Blog Storm Gathering

So my challenge this month is to write as many posts as possible across as many of my blogs as possible about the release of my latest novel. The idea is to spark a perfect storm of interest in the novel and in the author. I have decided to serialize the novel on my main blog – MyView, and to do interviews with the main characters. On the web site dedicated to the novel, I’m giving readers a rare look behind the scenes of writing a novel. Where do character names come from? How long did you write each day? And the dreaded, where did you get your idea from?

I’m accomplishing this task by writing as many posts as possible ahead of time and then scheduling them through the blogging program. This actually does work on WordPress and Ning. Another nifty trick is that every time I post an article, WordPress sends my Twitter stream an update. I have the posts coming out at midnight local time. This releases them during the day in Europe. Remember to act local and think global!

I also mention my posts on Scribd which has its own Twitter-like feature. My follower numbers on Scribd are insanely large, compared to Twitter, but they reach a different audience. Most of the people who follow me on Twitter are industry related, where those who are on Scribd are more of a general interest group.

I also do posts on my FaceBook account, although to be honest, I don’t have a big following there, yet. MySpace, you ask? What’s that? Knowing when a particular social network is all but dead, is part of the staying on top of things aspect about being a writer these days.

I will be sending the local papers, Radio Stations and TV channels a press release about the signing and the book, using the angle that the book is set in Boise and written by a local author. TV and Radio interviews would be great, but not holding my breath for that.

My next project is to create a one-sheet for the book that mentions the signing, and print up a few hundred copies to distribute throughout the city wherever I can. Coffee shops, telephone poles, whatever and wherever. I may even look into billboards on the backs of city benches. Hey, how far do you go to promote your book?

P.S. Did anyone catch I never mentioned the book by name?

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Null_Pointer Shamless Plug

Hitting the market first in digital formats, Null_Pointer debuts this week on the internet. You can now read the first book in this new mystery series about a programmer sleuth named Joshua Jones on the Kindle and in various formats on Smashwords.

The paperback version is due some time in September, but you can read it right now for nearly half off the paperback price. Can’t spare the $6.39 price for the digital version? That’s OK too, you can read the entire novel for FREE, yes that’s zero dollars, on Scribd. If you like the book, please tell your friends and blog about it, Twitter about it, and Facebook about it.

What’s that? You say you are a book person and would rather wait for the paperback version? Well, wait no longer. Get a jump on the regular markets and head on over to Lulu.com to purchase the paperback for $12.96. Be the first in your cube row to own the first book in the only new mystery about coders and Geeks.

Are you a programmer? Do you actually know what the title refers to? Do you know someone who loves mysteries but doesn’t have a clue about programming? If so you may already be or know someone who would love this book. Get it today and make the Geek in your life a very happy Geek.

“Null Pointer is an excellent blending of computer technology, programmer knowledge and the traditional mystery.” – Angela Abderhalden, author of Questionable Ethics

“McConnell’s novel is filled with lots of technical details that geeks will love, but he makes nearly all of it clear to technophobes.” – Kathy McIntosh, Well Placed Words

Available right now from Smashwords, Lulu.com and on the Amazon Kindle.

Get yours today!

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Almost There

For the past few months I’ve been busting my butt over getting out my first Mystery novel. I have not written much at all. I’ve been editing and proofing and fixing that novel to the point of actually hating it. For a while there I was completely indifferent to it. I wrote the damn thing almost three years ago and only now was I getting it ready for publication. It was like looking at how I wrote when I first started writing and trying to not gag at my pathetic efforts.

But I worked my way through all those demons and now as I approve the final, final, absolute final version of the book, I no longer hate it anymore. In fact, I think I may be on to something with the concept and the execution. I always knew that the idea of having a programmer for an amateur sleuth was a good one and I hope that concept pulls in computer geeks to the Mystery genre. The other main thing going for the book is the fact that it is set in my home town and local readers will really connect with it because they will have been to many of the locations in the book. This also makes it easier to sell in local bookstores and gives me plenty to chat to audiences about at signings.

So hopefully, come August, I will be able to report back a launch date and an Amazon Run and signing dates and all that jazz that comes after the book finally gets to market. I’m looking forward to it this time.

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Novel Maps

I recently put together a Google Map for my soon to be released mystery novel – Null_Pointer. Authors use maps to help them write in many ways, from exploring cities that they have not been to, to getting a feel for where their characters are actually located in the real world.

I wrote Null_Pointer in my current home city of Boise, Idaho. I was well familiar with all the locations mentioned in the book, because I had physically been to each of them; well, the real locations anyway. Quite a few locations were made up.

But the purpose of making a publicly viewable Google Map of the novel was to let folks who do not live in Boise become familiar with the real places I mention in the book. While writing NP, I wanted to set it in my home city to showcase it to a wider audience. Boise is one of the best kept secrets of the American West and I wanted to set my mystery somewhere besides LA or NYC.

In making the map for the novel, I used the stick pins available through Google to place various locations of note in the novel. Some places were not available in Street View, so you will not be able to see them up close. But most of the restaurants featured in the book have enough details so that you can visit them. Many of the pins are markers for events that happen in the book.

Has anyone else used a mapping program like this for their novels?

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