Claude Bouchard Books

I was recently interviewed by U.K. author, Simon Duringer, the partial results of which are posted on his blog here: Simon’s blog

I mention partial results above because one of the questions, or more specifically, the discussion which ensued, showed a dark, near-demonic side of Simon which he cleverly omitted to post in an attempt to hide his true colours. Little did Simon know, I had secretly kept a record of our exchange…

I’ll show you, Simon Duringer, you maniac!

A rare photo of madman, Simon Duringer, no doubt doing something nasty.

The text in blue below is Simon’s question and my response as posted on his site. The black text which follows is our subsequent conversation which this evil fiend hoped to keep from the world…

Simon. You agree to be dropped off by plane to spend the rest of your days in Canada's Torngat Mountains. A cabin has been made in advance of your arrival and you will not be left wanting for food, water or fuel to keep you warm. What three personal items would you take with you and why?

Me:

Item 1: My computer.

Why?   I need it to write.

Item 2: My Kindle.

Why?   I need it to read.

Item 3: My Mil Mi-26 long range helicopter with extra fuel storage.

Why?   I need it get the heck out of there when I want to.

Simon: Uh, you can’t bring those.

Me: Why not?

Simon: The computer and Kindle would require electricity and the bi-plane I hired to fly you out there couldn’t airlift that helicopter.

Me: But this question is fictional and so are my responses. I would never agree to spend the rest of my days in Canada's Torngat Mountains. The climate there is likely the worst anywhere in Canada. There's a reason why nobody lives there.

Simon: Uh, who said anything about this being fictional?

Me: What? You’re telling me you really have a cabin waiting for me in the Torngat Mountains?

Simon: Yes, that’s correct.

Me: And there’s no electricity?

Simon: Of course not. It’s in the middle of nowhere.

Me: Are you crazy? The next thing I'll find out is the cabin has no insulation either.

Simon: *silence*

Me: Oh, Jeez… No damned insulation. Did you at least have a door put in or is there simply a hole in the wall?

Simon: It’s not that big a hole so the wind barely gets in. Give me a break. I was on a budget.

Me: I'm starting to think you're trying to kill me up there. If I don't freeze to death, a polar bear will eat me while I sleep.

Simon: Oh, right, the polar bears. You might want to bring a gun instead of your computer. It would also be handy for hunting caribou.

Me: Hunting caribou?! You said I wouldn’t be wanting for food!

Simon: You should be fine. There are a lot of caribou up there.

Me: And what about water and fuel?

Simon: More than enough snow to melt when you make a fire. A lot of trees too. You may want to bring an axe instead of that Kindle.

Me: I’ll tell you what, you damned psychopath. Since your bi-plane can't lug my chopper over there, we'll just fly in my chopper instead. Once we get there, you can live in that damned shack you call a cabin and see how you like it.

Simon: Ha! Who’s crazy now? Okay, forget about Torngat Mountains, you party-pooper. Let’s move on to the next question. We’ve wasted enough time with your silliness and I still have my world domination plan to complete before going to bed.

Besides being evil personified, Simon Duringer is also an author. You can get his first novel, Stray Bullet, right here:  Amazon.com    Amazon U.K.

Ahh, 9 Killer Thrillers… Another book bundle… They’ve become increasingly popular of late and you’ll no doubt see more with time. So what makes this limited time bundle offer different from others? Of course, 9 full-length thriller novels from 9 acclaimed bestselling authors for 99 cents is one heck of a bargain, but what makes this particular bundle stand out?

Consider the following about the novels in this bundle:

•    Praise from the likes of Janet Evanovich, Stan Pottinger and Lisa Gardner;

•    Thousands of reviews and average ratings of 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 stars, even one at a whopping 4.7;

•    Hundreds of thousands of copies of each already in distribution;

•    Bestseller rankings as high, or as low, as #1;

•    Sustained Top 100 author rankings;

•    Nine bestsellers from nine bestselling authors…

 
9 Killer Thrillers for only 99 cents, featuring…

Russell Blake - King of Swords

Michael Wallace - The Devil’s Deep

CJ Lyons - Snakeskin

MJ Rose - The Halo Effect

Melissa Foster - Traces of Kara

John L. Betcher - The 19th Element

Claude Bouchard - Vigilante

Luke Romyn - Corpus Christi

Nick Russell - Big Lake

You’ll never get a better deal…

Kindle        B & N        Apple        Kobo

In December 2011, the Great Zon gave life to KDP Select, a program offering Kindle authors and publishers particular promotional tools in exchange for exclusive distribution of the digital versions of enrolled works. In a nutshell, by enrolling one’s ebook in the program for ninety days, it was:

a) Included in the Kindle Owners Lending Library with a sum payable from a fund each time it was borrowed and,

b) Granted five promotion days per ninety day enrolment period during which it could be “sold” for free.

Some, myself included, were sceptical at first and even somewhat annoyed with the exclusivity clause. However, after giving the program some thought, I, like many others, decided to give it a shot. A first attempt with Asylum in February 2012, resulted in just under 15,000 downloads and a slight bump-up in sales.

A month later, from March 20th to 22nd, Vigilante was available for free and 25,626 copies were downloaded which pushed the book to #9 in the Free Kindle store. Post promo, I saw Vigilante soar to #211 in the Paid Kindle store and sold a couple of thousand copies over the next month.

Further promotions were scheduled with other titles from April to June, each resulting in downloads ranging from 5,500 to 12,000 and little subsequent sales effects. However, another Vigilante promotion in late June 2012 (22,324 downloads) generated another 1,500+ units sold in the month which followed. Promotions in following months with lesser download volumes had close to zero impact on sales.

With the experience of several promotions under my belt, a clear pattern had emerged. If I managed to give away 20,000+ books during a promotion, I could expect to sell 1,000-2,000 copies in the following month. Late in November, I ran a promotion with the first three titles of my series and saw a whopping 87,421 downloads over a two day period, almost 38,000 of which were Vigilante. Over 3,300 copies of that book alone sold in the following month as well as several thousand copies of my other titles. Merry Christmas!

A Vigilante promotion in February 2013 with close to 30,000 downloads yielded post promo sales in line with past results. However, another in late April 2013 with almost 29,000 downloads of The Consultant only generated half the expected sales. Much talk had been going around at the time that Amazon algorithms had been modified and the outcome of my promotion supported these speculations.

Then came July… An Amazon glitch, sometimes referred to as “system latencies”, kept my free rankings from being posted for over thirty-eight hours of my two day Vigilante promotion. As a result, the book did not appear on any lists anywhere for most of the promo period, the consequence being lost downloads. In spite of this, 20,496 were downloaded on July 2nd and 3rd. Based on my past experience and that of others, I expected a reasonable upswing in sales following the promotion, right? Alas, to date, the answer is "wrong". Copies of Vigilante sold post promo are as follows:

July 4th - 48 copies

July 5th - 13 copies

July 6th - 6 copies

July 7th - 13 copies

July 8th - Nada as I write this piece

Total - 80 copies

Several others have informed me of similar results of late…

So, my dear KDP Select Promotions, though the thought saddens me greatly, I fear you are no longer with us. Should this be the case, may you rest in peace and know that you will be missed.

The Great Zon giveth and the Great Zon taketh away…

And now to determine, what exactly are the benefits of exclusivity?

Haven't read Vigilante yet? It's right here at Amazon.com

As some of you are aware, Joanne and I recently went to Vietnam to vacation with friend and author, Luke Romyn, his wife, Sarah Dougherty and her sister, Millie. We had a great time and I thought I'd share a photo per day of our amazing trip so, here it goes!

DAY 1 - May 3, 2013: Shortly following our arrival in Hanoi, here are Sarah and Luke sporting some awesome summer attire.

DAY 2 - May 4, 2013: On a cruise, here is one of many floating villages we saw in Halong Bay.

DAY 3 - May 5, 2013: The beach at Monkey Island Resort as seen from the terrace of our villa.

DAY 4 - May 6, 2013: Back on our small cruise ship in Halong Bay as we head back to Hanoi.

DAY 5 - May 7, 2013: A typical street in Hanoi. Some are more crowded than this one.

DAY 5 - May 7, 2013 - Bonus pic: Our accomodations for the night as we head for Sapa.

DAY 6 - May 8, 2013: The view from our hotel dining room in Sapa. We trekked down there and up and around for a grueling 15 kilometres that day.

DAY 7 - May 9, 2013: Joanne, Luke and me at Silver Waterfall in Sapa.

DAY 8 - May 10, 2013: Downtown Sapa Town.

DAY 9 - May 11, 2013: Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon!

DAY 10 - May 12, 2013: Another day in blistering Saigon.

DAY 11 - May 13, 2013: Boating in the Mekong Delta.

DAY 12 - May 14, 2013: Saigon City Hall.

DAY 13 - May 15, 2013: The War Remnants Museum in Saigon. A visit here guarantees a lump in your throat...

DAY 14 - May 16, 2013: In the midst of a seven hour lay-over at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport following a twelve hour fight from Saigon and awaiting a seven hour flight to Montreal. Traveling is such a blast.

I was pleased and flattered today when I saw a post go up on upcoming thriller author Joshua Lisec's blog where my latest Femme Fatale is featured alongside new releases by Dan Brown and James Rollins. I invite you all to drop in on Joshua's blog by simply clicking the link below.

2013: Year of the Thriller ~ Dan Brown, James Rollins and More!

DOWNLOAD 7 HOT NEW THRILLERS

From BESTSELLING AUTHORS

Select titles discounted for a limited time - WIN Paperbacks

Monday, Mar. 5 - Wednesday Mar. 7

WHAT CRITICS ARE SAYING

“Claude Bouchard guides you step by step through a seamy, dangerous world, while never allowing you to lose hope.” John Locke, NYT Best-selling author

“Rivaling both Stephen King and Thomas Harris, without doubt, the edgy and provocative Luke Romyn is destined to emerge as the 21st Century’s new Master-of-Horror.” Dee Marie, Award-winning author

"[TRACES OF KARA] Psychological suspense at its best, weaving a tight-knit plot, unrelenting action, and tense moments that don't let up, ending in a fiery, unpredictable revelation."  Midwest Book Reviews

"...she really stepped up her craft skills if that were even possible. [Roland] is really, really just a terrific talented writer.” Joni Rodgers, NY Times bestselling author

"Russell Blake writes with a brisk intensity and pulse-pounding power. Jump in and hang on for a nonstop thrill ride."  Scott Nicholson, Liquid Fear

"Giacomo Giammatteo may be the Mario Puzo of our time." eNovel Reviews

"Submerged reads like an approaching storm, full of darkness, dread and electricity. Prepare for your skin to crawl." Andrew Gross, New York Times Bestselling Author

DOWNLOAD YOUR BOOKS HERE

You're a writer, right? Your ultimate desire (besides selling fifty million books and all the cool stuff which comes with it), is making a mark, yes? Yes...

What we must realize is that whenever anyone anywhere reacts to anything about our writing, be it about our books, blog posts, tweets, Facebook posts... Anything... We have made a mark... We have been noticed... We have struck a chord...

Good, bad, indifferent... Who cares? I did, and to be honest, still occasionally do, but, in the grand scheme of things, when something I throw out to the public affects someone, a stranger who doesn't know me from Adam, sufficiently for that person to pull out the phone, iPad, laptop or other communication device and respond, good, bad or ugly (and I've seen them all), I now realize that I've made a mark.

So, in the end, when you get a nice comment, a smile, perhaps some LOLs, a critique or #%*$& about something you wrote, take it in stride because you, as well, will have made a mark.

I've always been impressed that Midnight, our younger cat, was capable of responding when I asked her questions but was also disappointed because I couldn't prove it to anyone. The fact is, the younf feline is camera shy and refused to cooperate once the camera was running. I finally managed to convince her to do a short clip once she understood it could lead to the betterment of the universe as we know it. So, here it is. Be prepared to be amazed.

Yesterday, I posted the pic below of a t-shirt featuring 'Discreet Activities', my latest thriller, on Facebook which garnered a number of likes and comments, one of which was an inquiry of how to obtain one...

And I had a brilliant thought...

I proceeded to design t-shirts for my six other novels and have now made them available for purchase to the public worldwide via Zazzle.

However, there is a twist...

All proceeds I receive from t-shirt sales will be donated to the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation because, let's face it, nothing breaks my heart more than a sick child.

Here's the link http://www.claudebouchardbooks.com/tshirts.htm if you want to check the tees out and here's the link to the MCHF: http://childrenfoundation.com/

Come on, wear a thriller and save a kid!

On Saturday, I posted a few videos following our mini-vacation to Niagara Falls last week. The one thing which I didn't mention in that post was a zany stunt which Joanne and I decided to try.

Before I could write about this subject, I had to wait for the photographic proof which I was pleased to receive this morning. Therefore, without any further delay, here it is!!!

Jo and I taking on the mighty Niagara Falls in a barrel!