Interview with Greg from Ereader News Today!

In the world of literature, there are a plethora of interviews featuring authors of every genre. You may find them in the newspaper, in internet forums, chat rooms, websites, and blogs, not to mention everything that has appeared on television seems to be viewable on YouTube. I am a follower of many forums and blogs, and found one that held a particular fascination for me. I “liked” it on Facebook when its following was, while not microscopic, drastically smaller than the behemoth it has become today. I am talking about Ereader News Today or, as it is otherwise known, ENT.

ENT is a website that feeds its followers daily doses of books covering a wide range of genres. Updates are posted to their Facebook page several times a day, informing readers of free books that are available, as well as featuring works from independent authors. In the indie author community, a “book of the day” feature on ENT is highly coveted and difficult to get due to such high demand.

This leads me to the reason for this post. I was sitting on the couch a couple of weeks ago, browsing through ENT’s listings for the day, and marveled at how many followers it had gained in such a relatively short time frame. As of the time of this writing, ENT currently has over two-hundred and sixty-four thousand followers! I started to ask myself questions about this and that, wondering how this great success had come to be, and how the man behind it had been able to create this massive following. Luckily, my books have had the fortune of being featured on a couple of occasions and I knew that this guy was always pleasant and a true pleasure to deal with. So, after a week or so of milling it over in my head, I finally asked if he would be interested in participating in a role reversal of sorts. I asked him to let me feature him on my blog.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce Greg from ENT. Greg is truly one of those people that renews a person’s faith in humanity; always professional, always respectful, and always fair. So, without further ado, here’s the interview!

J.M.: So Greg, tell us a little bit about you.

Greg: I live just outside of Detroit with my wife and two children, am a huge Red Wings, Tigers, and Lions fan, and work full time on the ENT website.

J.M.: Can you share with us how ENT came about?

Greg: After being an internet marketer for about 8 years, one day I received an email from Amazon about this new reading device that they developed called the Kindle.  I thought it would be a good product to try and market and things took off from there.

J.M.: With all of ENT’s success, how has life changed for you?

Greg: I’m a lot busier now than I have ever been, but it’s very much worth it as readers and authors are both very happy with ENT – readers because they get more free books than they could ever read, and authors because we can get those free books to hundreds of thousands of readers as well as generate a very nice amount of sales for their non-free books when they are featured.  Making this many people happy is extremely rewarding.   Also, I have a lot of freedom when I work during the day - but I do work every day (which isn’t so great, but I’m working on that).

J.M.: What is the best thing about your job?

Greg: I would have to go back to my previous answer and say it’s the large number of people that get a lot of happiness from ENT.

J.M.: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Greg: Getting everything coordinated and answering emails.

J.M.: What does the future hold for ENT?

Greg: We’ll continue to try to keep making ENT the best site for readers to go to get great free or bargain books for their Kindle, as well as make it a place where authors can continue to show off their talents to an ever increasing fan base.

J.M.: Okay, I have to assume that since you make a living based on literature that you like to read. What type of books do you read most?

Greg: Mostly horror, but some non-fiction too, such as biographies.

J.M.: What’s your all-time favorite book?

Greg: I really enjoyed Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon.

And there you have it! Thanks so much, Greg, for taking the time to share a little of yourself with the rest of us. I wish you the best of luck with ENT, and may you continue to see even greater success in the years to come!

Please check out ENT's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/EreaderNewsToday

Or go straight to the website here:
http://ereadernewstoday.com/

The Hunger Games

Well, like the rest of the world, I saw the Hunger Games movie. I thought it was good, but not over the top great. I don't know--I was hoping for something a little more I guess. I'm actually a little confused with my own reactions. I thought they did a pretty good job in staying with the book (far better than most actually), but I didn't leave the theatre feeling "wowed".

It's been too long!

It has been far too long since I've posted, but I've been very busy writing!

I have received a great number of fan emails lately, and for that I am truly grateful! Nearly each one asked about when The Reverence of One: Book Three of the Shadow Series will be out. The best answer that I can honestly give is that it will be out for sure by the end of June. I know, I know, I originally said the end of April, but sometimes things come up that don't allow as much writing time as I would like. Things have settled down and I have been writing more in the past two weeks than in the past two months. It is going great!

I also have a big interview in the works. I don't know for sure when it will be posted, but I think you will all enjoy it!

Thanks again to you all for your support and readership!

Sincerely,
J.M.

2012 is off to an AMAZING start!

January 2012 will go down as my single most successful month to date. Failing Test has spent the last week in triple digit ranking in the Kindle store, and A Shadow's Light is currently ranked under 3000. It's amazing. I am gaining over a thousand readers a week right now and I feel so blessed and thankful.

I want everyone to know that this success is not making me slack off! I am actually feeling a little bit of pressure to deliver the next book. I won't rush it out, just for the sake of publishing, but I want you to know that I am working hard on The Reverence of One: Book Three of the Shadow Series, and will do everything I can to get it out by the end of May 2012.

From there, I will get to work on the sequel to Before & Gone, tentatively titled "the Bitter Sane".

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You all mean the world to me.

A heart felt thank you.

A most sincere and heart felt thanks to those that have given my work a chance. The new year will bring a third Shadow Series novel. Even though I've had it in my head that it was always going to be a three book series, I'm hesitant to call it the last one. I also plan to write the second installment of The Chosen series, along with the possibility of another stand alone novella. It seems that two novels and a novella are about all I can squeeze into a year's time.

I look forward to more writing and providing you with the escape that you crave. Happy New Year to each and every one of you!

Take care,
J.M.

Failing Test gets a brand new cover for 2012.

It's been a long time coming, but the new cover for Failing Test is finally here. Special thank you to Maria Hooley for the images and her friendship! Notice one or two of her books in my carousel? Check them out!

Happy Holidays!

Good morning! I hope that you all had a very merry Christmas.

As we head into the new year, may we remember those less fortunate, may we count our blessings, and may we hold the ones that we cherish a little tighter each day.

The past year has seen some pretty horiffic things. I'm chosing to not make them a highlight in my memories, but rather a reminder of the things to which I've been blessed to have in my life.

Since first publishing in 2010, I have gained nearly 5000 readers. For each and every one of you I am grateful. I hope that I have given you some enjoyment with my work.

I hope you all have a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!

Word count for The Reverence of One 12-13-11

5543 - as of noon

Didn't get a thing written this weekend. Hopefully it will be a productive week!

Failing Test ebook editions ON SALE!

For a limited time, Failing Test: Book One of the Shadow Series is on sale for only $.99 both for the Nook and the Kindle. Please help spread the word by tweeting or sharing on Facebook!

Failing Test on Amazon

Failing Test on Barnes & Noble

Thank you!

The Reverence of One word count for 12-9-11

word count = 4919

Didn't have much time this afternoon. Hoping to be able to get more done over the weekend.

Word count for The Reverence of One

4474 - as of 12:30 p.m. 12-7-11

It's been a great couple of days!

Word count for The Reverence of One as of today at noon:

3461 words - It's just beginning. :)

The point of it all.

Sometimes I get a little sappy. Tonight is one of those nights.

Sometimes I ask myself, "why do I write?"

It's not as simple as a single answer, and worse yet, the reason may be different depending on the day. Take today for example. I'm writing The Reverence of One and loving it. I love the cast of characters that have introduced themselves to me. This afternoon I was writing for the purest of reasons. I was writing for the joy of it, for the escape. I think my best work comes when I don't think about it. If I try to make it happen, it never comes out right, that or I struggle through a scene only to rewrite it completely in later edits.

Having written three books that are under the Shadow Series umbrella, I have admittedly felt a little pressure to produce TRO. Ultimately I want to give that to the people, the fans that have given my work a chance and have found enjoyment within the pages.

Hmm...I was getting to a point. Oh yes, the point. I started writing to help me stay level within myself, to find a peace of mind that I wasn't able to achieve through any other means until this beautiful journey began. Somewhere along the way, I decided (consciously or not) to provide that same bit of sanity and escape for others. In making that decision, I have an unwavering desire to please everyone. It is difficult to realize, or to accept, that this is an impossibility. Somewhere a balance has to be struck within myself that will allow for the pleasure to prosper and the frustration to fade. All I want is to tell a story, to get lost in my imagination and literally disappear from the world for a little bit at a time. As a byproduct of that, if others can get lost in that same world with me, I consider that a bonus.

Take care everyone. I appreciate you all.

Print Edition for Cliff's Memoirs

I'm hoping to get the proof copy of The Memoirs of Clifford T. Johnston today or tomorrow. Just in time for christmas!

The Reverence of One

Writing for the third book in the Shadow Series has begun! I almost hate to say this will be the last book. Maybe I won't? I love living in this world!

Hello!

Well, I've had blogs before, but each was specific to a title. To make things easier, I decided just to make one blog that could capture anything and everything that I might write. I'm also going to use this as a place to share all of the books and authors that I enjoy!

Thanks for visiting and take care!

J.M.