Special Announcement! New Audio Books Available

I know I have been away from my blog for a bit and I’m starting to dive back in. That doesn’t mean that my author life went totally dormant during that time. I spent the time working with voice actors to work toward the release of my books as audio books. I’m happy to announce that eight of my ten books are now available as audio books with the last two currently in various stages of production.

This format seems to be popular and, without promoting them, sales have been surprisingly good. Most of this, I believe, is due to the talents of the wonderful voice actors that produced them.

Here is a list of the books with their Amazon links:

Frankly Speaking – Frank Rozzani Detective Series Book 1

A 16 year old girl has disappeared. The police believe she is a runaway. Her parents believe she has been taken and is being held against her will. When the parents enlist the services of Frank Rozzani, a former police officer turned private detective, a series of events begins to unfold that implicates a popular local pastor and the religious stronghold of the ultra-conservative community.

Frank Rozzani, a transplant to Jacksonville, Florida from Syracuse, New York, must find the young girl despite the obstacles launched at him from the local police and others whose interests may be compromised by his investigation. Frank enlists the help of his associate Clifford “Jonesy” Jones to find the girl, uncover the conspiracy, and stay alive. While solving the case, Frank must deal with the demons that drove him from Upstate New York causing him to leave traumatic memories and his children behind.

Audio Book Link: HERE

Let Me Be Frank – Frank Rozzani Detective Series Book 2

A young girl is senselessly murdered. The police believe the murder to be a random homeless casualty until it is discovered that she has ties to Fat Sam and his mysterious past life in The Big Easy. Join private detective Frank Rozzani, and Clifford “Jonesy” Jones as they travel to historic New Orleans and other areas in the Gulf Coast to search for clues in the girl’s trek to Jacksonville, Florida that will help them uncover evidence implicating those responsible for the murder so they can be brought to justice. They soon discover that things are not as they seem. As the case progresses, the evidence uncovered has ties to the tragic events that drove Frank from his life in Syracuse, New York. Frank realizes that proceeding with the case could change his life, as well as the lives of those around him, forever.

Audio Book Link: HERE

Frank Incensed – Frank Rozzani Detective Series Book 3

The stakes are high as Private Detective Frank Rozzani races against time to save the love of his life. Will Frank rescue her from the terrible man in the trench coat or will this man end the life of yet another person that Frank is close to? Find out who survives in this Frank Rozzani Detective Mystery – Frank Incensed.

Audio Book Link: HERE

Frankly My Dear – Frank Rozzani Detective Series Book 4

Frank Rozzani, a transplant to Jacksonville, Florida from Syracuse, New York, has left his tragic past as a police officer behind for life as a private detective. Frank and his partner Clifford “Jonesy” Jones work with the local police to solve crimes that are virtually unsolvable.

In Frankly My Dear, the fourth in the Frank Rozzani Detective Series of novels, Frank and Jonesy are at it again and this time the case is one of the most bizarre that they have faced. Their latest client, arrested for domestic abuse, swears that he is the victim of one of the most vengeful women on the face of the earth.

Frank and Jonesy must determine if their client is telling the truth. As they investigate the case, they again pay a personal price for their involvement. Is their client trying to get away with his crime or is his ex-girlfriend continually coming up with new ways to damage him and his reputation?

Follow them as they navigate the twists and turns in this exciting new installment in the series, Frankly My Dear.

Audio Book Link: HERE

Blood Orange – Brad Rafferty Book 1

It’s the night of the biggest game in men’s college basketball. Just as the two rivals are squaring off in the quest to crown a champion, tragedy strikes. A nation mourns as a team of elite specialists searches for those responsible. Follow Navy Officer Brad Rafferty and his team through the twists and turns of this terrorism thriller to see if you can determine who is good and who is evil.

Audio Book Link: HERE

Blood Match – Brad Rafferty Book 2

Intelligence analyst Jake Balrich boards his Monday morning flight, as he has so many times, for routine field work. When the plane lands, a passenger fails to wake up. Jake soon realizes that the death was not accidental and is part of a murderous plot that will have Jake running for his life as he struggles with an unknown enemy that seems to guess his every move.

Blood Match is a thriller that examines the desire for gaining power with little regard for the human lives that are affected.

Follow Jake Balrich, as he enlists the help of Commander Brad Rafferty, to take down an enemy more powerful and dangerous than the United States has ever faced.

Audio Book Link: HERE

Extra Innings: Can You Go Home Again?

Joe McLean hates his life. A lonely, divorced, middle-aged man, stuck in a cramped apartment, the only bright spot in Joe’s life is cheering on his hometown baseball team. Now, the local stadium, the place of many childhood and adult memories is being replaced. Joe desperately wants a piece of this iconic venue to preserve his memories and have some memorabilia from his happier past. That’s when unusual things begin to happen, and Joe begins to rethink the direction his life has taken. Can Joe take a different path in life? Can he use the special ability that he has acquired to change the course of his life? Will he realize the truth about old adage, you can never go home again? Follow the twists and turns in this supernatural story, Extra Innings, to find out.

Audio Book Link: HERE

Random Tales: A Short Story Collection

A book of collected short stories ranging in genre from supernatural to horror to historical fiction.

Audio Book Link: HERE

Please check them out. I’m very happy with the results!

Announcing My New Audio Book – Let Me Be Frank

I am proud to announce that my book, Let me be Frank, has been released in audiobook format. This is the second book in the Frank Rozzani detective series.

Here is a synopsis:

A young girl is senselessly murdered. The police believe the murder to be a random homeless casualty until it is discovered she has ties to Fat Sam and his mysterious past life in the Big Easy. 

Join Private Detective Frank Rozzani and Clifford “Jonesy” Jones as they travel to historic New Orleans and other areas in the Gulf Coast to search for clues in the girl’s trek to Jacksonville, Florida, that will help them uncover evidence implicating those responsible for the murder so they can be brought to justice. They soon discover that things are not as they seem. 

As the case progresses, the evidence uncovered has ties to the tragic events that drove Frank from his life in Syracuse, New York. Frank realizes that proceeding with the case could change his life, as well as the lives of those around him, forever.

I’m really pleased with the recording. The voice actor, Jeffrey Knecht, did an awesome job and was nearly flawless on the first run of the book. I’m hoping he is up for recording the rest of the series.

Here is a trailer that I had created for the book a while ago:

If the story appeals to you and you like audio books, you can find it HERE.

Free for a Limited Time – Blood Orange by Don Massenzio

In celebration of the release of my new book, Blood Match, on February 2nd, I’m running a free book promotion for the first book in the Brad Rafferty Series – Blood Orange. The promotion runs January 28th through January 30th. Please enjoy it. This book has never been offered as part of a free book promotion before.

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Blood Orange – Blood Orange is a terrorism thriller set in today’s high tension world of foreign and domestic threats against soft targets. The story begins on the night of the biggest game in men’s college basketball. Just as the two rivals are squaring off in the quest to crown a champion, tragedy strikes. A nation mourns as a team of elite specialists searches for those responsible.

Follow Navy Officer Brad Rafferty and his team through the twists and turns of this terrorism thriller to see if you can determine who is good and who is evil.

You can pick up your free copy by clicking HERE.

Now available – The book that started it all is now an audio book.

I’m excited to announce that my first book, Frankly Speaking, is now available as an audio book. You can find it on Amazon, Audible and Apple Books.

A Bit About the Book

A 16 year old girl has disappeared. The police believe she is a runaway. Her parents believe she has been taken and is being held against her will. When the parents enlist the services of Frank Rozzani, a former police officer turned private detective, a series of events begins to unfold that implicates a popular local pastor and the religious stronghold of the ultra-conservative community.

Frank Rozzani, a transplant to Jacksonville, Florida from Syracuse, New York, must find the young girl despite the obstacles launched at him from the local police and others whose interests may be compromised by his investigation. Frank enlists the help of his associate Clifford “Jonesy” Jones to find the girl, uncover the conspiracy, and stay alive. While solving the case, Frank must deal with the demons that drove him from Upstate New York causing him to leave traumatic memories and his children behind.

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Purchase Links:

Audible

Amazon

Also available on iTunes.

An exciting, yet scary, venture

This has been a year of taking big steps in trying to accelerate my writing career. Ironically, it has been my slowest year for publishing books. I have two of them written and one completely edited and ready to go, but I’m holding back for a couple of reasons.

First, I recently released an audio book version of Blood Orange. It was a new market and will be followed soon by the first book in the Frank Rozzani Detective Series in audio format.

Second, I wanted to try something totally new with one of my unpublished books. I want to submit it as a candidate for the Kindle Scout program. I’m not doing this lightly. I want to market and promote it correctly and take my best shot. I truly believe in the merit of the book I’m submitting and want to do it the right way.

It’s a very scary proposition, however. I’m not an overly confident person by nature. I also abhor promoting myself and patting myself on the back. I’m hoping to leverage whatever reputation I may or may not have as an author for some of the promotion that I’m going to undertake for this effort. I’ve also put aside some funds to outsource some of it.

From what I’ve learned and continue to learn, the key to success in the Kindle Scout program is sustained promotion and visibility over a 30 day period. This is going to be difficult and, for my followers and newsletter subscribers, perhaps a bit annoying.

I’m hoping that I can prevail on some of you with blogs to help me out with this effort. The more I can spread the word and keep things going, the better chance I will have.

In fact, if you’re interested in helping me out by allowing me a guest post or a promotional spot on your blog, you can let me know by emailing me at don@donmassenzio.com and I’ll try to schedule these out to sustain the momentum.

It will probably be 2-3 weeks before I get all of my ducks in a row to submit my book. In the meantime, any advice that you might have if you’ve gone through or thought about going through this process would be greatly appreciated.

Please look for upcoming information on the book and on my push for the Kindle Scout program on this in the coming weeks. If nothing else, it will be a learning experience and will give me a barometer of where I’m at against where I need to be.

Blood Orange is now an Audio Book

Blood Orange

A Terrorism Thriller
Ripped from the Headlines

Now brought to life as an audio book

Blood Orange is a terrorism thriller set in today’s high tension world of foreign and domestic threats against soft targets. The story begins on the night of the biggest game in men’s college basketball. Just as the two rivals are squaring off in the quest to crown a champion, tragedy strikes. A nation mourns as a team of elite specialists searches for those responsible.

Follow Navy Officer Brad Rafferty and his team through the twists and turns of this terrorism thriller to see if you can determine who is good and who is evil.

Here is what readers are saying about this novel:

“Very well written plot that could be current. The characters are great and well developed.”

“I highly recommend this book and this author. I look forward to more.”

“Great story, many twists and turns! You don’t want to put it down! Loved the fast pace! Want to see more of Rafferty and his team.”

Click the audible icon to check it outAlso available on Amazon and Apple iBooks.

Shameless Plug Time

I haven’t done a shameless plug in a while. While I enjoy blogging and try to keep my activity level pretty high, I am, first and foremost, an author.

I’ve put some time and effort into my book page, so why not direct you to it. Please look it over HERE if you’re so inclined.

Thanks!

 

 

Free for for only four more days

Only Four More Days

I am giving away eBook copies of my short story collection, Random Tales, on Amazon. You can pick up a copy by clicking HERE.

Crazy you say? Well maybe. I wanted to give potential readers a way to sample my writing without a huge investment. The cover for the collection is clickable and is shown below:

Here is a description of each of the stories:

• Heal Thyself – A man who is in a terrible accident wakes up to find that his life has changed forever in a very unexpected way.

The short story, Heal Thyself, holds a special place in my heart. It was the result of my first serious attempt at writing. It was the first short story that I completed and had published. I remember when I heard back from ‘Down In The Dirt’ magazine that they wanted to publish my story. I received no money and actually had to buy a copy of it myself, but hey, I was in print.

The story emerged from reading news headlines. I saw a story about a man riding a motorcycle that had been in a horrific crash and his injuries had paralyzed him from the neck down with multiple internal injuries.

Instead of this inevitable outcome, I started thinking about what alternative endings there might be. I have always been an avid reader of everything written by Stephen King and I began thinking of his book, The Dead Zone which centers on a man that wakes from a coma with psychic abilities that end up torturing him. Thinking of that story gave me a direction for Heal Thyself and I was off and running.

• August 1963 – A story that was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I have a dream’ speech about a young boy transplanted to the South in the early 1960’s.

This story was written to mark the 50^th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. There are a few things to note about this story. First, the main character tells the story in first person, which was something I wanted to try. Second, the character is a transplanted northerner moving to the south at a time when the Civil Rights movement in the US was at a fevered pitch. Although I was less than a year old when this story takes place, I experienced some of the same issues that the main character faced during my own move to the south over 30 years later. Finally, if you’ve read “Frankly Speaking” or “Let Me Be Frank”, you might notice some familiar names and references. This is something that I’ve started to do in my work. I want to have a common underlying thread or universe of characters throughout my work.

This story very much echoes my own feelings on prejudice and racial inequality. One theme that rings through is, no matter how enlightened we think we might be on either side of the race issue, we don’t truly understand what is going on in the hearts and minds of others involved in the struggle. I was able to weave in music as a common thread that binds the characters together. You will see the use of music in many of my stories. Besides writing, it is another passion in my life.

One change that I made in this version of the story from the original that was published as a single, is using the actual n-word instead of masking it. I received some reviews and messages saying that this would make the piece more authentic. I struggled with this as the word has become so controversial and I have always viewed it as offensive. I was convinced when I recently re-read my favorite book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”. When Scout uses the word in the book as a young child, her father tells her not to use the word because it is “common” meaning “low class” in the context of the time and place. I am using it in my story even though, like Atticus Finch, I consider it “common”.

• Play It Again Des – A young piano player realizes his dream of being one of the greats, but at what cost?

This story is about the consequences of taking shortcuts. In my career, I have reached heights higher than I thought I would, but it has been a slow and steady climb. I have refused to play politics or to “sell my soul” to get ahead. I don’t golf. I don’t go to cocktail parties. I would rather color with my seven-year-old than hang out with a bunch of “Masters of the Universe” at a country club on a Saturday morning.

The main character of this story, Desmond Brown, takes a shortcut and suffers the consequences. His shortcut is the result of youthful impatience and coercion by an evil entity. In my corporate career, I have seen both of these at work and have somehow failed to succumb to either. My career ascension may have been slow, but I am able to sleep at night.

Note: If you’ve read my novels, you will see other common threads in this work from the “Frank” universe. Pay attention to the location in New Orleans in particular.

• Lucy’s Christmas Miracle – A dog saves the day and makes Christmas memorable.

I wrote this story completely on a flight from Atlanta to Boston. It was about a two hour flight in rough weather. It was inspired by the dog, Lucy, in my Frank Rozzani Detective Series books. It’s a light-hearted story about a child that goes missing and the events leading to locating her.

It was meant to be a quick tale to get readers interested in my books and as a special Christmas bonus to those who have read the books to whet their appetites for the third book.

I had written the dedication to my youngest daughter who is sometimes wise beyond her years. A freaky thing occurred when I asked my usual provider to create a cover for the story. It came back with a picture of a little girl being guided by a dog. I had to take a second look at the picture as the little girl has a strong resemblance to my daughter mentioned in the dedication. The designer has never met or even seen my daughter, so the coincidence was interesting.

Starting Today – Only 99 Cents

I’m excited to announce, for a limited time, my latest thriller, Blood Orange, is on sale for the low price of 99 cents.

Why am I doing this?

Originally, this book was set to launch on November 13, 2015. Promotional events were scheduled. The book was going to be heavily promoted through the holiday shopping season to try to maximize sales.

If you remember that 11/13/15 date, it was also the date that terrorists attacked multiple locations in Paris, France. One of those locations was a sports venue during a soccer match. Blood Orange focuses on a very similar event. I thought it would be in bad taste to launch and promote the book so soon after this tragedy. It was likely devastating to potential sales, but I felt that it was the right thing to do.

I started a much more subtle promotional campaign at the beginning of the year and sales were decent, but I wanted to give it a bit more of a push. I’m proud of this book and want to see it succeed to it’s fullest. Thus the lowered price from the period of 2/21/16 through 2/28/16.

Here is a synopsis of the book:

Blood Orange is a terrorism thriller set in today’s high tension world of foreign and domestic threats against soft targets. The story begins on the night of the biggest game in men’s college basketball. Just as the two rivals are squaring off in the quest to crown a champion, tragedy strikes. A nation mourns as a team of elite specialists searches for those responsible.

Follow Navy Officer Brad Rafferty and his team through the twists and turns of this terrorism thriller to see if you can determine who is good and who is evil.

Here is what readers are saying about this novel:

“Very well written plot that could be current. The characters are great and well developed.”

“I highly recommend this book and this author. I look forward to more.”

“Great story, many twists and turns! You don’t want to put it down! Loved the fast pace! Want to see more of Rafferty and his team.”

If you find yourself heading into the weekend looking for something to read, check it out. It’s just a $.99 investment (free if you’re a Kindle unlimited member). The most important part of this process for me is hearing what you think. I will keep on writing as long as there are readers that will read my stuff and give me feedback.

Advance Reader Copies – Are They Worth it?

In January I released my 6th book. As I look back over the activities that I’ve used to promote my books it is like going from the Stone Age to the Industrial Revolution. I’m not quite to the point where I can just write. Actually, I’m pretty far from that. As I’ve built up a modest reader base, however, I’ve been able to employ some more advanced promotional techniques.

Issuing advance read copies is one of those techniques that I employed with my last two books. For the book, Frank Incensed, I only issued a few. It was partly to get reaction from readers and secondarily to get reviews on launch day. I tried to give the readers enough time so that they could read the book and review it on Amazon, Goodreads, and any other outlet on the day the book was released.

I definitely saw some bump in sales and ranking due to this. For my latest book, Blood Orange, I was much more aggressive in seeking out advance readers. I issued 30 copies to the members of my street team (more on that in a subsequent post) and approximately another 80 copies to people that I sought out through my mailing list. That’s about a 15% hit rate. That resulted in about 15 reviews on Amazon the day that the book was released. Could this have been better? Of course. I was hoping for about 25-30 reviews. This book, however, had extenuating circumstances, but more on that later.

First, what is an advance reader and how does this group differ from beta readers?

Advance readers get the book when it is finished and ready to be published. It is the final edited copy. No changes will be made based on their feedback unless some big, ugly, hairy error is found.

Using advance readers is a coordinated effort. It takes a bit of organization, but you can use technology to help you. Free technology. The first thing I did was compile a list of those that volunteered to be advance readers. The best took I have found to do this is MailChimp. You can import a spreadsheet with your contact list. You can also, for a minimal monthly cost, add automation to the mix. This allowed me to send a reminder to my advance readers a week before the book was released, the day before, and the day after reminding them to review the book. All of this happened while I was happily Internet and eMail free on a cruise ship. The whole MailChimp process is a series of blog posts on its own. Look for that in the future.

There downsides to using advance readers. Of course. That’s why I’ve compiled another handy dandy pros and cons list so you can decide for yourself.

Pros

• Releasing your book with reviews in place on day one helps your ranking on Amazon
• You build further rapport with your readers and they enjoy being part of the process
• Your book appears mature upon release. A lack of reviews makes readers nervous about spending money on your work
• You get honest feedback from your readers that help you improve quality

Cons

• Like with beta readers, you are forfeit sales to those that are advanced readers (or do you). I’ve had a number of advance readers purchase the book anyway
• As with beta readers, you are putting your work at risk. This is true, but it’s at risk even after it’s released as an eBook on Amazon. Most readers tend to be honest.
• You risk receiving bad reviews. Ouch. If that happens, It probably would have happened anyway, but by giving your book away, you probably increase the odds. You can combat this, of course, by picking your potential audience carefully. The worst review I ever received was my one and only two star review on Amazon. It was one simple word, boring. I was devastated, but when I dug a bit further, I found that the only other reviews this reader had done was for gardening books. And they were just as enlightening. My point is, if you write erotic romance, don’t send your advance reader copies to people who like Christian oriented books.

Advance readers can be useful. Even though the results were not what I hoped for on Blood Orange, I will be using this technique for my next book. The reason it wasn’t as successful for Blood Orange, was the timing. The book was set to release on November 13, 2015. I timed it to be ready for huge Black Friday promotions and planned a marketing blitz throughout the holiday season. If you remember what happened that night, Paris was attacked by ruthless terrorists. Part of the attack was near a sporting venue. My book centers on just that kind of attack. I immediately pulled back on promoting the book and didn’t bother my advance readers, or anyone else for that matter. I didn’t start actively promoting it until after the first of the year. It was a tough decision, but I still feel good about it and I still think the advance reader process is a good one.

Please, those of you who have different experiences with this or questions for me, please reach out through the comments.