Pick a Free Book from Jon Merz

Jon F. Merz, who recently gave us a free copy of his short story Prisoner 392, has released a new novella, Ninja ($1.99 Kindle), and a short story collection This Time of Night ($1.99 Kindle). He's also giving away another free novel or novella of your choice, in celebration of Mother's Day. Here's his letter and the deal:

To say Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out here on the Kindle Boards, I'd like to make the following offer: choose any of my novels or novellas available in Kindle form and you get one for free today only! Here's the list:

• Shadow Chaser (espionage/thriller)
• Parallax (psychic suspense thriller)
• Vicarious (supernatural thriller)

Novellas:

• Ninja (fantasy/sword & sorcery)
• Fool for Green (hardboiled mystery w/monsters)

To take advantage of this, just drop me an email at jonfmerz@verizon.net and let me know which of my works you'd like to check out for free. I'll set you up with the Kindle file direct from me or I'll send you a discount code over at Smashwords (your choice). I'll be out for several hours today, but promise to get to everyone when I return. I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Best wishes,
Jon

So, follow the directions, send him an email and you'll get either a mobi file or a coupon code over on Smashwords to get your free book. Can't beat a deal like that!

Happy Mother's Day!

Free Book (PDF) - Getting Started in Genealogy Online

WorldVitalRecords.com is giving away a free PDF copy of Getting Started in Genealogy Online ($12.95 paperback), by William Dollarhide, as a Mother's Day gift to everyone. This is a short (66 page) introduction to the topic, with somewhat mixed reviews.

Book Description
Getting Started in Genealogy Online is so basic that it brings the world of Internet genealogy into instant focus. Designed as a beginner's guide, its 67 pages pack more clout than any pages ever written on the subject of online genealogy. If you ever wanted to trace your family tree online, this book will help you do it.

This excellent book is written by William Dollarhide, published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., and sponsored as a free download by WorldVitalRecords.com.

Click HERE and then on the DOWNLOAD button (ignore the Sign Up Now button/offer).

Web Site Update - Free Books in the Kindle Store

Blogger now supports multiple "pages" on a blog, so I've updated the web site's appearance, re-arranging a few elements and adding a new Navigation Menu (located at the top/left of the web page) that includes a quick link to a new Free Books in the Kindle Store page. So far, I have this page divided only between the older books that are free from Harlequin (no longer the Harlequin 16, as the numbers have dwindled) and the more recent books (27 currently). All chapters and samples have been excluded. Clicking on a book will take you to a product detail page that includes customer reviews (from there you can click to get to the Amazon product page, where the book can be ordered).

Let me know what you think - is this handy and/or useful to you?

Would you prefer to have the books arranged more by category/genre?

I've been considering arranging these by Scifi/Fantasy, Paranormal/Romance, Fiction and Non-Fiction. I don't want too many categories, but I also don't want overlap (a book should be listed only once). It's true there are some Paranormal genre books that are not Romance, but it seems to be very few that fit into that category that have been offered as free downloads. That that are will fit into the SciFi/Fantasy category.

Game of the Day - Princess Isabella

Amazon's Game Download of the Day is a $2.99 download of Princess Isabella: A Witch's Curse, which is a hidden object game and puzzle game. The reviews are pretty much universal in praising the gameplay and graphics, but do note that it's a fairly short one, solvable in a few hours.

Game Description

• Try To Reverse The Curse.
• 135 Game Scenes.
• Tricky And Challenging Puzzles.
• Can You Defeat The Evil Witch?

Princess Isabella is all set to marry the love of her dreams, Prince Adam. After returning home from a trip, however, she finds that an evil curse has been placed on her castle by a mysterious witch. The curse has placed evil in every room, and turned everyone inside the castle into mirrors! Follow a fairy friend as you piece together the clues and save her friends and family in this gorgeous Hidden Object Adventure game!

Magazine Bargains under Five Bucks

Much as I love my Kindle, for magazines I still prefer paper (so far). Between the pictures (and even ads), the ability to rip out pages and just leave it behind after reading, magazines are just more versatile than the current implementations of electronic magazines, at least as far as those available on ereaders. Last winter I signed up for Backpacker when it was $5 a year (currently $9.95 for two years) and used several other inexpensive subscriptions as gifts. I was glancing thru the current sale and found a few other at five dollars or less for a year.

Boston Magazine ($4.95/year)
New England Home ($4.95/year)
Seventeen ($5.00/year)
Time Out New York Kids ($4.95/year)
Teen Vogue ($5.00/year)
Scholastic Parent And Child ($4.97/year)
Ladies Home Journal ($5.00/year)
Popular Mechanics ($7.00/year) (technically over the limit, but still a good bargain)