Friday, November 11, 2011

Lend Me Some Sugar, I Am Your Neighbor

Okay, so I've got a favor to ask. And how often does someone ask you a favor where you get something out of it, and you get to help kids too? Probably not that often. There's a little project I'm involved in called Kindle All Stars: Resistance Front. It's an anthology of short stories by 32 fantastic writers, including Harlan Ellison and Alan Dean Foster. (I also have a story and an essay in there.) So what's the favor? It's simple: I need people to read an ARC (advanced reader copy) of the book and write a review. Then on the day the book goes live, I need those people to buy a copy of the book from Amazon (only 99 cents, and every penny of profit goes to the Center For Missing and Exploited Children.). Then you need to post your review of the book (which only needs to be 20 words minimum.)

To do this, you will need two things: a way to read the manuscript and an Amazon account. You don't need a Kindle to read the book, just a kindle app. You can go to Amazon and download (For Free!!) a Kindle app for iPhone/iPad, most smartphones, your PC. I have Kindle for PC on my computer and it works great. The S/O has a Kindle app on his Android-based phone. It's an easy interface and it just take a few minutes to download and set up.

Now you also need an Amazon account, which is likewise free. And you really should have one, because otherwise how are you going to order stuff when the zombies rise? Once you've got an Amazon account, you can review any product. If it's a product you've purchased off of Amazon, you can tag yourself as a verified purchaser.

The reason I'm asking you all to do this is because we really want to make a splash with this anthology. We would like to get a hundred sales and reviews the first day, because reviews and sales are what put you on the best-seller lists, which is what drives the success of a book. The holidays are coming up, and we really want to send a big, fat check to The Center for Missing and Exploited Children. On a more selfish note, we want to prove that a group of people who just met can come together and change the way publishing works.

Being the micro-managing hermit that I am, I don't ask for much, but I would like to get 10 more people to promise me a review. (Think of as it your own Jerry Lewis telethon, with less Jerry Lewis). Do it for the kids, do it for me, do it for yourself. I'll sing if you want me to. (Or for a dollar more, I won't sing.) It's good for your karma. It's penance for that thing you did that one time. It will make you feel good.

So, again, email me at jacypods@gmail.com. I'll send you a copy of the manuscript in Word. Read it and write a short a review. Make sure you have a Kindle app of some stripe and an Amazon account. On launch day, I'll email you, at which time you go on Amazon, buy a 99 cent copy of the book, and leave your review. Easy-peasy.

Thanks - unlike that thing you did that one time, you wont' regret it!



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