The Interesting Science of Free Books Driving Piracy

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I like data. It helps make better decisions, and avoid posturing and hand-wavium. A bunch of people in the author community espouse the value of permafree* book one in a longer series. The basic argument is: There’s no friction to reader attachment, thus you’ll get a higher readership. This is testable. While less people as a percentage of book one readers will read next-in-series (as speculative “purchasers” can come from outside your genre lane), the volume of readers will drive greater success overall. We can test this for science. We can also talk about the shit-show of also-boughts and how that makes advertising painful. You gain exposure on other storefronts, other than the mighty Zon. We can test this too! TL;DR: none of the promised gains worked for me, but I did see a massive spike in book 2 & Read More …

High-Five, Internet!

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When I released the first tortured edition of Upgrade in 2014, it sank without a trace (from a sales perspective). While sales aren’t the total arbiter of success, they’re definitely a leading indicator! The re-master launched last Friday. Today, it snuck into the top 100 of the cyberpunk genre on the world’s biggest bookstore. No clue if 96 is as high as it’ll go, but it feels like I might have finally given this book the treatment it deserved.

The Land of Confusion 😕

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This is one of my world-famous emails, originally sent Friday November 9, 2018. You can get on the list if you want this directly wired to your brain (…or nearest connected device). Greetings, programs. It’s Author Launch Week™ here in the Richard Parry empire. This is like other weeks, but with a higher alcohol consumption level. Today: Soundtracks; Pinterest for inspiration; What I’ve been reading; and The world of confusion I’ve been wrangling. “Herding cats” doesn’t begin explain it. Let’s dig in. Soundtracks! Back in the day, I made soundtracks for all my books. This serves the fantastic purpose of feeding my ego, while giving readers a vibe for the story. Searching Spotify for “cyberpunk” will give you all kinds of synthwave bullshit. Many of those playlists sound like amateur hour with a bunch of people dry-humping an electronic keyboard. Read More …

Chromed: Upgrade Is Out!

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Chromed: Upgrade is on virtual shelves across planet Earth. It’s about the twisted, beautiful creatures we are and what this world does to us. It’s 2150AD. There hasn’t been a corporate war… until now. Mason Floyd is an augmented syndicate enforcer at the top of his game. His job is asset protection and acquisition, no questions asked. Company tech is stolen on Mason’s watch. Rival megacorps want it, and they don’t mind killing him to get it. Framed for the theft, Mason runs. He tangles with off-grid rockstar Sadie Freeman on the grimy seam between the powerful and poor. Together they uncover a secret an entire city died to keep. Hunted and desperate, they must team up to survive. Together Mason and Sadie can save the world. Apart, both are lost. They must trust each other or die. Megacorps. Cyborgs. Read More …

My Top Five Cyberpunk Games

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I’ve been turning my nostalgia to overload because of my upcoming release, Chromed: Upgrade. Some of that’s been books, or movies, but today’s post is about video games. I’m looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077 in the same way a heroin addict hungers for their next hit, but we’re not there yet. If you want a little fix before CDPR’s next thing, give these a look. 5: Shadowrun: Hong Kong https://youtu.be/dQp2HVTVQPo Shadowrun: Hong Kong is the latest in HairbrainedScheme’s franchise, and the best of the bunch. No prior experience with the previous two games is required. This is rich, gritty, full of story, and takes its time to get to the heart of the story. My only real complaint is this is more like a novel than a game; there’s a lot of reading required, but it’ll reward you. ACG’s take Read More …

I Don’t Deserve the Friends I Have

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I got older last month. I mean, I get older all the time, but got an excuse to celebrate it on my incept date as we did another turn around Earth’s star. One of the things I hungered for was the Horizon: Zero Dawn messenger bag. This is a beautiful product, and ever since a friend of mine showed hers off, I wanted one. Let’s face it, my office is 100% mobile, so this is the equivalent of a Lexus for a company vehicle. But — and there’s always a but — New Zealand suppliers were out of stock. Seems it’s a special order item from Germany. Anyway, my most excellent friend fell on her sword and sent me hers. It’s fantastic!

A Pleasant All Hallow’s Eve To You 🎃

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This is one of my world famous emails, originally sent Thursday 1 November. I appreciate the title of this blog post is probably out of whack as Halloween’s long sailed, but it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to. Also, the excerpt’s been removed from this because of KU requirements! If you want to get all the juice, all the time, get on the list. It’s possible I caught you at a bad time. I appreciate because timezones™ it might not be Halloween for you, but hey, it’s the thought that counts. Today, we’ve got just two things to discuss. Because it’s Halloween, a short video that gave me the creeps, By popular demand (!), a talk on release pricing, and I’d like you to check out my latest, Chromed Upgrade. TL;DR: If this all seems to hard, Read More …