Contact: Steven E. Wedel
stevewedel@sbcglobal.net

Oklahoma Author Launches Book Promotion for Holiday Season

MOORE, Okla. – Local author Steven E. Wedel is offering his first novel absolutely free to readers as part of a promotional campaign that will run through the end of 2003.

“Writing and publishing is a brutal business,” Wedel said. “You’ve got to find innovative ways to promote your work if you’re going to survive, especially if you’re not publishing through one of the major houses.”

Wedel, whose novel “Shara” is from startup small press company 3F Publications of Indiana, is set to kick off a campaign he’s titled “Give the Gift of Lycanthropy.” Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 he will be attending book signings and offering an electronic PDF of his novel through his Web site and listings in various publications.

“I am working to set up as many signings as I can do,” Wedel said. “The book tour part of the campaign urges people to buy a personally inscribed copy of this first edition novel for people on their Christmas shopping lists. Of course, they should buy themselves one, too.”

Wedel said book tours have limited promotional value, though. “Physically and fiscally, there’s only so much touring I can do,” he said. “Like most authors, I’m still working a day job, then writing new fiction and promoting ‘Shara’ in my free time. Unfortunately, I can’t tour the country and do signings from coast to coast.”

That’s where the electronic giveaway comes in. Wedel said he believes there really aren’t that many people who enjoy reading electronic books. “Let’s face it, reading a novel on a computer screen is brutal on your eyes,” he said. However, many people will read part of a novel from the computer and decide from that whether or not they want to buy the physical book.

“Based on the feedback I’ve been getting during the first two months the book has been available, people who have found the book and given it a chance are enjoying it,” Wedel said. “So far, nobody’s written to tell me they wasted their money when they bought my book.”

Wedel said the “Give the Gift of Lycanthropy” campaign is perfectly suited for “Shara,” a werewolf novel. In the book, the main character, Shara, is offered the chance to become a werewolf in hopes she can overcome her shyness and the self-esteem problems that stem from a troubled adolescence and being date-raped on her high school prom night.

“On a snowy night right before Christmas break, Josef Ulrik, one of Shara’s professors, offers her the gift of lycanthropy, promising it will give her self-confidence,” Wedel said. “She accepts. But, of course, being a werewolf comes with its own social problems and Shara has to learn to cope with those.”

The novel has received praise from noted authors Tom Piccirilli, Gary A. Braunbeck, Diana Barron and M. Stephen Lukac. Favorable reviews have appeared in City Slab and Blood Rose magazines. “Shara” is Wedel’s second published book; a short story collection called “Darkscapes” was released in 2002.

To get a free PDF copy of “Shara,” send an e-mail to southplainsmedia.sbcglobal.net with the code word "WEB" in the subject line or the body of the message.

For more information, visit Wedel’s Web site at www.stevenewedel.com.

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