Cover Reveal For My New Release

Shari's Shot, the latest in the series of books from Prairie Winds Golf Course is due to be released in late January. Purchase information from Amazon should be available sometime in February. Here is the front cover which has received favorable comments.

More excitement arrives at Prairie Winds Golf Course on the east side of St. Louis when former Mrs. Missouri, Shari Daniels-Donnelly, in a fluke twist of a bottle cap earns a chance to win $1 million at America's greatest golf tournament, The Classic.

Shari is among the fashionable nouveau-riche, a member of prestigious Olde Blueblood Country Club, and seeking excitement outside a stale union with real estate mogul, Tyler Cy Donnelly. After her high powered and influential attorney, Leslie Potter, serves divorce papers it appears that Shari is on the path to a luxurious lifestyle that includes young lovers, a multimillion dollar settlement, and freedom from the balls and chains of a boring marriage.

Events become complicated when a young Latin lover supplants a longtime friend who vies for Shari's attention. Between threatening texts, arrests, jail time, confessions, and a liaison with a U.S. Congresswoman Shari's pending divorce delivers chaos. When a lover is found shot to death in a carpool parking lot prior to a golf outing a detective duo is determined to find out who fired the shot.

This story promises to bring controversy!

Final Days Of My Kindle Offer

Pabby's Score, the third book in my Kindle holiday promotion, will be discounted from Monday, December 16 through Sunday, December 22, 2014. The eBook pricing starts at $1.99 for 54 hours, escalates to $3.99 for the next 54 hours and winds up at $5.99 during the final hours. I've heard so much about the Kindle offers I thought that I would try them first hand.

In this story the proprietors of Prairie Winds Golf Course are sued by an overzealous lawyer who is looking for a quick settlement in what appears to be an insurance scam. An Internet dating affair weaves its way through the pages. Two special needs children, Pabby and Shae, get involved in an orientation program at the golf course and unknowingly get tangled in the web of events. Add a chance meeting with falcons, some thoroughbred racing, a trip up the river road to Lighthouse Point as well as a secret society and Pabby's Score becomes a busy read that has received excellent reviews.

Aside from that the Kindle Countdown experience has been enlightening. Sales have increased as has online exposure. Target numbers were not reached, but Internet visibility skyrocketed. When the promotion is over I'll sit down and see if it was worth it, but my initial thought is that more books were sold than if I didn't reach out. The only drawback was that the eBooks could only be offered by Kindle.
                                                                                                          

During the first week of December Kindle offered promotional pricing for Lifetime Loser which is the first book in the Prairie Winds Golf Course series. This story centers around the swindle of an estate, the theft of a golf course and civil fraud.

Opur's Blade was promoted during the second week of the month. A prodigy suffers through family strife, a future without aim and a sudden love interest. Unpredictable events allow the story to build to a dramatic ending.

Simon Barrett of Blogger News Network had this to say about Pabby's Score, "Perhaps the best yet from James Ross. A biting look at our modern world."

Treat yourself to Pabby's Score. Meet the characters that frequent Prairie Winds Golf Course. Get the latest in my series and let me know what you think.

Pabby’s Score is the fifth novel in the Prairie Winds Golf Course series from James Ross. It is a story with INNOCENCE – GREED – CORRUPTION – and SEX, as well as a few laughs and several surprises.

 

My Kindle Countdown Continues

Opur's Blade, here we come! During the second week in December one of my most popular books will be discounted on Kindle.

It is easy to see why Amazon has risen to the forefront in book sales and marketing. Kindle has developed a neat promotional tool. With a 90-day commitment to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select an author can choose several different options in an attempt to increase exposure.

For my first experience I elected to try the Countdown Deal program. Essentially I chose the starting price of my book and the number of price changes that would occur during the 6-day promotional period. The drawback was that I could not offer the titles in any other eBook format.

During the first week, Lifetime Loser, my first novel that kicked off the Prairie Winds Golf Course series, was offered at discounted prices. To stay in real time KDP Select updates their sales statistics almost immediately. While the number of units sold was lower than expected it was encouraging to see my author and book ranking soar from a percentage standpoint as one-click purchases were made. My marketing on all of the social networking sites increased as well as my presence on some book sites that marketed directly to Kindle users/readers.

During the second week of the promotion, Opur's Blade, will be offered. This is the 4th book in the series. After a freak accident the child prodigy (Opur) perfects his putting stroke using a tired, worn-out putter. During his journey he has to deal with family hardship, a future without aim and a sudden love interest. Through a stroke of good fortune he rises to the top of his profession and earns an opportunity to play opposite the world's number one player in the most elite golf tournament in the US --- The Classic.

While it appears that this story might interest golfers only I think that reader comments will confirm that there is a lot more going on in this story than just golf. This character-based novel draws male AND female readers into the heart of the action.

Pabby's Score, my latest, will be promoted the following week. After that we will sit down, analyze the sales and where they came from as well as the publicity that was generated to see if another promotion will be considered. I will say that the preliminary results have been very encouraging. I love the way Amazon provides recommendations based on genre, hot sellers and Kindles users. Up to this point my experience could be categorized as -- so far, so good!

Author James Ross: Books on Kindle's December Countdown

Author James Ross: Books on Kindle's December Countdown:       My apologies for the lack of input on this blog, but sometimes LIFE JUST GETS IN THE WAY. The golf season was active, scree...

Books on Kindle's December Countdown

      My apologies for the lack of input on this blog, but sometimes LIFE JUST GETS IN THE WAY. The golf season was active, screenplay efforts took center stage, my beloved STL Cardinals had a fabulous run to the World Series and Mizzou football has survived many challenges to face Auburn in the SEC title game.

          To increase exposure and try to take advantage of holiday sales 3 of my character-based novels are registered with Kindle’s KDP Select Countdown Deals program during the month of December. It should be interesting to see if Amazon’s support and marketing achieves success with my titles. You can bet I’ll be monitoring the traffic and sales leading up to the Christmas holiday.

          During the first week Lifetime Loser will be featured. White-collar crime and fraud are responsible for the theft of a golf course from a widow’s estate. The setting is Prairie Winds Golf Course on the east side of St. Louis.

          The second week of December will feature Opur’s Blade. A child prodigy from modest means battles through family strife, a future without aim and a sudden love interest to reach the pinnacle of golf’s grandest stage. Read the twists and turns as the story weaves its’ way to a dramatic and unpredictable ending.

          In the third week of December we will be featuring my latest – Pabby’s Score. Two special needs children wind up at Prairie Winds through a teen orientation program. The story utilizes newer communication methods like instant messaging and texting. A familiar topic of mine comes into play – social injustice at the hands of corrupt lawyers and a dishonest legal system.

          Visit Amazon and give my Kindle eBooks a try. They will be offered at discounted prices.

#Books, #Videos and Exposure on #12_12_12

A marketing tool that has become an important resource for authors of all genres is YouTube. Short videos, if done with some professionalism, offer a great way to increase the exposure of an author or a book. So, YouTube is just one more effective way that we have chosen to promote sales of Pabby’s Score on 12/12/12.

We've all heard stories about a video that "went viral," got passed among friends, and became a seemingly overnight sensation.  Anyone ever heard of Justin Bieber?

An author infomercial is a unique method that a writer can use to spread a message. Anyone can read a blog or a back cover, but a message that is delivered to both sight and sound might be the best way to reach some readers. After all, look how many movies are produced because of an author’s words in a story. The connections between the two types of media are strong.

With Pabby’s Score we tried two different types of videos. The first one offers a generic look at the title and concept of the book. The second one details the words of others, found in reader comments and reviews. Check them both out and see which one speaks to you. I’d love to hear your feedback.

In Pabby's Score, the cast of regulars from the golf course is ever present, but close to twenty-five new characters also emerge on the scene. Two prominent characters I introduce in this novel are Pabby and Shae who are special needs children at Footprints of Hope foster care center. They arrive at Prairie Winds with their mentors as part of a youth in need program.

At the same time that wonderful relationships are being formed for these boys, sinister events in the form of a bogus insurance claim, civil lawsuit and tainted courtroom decisions fuel frustration with the golf course owners.

A trip along the Mississippi on the River Road, the discovery of an old, well-hidden secret and a hunting excursion with falcons attempt to explain the events. You’ll have to pick up a copy of Pabby’s Score to see the intriguing conclusion.

Pabby’s Score is the fifth novel in the Prairie Winds Golf Course series from James Ross. It is a story with INNOCENCE – GREED – CORRUPTION – and SEX, as well as a few laughs and several surprises. Mark your calendar for the Pabby’s Score Blitz at Amazon online on 12/12/12. It is available in paperback and Kindle format.

#12/21/12 is Almost Here!

The end of the world is coming!!  We've been hearing the predictions about the approaching apocalypse for quite a while, but now it is merely days away! 

There is a not-so-insignificant number of people who believe that the Mayans, more than 5000 years ago, predicted that the end of the world will take place on December 21, 2012.  Some say the Mayan calendar ends on this date . . . there are no more days to be had.  And, with much evidence to show that the Mayans had amazing insight concerning technology, astronomy, and physics, why not believe them?

The truth is that 12/21/12 does end a "long count period" for the Mayans, which is a linear count of days that just happens to have lasted for five millenia.  But, when this period ends, the cycle will continue and the counting will begin again.  NASA and other scientific organizations have assured the public that the sun will rise and life will continue on 12/22/12.

Just in case, though, why not buy a great book ahead of a possible doomsday?  Immerse yourself in a story of intrigue, corruption, and sex to avoid thinking about a meteor crashing into Texas or the grand armies of the world converging into a final battle of nuclear holocaust. 

On 12/12/12 . . . beating the end of the world by nine days! . . . I am having an Amazon Blitz for my newest release, Pabby's Score.  I am asking everyone who can to purchase my book through Amazon on this date, with the intention of showing a spike in sales and therefore getting a higher ranking and visibility on the popular site. 

Mark your calendars for 12/12/12 to buy Pabby's Score and then, whether or not the world actually ends, choose something to cross off your bucket list before 12/21/12 and celebrate life!