Novel Descriptions

I've been picking up quite a few free books on Amazon for the Kindle lately, and my method has taught me something that should help me in my own writing career. And it could help you, as well. I'm talking about the description of the novel. This is basically all the readers have to go on when deciding whether to read your book or not. Yes, covers do sell books, as well, but in my view, a good description is a much bigger selling point.

I've found that if a description is too long or too short, I'm probably not going to go with the book. Yes, there are exceptions, of course, but these are few and far between. The sweet spot for me seems to be a single paragraph of about five or six sentences. Think about a cover blurb on the back of mass market paperback books (remember those?). There's not much room on there, so each sentence, each word, has to carry weight. Back cover blurbs are not overwritten; they get to the heart of the story and tell exactly why you should read that book. Even though Amazon lets authors create much longer descriptions, the best keep theirs short.

Your novel took many months, sometimes years, to complete, so don't sabotage it by not taking the time to craft an impressive description. Spend time crafting every word; don't just dash off a quick intro to the book and be done with it. You want to sell the thing, be it for money or for the advertisement of free so you get good word of mouth. Make it easy and worth their time, and readers will download your book. I know I'm going to follow this advice for my next venture into ebook marketing, and you might want to give it a try, as well. After all, I came up with this with my reader-hat on, not my writer-hat.

I've Been Interviewed!

I've been interviewed by G.P. Ching about my book Way Over the Line. You can check out the interview at her website, So, Write. Give it a read! I hope it inspires you to download the book!

And don't forget, you can get Way Over the Line, as well as my other two books, for free at Smashwords this week. Follow this link to head on over and pick it up!

Free ebooks: March 6-12

Smashwords is running a promotion for Ebook Week, and I decided to make all of my books free for it. If you haven't yet had a chance to check out my three books, now is your chance!

Way Over the Line: Eighth-grader Jessie Campbell loves baseball, but he's terrified of the ball. When he and his best friend, Ryder, are abducted by space aliens to play in the huge intergalactic baseball tournament, Jessie will need to deal with horrors such as space pirates, and, even worse, actually participating on the field. And if all of that wasn't enough pressure, Jessie may also be the fabled chosen one.

The Breath of Life and Other Stories: Twenty tales of horror, science fiction, and fantasy make up this collection of short fiction. The stories range from tales of Atlantis, video games that are a bit too real, what happens right after death, battles with vicious dragons, and much, much more.

The Friday Flash Stories of Eric J. Krause: Volume 1 (Ok, so this one is always free, but if you haven't downloaded it, why not do so this week?) : Fifty flash fiction stories. These are tales of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, as well as some bent more towards the mainstream.

Give one or all of them a shot! You can't beat the price this week. If you enjoy them, I'd love a review. Thanks! Enjoy your reading!

Where to buy Way Over the Line

If you'd like to see the first 15 chapters (roughly the first third of the book),you can click here for that.

If you're interested in picking up your (e)copy of Way Over the Line, you have options.

As a paperback:

You can buy it at Amazon for $12.99

You can buy it at CreateSpace for $12.99

As an ebook:

You can buy it at Smashwords in many different formats

You can buy it at Amazon for the Kindle

You can buy it at Amazon UK for the Kindle

You can buy it at Barnes & Noble for the Nook

It is also available at the iBookstore (soon if not yet). I don't have a link for it, but I'm sure a simple search will turn it up.

At each spot it is available for the low price of $1.99. I hope you make time to pick up a copy of your very own, and I'd love to hear what you think of it, either here on my blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, or as a review on whichever site you purchase it on.

Thanks! I hope you enjoy the story!

Why not buy an Ebook?

Tis the season to buy an ebook, and I have three for your downloading pleasure! These make great gifts, either from someone on your list or even yourself! And they're very reasonably priced.

The first book I have for you is my upper middle grade/young adult book, Way Over the Line. Jessie Campbell loves baseball, but he's terrified of the ball. Though he can make great running catches, if a ball is hit right at him, he'll duck out of the way. And forget about batting. When he and his best friend, Ryder Gonzalez, are abducted by space aliens, the boys learn that the aliens want Ryder to play in the huge Intergalactic Over the Line Tournament. Jessie is only along for the ride. He soon learns, however, that this won't be a simple spectator sport. He'll need to deal with horrors such as space pirates, and, even worse, actually participating on the field. With the help of Ryder, his alien teammates, a cute girl from another planet, and even Mickey Martell, the best baseball player in the Universe, Jessie must learn to push away his fears and focus on learning how to better play the game--both mentally and physically.

And if all of that wasn't enough pressure, there's also whisperings that he may be the fabled Chosen One, destined to bring the championship to his team.

Though this one is aimed at 10-13 year-olds, anyone who is a fan of baseball and/or science fiction will be sure to enjoy this tale. You can get it at:
Amazon for your Kindle here
Or here at Smashwords for most other formats, including right on your computer
Wherever you get it, it's only $1.99!

I also have a book called The Breath of Life and Other Stories, which is a short story collection containing 20 of my stories. They are works of speculative fiction--horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Discover what the downfall of Atlantis was. Enter a video game that is a bit too real. Watch a hide-and-seek-type game that gets interrupted by evil spirits. Discover what pushed one blues guitarist over the edge. See who the mysterious figure in the window really is. Find out why there always seems to be a crowd at accident sights. Find the secrets of eternal power with the twin coffins. Join a young adventurer on his first quest. Learn the secret of a town of dragons. Find out what happens when a war clone falls in love. Discover if a controversial medical technique can cure amnesia. Wait and see if a dating phone line is what it says it is. All this plus much more.

You can get it at:
Amazon for the Kindle
Barnes and Noble for the Nook
Smashwords for most other formats
This one will only cost you $0.99!

Finally, I have one that won't cost you a cent! This is a free download at Smashwords called The Friday Flash Stories of Eric J. Krause: Volume 1. This is fifty flash fiction stories that are tales of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, as well as some bent more towards the mainstream.

To download it for free on Smashwords, click here.

I hope you'll give these a look. What better way to fill up an ereader or smart phone with a reading app?

No Friday Flash This Week

No new Friday Flash for me this week, but I do have some fiction from me you can read.

The first is my book, The Friday Flash Stories of Eric J. Krause: Volume 1. This is my first fifty Friday Flash stories from August 2009 to August 2010. Click the link to go to Smashwords and download it for free. If you don't have an eReader, Smashwords will let you read it right on your computer.

The second is also free. These are some of my short stories that have been published in various places on the Internet. Go ahead and check it out (this'll take you to a link right here on my site). There are a few flash fiction stories in there, but also longer short stories.

The third is my eBook, The Breath of Life and Other Stories. Some of these twenty stories are available here on my blog (in the link above), but there are others you can only find in this book. This isn't free (it'll cost you 99 cents), but I hope you'll find it worth it. You can find it at Amazon for your Kindle or at Smashwords for any other eReader (or right on your computer).

I hope you enjoy some of my previously published fiction. I will be back next week with a brand spankin' new Friday Flash.

Published Book on Smashwords

I published a book of short stories today over at Smashwords.com. The book is called The Breath of Life and Other Stories (click here to see). They are 20 shorts that have been published in that last few years, mostly on various Internet magazines. If you look at which stories are included, you'll find that you can read most of the stories for free by following the links right here on this blog Click here to go to that page--16 of the 20 stories, actually.

So why am I charging 99 cents for stuff you can get largely for free?

For a few reasons. One, there are four stories that are no longer available. Think of it as paying a smidgen less than a U.S. quarter per new story. Two, instead of having to click on numerous links, you can get all 20 stories in one handy spot. Three, for those of you with e-readers, Smashwords supports many different types of files that make it compatible with most devices.

For those of you who download the sample, I only made the first 10% available. This shows the table of contents and much of the first story. Why didn't I make more available for free? Because since so much of it is available for free here at my blog, I really only think the table of contents is necessary. For those people who don't visit my blog, however, the 10% does give a good chunk of the first story, too, to give a bit of my writing style.

I hope you will go check it out. If you don't want to buy the book, I hope you will at least download the sample and check out the stories here on my blog. Again, click here to view my book's page at Smashwords. Let me know what you think!