I'll never forget the conversation I was having with Steve Konkoly in December 2014 where he suggested I give writing a try. Well, here's a screencap of our Facebook Messenger conversation from December 2014:
Needless to say, I was excited that I was invited to be a part of his project. My first effort was a novella titled Evil, Meet Opportunity, written as a prequel to Steven Konkoly's Perseid Collapse Kindle World. I'll never forget the feeling of pride when I uploaded the manuscript and anxiously awaited it to go "live" on Amazon.
I loved the process of writing, and although I continuously professed that I had no illusions about the book's success, I hoped for the best.
I was extremely proud when about this time a year ago, Evil, Meet Opportunity hit #1 Best Seller status in the Action, Adventure category of Amazon Kindle Worlds.
Evil, Meet Opportunity is not something I promote often because I have moved on to writing both my fiction novels and a non-fiction series. But it has gone to the top of the Kindle Worlds on several occasions, most recently as part of the Kindle Worlds Contemporary category.
When Evil, Meet Opportunity hit #1 for the first time, I knew this is something I should pursue in earnest. I began to brainstorm a major undertaking. My goal was to write a fiction series that combines political suspense with post-apocalyptic thriller fiction. I created a dedicated website for my notes, and outlined the entire series for several installments. I discussed it with Steve Konkoly and we decided to write The Boston Brahmin Series together.
Book One, THE LOYAL NINE, was our first collaborative effort. Originally, the cover art was produced by Steve's cover artist. Here's what it looked like on launch day, June 14, 2015.
Steve and I combined our marketing talents and created a pretty good launch day, hitting #872 overall on Amazon. Not bad for a first effort because, keep in mind, there are over 6,000,000 books in the Kindle store.
The Loyal Nine ranked #3 overall in the top sellers, and was the #3 hot new release, in Political Thrillers behind some of the biggest names in the business - Brad Thor and Vince Flynn. Most would consider this pretty good for an indie published novel.
The Boston Brahmin series is steeped in history, and I thought about producing a non-fiction, companion guide to give readers more background on the series, and to supplement what I wrote on www.TheBostonBrahmin.com . I got back to the drawing board and wrote SEEDS OF LIBERTY.
This non-fiction book focused on the events prior to the American Revolution, and in particular the early colonists' penchant for rebellion. Through a brief look at key events in the sixteenth century and into the eighteenth century, Seeds of Liberty became a sociological look at the mindset of freedom loving Americans.
Almost immediately, Seeds of Liberty became a #1 Best Seller in 16th Century World History, and in Sociology.
I love research, and the amount of time put into the backstory of The Boston Brahmin series helped me achieve the top slot in this non-fiction, modern history category.
As most of my friends know, my darling was experiencing some serious health issues throughout last year. The doctor's diagnosed her with a tumor, ruptured silicone breast implants, hypothyroid, a non-alcoholic liver disease, lupus; well, as our friends know, the list goes on. During this time frame, she supported me and encouraged me to write because she saw how passionate I was. So, with her love and support, I continued with my ambitious writing schedule.
But, as so often can be the case, I was thrown a curve ball completely out of the blue. Steve told me that he would no longer be able to continue the series with me. At first I was dejected, because I lost my partner and confidant. But, then I became fearful as to whether I could do this completely on my own. My confidence came from knowing that The Boston Brahmin series was my baby, my pride and joy. Steve said it was time for the bird to leave the nest, and so I did.
The first thing I did was repackage THE LOYAL NINE with some fantastic cover art from my friend Hristo Kovatliev in Bulgaria. (A side note. Considering that I'm a rookie at this, I've been amazed at the number of authors who have followed my lead and flocked to Hristo as their cover artist following my successes. These names include Tom Abrahams, Steve Bird, L. Douglas Hogan, G. Michael Hopf, and also Steve Konkoly.)
I continued writing The Boston Brahmin series and book two, CYBER ATTACK, was released in September of last year.
I didn't know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised when CYBER ATTACK became the #3 top seller in the Financial Thriller category and the #1 Hot New Release. Once again, I was in good company and surrounded by authors with the backing of major publishing houses.
Overall, Cyber Attack hit #1,043 in all of Kindle out of over six million titles. It also maintained top ten rankings in three popular genres: Financial Thrillers, Terrorism, and Technothrillers.
The amount of research required to write Cyber Attack piqued my interest and in between the Boston Brahmin series books, I decided to launch a new non-fiction series called PREPPING FOR TOMORROW.
As a committed prepper who lives the preparedness lifestyle, I wanted my fiction series to entertain, as well as inform. With the Prepping for Tomorrow series, this was an opportunity to take the culmination of my research and make it available to my fellow preppers.
The first release in the Prepping for Tomorrow series is called CYBER WARFARE, and it was intended to be a primer on the threats we face as a nation from our many geopolitical foes in the cyber realm.
Once again, I was honored and humbled by the response from my readers and fellow preppers. Cyber Warfare had an uphill battle because it was competing with the much publicized book released by Ted Koppel titled Lights Out. With the marketing power of Random House behind Koppel, this Indie publisher didn't expect to hit number one, yet I did.
Cyber Warfare enjoyed Amazon #1 Rankings in eight different categories, including Disaster Relief, Arms Control, War & Peace, and others.
This book also enabled me to achieve another milestone: Amazon Top 100 Author Status. On four different occasions, I have been ranked in the Top 100 Authors on Amazon. Following the success of Cyber Warfare, here was the first entry (that I knew of, at least):
I was unaware that a ranking of Top 100 Amazon Authors existed until this showed up on my Author Page one day. I was subsequently told that I was also top 100 in fiction for The Loyal Nine release, and I didn't know it.
Work on Book Three of The Boston Brahmin series continued. MARTIAL LAW takes the reader from two books designed to create a suspenseful political backdrop, into a post-apocalyptic world following the devastating Cyber Attack. I had to shift gears somewhat because I was know writing in a different genre.
Martial Law was the first book which had a full ninety days of preorders. With just over six hundred orders, I was very pleased with its popularity. When Martial Law released into Amazon on Christmas Eve, I took a risk that it wouldn't get noticed during the hustle and bustle of the holidays. But I wanted to experiment, so I did.
I intentionally took the cover art to a fiery new level to indicate to the readers the change of tone. My preorders cannibalized my initial rankings somewhat but I still achieved #3 Hot New Releases in Political Thriller Fiction and #1 Hot New Release rankings in Historical Fiction.
On Christmas Day, Martial Law hit #2,440 in all of Kindle. It could have been higher without the ninety day preorder time frame, but I wasn't going to argue with 600+ sales in the bank on launch day!
Following the successful release of Martial Law, it was time to shift gears back to the Prepping for Tomorrow series. I was very fortunate to be invited to appear for two hours as the guest of media icon George Noory for his worldwide broadcast of Coast-to-Coast AM. We discussed the concepts I wrote about in Cyber Warfare, and in my January release of EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse.
EMP, like Martial Law, enjoyed a ninety day preorder period. It greatly exceeded my expectations, selling nearly 700 copies by launch day. After the success of Cyber Warfare, I hoped for the best and was rewarded. EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse, hit #1 in seven different Amazon genres including War & Peace, Arms Control, and Disaster Relief. Here is a screencap when EMP was #1 in Arms Control just ahead of former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry.
On January 31, I once again entered the Amazon Top 100 author rankings on the strength of the Prepping for Tomorrow series. This time, my upcoming release of Economic Collapse, which is available for preorder, was thrown into the mix. This led to a run of over a month on the Top 100 list.
FALSE FLAG, book four in The Boston Brahmin series, went live on March 29, 2016 and immediately shot to the top of its genre.
Four #1 Hot New Release achievements in War & Military, Financial Thrillers, Historical Fiction, and the Men's Adventure genre. It's been steadily ranked at the top of those genres next to names like Clive Cussler, James Patterson, and John Grisham.
America is thrust into a post-apocalyptic world. Within days of a devastating cyber attack upon America's critical infrastructure, the economy is in shambles and society is sinking into the abyss.
Facts begin to surface. Speculation begins to run rampant. Questions are raised. The central issue is "Who is responsible for the greatest attack upon a nation in history?"
Will the resulting collapse of America distract The Loyal Nine from seeking answers? Will a new threat emerge to the nation, one which rears its ugly head from an unexpected location?
ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, the third release in the Prepping for Tomorrow series, is slated for release at the end of April. It's preorders are so strong that it has achieved #1 Best Seller status in six non-fiction genres including Economics and Political Science, my dual majors in college.
I've had quite a year my friends, and I plan to continue creating informative and entertaining books for my readers. I no longer consider myself a rookie, and now I can proudly call myself an actual, published author. I owe it all to my wife, my friends and readers. From my heart, thank you!
