No Free Story This Week (Sorry)

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Sorry, no free story this week. My original goal was to publish a weekly short story on Amazon, but I didn’t manage to get one out this week.

The main reason is that I’m currently working on a free novelette for my newsletter subscribers, and that’s taking up most of my free time.

I’m still fully committed to my STORY52 project and will make sure the Amazon short story series reaches 52 issues in total. But for now, finishing the book for my mailing list is the top priority.

Once that’s done, I’ll get back to a regular release schedule for both Amazon and this blog.

See you soon…

Get My Short Story “The Asylum” For Free (STORY52 No.7)

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The book is available for free until Saturday, so make sure to grab it now.

ENG | https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FLVWDSBW
DE | https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0FLVWD32F

Here is a short summary:

In the year 3025, humanity has expanded far beyond the stars – but not everyone fits into its pristine, controlled society. Elijah Vance is deemed an incurable criminal: triple homicide, feels no empathy, no remorse. The verdict is final – he is exiled from the advanced civilization of humankind and taken to The Asylum.

If you liked it, please leave me a review, thanks!

I Always Make The Same Mistake

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I went back over my first blog posts and realized I’m making the same mistake I made before I even started this project of trying to become a real author.

Back then, I wrote:

I have dozens of series ideas stored in my swipe file. They all look intriguing, but I know I shouldn’t start them all at once. Instead, it makes more sense to tackle them one by one.

My plan for now is simple: focus on a single series until it’s finished.

The goal was clear: write standalone books, work on my sci-fi saga (a lifetime project), and stick to just one series at a time (currently my 17 series).

I wanted to do this because standalone books are simply easier to write. With a series, you have to think about so much more in order to maintain consistency. Make a side character who only appears for two lines a mumbling fool in book three, and you’d better remember he’s still a mumbling fool in book seven when he reappears.

With a standalone title, you only have to keep track of the details for one book at a time—and you can conveniently forget them once it’s done.

Now, imagine writing multiple series at once…

It’s not just about remembering character quirks and world-building details—it’s also about remembering which details belong to which series. I can juggle my sci-fi saga alongside one other series, but adding even more to my daily workload makes it much harder to keep everything straight.

And yet, recently I made the mistake of starting two more series on top of what I was already doing. Halfway through, I realized it was forcing me to rush plot decisions and neglect deeper character development.

Reading those old posts was a wake-up call. I decided to hit the brakes and return to my original plan:

  • Write standalone titles (the goal is to finish a book a month on average)
  • Write my weekly short stories for Amazon (STORY52)
  • Work on my 17 series (a Bond/Reacher/Bourne-style story)
  • Focus on my sci-fi saga (basically my own Star Wars with hundreds of characters)

Everything else is simply too much—especially since I’m not yet making a living from writing – maybe I never will. So I’m putting all other projects on hold until either the 17 series or the sci-fi saga is complete.

Get My Short Story “The Red Button” For Free (STORY52 No.6)

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The book is available for free until Saturday, so make sure to grab it now.

ENG | https://amazon.com/dp/B0FKZCW59M
DE | https://amazon.de/dp/B0FKZCHXBP

Here is a short summary:

In an abandoned warehouse somewhere in Oklahoma, robots toil away — no, actually just one robot: W4L-DI, Model 7.3, affectionately called “Waldi.”
His job? Cleaning. Around the clock. No breaks. No pay. No complaints. And above all: never press the red button.

If you liked it, please leave me a review, thanks!

Author In Progress Report – July 2025

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My first real month as an author is officially done. I published my debut novel at the start of July and gave it away for free to more than 600 readers. A handful of people purchased it afterward, and I’ve been getting about one new reader per day via Kindle Unlimited (KENP). Not exactly a bestseller success story—but it’s a start.

Here’s a breakdown of how everything went:

Free Book Giveaways

As I’ve mentioned before, my strategy is to give all my books away for free in order to build a readership. Being free is really the only “selling point” I have as an indie author trying to break into an oversaturated market where nobody knows who I am. So, free it is.

STORY52

This is my weekly short story project where I release a new short story ebook on Amazon which allows me to give it away from Monday until Saturday. Here are the download numbers so far:

  • Book 1 | Black Market Dreams (US – DE): 18 German – 10 English downloads
  • Book 2 | The Last Portrait (US – DE): 19 German – 16 English downloads
  • Book 3 | The Companion (US – DE): 16 German – 6 English downloads
  • Book 4 | Statues (US – DE): 8 German – 3 English downloads

Amazon’s KDP system allows me to offer books for free for 5 days every 3 months. After a year, I’ll have enough content to give away a new short story each week, every year—until I get old and wrinkly.

The goal is not to make money from short stories, but to create promotional material that gets readers interested in my other work at no cost. Frankly, I don’t think it’s even possible to earn anything substantial with short stories on Amazon.

My First Novel: Forever

From my perspective, this is a success. Forever was downloaded 630 times in German and 44 times in English, resulting in 13 ratings on Amazon. With an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars, new readers can see that I don’t write complete trash—but actually offer some real entertainment.

As mentioned earlier, the book also brought in Kindle Unlimited readers—roughly one new reader per day—and led to a few purchases of the digital version.

To everyone who bought or reviewed one of my books: You’re awesome—thank you!

If you haven’t checked it out, grab it here: US – English | DE – German

My Website

Still very much a work in progress. I’m experimenting with scheduling and trying to figure out what kind of content would be interesting and helpful to you.

Newsletter

Short-term goal: Finish a novelette to give away to new newsletter subscribers.
Long-term goal: Once I reach 100 real subscribers, I’ll begin sending out weekly emails with updates, tips, behind-the-scenes content, and more—for readers, writers, and anyone curious about this author journey.

The website itself

Last month, website traffic increased even though I barely touched it, which is a good sign. That said, I haven’t received many comments yet—just the usual spam. The main purpose of the site is to become a central hub for the community I hope to build. So if you’re reading this: drop a comment and say hi. You might be the first to do so.

X/Twitter

I’m still figuring out a posting routine here. What I’ve already learned: You won’t gain traction unless you follow people first.

At first, I wanted to be “that cool guy” who follows no one but gets tons of followers anyway. After a month, I realized: if you don’t follow anyone, nobody even notices you exist.

Unless you bring an audience from somewhere else (which I don’t have), you’re essentially invisible. So, my new approach is to follow about 10 new people daily—mostly in certain communities—and get some traction with follow backs.

Content-wise, I post daily thoughts about movies, shows, and books—kind of like a mini review each day. I’m planning to write more about writing and the author life too, but only once I’ve built up an audience that actually engages (likes, comments, retweets).

Follow me here on Twitter if you’re interested: @michael_brig

Instagram

I secured my handle and uploaded a few book covers. That’s it.

So far, I have absolutely no idea how to grow on Instagram or what to post there. I’ll focus on figuring that out later—after I’ve established a working system for the platforms that currently matter more to me: Twitter, my website, and Amazon.

You can follow me here and say hi: @michaelbrig

YouTube

My tutorial channel is holding steady at around 10,000 subscribers. But honestly, it feels like there’s not much growth potential left—I might never hit the 100K mark.

To be honest, I believe YouTube has placed my entire profile in a kind of sandbox. Creating videos often feels like I’m fighting windmills. My two author channels, OnPaper and StoryLines, barely get any impressions, even though I see brand-new channels pulling in 100 views per video with far worse thumbnails than mine.

There’s not much I can do about that. All I can do is evaluate whether YouTube is still worth my time and effort.

Writing

I’m super happy with how writing went in July. I’ve found a routine that really works for me—one that might even allow me to finish a new book each month in the near future.

Right now, I’m juggling:

  • Two series
  • One standalone novel
  • A weekly short story for my STORY52 project

The 17 Series

I’m already writing Part 5, even though I haven’t published Part 1 yet. I’m about 15% into the newest isntallment.

D.E.A.D.

This is my second series—think Harry Potter, but in a secret school for spies and criminals. I’ve written about 25% of Book One.

Crowley

This is my next standalone project: a serial killer thriller with ties to Aleister Crowley. I’m roughly 10% into the first draft.

Editing / Translating / Publishing

AI tools have been a game-changer for me—they catch way more typos than I ever could. That’s helped me move much faster than before in the editing stage. Still, editing and translating remain the parts I enjoy the least about being an author.

I’ve made a commitment: until I earn money from my writing, I won’t spend money from my other projects on it. My author career has to stand on its own two feet or not stand at all.

Next Release – Endless

A novelette I plan to give away for free to anyone who signs up for my newsletter. I aim to put it out in August.

September Release – Part 1 of the 17 Series

A mix of James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, and Jack Reacher. I’m in the final editing phase, so this should go live in September 2025.

October Release – Therapy

I finished writing this one in July. Next up: the first editing round. If all goes well, it will be released in October 2025.

To Conclude

There’s still so much to learn, to test, and to figure out. But the most important part? It’s fun. And for the first time, with Forever, I feel like I’ve found a way to attract some readers.

I’m still a long way from being able to call myself a “real” author—but the journey has begun. And the good thing about starting from zero is that the only way from here is up.

Thanks to everyone who reads my stuff. Writing wouldn’t be nearly as fun without you.

See you next time,
Brig