So while our free promo is still going on, I figured it'd be a good idea to set aside this little block to tell you about another little freebie that's going on right now, which is a quaint little slice of dystopian fiction called Suspense by Jason Letts.

SUSPENSE
By Jason Letts

Normally 99¢

Description:

Spencer Nye can’t control the rage bubbling under her skin over the world around her. The trouble is, by the year 2102, the world has solved most of its great problems. Without hunger, war, greed, or even money, people obsess over the glamour of the Culture Industry and its mega-celebrity Idols, who vie for followers over the social networks of Connect.

But Spencer discovers there is plenty to fix within the Idols’ competition for more popularity. She becomes a diehard and promises to do anything to help her Idol, a dreamy movie star named Cleary Mintz, bring his vision of hope and purpose to the world. When she stumbles onto a threat against his life, she’ll have to fight harder than she ever thought possible or lose the man who means more to her than any other.

Suspense, the first book in a new dystopian trilogy, contains 76,000 words and is recommended for ages 16 and up because of depictions of violence and some sexual themes.

The second book in the trilogy, Expense, is now available on Amazon!

DOWNLOAD FOR FREE NOW!

I'm a little late to the game here - with the lack of power last week and all the overtime because of the hurricane, my internet usage was limited, at best - but I'm here to announce that the fine ladies of Kismet Book Touring kicked off the blog tour for Silas last week! Here is the list of hosts and links to the content they've provided so far:

Tour Dates:
Monday, August 29th - April, My Shelf Confessions
Tuesday, August 30th - Johnny, Pages of Forbidden Love
Wednesday, August 31st - Greta, Paranormal Wastelands
Thursday, September 1st - Lisa, A Casual Reader's Blog
Friday, September 2nd - Karen, The Slowest Bookworm
~~~~~~
Monday, September 5th - Melissa, Books and Things
Tuesday, September 6th - Heather and Pushy, Bewitched Bookworms
Wednesday, September 7th - Cindy, Oodles of Books
Thursday, September 8th - Theresa, Just One More Paragraph
Friday, September 9th - Gef, Wagging The Fox
~~~~~~~
Monday, September 12th - Mandy, The Well-Read Wife
Tuesday, September 13th - aobibliophileô
Wednesday, September 14th - Aparajita, Le' Grande Codex
Thursday, September 15th - Farrah, The Book Faery Reviews
Friday, September 16th - Nevey, Le Vanity Victorienne

-------------------------

So now that you have the list, whatever are you supposed to do with it? Well, as a part of this tour, along with the interviews and special stuff that abounds, we're giving away a Kindle 3 along with a brand-spanking-new Silas skin! All you have to do is go the the blogs, read through the posts, and enter into the contest forms. Each form has a rather simple question having to do with building the Silas playlist, and the correct answer will award you 3 points toward the grand prize! In other words, there are 15 chances to gain a total of 45 "entries". Can you get better than that?

So head over to the blogs, folks, and enter to win! Oh, and help support up-and-coming authors!

Heather Bannon (One Pushy Fox) of the Bewitched Bookworms posted her review of Silas today on the site.  It's fantastic, I tell you.  This is also the woman who's charged with running my tour, so I'm definitely in good hands.  Let's say YAY for folks who love our work!

Check out the review - http://www.bewitchedbookworms.com/2011/08/review-silas-by-robert-j.html

This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.

Here it is - the first review of DoW from the review copies I sent out.  And it's a pretty durn goodun' if I do say so myself.  Feel free to click on the link below to read it!

http://readersfavorite.com/cat-71.htm?review=3983

There are a great many advantages to self-publishing, as long as you're willing to put in a ton of work and are able to develop a vast amount of patience.  However, once you obtain even the slightest morsel of success, you end up developing a certain mindset that can quite literally cause mind-numbing obsession.  And this mindset is...

(drumroll)

Doubt.

The sales of our books have skyrocketed (comparatively) of late.  For the last week or so, we've been selling right around 40 a day.  But on this particular Saturday, things have ground to a halt.  Our sales rankings are climbing higher and higher, and along with that goes my level of panic.  I have a great fear that one day everyone will look at my work and say, "Oh, that's right, he's no good," and everything I thought I've built will crumble.  It's a dangerous thought process to have.  I've been checking the KDP feed obsessively and pulling my hair out trying to figure out HOW OH HOW I will get everything on track.  My stress levels are through the roof.

The thing is, deep down I understand that this is nothing but a hiccup, that if I simply take a deep breath and forget about the immediacy of success, everything will even out.  We've put out a damn good product, after all, and I've always lived by the theory that the cream rises.  And we're that cream.  But this doesn't stop the fear, doesn't stop the self-doubt from infiltrating my every waking thought.

I've wondered recently if this is something that will ever leave me.  I've wondered how I'd feel if (hell no-when!) I ever reach Amanda Hocking or JA Konrath levels of success.  Will the doubt leave then?  Will I finally be able to settle down and not constantly wonder if the next book will finally be the one that sends me down the eternal shitter where all failed authors land?  Will I stop looking at my life with a soul-crushing fear of failure?

Somehow I doubt it.  And there's that word again.

It keeps cropping back up.

Damn.

RJD

So 2011 is here at last.  Time for some updates!

It turns out the full release of Dead of Winter will only be delayed for a month.  Jesse is hard at work on the illustrations, and we'll be getting together the 15th of January to put it all together.

Also, for some even better news, the prices of both books will be dropping.  I've decided that I didn't use my space appropriately last time.  We will be changing the format of the first book (along with DoW) in order to drop the page count, which in turn will drop the price.  Look for both to be in the $10 to $13 range.  Condensing makes them that much more affordable...not to mention appearing more professional.  Which they are, by the way.

As a final note, after the release of the final DoW version, we'll be hard at work constructing the print for The Gate: 13 Dark and Odd Tales.   This one should come in the $5 to $6 range - a small and affordable book of shorts.

So we'll be seeing you soon, folks.  Remember to post reviews on Amazon or Goodreads whenever you finish a book.  We need your support.  There wouldn't be an us without you.

Peace,

RJD

#1 - Reviews are important.  Whatever anyone thinks of our books, good or bad, feel free to post a review on Amazon.  It helps us gain a readership and guides potential customers to the page.

#2 - If anyone doesn't know yet, here is a little bit about our library for all you Kindle owners out there:

The Fall: The Rift Book I

Available for $2.99 in the Kindle Store

An ancient evil, trapped in the ruins of a lost Mayan temple for centuries, has been unleashed. It takes the form of a deadly virus, one that causes violent insanity in the living and the recently departed to rise and walk. It spreads around the globe, throwing the world into chaos and war.

As it progresses, those in the States who find themselves far away from the epicenter watch it unfold with unbelieving eyes. From Washington D.C. to Dover, New Hampshire, regular people are hurled into an existence outside their control, left to deal with catastrophic situations that they aren't prepared to handle. Life becomes a nightmare, and that nightmare is spreading.

First time author Robert J. Duperre presents this scenario with The Fall: The Rift Book I, the first of a four-part series. In this book, he throws his characters into a gambit; when the alternatives are life or death, self-preservation or the protection of others, what path will they choose? Is there a darkness that resides in everyone, from every walk of life, that is screaming for release? When society falls apart and we are left to our own devices, will we make the right decisions, or let the tide take us where it may? There is horror, there is death, there are the walking dead, and all around are choices.

The Gate: 13 Dark & Odd Tales

Available for $0.99 in the Kindle Store

...Three brothers traipse across a post-apocalyptic landscape, encountering unspeakable horrors...

...A young boy growing up in suburban hell thinks there might be more to his home town than meets the eye, what with all the children going missing...

...A woman dying of cancer is given a way out, if only she is willing to pay the price...

...The crew of a space station must battle their fears and a strange alien relic when they are isolated from humanity...if humanity exists any longer...

These stories and more await inside the pages of The Gate: 13 Dark & Odd Tales, the new compilation by Robert J. Duperre, author of The Fall: The Rift Book I. Also contributing to this collection are the talented Mercedes M. Yardley, David Dalglish, David McAfee, and Daniel Pyle.


Enjoy, folks, and remember - we can't succeed without you, gentle reader.  I hope you enjoy the experience we bring you.

- RJD

We have a new review, and it just might be one of the best ones ever.  Check it out, folks!

Reader's Favorite Review