March 26, 2010

Shazam, it’s easy to try out an ebook! One of mine, please.

I’m so happy, Blog! All the books I’ve published except Bloodchained II (coming soon) are now available as ebooks from Barnes & Noble—eleven titles! And don’t they all look spiffy on this page?


You may think it’s cost-prohibitive and a pain to see what ebooks are like, but if you have five minutes and no money, you can! It’s easy to install B&N’s ereader software on your PC, Mac, iPhone or Blackberry. Seriously, in five minutes you can nab yourself a free sample (like 30 page’s worth) of one of my books and try reading it on your computer or smartphone. And if any of you own a Nook (Barnes’ own ereading device), c’mon, check out my books!

Okay, Blog, you start here. From this page you can download the reading software on your computer and install in uberquickly. (You do need to have an account with Barnes & Noble.) If you want to install the software on your Blackberry or iPhone, just use your device to go to http://www.bn.com/ and click on the link that says “Download free B&N eReader App.”


Either process sets you up an ebook library where samples or ebooks you download are stored. You can access them ever after either from your computer OR smartphone. Here’s my ebook library as seen on my PC, Gaiman (note the nifty free sample from my book Soulful Sex III):


On ‘Berry, the library looks like this:


Pretty sleek, hey? Here’s how a book looks on ‘Berry:


And here’s how my first short story in the book, “Hunter,” starts out:


It’s all very exciting, convenient, and (here comes one of my favorite words) CHEAP! I heartily recommend anyone wanting to experiment with an ebook—or with my writing, for that matter— to download my novel Looking on Darkness. Barnes currently has the ebook on sale for a mere $2.13! Cripes, the paperback is twelve bucks! Here’s the blurb about this gripping book:

A British psychologist with a mysterious past and strange powers. A former monk with the voice of an angel and untamable vanity. A jazz performer who derives her confidence from a secret lover. A college student obsessed with becoming someone’s “Lolita.” These four haunted characters take separate paths to meet in 1991 Milwaukee, and the alchemy of their union creates thrilling, bizarre, magical and deadly results.

Looking on Darkness is Diana Laurence’s first full-length work outside the romance genre, and draws heavily from the psychoanalytical theory of Carl Jung. It is a mainstream novel of psychological vampirism that explores the deepest caverns of the mind and the darkest corners of the heart.

It’s great! Really, Blog, why would I lie? Well, at least I really liked it. You liked it too, Blog? Awesome.

At any rate, this is all a very quick and handy way for newbies to check out the ereading experience for themselves. And I hope anyone familiar with Nook, ereading, or Looking on Darkness will comment....

2 comments:

  1. I love my Nook. When I'm in the mood to read, I can purchase and download a title in minutes. And I no longer have to worry about bookcase space!

    I've loaded up my Nook with all my favorites from your Free Reads page, too. :-)

    Looking on Darkness is such an awesome book. $2.13 is an absolute steal - I hope some people take advantage of the sale. I wish the sample had more, though. You only get to "meet" young Jeremy Lamb and I really feel like you don't get into the swing of the book until after you see all four main characters in Milwaukee.

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  2. You're so sweet, CC, thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed LOD. There's another excerpt on my website here (http://www.dianalaurence.com/lodexcerpt.html) but it's from the beginning too and also from Jeremy's childhood. Might even be the same passage, I'm not sure!

    And thanks for the mini-review of the Nook! It does look like an awesome device and I covet one.

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