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News, Fiction Updates & General MusingsNew Release: Dead Days — A New Zombie Apocalypse Serial
I’m delighted to be able to confirm a previously top secret project to you that I’ve been working on for the last few months and weeks. It’s called Dead Days, it’s a six-part zombie apocalypse serial, and the first episode is now available on Kindle, Nook, iBooks and Kobo.
There are a lot of zombie stories out there nowadays.
Thanks to the rise of AMC’s The Walking Dead, zombies are hot right now. Very hot. But what is it about The Walking Dead that makes the show so appealing? What sets it aside from multitude of zombie movies and books? The answer lies, I believe, in the characters.
Dead Days is also a character tale. With each of the six episodes that make up the first season, I asked myself what I would do were I in the situations the characters find themselves in? Would I have it in me to make the tough decisions? Although the work is far from autobiographical — the protagonist is way too heroic for me — I think that through studying the emotions and behaviour of humans, we can learn a lot about survival in this hypothetical apocalypse.
On the other hand, Dead Days is a story. It’s an adventure. While it strives for some level of gritty realism, it is entertainment. Within each eighteen to twenty-two thousand word episode, there is a story. There are twists. There are turns. There will be blood and there will be tears. Nobody is safe.
Dead Days is the six-part serial adventure I’ve always wanted to write, inspired by some of my favourite books, TV shows and films. I will launch a new episode every Thursday from today. I hope you stick around to see how this goes down. There might even be a Season Two if this goes well enough.
If you’d like to be notified as soon as a new episode of Dead Days is available, please sign up by clicking/visiting bit.ly/rcmlist. Also, if you enjoy the book, please consider leaving a review wherever you purchased it. I really appreciate it.
Enjoy the ride.
Ryan Casey.
Dead Days: Episode One is now available on Kindle, Nook, iBooks and Kobo.
PS: A month or so ago, I wrote about pen names. I’ve decided to scrap this idea and launch everything under my own name. Readers are intelligent enough to decide what they do or don’t want to read. I’m an eclectic writer, and my work will likely represent that. Sorry for any confusion. Thanks for the words of support over on social media at this u-turn!
Kindle Countdown Deals: The Saving Grace of KDP Select?
Okay, so my blog post title is a little misleading.
I’ve openly expressed my belief that KDP Select is still to this day a perfectly viable option for newer authors looking to make a start in independent publishing. Have I fallen out of love with it a little since I first enrolled? Yes. But it still leads to more reviews. It still results in slightly increased exposure. And, if coupled with an advertisement at one of the major ad sites, it can still lead to a nice post-freebie boost.
That said, I’ve totally pulled all of my books out of KDP Select. Yeah — the program that I earned several thousands of pounds through. Call me mad, but I call it ‘building for the future’. I’ve had my start — made enough cash to support this whole writing thing for a decent amount of time — and I thank KDP Select for that. But the benefits were wearing thin. Free promotions weren’t really that viable an option for me anymore, especially due to the large advertising costs that accompany it (if any level of success is desired).
Oh, and don’t talk to me about borrows. I’ve never had much luck there, apart from a nice early October boost when Amazon decided to promote Killing Freedom for me. Nice of them.
However, a whole new benefit to KDP Select just arrived. It’s called Kindle Countdown Deals, and it’s that new feature you’ll have seen advertised over on your KDP dashboard.
What is the Kindle Countdown Deals feature?
Basically, it’s a tool that allows authors to run limited time discounts on their books. Customers will see the regular price crossed off with a ‘Save…’ label beside it, which is rather handy. There’s also a cool countdown clock ticking away to the end of the deal.
But the most attractive lure of Amazon’s FAQ is the news that ‘you’ll continue to earn your selected royalty rate during the promotion’. This means that instead of the $0.35 per 99c discounted sale (due to Amazon’s 35% royalties for titles under $2.99), each sale will be worth $0.70. That doesn’t sound lots for just a couple of sales, but imagine how well this could work during, say, a BookBub promotion. 1,000 sales at $0.35 = $350. 1,000 at $0.70 = $700. Kindle Countdown Deals doubles the amount you earn, which makes it an attractive option of those coupling discounts with advertising sites.
Another plus point with Kindle Countdown Deals is that it has its own dedicated website for readers to view. Separate charts mean enhanced visibility, and the fact that only a few thousand books will initially be enrolled may make it tempting for authors to throw their books back into Select.
Also worth mentioning is what I dub the ‘staggered price raise’ feature. With Kindle Countdown Deals, an author or publisher can set the discount to start at $0.99, then rise to $1.99 and $2.99 and slowly back to full price as the days go on, while alerting the customer how long they have left until the next price hike. This is a nice way to increase demand, and definitely one of my favourite features of Kindle Countdown Deals.
On the flip side…
That said, it’s not all rosy. Or more, as with every new program, there are grey areas.
First, a book has to have been enrolled in KDP Select for thirty days before a Kindle Countdown Deal can be triggered. But perhaps more off-putting to authors is the fact that a KDP Select free promotion and a Kindle Countdown Deal can not be run in the same ninety day period. On the surface, this seems restrictive, but I think it makes sense. Amazon don’t want authors or publishers abusing these tools.
The very fact that Kindle Countdown Deals is a ‘thing’ is probably due to the drop of effectiveness in free promotions. Remember when KDP Select free first came along? The tool, when used in the early days, was a foolproof method leading to independent success. I know authors today who have been able to quit their day jobs due to the effect early KDP Select had. And yet, that was due to a glitch. An underestimation on Amazon’s part as to just how effective the free tactic would be. Algorithms were tweaked, and now it’s a lot more difficult. I think the clear rules and boundaries set will keep Kindle Countdown Deals an attractive tool for a little longer without the need for a sudden shift in the algorithms.
But we’ll see. Indie publishing is crazy. Who knows?
Will I be trying out Kindle Countdown Deals?
As for whether I’ll be enrolling in KDP Select and giving a Kindle Countdown Deal a shot, I have to say I won’t. I’m focusing on a slow-build sales method going into 2014. I’ve learned a lot about publishing as a business in 2013, but mostly, I’ve learned that there’s a lot of bad advice out there. Not intentionally bad, just advice catered to a short-term, get rich quick approach. I’ve seen authors with guest posts and fancy covers and big promotional slogs fire out the gates only to crash and languish in the lower echelons of the rankings, tweet promoting one book and hoping that just maybe, an indie god out there will answer their prayers.
The get rich quick method is bullshit. Sorry, but it’s true. I’m telling you this now, well over a year into the publishing game. Young, yes, but I’ve done my homework and had my own experiences. If you’re in this to make money from one book, you might as well buy two lottery tickets per week. The odds aren’t much different. Seriously.
At this moment in time, there are 2,260,545 books available on the Kindle Store. I just refreshed and that figure rose to 2,261,001. To make a stable living from one book — promoting that one book and spending all your time, effort and energy promoting that one book — let’s say you need $5,000 per month. Which means, from one book, remember, you’d need to sell 1,433 copies per month. At $4.99. 2,500 at $2.99. Those numbers are the sort that books ranked (and maintaining) around the #2,000 mark on Amazon are bagging. Consistently. Every month. So in a sea of 2,261,000 books, that’s a… let me do the maths here. Okay, that’s a 1/1130 chance that your one book is going to break lucky and earn you a steady living. Probably nearer to 1/5000 that the one book will maintain that rank, but let’s be idealistic here.
One in one-thousand, one-hundred and thirty. Looking at things idealistically. And bear in mind those odds are growing every moment a new book is published.
This isn’t speculation. It’s raw data. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Unless you’re hoping to get rich quickly through publishing. But I’m not. I’m just steadily putting books out there. Writing drafts, rewriting those drafts, rewriting those rewrites, sending them to some betas, sending them to an editor, sending them to a proofreader, publishing, and repeating. All to the best of my abilities. Not rushing — just spending more time in the writing chair. Funny thing happens when you sit down and write instead of complaining you don’t have the time/effort/energy/motivation/ability to write. Wink face. Sorry if I seem snappy, but this is tough love, and you’ll thank me for it in a year.
In the early days, I prayed for a bestseller. I’m through with praying. Becoming one of the one in one thousand one hundred and thirty is out of all of our control. And sure — you can do all these tours and social media stuff, but even then, I’d say you’re cutting your odds down to one in one thousand or so. Buying two lines per lottery ticket every week.
But the more quality products we publish, the more those odds narrow. The more quality products we have available, the more we learn to stop relying on publishing a breakout bestseller and start focusing on publishing more good quality decent-sellers.
I guess my point here is that I’m kind of through with short-term solutions, and as appealing as Kindle Countdown Deals is, at this stage in my career, it isn’t for me. But credit to Amazon. I love those people a lot. Their platform is great. Their treatment of authors and readers alike is great. I’m not being patronising when I say this — I genuinely have Amazon and KDP Select to thank for my success. But right now, I’m trying something new. Maybe in the future, exclusivity will be for me again. Maybe I’ll dip a toe in the water in a few years or weeks or days. Just not now.
And you can do what you want. You can publish your book. Throw it in KDP Select and run a Kindle Countdown Deal. Experiment and have fun! But instead of thinking in terms of promotion, think in terms of writing. It’s the truth.
And I know, such and such a person told you that you need to promote and promote big on every social network to break out right now. But take a look at those people and see how many books they are selling before you follow their words like scripture. Seriously. I’d be a bit richer now if I’d followed that advice in the first stage of my career.
Cheers,
Ryan.
Kobo Goes Nuclear on Self-Published Books — But Why?
Note: since this post, Kobo have made some great moves and rebuilt the relationship with indie authors well. Cheers for listening, Kobo, and best wishes going forward. I’m certainly a big fan.
Yesterday started like any other day for those in the writing and publishing business. Probably with a yawn or two after being up all night, nagged by a spark of creative inspiration. Probably with a cup of tea or coffee in hand, stressing over minute intricacies like word choice. And, let’s be honest here — probably checking sales figures on the KDP, Draft2Digital or Kobo dashboards. All seemed well.
If only innocent little morning self had been aware of how the day was going to conclude.
Last night, a lot of self-publishers and writers went to bed wondering whether they were going to lose a revenue stream as Kobo appeared to yank all self-published books from its shelves. Some eye-witness reports claimed it was UK only, while others from around the world added that their books had also disappeared. At a glance, it appeared that Kobo had for some reason come down hard on self-published ebooks, but without any official word, nobody could really say why. Mass panic and hysteria ensued. Bomb shelters were occupied. Self-published authors braced for the apocalypse.
As the day progressed and more information became available, it appeared that Kobo’s pulling of self-published ebooks was a direct response to WH Smith’s website closure. For those overseas, WH Smith (or ‘Smiths’, as it is more commonly referred in ol’ Blighty) is probably one of the two remaining major high street book retailers. Nowadays, it’s more akin to its former self as a glorified newsagents, making more income from discount Mars bars than books.
The reason WH Smith are so crucial to the understanding of Kobo’s seeming act of insanity is that they are Kobo’s number one UK partner.
But why do WH Smith have anything to do with a seemingly global collapse of Kobo’s independent publishing services? Well, in a nutshell, they fucked up. Majorly.
WH Smith’s Major Cock-Up
On October 14th, WH Smith took its entire UK website offline due to a rising number of reports that abuse-themed and extreme porn books were being distributed to its eBook library via the Kobo stream. The company issued a statement claiming that ‘all self-published books would remain off the store until they were absolutely certain none of this content could appear again.’
This seems fair enough, at a glance. However, I still believe WH Smith should take some responsibility for their own inept privacy options. A simple tick box with, ‘do you want your search to feature explicit content?’ would’ve protected children from accidentally stumbling upon such literature. Smashwords have had such an option for years, and they’re doing just fine.
But anyway, I digress. As a result of WH Smith — Kobo’s major UK partner, remember — closing their website and demanding all self-published books be cleaned and properly moderated, Kobo were left with two options. The first, more reasonable option to all, would likely have been something along the lines of what Amazon are doing — policing the self-published environment and gradually removing the offending content. Option two was to immediately cave to WH Smith’s demands and put the interest of its business partnership before its authors and readers.
You can probably guess which of the two they opted for. Business is, as they say, business, after all. Just the way the world works, and I’m not too annoyed at Kobo for this. Anyway, Kobo removed all its self-published books from sale in the United Kingdom in order to save its relationship with WH Smith. A belated statement implied that the company are acting fast to remove the offending books. How they will achieve this when it is quite simply so easy to publish anything is intriguing, but more on that later. That’s why you can’t see your books available for Kobo in the UK, whether you uploaded directly via Writing Life, or a third-party distributor.
But what about the rest of the world? Sporadic reports have claimed that entire US series have vanished — and we’re not talking erotica here. Mysteries, thrillers, and historical fiction. Books without a fragment of sex in them. Why would they be removed?
Again, it all goes back to WH Smith and Kobo.
Draft2Digital — a third party distributor — sent out an email last night to customers informing them that all of their books had been removed from the Kobo store for the time being. Draft2Digital were not informed of the decision in advance — again, business is business — but this explains the ripple effects felt overseas. Simply put, if you publish via Draft2Digital, your Kobo book will not be available anywhere. If you publish direct, it will be available everywhere except the UK. All self-published operations have frozen at Kobo UK, and although your dashboard may tell you otherwise, a quick look through the store for your books will change your mind.
So, that’s it. Kobo are ‘working hard’ to sift out the offenders while returning to business as usual for the non-offending self-published authors, like myself. Yep — all of my mystery/thriller books have been removed from Kobo UK, but are still available for the rest of the world. I hope this clears things up a little for you. My advice if you’re a writer/publisher? Sit tight and see how this one unfolds. While Kobo’s reaction was the very definition of a poorly organised knee-jerk, I’m confident that they are passionate about the self-publishing market, and business will be restored to the innocents in a short while.
The reporting of events has been interesting. The Daily Mail have naturally taken this all as an opportunity to push for more draconian censorship measures, but being a sensationalist rag, that is hardly surprising. Gizmodo UK seems desperate to score some Google traffic with its keyword dropping of ‘Sick Self-Published Porn’ throughout its article. Because, y’know, all self-published books are pornographic/no traditional published books are. The 120 Days of Sodom, anyone? As for The Kernel — well, I do wonder about their institutional motives.
However, despite the bad media press, what has been encouraging is the number of ‘Save Indie’ campaigns I’ve seen on Facebook and Twitter, not from writers, but from readers. It seems like readers respect the hard work that all authors put in, whether traditionally published or indie, and are willing to fight for the freedom of self-published authors. It’s a nice sign of the times, that’s for sure, and while the mainstream media continues to be influenced by major institutional relationships, the power of the people is clear to see.
Overall though, I think that Kobogate (can we refer to it as that from now on?) highlights two rather interesting but unrelated points. Firstly, as an author, it has shown me the importance of spreading my output rather than putting my eggs into one basket. Fortunately for me — and for many — I don’t have many books at Kobo just yet. However, just imagine if it had been Amazon that’d had the kneejerk reaction. All those people making money from their series, all those enrolled in Select… *shudders to think*. So, from the end of this week, I’ll be focusing on expanding my work’s reach. My second novel, Killing Freedom, will be available on all platforms this Friday. B&N, Apple, Kobo, everywhere.
Also, I have another thought, and it’s about the changing nature of what constitutes a book, and the problems of availability. But, at fear of waffling/approaching 1,300 words as it is, I’ll have to save that thought for another time.
Thoughts go out to all those affected by Kobogate. Stay strong!
Ryan.
Oyster and Scribd: Is a Subscription Model the Future of Reading?
What a real Spotify for books contender would look like, in my eyes, is this: a flat fee of £10 per month to take your unlimited collection of books everywhere — mobile, tablet, etc. Sort the audience attraction out first and the royalties later (because visibility is ultimately more important, right?). Allow for independent publishing but with quality checks on the level of formatting and basic proofreading. Offer an ad-only free option for laptop/computer reading…
Not my words, but the words of… No. They are actually my words. I said that back in April in response to Tim Waterstones’ Read Petite program announcement — essentially a ‘Spotify for Books’, only not that attractive for consumers or publishers, in all honesty. It still felt like there was a big contender to come. A big player in the world of subscription-based reading.
Well, October is here, and there are two kids on the block. Buoyed by the impact of Spotify on the music industry and the resurgence of Netflix as a TV ‘network’, Oyster and Scribd are taking the first major steps in the world of subscription based reading.
Do not underestimate the potential impact and repercussions these two products may well have on the world of publishing and reading — you’d be making the same mistake the music industry made when little ol’ Spotify sneaked onto the scene with its promise of unlimited mobile music for less than ten dollars a month. The Premium option now has eight million subscribers, converting many former music pirates (myself included) to its accessible and sprawling catalogue.
But first, let’s clear up the basics.
What is a subscription model?
If you are unfamiliar with Spotify or Netflix, the subscription model that Oyster and Scribd are proposing may need a little explaining. Basically, a subscription model is where you pay, say, $8 per month, and receive unlimited access to a library of books/music/films. The subscription model — so, let’s use Spotify as an example — might give you some benefits like access to music on your mobile, essentially allowing you to carry a very, very large iPod around with you. This is also accompanied by a ‘freemium’ model, which in Spotify’s case is ten hours of free music per month supported by advertisements.
The pros to the subscription model? Access. You can jump right in to any album/book/film you may have initially been reluctant about and go ahead and access it as many times as you want. Or, if you don’t enjoy it, you can move onto the next one. Simple.
The negatives? You don’t actually own anything. Subscription services are more akin to a ‘rental’ of said products, which may be hard for avid materialists to adjust to. It was tricky for me, but I’m completely knee-deep in Spotify and Netflix these days, so it is possible. There is, however, the problem of ‘choice paralysis’. It’s a strange phenomenon where having access to everything actually makes you reluctant to listen to anything. Hard to explain, but have you ever had your cable remote and been unable to find anything decent to watch even though you have thousands of channels? Basically, that.
What do Oyster and Scribd offer?
Oyster, the first kid on the block of the pair, offers a library of over 100,000 books with unlimited access for $9.95 per month. It’s iPhone exclusive for the time being, but the app is pretty solid. There are things like Offline Reading — which allows you to temporarily download up to ten books to your device for when you’re in those treacherous ‘no signal’ zones — which is pretty cool.
However, there seems to be 1.) a lack of new releases, with Life of Pi being the major launch title, and 2.) a major lack of independent support. This might not seem a problem for readers, but to independent authors, who now make up a large portion of bestselling authors in general (10-20%, perhaps?), this may be off-putting.
The bad news doesn’t stop there for ‘indies’. As well as a seeming preference towards the traditionally published ‘classics’, Oyster is murky about just how much of a royalty cut they offer to authors. They promise ‘competitive’ rates, but there’s no transparency on just how competitive they are, leading a number of kBoards users to opt out of the service. A little more transparency could go a long way.
As for Scribd, things look a bit better to readers. There are already apps available for the iPad, Kindle Fire, and Android, which is a stronger start that Oyster. The service is a buck cheaper to, at $8.99 per month. All looking rosy for Scribd, right?
Well, again, as with all new product launches, there are potential teething problems for both readers and writers. Scribd doesn’t say just how many titles there are on offer. Again, a little transparency in this department could be helpful, as consumers like to know just how much they are getting for their money. Also, in similarly discouraging news for independent authors, the royalty rates are just as cloudy as they are with Oyster. There are rumours that royalty pay outs are based on how much of a book is read (so, 10% of a book = a tenth of potential maximum royalty, etc). This could work well, but it would be nice to see some real figures in action.
I’m an author. Should I enrol my book in both services when possible?
Smashwords allows distribution to Oyster already, so you might want to start thinking about whether you are going to enrol or not. Personally, I won’t be right now, but mainly because I use Draft2Digital for my external distribution.
But will I distribute to Oyster and Scribd when I can? Well, it might surprise you to hear that my answer is a resounding ‘yes’.
I realise this kind of goes against a lot of my reservations discussed, but as an independent publisher and writer, I want my work to be available everywhere. I understand the reluctance of many authors based on the lack of royalty transparency, but the truth is, I’d rather offer the book and receive a penny for it than not offer the book and receive nothing.
Enrolling into Oyster and Scribd is tapping into yet another kind of reader base: the subscriber. By being stubborn and choosing not to enrol, it would be naive to assume that said subscriber is going to head on over to the Kindle store and buy my book separately when they can simply tap in to one of the other 99,999 books in their subscription. And as proven with Spotify, royalties improve over time, and will continue to do so.
I can’t predict the future. I did expect two subscription services to emerge in 2013, but I cannot say what the future holds for them. I still think an ad-supported ‘freemium’ model akin to Spotify could be the future, but we’ll see. All I can say is that, in my humble opinion, potential visibility trumps reluctance. I want my books to be available in any service that increases my potential audience. I think about that before I think of how much of a royalty cut I’m going to get. That’s why I started off in KDP Select, building my Amazon audience before moving on to other stores. It’s why I don’t dislike pirates one bit, and absolutely do not try to fight them, instead encouraging readers to share, share, share my books.
To make the decision for yourself, you have to ask the question: what do I want? Is it increased visibility? Or is it increased profits on other stores? There is no right or wrong answer.
Which is why this whole publishing game is so frigging exciting.
What are your thoughts on Oyster and Scribd? Are you attracted or put off by subscription services, as a writer or a reader?
Amazon Kindle Matchbook: What’s All This About, Then?
So, I was just preparing to cook myself a nice gourmet lunch of haricots à la sauce tomate sur pain grillé (beans on toast, innit), when I saw that Amazon have just now launched a new program called Kindle Matchbook. Beans on toast, you’re going to have to wait a few minutes to get your ass cooked.
I’ve had a good few reads through the press release. There’s already some confusion over what the benefits of this program are. However, I think I have a good grasp of how it could be utilised by authors.
But before we get into the details of how it could work, let’s talk about what it actually is.
What is Kindle Matchbook?
Kindle Matchbook is a program by Amazon that targets the purchasers of print books. Basically, if you’ve bought yourself a paperback copy of, say, JK Rowling’s Robert Galbraith book, then if this book is enrolled in Kindle Matchbook, you’ll be able to download the Kindle version either for free, 99c, 1.99 or 2.99.
The immediate advantages of this approach are clear — you can ultimately earn more royalties on your Kindle books by offering the eBook at a discount rate especially for print purchasers. However, I’m not sure how many people buying print are actually going to want to shell out extra for an eBook, so I’m not sure that particular area will take off. If people are buying a (usually more expensive) paperback edition, then I think it’s probably because they prefer to read paperback books, full-stop.
So, if this is the case, then what’s the point of Kindle Matchbook, then?
One word: free.
Another: digital shift. Okay, that’s two.
Just a few weeks back, Amazon announced that they were offering free or discounted mp3s for all physical CD purchases. This marked a serious shift towards the digital, firmly establishing Amazon as a digital-first company whilst shrewdly injecting life into the flagging physical format. For me, free mp3 downloads to accompany a CD purchase have been a no-brainer for quite some time, and some independent bands have been doing it for years.
Kindle Matchbook is clearly the next step in Amazon’s digital conquest, but it could also greatly benefit the paperback market. Why? Well, like I said — free.
Honouring a free digital download of a book to those who buy paperbacks is a wise move. It means that readers will be able to carry a book on all their devices once they’ve purchased a paperback copy. It’s also a good way for authors to show that they care about fans. A link in the front of a paperback book saying, ‘cheers for buying, here’s a link to download the eBook for free’ (worded a lot better, obviously), is a nice sign of gratitude, and something I’ve been considering doing myself for quite a while.
This Kindle Matchbook offer may not seem attractive to those who have paperback books priced at £9.99 and upwards, but by offering a digital version for free and essentially bundling it with a paperback for, say, £6.99? That’s pretty good value.
I like Amazon. I like that they are trying new things, and constantly offering authors fresh ways to reach new audiences. Kindle Matchbook isn’t revolutionary, but it’s a nice feature for authors and readers alike. It will be a nice treat for those remaining paperback readers, perhaps tempting them to pick up a Kindle. But more so, it will create an even more enticing and valuable paperback/Kindle hybrid offer for those value seekers out there. It’s a win-win situation for everybody.
The best way I’ve seen this put is over at kBoards, where one poster described it as an opportunity to buy the paperback as a gift and get the Kindle version for free/discount for themselves. I’m sure many more creative ideas will emerge.
As of October, What We Saw and Killing Freedom will be enrolled in Kindle Matchbook. Please note that your book does not have to be Amazon exclusive, or enrolled in KDP Select, or any other silly rumour like that.
At the end of the day, the question has to be asked — why not enroll? Overall though, I think it’s more of an inevitable and necessary tool than a revolutionary one. Things are going digital — this is just another part of it. Hold on to your digital horses…
The Disappearing (The Watching, #2): Now Available for Kindle, Nook, Kobo.
Hello folks! Just a heads up to let you know that The Disappearing — my new book — is now available for Kindle, Nook and Kobo (iBooks coming very soon).
The Disappearing is the sequel to the highly rated, creepy psychological thriller novella, The Painting, which I launched earlier in the year.
It is a new story and thus can be treated as a standalone novella, however I’d recommend reading the first book to truly appreciate some of the ideas and references, as well as the world of the story. Scroll down if you’re interested — The Painting is discounted for a very limited time to celebrate The Disappearing launch.
Some secrets should stay secret.
Fraser Whyte has a new job. But it isn’t just any old job — he’s working as a secretary to the Prime Minister.
For the first time in years, after suffering a dark tragedy, Fraser’s life appears to be back on track.
But that all changes when Fraser comes across a mysterious document, referencing ‘gaps’ and ‘disappearances’. As Fraser begins to do some digging, he uncovers what appears to be a political conspiracy that not only has personal repercussions on himself, but potential ripple effects for the entire planet…
Questions will be answered, and familiar old faces will return, in Ryan Casey’s sequel to the hit psychological thriller/horror, The Painting.
Who are The Watching? You might think you know.
The Disappearing is the second instalment in The Watching trilogy, a series of creepy suspense thriller novellas.
Purchase The Disappearing for $2.99 from the following stores:
Apple iBookstore (coming soon)
*
This all sounds good, I hear you cry, but you haven’t read The Painting yet? Well, good news — for one day only, The Painting is just 99c, so what better time to start reading the series? Make the most of that final summer sun with a couple of quick, creepy reads, perfect for the beach with a cocktail or two.
You can pick up The Painting for 99c from Amazon, Nook, and Kobo. Again, iBookstore is being slow to respond lately, so unfortunately there’s no Apple loving for this one. You can, however, download a Kindle app for your Apple devices, and enjoy it just like everyone else (as well as millions of well-priced Kindle books). Result!