Cerberus Rising consistently sells well at conventions and book fairs. Ebook sales have been meh at best. I think the reason it sells so much better at events is because I take the time to really describe the process we took in creating the book.
M. Ennenbach, Chris Miller, and myself collaborated on this collection. The idea was simple, yet also something we hadn’t seen anyone else do—we each came up with a prompt, and then each author wrote a novelette (basically a long short story) based on that prompt. Ennenbach’s prompt was Cabin Fever. Miller’s was Chaos. And mine was Letters.
The reason I’ve decided to make Cerberus Rising free for the next several days is because it’s November. Yeah, I know the cover has a nice autumn look, but I was more so considering my Cabin Fever story: “Insides Out.” The story takes place on and after Thanksgiving, so it’s a good tale to read in November. And it is easily the one I hear from readers most about. Both through email and messenger, folks contact me to tell me how much they enjoyed it, how it impacted them. It’s odd, because prior to publication, I felt it was the weakest story of the nine. I really didn’t want to lead the collection off with it, but both Mike and Chris convinced me it was perfect in that spot.
But “Insides Out” is far from the only great story here. All nine are strong tales, giving readers a pretty damn good idea of what we’re capable of. Ennenbach’s “The Incident at Barrow Farm” is an action-packed bloodbath. Miller’s “The Final Correspondence of Thomas Baker Wolfe” is perhaps the best Lovecraftian tale of the last decade, and my personal favorite story of the collection.
I’m incredibly proud of my other two contributions to the book: “Blame Jonathan Swift” and “Taking the Loop.” “Blame Jonathan Swift” is a story I’d had tucked away in my brain for years, but was too nervous to attempt. If you’ve read Swift’s A Modest Proposal, you might can guess where this depraved tale goes. “Taking the Loop”. . .let’s just say that one goes a little crazy. Like an acid trip from Hell.
Anyway, if you’re interested in reading Cerberus Rising, find it for free on Amazon for the next few days.
Oh, and it was nominated for two Splatterpunk Awards! So pick it up!