It is still my most recent release and it is not going anywhere. I’ve felt a little bit of a resurgence to encourage people to read my horror comedy Dead Heat recently. I really believe in this book and will eventually get around to writing its companion story Dead Lock. I have received a new review and have some news about its availability.
Annette Jordan on Good Reads had this to say…
This book is definitely more about the humour than the horror, not that its a bad thing when you find yourself smirking at witty cultural reference or recognising an unnamed sports star, but that’s not to say its without its gruesome moments, expect entrails a plenty and blood trails galore.
One of my favourite things about the book was the little side story explaining the origins of the Zombie horde, a neat little touch that added to the story. The pacing is good, and for such a short book, there is plenty of action, and most importantly a well thought out conclusion that does not leave the reader disappointed.
Thank you Annette! Now a little bit of news about this book of mine.
Dead Heat Horror Comedy Availability
As of Thursday 18th August, I delisted it from SmashWords and re-enrolled it at KDP Select. This book is now exclusively available through Amazon and that is where it will remain. In 13 months since listing it there, I sold a total of zero copies at Smash Words and had 30 sample downloads (chapter 1). This was the main reason for removing it. The other reason was the complex tax exemption process through which Smash Words expected non-Americans to proceed. They are not totally at fault, but they have done nothing (unlike Amazon) to simplify this situation, as I explained here. The alternative to this long-winded process was to let the US government grab 30% of my sales in tax – this for a non-resident who has spent a total of 23 days inside the borders of the USA in his lifetime.
Before delisting from KDP Select a year ago, I was receiving a little bit of royalty money from the scheme. Not much, just a few pennies, but it was clearly being accessed by people who have signed up to Amazon Prime. I thought I could expand my reach by singing up for SmashWords but this was not to be, especially as the Amazon Prime model seems to be working for them and may become the standard for many platforms in future.
I may not get much, a few pennies again each month, but I want to push sales as I head into the final stretch of writing Salmonweird and begin to plan writing Dead Lock.