NEWS
January 15, 2012
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•Marscon!
I attended Marscon January 13-15 in Williamsburg VA at the Holiday Inn Patriot. Marscon is always fun. I sold some booka and drank some coffee and chatted with my friends Tony Ruggiero, his wife and daughter, and Chris Berman and his wife and daughter. I saw a lot of familiar faces there, writers and fans. My thanks to all who bought my books.
January 3, 2012
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•Marscon!
Marscon in Williamsburg will take place January 13-15 in Williamsburg VA at the Holiday Inn Patriot. This sci-fi fantasy convention is always fun and your author never misses it because it is in his home town. You can find me in the Artist-Author Alley. Please see the Marscon website at http://www.marscon.net/
August 6, 2011
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•More Amazon News
My publisher Ridan has posted more good news about how the Soldier series is selling on Kindle.
POSTED WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3 2011 11:05 PM EST
Bestseller Kindle War Novels
Joe Haldeman & Marshall S. Thomas
Ridan authors are now dominating the Amazon War and Military Fiction Category with 7 of the top 33 titles: #2 The Forever War , #9 Soldier of the Legion, #18 Curse of the Legion, #19 Slave of the Legion, #20 Secret of the Legion, #21 March of the Legion, #33 Cross of the Legion. The same books are on the Bestseller Kindle Books lists at the following rankings (#5, #16, #31, #32, #33, #34, #49)
July 23, 2011
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•FantaSci
On July 23 I attended FantaSci at the Chesapeake Library in Chesapeake, VA. FantaSci is hosted by James Blanton who is a terrific guy and a great sci-fi-fantasy-film fan. The library was full of crazed sci-fi and fantasy authors and fans. My con buddy Tony Ruggiero was there with his wife and new baby. I participated in an “Ask the Writer” panel which focused mostly on the advent of e-books and what it all means. I had a great time there. Thanks to all the fans who have been buying my books!
FantaSci: Panelists Leona Wisocker, Marshall Thomas and Tony Ruggiero (above)
FantaSci: An unidentified zombie stalks the halls (right)
July 18, 2011
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•Still Riding High on Amazon
A new posting on my publisher’s website should be of interest to my readers:
POSTED MONDAY JULY 18, 2011 10:51 AM EST
Ridan Dominates Science Fiction Best Sellers
Joe Haldeman, Nathan Lowell & Marshall S. Thomas
All ten of Ridan's sci-fi titles are on Amazon's Kindle Best Seller list for Science Fiction. With the addition or our most recent title, The Forever War hitting the charts at #71. All six of Marshall Thomas's Soldier of the Legion Series, as well as all three of Nathan Lowell's Tales of the Solar Clipper are in the top 100. In additon, Forever War is now #8 on Hot New Releases in Science Fiction. Not bad for a novel that is more than thirty-five years old.
June 19, 2011
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•Topping the Charts
Two new postings on the Ridan website tell the story of the success of the Soldier series on the Amazon science fiction ratings:
Posted Saturday June 18:
# 1 on Hot New Releases in Science Fiction
Marshall S Thomas
Topping Amazon’s Hot New Releases in Science Fiction for the Kindle is Marshall Thomas’s Soldier of the Legion. He also has places 6, 9 and 13. Close on his heels is Nathan Lowell’s latest release Full Share at position 4.
Posted Friday June 17:
Amazon Science Fiction Best Sellers
Nathan Lowell & Marshall S Thomas
The Soldier of the Legion Series and the Trader Tales of the Solar Clipper Series continue to dominate the Amazon Science Fiction Best Sellers Lists. Currently Ridan holds 9 out of the top 44 Science Fiction Books and 9 out of the top 33 Science Fiction Kindle Releases. Nathan’s 3 books have spent a total of 303 days on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Books List. Marshall has four books on the list for a cumulative 178 days since their release less than two months ago.
June 8, 2011
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•YouTube Audio Version
Chapters from the audiobook version of Soldier of the Legion are now being posted on YouTube. Please click on www.youtube.com/legionradio . Enjoy!
June 2, 2011
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•Update - May Sales Figures
The final Kindle sales figures for May have just been received for the Soldier series. During May 2011 I sold over 17,220 e-books. That’s an average of over 550 per day. These phenomenal sales figures represent commercial success for the series and justify all the hard work I put into it. Most important, it is proof that people like the Legion series. My goal from the start was to write a fun series that would appeal to a wide range of readers. I now believe I’ve been successful. If you have not yet read the Legion series, please give it a try. My sincere thanks and gratitude go to all my readers.
June 1, 2011
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•Soldier Series Goes Viral on Kindle
Interesting developments: In mid-April 2011 my publisher, Robin Sullivan of Ridan Publishing, placed my Soldier of the Legion series, all six books, on Amazon's Kindle. Then, in late April, Robin informed me that my series had sold more than 2,000 Kindle e-books in April, and I was on Kindle's best-seller list. I was amazed as I had never sold so many books before. I quickly did some research on Kindle. Until that time, I knew very little about it. I learned that my books were rapidly rising in popularity on the Kindle science fiction best-seller lists, which are based solely on sales.
In May, demand for my series exploded. Total Kindle e-book sales for the books in my series (US and UK sales) was over 15,000 by late May. These figures are phenomenal for a relatively unknown author like myself. Soldier of the Legion, the first book, was hovering at number 2 or 3 on the 100-book listing, and all my other books were there too, with most of them in the top 20. These figures just stunned me. How did it happen? I asked my publisher.
She said she had been carefully watching the science fiction Kindle best-sellers and when some top-selling SF adventure books peaked and slowed in sales, she introduced my series. She dropped the price of the first book in the series to attract new readers, but left the rest of the books at the regular $2.99 or $3.99 prices. I believe what happened is the new readers, attracted by the artistic Ridan covers, free Kindle sample chapters and bargain price, bought the first book. Then they got hooked on the series and went on to the next book. Sales numbers were highest for Book 1, then Book 2, then Book 3, etc, which means I was eventually to get six sales from each reader. Thanks to my readers!
Not only that, but two other Ridan authors are shooting up in the best seller lists due to our publisher's efforts. Her husband Michael Sullivan sold 11,500 books of his fantasy series in January and Nathan Lowell, a science fiction author like me, was number one on the Kindle science fiction list as of May 30, while I was number one in "science fiction adventure." Ridan Publishing, a small press that is only a few years old, is now dominating the SF best seller lists with my six books and Nathan's three books.
I attended Balticon in late May and Ridan was attracting a lot of interest for what it has done. Please see the Balticon information below.
If you are an author and selling your books for $2.99 or $3.99 does not impress you, I'd advise you to think again, note the above sales figures and do the math. It's a new world out there. Most young readers are techno-savvy and are not going to spend $14 or $15 for a hard-copy book when they can get the same book in a Kindle download for $2.99. E-books recently outsold regular books for the first time nationwide, and that's bad news for those dinosaur publishers who used to control the book market from top to bottom, and make all the rules. They control nothing now – the people rule! And if your book or series catches on, the low prices will add up quickly to real money when large numbers of readers start buying your book.
As for me, I've already bought a Kindle and am downloading e-books instead of adding to my massive collection of dinosaur books. I love books, real books, but I'm running out of space.
May 31, 2011
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•Balticon!
Balticon was held May 27-30, 2011 at Hunt Valley MD. This was my favorite Balticon so far, mostly because of the great sales I was making on Kindle (see above) and the increased focus on Ridan Publishing and Ridan authors. Ridan publisher Robin Sullivan attended along with her best-selling husband fantasy author Michael Sullivan and her best-selling science fiction writers Nathan Lowell and myself. I did a reading from one of my books and I was a panelist for ‘Ridan Publishing Presents The Changing Face of Publishing.’ This presentation was by Robin and it was a standing room only crowd because of the news about what was happening on Kindle. Michael, Nathan and I were on the panel. Robin’s theme was that publishing has changed forever with the advent of e-books and POD technology, and writers who embrace the future may be able to actually earn a living by writing full-time. There was a lot of interest in this subject.
Michael, Nathan & Marshall (above). Robin & Michael (right).
May 8, 2011
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•A Big Thank You to my Readers
I wish to thank all my readers and fans who are making the Soldier series a commercial success. Sales of Amazon Kindle downloads recently took off and continue strong. At present all six books in the series are in Amazon’s “Bestsellers in Science Fiction” listing of the top-selling 100 Kindle downloads. I am happy to report that as of today, Soldier of the Legion is at #4, March of the Legion is at #18, Slave of the Legion is at #35, Secret of the Legion is at #50, Cross of the Legion is at #63, and Curse of the Legion is at #78. These high sales mean that the word is spreading about this series.
Kindle also has another listing of 100 titles entitled “Hot New Releases in Science Fiction.” On this list, as of today Soldier is now at #2, March is at #5, Slave is #8, and Curse is #19. These listings change daily. You can see them at http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/16272/ref=zg_bs_nav .
I am humbled and gratified by this evidence that the Soldier series is growing in popularity. My objective with this series is to enable the readers to have as much fun reading it as I did in writing it.
Thanks to you all! ConFree rules!
April 12, 2011
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•Balticon
Once again your author plans to attend the Balticon SF/Fantasy Convention from 27 to 30 May 2011 at the Marriott in Hunt Valley MD. I’m looking forward to it as this time I will have my entire six-book series complete. Balticon is a huge and varied convention. See www.balticon.org/ for details. You can find me in the dealer’s room.
March 16, 2011
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•Curse of the Legion - Finalist
The last book in the Soldier of the Legion series, Curse of the Legion, has been selected as a finalist in the 2010 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award for science fiction. This is the third book in the series that has been so honored. Needless to say, the author is happy. To find out why the judges liked it, buy a copy today.
January 16, 2011
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•Marscon!
I just finished up with Marscon at the Holiday Inn Patriot, Williamsburg VA January 14-16. I saw a whole lot of old Con friends and sold a good number of books. For me, Marscon is a relaxing Con because it’s in my home town. It was as usual crowded and everybody was having a good time. My Con buddy Tony Ruggiero was there with his wife Mary and new baby girl Rosslyn. Thanks to all who bought my books. It’s good to have the series complete at last. Also thanks to everyone who helped set up Marscon - it was a good show!
January 5, 2011
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•New Links
All six volumes of the Soldier of the Legion series are now available for sale at Ridan Publishing’s website. In additiion the author is now selling autographed copies of the original Timberwolf and Booklocker first editions. Please click PURCHASE from the menu above.
