What would you say to your younger self - if you could?

I saw an interesting blog post by YA author Sarah Mlynowski. Her new novel, Gimme a Call, due out this week, is about a high school senior who accidentally drops her cell phone in a fountain. When she fishes it out, she discovers the only call she can make is to herself—as a high school freshman, at age 14.

Sarah went to twitter, and asked others what they would tell their younger selves if they had a magic phone. The responses are certainly interesting, and worth a look.

I responded with: Hey, 14-year-old self... That dream? Now a book http://bit.ly/AFL-TWW about a kid who made a difference! It's dedicated to you.

The book I'm referring to is A Family Legacy: THE WATSON WORKS (The eBook is now Free). That was my first published book, and the ideas and dreams that have followed are the inspiration for my other books. So... now you know.

Hope you read, and enjoy.

Wil

Boating (and other activities) on the British Columbia south coast

Today, for the first time, I'm blogging about someone else's books. I'm doing so because I discovered a series of books, including Up the Strait, that Wayne J. Lutz has just released on Smashwords. They are a collection of books about boating, kayaking, other outdoor activities and living on the south coast of British Columbia.

This area, the Strait of Georgia and Desolation Sound and adjacent coastal BC and the Pacific Northwest, is one of the locations in my books, SONS and BROTHERS in SEATTLE, and the soon-to-be released sequel, SONS and BROTHERS Sail Into DANGER. It is an amazing part of the world for natural scenery, and it makes a great backdrop for the characters in my books. (The current Smashwords special second edition of SONS and BROTHERS in SEATTLE includes bonus chapters from the sequel.)

Wayne Lutz and his wife also keep a blog about their current activities on the south coast of BC, and it's certainly worth a look.

So, lots more to read,

Wil

Thousands of Downloads and Sales of the Books of Wilson James

Thousands of downloads and sales of fiction titles by Wilson James. That’s an incredible statement to be able to make, and excited does not even begin to describe the emotions I feel about that reality. My five multi-format eBooks can be found at Smashwords, and are now also available for the iPad at the iBookstore. When I decided to make my books widely available less then four months ago, I could never have dreamed or imagined that they would be so well received, and I'm thrilled by that.

Two of my titles have made it to the top of the best sellers list for young adult fiction and one has made it to #1 on adult fiction in the drama genre. I’m amazed and humbled by that, and I’d like to share my work even more. Three of my titles are still FREE on Smashwords, one is ‘set-your-price,’ and I’m going to offer my #1 Best Seller FREE for a limited time. Here’s the lineup:

PLAYING THE ‘SON’ CARD – still free. (A 5-star rating, and top 15 on the most downloads list for YA fiction at Smashwords)

A Family Legacy: THE WATSON WORKS – still free. (At #8 on the most downloads list for YA fiction at Smashwords)

PLAYING THE BASEBALL CARD – still free. (In the top 5% on most downloads list for YA fiction at Smashwords)

ROBERT’S RIDE – ‘set-your-price’ from zero to any amount. (Made it to #1 on YA Best Seller list at Smashwords after only 6 weeks)

SONS and BROTHERS in SEATTLE. (Made it to #1 on YA Best Seller list and to #1 on adult fiction (drama) Best Seller list at Smashwords. Normally $4.99, but use code GV22M and GET IT FREE until April 30^th

Hope you have a look, and

Happy Reading,

Wil

Read my books on iPad? Find them in the iBookstore!

Yes! My 5 books are available in Apple's new iBookstore for the iPad!

Obviously I'm pretty happy about that, and I should also mention that three of my books are Free at the iBookstore. Thanks to Smashwords for making this possible. Here is the Smashwords press release. (BTW, iPad and iBookstore are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.)

Enjoy!

Wil

How do I read my eBook?

Images show Mobipocket Reader on laptop screen

This is a great way to read!

With the increasing number of eBooks, the question is: how do we read our eBooks? Many people are buying a Kindle®, or a Nook®, or other similar e-readers. Many people are reading on their PDA, or smart-phone. Still others are starting to use their iPad®, and Apple is introducing their new iBookstore (including 5 of my books - thanks to Smashwords) to promote that. Those are all good ways to read eBooks, but there is still another option that is overlooked.

A great way to read eBooks is a way that has been in use for some time: a laptop (or desktop) computer. The really good news that there are really good software alternatives for using a laptop to read eBooks. Barnes & Noble® and Sony® have their own software to use with ‘ePub’ files. There are many other ways to get software to read ePub files.

If you’re still reading your books as PDF or similar files, there is a much better way.

From my perspective, after spending a lot of time looking for something I liked to use, one of the best choices for reading eBooks is software called “Mobipocket Reader®.” This turns your laptop into a really nice, big-screen e-reader. The price is right, too; it’s FREE. You can set the software to display full-screen, or part-screen. Any eBook can be displayed in many different fonts and sizes.

Both of the images above are from the Mobipocket reader.

This Mobipocket Reader requires ‘Mobi’ files, and the choice of eBooks titles in that format is huge and growing by the day. The Kindle® also uses Mobi files.

Most books on Smashwords, for instance, are available in multi-formats, and can therefore be read on a laptop with Mobipocket Reader software. Mobi files can be downloaded from many eBook retailers, including a store that comes with the software, but this Mobipocket Reader® will also convert PDF, Doc, and a number of other text file types into Mobi files so that the books can be read more easily.

So, what is my recommendation? Go get your FREE Mobipocket Reader software, get it set up on your laptop, and then look for eBook retailers that sell books in the Mobi format. As a start, I would recommend Smashwords, as they have almost 10,000 titles available, and many of them are Free. It’s a really good way to get started reading eBooks.

If you want a really good book to get started with, I further recommend one of my books at Smashwords that has made it to #2 on the general adult fiction Best Seller list, and to #1 on the YA Best Seller list. That book is SONS and BROTHERS in SEATTLE. The eBook retails for $4.99, but if you use coupon code GV22M at the Smashwords checkout, it will be FREE for a limited time.

Try the software, and then try this book to see how it all works, and I think you’ll be pleased and impressed. I was, and I still am.

Good luck with your reading, and

Enjoy,

Wil