Category Archives: Books

If it’s Free, is it Still a Bestseller?


The Globe started a three-day promotion on Amazon at midnight.  This will probably be the last time as I intend to make it available for the Barnes & Noble Nook soon.  That will make it ineligible for any further free promotions on Amazon.

The results so far?  Impressive:

#1 in Hard-Boiled Mysteries
#5 in Mysteries
#24 in Genre Fiction
#68 in Fiction

That’s right.  Top 100 in fiction on Amazon’s Bestseller(?) List:

The Globe cracks Amazon's Top 100 in Fiction!

How long will this ranking last?  Will it go any higher in the charts?  Who knows?  Who cares?  At least for one brief moment I can say I cracked the top 100 . . . even if it was free.

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An Endorsement from David Knox Whitmire . . . or is it Williams?


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A Classic Noir Book Review

That name not familiar?  Then you haven’t read The Globe yet, have you.  But, first, some background.

There are a lot of characters in The Globe.  It is, after all, a mystery.  And what would a mystery be without suspects? Lots of suspects?

One of those characters is David Knox Whitmire.  What makes this particular character unique is that I based much of Mr. Whitmire’s physical characteristics on my fest friend from college (and the best man at my wedding), Psychology Professor David Knox Williams.  I don’t as a rule base my characters on real people, but I wanted to reward David for all the help, encouragement, and hours of proofreading he’s done for me over the years.  So, I asked David if I could base a pivotal character on him, and he readily agreed with the caveat that I change the last name in honor of his late mother.  David then proceeded to practically write the character of David Knox Whitmire for me—contributing everything from the dastardly Mr. Whitmire’s educational background to his place of residence and even particulars on his rather shady business dealings.  Hey, that’s just the kind of help any author craves.

Anyway, David decided to do a video review of The Globe while in character.  He even dressed the part.  He then posted the review on his Facebook page and the Amazon Product Page for The Globe.

Oh, and, yes, David does indeed have acting experience, mostly with a local theater group in his hometown of Spartanburg.  And, no, David is not heterochromatic.  Like much of the fictional part of the character, that too was an invention of the real David’s imagination.

Good job on the review, Mr. David Knox Whitmire . . . or is it Williams?

Milestone alert:  I was just informed by my weblog service provider that this is the 200th post to my blog.

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The Globe—Over 2,400 Copies Out the Door


The Globe—Available from Amazon for the Kindle eReader and Kindle Fire tablet

Regular readers of this blog will recall that I recently conducted on Amazon a two-day free promotion of my latest mystery novel The Globe.  So, how did that promotion go?

Here are the download figures:

2,418 free copies of The Globe were snagged in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany.  No copies went to France, Italy, or Spain.

35 free copies of The Globe were downloaded to Kindle and Kindle App users in other countries.

The highest ratings I observed during the free promotion:

#4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Hard-Boiled

#12 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#23 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers

#90 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction

So, while I may not be able to claim that The Globe was a bestseller, it certainly did make the Amazon bestfreebie list, and in several categories.  And, yes, I just made up that bestfreebie word.  But, hey, I need the exposure.

Will this performance boost sales?  It’s too early to tell at this point, as I doubt that very many who took advantage of this limited-time offer have yet had the chance to read and hopefully recommend The Globe to their friends (or enemies, if they don’t like it).

But so far, however, The Globe recently received its first review (five stars, no less).  The reviewer was Brandon Awbrey, author of NoKo Joe.  I don’t know Brandon, but I wanted to take this time to publicly thank him for being the first nevertheless.

The one thing I’ve not yet received are any requests to autograph anyone’s Kindle screen.  But my indelible ink marker stands poised and ready.

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