The past couple of weeks I've highlighted two ways in which readers can get my eBooks for less than retail. The first way you get a steep discount. The second, you get a full discount, as in the eBooks are free.

Here's the deals:

1. Get'em for $0.99

The 99 cent method involves heading out to Smashwords and using one of the coupon codes below.

The Five Elements - JJ32F

The Hall of the Wood - EC98E (not for sale currently)

2. Get'em for free

The second way is slightly more complicated because it requires a commitment on your end. But in exchange you get the eBooks for free. The reasoning behind this was discussed in this post, but the gist of it is that in exchange for me sending you either or both of my eBooks in a format of your choo... [More]

There's an easy way to get one of my eBooks for free that's perfectly legit in literary circles. This method also does not violate retailers' review guidelines. How you accomplish this is by agreeing to write and post a review.

Exchanging a free book for a review is really the only legitimate manner in which an author can obtain a review (beyond a person just buying the book and leaving a review themselves, of course). There are other means being employed, though, including some that are outright wrong and others that maybe are a bit borderline. On one hand you have authors who pay people, who in some cases don't even read the book, to leave a review. That's wrong. On the other, you have authors running various promotions including giveaways of, for example, Kindle Fires or Amazon gift cards. This violates the 'free book for a review' guideline of which Amazon explicitly condemns under their "What's not allowed" section:

Reviews ... [More]

The Hall of the Wood is free today on Amazon.

The novel is straightforward, classic fantasy: goblins, witches, rangers, sorcerers, knights, and murky woods. It's a bit of a mystery story with elements of suspense and plenty of action and adventure. There's some magic, too. Readers have complemented me on the development of the characters, which is more than they expect given the nature of the story.

Here's the "official" blurb:

All is not right in the Simarron Woods.

The King's Patrol has vanished. Their Hall stands empty. Goblins prowl the fringes of the forest and folk whisper of a sitheri witch brewing evil from the darkest hollows.

Once a patroller of the Hall, Jerrick is duty-bound to investigate. He is joined by Kayra Weslin, knight errant, and her chronicler, Holly, who go to answer a plea for help from nearby Homewood. Along with Murik Alon Rin'kres, an eslar sorcerer who harbors a secret purpose all his own, the four attempt to unravel the mystery of the m... [More]

Yesterday, The Five Elements was The Frugal Find of the Day. Part of the promotion featured an excerpt from the book. I thought I'd publish that excerpt here as well for your reading pleasure.

This scene occurs early on, right in the middle of the elemental attack mentioned in the book's description. Aaron has gone looking for Shanna. He finds her, but she and some others are trapped, and the floodwaters are rising.

“Aaron?” It was Shanna. “Where are you going? The water… it’s rising.”

She was right. He had to hurry. “Not far. I’m coming right back. Don’t worry!”

“Aaron! Don’t leave—”

He heard the tinge of fear in her words, and wished as he sloshed away that he’d more time to offer reassurances. One of the other girls—it sounded like Rachel, who had never really liked him—yelled, “I always knew you were worthless, Squeak!” Aaron ignored her. The moment he was able to pull himself from the water, he set off at a run, backtracking until a juncture led him down another passage, thr... [More]

As posted yesterday, The Five Elements is free right now. Today and tomorrow. If it's Friday, sorry, but you missed out. But if it's still 3/21 or 3/22 as you're reading this, go download!

The Five Elements has gotten some nice reviews. You can read blurbs of them and find out more about the book on The Five Elements book page, or go right to Amazon to read the full reviews.

If you want to know what the book is about, it's easy enough to visit one of the above links and read the description. But if you want to get a feel for my writing style or what to expect once you start reading, well, here's an excerpt from the novel for you to take a look at.

This is one of my favorite scenes. It's dark, it's raining, our heroes are running at breakneck speed away from some thing that is chasing them. There's action, there's suspense, there's a harrowing flight. Then it gets good. Read on, my friend, read on.

Aaron would have stopped f... [More]

Starting tomorrow (or today depending on when you're reading this), The Five Elements, my fantasy/pseudoscience novel that has been described by one reader as "an enveloping story that drags you in and doesn't let go" will be free on Amazon in Kindle format.

The promotion runs for two days—from 3/21 to 3/22. I would greatly appreciate it if everyone and anyone would download the eBook on one of those dates. I'm really curious to see how the novel does in the rankings this time around. This will be the second free promotion I've run. The first went great. But I'd really like to do better. That's why I'm bought some ad space here and there. That's why I've given advanced notice to my Twitter followers. This post will hit Goodreads—where almost 1,000 people entered to win a print copy of The Five Elements—and Amazon either tonight or tomorrow; plenty of time for everyone to find out about this promotion an... [More]

Courtesy of Amazon's KDP Select program, The Hall of the Wood is free today for your Kindle!

The Hall of the Wood is classic fantasy, with witches, rangers, sorcerers, and knights. The story revolves around the mystery of the missing patrollers, but then becomes something more as our heroes discover the source of the Simarron's dark affliction.

It's currently 3.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon and Goodreads.

Also, you can try to win a print copy of The Hall of the Wood via Goodreads. The giveaway runs until March 10!

What Readers Have To Say 

"The story is well written and has some interesting characters and plot twists along
the way. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the fantasy genre."
- Scott, Indie Book Blog 

"Entertaining read."
- Sharon, Amazon.com reviewer

"The detail of the surroundings and of the characters themselves,
especially Jerrick, made it easy to dive into t... [More]