Dipping My Toe Into the Short Story Pool

Once, I realized that "Own the Scrawny," my follow-up novel to "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," would have an extended development, I wanted to create something that would help keep Alexander alive for my readers, and perhaps introduce new readers to the world.

I decided to release a short story, "Why Do You Think They Call it a Ghost Town," which sets thirteen year-old Alexander in the real-life ghost town of Bodie, California.  At first wholly unimpressed by the remains of this old-west mining town, Alexander's unique anxiety and over-active imagination turn the visit into an unexpectedly creepy adventure.

I think it's great fun, and I hope you'll give it a try. Distributing an e-book-only short story is even trickier than marketing a novel, but I think this this is a fun 'extra' that both stands on its own, and adds a little dimension to the "Food Chain" universe. Building a readership for the short story helps build awareness for the full length-books as well.

You can purchase "Why Do You Think They Call it a Ghost Town." for only 99 cents from the usual retailers. It would also be a huge help if you would review, rate, etc. as you see fit.

Remember, you can also follow my activities on Twitter @rickflix
Alexander has a new mailing list, where you can find out the latest about all the books in the series. 

Short Story Eyeballs

I'm still waiting for Why Do You Thing They Call it a Ghost Town? to turn up on Amazon - though BookBaby's stats show that it should be showing up any moment now. In the meantime, I remain puzzled as to how to effectively promote a short story. While there are extensive resources online to help an author promote a novel or  non-fiction book (resources I haven't yet learned how to use too effectively, by the way), I haven't yet discovered a strategy to raise awareness of my short story.

Of course, this short story doesn't have the same "heft" as "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain." The novel is about Alexander's wildly outlandish fears of bullying, while Ghost Town is, really, a simple tall tale about Alexander's experience in a wild west ghost town.  While I think it's fun, (though I'm still waiting for reviews - insert serious-face emoticon here), I'm really not sure how to encourage readers to purchase a short story. To be perfectly honest, I've rarely purchased a short story online.

Actually, selling the short story was never the primary objective. Since the follow up to "Food Chain" has taken longer than anticipated, I wanted to make certain I maintained some level of creative output as I build my presence as an author. I also saw the idea of creating a series of "Alexander's Shorts" as a good way of cross promoting the "franchise." Ideally, I'd like to be publishing a new story every couple of months, and a new book every year.  To reach that goal, I need to find a way to build awareness and readership.

Alexander needs eyeballs.

Remember, you can follow me @rickflix

New Ebook Short: Why Do You Think They Call it a Ghost Town?

I've just started the process of releasing Why Do You Think They Call it a Ghost Town?, a standalone short story featuring Alexander, the protagonist in "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain." In this story, Alexander visits the real-life ghost town of Bodie, California. At first, he thinks the trip is going to be one big bore - after all, who wants to look at a bunch of old buildings? Then, he makes some unusual new friends.

It will be launching shortly on all the usual sites for just $.99 [until then, I'm making a copy of the story available free to those who join the "Food Chain" Facebook Page and request it. If you see this notice on my blog, it's still available!].

I'm very curious to see if or how this sells - short stories do well on Amazon, but this story in particular is designed primarily for middle grade readers - and I'm not certain if that age group accesses electronic short stories. It's a fun experiment. I'll be looking forward to seeing how it goes - and what you think!


I'm still working on the second book in the "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," and plan to offer several other stories in the "Alexander's Short" series. As always, I'm interested in your thoughts, feedback (and reviews!).