#HomeForHalloween eReader giveaway

Thanks for helping THE HOME hit the Top 100 on Kindle and Nook. That triggered the bonus ereader giveaway, so now there are TWO free ereaders of your choice! Enter below or you can drop by the book blogs listed to the right and read exclusive excerpts and enter. (Any book blogger who wants to host for a day, email AuthorScottNicholson AT gmail)

Amazon 
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble 
Kobo

Experiments at a group home for troubled children lead to paranormal activity--and the ghosts are former residents of the home's past as an insane asylum. In development as a feature film.

Congratulations to @Norah_Wilson on Twitter, joining @RinnReads as $20 gift card winners! Two more to give away.

If you like audiobooks, Creative Spirit was just released on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. Speed Dating with the Dead came out a few weeks ago. My featured Kindle book right now is Ashes, at Amazon for 99 cents.

To celebrate the launch of The Home, you can win your choice of a Kindle Fire, a Nook HD 8G, or a Kobo Glo (two separate winners total). Other prizes include MP3-CD audiobooks of Liquid Fear and Chronic Fear, and signed copies of Chronic Fear, Monsters Inc., Drummer Boy, If I Were Your Monster, and Dirt. I'll also be randomly selecting Twitter RTs for a $20 gift card each week that use the #HomeForHalloween hashtag. If The Home hits the Top 20 on any of the ebook outlets during October, I'll give away an extra bonus device of the winner's choice. Congratulations to @RinnReads on Twitter for winning the first $20 gift card.

If you don't use social media, you can enter by emailing bigkindleboogie@yahoo.com. Thanks and good luck!

#HomeForHalloween: Win a Kindle Fire, Nook, or Kobo Glo

Thanks for helping THE HOME hit the Top 100 on Kindle and Nook. That triggered the bonus ereader giveaway, so now there are TWO! Enter below or you can drop by the book blogs listed to the right and read exclusive excerpts and enter. Also writer J. Thorn and Dodge Winston were kind enough to host the rafflecopter today. (Any blogger who wants to host for a day, let me know!)
Amazon 
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble 
Kobo

Experiments at a group home for troubled children lead to paranormal activity--and the ghosts are former residents of the home's past as an insane asylum. In development as a feature film.

Today's daily special: Story collection box set MAD STACKS free at Amazon US and Amazon UK


To celebrate the launch of The Home, you can win your choice of a Kindle Fire, a Nook HD 8G, or a Kobo Glo (two separate winners total). Other prizes include MP3-CD audiobooks of Liquid Fear and Chronic Fear, and signed copies of Chronic Fear, Monsters Inc., Drummer Boy, If I Were Your Monster, and Dirt. I'll also be randomly selecting Twitter RTs for a $20 gift card each week that use the #HomeForHalloween hashtag. If The Home hits the Top 20 on any of the ebook outlets during October, I'll give away an extra bonus device of the winner's choice.

If you don't use social media, you can enter by emailing bigkindleboogie@yahoo.com. Thanks and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Six Free Kindle Books March 26!

I am making a number of Kindle books free this week as part of the eBookSwag launch! Be sure to come by EbookSwag to sign up for the weekly newsletter and enter for free Kindle Fires, gift cards, and other swag. Here is Monday's list:

Scott Nicholson Library Vol. 4

http://www.amazon.com/Scott-Nicholson-Library-Boxed-ebook/dp/B006AF8UWE

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scott-Nicholson-Library-Boxed-ebook/dp/B006AF8UWE

Bad Stacks (Story Collection Box Set)

http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Stacks-Story-Collection-ebook/dp/B0070P96SA

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Stacks-Story-Collection-ebook/dp/B0070P96SA

Dark Spells

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Spells-Four-Books-ebook/dp/B0063ACDQU

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Spells-Four-Books-ebook/dp/B0063ACDQU

Speed Dating with the Dead

http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Dating-Dead-ebook/dp/B003TZLWTG

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Speed-Dating-Dead-ebook/dp/B003TZLWTG

The Dead Love Longer

http://www.amazon.com/The-Dead-Love-Longer-ebook/dp/B004LROVS0

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Dead-Love-Longer-ebook/dp/B004LROVS0

The First

http://www.amazon.com/The-First-ebook/dp/B0037KM1F2

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-First-ebook/dp/B0037KM1F2

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Generosity marketing is not marketing

I delved into this a little in today's video on Jason Chatraw's blog but it has been the hot topic of speculation since Amazon started its freebie program: is giving away books going to kill us or save us?

Guess it depends on which "us" you are in. I don't want this to be a writing blog, but this is a fleeting historic opportunity to explore generosity marketing, or my preferred nomenclature of "idea gardens." Getting on a million Kindles for free is great for sharing your ideas--who knows whether most of the books will be read, because even though it is voluntary, it takes very little investment on the reader's part. See, click. And with hundreds of sites and Twitter feeds constantly pumping out free book links, we may already be past the point where "free" has value.

And there is a dark side. Free books often get to people who don't want them and don't value them. They will write negative reviews like (yes, this is real), "I got this because it was free but I don't like ghost stories" and the new manifestation, the "Blame the author One-Star" where someone is mad because a book they were told was free (often because the reader stumbled across a days-old blog post) is not free when the reader finally shows up to get it, or they clicked and it didn't download for some reason.

Although this is mind-blowing to me, I hear some writers try to scam by announcing a book as free and then secretly making it not free in hopes of netting unwilling purchases...that is a suicidal tactic in every possible respect. The larger point is that free is not free. It is still a transaction of time, energy, resources, ideas. Fundamental principle of free: once you give it away, it isn't yours anymore.

You are giving away your idea (your seeds, your book) to a reader (who may not be a reader at all, especially not your reader) and hoping the idea blossoms on the other side, in the other person's garden. Whether the other person's idea in the exchange comes in the form of their time or money, or both, it is now in their garden, not yours.

If you can give away without any expectation of return, that is "generosity marketing." That's how the garden works. And the irony is if you don't want or need or expect a reward for your gift, you are more likely to benefit. Because you win either way. If you're going to be free, let free be free.

Free today: Missing Pieces story collection for Kindle
Reading: Robert McCammon's Mystery Walk
Touting: The Epic Kindle Giveaway blog for free kindle thrillers
Warning: Mystery Dance: Three Novels is free for Kindle Friday-Sunday (please review it if you've read the three books in it--Disintegration, Crime Beat, and The Skull Ring.)
Watching: Recently watched District Nine, Inception, and one of the Twilight movies where Pattinson sulks (does that narrow it down?)
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Scott Nicholson free kindle books

If you like to share with your friends, feel free to copy and paste in Twitter, facebook, and your favorite book forum: Scott Nicholson is giving away free Kindle books this week! http://hauntedcomputer.blogspot.com

(UK Kindle owners, just replace "com" with "co.uk" and you go right to the correct page for Amazon UK)

Sunday:

Mystery Dance: three books-The Skull Ring, Disintegration, Crime Beat
http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Dance-Three-Novels-ebook/dp/B004I8WNEQ

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mystery-Dance-Three-Novels-ebook/dp/B004I8WNEQ

Share today from my Facebook wall to be entered for signed copy of "Disintegration"

(UK only) horror thriller The Gorge by Scott Nicholson

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Gorge-ebook/dp/B00472O79W/

story collection Head Cases by Scott Nicholson, bonus tales by Willie Meikle and John Everson

http://www.amazon.com/Head-Cases-ebook/dp/B004G5Z4HO

(UK Kindle only) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Head-Cases-ebook/dp/B004G5Z4HO

That should keep you reading a while! Please tell your Kindle friends and look for an EPIC kindle giveaway coming soon!

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Santa Scott free Kindle book giveaways

I'm shuffling down the chimney and handing out goodies for all the good little girls and boys who awake to find Kindles and Kindle Fires in their stockings (but you don't have to own a Kindle to read free Kindle books -- you can read them on your phone, iPad, computer, etc. What a truly marvelous age we live in!)

Free today, Dec. 24, is the paranormal mystery Transparent Lovers by Scott Nicholson
http://www.amazon.com/Transparent-Lovers-ebook/dp/B004LROVS0

and the mystery thriller Disintegration
http://www.amazon.com/Disintegration-A-Mystery-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0048EL5M6

Coming soon: Duncan the Punkin, The Skull Ring, and As I Die Lying. Please tell all your friends and pass the freebies along. Amazon Kindle books have been very good to me and my family and I am happy to share. Check this post daily for the next week for updated giveaways. Now I need to shake off this chimney soot. Ho ho ho!

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Speed Dating with the Dead free for Kindle

Okay, today's gift is Speed Dating with the Dead, a supernatural thriller. Inspired by an actual paranormal conference I held at a haunted Appalachian hotel--in the book, ghost hunters accidentally stir up demons. Free for two days!
http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Dating-Dead-ebook/dp/B003TZLWTG 

Burial to Follow is still currently free at Amazon but probably not for long.

I'll be signing paper books at Black Bear Books in Boone (Dec. 20) and City Lights Bookstore in Sylva (Dec. 21).

Win signed copies of Liquid Fear and Chronic Fear!

Preorder Chronic Fear and be entered to win a signed paperback set of Liquid Fear and Chronic Fear! These books will be signed with "First copies off the press."

Chronic Fear is available for Kindle, paperback, and audio at Amazon, and at BN.com in paperback. After ordering, simply email hauntedcomputer AT yahoo.com with "Chronic Fear" in the subject line. Thanks and good luck!

Summer Book Club now free

The Summer Book Club is now free! At Smashwords, and coming free soon to multiple formats.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/70762


We're still donating proceeds to the library relief fund at Joplin MO, but are asking people to support the fund directly if they can. Joplin Public Library has established a fund to assist the 10 employees who lost their homes and were injured during the tornado. Please send checks to the Joplin Public Library Staff Relief Fund, c/o Jacque Gage, Joplin Public Library, 300 South Main Street, Joplin MO 64801. The library is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/joplinpubliclibrary and messages of support are appreciated.

Summer Book Club features nine bestselling indie authors.  It's free. Grab it and get a tan from the heat. Or use sunscreen and merely bask. Or jump in the ocean. Whatever metaphor works for you!
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free copies of Curtains: Mystery Stories

Anyone interested in free review copies of Curtains: Mystery Stories, drop me an email, Tweet, or comment below--it is starting to get some sales but could use a few reviews, whether you love it or hate it. The collection contains nine stories by me plus bonus stories from Simon Wood and J.A. Konrath.

Also, post a total of five reviews for any of my books on either Amazon, B&N, Goodreads and Shelfari, and I will send you a free signed copy of Thank You For the Flowers, my first story collection. This is not an attempt to "buy reviews"--I've always said, I don't care if you love me or hate me, just don't ignore me--but a way of thanking you for your time. And tune in tomorrow, when winners will be drawn for the Kindles!

Disintegration finally slid out of the Top 100 in the Kindle store after 36 days there. Thanks, everyone. As Gen. Douglas McArthur said, "I shall return, and what's this lobster doing in my underwear?"

Karen at The Slowest Bookworm crawls into October Girls.

Full-length podcast (30 mins) on self-publishing and marketing at Creative Penn.
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