The holiday season is upon us, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals over, though the battle to get your holiday dollars continues. Did everyone survive without going too far into debt? Our family does a lot of online shopping these days, not wanting to deal with the crushing crowds. We did stop by a couple of stores on Friday and Saturday, to get a few presents not easily found online. Much of our Xmas shopping is now completed, which is fun until the bill comes due. Have you finished your holiday shopping or are you one who likes to wait until the last minute?

If you still have presents to purchase, don’t forget about the book lovers amongst your friends and family. Look for those gems out there in the indie author world. The Patterson’s and Rowling’s of the world aren’t starving artists, with their multi-million dollar advances. Indie authors make small profits on their books, many times a dollar or two for each sale, after spending endless hours writing and editing, then having to shell out money for cover designs, editors/proofreaders and paying for the marketing of their books. To truly break even they must sell in volume. If you love an indie author, buy their books, tell all your friends, shout out about them via social media and leave reviews, especially on Amazon. Word of mouth can build those sales and make for a happy holiday for the struggling indie author.

Speaking of which, if you enjoyed my work please take a minute to do all I mentioned above about my Jarvis Mann PI series. All of my books are fairly priced, a bargain compared to the big authors via the major publishers. There are 7 books in the series, the first free on all major eBook retailers. And the second free for those who sign-up for my newsletter. While the rest run from $2.99 to $5.99. Check out all of my books on Amazon or via my website. If you’d like a signed copy of any of my paperbacks, contact me and we can work out a fair deal where I can ship them to you or to a friend. A book signed by the author makes a wonderful gift.

Speaking of pennies on the dollar, the ebook version of my latest novel, The Front Range Butcher, will be 99 cents from (today) November 30th until the end of day December 6th. That is right, I said 99 cents for the ebook which is normally priced at $5.99. My version of a Black Friday deal which will last for seven days. A dollar well spent to read a riveting mystery thriller, one where reviewers proclaim:

“WOW! R. Weir as brought his characters to life in this story.”

“R. Weir has outdone himself with his newest novel”

“This is an action novel like none I have read”

“The mystery was masterfully written”

Get The Front Range Butcher via this link for 99 cents only from November 30th thru the end of day December 6th. And be sure to share this outstanding deal with all your friends.

A quick reminder on the final two Craft Fairs I will be doing these next two weeks. The first is at Grandview High School in Aurora Colorado on December 1st from 9AM-3PM. Be sure to stop by and say hello as I will have all of my paperbacks available to purchase and to sign.

Then on December 8th, I will be at Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver for their 30th annual TJ’s 2018 Art Fest & Book Sale which runs from 9AM-4PM. This will be the first year at this event and I hope to meet lots of eager readers looking for gifts for the holiday. As bonus, there will be several other local area authors at this event selling and signing their books.

Speaking of bargains on ebooks, I have more Prolific Works giveaways to tell you about. First, there is the Forgotten Files Mystery & Thriller Group Giveaway with 34 books in all, including my first Jarvis Mann PI novel, Tracking A Shadow. These free books will be available until December 9th. You can check all the choices via this link.

Next is the Mystery Thriller Holiday Reads with 45 books available, again including Tracking A Shadow. This giveaway begins today, November 30th and ends on December 31st. Check out all the books via this link.

And finally, if you are a fan of cozy mysteries, you can check out The Cozy-est Mysteries giveaway with 52 free books, including my first Jarvis Mann PI short story, The Case of the Missing Bubble Gum Card. The giveaway is live now and runs through December 31st. Check out the stories via this link.

In my last two newsletters, I ran a contest, asking questions of readers on what they look for in a book and who their favorite authors are. From those responses I’ve picked 4 winners who I’ve emailed about receiving their prizes. Here are some of the answers I received to my questions:

I like books that catch me from the first page, has interesting characters and surprising endings.

What grabs me lots of times first is the cover, including the back copy. I like to know a little bit about the book before I start, but I don’t want a book report style critique of the story.

You have to have at least a little humor even in the grizzliest of stories. I tell everyone I have a warped sense of humor. I can find humor in the weirdest things. It breaks up the heaviness if the storyline.

I really like political/espionage thrillers. If I see a government building on the cover I look closer. Realism is important, a happy ending not so much.

Robert Heinlein is so good. Also I would include Jeremy Bates.

Currently reading the Rafferty’s Rules series which is making a comeback thanks to the son of the original author.

Thanks to winners Jeff, Debbie, Susan, Svetla and everyone else that emailed me their thoughts. It is always interesting what readers are looking for in their books. Be sure to reach out and let me know more about what you like and don’t like. Especially when it comes to my stories. Feedback is important to me when working on future projects.

I will wrap up this newsletter with a teaser about the next newsletter. I will have news about the next Jarvis Mann book, which is right now in my editor’s hands. Plus info on a new cover for my short story The Case of the Missing Bubble Gum Card. This will start a series of newsletters for 2019, where I talk about the cover making process, my design idea’s for each book and how they evolve. I will even post a few covers that didn’t make the final cut. Thanks again for reading and sharing my newsletter with potential fans. Happy Holidays to everyone. Peace and happiness to you all.

R Weir