It has been two months since Shuffled Off: A Ghost’s Memoir first appeared on Amazon.com. I am happy to say that people are reading and really enjoying it. The feedback as been amazing and I am grateful for each and every reader.
To be honest, the feedback has also humbled me and been a rather disorienting experience. I have consistently told that it is a “page turner” and “hard to put down”, and even more amazing things like: “superbly written;” “I haven’t been that unable to put a book down since I read the Harry Potter series to my kids;” “This is not your average ghost story and SO worth reading. Mr. McCarter, please write more;” and “…an emotionally engaging story underpinned by rich characterizations, dark humor and believable technology.”
And these are wonderful to hear, but a real shift in who I am as a person. Don’t get me wrong, I love the feedback and I want more, but I feel myself changing. Going from writing on your own with just a few people reading it to having many people reading your work is a most interesting transition. My writing (and to some extent, my life) has suddenly gone from quite private to public.
As brand new author I am starting at zero, and the progress in the last two months has been wonderful, but I would like to kick it up a notch, and for that I need your help.
So, what do people do when they love a book? The talk about it, they tell their friends, they write about it. To that end I am running the Name the Ghost Contest to encourage people to do what comes naturally.
You see all this feedback about Shuffled Off has consistently come with words like “I look forward to and await with giddy anticipation his next novel”, and “I look forward to a sequel to this book and many more!” It’s clear people want more of JJ and the gang, and I want more too. Just like all of you I want to see what happens next. So I have decided to write a sequel. I will probably start in January after I have a few other writing projects completed.
Which brings us to the Name the Ghost Contest. One lucky winner will have the right to name (with some reasonable limits) a ghost in the new novel. Pretty cool huh?
All you have to do is what comes naturally: spread the word. For each thing that you do (buy a book, post a review, write a blog post, talk about it social media) you are eligible to be entered into the contest (up to 20 times per person).
The contest goes through the March 1st and anything you’ve already done qualifies you. All you have to do is fill out a form that tells and shows me what you did and, boom, you’re entered.
UPDATE: The contest has ended, so I have removed the related links.
Interested? Read the rules or enter now!
And thanks again for reading and keep that feedback coming.