Get Your Hands on my Shorts

Amazon.com is the 300 pound gorilla of Internet booksales, and in previous blog entries I've written about tricks and tips to get better Amazon exposure.

One of the things I mentioned was the Amazon Shorts program, where people can download original stories from known authors for only 49 cents.

It's a smart program for several reasons:

1. Those who want to try a new writer, but don't want to commit to eight bucks for a paperback, can read a complete short story for the price of supersizing their french fries.
   
   
2. If you're writing a series and are in between books, an Amazon Short can give your fans a little taste to tide them over until the next release.
   
   
3. Authors get 20 cents for each download. It's not a fortune, but considering they only make 55 cents for each paperback sold, that's pretty good money.
   
   
4. Like it or not, more and more people are reading fiction on their computers, laptops, e-readers, e-books, tablet PCs, PDAs, etc. This is no longer a trend---it's the future.
   
   
5. As I've said before, short stories are the best form of advertising. The more markets you penetrate, the wider your potential readership.

Want to see what it's all about? Click HERE to look at my first Amazon.com/shorts offering, called A FOUR PACK OF JACK.

For 49 cents, you get four complete short stories, all related to my Lt. Jack Daniels series.

BODY SHOTS - Jack deals with one of the toughest situations in her career.

WHELP WANTED - Jack's ex partner, Harry McGlade, must catch a very stupid dognapper.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY - A prequel to WHISKEY SOUR

POT SHOT - Jack's partner, Herb Benedict, has someone trying to kill him.

All of this, about 12,000 words, for pocket change. You can print it up, download it, email it to yourself, or keep it in what's called a 'storage locker' at Amazon.com, which is yours forever.

Give it a try, and let me know what you think--both about the program, and the stories themselves.