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Imagine for a moment that we had made such wonderful progress in the fight against cancer that only two hundred cases remained in the entire United States. Or substitute heart disease for cancer if you'd prefer. Or HIV.
That would be a revolutionary day, right? Something to celebrate, as by that point we would be just one more small breakthrough away from eradicating an entire disease, from wiping it off the face of the earth forever.
But what if, instead of cancer or heart disease or HIV, the disease affecting two hundred Americans was something you had never heard of? What if this disease was so rare, affecting such a small percentage of the population, that there was virtually no incentive to devote any funding to medical research?
And what if the disease was incurable, affecting mostly teenagers and young adults, and once diagnosed, meant a future of gradually worsening seizures, muscle spasms, dementia and eventually death?
What if you were diagnosed with Lafora Disease?
Welcome to Mallorie Lindo's life. Mallorie is braver than you. She's braver than me, too. Mallorie is a seventeen year old neighbor of mine in New Hampshire, living a few towns away, and she suffers from Lafora Disease.
Mallorie has been forced by circumstances beyond her control - beyond anyone's control - to carry a burden no teenager should ever have to carry. She knows what her future holds, and unlike many people diagnosed with a deadly disease, Mallorie can't even cling to the possibility of a miracle cure, because little is being done to find one.
Needless to say, Mallorie and her family are facing the battle of their lives. These kinds of fights aren't cheap, either, and many of the expenses Mallorie and her family are facing aren't the sorts of things health insurance will pay for.
It just so happens that at the same time I was learning of Mallorie's situation I was putting the finishing touches on my brand-new collection of mystery novelettes titled UNCLE BRICK AND THE FOUR NOVELETTES. The collection includes three previously published stories, including "Uncle Brick and Jimmy Kills," a finalist for a 2010 Derringer Award for excellence in short mystery fiction, as well as one brand-new story, written just for this collection.
UNCLE BRICK AND THE FOUR NOVELETTES is available at Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, and any minute now at Barnes and Noble. I am pledging all of the royalties I earn from this collection - every penny - from now through Thanksgiving to Mallorie and her family. That amounts to about $2.06 per download.
I'd like to think the collection is a pretty good deal on it's own, $2.99 for 40,000 words of entertainment, but when you add in the fact you'll be helping contribute to a young woman facing a future none of us should ever have to face, in my opinion it becomes a no-brainer.
If you're not interested in Uncle Brick and would like to contribute to Mallorie's fight directly, you can do so via the Paypal button at her website, Mallorie's Joy.
Mallorie's Joy - that's not the name you would expect on the website of a young woman facing what she's facing, is it? But that's because Mallorie is not what you would expect. She's braver than you and I, remember? She is determined to face each day as brightly and optimistically as possible, and while no one should doubt the difficulty of doing so in her situation, it's one of the things that make Mallorie Lindo and her challenge so special.
So check out Mallorie's Joy, click around and get to know this extraordinary young lady. Consider helping Mallorie and her family financially if you're able, either by purchasing UNCLE BRICK AND THE FOUR NOVELETTES or by contributing directly.
If financial support is not possible, I'd be willing to bet she would appreciate a prayer if you pray, or a good thought if you're not religious. Maybe a card or a note.
But please keep Mallorie in your thoughts.
A little over a year ago - February 10, 2011, to be exact - Medallion Press released my thriller, FINAL VECTOR, in ebook form. Sales were sluggish for most of that year, until finally beginning to hit their stride in early February of this year.
Following the phenomenal success of my next thriller, THE LONELY MILE, FINAL VECTOR began to develop a following, spending most of the first three weeks of this month hovering between #75 and #100 in Amazon's Political Thriller category. Sales, while not earth-shattering, were steady and increasing.
On February 19, I made the disturbing discovery that FINAL VECTOR was no longer available for sale at Amazon. Not wanting to overreact, and assuming there was some sort of computer glitch going on, I did nothing. The book remained unavailable the next day, and by the 21st, when it was STILL not available at Amazon, I informed a representative of my publisher, assuming the situation would be rectified.
It wasn't, and I have no idea when it will be, if ever.
Medallion Press uses IPG as their distributor, and when negotiations over the terms of a new contract between IPG and Amazon fell through, Amazon made the decision to pull all IPG ebook titles from their digital marketplace. According to IPG President Mark Suchomel, "Amazon.com is putting pressure on publishers and distributors to change their terms for electronic and print books to be more favorable toward Amazon...I have spoken directly with many of our clients and every one of them agrees that we need to hold firm with the terms we now offer."
I'm being advised by Medallion Press that they support IPG's decision and am being asked to support Medallion in the interest of fairness and balance. Here is my take: Not being privy to the details of the negotiation between IPG and Amazon, it would be presumptuous of me to support either side.
I am being asked to take on faith that Amazon's contract demands are unfair to IPG, and perhaps they are. But without seeing those demands I cannot know. Here is what I do know, though. Amazon is the largest ebook retailer in the world and they are growing, and any distribution agreement for one of my books that does not include Amazon is unacceptable to me. Period.
Amazon is perceived as the big, bad bully on the block, and if IPG, or anyone else, wishes to make a stand against them on principle, that is their right. More power to them. But their principled stand is affecting plenty of other people who may or may not wish to be affected.
I'm not here to shill for Amazon. I don't know whether they're trying to bully IPG or not. But the nature of negotiation is that the side with the power gets to dictate the terms of the agreement. The more the power rests with one side, the more that side can set the terms. It's the way of the world.
And here's the thing. Amazon is the eight hundred pound gorilla in the ebook world because they are not afraid to try new things, to innovate. My thriller, THE LONELY MILE, has become successful largely due to promotional processes Amazon has developed and used to promulgate their success.
Anyone who does not like the way Amazon does business is free to shop elsewhere, and, in fact, should do exactly that. But my goal as an author is to entertain readers, and being asked to do so without having the opportunity to entertain the millions of readers who routinely shop at Amazon does not work for me.
FINAL VECTOR is still available at other outlets, such as Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and others, and of course Kindle Fire users can download apps allowing them to purchase the book elsewhere and still read it on their Kindle. But all of that is beside the point, which is this: IPG's job is to distribute my book to where the readers are. If they are unable or unwilling to do that, they should step aside for a distributor who will.
