James Melzer.net

Remember that old tune by Olivia Newton John, Let’s Get Physical? Yeah, me too. I’ve had that song in my head all day today, only I’ve been replacing the word ‘physical’ with ‘digital.’

I’ve been fighting it for so long, not wanting to accept that my beloved paperbacks were going the way of the dinosaur. Oh, it’ll still be a few years before they’re completely extinct, if at all, but they are certainly dwindling away for various reasons. I didn’t want to accept the digital age of fiction. Who the hell would want to read books on a hand held device? The answer, as it turns out, is a lot! I got curious, ended up buying an e-reader and low and behold, I’m one of those people. Now I’ve embraced digital fiction like a long lost lover and am slipping it the tongue. Continued

Share on Facebook

Yesterday I tried something a little different. I wrote a short story, converted it to digital, sold it on Smashwords and here on the website. It sold for 99 cents and was called SNOWMEN.

Why did I do this? Various reasons.

The biggest being that as a writer, a content creator, I should get paid for what I create. Not Stephen King or James Cameron dollars, of course, but something. I give away free podcast novels that no one donates to…that’s the brutal truth. It seems that for people to fork over their hard earned dollars to a creator, they feel they should be getting something specific. Like a short story, a piece of art, a song or two. I’ve got hundreds, hell, maybe even a few thousand supporters of my work, yet no one donates to help me continue to do what I love to do, and what they apparently love to hear: storytelling. Continued

Share on Facebook

Lately I’ve been thinking a great deal about making money from my writing. Yeah, I have sold three books to Permuted Press and yeah, the first one has been picked up by Simon & Schuster and will be coming to print in March, 2011…but that’s a long ways away. I won’t start to see any income from that until around August, 2011, if I make back my advance, that is.

In an effort to bring in a little extra cash flow (and when I say little, I mean little), I’ve decided to start selling some short stories on Smashwords, and directly here on my website. Why sell and not give away for free? Well, the way I see it, my time and creativity is worth money. Maybe not a lot right now, but surely it’s worth 0.99 cents, which is how much these short stories are selling for. Continued

Share on Facebook

On March 16, 2010, the next book in the Permuted Press/Simon & Schuster deal that I am a part of hits the shelves.

The re-release of EMPIRE by David Dunwoody is finally here! I first read this book long before I ever had a book deal, or even began podcasting. I was attracted by its premise, and was not disappointed. Here’s the skinny:

The crippled U.S. government and its military forces are giving up the century-long fight against an undead plague. Born of an otherworldly energy fused with a deadly virus, the ravaging hordes of zombified humans and a nimals have no natural enemies. But they do have one supernatural enemy: Death himself.

Descending upon the ghost town of Jefferson Harbor, Louisiana, the Grim Reaper embarks on a bloody campaign to put down the legions that have defied his touch for so long. He will find allies in the city’s last survivors, and a nemesis in a man who wants to harness the force driving the zombies—a man who seeks to rebuild America into an empire of the dead.

Hailed as “A MACABRE MASTERPIECE OF POST-APOCALYPTIC ZOMBIE GOODNESS” on the Library of the Living Dead podcast, Empire brings stunning new twists to a shattering and unforgettable scenario of the not-too-distant future.

Sounds pretty cool, eh? Trust me. IT IS!

Dunwoody’s prose is quick, sharp and gritty. EMPIRE is easily a page-turner to rival some of the best NYT Bestsellers out there on the market right now.

The Grim Reaper killing zombies? Hell yeah! How can you not get excited about that?

Pre-Order the book from the following retailers to help drive early sales. Your support will continue to show Big Publishing that the small, indie presses like Permuted Press and its authors, are a force to reckoned with and that they made the right decision in making this deal.

Plus, you get a damn fine read in the process!

AMAZON.COM

BARNES & NOBLE.COM

Go. Buy. NOW!

Share on Facebook

Almost two months ago now, I announced my new non-fiction project with partner Corey Graham, tentatively titled ‘The 100 Horror Movies You Have to See.’

It’s been 2 months of watching lots of horror movies (along with lots of beer), with Corey and I each compiling a list of 75 of the some of the greatest horror movies ever made.

I am pleased to say that we have each finalized our selections. After combining the two, we found that we both had 34 of the same titles on our lists. Cool. Now we just need 66 more. Mathematically, it works out great. Corey had 40 left over on his and I had 40 left over on mine. So we each need to axe 7, to bring it down to 33, and BOOM! There’s your 66, thus compiling the 100 Horror Movies You Have to See.

I think the hardest part of this project is almost over, because really, selecting 100 horror movies is not as easy as it sounds. There’s a lot of crap out there. We’re almost there, and once those 100 are selected, we’ll divvy them up and start writing about them, each from our own perspective.

Anyway, just wanted to give you guys and gals an update as to what’s going on. We haven’t forgotten about it, oh no, quite the contrary. We’re both excited, psyched, and ready to get writing and doing interviews for the book!

~JM

Share on Facebook

I’m pleased to bring you part 3 of my free serial project, Cthulhu This! Lovecraft, crime noir and EC gore all mashed together in one tale that I’m having a hell of a lot of fun writing.

If you missed the previous parts, you can grab part one HERE, and part two HERE.

Enjoy! Continued

Share on Facebook