Of course, SERIAL is free, which helps. But it's still gratifying to know that our little short story has been read (and in some cases, hated) by so many people.
Naturally, I've been thinking about how I could follow this up.
Regular blog readers know I've been doing pretty well selling my old short stories and unpublished novels on Kindle. But I've never actually written anything specifically for the Kindle.
Until now.
Jack Kilborn and I got together and did a prequel to SERIAL. Not only does it feature one of SERIAL's bad guys, it also features Taylor, one of the Red Ops from Kilborn's horror novel AFRAID.
I wracked my brain trying to figure out a good protagonist to throw into this nest of vipers, and came up with the obvious.
Jack Daniels.
The novella is called TRUCK STOP.
Before the events of Jack Kilborn's epic horror novel AFRAID...
Before the events of J.A. Konrath's critically acclaimed thrillers FUZZY NAVEL and CHERRY BOMB...
Before the events of Jack Kilborn's and Blake Crouch's #1 Amazon Kindle bestseller SERIAL...
Three hunters of humans meet for the ultimate showdown at the TRUCK STOP.
Taylor is a recreational killer, with dozens of gristly murders under his belt. He pulls into a busy Wisconsin truck stop at midnight, trolling for the next to die.
Chicago Homicide cop Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels is a long way from home, driving to meet her boyfriend for a well-earned vacation. She pulls into the truck stop for a quick cup of coffee and stumbles into her worst nightmare.
Jack's no stranger to dealing with psychos, but she's got her hands full trying to stop Taylor. Especially since he's getting help from someone just as deadly; a portly serial maniac named Donaldson...
TRUCK STOP is a 15,000 word thriller novella that ties together Konrath's and Kilborn's works, with terrifying results.
A prequel to SERIAL, which has been downloaded more than 70,000 times, TRUCK STOP is an eighteen-wheeled ride straight into hell. Not for the faint of heart. Let the reader beware.
This ebook also includes an exclusive interview: JA Konrath talks with Jack Kilborn, plus excerpts from their latest books, CHERRY BOMB and AFRAID.
Here's the Kindle link: http://www.amazon.com/Truck-Stop-Psycho-Thriller-ebook/dp/B002G99RRK
I'm really curious how this will sell, because Kilborn has been doing better than Konrath on Kindle. I'm also interested to see if this does anything for my backlist of Kindle books.
If you don't have a Kindle, and want to download it as a pdf (or many other formats), I also uploaded it to Smashwords.com.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/2743
I'll keep everyone posted. In the meantime, feel free to spread the word...
I really liked Serial, but I don't have a Kindle... :(
ReplyDeletePDF release w/paypal? Please? :)
What is meant by the phrase "a psycho thriller?" A thriller that's out of it's mind?
ReplyDeleteNobu - You can now get Truck Stop at www.smashwords.com. I put the link in th eblog.
ReplyDeletePeter - It's short for "psychological thriller" but I like that it sounds as if it's a thriller about psychos, which it is...
Great idea, Joe! I'm interested to follow how this turns out and love how you're experimenting with the boundaries of publishing. Thanks for the non-Kindle version too!
ReplyDeleteTruck Stop is superb. I read it last night. It's such a cool companion piece to SERIAL, for those of you who didn't get enough of that loveable Teddy Bear, Donaldson. It's also very funny.
ReplyDeleteThanks for making it available on PDF. I'm a Sony Reader kind of girl. By the way, Afraid scared the panties off me.
ReplyDeleteThank you with sharing your progress in self-publishing, it's very inspirational!
ReplyDeleteWhat if we're huge Jack Kilborn fans but think J.A. Konrath is kind of overrated? Can we just pay for half of the book?
ReplyDeleteWhat if we're huge Jack Kilborn fans but think J.A. Konrath is kind of overrated? Can we just pay for half of the book?
ReplyDeleteThen you get the book for free!
Luckily, that never happens. :)
I had to laugh. Poor Jacqueline. She can't even go on a little vacation ...
ReplyDeleteIntersting you mentioned Kilborn is doing better than Konrath on Kindle. Not that there's really a comparison, but my horror stuff by far does better than my other writings on Kindle. Things that make you go hmmm.
Although I'm impatiently waiting for the post office to open at 8am so I pick up my copy of Cherry Bomb. I'm not interested in supporting material written for Kindle. Maybe if it was a pdf download from your site I'd consider it, but then again it REALLY irritates me the number of authors writing stories only for Kindle. This might be different, but still encourages Kindle usage.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!!
ReplyDeleteJoe, I just posted a review for TRUCK STOP on Amazon. It delivers everything you promised in the description. It's suspenseful, creepy, and a little gory, with just the right twist of humor.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely advise people NOT to read it while at a truck stop. :)
Great job! Thanks!
your blogs are very nice.thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDelete