NPR books posted this question on twitter this morning:
Hey readers, with the recent Amazon controversy did you make a point of supporting indie booksellers for your holiday shopping?
The results were predictable.
NPR books re-tweeted this reply:
Ha! RT @RuthHorowitz@nprbooks I browsed Amazon for titles I liked, and then special-ordered them at my local indie book store.
@Adana said:
@nprbooks This year, I bought everything from indie stores, rather than support Amazon. It cost more, but I hate bullies.
I’m coming at this as both a book worm and a newly published author. I couldn’t format my thoughts for twitter so here goes.
I agree with a lot of what Farhad Manjoo had to say in his slate article about indepedent bookstores. Like Farhad, my primary complaint about indies is that most of them are vastly over-rated. For every truly special store like Bookpeople in Austin, you have a whole slew of others that essentially bully you into shopping at them. That’s right, I said bully.
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Servants of the Light is doing well on iTunes with this great review:
Couldn’t put this one down. A great blend of military truth with science fiction. The characters were well developed and engaging. The author really makes you feel like you are part of the action (or takes you back if you’ve already been there).
My average ranking on iTunes is five stars, which couldn’t please me more.
It has finally happened. My novel “Servants of the Light” is now available as an ebook on Amazon, iTunes, and Nook. A print version is coming soon. Here is what its all about:
An irreverent, scotch-swilling, skirt-chasing smartass, US Army Ranger Jake McPherson is more at home on the battlefield than stuck in his FOB. A brutal ambush in Iraq that threatens to wipe out his unit forces Jake to admit he possesses mental and physical powers most humans – including him – can only dream about.
Using his powers to save his unit exposes Jake to the Chosen. An ageless order of evil dedicated to spreading chaos to create a world they can rule, the Chosen track Jake home to Texas, where a beautiful warrior – a Servant of the Light – saves Jake from their ruthless assassins.
Reluctantly joining the ancient struggle, Jake masters his powers through the Servants’ bygone ways of combat. With modern weapons useless in a war between timeless adversaries, Jake has no choice but to rely on hand-to-hand combat, swords, and his wits.
Jake must lead the Servants into battle from the across the US and back to Iraq, where the Servants learn the Chosen have claimed a weapon of unspeakable power … a weapon only Jake and the Servants of the Light can stop from destroying the world as we know it.
So far, things are going well. The book managed to land on the “New and Noteable” banner in the “Action and Adventure” section in iBooks. The picture above shows me somehow right next to Tom Clancy and Stephen Hunter. Plus, I’ve had some pretty strong reviews, which is making for a very Merry Christmas in the Alexander household.
Stay tuned for more info on the book and be sure to follow me on twitter.
I mailed my final markup to the editor last week. The final step is for him to email the final touches and for me to approve them. Much more to follow.
Welcome to the Mother of all Web Platforms for yours truly. It is a work very much in progress.
