ozma914: cover of my new book! (Coming Attractions)
( Mar. 1st, 2025 08:27 pm)
  Read An E-book Week is here! While I know it's no Arbor Day, it does afford us an opportunity to ... well, read an e-book. I don't know who invents these things, but on Smashwords a free e-book sale runs from March 2nd to March 8th.

I don't know if reading a print book is banned during this period. It's not a legal holiday, so probably not. However, the advantage is that you could get a free e-book from me and a whole lot of other people, from this Smashwords link:


This is the third time in a year Smashwords has had a similar promotion, but it's never a bad time to fill up the reading device of your choice--especially if you fill it with Coming Attractions, the only book of mine that's up on Smashwords. (Other than the two anthologies I have stories in.) The link to Coming Attractions, which you can get on various formats, is here:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914


There's still plenty of bad weather yet to come, so grab the beverage of your choice, build a nest on the couch, and read on! It's way cheaper than most other hobbies.

 

Then you can read our other books:


·        Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

·        Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

·        Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

·        Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

·        Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

·        Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

·        Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

·        Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

·        Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

·        Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

·        Substack:  https://substack.com/@markrhunter

·        Tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

·        Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

·        Audible:  https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

 

Remember: When it comes to books, there's very little bad that can be said about "free".

 

Yes, Coming Attractions and the short story collection Storm Squalls are now audiobooks, available on Audible and Amazon, thanks to Kindle's virtual voice.

But be warned: The narration is done by, yes, a virtual voice.

 

 

 

I assumed, if you navigated your way over to the site and saw the words "Virtual voice is computer-generated narration for audiobooks", you'd assume that the audiobook had ... well, you know. Computer generated narration. But it's not so obvious, because my rating average for Storm Chaser was brought down by my first bad review, from someone who didn't like AI narration.

I can understand how it might bother some people. It's just that personally, if I didn't like computer narration, I wouldn't buy a computer narrated book.

They also didn't like the lack of adventure or Storm Chasing experiences. You people who've read the book will understand why that puzzled me, until I saw they didn't finish it. I guess if I didn't like the narration, I'd stop on page ten, too.

 

 

 

But never mind that. The point is, I can't afford professional narration right now, so this is the best I can do--and honestly, I think it's pretty good. But you know how writers are: It doesn't take much for us to start doubting ourselves.

Coming Attractions, in all three of its formats, can be found here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CY9F5L4X

It's a romantic comedy about an epic battle to save an Indiana drive-in from developers, and has absolutely no storm chasing in it.

Storm Squalls, a short story collection that does indeed include some weather-related adventures, can be found in all three formats here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DKRBR9NV

 

It has three stories in it that weren't in the original version, which was unfortunately named Storm Chaser Shorts. My personal favorite is the never before seen "High Horse--Or, a Horse Tail", which is about a girl, her horse, and a wildfire, and an unreliable narrator.

Storm Squalls is a sequel to Storm Chaser and, with a few exceptions, a prequel to The Notorious Ian Grant, which we hope to get re-released when people stop getting sick. You'll recognize one of the characters, Beth Hamlin, from my young-adult adventure The No-Campfire Girls.

Try them out! In the format of your choice.



Or, of course, you can pick up any of our other books at the usual places:

 

·        Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

·        Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

·        Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

·        Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

·        Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

·        Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

·        Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

·        Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

·        Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

·        Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

·        Substack:  https://substack.com/@markrhunter

·        Tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

·        Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

·        Audible:  https://www.audible.com/search?searchAuthor=Mark+R.+Hunter&ref_pageloadid=4C1TS2KZGoOjloaJ&pf

 

Remember: Audiobooks make those chores go faster.



Once again we're giving away Coming Attractions on ebook, as part of the Smashwords 2024 End of Year Sale. I'm sure we're all looking forward to the end of this particular year.

So starting December 12th and going on until January 1st (of what I'm sure will be as better year) get my novel Coming Attractions on e-book for free! That's a 99 percent price cut.
 
I think 99%. I became a writer because I hate math.
 
The catch: Since its a Smashwords sale, let's face it, you have to get it on Smashwords. The other catch is that I won't make any money, but if it attracts attention to our other books it's what sales people call a loss leader.
 
You can find the promo here: https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos starting, as mentioned, on December 12th. This is also a great chance to get the books of other authors, for free or at a promotional discount (after you get mine).
 
 

If you want to go directly to my account, it's at
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914. There are two other books there, anthologies that I have short stories in: The Very True Legends of Ol' Man Wickleberry and his Demise: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/700221, and Strange Portals--Ink Slingers' Fantasy/Horror Anthology: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/499789
 
You can get Coming Attractions (and the two anthologies) on epub, mobi, and pdf formats, or as an original document, so it should be readable to anyone with an e-reader, cell phone, or computer. The print version, sadly, is not part of the promotion.

This is indie author paradise, and indie authors could always use the help. So please, check it out and share the promo with your friends and family, and anyone looking for their next favorite book.
 
Happy reading! 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Meanwhile, we and our books can still be found ... everywhere:

·        Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

·        Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

·        Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

·        Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

·        Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

·        Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

·        Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

·        Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

·        Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

·        Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

·        Substack:  https://substack.com/@markrhunter

·        Tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

·        Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914


Remember: A free book is like a get out of jail free card: You don't get charged.

Never mind how much a book is worth to you; how much is an author worth to you?

After all, a book is only a shaving off a tree, or a little blip of electricity. An author, on the other hand, is a living being who needs not only reviews and sales, but also coffee (or in my case tea), food, electricity, and occasionally a new laptop. My wife bought me a keyboard that feels and sounds just like a typewriter: It brings me great joy, but also cost about a month's worth of book sales.

Not that it was expensive, I just don't sell that many books.

Desks, computers, chairs, swords ... writing can be expensive.

 

How much a reader should pay for a book is a question that's been debated since Gutenberg bought too much ink and ran his first Black Friday sale. Among other things, it depends on your level of fame. The ebook edition of Stephen King's newest book is priced at $14.99, more than some of my print books. Our traditional publisher has our photo-heavy history book Images of America: Albion and Noble County priced at $12.99 as an ebook, and another publisher has my romantic comedy Radio Red at $3.99.

Guess how many books King sells, compared to me? Yep: The answer is "lots".

We do better with our self-published books, which run from 99 cents to $2.99 as ebooks. Fun fact: Some readers refuse to buy 99 cent books, assuming at that price they can't be any good. This assumption is both foolish and wrong. I suspect that price is often an act of desperation by good writers.

On the other end of it, Hoosier Hysterical has lots of pictures, and we can't sell it at less than $2.99 without losing money. That's the best we can do without just giving it away. Hold that thought.

No matter what the price, it's hard for lesser known authors to get into brick and mortar stores.

 

So, ten or twelve bucks for an electronic book. Crazy expensive, right? I mean, we don't have to pay for paper, ink, shipping ... how greedy can we be?

But how much is an author worth?

Three times I've written the rough draft of a book in thirty days. That's great, but it took a few weeks to prepare for the writing, then a month or two after to revise it before the story was decent enough for my wife to read. Then there's the revision after she returns it to me. The month of actual writing, when I push it hard, consists of working my full time job, writing, eating while writing, and nothing else. Some people can get books out the door faster, but I have to think they don't have full time jobs.

The old joke: An author can't make enough money to write full time until he's written and sold enough books, which he can't do until he writes full time.

So it goes.

So, a dollar for something it took me at least three months to produce, not including all the time spent on promotion and advertising? Writers are worth more than that. Even me.

Which brings us to giving books away for free.


Some authors swear that giving their ebooks away gets them so much attention that people come back and buy their other books, thus advancing their career in the long run. That seems to work for them, but it's not been my experience. Just the same, every July for the last few years I've entered the one novel I have up on Smashwords, Coming Attractions, into the Smashwords Summer/Winter sale.

Has it resulted in more readers for the other books? Not that I've noticed. It doesn't even lead to that many readers picking it up for free. Smashwords has a lot of authors, so my deal has to fight for attention with all those other deals. On the other hand, my sales aren't great in July to begin with, and it doesn't seem to be doing me any harm, either.

I'm curious how you, both the reader and the writer, feel on the subject. Maybe I'll try other giveaways at some point, even though I don't think authors should have to do that. I also don't think authors should have to spend so much time promoting and advertising, but welcome to the real world. How do you feel on the subject?

Oh, and Coming Attractions is free here:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

But you already knew that.

 

Summer themed. Well, kinda.

 

 

Remember: Every time you get a book for free, it counts as a free book.



From July 1s until July 31st we're once again participating in the Smashwords Summer/Winter sale!

Because it's summer up here and winter down under, you see. I'd imagine it made sense at the time. And let's face it: For most people, July is either too hot or too cold to go out anyway, so you might as well read a good book.

Since Coming Attractions is a romantic comedy set, yes, during summer, you can read it, then tell people you've experienced summer. You don't have to be specific. Oh, and it's Indiana summer, not Australia summer. If you live in southern Chile, you can read it to get your mind off winter.


 
Coming Attractions is the only one of our books that's Smashwords affiliated at the moment. I'm happy when someone buys a print copy, but in July you can get it on e-book for free, which is almost a dollar less than its normal 99 cent cost.
 
I do math. I do, too.
 
The catch: It's part of the Smashwords promotion, which means, let's face it, that you have to get it on Smashwords. But that can be on epub, mobi, and pdf formats, or as an original document. It should be readable to anyone with an e-reader, cell phone, or computer. (Due to recent air quality problems, Smashwords has canceled their smoke signal program.)
 
All the participating authors can be found here: https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos
 starting July 1st. If you want to go directly to my account, it's at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914. There you'll also find the two fiction anthologies I have stories in, also at the attractive cost of zero.
 
It's the ultimate beach read! Don't get water on it.
 

This is indie author territory, and indie authors could always use the help (and reviews!) So please, check it out and share the promo with your friends and family, and anyone looking for their next favorite book.

 Happy reading!
 
 


 
 
As usual, all our books can be found at:

Remember: Remember, every time you buy a book, a cash register gets its rings. But not this time.




 I didn't think I'd get a blog out this weekend, between all the sleeping and the complaining. (That would be me complaining: Covid sucks.)

Still, there are those times when the coughing wakes us up (Emily has it too), so I figured I should do something. I won't be able to get back to work until Friday, and honestly I'm a little concerned about my ability to make it through a 12 hour shift even then. But enough about Covid for now; I've collected enough material to do a whole blog on the subject, although I question whether I can make it funny.

On a brighter note, Coming Attractions is once again free until December 31st, thanks to the Smashwords 2023 End Of Year Sale:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

 

 #SmashwordsEoYSale

 

 

The catch: It's part of the Smashwords promotion, which means, let's face it, you have to get it on Smashwords. But it's availalbe on epub, mobi, and pdf formats, or as an original document. It should be readable to anyone with an e-reader, cell phone, or computer. (The book is thus far unavailable on cuneiform tablets.)

 

Now for the bad publishing news: Due to the Covid and various other horrible stuff that's happened this year, we've had to push back the publication of our Haunted History: Noble County book. My plan was to have most of it done by now, and I've hardly even started on the interviews; nor am I going to interview anyone face to face, until I'm sure we're done with this crud. So at this point the book I promised in 2024 is probably going to be released by History Press in 2025 (which is not an outrageous delay in traditional publishing).
 

Better a delay than a poorly put together product. I'm bummed by it, yes, but I'll be cheered up by all those people buying our books this Christmas season. Get buyin'!


 

Remember, no one ever went broke buying free books. Reading them, maybe.

 On most of my blogs I end with links to our website, along with Amazon, and Barnes and Noble links. But Coming Attractions is distributed through Smashwords, which is a bit of a different story. (Smashwords also distributes the two ebook anthologies I have stories in.)

 

 

 

 Wait, what?

 

 

 

So, just in time for Christmas, here are the links where you may find some of our other books, but can always find that particular one:

Smashwords (naturally): 

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

(There's a dashing photo of me in my turnout gear on the page ... but the lack of a beard indicates it's an old one.)

 

Apple Books (which actually has five of our books):

books.apple.com/us/author/mark-r-hunter/id1025271801

 

Barnes and Noble, of course, has a handful:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Mark%20R.%20Hunter%22

 

  Gardners Extended Retail!

https://www.gardners.com/Search/KeywordAnonymous/eBook?Keyword=mark+r.+hunter&searchPreferences=0&fq=14123

No, I've never heard of them, either. I was able to find several of our books there, but you have to have a free account with them to view the details.

 

Kobo has a few:

www.kobo.com/us/en/author/mark-r-hunter

 

Then there's Odilo, of course:

https://marketplace.odilo.us/opac/#index

 Never heard of them; but if you search for Mark R. Hunter you'll find Coming Attractions  and our Images of America book.

 

And naturally, there's Scribd!

https://www.scribd.com/author/340537901/Mark-R-Hunter

I actually have heard of them, but never mind. Apparently they've sent all their ebooks to a place called Everand, https://www.everand.com/author/340537901/Mark-R-Hunter, which is a subscription service.

 

So, when you add to those our Amazon account:

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

(Amazon is why some of our stuff doesn't get around to other places--long story.)

 

And our website:

http://www.markrhunter.com/

 

You have ... a list!

I've also shown up on a lot of those sketchy sites where I never put it; the internet equivalent of some guy selling books out of the back of his van. "Hey, mister ... check out this romantic comedy. I also have watches and used wallets."

Honestly, the list is partially for me, so I remember, but I'll take sales wherever I can get them. Have any of you encountered any of our books elsewhere on the net? Let me know, and I'll add it to the list.

 


 

 

 

Remember, if you give books instead of bigger presents, Santa has more room on his sled. Hold out for that second present!

 

 


 It's been such a crazy month I was just going to throw out one of my pre-written blogs. (I save up, just as I did with my newspaper column, in case of crazy months.) But instead here are a few quick things for whoever might happen to be reading blogs in the middle of summer.

Emily and I have only gone out to the movies twice this year, most recently to see Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny.

 

Yes, Harrison Ford gets the CGI treatment for a flashback; yes, it's really well done; no, it's not distracting unless you make it be. Yes, there are Nazis and time travel, although they don't combine in the way I expected. Yes, you can tell Ford is too old for this crap in "modern" times, which in this case is 1969; in fact, they hang a lantern on it more than once.

Jones has come across hard times due to a family tragedy. He's retiring from a teaching job in a small New York college (Hunter College, no relation), and doesn't have much to look forward until his goddaughter shows up, looking for a piece of ancient tech made by the Greek inventor Archimedes himself. Unfortunately, a whole bunch of people with guns are right on her heels.

And that's all I'll say about the plot, other than that, like any good Indiana Jones movie, there's a macguffin, and the Nazis want it. We get great action sequences, exotic locations, callbacks to earlier movies, and cameos from some favorite characters. It also gets murky from time to time, both in plot and when the action is a little too fast and/or a little too dark.

Is it worth a movie ticket? Yes. I'd put it as the third best Indiana Jones movie, after the original and the other one with Nazis.

 

 Meanwhile the apparently last Guardians of the Galaxy movie also came out, and was awesome on the big screen. (Okay, so that picture's from a previous one.) But be warned: It gets dark, mostly because it includes the origin story of Rocket Raccoon, and it is NOT a fun origin story.

I won't go into detail, because it's been out long enough now that you've probably either seen it or decided not to, but it's one of the better Marvel movies of recent years and well worth seeing in the theater. You might tear up once or twice, though, so bring a tissue or wait until it's on video.

 

Otherwise I just have my usual stuff. Coming Attractions remains a free ebook on Smashwords until the end of the month:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

 

The new versions of Storm Chaser and Storm Squalls are on Amazon, and hopefully other locations soon:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mark-R-Hunter/author/B0058CL6OO

 

 That author interview is still up on a Canvas Rebel:

https://canvasrebel.com/meet-mark-r-hunter/

 

And I miss the dog. Here's hoping Canada gets rain--but not too much--and the rest of summer goes more smoothly for everyone.

 

Not too much rain!

 

 

 

 


 

(I have to keep reminding people--I want them to get that free book!)

 In case you missed it, from now until July 31st we'll be participating in the Smashwords Summer/Winter sale!

Because it's summer up here and winter down under, you see. I'm sure it made sense to them at the time. And let's face it: For most people, July is either too hot or too cold to go out anyway, so you might as well read a good book.

My Smashwords novel is Coming Attractions, a romantic comedy set, yes, during summer in northern Indiana. I'm happy when someone buys a print copy, but in July you can get it on e-book for free, which is almost a dollar less than its normal 99 cent cost. I do math. I do, too.
 


The catch: It's part of the Smashwords promotion, which means, let's face it, that you have to get it on Smashwords. That would follow, wouldn't it? But you can get it there on on epub, mobi, and pdf formats, or as an original document. It should be readable to anyone with an e-reader, cell phone, or computer. (Due to recent air quality problems, Smashwords has canceled their smoke signal program.)
 
All the participating authors can be found here: https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos starting, as mentioned, on July 1st. If you want to go directly to my account, it's at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914. There you'll also find the two fiction anthologies I have stories in, also at the attractive cost of zero.
 
Say, I need a front porch swing.

This is indie author territory, and indie authors could always use the help. So please, check it out and share the promo with your friends and family, and anyone looking for their next favorite book.

 Happy reading!
 
 


 
 
As usual, all our books can be found at:

 

http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

 

 

 Remember, people who don't take free books get laughed at by their pets. You already amuse your cat enough.

 There's a new interview of me up on a website called Canvas Rebel:

canvasrebel.com/meet-mark-r-hunter/

It's basically an online magazine covering business, arts, and various creative types. Their main page is at https://canvasrebel.com/, where you can check out all the people who make me look like a slacker. It was a fun interview, although looking back at it I'm not sure my answers were more than indirectly related to the questions. I've been known to go off on tangents.

I just noticed, the opening calls me brilliant and insightful. It just goes to show how good I am at faking it.




Faking it: Do I look brave, here? Hah--I'm not brave, the outfit just makes me look that way. I never went into a burning building until I was sure all the spiders were dead.


I also wanted to remind everyone that the updated and less expensive version of Storm Chaser and its short story collection sequel, Storm Squalls, are both out on Amazon. We're going to get Storm Chaser up on other sites and on the website as soon as life calms down just a little and we can see what we're doing through the Canadian wildfire smoke. Until then you can find our books here:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mark-R-Hunter/author/B0058CL6OO

 I promised that if I sell a hundred copies by the end of summer I'd recite one of my own poems and post it to the internet. This is not necessarily an encouragement, so remember that if I sell a thousand copies, I promise NOT to recite one of my poems. I mean, I wouldn't know iambic if it kicked me in the pentameter.

The good news is, if a thousand copies sell by the end of summer I promise not to read poetry aloud. So get the word out.



Oh, and finally don't forget the Smashwords Winter/Summer sale, where you can get Coming Attractions for free on ebook, in July. That's way less than ... well, anything. I'll be hanging out here:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914


I'll remind you again at the beginning of the month, 'cause that's what I do.

Wow, this has turned out to be a link-based blog. Well, then, I'll say goodbye with some links to my various online stuff. Some of them, anyway:
 


And remember: No one ever died from reading too much. Maybe incidental things like forgetting to eat, but not from the reading.

 It seems I can type between napping, even if I can't talk all that well--long story.

(Actually it's a short story: Viruses and white blood cells are waging an epic battle in my upper respiratory system, like Game of Thrones but with more coughing.)

Before my next dose of NyQuil I wanted to remind everyone that my novel Coming Attractions, as well as two fiction anthologies I have short stories in, remain free on e-book at Smashwords until the end of this year. (And aren't we all eager for this year to be over?)

My Smashwords account is at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914, but there are lots of other free and reduced books there for another, oh, three days. (!)
 
Email Header 
 
Pick up a free download on epub, mobi, and pdf formats, or as an original document. After all, we have long weeks of winter coming up, and when your friends want you to go outside you can tell them you're catching up on your reading.
 
 
 


 In case I sleep through it: Happy New Year!
 
As usual, all our books can be found at:

 Who wants a free e-book for Christmas? That's right: You do!

And that's some good news this month, because starting December 15th and going on until January 1st (of what I'm sure will be as better year) you can get my novel Coming Attractions on e-book for free! Zero. Zilch. No cost. And that's a 99 percent price cut!
 
I think 99%. I became a writer because I hate math.
 
The catch: It's part of the Smashwords 2022 End of Year Sale, which means, let's face it, that you have to get it on Smashwords. That would follow, wouldn't it?
 
You can find the promo here: https://smashwords.com/shelves/promos starting, as mentioned, on December 15th. This is also a great chance to get the books of other authors, for free or at a promotional discount (after you get mine).
If you want to go directly to my account, it's at:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914
 
Email Header 
 
 You can get Coming Attractions (or the two anthologies I'm in) on epub, mobi, and pdf formats, or as an original document, so it should be readable to anyone with an e-reader, cell phone, or computer. The print version, sadly, is not part of the promotion.

This is indie author paradise, and indie authors could always use the help. So please, check it out and share the promo with your friends and family, and anyone looking for their next favorite book.
 
Happy reading! 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
As usual, all our books can be found at:

 Well, here I am, making my annual appeal for shoppers to buy our books for Christmas. Once a year isn't so bad, is it? I have yet to make a promotional post in honor of Arbor Day.

But wait--there's more!

That's something sellers have to say, I'm not sure why. Our books should speak for themselves, but they aren't available as audiobooks yet. I thought this year I'd let the books figuratively speak for themselves, so here's a brief description:

 Storm Chaser, The Notorious Ian Grant:

The second is the sequel to the first, and both follow the basic romantic comedy outline: One of the couple is a homebody who loves their little town; the other comes from the big outside world and proceeds to spread trouble. One is a cop, the other kinda/sorta works in the entertainment industry. In the first, a woman chases storms, in the second, her brother is the storm. The other thing they have in common: We're preparing to reissue them after getting the rights back from the publisher, so at the moment you'd have to contact us direct for a print copy.

 


 

 

Storm Squalls: 

Short stories set in that Storm Chaser universe, formerly known as Storm Chaser Shorts--but improved with more content and a better title. I haven't been talking about it much, pending the reissue of its parent novels, but it includes a new short story I'm particularly proud of.


Coming Attractions:

 Like the Storm Chaser books, this romantic comedy is set in northeast Indiana and also involves an outsider, this one trying to get the local drive-in theater shut down. Here's a secret cameo: One of the characters from Storm Chaser makes a very brief appearance, although he's never named. Well, I guess I gave away that he's a he.


The No-Campfire Girls:

Also related to Storm Chaser, but more of a spin-off. This YA adventure stars Beth Hamlin, the irrepressible teen from the other books, who plots to defeat a burn ban at her summer camp with the help of a Native America rain dance. It doesn't end well.

 


Radio Red is the first romantic comedy I wrote, and it's a little heavier on both the humor and the sex (!) I mean, the publisher is Torrid Books, so what does that tell you? It's about an irreverent Michigan radio station owner who hires a down on her luck air personality just before someone starts sabotaging the station.

 

 

What's that, you say? You want some non-fiction? Maybe even some humor? Okay:

People should be full of good humor: Hoosier Hysterical: How the West Became the Midwest Without Moving At All, proves my co-author (and wife) Emily and I are full of it. We traveled all over the state I love to find out all sorts of cool details about it, and then ... made fun of them all. But it's good natured fun, so ... there.

Slightly Off the Mark and More Slightly Off the Mark are collections of my newspaper columns: The first are columns that never published because the paper got bought out, and the second are edited, updated columns from around the early 90s. Interestingly, while the humor/history/trivia book Hoosier Hysterical has been my best seller this year, these two books have been my worst sellers. Guess I should have added more history and trivia.

Images of America: Albion and Noble County:

This one is part of Arcadia Publishing's Images of America book, photo-heavy volumes about local history. Despite being something you wouldn't expect anyone outside of Noble County to be interested in, it sold very well--which is good, because Emily and I worked hard to produce it. It's also the only one that made it onto the shelves of a Barnes and Noble (and a local CVS pharmacy!)

 

 

 

On an even narrower area of local history, Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights: A Century Or So With the Albion Fire Department covers the first century of the fire department I served on for forty years. It's got a bit more humor, but of course it's still a local history book--and it took me 25 years to research and write! (I wasn't writing daily, of course.)

 


Wait, that's eleven. Am I missing one? No, I think that's it as far as what's published--more to come. There are also those anthologies I have humor pieces in: My Funny Valentine, Strange Portals, and The Very True Legends of Ol' Man Wickleberry (and his demise).

 

Where do you find all these, you ask? 

Thank you for asking, much appreciated. They can all be found on our website and on Amazon:

 

 

 

http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

And also on my daughter's website, White Birch Lane Boutique:

https://www.whitebirchlaneboutique.com/search?q=books

 

 

Most, but not all, can be found at other places:


https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

 https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

 https://books.apple.com/us/author/mark-r-hunter/id1025271801

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/coming-attractions-11

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/42934724

 

 

You can't get all the books at all those sites for various reasons, but all in all it ain't too shabby.

 

Remember, every time you gift a book, an angel gets his swim trunks. It gets warm up there.

 

 


 

 I embarked on a fun experiment at the end of November, and by fun I mean it wasn't much fun, and by experiment I mean I had no idea what I was doing.

One of my goals has been to increase book sales, a goal for most authors. The problem is, when it comes to sales an author is competing with--well, almost all those other authors. Writers don't like to think of themselves as being in competition. Writing can be tough, and selling--well, that's way worse. So we support other writers, because we know just how hard it can be.

That doesn't change the fact that there are only so many readers, seemingly fewer all the time ... and a lot of those readers are writers. They can read only so many books--I only managed about a dozen or so last year. So, while we'd like all authors to succeed, we all have to fight to be heard ... I mean, read.

Social media, once a great way to get the word out, has in the last few years bombed. Why? Because the people who run social media sites have realized they can get money from people who are trying to get the word out. As a result, they've changed things around so that an author finds it almost impossible to reach people on the internet, unless they pony up some cash, first.

And most of us can't afford a pony.

"Wait ... no ponies?"
 

So I tried promotion websites, and I tried Facebook Ads. Both gave me a few more sales, but not enough to justify the money I spent. Here's a fun fact, kids: If you spend more on advertising than you make in sales, it's bad. (It does sometimes work in the short term, like those "loss leaders" offered in stores.)

And so I turned to Amazon Ads.

Honestly, I'd rather sell direct, through our website or an independent bookstore. I'd also rather eat chocolate for all meals and be 25 years old again, forever. But never mind that--in this case we're talking about Amazon, the Godzilla of online selling. (I've heard Apple is the second biggest online bookseller.)

Figuring out how to run an Amazon ad is hard.

I mean, driving in a NASCAR race when you've never actually driven at all hard.

I had to learn about impressions, clicks, targeting, keywords, and, most important of all, ACOS.

That means Advertising Cost of Sales. In other words, how much does it cost you to sell a book? If ACOS is over 100, you're spending more money on ads than the book itself sells for. This is bad. If your ACOS is right at 100 you're still in trouble, because Amazon takes a cut--you're still spending more than your' making. The best number is right around 30, give or take, so you're making at least a little money.

I decided to experiment with my latest published novel, Coming Attractions. I set up an Amazon ad for the book, which hasn't sold a single copy through Amazon since November--of 2020.

On November 27 of 2021, my Coming Attractions e-book Amazon rating was 2,931,646. That's almost three million books selling better than mine. On November 28, the rating was 264,568.   It peaked on New Year's Eve at 63,798. That was the book's highest Amazon ranking ever, including when it was first published--when I labored long hours to publicize it.

 My goal for last year was to sell an average of one copy of our books every day. It didn't happen. In December it did: 37 e-book copies and two print copies of Coming Attractions, and one copy of The No-Campfire Girls sold in a little over thirty days. Here's what it looked like:

 


After a few weeks of joy and celebration I checked my numbers, and what I found made me very unhappy.

I was indeed selling a lot of books, but when I checked the ACOS, I learned that for every 99 cent e-book I sold, I was spending almost nine dollars to advertise it. This, for those of you who don't care to do the math, is unsustainable, unless you're a millionaire who's not concerned about spending money. I'm not a millionaire. I don't think I'm even a thousandaire.

So, like any sharp businessman, I panicked.

I spent the next several days tweaking all the details, including the list of terms I mentioned earlier. My sales dropped, but as of the first full weekend of January I've gotten my ACOS down to 56%. For me that's about breaking even, so still not great, but at least I'm not bleeding money. They don't make bandages for that.

I'm going to try again, of course, this time going in a little wiser. I haven't decided whether to try one of my other published books, or wait until the next new one comes along, but for once in my life I haven't been cowed by math. Much. I should add that most people who use Amazon ads say it's pretty common to have high ACOS ... ACOS's? ... at first, although I suspect my early numbers would have made them faint.

If you decide to try it, my best advise is to learn everything you possibly can about the process, first. The homework might save you some cash. How have you other authors been doing in your sales attempts? Any tips?

 


 

 

 Yeah, I'm into cheap Christmas jokes to sell books. Santa's a big reader. Well, he's a big everything.

But seriously, we really have dropped the price of both the e-book and print versions of Coming Attractions. In print it's down a dollar, to $6.99--any lower than that, and we'd have to pay you to take it. Not that I haven't considered that in past down times ...

For Kindle, Coming Attractions has been slashed in half! Not literally: It's a romantic comedy, not a horror novel. That makes it just 99 cents, a drop of more than half of what it was before. Or .... less than half? By one cent, anyway. Check it out:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KM6JWQC

Ahem. The photo and fun filled Hoosier Hysterical remains at its already low $2.99/$10.00. It's just that this is the only graphic I have with "sale" on it.

Due to various ailments, injuries and a gosh darn pandemic, this is the first year we haven't put a book out since 2011. (There will be a short story in the next newsletter.) I just felt this was the next best thing--and there will be a release or two in 2022.


I still maintain reading is the most fun thing you can do by yourself with your clothes on, unless you're Batman. Check out all our books:

 
Dog tested--dog approved, doggone it.

 

 It's said there's no such thing as bad publicity.

We all know that's not true.

Oh, it sounds like a good idea in theory. As a writer, I'm well aware that if you want to hit the best seller's list, your best bet is to get caught doing something wrong, preferably prison-sized wrong. Or to get elected, which is pretty much the same thing these days. 

But even then it depends on what you did. There's a new reality show out about the "Queen of Meth", actor Tom Arnold's sister, who apparently made truck loads of money, got busted, and now is being paid to be on TV because she ... well, dealt drugs. But do you think she'd get a TV deal if she got busted kicking puppies and kittens? Nope.

So, it depends.

Now, my newest novel is a couple of years old now, but chances are you haven't heard of it. Yes, I sent out press releases, but I've published too many books now for the media to be all that interested anymore. I shouted out Coming Attractions on the internet, but social media is now designed so people aren't likely to hear about it unless the writer forks over some money, first.

So I forked over some money.

There are web services that promise to shout out your book, get people interested, land you sales, make them money ... you too, hopefully. I've used them sparingly before and found they gave me a bump in sales, if not a big one.

Now, I believe in Coming Attractions. It's a fun story, if I do say so myself.

But frankly, it landed with a snooze.

It's received only four Amazon reviews, the most recent one a year ago. It was self-published, but these days almost all authors have to help promote their work, even with a traditional publisher ... unless their name ends in King, Koontz, or Rowling. It was as if one of my children went on stage for their first role, and found the theater occupied by three winos and the janitor.

I have ideas in other areas, but for starters I decided to try one of the publicity sites again. Among other things they put the book up on their website, and send it out to their newsletter subscribers. They also Tweet links to it. You've heard of Twitter: That place where you have very little space to say a whole lot of things. I'm a novelist--Twitter and I are not friends. But I've met a lot of great people there, and some of them read.

Some attention, right? At the very worst it would just be a little wasted money.

Then I saw the first Tweet.

A literary masterpiece. #books #RomanticComedy #MarkRHunter
 
Wait. What?
 
It came with a nice visual, but that visual was on every single other Tweet.

 

Then came the next one:
 
A dynamic, explosive, page-turning epic. #books #RomanticComedy #MarkRHunter
 
Um ... are we talking about the same book?
 
Don't get me wrong: I really do think it's a good story. But it's a romantic comedy. Early Tom Hanks, Sandra Bollock stuff. It is not, nor was it meant to be, a literary masterpiece. Nor is it the kind of story that would be called explosive, or epic. My characters are not returning a magical ring, or saving the planet.

With what I paid them, I didn't expect anyone at the company to actually read the book--but they did have the back cover blurb, for crying out loud.


Over the next several Tweets, I learned Coming Attractions was inspiring, intriguing, riveting, and the Best Book They've Ever Read! Also, after making all those promises, they said it lived up to every promise. Promises they made.

Oh, and it's also "One of the most original, powerful, and mind-blowing books you will ever read about human consciousness."
 
No. No, just ... no.
 
Finally, it's "The perfect book for all book readers".
 
Oh? What if you only read horror? Or thrillers? Or stuff recommended by Oprah?
 
I was horrified.
 
I would have been horrified but kept my mouth shut, if it actually did bring in more sales. But I kept imagining potential book buyers would read this bombastic bragging and be reduced to helpless, knee-slapping, non-buying hysterics.
 
That must be what happened, because during the promotion period Coming Attractions made exactly zero sales.
 
Ah, well. It wasn't much money--if it had been, I wouldn't have tried it to begin with--so I can only complain a little. And after all, I'm competing with the 1.7 million other self-published books released that same year, so maybe shouting big words from the rooftop was worth a try. It beats walking up and down the street wearing a sandwich board sign.
 
Which did get me two sales, so who am I to say?
 
 
At least it got around a little.

 

I like to know what readers are thinking, especially when it comes to my writing. For instance, while reviews are vital for an author's success these days, they're not just for social media's algorithms: They can also let the author know what may or may not work for his audience.

And they can drive the author to drink, but never mind.

That's why I ran that poll earlier this month, in which I asked readers which of our book or books they thought I should run promotions for next. I got a lot of hits on that blog, probably not because of my sparkling wit. The surprise: 100% of those who voted in the poll thought I should promote one of my romantic comedies next.

Or maybe not such a surprise. considering that at this writing only three people actually voted.

Ah, well. One of my friends said they couldn't access the poll from where they were, cyber-speaking, so I'm just going to pretend that slowed down the results by, say, 500%. Oh, if you want to hit me with a contradictory vote, it's still up:

 

Promotion isn't the most exciting thing to vote on, after all. Besides, if I wanted to make it easy on myself, I'd have stuck to just one genre to begin with.

Still, when 100% of people motivated enough to give their opinion give the same one, maybe that should tell me something. I think, in between submissions and working on my new novel, I'm going to put a little more time and money into promoting Coming Attractions.

Guess I picked the wrong decade to give up drinking.
Guess I picked the wrong decade to give up drinking.

It's my newest novel, and I really think it deserves more of an audience. Besides, since getting the rights back to two of the others we haven't had time to reissue them, so their presence on the internet is limited right now. The last one, Radio Red, also deserve more readers (in my opinion), but it's not as recent, so Coming Attractions it is.

Now I have another question for you, especially for my readers who are writers themselves: What is your preferred/most effective method of promoting books? I've had some success here and there, but not enough to really make back the money I spent. I'm considering doing an Amazon promotion, which some authors swear by. Me, I just swear.

Opinions? I promise not to put it in a poll.

 

http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

 

NaNoWriMo update: 35,000 words into the new novel!

Just an update on our newest book, More Slightly Off the Mark: We had to make some changes, and that screwed up formatting, and things happened, pandemic, yadayada ... anyway, it's back up for sale in print and e-book. If you ordered a copy direct from us, there will be a slight delay in delivery, for which I'm deeply sorry. I blame 2020.

 

 It's that time of year again ... that time when we think about Christmas and completely forget the fact that there's still another major holiday before then.

While I'm firmly of the "too much Christmas lessons the holiday" opinion, I'm also well aware that many of you are already searching for Christmas presents. Honestly, it's a good idea, and I should do it myself someday. But until then, here's another idea for Christmas presents:

Yes, books. If you already knew, why did you let me go on for so long?

In addition to previously dropping prices on some of our other books, we recently dropped the e-book price of Coming Attractions from $2.99 to $1.99, which according to my admittedly weak math is close to a dollar off, and in the area of half the cost of a four dollar book. 

As usual, you can go direct and get it and our other books on the website:

http://www.markrhunter.com/books.html


 

In that case you can get it signed ... which is kind of like your own personal graffiti, already in the book when you get it. No extra price for my defacing! Heck, it should drop the price.

Needless to say, of course, you can also get it and the other books on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Attractions-Mark-R-Hunter-ebook-dp-B07KM6JWQC

I'm hearing some people aren't leaving Amazon this year. At all. I'm more of a brick and mortar guy, but I suppose reading in general is more important to me than where you get your reading. If you're contrary, you can do a search for "Coming Attractions Mark R. Hunter" and get hits from several different book sellers, because some of us just march to the beat of our own book drums.

 But remember this: Buy early, buy often. Whenever Santa delivers a book, one of his whiskers turns into an angel and flies away. And Santa's getting pretty hairy.

 

 

 I wasn't going to post this weekend, but I wanted everyone to know that for the upcoming holiday season we're dropping the e-book price of Coming Attractions to $1.99. It's already dropped on Amazon and Smashwords, and within the next few days it'll come down on other sites, also.

You can pick it up on Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Attractions-Mark-R-Hunter-ebook-dp-B07KM6JWQC

And Smashwords here:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/908918

Or of course you can always go to the website:

http://www.markrhunter.com/books.html


I'll write more about it later, but for now I'm 2,000 words into NaNoWriMo, and I really would rather be 3,000 words in.

This was meant to go out way back a year and a half ago, when Coming Attractions was first released, but somehow it got lost in the shuffle. I decided to post it now to remind everyone that Auburn-Garrett Drive-In is still open and could use the patronage in this particularly rough year for movies ... and also, of course, that Coming Attractions is still available, and I could use the patronage, too!

 

Remember the joy of going to the drive-in movie theater when you were a kid?

You don't? That stinks.

You're missing a unique experience. All the way back in 1921 a fellow named Claude V. Caver projected films in downtown Comanche, Texas, which people didn't have to use speakers for because the films were silent. In fact, 2018 was the 85th anniversary of when a guy in New Jersey patented the idea to watch movies from the comfort of your car. I do have to wonder how many people thought he was insane, when there were perfectly comfortable movie houses that gave you some extra amount of shelter from the elements, but by the 50s there were four thousand drive-ins in the United States.

Today there are only about 330, with none at all in Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, or North Dakota.

When I was a kid there were three within a more or less easy drive from my home. One was up in the Angola area, as I recall, and later went to showing X-rated movies (if you can imagine a time when you couldn't stream those directly into your home). One was the Hi-Vue south of Kendallville; because its screen faced the highway, it generally showed family films or other G to PG rated fare. The third, the Auburn-Garrett, had a screen facing away from the road, so that's where any R rated features would show up, at the time. By the time my kids were old enough, only the Auburn-Garrett remained.

So that's where we went, and after my divorce that became a go-to days off trip for my kids and me. Then I married again, and my wife--gasp!--had never been to the drive-in, so as the kids started families of their own I had a new partner for the double feature.

Yeah, the drive-in meant a lot to me.

I like to get there early, to find a good spot. As a writer I'm always looking for more time to write, so I came up with an idea: Why not spend that pre-movie time working on a new novel?

But … whatever would that novel be about?

So, with my kids helping to plot it out and create characters, I outlined a new book about--a drive-in movie theater. Write what you know. The main characters include a single father with two kids, and … well, write what you know pretty much covers it.

While the drive-in that appears in Coming Attractions isn't quite the same as the Auburn-Garrett (for instance, the marquee along the highway is different), that's definitely where I got the inspiration. It's a quirky place populated with some sometimes odd and wonderful people; I hope it will invoke nostalgia in some, and curiosity in others, and bring drive-in theaters more business. It would be great to see my great-grandkids going there, someday.



Find all of our books at:
http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
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