Boomerang

[J. Strnad]

<<"I read once that the average pass-around for a paper book is 7 readers."

I'm not questioning you, but the source of that statement. >>

I want to say that I read it in Publisher's Weekly, but I can't trust my memory on these things. But regardless of the source, I don't know how you would measure something like that scientifically. Since 63% of all statistics are just made up by the writer, your skepticism is justified.

A lot of the things we buy have a pass-around circulation, including houses and cars. The original manufacturer sells the product once and doesn't make another dime as it changes hands. The difference with ebooks is that you can give it away and still have it.

As a thought experiment (aka as a "daydream") I imagine that I have the ability to duplicate objects. If I bought a big ol' flat screen TV, would it be ethical to duplicate it for a friend? How about...for all of my friends? What if none of them was in the market for a TV...would that be costing the manufacturer sales or not? Is it right for me to boost my ego and status by giving away someone else's hard labor?

With ebooks and other electronic content, that's exactly the situation we have.

[plumboz]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

Since 63% of all statistics are just made up by the writer, your skepticism is justified.

As my ol' junior high social studies teacher used to say "Figures don't lie, but liars sure can figure."

Here's a statistic you can trust. Boomerang is still hanging in there at a whopping $0.89 on both Amazon and B&N.

[plumboz]

And we're still at $0.99 everywhere except Smashwords ($2.99) and Barnes and Noble ($0.89!).

Just thought I'd let you know. Feel free to wait until the $2.99 price kicks in everywhere.

[lene1949]

I already have your book, but if I was going to buy today, I would go with Amazon, since it's the same price as Smashword (for international readers)

[Luke King]

Originally Posted by plumboz

I assume it's at Apple, but I have no Apple device with which to check.

I'm not so sure you can check price this way, as my book is free, but if you use the URL:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn

and add your ISBN to the end of it (no dashes), you should be able to view your book and see the ratings/reviews.

[plumboz]

Originally Posted by Luke King

I'm not so sure you can check price this way, as my book is free, but if you use the URL:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn

and add your ISBN to the end of it (no dashes), you should be able to view your book and see the ratings/reviews.

Thanks Luke, I'll give that a try.

Meantime, price is holding steady all over the place. And if I could share this very nice, two word email I received from a gentleman who recently ordered an autographed, DTB version of Boomerang. It read simply

"GREAT READ".

So a big thanks to reader Patrick H.

I hope everyone here at MR is having a good week.

Best,
Alan

[plumboz]

Still waiting for any place besides Smashwords and Diesel to adjust the price on Boomerang to $2.99, so just to keep things as balanced as possible and make things fair for anyone who prefers to get their ebooks from Smashwords, here is a coupon to cover the next couple of weeks to make it $0.99 there, same as Amazon, B&N, Sony and almost the same as Kobo ($0.89)

Thanks!

Smashwords Coupon Code: FK75S

This, by the way, will be the last promo run for Boomerang. Once the price settles, I'm just gonna let things take their own course. 'Cause there's other books to be written and that seems to take what little concentrated energy I am capable of generating. Thanks for all of the support!

[plumboz]

Looks like B&N finally got the memo about the price increase. They are only sticking with the $0.89 price because Amazon is too. So...it looks like we're finally about to get the new price of $2.99 in place sometime in the near future. Coupon at Smashwords is good through Sept 18.

Have a good weekend.


And thanks for the nice response Boomerang has gotten here at Mobileread these past months. It has been very encouraging.

[plumboz]

It appears to me that since Sony and Kobo are never going to change the price, Boomerang seems destined to be a $0.99 ebook for eternity. So I've changed price at Smashwords back to $0.99 and am going to let it sit.

Have a great weekend.

[plumboz]

Can't help it. Gotta share this very nice review from "blondie" on Amazon.


4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Read!, September 17, 2010
By blondie (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Boomerang (Kindle Edition)
This reminded me of a cross between Dave Barry's Big Trouble and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Don't be mistaken, Alan Hutcheson has his own brand of talent and shows it off in Boomerang. This is a funny, convoluted tale of mystery and mayhem. It's a mad dash to see who can get to the boomerang first. Why? The Boomerang contains detrimental CIA secrets. I'll try to sum it up: Ted is a jazz musician but his guitar, Sarah, is in the window of a pawn store. In order to get some cash to spring her Ted teams up with Jerry for an assignment from the AABC an unofficial branch of the government. The assignment is to get the boomerang... but so many things can go wrong with such a simple assignment. Things like a crazy pair of Australian sisters, an insane assassin who carries a crossbow, a cheerleader who rarely wears clothes, and a senator or two. I strongly recommend you follow Ted and Jerry (I kept wanting to say Tom and Jerry!) on this adventure. You will laugh the whole way.

[plumboz]

Folks in the UK are starting to find Boomerang now that Amazon has the Kindle available there. A very nice note from a reader at the Kindle Users Forum brightened my day.

Alan - I started reading it late last night and I am 26% of the way through. I had to really exercise a lot of self-control not to snort with laughter on the train this morning! I'm really enjoying it so far. Thumbs Up

[plumboz]

And here is what Evangeline at Kindle Users Forum had to say about Boomerang after she finished it.

I finished it yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I failed to exercise enough self-control on the train home, though, and snorted with laughter several times!

There were a lot of characters/threads and to begin with I was worried I was going to lose track, but the way the chapters were organised meant that it all stayed clear until the threads merged. The book was laugh-out-loud funny, very absorbing and slightly crazy - I'll never look at an ampersand in the same way again! Great work, Alan - it was worth every penny.

Boomerang is just $0.89 at either Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

[plumboz]

Great to see that Boomerang is garnering some support across the pond!


4.0 out of 5 stars Great read, 9 Oct 2010
By Dave - See all my reviews
This review is from: Boomerang (Kindle Edition)
A well written, well paced story.

With lots of characters to juggle there is always a danger of the reader losing one or more threads and getting confused as each chapter focuses on a different person or people. But not with this book - all of the characters are well fleshed out and likeable for their own various foibles and flaws and as such the reader is never left wondering who or where someone is when they pop back in to the story.

The plot is good and everything is well tied together at the end. The writing style and level of humour remind me of some of Douglas Adams' work (Dirk Gently maybe) and had me staying up well past my bedtime to carry on reading.

A well recommended book.

Still just $0.89 here in the USA.

0.69 in UK funds!

[plumboz]

Reader "CJ" got her copy of Boomerang through Smashwords. I would like to thank her for posting this very nice review not only there, but also at Amazon and Shelfari.



5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and wonderfully entertaining!, October 23, 2010
By CJ in CO "CJ" (CO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Boomerang (Paperback)
I loved this book! Alan Hutcheson is a very talented writer. I am amazed at how he set the stage for this story. Each chapter of the book details the events of different characters that in the beginnning seem unrelated. However, as the story unfolds, each character or set of characters are drawn from places as far away as Australia to a little house in Arizona. Once each party involved in this tale find their way to a dark, soggy Arizona backyard in their pursuit of a handcrafted boomerang, the conclusion of their quest is delightful, entertaining, and satisfying . The characters are funny - some are wonderfully likeable, and some you just like to hate. I plan to read this book again sometime soon!




Boomerang is still just $0.89 at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo. $0.99 elsewhere (that would be Sony, Diesel and Apple).

[plumboz]

Time for Choose Your Deal.

This weekend (through Sunday, October 31st) you can get Boomerang for free at Smashwords using coupon QM47J.

Or you can help stimulate our still rather snoozy economy just a tad by investing just under a dollar at Amazon ($0.89), Barnes and Noble (also $0.89), Kobo (yep, $0.89), Diesel ($0.99, hey, where'd that come from?) or Sony ($0.99). Also $0.99 at Apple.

Latest review:

Review by: Carol on Oct. 23, 2010 : star star star star star
I loved this book! Alan Hutcheson is a very talented writer. I am amazed at how he set the stage for this story. Each chapter of the book details the events of different characters that in the beginnning seem unrelated. However, as the story unfolds, each character or set of characters are drawn from places as far away as Australia to a little house in Arizona. Once each party involved in this tale find their way to a dark, soggy Arizona backyard in their pursuit of a handcrafted boomerang, the conclusion of their quest is delightful, entertaining, and satisfying . The characters are funny - some are wonderfully likeable, and some you just like to hate. I plan to read this book again sometime soon!


Thanks!