A Far Traveler, a Global Ebook Award Nominee, is available at Smashwords.com and Amazon. It’s a science fiction story about Earth’s first alien visitor. I used Smashwords.com first because they have this thing called a coupon, i.e. a discount. I have set the coupon for A Far Traveler at 100% off, and you can get the discount if you help me with reviews and comments, but you must use the coupon when you purchase the book. I can’t help you after you have already bought it; I can’t retro discount!!.
Reviews, comments, and promotional ideas
I need comments, reviews, and promotions. I need reader comments at all the on-line outlets, Barnes & Nobles, Smashwords, Amazon, and the others. I need book reviews at individual blogs, at on-line sci-fi newspapers, magazines, and radios, at regular sci-fi newspapers, magazines, radio and TV. I need promotional ideas, particularly on-line promotional ideas.
How to receive the 100% discount
It’s simple. Look at the sidebar on the right of this page. Below the covers of my books are the words “Click to email me“. Click there and email me. Tell me who you are and what you propose to do regarding the book, e.g. leave a comment at Smashwords.com, review the book in your blog, promote the book at your website. Anyone and everyone committing to help will receive the coupon code from me. It’s the honor system. If you decide not to follow through with your commitment, no problem, and no hard feelings—life is too short to worry about that. It would be nice if you can tell me why you didn’t follow through. Again if it’s not possible, or it’s some heavy personal thing, don’t sweat it.
How to use the coupon code
When you find out let me know. Ha, ha, but somewhat true since I can’t use it myself. Let me know if you have a problem. It’s supposed to be simple. You go to A Far Traveler’s page. You click to buy and download the book, during the process you’ll be given the opportunity to enter the discount or coupon code. Do so and presto you can download it for free. It is my understanding that you can download again and again after going through the purchase process once.
What is the book about?
I wrote the pitch for this book at least 100 times. I would work all day on it; think I nailed it, then curse it the next morning. Finally I got pissed and decided to copy the form of Dan Brown’s pitch from the back of Angels and Demons. Here’s what I ended up with (it’ll change again, I’m sure):
An ancient alien’s story of our past.
The modern day search for his remains.
A race to save our world.
The discovery of an ancient space explorer’s diary reveals our past and is the key to our future.
World-renowned tycoon Horace Haines acquires an ancient astronaut’s holographic record. Its story is incredible: Hunted by human psychics, the castaway alien seeks refuge with a Bedouin shaman. The account ends without telling the extraterrestrial’s fate, so Horace hires vagabond engineer, Matt Krause, to find out what happened.
Things go awry from the start for Matt and his brainy girlfriend, Stephanie Noble. A murder implicates Stephanie. Strangers haul Horace away during a corporate coup and henchmen corner Matt and Stephanie in a deserted office.
From an underground labyrinth in Nevada to a Sufi stronghold North Africa, Matt and Stephanie must traverse a perilous maze in their quest to learn the truth about Earth’s first alien.
A Far Traveler, at approximately 158,000 words, is the first of four western flavored sci-fi novels in the Shaman Gene series, the tale of Earth’s rise to join galactic society.
The cover:

Do you think I should have a contest to create a new cover? You could answer the poll at the bottom, or make an offer by email.
Tags:
I used a zillion tags, because I couldn’t really nail down A Far Traveler with a single handle. It is science fiction for sure, with elements of the following subgenres:
Hard sci-fi- I’m a professional engineer and an ex-college math instructor. My sci-fi is solid, but not overwhelmingly hard.
Soft sci-fi- Some sociological stuff: ancient and extraterrestrial cultures.
Western sci-fi- Many of the characters are modern day cowboys and Indians. The Indians come on strong in the second and third books.
Alternative history- Big time! Sub-plots in three novels in the following order: Biblical, Renaissance, Crusades.
Anthropological- Classical Egypt
Superhuman- Yes but with a twist, the descent from superhuman status.
Feminist- Can you get more feminist than an Amazon? She’s introduced in the first book, but she shines in the next three. Until then, you’ll have to be happy with Stephanie, who is a mathematician extraordinaire.
Speculative fiction- Pretty much defined by the above categories. Add in some earth spirits, psychic powers, shamans, magic, etc.