Hal Spacejock - Free! |
There may be no free lunch for goofy hero Hal Spacejock, but his fans worldwide are about to be served a big helping of science fiction - for nothing! Western Australian author, Simon Haynes, is giving away free ebook copies of the novel Hal Spacejock. To coincide with the release of the fourth book, Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch, the first novel in the popular series is now available as a free download.Author Simon Haynes says there is a method to his madness. "Science fiction readers are typically technologically savvy and familiar with E-books. "They are often bloggers with many online connections and the spread of information across the online community is incredibly fast," he said. Haynes said he was keen to build an international following but in some countries his books were only available as an expensive import. Download the Hal Spacejock ebook here. "Hal Spacejock 1 is now on its third reprint and I've proved there's an audience for my particular brand of offbeat humour."By giving away the first novel as a free online download, I hope to reach a wider, international audience and, with any luck, get them hooked on the whole Hal Spacejock series," said Haynes. Although the practice is rare in Australia, free online books in the science fiction genre have been given away by overseas publishers such as Tor Books, HarperCollins and Baen with interesting results. Initial reports indicate that releasing "freebies" can lead to increased book sales. Haynes also has his eye on the reluctant reader in the school system - especially boys. He said that while many potential readers may shudder at the thought of borrowing a book from the library, he hopes they may be more inclined to check out an E-book. "If you're a school librarian, a parent or an English teacher who wants a way to promote reading, you've really got nothing to lose by pointing kids in the direction of an online novel. "I'm a parent and I figure that if my kids are going to spend more time online then you'd better make books available to them there as well as in the school library," he said. The four Hal Spacejock books are a comic science fiction series that will be enjoyed by anyone who likes books by Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt or Jasper Fforde. To download your free copy of Hal Spacejock 1 go to the download page About the author Simon Haynes - BiographyBiography(If you're reproducing this elsewhere, trim it as much as you like.)Simon Haynes was born in England and moved to Spain with his family in the 1970's. After a childhood in the Spanish school system, two years of Australian high school and two university degrees, there came a fateful day when he threw aside a novel he was reading and declared 'Even I can do better than that!'. His first story published in a paying market - Sleight of Hand - won the Aurealis Award, Australia's premier award for speculative fiction. In 2004 Simon was writing his fourth novel when Fremantle Press, an Australian trade publisher, offered a contract for his first three books. They were published over a five-year period, and were distributed by Penguin across Australia and New Zealand. Simon now has ten Hal Spacejock novels, four Harriet Walsh novels, four Hal Junior novels, three Dragon and Chips novels, three Space Opera novels, two Historical ghost novels and a dozen short stories in print, all of them available in print and ebook. Several of his works are available in translation, including German editions of Hal 1 and 2, an Italian edition of Hal Junior, and French editions of Hal Spacejock and Loss Leader. Simon is also the programmer and software engineer behind Spacejock Software, and is responsible for popular programs like yWriter and yBook. He's also a lifelong computer gamer, which is why he's only managed to write around thirty novels and around forty different sofware applications. In his spare time he runs a woodworking business. How I came to write Hal JuniorHow I came to write Hal Spacejock |
I'm Simon Haynes, programmer and author. Welcome to my website.
What do I write?
Hal Spacejock
Harriet Walsh
Hal Junior
Dragon & Chips
The Secret War
Mysteries in Metal
Short Stories
