The Case of the Purloined Pyramid and The Last Hotel Room available again as ebooks

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently asked for the rights back from Kindle Press for two of my books: The Case of the Purloined Pyramid and The Last Hotel Room. I have now republished them. After a day or two, the Amazon bots will link them up with their print editions and put the reviews back. Glad to have them on the market again!

In other news, the next issue of my newsletter will be coming out within a few days. Feel free to sign up! Every issue includes a travel article (about Fez this time), a short story, and a coupon for a free or discounted book.

Two Ebook Titles Temporarily Unavailable

The two ebooks I published with Kindle Press, The Case of the Purloined Pyramid and The Last Hotel Room, will be unavailable until November 8. Print editions are still available. As followers of this blog know, I signed a contract with KP for the ebook rights to both those titles a few years ago. I got an advance and some nice promotion, but now Amazon is putting its efforts elsewhere and I felt it best to get my rights back so the titles could get the attention they deserve. The rights revert to me on November 7, and they will be back up on Amazon the following day.

The Case of the Golden Greeks, the third in my Masked Man of Cairo series, will go up that same week.

The Last Hotel Room is on sale for 99 cents!

Just a quick note to say the Kindle Press has put my novel about the Syrian Refugee Crisis, The Last Hotel Room, on sale as a 99 cent ebook on Amazon US until Friday, January 25.
A portion of the proceeds goes to help refugees.

Some Good News and Some Bad News

Bad news first. . .Kindle Press is no longer taking submissions. As of today, the Kindle Scout Program, which was the one way to get into Kindle Press, is shutting its doors. Kindle Press will continue to market the 200+ books it already has on its list.

So it looks like The Last Hotel Room and The Case of the Purloined Pyramid will be the only books I will have with Kindle Press. While I am disappointed that I won't be able to launch a campaign for The Case of the Shifting Sarcophagus later this month like I intended, I can't say I'm all that surprised. Kindle Scout always felt like an experiment. Amazon was trying out various marketing strategies (with us as paid guinea pigs) to see what works and what doesn't. I suppose after more than two years in operation, they got their data and are moving on.

The Case of the Shifting Sarcophagus, the next in my Cairo detective series, is now with the beta readers and will come out in a month or so via Kindle Direct Publishing.

In other news, The Case of the Purloined Pyramid is on sale in the Amazon US store only for $1.99 until the end of April. So if you didn't vote for it during the Kindle Scout campaign, here's a chance to grab it. A big thank you to all my readers who helped support my two campaigns. I wouldn't have been publishing with Kindle Press without you!

The Case of the Purloined Pyramid Has Been Selected For Publication!

My detective novel The Case of the Purloined Pyramid has been selected for publication by Kindle Press. Thanks to everyone who voted for it during my Kindle Scout campaign, and a big thanks to my brother-in-law Andrés for the great cover! Everyone who voted for it will get a free ebook copy when it comes out in a couple of months. When I have an exact publication date I'll post it here.

Thanks a million!

I'm off to Cairo in December to write the next book. More on that later. . .

Last Few Days to Nominate The Case of the Purloined Pyramid!

I'm in the final few days of the Kindle Scout push for my latest novel, The Case of the Purloined Pyramid. If Kindle Press decides to publish it, those who voted for it get a free copy of the ebook. It's the same contest that got The Last Hotel Room a contract.

I could really use some help for the final push. You can sign in with your Amazon account (or take two minutes to create one) and nominate me. Also check out some of the other good books on there. A blurb is below.

An ancient mystery. A modern murder.

Sir Augustus Wall, a horribly mutilated veteran of the Great War, has left Europe behind to open an antiquities shop in Cairo. But Europe’s troubles follow him as a priceless inscription is stolen and those who know its secrets start turning up dead. Teaming up with Egyptology expert Moustafa Ghani, and Faisal, an irritating street urchin he just can't shake, Sir Wall must unravel an ancient secret and face his own dark past.

You can check out the book's page and read a sample here.

Thanks!!!

The Last Hotel Room is on sale for 99 cents

Kindle Press is promoting the electronic edition of my novel, The Last Hotel Room, for 99 cents from July 5-11 in the Amazon US store only.

It deals with the Syrian refugee crisis and an American who breaks out of his self-pity and apathy to try and help. I wrote it to be timely and political, and never thought it would get as timely and political as this! Please share. A portion of my royalties goes to Syrian refugees.

Check out the Kindle page and you'll see that several Kindle Press reader favorites are on sale during this period, so look through them and gather up some great reading!

And a big thank you to all who voted for it during the Kindle Scout competition. You rock!

Massive Kindle Scout Anniversary Sale With All Ebooks 99 cents!

Kindle Scout is celebrating its second year of reader-powered publishing by running a promotion on the entire Kindle Scout catalog on Amazon.com. All Scout-discovered titles are available for purchase for $0.99 from March 20 through April 3. This includes, of course, my novel about the Syrian refugee crisis The Last Hotel Room, which was published last September after getting enough support on Kindle Scout to win a contract with Kindle Press.

I have big hopes for this sale. Kindle Press did a similar promotion for my book for all of February and my ranking leaped up to 10,000 for much of the time, and even reached 6,000 for a few days. Here's hoping I'll top that this time.

There are plenty of other great books in this sale, a total of 215! You can see the entire list here.

Get The Last Hotel Room for only a Buck!

Kindle Press is promoting the electronic edition of my novel, The Last Hotel Room, for $1 all this month.

The deal is only available on the Amazon US store so all you furriners will see it at the regular price. It deals with the Syrian refugee crisis and an American who breaks out of his self-pity and apathy to try and help. I wrote it to be timely and political, and never thought it would get as timely and political as this! Please share. A portion of my royalties goes to Syrian refugees.

And a big thank you to all who voted for it during the Kindle Scout competition. You rock!

The Last Hotel Room is out!

My novel about the refugee crisis, The Last Hotel Room, is being released today by Kindle Press, an imprint of Amazon. They bought the ebook rights. A print copy will be available next month. Yesterday I chatted about writing the book over at Alex Cavanaugh's blog. A blurb for the book is below.

He came to Tangier to die, but life isn’t done with him yet.
Tom Miller has lost his job, his wife, and his dreams. Broke and alone, he ends up in a flophouse in Morocco, ready to end it all. But soon he finds himself tangled in a web of danger and duty as he’s pulled into scamming tourists for a crooked cop while trying to help a Syrian refugee boy survive life on the streets. Can a lifelong loser do something good for a change?
A portion of my royalties will go to a charity for Syrian refugees.

The Last Hotel Room available for Preorder!

As I mentioned a couple of months ago, my novel about the refugee crisis, The Last Hotel Room, was accepted by Kindle Press, an imprint of Amazon. Yep, Amazon has gotten into publishing as well as distributing. Thanks to everyone who voted for it during my Kindle Scout campaign, and a big thanks to my brother-in-law Andrés for the great cover! Everyone who voted for it should get an email today with instructions on how to download your free ebook copy. A print copy should be available next month.

For those who missed the Kindle Scout campaign, you can preorder the book here. It will be released September 20. A blurb is below.

He came to Tangier to die, but life isn’t done with him yet.
Tom Miller has lost his job, his wife, and his dreams. Broke and alone, he ends up in a flophouse in Morocco, ready to end it all. But soon he finds himself tangled in a web of danger and duty as he’s pulled into scamming tourists for a crooked cop while trying to help a Syrian refugee boy survive life on the streets. Can a lifelong loser do something good for a change?
A portion of my royalties will go to a charity for Syrian refugees.

Handed in the Final Edits for The Last Hotel Room

This morning is submitted the final edits for The Last Hotel Room to Kindle Press. They'll look them over and shoot back some edits of their own, and then the book will be on preorder. Watch this space!

The Last Hotel Room Selected for Publication!

My novel The Last Hotel Room has been selected for publication by Kindle Press. Thanks to everyone who voted for it during my Kindle Scout campaign, and a big thanks to my brother-in-law Andrés for the great cover! Everyone who voted for it will get a free ebook copy when it comes out in a month or two. When I have an exact publication date I'll post it here.

Thanks a million!