Duane

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The Unseen Things series now available on Google Play…

Yesterday I decided to take a shot at adding the series to Google Play.  You can view the listings here: https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Duane+L.+Martin

Again, the first book, Origins is free everywhere including the official site. The only place it isn’t is on Amazon because they’re a pain in the ass about their pricing, so I’ve changed it to .99 cents there and I’m trying to get people to report price matches so they’ll knock it down to free on there as well.

A quick thought on Google Play. Much like Amazon, they have a space for the series title and the volume number, and yet they make no mention of it at all in the listings. At least Amazon is listing the series now next to the title, but even there it’s not linked to a full list of the series titles. I really don’t know what these retail sites are thinking. It should be absolutely elementary to have the title the series and the volume number all on the listing for any given book for which a volume and series number apply. Honestly, the only site I’ve seen doing this so far is Smashwords, so they’ve got it right. Another problem with Google Play are the reports. You can’t view them online. You have to download a CSV file to view. How basic would it be to have that info viewable on a nice reports page? I mean they’re Google! What the hell?

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Origins, the first book of the series is now free!

Yes, that’s right.  I’m now giving away the first book of the series, not just as a special promo, but permanently.  You can get it free either here on the official site, or on Smashwords.  I believe it’ll be free on the retail sites too once it propagates.  I’ve changed the price on Amazon to .99 cents since that’s all they allow with their pricing options, but you can either price match there if you want, or you can buy it for .99 cents and throw me a few pennies. 🙂

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Work has begun on book 10, Encounters…

Work has officially begun on book 10 of the series, Encounters.  The first chapter is done, though my writing is going to be very piecemeal for the next week or so because I have a lot of movies I have to review before the end of the month.  I’ll fit in the writing when I can though just to keep things moving.

Just a reminder that the first book of the series, Origins is available for free this week here on the website.  The free giveaway will end on May 25th, so be sure to grab it while you can.

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Resurrection, book 9 of the Unseen Things series is now available!

Resurrection Blog PostI am very happy to announce that book 9 of the Unseen Things series is now available!

Synopsis: When Logan’s body was removed from its grave, they thought it was just the work some a cult, or a deranged individual. Never in a million years would they have dreamed that Derek’s brother had been taken for a very specific reason, nor could they have possibly guessed what that reason might be.

They’d gained their immortality and all of their vast mental and physical abilities from the serum they were given, but what if it could be used for more than that? What if it could be used to regenerate the dead and then bring them back to life with their memories fully in tact? That’s what Freddie wondered, and based on the education that he and Diana had received in the field of genetics from Charles and Richard, Freddie came up with a theory that allowed them to do just that.

What would you do if suddenly your loved ones could be brought back to life with the same immortality and abilities that you have? It was a possibility that was something they never could have conceived of, and yet all of a sudden it was all too real.

With new abilities, new characters and new secrets revealed, Resurrection marks another great leap forward in the development of the Unseen Things universe.

Resurrection is book 9 of the Unseen Things series.

You can purchase the book right here through the official site and get it in three different formats (Epub, Kindle and PDF), or you can get it from Amazon or Smashwords. Once Smashwords sends it out for premium distribution, it’ll be available on a variety of other sites as well.

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Michael J. Schneider

Author Interview Form
Tell us your name and where you’re from.:
 My name is Michael J. Schneider. I am originally from Omaha,
Nebraska; but I now live in Arlington, Texas.
What led to your decision to become an author?:
 I thought I might become a good storyteller, so in the late
1980’s I took a course from the Institute of Children’s Literature.
They encouraged me to continue writing.
Tell us about what you’re currently working on, and
what you’ve written in the past.: 		I’m currently working on a novel with the working title: “The
Mob on Mars”. It is about a Las Vegas syndicate that gets fed up with
government intrusion into their Las Vegas operations. After learning
of a physicist who has designed a new type of rocket engine that
achieves speeds close to the speed of light, the syndicate decides to
move their operations to Mars.

In 2001 I wrote “The Secret of Sangre de Cristo” a novel about
teenagers who discover a treasure in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of
Colorado. I had this published by a pay-on-demand publishing company.
Shortly thereafter I wrote “Brendan of Kilrush”, a novel that takes
place during the Viking invasion of Ireland in 812 A.D. The hero,
Brendan is a 16 year old shepherd boy with a club foot. This was also
published pay-on-demand. Since I had no good marketing plan, neither
of these sold. I took a second course from the Institute of
Children’s Literature that concentrated on writing books. My
instructor encouraged me to write a nonfiction book targeting the
youth market. The title of this book is “Swift, Silent and Deadly,
Recon Marines in Vietnam.” I tried to sell this book, first to
publishers, then to literary agents, without success for about 7
years. I finally published it as an ebook at Amazon in 2011. I’ve
sold over 1,000 copies of it since then. I’ve also published a
historical romance, “Rebecca and the Renegade”, a contemporary
romance, “The Mystery of Skunk Hollow, and a memoir, “From Omaha to Da
Nang” as ebooks.
What are some of your strongest points as a writer,
and what if anything are you constantly working to improve upon?:
 I think my strongest point is that I spin a good take. I
think I need to work on creating better imagery and giving my
characters more depth.
Are you self published, traditionally published or
both? Why did you choose to go that route?: 		The Secret of Sangre de Cristo and Brendan of Kilrush were
both self published paperbacks. I also have an ebook version of “The
Secret of Sangre de Cristo”. “Rebecca and the Renegade”, “Swift,
Silent and Deadly, Recon Marines in Vietnam”, “The Mystery of Skunk
Hollow” and “From Omaha to Da Nang” are ebooks in Kindle format. I
recently signed a contract with a traditional publisher to publish
“Brendan of Kilrush”. I chose self-publishing because I couldn’t get
a traditional publisher interesting in publishing.
What format are your books available in? Which of
these formats do you prefer and why?: 		“Brendan of Kilrush” is currently unavailable for
publishing-on-demand or as an ebook because my current contract with a
publisher.. “The Secret of Sangre de Cristo” is available in both
paperback and ebook form. The other
How do you go about marketing your books?:
 I’m afraid I don’t know how to market them successfully.
Have you ever had to deal with harsh criticism in a
review, and how do you handle it?: 		I’ve had few reviews and none were particularly harsh.
What are your favorite genres to both read and
write?: 		I generally like to read historical nonfiction. I think I
like to write young adult novels the best.
What authors have influenced or inspired you?:
 Damon Runyon, Ian Fleming, and Tom Clancy.
What kinds of things do you enjoy doing when you’re
not writing?: 		Watching television and walking the dog.
What software do you use for your writing? Did you
try others before you settled on the one you’re currently using?:
 I use Microsoft Word. This the only software I’ve ever
used.
What is it that you like about the software you’re
currently using that makes it the best solution for you?:
 Microsoft Word is easy to use.
What’s the best advice you could possibly give to
your fellow authors?: 		Write the kind of book you’d like to read or have read. When
I say have read I mean if you write to a young audience, write the
kind of book you liked to read as a youth.
Where can people find out more about you and your
books?: 		With the exception of “Brendan of Kilrush”, all my books are
currently available as ebooks at Amazon.com.

 

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The first draft of Resurrection is complete!

I just finished writing book 9 of the series, Resurrection.  I’ll start the proofreading tonight, and it all goes we’ll I’ll have it published by next Monday at the latest.  This book was sort of an emotional roller coaster, but the last two chapters are quite a lot of fun, so at least it ends on a high note.  It also ends exactly where the next book is going to begin.

Now…on to the editing.

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Duane L. Martin