Fiona Quinn interviews me about podcasting and books and stuff!
http://thrillwriting.blogspot.com/2016/07/podcasting-information-for-writers-with.html
Brand spankin’ new interview with me is up today! You should really read it!
http://hbsauthorspotlight.blogspot.com/2016/05/armand-rosamilia-author-interview-at.html
2016 was supposed to be a slower year for me with book signings, conventions and leaving the house… so far it looks like another busy year is upon me.
After a nice and relaxing opening 6 weeks I’ve started to pack everything in…
Friday February 12th
Book signing for Dirty Deeds with author Wayne Stinnett at Golden Lion Cafe in Flagler Beach, Florida
Saturday March 19th
From 11am-5pm I’ll be a vendor outside of Mythical Mountain in Mandarin FL selling some books, hanging with other cool vendors and seeing some excellent cosplay, too!
Tuesday March 22nd
Release Day for the haunted house novel The Enemy Held Near, co-written with Jay Wilburn and released by Devil Dog Press
Thursday April 7th – Monday April 11th
The Novel Experience Event (TNEE) convention in Atlanta, GA
I’ll be there with the newest releases as well as a huge back stock of books. Sharing a table with author Jay Wilburn, so you know it will be wild.
Tuesday April 5th
Release Day for the contemporary fiction novel Belford Stories, featuring photography from Tammy J. Kelly
Friday April 15th
Belford Stories book signing with me and photographer Tammy J. Kelly at Belford Brewing Company
Will feel great to be back home after more than 12 years away! Details
5:30-8:30 pm
Saturday May 7th
Free Comic Book Day book signing at Nerdz Comics And More
Flagler Beach FL
Tuesday May 31st
Release Day for Dying Days 6
Friday July 22nd – Sunday July 24th
Scares That Care Weekend convention in Williamsburg VA
My favorite convention, looking forward to it. Will be sharing table space with Jay Wilburn, Mark Tufo and Devil Dog Press. There will also be a special taping of Arm N Toof’s Dead Time Podcast with co-hosts Armand and Mark wearing kilts and joined by Joe Ripple and Brian Keene (also in kilts)
? October
Spooky Empire convention in Orlando FL
I will return to hang with cool authors, be on jam-packed panels and check out the celebrity guests! More information like set date as it gets closer
*****
That’s just the start of everything coming up in 2016. Look for many more releases and appearances!
Armand Rosamilia
2015 was another solid year for me when it came to releases. While the amount of new product slowed, the same amount of words was released in my estimation. My goal each year is to hit 400,000 words written and except for a couple of short stories currently awaiting publication, everything else was released via self publishing or through a small press in 2015.
I had 30 releases, which was less than the 45 a year average I’ve done the last two years. I also went through my works and eliminated all of the serialized stories that made it into complete collections as well as redundant releases I did myself.
Box sets were still a big deal for me in 2015. A lot of my secondary sales through them as well as key Amazon ranking came because of the box sets and I hope to continue to be involved in a few more in the future.
OK, time for the breakdown by month for me and 2015…
January
Ultimate Undead Collection: The Zombie Apocalypse Best Sellers Boxed Set (10 Books)
The last day in January Dying Days was published in this box set along with notables Joe McKinney, Bobby Adair, TW Piperbrook, Michaelbrent Collings, Sarah Lyons Fleming, Shawn Chesser, Rachel Aukes, David Moody, Timothy W Long and Eric A Shelman. The best part? it’s still only 99 cents!
February
State of Horror: North Carolina
February 8th I was in another State of Horror anthology (you already know my initial involvement in the franchise, so I won’t digress) which featured some really cool stories by Nathanael Gass, Frank Larnerd, Randal Keith Jackson, Kathryn M. Hearst, Spencer Carvalho, Kenneth W. Cain, Frank J. Edler, Stuart Conover/Kerry Lipp, Susan Hicks Wong, Matt Andrew, L.J. Heydorn andMargaret L. Colton
The audiobook for State of Horror: Illinois came out on February 20th (narrated by the wonderful Jack Wallen)
March
The audiobook for Dying Days: Origins came out on March 3rd, narrated by Jack Wallen. Obviously I enjoy working with Jack on these audiobooks.
March 13th the audiobook version of this came out, narrated by Jack Di Golia, who did the entire seven book run for me. I couldn’t be happier working with him, either.
Also on the 13th, the first part of a trilogy came out, a horror humor tale written with Jack Wallen, Jay Wilburn and Brent Abell. This was fun to write. We debuted this at Mid South Con in Memphis to rousing success. Fine, we sold 5 copies.
March 16th State of Horror: Louisiana I debuted, with more great stories, this time from Chad McKee, Pamela Troy, Tommy B. Smith, Amanda Hard, Allie Marini Batts, Sarah Glenn, Armand Rosamilia, Ethan Nahte, J. Jay Waller, Alexander S. Brown, Henry P. Gravelle, Jay Seate, and Margaret L. Colton.
March 30th saw the second part of LA being released, this time with stories by Stuart Conover, Herika R. Raymer, Teresa Bergen, J. Lamm, Nathan Pettigrew, Armand Rosamilia, Ambrose Stolliker, B.A. Sans, Edward Moore, Anthony Watson, Jonathan S. Pembroke, J.M. Lawrence, and Melodie Romeo.
April
Fairly Wicked Tales: Dark Fantasy Anthology
April 19th Fairly Wicked Tales: Dark Fantasy Anthology was re-released and featured one of my short stories, “The Wolf Who Cried Boy.” Over 20 great stories are in this one, so buy it. Now.
May
Anything but Zombies: A Short Story Anthology
On the 26th of May my short story “Down In A Hole” was featured in this Simon and Schuster release. Tim Curran, Jeff Strand, Rebecca Besser, MontiLee Stormer, Lee Moan, Tonia Brown, Jake Bible, Faye McCray, and Jimmy Pudge were all involved as well. Get it.
June
Tales of Magic and Misery: A Collection of Short Stories by Tim Marquitz
Tim put 19 of his stories together in this fine collection, and had other authors (such as myself) give him one of our stories to promote. He’s a swell guy. This came out June 6th. I had “Dying Days: Noah Stern” short in there.
This audiobook came out on the 10th. Narrated once again by Jack Wallen and once again featuring a Dying Days short from me in it.
June 16th Dying Days 5 was released. Putting this together I realize its my first self published full release for the year, as everything else was an anthology or audiobook previously out. I’d been writing up a storm up to this point in the year but most of it would be released later (as you’ll see) or written for the movie team and those books sometimes come out months in the future. Anyhoo… this is part 5 and it was released right in the midst of my annual #SummerofZombie blog tour.
July
This month saw the two year anniversary of Arm Cast: Dead Sexy Horror Podcast as well as the debut of Arm N Toof’s Dead Time Podcast, co-hosted by Mark Tufo. Both on Project iRadio.
The second book in our trilogy was released on the 21st. Another fun time was had by all: me, Brent Abell, Jay Wilburn and Jack Wallen.
August
Bite-Sized Offerings: Tales & Legends of the Zombie Apocalypse
This was a really cool charity anthology to help a friend in need who is such a big supporter of zombie authors. Over 30 authors contributed a YA zombie story, including my first-ever, a Dying Days story featuring the children of the family. It will definitely lead into my first-ever Dying Days YA novella in late 2016, too.
This is the updated version. I changed the crazy sex parts and over the top violence and made it more in line with the rest of the Dying Days books. So far people have enjoyed the less intense version, although it still isn’t for the kids. I’d give it a solid R rating instead of the NC17 it used to be.
September
September 4th this cool anthology came out. It’s a shared world anthology and written by Joe McKinney, Armand Rosamilia, Tonia Brown, Joe Mynhardt, Aurelio Lopez III, and Alex Laybourne. You don’t get any cooler than that group. Am I right?
On the 8th, right in time for the Imaginarium convention on Kentucky, we released the third and final part. Single digits of people flocked to our signing tables, creating such a noise the car alarms went off in the parking lot.
On the 17th Dying Days 4 audiobook (narrated once again by Amanda Lehman) was released.
The Louisiana Incident: Former Navy SEALs Vs Zombies
I wrote this novella based on a movie that was filmed but some people weren’t happy with it. So (because it is Hollywood and beyond me) I was listed as editor, the cover is just words and it has distanced itself from the movie by changing the title. The book is much better than the movie, by the way. Much.
Horror 201: The Silver Scream Vol 1
October 14th saw this extensive collection released. Nonfiction essays and interviews by film legends and authors such as Wes Craven, George A. Romero, Ray Bradbury, Ed Naha, Patrick Lussier, Stephen Volk, Nancy Holder, Tom Holland, John Shirley, William Stout, and John Russo. For some crazy reason they thought I had something to say on the subject, too.
Chelsea Avenue: A Supernatural Thriller
On the 30th Devil Dog Press re-released this book, one of my favorites and my first real full-length novel. Look for longer books from me in 2016, and most of them more thriller and less horror as I change things up a bit. This book is one of my favorites I’ve ever written, and you need to read it and tell me I’m right or wrong. As long as you read it.
October
On the 18th this anthology was released. My short story, “Black Tooth Grin,” joined Melodie Romeo, Rick Scabrous, Silas Green, D. S. Ullery, Brian W. Taylor, Diane Arrelle, Bryan Best, Tanya Nehmelman, Mariesa Inez, Rachel Hogan, S. H. Roddey, Jenner Michaud, Scott McCloskey, Heidi Lane, Brian Fatah Steele, Eric I. Dean, Herika R. Raymer, Lee Pletzers, and Jerry E. Benns writing fun stories about death.
The seventh and final release in the contemporary fiction Flagler Beach Fiction Series was out on the 20th. The audiobook followed in November, too, once again narrated by the great Jack Di Golia. This wraps up the series although I have a feeling we’ll see some of these characters again in the future.
Halloween saw the release of this cool anthology, where eleven authors took the kernel of the same basic story and made it our own. Hi-jinx ensued. Abel, Chesser, Evans, McKinney, O’Brien, Rosamilia, Shelman, Stallcup, Tufo, Wallen, Wilburn. So cool you don’t need first names.
November
November 3rd, at the basic start of my annual #WinterofZombie tour I always release a new Dying Days book. I still technically did, and it nicely combines characters from the first Highway To Hell as well as Dying Days: Origins.
Four novellas set in the Dying Days world are included in this massive box set: Still Dying: Select Scenes From Dying Days, Still Dying 2, Dying Days: The Siege of European Village and Dying Days: Siege 2
Plus… the two-story Dying Shortly set (now out of print except here) and 2 short stories previously only available on a website: “Dying Days: Downtown From Hell” and “Dying Days: The Scorpion”… Over 500 pages and more than 174,000 words in all! This special box set will only be available for a limited time at a special price of $9.99 but right now its only $3.49, so get a copy. Look for the second one in early 2016, too.
November 23rd I released all three of these glorious books Jack, Brent and Jay and I had written in a convenient box set. Now you have no excuse not to read them. And its priced right now for only $3.49, so you really have no excuse at all.
Flagler Beach Fiction Series Complete
I told you I liked box sets this year. On the 30th I put all 7 of the Flagler Beach Fiction Series books together in one massive 190,000+ word ebook collection and priced it at only $3.99. You’re welcome.
December
Green River Blend: A Supernatural Thriller
My last release of 2015 and one of my favorite stories. I liken it to a Bentley Little weird tale and so far readers have agreed. A little different from my traditional horror work, which I will be getting slightly away from in 2016. I’ll still have many horror releases and more Dying Days but this book (as well as Chelsea Avenue, both released by Devil Dog Press) will further expand what I’m doing.
Also look for my Kindle Scout-winning Dirty Deeds crime thriller in early 2016, too! Mark Tufo and I wrote an apocalyptic tale together (no zombies!) featuring Darlene Bobich and Mike Talbot. Look for that in 2016 as well… big things on the horizon for me in 2016.
Armand
Two years ago my then-girlfriend Shelly asked me how much I wrote each year. I shrugged. Most days I didn’t know how much I’d just written. I never kept track. I just wrote and wrote and wrote until stories got finished.
I was curious to know, and also to find a way to minimize the days I didn’t write and get a better understanding on what I was actually doing.
Since she is the smarter one (don’t let her know I said it, even though she already knows) she created a simple spreadsheet in Excel for me. I punched in my daily number and it worked it through the week, month and year to give me running totals.
I decided my goal would be 1,500 a day or 10,000 words a week and 520,000 words for the year. I had no idea if it was possible or I’d crush the number, since I never really tracked any of this writing thing.
October 2013 began this experiment.
In my first year I wrote 477,000 words. My daily average was 1,308. I had 123 days without writing, which is crazy but real life does get in the way of sitting and writing every day. Some days I was burnt out or busy with errands and kids. Some days I wanted to watch a movie.
The second year just passed. Yesterday was my last day of year 2. How’d I do?
423,000 words. My daily average was 1,158. I only had 92 days I didn’t write, despite getting married and a honeymoon, several conventions and general life in my way. I wrote more days but less words each day as non-writing work (Authors Supporting Our Troops, Arm Cast: Dead Sexy Horror Podcast, Arm N Toof’s Dead Time Podcast, social media promoting, Winter of Zombie and Summer of Zombie blog tours getting bigger, etc. etc.) got in the way of my actual words as well.
What did I learn? I write a lot of words compared to some people and not enough stacked against others.
Today marks the first day of my new writing year. I think I’m going to calm down a bit and settle in and relax. I have my rough schedule of work in the next 12 months laid out, which means nothing once a new contract or something interesting crosses my desk. Until then… I want to break 400,000 words in the next year. That’s only 1,096 words a day average. Very easy to beat.
Will I do it? I don’t see why not. With my new way to write each day (#MandoMethod, where I write as many words in a 15 minute stretch without a break) I am averaging 600 words a sprint, so writing 30 minutes a day (in theory) will hit my goals easily.
But, hey… only time will tell.
Armand
Jay Wilburn is a fellow author and good friend. I’ve had the privilege of doing several book signings with Jay over the last couple of years and many more are scheduled and will be done in the future.
His philosophy is simple: don’t show all your books at once. Overloading potential buyers with too many books will only confuse and annoy people, or something to that effect. I always disagreed and piled 30+ releases on the table.
Who usually sold more books? I don’t want to talk about it.
I was interviewing a fellow author for my podcast (Arm Cast: Dead Sexy Horror Podcast – HERE is the link. Go listen and then come back. I’ll wait) and we talked about having too many books and stories out and confusing readers.
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I have too many choices and sometimes it might be overwhelming to figure out where to jump into my work. I used the short stories a couple of years ago to build up my numbers and get my name out there and it definitely worked. But now I worry I’ve over-saturated the market with smaller works. Right now on Amazon I have over 150 releases. Crazy, right?
So… I’m making an adjustment, which is part of the fun of being a self-published author. I know I can’t do anything about stories released by publishers but I can do my own stuff, right?
Right now I have 81 releases in Kindle Unlimited. I love the program and I make good money with so many pages read, so the problem isn’t having so much in KU, it’s what I have in KU to begin with.
I’ll begin slowly working some titles out of the system over the next few weeks, but here’s the basic ideas so far…
2. Same with Keyport Cthulhu. The five parts will now be deleted and the final collection sold only.
3. In addition, I’ll be slowly pulling the early Metal Queens nonfiction books in favor of box sets with all of them together
That’s just the start.
A few other things I’ll be working on:
Doing more box sets with multiple books for a better bang for your buck
Revamping the main Dying Days series with new covers
Pulling a few titles to rewrite/re-edit or keep out of print
Recently out of print works like Chelsea Avenue, Creeping Death, Tool Shed and Necromance updated and on sale
always adding new works to the pile
More information on these last few parts will be rolled out over the next few weeks and months, so stay tuned!
Armand
Since the switch of Arm Cast: Dead Sexy Horror Podcast to Project iRadio listenership has soared. I went from a decent amount of loyal listeners so many, many new ones and I couldn’t be happier.
I’m also excited to be one-half of the team for an upcoming second podcast on Project iRadio, Arm N Toof: Dead Time Podcast with author Mark Tufo.
Jess at Project iRadio (along with author Brian Keene) will be taking advertising for each show. We’ll either be reading spots inside the show itself or adding your radio-ready spots to the episode. Get in touch with them for what you need to do. There are many podcasts attached to Project iRadio besides these two new ones, so you can also advertise on multiple ones if you want. Just sayin’.
Interested in seeing what the rates are? Go HERE for all of the information and to ask for more info, too. Let them know I recommended you, please and thank you.
Most shows will only have up to three ads per episode, so space is very limited. Act now. Don’t delay.
Hopefully Mark Tufo and I will be reading your ad on a future episode!
ARM CAST: DEAD SEXY HORROR PODCAST
Podcast devoted to interviewing horror authors, publishers, editors, artists, filmmakers, narrators, and anyone else in the arts and entertainment fields. We also like M&Ms. Armand Rosamilia is your host.
ARM N TOOF’S DEAD TIME PODCAST
Two hosts for the price of one. Authors Armand Rosamilia and Mark Tufo interview authors, publishers, filmmakers and anyone else they want to chat with. Not only zombie and apocalyptic peeps, either… literally anyone they want to talk to. Coming Wednesday July 8th to Project iRadio.
