(Editor’s Note: Please join me in welcoming novelist Scott Nicholson as a guest contributor to Kindle Nation today. –S.W.)
I’ve been a reader since Dr. Seuss warped my brain at an early age (I still count the good doctor as the most brilliant literary mind in history), and I grew up with hundreds of paper books–from the adventure tales of Robert Louis Stevenson and H.G. Wells to the seriously fun Richard Brautigan, Elmore Leonard, and Shirley Jackson.
I can remember the thrill when my first-ever published novel, The Red Church
Now that book is on a closet shelf, along with the rest of my books, packed up like old memories. I still read paper books, but there is no denying the incredible advantages of the digital literary era. As an author, I have the power for the first time in history to directly connect with you, my reader, at a fair price and with nobody standing in our way.
And the tales I have heard from readers both in e-mails and on message boards are inspiring–teachers who take Kindles into classrooms, those with vision problems who can now adjust their font size, and the many people who are expanding their literary horizons by trying new genres and subjects.
It’s nothing short of an awe-inspiring revolution, and I am fortunate to be starting Act II of my writing career by launching both new titles and revised editions of my old mass-market paranormal thrillers. To celebrate my renewal, I am embarking on a 90-day blog tour this autumn, giving away a Kindle DX as a grand prize, as well as a Kindle 3 and a massive collection of ebooks.
Why the blog tour?
I used to do dozens of store signings for each paperback release, driving hours away from home to meet readers.
Now my readers are closer than ever–the click of a button and a few keystrokes. My readers can email me in the middle of a book. We are connected, and we are sharing the story experience in ways more intimate than ever. It’s much easier to share all my novels–THE RED CHURCH, THE SKULL RING, SPEED DATING WITH THE DEAD, and DRUMMER BOY–at the same time, because thanks to digital media, they can now be available all at once, something very rare in the world of bookstores.
Why the Kindle? It’s clearly the winner in the e-reading sweepstakes, with Amazon doing almost everything right. The device is user-friendly and Amazon recognized the hunger for a diverse range of literature, thus making it easy for virtually anyone to share their books with an audience. Amazon is taking that idea worldwide. Best of all, Amazon recognizes that digital content doesn’t have the inherent costs of paper-book distribution and those savings should be passed along to readers.
The Kindle Giveaway Blog Tour celebrates the new era and you as a reader, and raises the respectability of independent authors whose voices now have an outlet. It’s also a “Thank you” to the book bloggers and those who spread the news about books and stories.
A thanks to Amazon for its support, and to Stephen Windwalker at Kindle Nation Daily for sponsoring the tour, and Dellaster Design, who exhibits the type of professional ebook formatting that readers deserve.
My personal motto for the new era is one I would like to share with all of you: “We’re all in it together.”
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Scott Nicholson is the author of 12 thriller novels, four story collections, six screenplays, and four comics series. He will be releasing AS I DIE LYING, D
ISINTEGRATION, and FOREVER NEVER ENDS during the Kindle Giveaway Blog Tour.
Details are at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com.
