Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Post Summer Mailbag 2012

Hope everyone had a great summer! Spent mine working on getting some new books out. But also have been receiving a lot of great questions from readers - love hearing from you! So doing a mailbag to cover the most common ones. Here it goes:

Do you have any books planned/coming out soon?

I have a book called The Heritage Paper coming out sometime this fall. Some call it "the Nazi book" because it centers around the possible escape of some notorious war criminals previously believed to be dead. Think Painless meets a Dan Brown conspiracy theory book.

On the other end of the spectrum, I just finished a Christmas/Santa themed mystery. I'm hoping to get that one out by, well, Christmas.

I'm an Amazon Prime member - will any of your books be in Amazon Lending Library/KDP Select program?

Their are a lot of advantages of this program for authors, and I would like to give it a try with one of the new books (no plans for the books that are already out to be). But the problem I have (and its really a good problem) is that Amazon requires a 90-day exclusivity to be in the program, and I have too many great readers at Apple, Barnes & Noble and other places to provide exclusivity. For me to do it, I need to find a way to be able to give those readers some type of access. My last book Officer Jones, I offered free copies to my Facebook and Twitter followers, trying to get some "buzz" going before the book came out, and it worked really well. Perhaps I could do something like that to make it work. So not sure at this point.

Why do you sell your ebooks for so cheap?

For anyone who'd like to spend more for the books, I will gladly accept any donations (-: But seriously, I think ebooks in current market should be priced $5 and under. I have sold mine anywhere from free to $6.99, but usually $2.99 is the normal rate. I do think they should cost slightly more, and $4.99 is more in line with what they're worth , but $2.99 seems to be the price that leads to the most volume, and is best for business. But at either of those price points, it's still about the price of buying a coffee and a paper, so I'm glad I can make them affordable for all.

You have put out a lot of books this past year, and I see that some just came out in paperback. Can you give me an update on all the books you have out?

Sure thing:
Painless (ebook, paperback, hardcover)
The Truant Officer (ebook, paperback)
The Trials of Max Q (ebook, paperback)
Officer Jones (ebook)

How do I get a signed book?

Best way is to email me (derekbkclb@yahoo.com), and we can work out best way to get a signed copy to you.

I liked _____ book, will you be bringing those characters back in future books?

I think you will see that, starting next year. Truant Officer, Max Q, and Officer Jones all lend themselves to a "follow-up." I'm not sure Painless would work with another mystery/thriller, but I am working on something that will bring Carolyn, Billy and the crew back in 2013 in some form. So stay tuned.

Is there a place I can go to get updates on the books? You rarely post at this blog.

I know, I know ... the blog seems to have gotten lost this past year. But I update all the important stuff at the Facebook site (Derek Ciccone Book Club) and I'm constantly tweeting at @DCicconeBooks. And if you want to get on my emailing list, just send me an email to derekbkclb@yahoo.com and I'll make sure you get on it.