Zombie author J Gerard Michaels is offering the first episode of his zombie series, The Undead Candidate, as a free download from Tuesday through Thursday this week, right during the last debate! (It’s available now!)
He holds a special spot in our group as our first Kindle author, and is working on finishing the 4th book in the series, The Cord Wheaton Saga. To date he has written 18 episodes, compiling 16 of them into 3 books.
Zombie Valentine, episode 18 of The Cord Wheaton Saga, has been published on Amazon Kindle, and j gerard michaels, the author, is giving away FREE downloads this weekend, Feb 13-14, 2016.
For more information, please visit the author’s website.
What Do You Write With?
When I first got back into writing I came across authors and writers who wrote longhand. I think some still do. Since I could type faster than I could write, I chose to type.
In the beginning there was Word. (Microsoft Word) And other programs like WordPerfect, that were used to bring stories to life. Word was definitely the most popular. My first book used this software all the way through the publishing process, and in so doing, exposed its flaws as a publishing platform.
It was good at what it did. Great, in fact (version 6 through 2003). But it was a word processor, not a document layout program.
I came across other word processors, text editors, and found options that I now favor over Word. Want to know what those are? What they look like? How they can help speed up your writing?
I’ll be presenting at the St. Petersburg Florida Writers Group meeting on March 10 at the main St. Pete library. Check their website for details (the link above).
J Gerard Michaels’ Cord Wheaton Saga is back with episode 17: Zombieween with a FREE download. After taking the summer off, the detective returns in the continuing saga of the run up to the apocalypse. Or is it? Will he stop it? Can he stop it? Here’s the cover:
This episode also introduces a new character, named for a real person (signed up in September), and follows our detective as he works to make Halloween safe for St. Petersburg. This begins book 4 of the series. The cover is also made possible by the use of someone’s photo that Michaels thought appropriate for the holiday, following a tradition (though the photographer was not aware of this) of offering to use others’ artwork for covers of the episodes or books.
FREE Download this weekend!
Michaels is offering Zombieween as a free download on Kindle this weekend. You can get the ebook here. This continues his practice of offering the episodes free at or near their release date.
If you haven’t caught up with all the previous episodes, check out his author’s page (this title will be added soon) here.
Upcoming Event
In just over a week, you can meet Michaels in person at the Tampa Bay Book Fair event being held at Park Station in Pinellas Park (one of the venues).He’ll be there along with several other authors who have published under our name: Bria Burton and Tic Rawghers.
Date and Time: Saturday, Nov 7, 2015 from 2-8pm.
Location:Park Station,5851 Park Blvd, Pinellas Park.
This event will feature local authors, panel discussions, readings, etc. It should be a fun time and gives you the chance to meet area writers. Who knows, maybe you’ll meet a current best seller or a future John Grisham or Michael Connelly. (Okay, 2 of my favorite authors in the mystery/crime genre.)
When you read those words, I imagine you’re thinking, “Wow, they sold a lot of books.” That’s how most people measure success, I think. They measure it by money.
And although it was our best Art Walk event in those terms, that’s not what I mean when I say it was a success. To me, what was important was meeting all those people who stopped by our booth to talk. Whether it was dogs and cats, zombies, old men, or Sci-Fi history, we shared a great deal in discussions with so many people.
That, to me, made it a success. So much so, that I couldn’t wait to post my impression of the night. It started out hot, but Bria had a cheap tablecloth we hung up behind us that blocked the sun. And even though it was hot, there was a nice breeze coming off the bay that helped keep us somewhat cool.
Once the sun dropped out of sight, the cool night air refreshed us. It was a beautiful night – more of an October or November night to me – made even better by the friends who stopped by, and others who took the time to say hi and chat about anything.
New Zombie Signups
We also had several people sign up to be in an upcoming Cord Wheaton episode. J Gerard Michaels will be in touch with them to decide how he will craft them into the story. We are expecting a release date of early next year, or maybe even late this year!
Prometheus a Hit
The anthology – historical science fiction – was a big hit, and Bria was occupied quite a bit talking about the book, and selling them quickly. It also gave her an opportunity to try out some new technology, with great success.
The night flew by so fast, we forgot to eat. What a difference from some of the other nights, where we would easily go pick up food at a local restaurant, unconcerned that we would miss someone stopping by.
So, thank you to all those who came out to say hello and support us. We had a great time!
Spring FREE is our celebration of Spring. Kind of hot in Florida, but the nights are cool. We are offering 2 free ebook downloads this weekend, March 21-22, 2015, to celebrate the new season. What are they?
Grandpa Tic makes you another offer!
Tic Rawghers is giving away I Didn’t Run Today and My Body Thanked Me, FREE all weekend, because he’s so happy he finally has a paperback out, and he’ll be signing it at The 5K Color Run, in Tampa, on 3/21. This should be a fun event, and it has reached capacity.
And Why not Zombies?
j gerard michaels joins Grandpa for the Spring FREE weekend, offering the first episode of Book 2 (Zombie Menace), Spring Brain. And why not? It’s Spring, and this episode takes place during Spring Break. He will also be signing his books at the same event, though he’s taking a back seat to Grandpa.
Coming Attractions
What’s coming up in the future from Soul Attitude Press? We’re working on a how-to book that will guide you step-by-step to publishing your own book! What? Where’d our profits go? Well, we realize there are people of all stripes; those that want to do it themselves, those that need a little hand-holding, and those that want a lot of support. We fit in the middle of those 3 levels, helping get you published quickly and easily, yet not overwhelming you with choices and add-ons.
We’ll be working with some other publishers to guide you to good ones that offer more than we do, but we’d also like to help out those who just want to do it on their own.
We’ll also have several authors at the Gulfport Art Walk on the third Saturday in June, 2015. We’ll have more on that later. We’ve seen success at the first Friday Art Walks, and hope to experience the same thing on this other day of the month. As the date gets closer, we’ll spring some more details on you, and hope you can come out and say hello, and maybe pick up a good read.
Free Downloads Weekend Celebrates The 5K Zombie Run
This weekend we are celebrating our participation in the 5K Zombie Run taking place in Largo, FL, with some free downloads of Kindle ebooks. Of course, with this being a zombie run, author j gerard michaels has several promotions going. He’s offering a free download of 1 episode from every book (3 in all) of The Cord Wheaton Saga. They are: Zombie Raid, episode 6 from book 1, Zombie Origins, (there are 7 episodes in all in the book), Spring Brain, episode 8 and the first one of book 2, Zombie Menace, and Run Zombie Run, episode 14 from book 3, Zombie State, his most recent compilation just released this month.
Book Signing and free giveaways
j gerard michaels will be at the 5K Zombie Run in Largo signing copies of all 3 of his books, giving away some freebies to go along with them, and available to chat about what’s coming next. If you’d like to get yourself into the book, that’s always a possibility. The series is based in Florida, and the hero, Cord Wheaton, is a detective in the St. Petersburg Police Department. Most of the locations are real. The roads are real (except for a few in north Florida), and some of the people are real, as they’ve given permission to be included in the book.
author j gerard michaels
Additional Book Promotions!
To stay in the spirit of the 5k Zombie Run (which is to have fun), jg michaels is offering promotions on the first 2 books, Zombie Origins (book 1), and Zombie Menace (book 2). What’s the deal? Beginning Monday, Mar 2, book 1 is discounted to $1.99 (ebook). On Wednesday, Mar 4, the price goes up to $2.99, and on Friday, it returns to its normal price (3.99).
Beginning Wednesday, Mar 4, book 2 is on sale for $1.99 until Friday, Mar 4, when it returns to its normal price (2.99).
Grandpa gets in on the Action
Grandpa Tic Rawghers supports the 5k Zombie Run, too. He’s offering a free download of his I Didn’t Run Today and My Body Thanked Me short. Tic is proud of his first print book being published, You Can’t Change Me!, and will offer that at the run as well, along with some freebies.
Grandpa Tic Rawghers
So we hope you can get out there this weekend, and if not, maybe the following Friday in Gulfport, FL for the Art Walk. And as always, thank you for your support!
j gerard michaels has released a new book, the third in his Cord Wheaton Saga, Zombie State, in both paperback and Kindle. It’s available now here. This is the cover:
This compilation includes episodes 12 to 16 in the series. It follows the detective as he attempts to prevent the zombie apocalypse from becoming a reality. It looks like one state has pretty much turned, and it’s his state, which was ground zero.
Filled with action, humor, romance, mystery, and of course, zombies, the twists and turns will keep you on the edge of your seat. Enjoy!
Author EVENTS
This is a busy time for author appearances. We have 3 coming up in the next month, all occurring within a week of each other.
Brigitte D. Moore will be giving a book talk at the Barbara S. Ponce Public Library in Pinellas Park on Saturday, Feb 28, 2015 in the afternoon. One of our most popular authors continues to make sales and spread the word about her personal story.
j gerard michaels will be at the 5K Zombie Run in Largo, FL on the same day, in the morning. You could actually make both events! This one is a fun family affair, with children of all shapes and sizes enjoying exercise and the outdoors. The author will have some goodies to give away as well.
Bria Burton will join j gerard michaels at the Gulfport Art Walk in Gulfport, FL (southwest of St.Pete) on Friday, March 6, at a booth selling their books. I’ll be there as well promoting Soul Attitude Press. This is another great event that we’re happy to be a part of.
UPCOMING
We have more books coming in the near future. Grandpa Tic is hard at work on his 4th guide, hoping he can then produce a print book. We’re also working on a step-by-step guide to give you the ability to produce your own book, for free! (Or, for the cost of this book, you’ll then have a guide to produce your own at no cost.)
Yep, you read that right. We are blowing out the doors on Kindle with a bunch of free downloads from some of our authors. All weekend long, Nov 15-16, you can download 3 zombie ebook episodes of The Cord Wheaton Saga, 2 spiritual offerings from John Rehg, and Tic Rawghers’ first guide.
The books to download are:
Tic Rawghers’ first guide:
Grandpa Tic’s humorous look at the electronic world of today through the eyes of an old man and his grandchildren.
Laugh along with him as he attempts to learn how kids function today, while giving them advice on how it really should be done!
j gerard michaels’ The Cord Wheaton Saga episodes 4 And a Zombie in a Pear Tree (in English and Vietnamese) and 7: Soul of the Undead
And finally, John Rehg has two short books for free this weekend:
BOOK SIGNING
The authors will be reading and signing copies of print books (though Tic won’t as his aren’t in print yet) at Wilson’s Book World in St. Pete, Florida, this Saturday, Nov 15 around 3:30-5 pm, along with Bria Burton, Sunny Fader, and others.
Should be a lot of fun and we’ll have some free things to give away or include with any purchase. We hope you can make it out to listen to some good stories, etc.
A celebration of independent bookstores. Authors will be reading and entertaining and offering their books for sale. Come out and enjoy the fun. We have several authors appearing at Wilson’s Book World at 2394 MLK in St. Pete (just south of 24th Avenue).
Why should you be there?
Several of our authors will be reading! Bria Burton, author of Lance and Ringo Tails; John Rehg, author of several books on spirituality and prayer; j gerard michaels, author of the zombie series: The Cord Wheaton Saga, and possibly a special appearance by Grandpa Tic Rawghers, author of Grandpa’s Guides, an ebook only series.
Bria reads at 1:30, and the others around 3:30. Come out and join the fun.
Free Downloads!
To celebrate, some authors will be offering free downloads of some of their ebooks. Stay tuned for these special offers tomorrow.
COMING SOON- HELPING YOU GET PUBLISHED
Are you overwhelmed by the plethora of options in the publishing world? Do you get inundated with emails touting the latest and greatest publishing offer? Are you tired of all these and just want a simple way to put together your own book?
If you answered YES! to any of these questions, we’re here to help. We don’t do everything, but we can help you get published, and we’ll soon be offering some tips and advice on how to publish yourself, easily and at virtually NO COST!
That’s right – it’s something you can do very easily and cheaply. What a wonderful gift to give. Now, I know you are thinking, “It’s too late! Christmas is less than two months away!” (Actually, for those counting it’s 42 days, and I don’t expect you to put something together that quickly.)
Now’s the time to think about next year! And get started on putting your book, your story, your poetry (or whatever) together. We’ll start our series in December. Stay tuned for more details. (Or check back, or get on our mailing list!)
You can ask the publisher Saturday at Wilson’s Book World – we’ll be there celebrating Florida Indie Bookstore Day!
Author J Gerard Michaels was at the 5K Zombie Run in Sarasota this past weekend, and had a great time. Head over to his website to check out a couple pictures and his take on the event.
He gave away a few flashlights (unintentionally, but how do you say no to a child?), some bookmarks, and sold a few books.
Also available on line were free downloads of his latest episode, Run Zombie Run, and he partnered with Tic Rawghers, who offered his I Didn’t Run Today short for free over the weekend.
Here’s the cover of Run Zombie Run:
We should be announcing this new episode! Should have a week ago. Well, it’s never too late. Episode 14 in The Cord Wheaton Saga includes The 5K Zombie Run as one of the locations of the story.
One of the more difficult aspects of being an author is getting out in front of people. But you have to do it if you want to generate any enthusiasm for your books. So, find ways to get out there, and not just in front of book stores, but in front of the people who would be most interested in what you have to offer.
It’s about more than just the sale
Too often we hear authors complain that no one is buying their book. I think sometimes they forget that you have to build trust in your product, and recognition of your brand; and that only comes with exposure. So get out there and say hello to people, let them look through the book, see what you have to offer, but first and foremost, smile and make friends. If they don’t buy this time, they might buy the next.
Or they might tell a friend who decides to buy. As an author, though, it’s about sharing yourself. If no one comes, that doesn’t diminish your value or the value of what you’ve shared. You have to do it. You’re driven to it, just as others are driven to sports, to work, etc. So enjoy it and smile, a lot.
