Announcement 1: The Smashwords Debut of Black Magic & Mojitos!
Black Magic and Mojitos, my urban fantasy novelette, has been out just over three months now on Amazon exclusively, and I decided to mix things up and it is now up on Smashwords, and soon all of Smashwords' distributors (B&N, Kobo, Apple, etc.)! To celebrate, Black Magic and Mojitos will be FREE through Thanksgiving! Which is why I'm really excited about Smashwords, because I can offer my books for free for as long as I want, and am not limited to 5 days within a 90 day period like Amazon. I love Amazon too, but I wanted more flexibility. It's still on Amazon, too, just not in their exclusive program.
Announcement 2: Heifer International World Hunger Fundraiser!
For the past decade or so, I've given a small donation at the end of the year to Heifer International, my favorite charity. The reason Heifer is so unique is that they don't just give food to people. They give an animal to someone, not to eat, but one that produces food, like a cow, goat, chicken, or honeybees. Then they teach them how to care for this animal and not only feed their family, but sell the excess so that they have a sustainable small business. Further, they have them donate an offspring from their animal to another family in need. From there, it expands outwards in a multiplier effect with more and more families touched by the program. It's really fantastic, and I just found out yesterday that Heifer is fantasy writer Patrick Rothfuss' fave charity, too! Super cool.
So, after my free debut celebration, I will change my book on Smashwords to the "pick your own price" option, and through Christmas, ALL proceeds will go to Heifer. I will not keep any of it, whatever Smashwords sends me, I will send to Heifer. I am SUPER STOKED about this, it feels awesome and wonderful and I'm delighted to have a book out there with which I can raise funds for charity!
Please join me in spreading the word about my year-end BOOKS FIGHT WORLD HUNGER party!! Let's rock this out.
Giving animals to someone is like giving a man a fishing pole instead of a fish. It will feed them for much longer.
ReplyDeleteAwesome your book is on Smashwords - means it will be in the iBookstore.
Exactly! Great metaphor.
DeleteI snagged a copy. Congrats! That's such a great idea with a real ripple effect. Good for you for supporting them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nick!
DeleteWhat a great cause and I'm so impressed you've decided to donate proceeds of our sales. That's one thing you can't really do if you're traditionally published. Well...you could donate a portion of your advance but no one would care. You usually never see a dime in royalties.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes, it's one of the reasons I'm happy I'm self-pubbing this book.
DeleteOoo, that's really neat that they give animals that produce food to people beyond just plain ol' food. And even though I already have a copy of your novella, I can now post a review of it on Smashwords. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, for sure. And thanks! You rock!
DeleteThat is a fantastic idea, and a fantastic charity! I hope your sales soar. :)
ReplyDeleteHey, I read this one! And now I need to review it, but I'm SO behind in my reviews. SO behind. (It's because I loaned out my time-stopper.)
ReplyDelete