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Old Man Gamer

11 Apr 2013 by KRAG

I am that rare thing, that forgotten demographic, that chimera of the gaming world.

I am a guy with an Xbox Gold Membership and an AARP card.

‘Struth. Even though my twitch-muscle response time took a nosedive during the Reagan administration, even though I often win the FIFO award during multiplayer gaming sessions, I still enjoy a little mayhem now and again.

The First-Person Shooter is my go-to genre in gaming, and as such, I’ve followed several of the big franchises over the years. This year saw long-awaited releases for three of them: Halo, Gears of War, and BioShock. I’ve played them all, now, and I am therefore qualified to say that there’s only franchise that did it right.

Now, since I am Old Man Gamer, my yardsticks are not the same as those freshly minted TwitchMaster 2000 players. While I appreciate the diverse weaponry and multiplayer modes and splatter-factors, I put greater weight on story line, set design, innovative gameplay, character realization, and what I call the Immersion Factor. I also care about how women are portrayed in video games, not because I’m a prude, but because I’m just sick and tired of females only existing in video games to up the titillation quotient.

So–assuming I haven’t lost you completely at this point–my findings.

Continue Reading »

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No More Blah-Blah-Blah

10 Apr 2013 by KRAG

Stack of BooksSo…that went well…

The Free Book Promotion for Unraveling Time was a rousing success. Over 1100 copies were downloaded. I hope you all got your free edition. (If you missed it, I’ve modified the regular price and you can now get a copy for only 99¢.)

The downside? Well, first off, Italy and I are no longer on speaking terms (no copies to the .it site), and then, obviously, it’s over, so the book is no longer on the Top Ten. Thus…back to obscurity. The promotion begat some interesting conversations about the value and future of e-books (or, to be more precise, the value and future of hardcopy books), the value and methodology of this kind of promotion, and other topics that I’ll cover in future.

Now, though, it’s time to shift gears. I need to quit screwing around. No more blah-blah-blah (if you get that classic TV reference, let me know) and lots more “On, you huskies!”

Yes, it’s time to start writing.

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The Art of History

09 Apr 2013 by KRAG

As part of my preparation for my next book, I’m reading and analyzing authors who exhibit a particular style. So far, it’s been Alice Hoffmann and Julio Cortazar. Now, it’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The book I chose was Love in the Time of Cholera, and several things immediately set it apart from other books I’ve read in recent years.  Continue Reading »

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Free Free Free

08 Apr 2013 by KRAG

I’ll admit it. I got nothing done this weekend. I was positively glued to my iPad, pulling up the growing stats on my promotion for Unraveling Time, watching the numbers click upward hour by hour, day by day.

It was fascinating, and it totally exceeded my expectations.

(And in case you missed it, no worries; it’s still available for free, thru midnight tomorrow. Don’t be left out. Go claim yours!)

So, instead of something pithy and/or insightful, let’s talk about the progress so far.

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Secondary Effects

06 Apr 2013 by KRAG

Stack of BooksYesterday’s promotional campaign–offering Unraveling Time free of charge for an entire weekend– came under the heading of “It couldn’t hurt.” I thought it might get my book in front of a couple of new readers. It did, but it did more than that. There are secondary effects.

Unraveling Time is a time-travel/historical/adventure/romance (yep…it is) and as such, I listed it in two sub-sub-genres: Historical fantasy and Time Travel Romance (didn’t know there was a Time Travel Romance sub-sub-genre, did you?) Well, this morning, due to the free copies that people have downloaded, Unraveling Time is in the Top Ten for its genres. Now, I grant you, those are rather specific sub-sub-genres, but here’s the thing. At Amazon, there are people who subscribe to the RSS feed of top sellers in those genres. There is even an RSS feed for top free books in those genres. And that, my friends, is targeting your demographic.

Of course, it’s a free promotion, and I’m not making a dime off it, but as folks in another business say: The first taste is free.

Already, I’ve had emails from people thanking me for the free book, telling me that they’ve started reading it already and are enjoying it, and one email from a brand-new reader just to tell me that she really loved a line from the book (“…and the sand
beneath him that smelled of ancient anger.”)

I can’t tell you how big my grin was when I read that.

So, if you some friend or colleague or even just a blogger like me says, Here’s a book for free, go get it. Even if you don’t read it, you’ll help that person’s book reach new readers and that is, essentially, what most of us are striving for.

k

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It’s Heeere

05 Apr 2013 by KRAG

Stack of BooksIt’s out there. For free. Go get one!

Unraveling Time is free through Tuesday!

What are you waiting for?

While you’re doing that, I’m going to write up a review of the book I finished yesterday.

k

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Free Ride through Time

04 Apr 2013 by KRAG

Attention, biblio-nauts! I’m kicking off a promotion for one of my recent novels.

Starting tomorrow (Friday, April 5), you can get a free copy of Unraveling Time for your Kindle-reader.

No gimmicks. No strings. From April 5 through April 9, this book is entirely free. Go, get it, and keep it forever. It is literally yours for the taking!

(Remember, you can read Kindle books on your PC, your Mac, your iPad, your iPhone, your Android phone or tablet…anywhere!)

Still not sure? Read an excerpt of the book right here on this blog! What can you lose (except a weekend spent with a good book)?

Want to know more? Want to know what it’s about? Continue Reading »

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