The spell of it

Presenting the next short book in the Tisroc series “The spell of it”. These just keep getting better and better the more of them I write:

What do you call soon?

The New Farms on the surface of a forgotten Earth promise to feed overcrowded Megalopolis, but when two workers are killed, Inspector Benji Prajactatorix has her suspicions. She takes her boyfriend (a tech) along to check out a mysterious organic spaceship, but that leaves his sister (a psion) and her intended (a politician) still on the floating city to contend with a food shortage on the eve of Election Day.

A technological thriller with a double shot of humor and romance: The spell of it, a science fiction short novel by David Barron.

Available Now! $2.99 @ Kindle , Smashwords , etc.

Why?

I’m writing the kind of series I want to read. I’m busy, I don’t have time to slog through a series of long books for an uncertain pay-off. When I read a book, I want it to be (c) tightly plotted--that is to say, no filler, a driving plot--(b) self-contained--a story begins and ends between the covers--and (a) fun. The two ways to go about that are (1) a stand-alone book or (2) a series of short books, each with a story that stands on its own within the series arc. This Tisroc series fits (2) perfectly. ...I’ll write (1) later.

What?

What you’ll get for your $2.99 is a great story with some fun characters that’ll take most of you around three hours to read front-to-back. I’ll just point out that that’s about a buck an hour, and I’ll guarantee you’ll read it again, which is more than I can say for the cola and candy bar you’d have blown the money on otherwise. As I said, these Tisroc short books are self-contained story-wise, so you could theoretically read them in any order without worrying about the over-arching plot, but I’d suggest that, once you’ve enjoyed one of them, you start from the beginning and enjoy the character development. That’s your call.

And?

This book took me about 25 hours to write, format, and make available, and I get a little over two bucks for every book that sells. That means I need 120 people to buy it so I’m making at least $10 an hour here, pay for the electricity, beer, wear and tear on keyboards, flowers for neglected girlfriends, what-have-you. After that it’s profit. (If you’re thinking: “But, Dave, $10/hour seems rather low pay!”, remember that a good beer around here costs two bits. I’ll be fine. Also, don’t call me Dave, that’s just weird.)

But?

That’s not really that many people, considering my target audience is ‘the English-reading population of Earth’.

So?

I’m not too concerned. Buy it, lend it to your friends if you want. It’s a book. (Kindle and others have some form of ‘Book Lending’, Smashwords lets you get the file.) I can’t count the number of great books I’ve bought again to re-read after I’ve borrowed a copy, and it’s not like this is my only book. Just don’t go putting it on Demonoid, that’s poor sportsmanship. Also, the ghosts of writers past will haunt you in your sleep, making spooky typewriter noises. Possibly.

Anyways:

back to writing

Tisroc IV “An astronomy lesson” comes out on or before September 13, 2011

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