Social Marketing Extraordinaire: Seth Harwood Releases Much-Anticipated New Novel, YOUNG JUNIUS

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 27, 2010

Publishers Weekly says of YOUNG JUNIUS, “Harwood (Jack Wakes Up) pulls no punches, revealing not only the white death of crack cocaine but the ineffectuality of… ‘forgotten civic ideas.’ … In the end, Junius’s fate is as old as Aeschylus.” After a very unique publishing history, Seth Harwood ‘s new novel will be released in October by Tyrus Books with much anticipation and enthusiasm.

Harwood, known for serializing his work as free online audiobooks, has a large fan base and a dynamic, interesting history in the publishing world—previously covered in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Boston Globe among others. If you are not familiar, Seth has taken full advantage of modern technology and through social marketing and online media has created a following that now rips his books off shelves. Committed to his readers—Seth has conquered the world of publishing.

Getting a novel or collection of short stories published by a reputable publisher is a daunting task, even for a graduate of the renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop such as Harwood. There are many good books out there that go un-noticed and many books published, good and bad, that are put on the scene because of their potential for commercial success and appeal. This particular challenge did not stop Harwood from entering the realm of literary crime fiction. An indie success story, there have been over 100,000 downloads of the PDF of his first novel, Jack Wakes Up, and more than a quarter of a million downloads of Seth’s serialized audiobooks.

Following this, Jack Wakes Up, was published by a small New Hampshire press and soon thereafter Random House took notice and published the novel under their imprint Three Rivers Press—with marketing and PR support and a sales force eager to get the book and Seth’s name out there even more than he already had on his own.

Harwood’s new novel YOUNG JUNIUS (Tyrus Books; October 2010; Trade Paperback: $ 14.95; Hardcover: $ 24.95), is a survivalist story in a modern sense. During difficult times people seek different avenues for to endure the toughest of tests. Like the characters in Seth’s novels he personally uses what is available to reach his goals.

“I write for my readers,” says Harwood, “Podcasts seemed like a natural step to reaching as many people as possible. I was always a fan of audiobooks, so giving them away free seemed like a great way to reach readers. And I could make them on my own without a lot of expense. Still, I didn’t expect the level of response and publishing success that I’ve encountered. I’m in awe of what is possible in the literary scene today, given a bit of effort.”

His loyal following is eager to see what’s next: YOUNG JUNIUS. Trenchant, devastating, and deftly choreographed (think The Wire meets Departed), this gritty urban endurance story provides compelling social commentary with a hostage-taking plot.

In YOUNG JUNIUS, six foot tall, fourteen-year-old Junius Posey sets out to find his brother’s killer in a cluster of Boston’s low-income housing towers—prime drug-dealing territory. After committing a shooting to protect his friend, Junius finds himself with fifty dollars and instructions to run. Shocked by the violence he has created and determined to see its consequences, he stays put.

Moving this fast-paced story along is a tale of redemption and strategic manipulations with interesting and compelling character studies of project tower superstars.

Seth Harwood’s novels and short stories are available as free audiobooks at iTunes, Podiobooks.com, and sethharwood.com, where readers can also find his blog, fan pages and plenty more. He currently lives in San Francisco where he teaches English and creative writing, and can be contacted at seth(at)sethharwood(dot)com and on Twitter (@sethharwood).

Visit www.sethharwood.com/junius for more information

PR Contact:

Rebecca Crowley, RTC Publicity

646-619-1178

rebecca(at)rtcpublicity(dot)com

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