Announcing The Forest of Forever by Rob Blackwell and its involvement with Amazon's Kindle Scout program

Writing this has been harder than working on my novel for the past year. I have so many things I want to tell you at once, I don’t know where to start. I want to spit it all out at the same time: I have a new novel! It’s part of a new series! It’s also part of a new experimental Kindle program! And, hey, you can potentially get it for free!

That’s a lot of exclamation points.

So let’s slow it down. First things first: I’m proud, relieved, excited and anxious to announce my new novel The Forest of Forever, the start of a new series about paranormal investigator Soren Chase.

If you look at the bottom of this post, you can see the cover art. Here are the official details on what it’s about:

“Soren Chase’s life was shattered eight years ago after encountering a supernatural being that left three friends dead and him branded as a murderer. Since then, he’s become a paranormal investigator, facing off against a host of deadly creatures.

“But his investigation into the haunted Reapoke woods may be his most dangerous case yet. Hired to find a missing girl and unlock the forest’s secrets, what he discovers is far darker than he imagines and forces him to confront his tragic past.”

The novel is a combination of urban fantasy, mystery and suspense, very similar in tone to The Sanheim Chronicles. If you liked those novels, I really think you’re going to like this one. I’ve been hard at work on this novel for more than a year and I’m very excited to finally release it.

Which brings me to my next point: I need your help to get it out there. I don’t need your money and I don’t even need you to buy anything. I just need your vote. If we work together and win this, you will receive The Forest of Forever absolutely free!

Beginning Oct. 27, Amazon will start a program called “Kindle Scout,” which crowd-sources new books for publication. Authors unveil the cover and the first chapter for free and invite Amazon readers to nominate ones they think are promising. If enough people nominate a book, Amazon will buy it from the author and market the hell out of it. As a bonus, all those who nominated it will receive the book for free.

I’m very excited to say The Forest of Forever is in the first wave of books that will be part of Kindle Scout. Starting Monday, Oct. 27, you can go here to read the prologue and nominate the book, as well as see a short interview with yours truly. (That link will not lead you anywhere until Oct. 27.) The book will be on the site for just 30 days and if it receives enough votes, Amazon will publish it. Most importantly, Amazon will promote the book (my least favorite activity) and it has the potential to be seen by a ton of readers.

You may have questions. How many nominations does it take to “win”? How many other books are up for nomination? How soon after this process will the novel be available? Is Elvis alive? The answer to all of them is I don’t know (well, I know the answer to the last one, but I will take that secret to the grave). All I know is that I want to get as many nominations as possible. And to do that, I need your help. To put it simply: I can’t do this without you. I need to spread the word as far and wide as possible. 

When voting opens, I’d appreciate if you could take a few seconds to nominate The Forest of Forever and encourage your friends or social networks to do the same. I really believe that together we can clear whatever bar Amazon is set. We can make this happen.

Best of all, we’re not asking for anybody’s money or even any time. And if the book is chosen by Amazon, you and everyone else who nominates it gets it for free. This is a win-win deal.

I have a lot more to say and more secrets to spill, but this post is already long. To learn more, please join my e-mail newsletter here. I’ve got a special reward coming soon for those that do.

I hope you’ll join me in this effort. Without any further ado, I leave you with the cover for The Forest of Forever, once again done by the talented Travis Pennington. Tell me what you think in the comments below!