Gearing up for a big week

Before I get to the Story of the Week, I’d like to welcome the newest member of my little story club, Lisa Levine. We recently met at a wedding, and after I found out that she’s an artist, I looked her up. You should too. She does incredible things with photography, and you can find her at THIS LINK.

Here’s this week’s tale (prompt contributed by Valerie L) and then I’ll give you a quick update on what’s happening next week.

Darwin Would Want a Do-Over

The fact that Joel had survived his 30th birthday defied every medical theory. He drank like a fish—if fish were alcoholics. He smoked like a chimney—a chimney filled with unfiltered cigarettes. The closest he came to a gym was when he passed it on the way to the bakery, where he frequently stuffed his pie hole.

Deeply concerned, his friends staged an intervention. Joel was surprisingly receptive, even as the plane crashed into his house, killing everyone—except for Joel.

Fortunately, his complete lack of muscles and tone helped him escape as he squeezed and oozed through the rubble.

Prompt: Surprisingly healthy

Next Week’s Happenings

The paperback edition of FAST FICTION, Vol. 2: Man Vs. Machine officially hits the streets next Tuesday, August 15th.

I know what you’re thinking: That’s great news, Scotty, but what can I do to help make this launch a phenomenal success and join the team that helps you break into the top 100 in Amazon sales in your category?

Glad you asked! When it comes to rankings, Amazon is all about two things: sales and reviews, and I’m hoping you can take action on Monday, August 14th. Here’s how to help.

Sales: Buying a copy of the book (either the Kindle version or pre-ordering the paperback) lets Amazon know that there’s an audience for the book and will trigger them to order books from the publisher. That helps because if there are no pre-orders of the paperback, Amazon will show the book as “out of print,” and that is no bueno for me (or anyone looking for the book).  For you Kindle readers, I”m still selling copies of it for 99 cents (although that should change shortly, so get it while it’s hot! Buy your copy with a quick click HERE!

Reviews: If you already read the Kindle version (or at least enough of it to feel like you can leave me a quick review), this would be a great time to scratch out a few lines–that’s all I need. You don’t even need to use a whole 101 words. Use this handy LINK to write a review now.

I’ll be doing other things next Monday to get the word out. For you Facebook fans, I’ll be doing one or two Facebook Live broadcasts. I haven’t figured out the times yet, but I will definitely post the times on my FB pages. I’ll probably also get the word out on Twitter (I refuse to call it X), LinkedIn, Instagram, and TIkTok.

Finally, I’ll be hitting the streets with Scooter, my pandemic puppy on Monday, probably in the tourist areas of Monterey (like Fisherman’s Wharf). I’ll be wearing my sandwich board advertising the book, and Scooter will have on some kind of signage as well, because…if this isn’t the time to capitalize on his cuteness, when is?

OK. That’ll do it for this week.

As always, thanks for listening.

Scotty out