Don't buy my book tomorrow!

If trying to introduce people to my books has taught me anything (it has), it's that you have to be willing to try new things, because you never know what's going to work.

When Amazon introduced the Kindle Select Program last fall, with the ability for authors to give their books away, I was skeptical. How would offering a book for free help me make money?

Well, after the program had gotten up and running, I saw it working out for the brave authors who tried it, so in February StoneHouse Ink and I gave it a whirl, making THE LONELY MILE free for three days, giving away 42,000 copies and launching a bestseller in the aftermath of the explosion. We sold eight thousand books in the three days following the promotion, and 12,000 total for the month of February, sending the book rocketing as high as #21 in Amazon's Paid store among all books, #2 in all Suspense Thrillers.

It was a ride I'll never forget, and one which I've yet to come close to duplicating, despite going back to the well and trying the free thing a few times in the months since.

The fact is, things are constantly changing in the wonderful world of publishing (as if you haven't heard that one before) - and especially selling - books.

All of which leads back to my initial point. Gotta try new things.

To that end, I decided to try something a little different with my new supernatural suspense novel, REVENANT. The way the Kindle Select Program works is the author or publisher gets five days of free promotion in exchange for making the work exclusive to Amazon for ninety days. I had three promotional days left for REVENANT approaching the end of the ninety day period, so I decided to use those three days during the last three days of the period, then re-up with Kindle Select, and use all five promo days at the beginning of the next ninety day period, giving me eight free days in a row.

Something different. Worth a try, right?

Well, there was a problem. Of course.

Turns out you can't schedule the free promo days with Amazon until after the new ninety day exclusivity period has begun, so there will be a break of one day between the three free promo days at the end of the old ninety day period and the five free promo days at the beginning of the new period.

That day is tomorrow. Saturday, September 29, 2012. The only day during the nine-day stretch from September 26 through October 4 when you will have to pay to download REVENANT.

I don't know if making my book free for eight days will do a damned thing for it or not, but I do know Medallion Press made FINAL VECTOR free for fifteen days at the end of August and we went on a pretty good sales run immediately following that promo. I figure it's worth a shot, but I will feel a little guilty if you buy the book tomorrow when you could have gotten it free the day before or the day after.

So please, spare me the feelings of guilt. Don't buy my book tomorrow. Get it free on Sunday. Or wait and buy it on October 5, if you prefer...

Winning free stuff has never been easier

I've had a number of folks tell me I need to establish an author page on Facebook. I'm not exactly sure why I need one, but all the cool kids are doing it. Now, I've had a personal Facebook page for years, and having an author page too always seemed to be not only a duplication of efforts, but kind of self-indulgent, too.

Well I've finally knuckled under. The Allan Leverone author page is live, and now that I have it, I'm looking for readers and interested Facebookers to populate it.

So, to that end, I'm running a little promo. To qualify, all you need to do is "Like" my Facebook author page by 9:00 a.m. Friday, May 25. That's it. Just click "Like" on my author page. Do that, and you will be in the running to win one of the following:

- A signed trade paperback copy of my Amazon bestselling thriller, THE LONELY MILE. This book's sales exploded in February, reaching #21 overall at Amazon, #16 in all fiction titles, and #2 in Suspense Thrillers, behind only Lisa Gardner's CATCH ME. Scott Nicholson calls THE LONELY MILE "a taut crime drama," and it has earned a 4.2-star rating on seventy Amazon reviews.

- A signed, limited-edition mini-hardcover copy of my Delirium Books novella, HEARTLESS. This is an author promotional copy of the 19,000-word novella, of which only 150 retail-sales copies were printed, and sells for $30.00. The striking cover art was created by the amazing Daniele Serra.

- A signed, hardcover copy of NORTHERN HAUNTS. This 2009 anthology from Shroud Publishing sells at Amazon for $26.59 and includes 100 terrifying New England tales from a diverse collection of authors, including Nate Kenyon, Steve Vernon, Stephen Mark Rainey and many others. My story, "Heart and Sole," is included.

- A signed, trade paperback copy of Northern Haunts. This is the exact same book as above, except in paperback rather than hardcover. The paperback edition sells at Amazon for $18.99.

- A signed copy of the Summer 2010 issue of Needle: A Magazine of Noir. This is Issue #2 of the magazine that has quickly become a noir legend and features stories from Ray Banks, Chris F. Holm, Nigel Bird, Frank Bill and others. My story, "The Waiting," is included.

- A signed copy of the Fall 2011 issue of Needle: A Magazine of Noir. This is Issue #11 and includes stories from Keith Rawson, Stephen D. Rogers, a brand-new, previously unpublished story from the late Gil Brewer and others. My story, "The Ticket," is included.

Here's how this will work. Friday, May 25, I will draw the first winner and contact that person via Facebook message. That person will get the choice of any of the above six prizes.

Once the first winner has selected a prize, I will draw the second winner, who will get the choice out of the remaining five prizes.

We'll continue until all the prizes are given away. I'll post the selections of the winners on my author page as they are picked, and depending on how long it takes for people to pick, may take a couple of days to complete.

There you go...good luck!