Shutdown Press Release

Oct 23, 2013

New press release about my newest e-short story Shutdown. You guys downloaded it over 30,000 in the first day! Thank you, so happy I could share it with you!

NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the best-selling Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series, has released “Shutdown,” a new short story featuring Anita Blake, which she made free to readers for the duration of the government shutdown. Hamilton worked with the epublishing technology company Vook to deliver free ebooks directly to her audience. Hamilton wrote, edited, designed and released the short story, featuring characters from her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series, published by Penguin Random House.

With production contributions from Hamilton’s husband Jonathon Green, who also designed the cover, and the assistance of her agent Merrilee Heifetz with Writers House Digital Director Julie Trelstad, it took less than 72 hours to take advantage of this unique moment in American politics.

“Shutdown” features the recurring protagonist Anita Blake and series’ regular Richard Zeeman, the bad-boy werewolf beloved by fans.

Hamilton used Vook’s technology to quickly release a story to her audience and control the process, which made it easy for her fans to access the book, resulting in first day download numbers of more than 30,000 copies of “Shutdown.” Hamilton has commented that, “This story is for all my readers who have been affected by the current political snafu–and for anyone else who might need to enjoy a free story in these difficult times.” While the original plan was to withdraw the free story at the end of the shutdown, to celebrate the enthusiasm of her readers, and the government coming to its senses, Hamilton has decided to extend the free download until Friday October 25th. Hamilton stated, “I love being able to reward people with one more free week, and having a process that is flexible enough to do it.”

“Shutdown,” a new Anita Blake story, is available via Vook’s free ebook delivery service at http://signup.vook.com/laurell-hamilton/

About Laurell K. Hamilton

Laurell K. Hamilton is the author of two #1 New York Times bestselling hardcover series: her Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books (published by Penguin Random House) and the Merry Gentry novels (published originally by Ballantine and now Berkley). Her titles have sold over 12 million copies in twenty two countries.

About Vook, Inc.

Founded in 2009, Vook has created an innovative technology platform that allows content holders to create great ebooks, add video, audio and images, publish the ebooks to their own Web page and to the major e-retailers, and track their sales. Vook provides a turnkey solution for content strategy, including editorial, marketing and distribution services and has worked with a range of partners, including The New York Times, Fast Company, Google, American Express Publishing, and Newsweek Daily Beast. For more information, please visit http://vook.com or contact allison@vook.com.

Media Contact:

Allison Horton, Vook, 3476960041, allison@vook.com

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

SOURCE Vook

RELATED LINKS

http://www.vook.com

25 thoughts on “Shutdown Press Release”

  1. Hey Laurell,

    Loved the ebook, Shutdown…I missed a story with Richard as one of the central characters…He’s always so conflicted. There is always lots of drama surrounding Richard. I’m looking forward to the next Anita Blake novel. Hopefully, you’ll continue this story arc in your next book.

    When are you going to have a new Merry Gentry book come out? I miss Frost and Darkness too. Mistral was an amazing character…I hope to hear more about him.

    Happy writing,
    Mish

  3. Thanks Gestapo mods for continual deletion of my non positive honest messages.I’m sure Laurell’s husband thanks you.

    1. Huh, not sure what you are talking about… Other than it took a few days to actually get you comments moderated. Because I am a little busy with other things, and haven’t been as on top of the comment moderation as I’d like.

  4. I love the stories with Richard and Anita. I hope you continue this story line. I’ve been missing Richard.

  5. Just starting listening to your books, can’t stop, on my 6th book. And Kinberly Alexis is great as well. My daughter is also a fan and the one that told me of your books. So glad she did!

    Thanks for writing
    Carole

  6. Good grief people can be so awful- the amount of crude negative comments I see on here are just overwhelming. Clearly, recent generations no longer teach, “If you have nothing nice to say…”. Anyway, I love all the books and all the short stories~ the storylines and the so-called “porn” lol~I have all the graphic novels, too- neat to actually see a representation of the characters. Thank you so much for the freebie- it was great to have something from Anita’s world to read in between book releases! 🙂

  7. Sadly, I just finished Affliction. I read the entire series in about 3 months. I will be suffering Blake withdrawal.

  8. Damn it all to hell! My stupid computer had a final death and I didn’t see this til now (do finally was able to get on with my kindle). How can I get the ebook now?!?

  9. Oh, I loved this short story. I’m so along for the ride that is Richard’s evolution. I’ve always loved his and Anita’s violent chemistry, his struggle with himself and now it feels like a convergence…standing for what he knows is right and true for himself. My heart bleeds for him and I’m glad Anita is there with him. I hope there is a HEA in store for him!

  10. I loved Shutdown. It was awesome and I have a suggestion. An Anita Blake Companion Guide should totally be written. Everyone who’s Anita Blake obsessed would want and buy it.

  11. I’ve read both Merry and Anita from book 1 to current and I got to say I’m hooked on both!
    Can’t wait till “A Shiver of Light” comes out next year. I’m currently rereading Merry from book 1 on to refresh everything. You think you might do a crossover short eventually or maybe just a nod to each other? Would love to hear Anita’s thoughts on faerie or vise versa lol.

    Thank you for two wonderfully creative worlds LKH,

    John P. Simpson

  12. I thank you (and your congresspeople) for this short story. By the way, is not your government that is acting stupid, it is your congress.
    I am Icelandic and I do know the difference and the reason, why do USA citizen blame the wrong people for this situation?

  13. LOVED the short story “SHUTDOWN”. I look forward to reading an expanded story line from it.
    Have you forgot about Merry Gentry, I would love to read more on her.
    Hoping you have a wonderful Yuletide.

  14. I’m sorry but I missed Shutdown and have been trying to find it. I went on vook.com and couldn’t find. Will you be reissuing this ebook again. thank you

  15. I too would like to get the story again, I had it in my nook and it gliched out on me and I lost almost half my stuff and “Shutdown” was one I lost….. 🙁

  16. I missed Shutdown. 🙁 How can I get it?? I LOVE RICHARD. Would love to get my eyes on this story.

  17. Where have I been to not know about ‘Shutdown’! Like everyone I’ve hunted for a copy to no end….oh well, that is my punishment!! Starving of new experiances along with Anita or Merry but with my BBF now traveling through Anita’s story, I get to live it again.

  18. Hello. I would love to read Shutdown. Alas, I am another person who missed when it was available. I would love to know if it will be available for purchase.

    thank you,

    Chelle

  19. Where can I find “shutdown”? I can’t believe I missed it!!
    I guess I am in the minority here, but I’d love to see more BDSM, like in Narcissus! Yum!
    Thanks for writing!!

  20. I’m not able to find the book either :'( I’ve tried all the links & whatnot & end up nowhere! I know I’m totally late in the game as I wasn’t able to get it but is there somewhere I can either get it or even just read it? I finally got my computer up & living after a hard crash :/ So, um, yeah, any help would be greatly appreciated!

  21. I missed an Anita story? How? Where can I find it? Richard may not be my favorite but he is that member of the family you would love to throttle but miss when he isn’t around. Can anyone help with a link to either a download or purchase? Thanks! =)

  22. I can’t believe I missed an Anita story!! Would love a to know if there is a way to get it still. I just love this series!

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