I’m really pleased to report that more than 10,000 readers have downloaded a copy of my new novella, The Painted Darkness, for free from DownloadTheDarkness.com — months before the trade hardcover will be published this fall! A lot of people said we were crazy for giving the book away for free, but the results of this experiment have been amazing:
* The $75 signed Limited Edition of 750 copies sold out within 24 hours
* The $175 deluxe Lettered Edition sold out within a week
* Customer preorders directly from the publisher for the Trade Hardcover Edition are much greater than we had hoped
* Purchase orders from retailers and distributors are pouring in much faster than expected — the only comparable situation is when a book has received major coverage in the big trade publications
I’ve also now heard from hundreds of readers who had never read my work before, which was one of the major ideas behind this experiment, and I know a lot of you are now on this mailing list because the list membership has tripled in size this month. Thanks for sticking around, I’m thrilled to see you here.
In addition, readers and reporters all over the world are talking about the book. The “What People Are Saying” page on DownloadTheDarkness.com has just a few of the blog posts, articles, reviews, etc, that I’ve had time to find and post:
“Cemetery Dance experimenting w radical marketing: Giving away ebook & audio of Brian James Freeman’s PAINTED DARKNESS”
— Ron Charles of the Washington Post on his Twitter account
“Check out this book – It’s great…!!!”
— Actor, writer, and director Johnathon Schaech on his Facebook wall
“In a move relatively unheard of in the publishing world, THE PAINTED DARKNESS, the new book by Brian James Freeman, will be released as a free e-book for a limited time four months before it hits hardcover.”
— Fangoria.com (‘The Painted Darkness’ Gets Advance E-Book Release)
“Author Brian James Freeman has a new book, The Painted Darkness, set for release by Cemetery Dance in November, but he’s not going to make you wait that long to read it.”
— Examiner.com (Brian James Freeman’s new novel ‘The Painted Darkness’ is now available – for free)
(Also on Examiner.com is my first interview about the experiment: Give it away now: Freeman discusses ‘The Painted Darkness’)
“As you might expect, Bradbury is hostile to ebooks and much of modern technology, so the publisher is being quite clever to include Bradbury’s hostility as part of the ebook itself.”
— Bradburymedia
“Mr. Freeman has done a wonderful job of writing a horror story that both dedicated horror fans and casual readers can enjoy. It’s an easy read and you’ll find yourself losing time as you don’t want to put the book (B&N nook in my case) down.”
— Anthony R. Miller
There are dozens more there, with even more to come, so I just wanted to take a moment again and thank everyone on this list who has helped spread the word about this special promotional offer. If there’s anything else you can do — tweet the link, post on your Facebook wall, email a friend, or review the book on your website/blog — I am always grateful for the help. It’s hard to get your work in front of readers who might enjoy it, so this is a rare opportunity for me.
Oh, and one more thing: If you’ve already read the book, be sure to visit The Painted Darkness page on the Cemetery Dance website and write a Customer Review. It hasn’t been announced yet, but Cemetery Dance will be giving one lucky customer reviewer a Gift Certificate for their online store. All you have to do is write and post your review within the next week, so there’s still time to download and read the book if you want an easy chance at a big shopping spree.
Be sure to visit www.DownloadTheDarkness.com while the book is still available for free!
Or place your order via the Cemetery Dance website!
Thanks, as always, for your support!
