefinitely giving away a portion (no matter how tiny) of my valuable reading time for a lousy $25 bucks? No, I don't think so.

A whole Weekend of Writing and a New eBook of Shorts

Cover by my good friend
Ronnell D. Porter.

One of my kids was out of town this weekend, leaving just the baby for my wife and I to watch. As a result I got almost a whole weekend of writing done. Wow, it was great. Of course, I paid for it this week and have been swamped ever since.

Still, I was able to get a new little collection of shorts published. Hide-n-Go Coffin has three MG/early YA short stories. I've put it up at both Amazon, and Barnes & Noble (Apple coming soon). At 6,000 words it's a fairly quick read. If anyone would like a free review copy just e-mail or send me a message and I'll be glad to send it to you (also let me know what format, Kindle, Nook, PDF, MS Word).

 Book Description

Includes two three 'terrorific' short stories.

Playing hide-and-seek in a cemetery is disrespectful. When it happens to be cursed, the results can be deadly. Or even worse, as Jason finds out when he takes a bet to play an ill-fated game on Halloween.

Includes the bonus short story: Brother's Keeper – Zack would be wise to spend less time looking for his missing sled and more time worrying about what is lurking outside. But he's not the only one who'll have to pay for his single-mindedness.

Also includes the bonus short story: Grandpa's suits – A game of spin-the-bottle with the school pervert isn't a bright idea. Fortunately for Zoey, she's not quite alone.

These stories are not recommended for kids under 8.