Arriving in second place

I suppose I should be upset Arrival is currently at position #2 on a Smashwords anthology search.

On the other hand, looking at number one...



...what chance do I stand against Justin Bieber?

• Arrival homepage - free e-book on Smashwords

Kindle and Smashwords

I did not intend to blog over Christmas. After all, with all the shops closed, the snow falling and everyone at home what could possibly happen?

Well, Arrival could hit 800 downloads and a brief appearance on the Smashwords most downloaded anthologies list. It was at #8 when I checked so you'd need to scroll down to see it, but that is a nice Christmas present. This is completely unexpected, and a very pleasant surprise. It is getting to the point where I am tempted to do a trailer for my free ebook.

• Arrival

On the other hand this does give me some grounds to approach my publisher about moving the release of the Kindle edition of Fire Season up. I have no idea whether or not a commercial product will be as successful, but the ebook does seem to have moved rather fast.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and, if I don't update before then, have a Happy New Year!

A quick update on Arrival.

Going by what other bloggers had said, I was expecting maybe ten downloads a day. Short stories from unknown authors with little promotion apparently go unnoticed. Instead Arrival (uploaded on 14th December, went into directories on 19th) reached 500 downloads last night and is still going. That's not including anyone who read it on Goodreads or viewed it online.

My round-up for the year will go live later today, but that news makes a very nice early Christmas present.

• Arrival by VH Folland

Arrival - a Free short story

Back between August and November I released a short story, linked to Fire Season, through tweets and regular blog updates. It proved rather popular, drawing over 6,000 followers on its various channels. So, since it's coming up for Christmas, with the help of the publisher it is now available as a free download on Smashwords in most ebook formats.

Arrival is set a few years before Fire Season, covering the arrival of one of Brooke's Vale's more unique residents.

Arrival
Ebook Price: Free! 1560 words.
Type: Fiction
Author: V.H. Folland
Released: December 14, 2010
A short story about the arrival of one of Brooke's Vale's more unusual residents.

A prequel, set several years before Fire Season, this was originally released through Twitter.

*Click here to Download Free*