One sale this month = $1.50 for the homeless and Angel

Last month I pledged that I would donate one half of my profits for the rest of 2012 for my book Anabar's Run to the Relief Bus, an organization that operates several buses that provide food, clothing, prayers, and other support to homeless people in the New York metropolitan area.
I had one sale since then, and I really do appreciate it. I appreciate it for Angel, a man I met in new York in March. Angel is about 26 years old, and he is homeless. Several years ago, he suffered a savage beating from his brother, which left Angel with brain damage. He has trouble speaking and often repeats himself four or five times when he tries to say something. I remember talking with him when he was shivering on that wet, cold day in the Bronx, and I was struck by how happy he seemed. He was genuinely happy to be talking to other people and was thrilled when the folks on the Relief Bus gave him some soup and bread.
You might be thinking that $1.50 is not much, but I guarantee you that Angel would appreciate it.
Please consider reading Anabar's Run and help me provide a bit more food and clothing to great people like Angel.

Here is a link to a video interview with Angel: You tube interview with Angel
Thanks

My short story Gladitorium Immortuous, featured in The Zombie Times!

Huge thanks go to Zombie Ed and the Terror4fun.com team for posting a feature for my short zombie story Gladitorium Immortuous in the March issue of their excellent newsletter, The Zombie Times. The feature is on page 12.

This is really exciting news because The Zombie Times is based in the UK, and I have been working hard to promote and sell my books in the UK. Gladitorium Immortuos is available on Amazon.com.UK and also in the United States.

The Zombie Times is a great looking publication, and they have everything you could ever want about Zombies from book and movie reviews to information on zombie events throughout the UK. I believe it is the best zombie resource on the Internet

Help me to help The Relief Bus provide for the homeless

Two weeks ago, I was lucky to travel with a group of students on a mission trip to New York City. During the week, we worked for three days with The Relief Bus, an organization that operates two buses providing food, clothing, and other assistance to the homeless. It was really great to see our students interacting with the guests who needed so much help.

Here is a video with some information about The Relief Bus:
 

Please check out the Relief Bus Website. They have a great staff, and they, along with their volunteers, make a positive difference in people's lives every day.

Help me to help The Relief Bus. For the rest of 2012, I will donate one half of all my sales for my book Anabar's Run to The Relief Bus. Please check out their website and consider helping this wonderful organization. I'll post weekly updates on sales and what I donate to The Relief Bus.


Thanks,


Will

Anabar's Run reviewed on top kids book blog!

Big thanks go to Erik at his excellent blog, This Kid Reviews Books for reviewing Anabar's Run.
Erik's blog is quickly becoming one of the most popular sites on the web to read honest, well written reviews of kid's books. Kids, parents, teachers, and librarians should definitely check out Erik's blog.

Thanks again, Erik!

300 Followers!

I reached 300 followers on Twitter this week at @WillGranger1 so I thought this would be a good time to take a look at what I have done in the past year to create an online platform, or presence.

First, I have my three blogs: My Author Will Granger Blog that you are reading now; my Anabar Series Blog that features my books Anabar's Run and Anabar Rises; and my Bad Dreams by Will Granger Blog where I feature my short horror stories The Deadly Path, Gladitorium Immortuos, and Vampire Truths.
I admit I am a bit surprised when I see all this links, but I have found that I really enjoy all this along with my writing.

In addition to my Twitter account and blogs, I have been working to get established on other social media platforms like my Facebook site; my LinkedIn site; and my Google+ site.


I have also made some good friends online, and I add information on them later today.

173 Downloads of Anabar's Run in 2 Days and my first time on Amazon's top 100 Free Bestseller List

So far my current promotion to offer Anabar's Run for free is going very well with 173 downloads in two days for Amazon US and UK.
There is even more good news as the book has made two of Amazon's bestseller lists. It is ranked #19 on Amazon's US Kindle > Children's ebooks > Action Adventure top 100 free bestseller list. It is also ranked #17 on Amazon's UK Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Children's Fiction > Literature > Action & Adventure top 100 free bestseller list.
So what does this all mean? Well, I can say for sure that this free promotion is helping get my book some attention. That has to be a good thing. Now I hope this leads to some good reviews and then to some sales. I also hope the people who are downloading the book will want to read Anabar Rises, book #2 in my Anabar series.
For those of you who have downloaded Anabar's Run this week, thanks. This is really good news for me.
P.S. Please check out and follow my Anabar Series Blog. It is a fun site where I am continuing to tell Anabar's Story.
Peace,

Will Granger

Anabar's Run Free on Amazon until Jan 26!

Anabar's Run is now free on Amazon.com until Jan. 26! I just joined Amazon's KDP select program, and after Jan 26, the book will also be available through through the Kindle Owners' Lending Library for Amazon Prime members. So far, 41 people have downloaded Anabar's Run in the first 10 hours! Please get the book and add a review if you wish.

Also, please take a few minutes and check out my fun Anabar Series blog. I am going to continue to add new maps, photos, journal entries, songs, and other information in the coming months. Please follow the blog; I would love to hear your suggestions and ideas.
Thanks,
Will

Review and Interview for Anabar's Run on Bookworm Blather Blog

Big thanks go to Michelle Isenhoff, a blogger, writer, and teacher who writes the excellent Bookworm Blather Blog. Michelle recently wrote a great review for Anabar's Run and interviewed me for her 5-Q Interview feature on her blog.

I really appreciate her honest review of Anabar's Run. I agree with her assessment that the book is best suited for readers age 8-14, and I have starting to market the series to these younger readers I also appreciate Michelle's positive mention of my blog/website for my Anabar Series. I think it is a fun, unique site for my readers, and it is especially nice to have someone else like it.

My presumptuous comparisons with Pottermore ( I think J.K. Rowling stole my idea)

Let me start with several points. First, I am thrilled that J.K. Rowling is starting her new Pottermore site. I'm looking forward to using the site and wish I was part of the beta test. I am a big fan of the Harry Potter series, and I believe that reading the books helped my sons to become skilled readers and writers. Several months ago, I was very interested to learn about Pottermore because I am a fan, but also because I was already trying something similar with my own Anabar Series Blog for my books Anabar's Run and Anabar Rises.
I am really not trying to say I am as good as J.K. Rowling, but I did start my site/blog before I heard of Pottermore. I want my site to be a fun, interactive experience for my readers, and I think it is quite unique. The web offers us many exciting opportunities to add to the reading experience, and I plan to keep adding more material to the site.
Please check out my site. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear your suggestions and ideas.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas,

Will

My review of "The Bones of the Earth: Part 1, Initiation Rites" A definite must read.

I don't review many books, but this new series is really excellent, and I can't wait to read more from author Scott Bury.

The Bones of the Earth, Part 1: Initiation Rites is the first novel by author Scott Bury. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to much more from him. I liked this coming-of-age epic filled with believable characters and situations, tense action, and mystical, magical elements. This is the story of Javor, a young man unknowingly destined to defend the world against evil forces pouring out of the east.

The story begins with a fertility ritual led by Vorona, the village witch and performed by the adolescent members of the village. Bury deftly accomplishes several things in this scene. First, he introduces the characters as typical young people, a bit confused about life, but eager to become adults. It also shows Javor to be naive, which makes his later ascendance even more appealing, as the reader sees how much he grows during the story.

Unaware of his destiny as a conqueror of evil, Javor gets his first taste of combat when Elli is captured by Avars, a pack of savage horsemen. He rescues her, exhibiting a both natural talent for fighting and an unshakable courage in the face of extreme danger. Javor returns a hero, and his life changes when he meets Photius, who convinces Javor to join him on a quest to drive evil from the lands.

The rest of the story is filled with intense action as Javor and Photius encounter a variety of monsters and creatures; each time Javor learns a bit more of just how powerful and capable he is. Eventually, Photius admits that he is part of a secretive group of warriors and that he believes Javor to be destined to join the group and lead the defeat of evil forces coming out of the east.

Bury does a great job here, combining violent, exciting action, with Javor's reluctance to accept his new role. Javor is a realistic young man, pulled in different directions by confusion about what he ought to do with his life. Still, and perhaps despite Javor's reluctance, we see him growing in power and confidence, and he eventually starts to accept, and thrive in, his new role.

The violence, combined with several scenes in which Javor is intimate with female characters, makes this more suited for older teens. The novel also contains many characters, which help give it a foreign feel. This makes it initially difficult to keep track of them, but it becomes clear after a few chapters.

The real strength of The Bones of the Earth is that Bury has created a realistic character chosen by fate and destiny, who is able to fight magical, mystical forces with his very human strength, skill, and determination. I look forward to reading more of this series.

I'm wasting my time talking so much to authors

I need to think about how I should be trying to promote by books. Like everyone else, especially writers, I have a limited amount of time to write and promote, and work at my day job. I have been at this now since February, and while I have made some good friends and learned a great deal on various discussion boards and blogs. all of that is taking time away from communicating with potential readers.

Take, for example, my MG/YA books Anabar's Run and Anabar Rises. Instead of discussing them on author blogs and websites, I should be communicating with young teens and their parents and librarians and maybe even teachers. I need to focus on the people who I think are likely to read and enjoy my books.

Then there is social networking. To be honest, I still haven't really learned Facebook very well. I have a page and started a fan page, but I know I ought to be writing instead. Then there is Twitter. I do like Twitter, and I can usually spare a few minutes to send a few quick tweets or re-tweets. I just reached 100 followers this week, and I felt like that was a significant milestone for me; however, I see many people with thousands of followers. Instead of envying them, I wonder how much time it must have taken them to get so many followers, and for what?

I do believe networking and other forms of marketing are important when you are trying to make it in self publishing, but at some point they become intrusive. I see all this discussing books with other writers taking time away from my writing and connecting with readers.

I have made a few important connections with people in the business, but I don't need thousands of connections with people who probably won't read my books. I understand when other writers don't buy my books. I don't expect them to.

I have joined in a partnership with a small group of professionals involved in publishing. We are actively helping each other to revise, proofread, and market our books. This is vastly different from all those Facebook friends and Twitters folks. In this partnership, we are committed to working together and selling or books. I will write more about this in the coming weeks.

There is nothing wrong if you enjoy social networking and all the other forms of electronic communication available to us. Many people really enjoy them, and I am all for people doing things they enjoy, but I should be focusing on the people who I want to buy my books.
I wouldn't have this blog if I didn't want to sell my books.

Great review for Anabar's Run on CatholicFiction.net

Anabar's Run just received an excellent review on the CatholicFiction.net website at: http://www.catholicfiction.net/2011/07/18/anabars-run-by-will-granger/ .

I appreciate Jody Rakis taking the time to read and review my book. While I did not write Anabar's Run and Anabar Rises to be overtly Catholic or religious books, they do have some underlying themes of peace and avoiding hatred that I hope will appeal to readers of the reviews on CatholicFiction.net as well as other readers. I really hope MG and YA readers will benefit from these messages.

In other news, I also posted an original poem,Why , on my Anabar Series Blog. I wrote it as if it was written by Marabel, Anabar's mother, and I am quite happy with the way it came out. Poems are great fun to write.

Audio Interview with Will Granger at Work-At-Home-Success Website

Big thanks go to Leslie Truex from the excellent Work-At-Home-Success website for interviewing me this week. We talked about my experiences as an online college teacher and author.

First, I talked about some of the different opportunities in teaching college classes online through correspondence and webcam-based formats. I also explained what I know about the qualifications and experience one generally needs to become an adjunct professor at community colleges and universities. This is a great job, and there are plenty of opportunities out there.

Second, Leslie asked about my experience as an author. I told her about what I have earned about self publishing ebooks and promoting. I always like it when I get the chance to talk about my books.

Please go to the Work-At-Home-Success website and listen to the interview .

I really appreciate Leslie taking the time to interview me. I hope you enjoy it.

Vampire Truths: my new short horror story

I just published my newest short horror story, Vampire Truths, on Amazon.com. I decided to write this because I wanted to show my view of what life as a vampire would be like. This is no love story, and my vampire is definitely no romantic hero.

You can read an excerpt from Vampire Truths and learn about my other horror shorts Gladitorium Immortuos and The Deadly Path at my blog: http://baddreamsgranger.blogspot.com/ . I plan to have the story for sale on Smashwords.com next week.

I am having a great deal of fun writing horror stories, and although I plan to start Anabar's Night, which will be book #3 of my Anabar Series,  I think I'll stick with horror for a while. My next horror short will have the title Green, and then I have ideas for a lumberjack tale and another zombie story.

Anabar Rises featured on Indie Snippets Blog

Thanks to Bryan at the Indie Snippets blog for posting an excerpt for Anabar Rises , book #2 of my Anabar series of YA action coming-of-age books

You can read the snippet here: Anabar Rises Snippet .

You can also read more about Anabar Rises and Anabar's Run, book #1 in the series, at my Anabar series blog at http://anabarseries.blogspot.com/ where I have more excerpts, maps, photographs, posters, and other features.

Please check out the Indie Snippets blog. Bryan is doing a great job of promoting many great Indie books by providing excerpts from "New INDIE fiction in bite sized-flavors."