Time to get serious.

I've been into DIY since I was a teenager going to punk shows. I've been into writing since I realized I could make myself heard better with the written word than with the spoken. I've been fascinated with the idea of self-publishing as a DIY approach to getting my work out there since reading this article on NOVLR about Amanda Hocking, back in March of 2011. The same week that I read that article, I put my story "The ElectroLive Murders" up on Kindle, and started trying to spread the word.

Apparently I didn't do a very good job. During the first few months that ElectroLive was up, it sold a little over a dozen copies, almost all of which were bought by friends and family. During the three-quarters of a year since then, only one copy has sold. I've got several theories about why ElectroLive isn't selling, but probably the biggest reason I've come up with is this: I didn't didn't put enough effort into promoting it.

Truth is, I've never been very into self-promotion. For the most part, I'm a pretty introspective guy, and I don't like blathering on about myself and my work. That's part of what lead me to writing in the first place: if the writing speaks, I don't have to. But I'm coming to the conclusion that not many people will buy a book if they don't even know it exists. Consequently, I'm becoming more committed to the idea that I should put more work into promoting myself.

And that's where this blog comes in.

It's been about a year since my stillborn attempt at epublishing. It's been about a year since I first heard about Amanda Hocking and other authors getting their work out on Kindle, and finding readers for it. I just reread "The ElectroLive Murders", and I still think it's a good read. I've got several more stories in the works, including a novel that's more than 70% complete, and I'm still attracted to the DIY approach to publishing. So I'm making a commitment, here and now, to work harder at succeeding with this endeavor.

What that means for you, dear reader, is this: I'm so eager to have you give my writing a try that I'll let you have it free. If you're interested in reading "The ElectroLive Murders," send me an email (don.broma[at]yahoo[dot]com), or comment on this post, and I'll send you a free PDF. Or, if you're subscribing to the Kindle Prime service, you can borrow the book on your Kindle for free. If you like the story, please help me spread the word. If you hate the story, I want to hear about that too. Email me.

Thanks for reading.