Sunday, 18 April 2021

New Covers for Forager Impersonator Specialist and Revolutionary

 I've had new covers made up for Forager Impersonator Specialist and Revolutionary so that they match the new cover made some time ago for Forager Impersonator Impersonator. All covers by Indie Designz.

Here's all three covers:










This cover depicts Chelsea, Ryan, Ethan and Nanako, since all four feature in this book, the final chapter in the Forager six book series.

Monday, 7 December 2020

Out Now - 'Girl, Kidnapped' - A Cozy Mystery from Peter R Stone

'Girl, Kidnapped' - A Cozy Mystery 

Available Now on Amazon Kindle

To celebrate the new release of Peter R Stone's latest book, Girl, Kidnapped, it is offered at 99c for a limited time.

After disappearing six months ago on the night her best friend was found strangled in the Darebin Creek hotel toilet block, Caitlyn Hughes--daughter of millionaire Brayden Hughes--is found dumped on the side of the road just outside town. Wearing a threadbare knee-length dress and with her badly-bruised ankles encased in leg irons, she's filthy, malnourished and covered in burn scars. She has no memory of how she got there, where she has been or even who she is. A doctor's examination reveals that her memory has been deliberately erased by repeated electric shock therapy. 

Desperate to find out who did this to her and why, and displeased with the police superintendent's plodding pace, Caitlyn launches an investigation of her own. However, she is unnerved by her brother's insistence that she talk to him first when her memories start returning because he suspects that their father is the one who did this to her...

Monday, 1 July 2019

Girl, Abandoned - A New Release from Peter R Stone

Girl, Abandoned

Now Available on Amazon Kindle $2.99


A gripping novel full of twists and turns.

When Amber Faulkner strives to honour her dying adoptive mother's last request to be reunited with her birth mother—the universally reviled politician Joan Simmons—she has no idea of the anguish and pain that lie ahead.

What dark secrets lie behind the reason her birth mother abandoned her when she kept and raised her twin sister? Why does her mother tell her that she didn't want her then and still doesn't want her now? How far will her mother go to keep Amber's true identity secret to prevent a scandal that would destroy her political career and everything she's worked so hard to build?

Why is her mother leading a small breakaway group of senators to side with the opposition to block legislation that will put over two thousand repeat violent offenders behind bars when the city is caught in the grip of an unprecedented crime wave of aggravated burglaries, rampaging teenage gangs, rape and murder?

Why is the nameless vigilante carrying out a campaign of terror against Joan Simmons and her family? Is he trying to force her to approve the legislation or does he have darker purposes in mind? Can Liam Fielder—the young man infatuated with Amber—live up to his assertions that he can protect her from the vigilante when she is caught in the crossfire?

From Peter R Stone, the author who brought us the thrilling post-apocalyptic 'Forager' six-book series.

Tuesday, 25 December 2018

Forager Impersonator Locales - A Trip to Melbourne

In the fourth Forager novel, 'Impersonator,' Chelsea visits the center of Melbourne, where she sees the famous clocks of Flinders Street Station. She also goes to Hosier Lane, a famous tourist attraction due to the amazing graffiti - government approved! - that adorns the walls. Unfortunately, the images that were on the walls at the time I wrote 'Impersonator' have since been painted over, but the new images are amazing all the same. Enjoy!






Tuesday, 8 May 2018

Forager - the Complete Six Book Series Available on Kindle

Forager - the Complete Six Book Series
Post-Apocalyptic Series Available on Kindle


Forager - the Complete Six Book Series - for $8.99
468,000 words.

Includes:
Forager - Infiltrator - Expatriate - Impersonator - Specialist - Revolutionary

Twenty-year-old Ethan Jones lives in a post apocalyptic, oppressive society that terminates anyone with mutations caused by nuclear radiation in an effort to keep the human race pure.

His life becomes complicated when he rescues a mysterious Japanese girl from the Skel and brings her back with him, for she breaks the town’s rigid conventions in her pursuit of him, placing their lives in jeopardy. Her odd behaviour and probing questions baffle him, as does the fact that he understands her when she speaks in Japanese.

At the same time, the Skel ramp up their attacks on the foraging teams. Is this part of a larger plan that could spell the town’s doom? And why do the Skel suddenly possess advanced technology – who is backing them, and why?

Keeping his mutation secret, uncovering the girl’s true intentions and trying to save the town all vie for Ethan’s attention. And if he fails, not only his life, but the lives of all, are at stake.

Eighteen-year-old Chelsea Thomas has spent her life living in fear of Newhome’s paramilitary Custodians, due to a prohibited rogue ability.

In the past week, her twin brother – a forager – has uncharacteristically run away from home and work after the mysterious death of a teammate. Something has also scared her normally unflappable father half to death, and their family is threatened with eviction.

However, her brother’s disappearance presents her with a long-sought after opportunity to escape Newhome, since only the foragers – all men – are allowed to leave the town. All she has to do is impersonate her brother long enough to make her escape while foraging out in the ruins.

But she never counted on the kindness of Ryan Hill, a forager new to the team. Nor did she expect the barbaric Skel to attack the team the moment she decided to run away. She has to choose between making good on her escape or saving Ryan and the others.

Saturday, 23 September 2017

Revolutionary, Forager Impersonator Book #3 - Now Available!

The Thrilling Conclusion to the Forager Impersonator and Forager Trilogies, Revolutionary, is now available on Amazon.



Revolutionary
(Forager Impersonator - A Post Apocalyptic Trilogy Book 3)

The most dangerous man in Newhome, Councillor Cho, has been promoted to general. The first thing on his agenda is the complete ruination of the Japanese coastal town, Hamamachi. To achieve this, he makes the genetically engineered Specialist girls undergo an accelerated Custodian training course so he can send them off to war.

Chosen along with five of her biologically modified sisters, Chelsea Thomas is sent on the top-secret mission that will end the war with Hamamachi for good. What does General Cho care if several nearby towns suffer the same fate due to their close proximity to the Japanese town?

But what will Chelsea do when she learns that she will need to abandon her morals and go against everything she believes in to complete the mission? Will she ignore her conscience or defy Cho and go head-to-head against her sisters who are still under his mind-control?

Ethan Jones and Madison Taylor, serving in the Hamamachi Militia, are working tirelessly to rescue slaves from Skel controlled territories in an attempt to redress the Rangers shameful anti-immigration policies of the past.

At the same time, they are aware that time is running out for the biologically engineered girls imprisoned in Newhome. An opportunity arises for them to return home and rescue their kin, but a whole world of hurt is waiting for them should they decide to risk it.

Meanwhile, the chancellor moves forward the date to release the dreaded virus, sending Newhome's twin resistance movements into panic mode. If they don't act soon, theirs will be the last generation in Australia if not the world. But what chance do they have against a totalitarian regime policed by three-hundred brutal Custodians?

Friday, 7 October 2016

Specialist - Forager Impersonator Trilogy Book 2 NOW AVAILABLE



(Forager Impersonator - A Post Apocalyptic Trilogy Book 2)

Available NOW on Amazon Kindle for $2.99

After a lifetime spent trying to avoid the ominous building, Chelsea Thomas is now in the one place she fears more than any other – the Geneticists Laboratory. Sent there by Ryan Hill to ascertain exactly what the geneticists are up to, she soon finds out that the Lab is not the easy target they had supposed it to be. There is a reason the girls incarcerated there worship the very ground the chancellor walks on, and she is about to find out what it is.

Chelsea’s world comes crashing down soon afterwards when the councilor in charge of the Specialists’ program, Mr. Cho, makes a shocking revelation. Now she doesn’t know who to trust, suspecting that even Ryan has a secret agenda he’s keeping hidden from her.

Continuing to impersonate her brother, she stumbles across a terrorist group intent on using force and violence to topple the chancellor and his Custodian lackeys, by any and all means necessary. Mr. Cho’s plan of using the Specialists to infiltrate the group is threatened with derailment when the chancellor reveals his own nefarious plan for the girls.

* Specialist is Book Two in the Forager Impersonator Trilogy. It is a new trilogy set in the world of Peter R Stone’s Forager Trilogy. Although the Forager Impersonator Trilogy starts three years before the events in Forager, it is not a prequel. It will catch up to, carry on, and draw to a conclusion the entire Forager Trilogy story line.

Sunday, 10 April 2016

New Cover Art for Forager

I asked Indiedesignz to make me a new cover for 'Forager,' since I was so delighted with her work on 'Impersonator.' The book is FREE on Amazon Kindle.

This is the amazing result:





Sunday, 15 November 2015

Impersonator - Forager Impersonator Trilogy Book 1


Now Available on Kindle & Paperback for 99c

* A Novel Set in the World of Peter R Stone’s Forager Trilogy *
Cover art by Indie Designz


A century after a global nuclear war, eighteen-year-old Chelsea Thomas has spent her life living in fear of Newhome’s paramilitary Custodians, due to a prohibited rogue ability.

In the past week, her twin brother – a forager – has uncharacteristically ran away from home and work after the mysterious death of a teammate; something has scared her normally unflappable father half to death; and their family is threatened with eviction.

But her brother’s disappearance presents her with a long-sought after opportunity to escape the prison town, since only the foragers – all men – are allowed to leave the town. All she has to do is impersonate her brother long enough to make her escape while foraging out in the ruins.

But she never counted on the kindness of Ryan Hill, a forager new to the team. Nor on barbaric Skel attacking the team the moment she makes her escape. She has to choose between making good on her escape or saving Ryan and the others.

Twenty-two-year-old Ryan Hill made one mistake at his last place of employment, and that earned the wrath of his fellow workmates, and cost him all of his friends.

Alone and dejected, he begins a new job as a forager, expecting more of the same. But then he meets Chelsea, masquerading as her brother Brandon. And though he falls for her ruse, he sees in her a kindred spirit. Could he(she) spark the beginning of a true, genuine friendship that looks past the faults of the other?

* Impersonator is Book One in a new trilogy set in the world of Peter R Stone’s Forager Trilogy. Although the Impersonator Trilogy starts three years before the events in Forager, it is not a prequel. It will catch up to, carry on, and draw to a conclusion the Forager Trilogy storyline.

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Special thanks to Indie Designz for an absolutely stunning book cover.

Wednesday, 11 November 2015

Using Kindle Direct Publishing KDP Amazon Marketing Service

Amazon recently made their Amazon Marketing Services available to Kindle Direct Publishing authors. As such, I decided to give it a go on Forager - The Complete Trilogy.

AMS (Amazon Marketing Services) runs a small ad on your book on similarly themed titles. Your book has to compete against titles submitted by other authors, and the authors who have set their Cost Per Click (CPC) highest get the best chance of winning the auction so that their ad shows. I did product-based targeting, putting Forager with similar books such as The Hunger Games, Divergant, and so on.

I initially set a limit of 5c CPC. Received 228 impressions and 1 click, no sales. 10c did just as badly. Then I read that other authors were setting their CPC up to 50c! The problem here is that I also read that it takes from 40 to 150 clicks before you get a sale, and this for a $2.99 Kindle book, which nets 70% profit per sale. If you do the math, at 50c you could pay $20.00 to $149.50 to get one sale. That's not good. Note that 50c is only your maximum bid, you could win the auction at a much lower price.

I eventually ended up setting a CPC lower than 50c, but significantly higher than the original 10c I tried and failed with. To date I have sold 8 copies of Forager - The Complete Trilogy through AMS, with 161,700 impressions, 189 click throughs, costing $50.88. So to get $29.92 sales, with around $20 profit, it has cost me $50.88. The winning CPC rate is around 26c

If I was only interested in profit, I would give up, but I am treating it as advertising. 161,700 impressions is fairly impressive, and the word is slowly getting out about  my book.

Update 17th May '16. I thought that the Kindle Unlimited pages read of my novels were a result of the AMS advertisement. For an experiment, I paused the ad for a few weeks, and then restarted it. There was no difference in the number or pages being read. I have now cancelled the ad.







Friday, 19 June 2015

Forager Cover Art





Forager - the Complete Trilogy (A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Trilogy) Kindle Edition

* This is a professionally edited, updated version of Forager - the Complete Trilogy, uploaded to Amazon on 21st May'15. * 

Forager - the Complete Trilogy - for one low price.
Includes:
Forager
Infiltrator
Expatriate
* 230,000 words and 823 pages.

The dull drudgery of twenty-year old Ethan's life is shattered when he rescues a mysterious Japanese girl from Skel savages while out foraging in the post-apocalyptic ruins of 2122AD Melbourne.

When he takes the girl back to Newhome, she breaks the town's rigid conventions in her attempts to get to know him, risking the dire wrath of the Custodians.

And though he knows the rules - that no man is permitted to be alone with an unmarried woman - there is something about the girl that completely captivates him.

Meanwhile, the Skel are ramping up their attacks on Newhome's foraging teams and infesting Melbourne's ruins in ever-greater numbers. Is this part of a larger plan that could spell the town's doom?

* This is a professionally edited, updated version of Forager - the Complete Trilogy, uploaded to Amazon on 21st May'15. *

Friday, 27 February 2015

How to Run a 99cent Kindle Countdown Deal Sale


If you enroll your book in KDP Select (Kindle Direct Publishing Select) you can enroll your book in two types of promotions. You can run either a Free Book Promotion or a Kindle Countdown Deal. To my understanding, you are permitted to enroll a book for 7 days per three month period, into either or both of these promotions.

Kindle Free Book Promotions

A quick word about running a Free Book Promotion. Unless your book is the first of a series and you have already published one or more sequels to the book, don't waste your time.

The first time I ran Forager Book One in a Free Book Promotion, I saw 800 copies downloaded, and zero follow-on sales. However, once I had published Infiltrator, Forager Book 2, I put Forager for free on B&N, iTunes, Kobobooks, Free-Ebooks and Smashwords, and Amazon soon followed suit by price matching the book to zero. Since then, I have promoted Forager Book One on numerous free and paid advertising websites, and have seen consistent follow-on sales of both Infiltrator, Forager Book 2 and Expatriate, Forager Book 3. In conclusion, the best way to sell the first book you write is to write a sequel, and then promote the first book on its free days or price-matching free days, which will then sell the sequels.


Kindle Countdown Deal Promotions


Websites The Complete Forager Trilogy was submitted to during its 99c Kindle Countdown Deal.
Once I had completed all three titles in the Forager Trilogy, I combined the three titles together to form The Complete Forager Trilogy. I decided to enroll The Complete Forager Trilogy in a 99cents Kindle Countdown Deal. I was treating my book as a 'new release,'  and the prices listed below are what I believe I paid at the time. Note that prices are subject to change, and vary according to the book's genre and promotional package ordered.

Digital Book Today $30.00
Readcheaply Free
Bargain Booksy $35
eBook Lister $10.00
eReader News Today $15
Korner Konnection Free
Flurries of Words Blogspot $5.00
People Reads $8.99
The Fussy Librarian $14.00


This is a snapshot of The Complete Forager Trilogy's ranking on Amazon's Best Sellers Rank list just after it had hit its highest point (it had got up to 2,450) durinng the Kindle Countdown Deal week. I sold over 230 copies of the book. Unfortunately, I do not know which of the listed websites brought in the greatest numbers of sales, apart from eReader News Today, which brought in 89 downloads in one day.


More Comprehensive List of Sites to Submit a 99cents Kindle Countdown Deal

Here is a more comprehensive list of websites to which you can submit your ebooks to during a 99cent Kindle Countdown Deal. Note that prices are subject to change, and vary according to the book's genre and promotional package ordered.


Addicted to eBooks free but queue
Ask David $15?
Author Marketing Club $49 for a day
Awesome Gang $10
bargainbooksy.com $35
Bargain eBook Hunter $15
Best eBooks Free free
Book Basset $22
Bookbub Many options
Book Goodies free Book Gorilla $50
Book Sends $40
Books on the Knob free
Digital Book Today Many options
eBook Lister from $5 to $20
Ereader Utopia from $5 to $15
eReader News Today/ $15
 Fiverr BKnights $10
Free Kindle Books and Tips $25
Flurries of Words from $5 to $15
Free Discounted Books Varies
Girl and Kindle Book Promos $5 and up
Kindle Nation Daily $99 +
Korner Konnection.com free
People Reads $8 and up
Pixel Scroll $15
Read Cheaply free submission
Sweet Free Books $5
Sweeties Picks $5
The Fussy Librarian.com Varies
The Kindle Book Review $40

Things to Note:

Important Note - Many websites recommend that you increase your Kindle book's price immediately before the Countdown Deal, and then lower it immediately after the sale. eg. Book's price is normally $2.99. You change it to $5.99 before the sale so that when it is discounted to $0.99, it seems a better deal. After the sale you change the price to $2.99 to try to keep sales going. Please note that Amazon have clamped down on this unscrupulous practice. If you change the price on a Kindle book, KDP will not permit you to enter the book into a Countdown sale for the next 30 days. Furthermore, as soon as a Countdown sale is concluded, the book's price is locked for 2 weeks.

Bookbub is reputed to be the best place to submit Kindle books on their free days and Countdown Deal days. Sadly, I cannot personally report on their results, because each time I submitted a book to them, the rejection email came back so quickly that the ink had not yet dried on the submission I'd sent to them. Things that may help in your book getting accepted by them are: have a professional looking book cover, have the book professionally edited, have a ton of 5-star reviews.

Facebook boost page/post advertisements. I tried once, and got back 10% of the 'likes' per $5.00 that Facebook had anticipated I would get. None of those 'likes' equated to sales/downloads. I cancelled the ad before the day was out.

Facebook Groups. There are many Facebook groups for authors to post their books during their free or 99c days. However, be aware that most of the people who follow those groups are authors and therefore have zero interest in the books you post on the group's page.

Fiverr. Be careful of Fiverr ads. Some ads promise top results, but when you examine the sites they submit your book to, you may find that they submitted your book to sites that require payment, such as Bookbub. And as they obviously did not pay, those submissions were ignored.

Twitter. Firstly, I would like to thank all who tweeted and re-tweeted my tweets about the Forager line of books. However, on only a couple of occasions when my book was tweeted as being free was there a small increase in downloads, and when the trilogy was tweeted at 99cents, there were zero sales. And to be honest, it is no surprise. So many twitter accounts follow 2,000 accounts and have 2,000 followers themselves. Unless you are a celebrity, your tweets simply get lost in the crowd.

Banner Ads, I tried this once on a website that had high traffic, but it resulted in zero downloads of Forager, even though it was advertised as being free on the ad. Let's be honest, when is the last time you clicked on a banner ad?

Book Blog Tours sound promising, but I had no success with them. I submitted Forager to a promotional book blitz tour when it was $2.99. It was featured on 37 websites, but resulted in zero sales. A mere 8 people listed it on their to-read list on Goodreads. One positive thing from book blog tours, though, is that some of the hosting sites may review your book. Although Forager got a few reviews that way, most bloggers simply listed an except from the book rather than reading and reviewing it.

I have also had a great deal of experience in promoting Forager after it was price matched by Amazon to free. Since then I have seen over 6,500 copies downloaded. I may at some stage write a post about which sites I used and the successes I had with them.

Monday, 6 October 2014

A Travellers Guide to Forager's Newhome by Peter R Stone:



Travellers Guide to Newhome

Welcome to Newhome, a town complete with modern facilities and comprehensive services, situated directly north-west of the ruins of Melbourne’s Central Business District. Below are some tips to help you enjoy your stay with us.

Be Prepared for an Extended Stay

You are not permitted to leave the town for any reason.* This is for your own wellbeing, because it's not safe out there. Skel roam the ruins night and day, and we don't want you bumping into one of them, do we.

* Unless you’re a town sanctioned forager. And if you are, we wish you luck. You're going to need it, too. For if you’re caught by the Skel - well, let's just say we won't be making any rescue missions.

Observe the Town's Quaint Customs

Newhome boasts a unique culture which recognises the diverse roles played by males and females in a modern society. If you are female, note that young women are not permitted outside without a suitable chaperone. Furthermore, women may not speak without permission, are barred from school, and may not enter the workforce. If you are male, take care that you're never alone with an unmarried woman apart from a member of your family, for sexual misconduct is dealt with severely. The moral fabric of society must be upheld. Please also note that only authorised books may be read. This is for your protection. We don't want any subversive ideas popping into your heads, now do we?

Report Any Mutants

All mutations must be reported to the Custodians immediately. We all know the importance of keeping the human race pure, don't we?

Respect the Law

The Custodians are here for your protection. Ignore malicious rumours claiming they abuse their authority. These rumours are baseless slander. If you hear someone spreading such slander, report them to the nearest Custodian immediately.

All Citizens are Equal

All citizens in Newhome are equal enjoy equal rights. However, some citizens have more to contribute to society than others, and if they're lucky, they may win the right to move into Newhome's exclusive North End district.

Saturday, 24 May 2014

The Last of Us

One of my hobbies is searching online for wallpapers of post apocalyptic ruined cities. Last week I stumbled across images from a game called 'The Last of Us.'

The Last of Us is a third-person Survival-Action game that utilizes choices in gameplay action to develop the game storyline, as well as the relationship between the two main characters, Joel and Ellie, made exclusively for the PS3 system. The game features a combination of combat, exploration, stealth, and platforming game mechanics.
 
At first I was crushed to see that it was not available on PC (it is only for Playstation 3) but then in seeing that it is 'R' rated in Australia, I realised I wouldn't be playing it anyway. All the same, the images from the game are astounding. See below. I could just imagine the world of Forager looking like this.








Sunday, 11 May 2014

Soviet-built Whiskey-class Submarine

Here are some photos of the Soviet-built Whiskey-class submarine that is featured in 'Forager.'

Soviet-built Whiskey-class submarines in a Russian submarine grave yard.
 
A photo of the Soviet-built Twin-Cylinder. It carried two nuclear armed, cruise missiles in the two cylinders.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons, under the public domain.

This work has been released into the public domain by its author, I, One half 3544.



Friday, 7 February 2014

The Custodians in 'Forager'

The Custodians paramilitary police force in Forager wear Australian army uniforms and helmets, and use Australian army F88 Austeyr Assault-Rifles, as seen in the below photographs. The only difference is that they also wear kevlar armoured vests. When Newhome was initially built one hundred years ago, its inhabitants obtained these Australian army arms and equipment by raiding an Australian army barracks, such as the Puckapunyal Army Base, which is 10 km west of Seymour in Victoria.
This image is from the public domain. 

This image is from the public domain.

Wednesday, 4 December 2013

2122 A.D. Melbourne



The world of 'Forager,' set in 2122 A.D., sees the remnants of the human race trying to survive in a world that was virtually destroyed by the Apocalypse one hundred years ago - a World War that rained nuclear bombs down on all nations.


Melbourne lies in ruins, except for Newhome, a walled in town built over the ruins of the suburbs of Flemington and Kensington, on the banks of the Maribyrnong River.


 Below - the eerily ominous silhouette of Melbourne's CBD, or Central Business District, which was left largely intact since the nuke that hit Melbourne came down over the southeaster suburbs.

Photo courtesy of Vincent from Melbourne Australia. Used under Melbourne Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license











Tuesday, 3 December 2013

The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle featured in 'Forager'

Here are some photos of the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle featured in 'Forager,' described by Ethan Jones as being a 'box on wheels.' 


Photo form wikimedia commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, by Nick-D.

The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle is an Australian-built wheeled armoured vehicle, specially designed for Australian conditions. The Bushmaster is capable of carrying up to 9 soldiers and their equipment, fuel and supplies for 3 days. 

 Photo form wikimedia commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, by Nick-D.

The vehicle is mine-proof, bullet proof, and fire proof. The version in 'Forager' has had solar panels added and has an electrical engine, since Newhome has no access to petrol. The Bushmaster's in 'Forager' are over a hundred years old, with virtually every part having been swapped out or reconditioned during that time.

Photo from wikimedia commons, under the public domain.

 

Monday, 2 December 2013

Austeyr F88 Assault Rifle

The Austeyr F88, a 5.56mm assault rifle, is the Australian Army's modified version of the Steyr AUG A1, designed by the Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG. It was produced under license in Australia. The Austeyrs used by Newhome's Custodian police force are all over 100 years old, have been pilfered by an abandoned Australian military supplies depot. The gun has an automatic lockout selector that can physically disable the fully automatic position of the trigger.

 An Australian soldier with an Austeyr F88. Photo from the public domain.

An Australian soldier with an Austeyr F88. Photo from the public domain.