"The War Bug" by Biff Mitchell Hits Bookstores this October
Previously available only in e-book format, the trade paperback of Biff Mitchell's best-selling cyber-thriller "The War Bug" will be available in bookstores throughout North America this October.
Fredericton, New Brunswick (PRWEB via PR
Web Direct) May 4, 2005 -- Author Biff Mitchell announces the October trade
paperback launch of his best-selling cyber-thriller "The War Bug" (ISBN:
1-55404-248-8). Previously available only in e-book format, the paperback
version will be coming to bookstores throughout North America in October.
The story revolves around Abner Hayes, who has just hours to save his
virtual family from death at the hands of a ruthless kidnapper. His only ally is
a deadly computer virus responsible for a war that's killed millions and
threatens to destroy the Internet from Earth to Jupiter.
"The story is
set in a virtual world dominated by warring online city states," explained the
author. "It's a world driven blindly by greed and lust, a lot like the real
world."
The book was featured at Fictionwise and was a best-seller at
EPIC. "Reviewers called it edge-of-your-seat science fiction and praised the
characterizations and plotting," said Mitchell. "I was thrilled with the
response to the e-book version," said Mitchell.
This October, the trade
paperback version of "The War Bug" will premiere throughout North America. In
the United States, bookstores and libraries can order the title from Ingram or
Baker & Taylor, or in Canada from Double Dragon Publishing.
Almost
never published, "The War Bug" was a culmination of a year and half of writing,
including a near-scrap of the entire manuscript. A few months later, Mitchell
revisited his novel and completed it a year and a half later. He explained, "I
read through the novel once and made a decision to keep the basic idea, but to
start all over again. I dropped several of the characters and remodeled the
rest. I re-plotted the story, and somewhere in all that reworking, my faith in
the story returned and I knew that I would finish it this time."
"The War
Bug" was picked up by Double Dragon Publishing, the first publishing house
Mitchell sent his manuscript to, with a contract for the e-book format signed
only a few weeks later. The e-book sold well, and the reviews were enthusiastic
and positive—in fact, some bordered on raves.
As "The War Bug" continued
to sell and bring in good reviews, Mitchell began work on a new book, a mystery
called "Murder by Burger." To generate advance publicity for the book, he ran an
auction on eBay to find someone willing to bid on being a murdered character in
his novel. The campaign generated media interest from coast-to-coast.
Mitchell decided to launch a contest for the paperback version of "The
War Bug;" entrants were to write a review of the e-book version with the winning
review appearing on the back of the book along with a picture of the reviewer.
While the contest flopped, Mitchell plans to use some of the marketing campaigns
he worked out for the paperback launch this summer. He explained, "Some of those
campaigns are going to be pretty wild; that is, if I survive the first one, the
one in which I’ve entered an Olympic level triathlon. It promises to be a hot
summer."
About Biff Mitchell
Biff Mitchell is the author of the
world’s first laundromance, "Heavy Load" (biffmitchell.com). His second novel,
"Team Player" (originally published by Jacobyte Books but soon to be released by
Double Dragon Publishing), is a spoof on the IT industry, based largely on his
own work experience. He has two novellas, "The Baton" and "Smoke Break,"
published as Dollar Downloads by Echelon Press. His most recent publication is
"Surfing in Catal Hyuk" (biffmitchell.com), a collection of mostly absurd short
stories. You can visit Biff at www.biffmitchell.com.
Contact Information:
Thom
Glen
Email: e-mail protected from spam bots
506-455-3678
Web Site: www.biffmitchell.com
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb236464.htm