Bait Dog is here.
After a successful Kickstarter, the book is out and ready to be gobbled up by everyone else. Right now, the price is $2.99, but that’s just for one week — next Wednesday, price goes up by a buck, maybe two.
Let’s just get your procurement options out on the table.
Or, buy direct using the link below. I’ll send you the files directly if you buy in this fashion, and you’ll get all three versions — PDF, MOBI, and EPUB. I try to send quickly, but PayPal can be slow to send out notifications, so give me 24 hours before you come knocking at my digital door. (But, if you don’t get the files by then, do come knocking. Contact form above will do you right.)
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Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…
The Book Itself
“If you like very human protagonists who kick ass, if you want to see true evil punished, if you love your pets, Bait Dog is for you. Know going in that it’s going to hurt. Remember that the hurt will be worth it. Take a deep breath, and dive in.” — from Josh Loomis’ review at his blog (click here to read the rest).
This book contains both the novella Shotgun Gravy as well as the follow-up novel, Bait Dog. Total size, if that’s a thing that matters to you, is around 90k — 25k for the novella, 65k for the novel.
The novel features the continuing adventures of our troubled teen protagonist — a little bit vigilante, a little bit detective — Atlanta Burns. It’s about how, by trying to avoid solving her friend’s murder, she runs head-first into it. It’s about how looking into the death of a sweet little dog she exposes a dog-fighting ring. It’s about companionship and sacrifice. It’s about the wrong way to a right thing.
It was a hard book to write.
Not hard in the day-to-day. In that, the words came fast and plentiful. But the subject matter is tough stuff. I don’t know much about the value of trigger warnings, but this book probably has ’em, so be warned.
It tackles rough stuff. Dog-fighting ain’t pretty. Bullying is awful. White supremacy is an epidemic. Gay rights and being a teen and being a girl and violence and abuse and —
Well. It’s a kettle set to boil over.
Though, I tried to find hope in here, too. And humor. Always humor. I think a book like this needs that lightness. Flinty humor and awkward situations. From Shane and his flea market katana to Atlanta’s mother trying to cook when she damn well shouldn’t to Whitey and his — well, I guess I’ll let you meet Whitey all on your own. But I love Whitey. I love Whitey with all my heart.
This is a book I love deeply, featuring characters I feel strongly about for good and for bad. I don’t know that it’s a good book but it’s the book I wrote and I’m damn glad I wrote it.
This is also my first attempt at putting novel-length fiction up in the self-publishing space. The book was, to my mind, a raging success on Kickstarter — it was 100% funded in under 10 hours, and ended up scoring over 200% in its funding by the end of its run. I hope it’ll do well out there. We’ll see, I guess.
Point is, I hope you’ll take a look.
If You’re Not Gonna Nab It
…then, no worries.
I’d still appreciate you boosting the signal a bit, letting people know.
Further, given that this is a book orbiting a lot of issues, maybe consider donating to an appropriate charity?
Maybe donate to your local animal shelter. Or a rescue group. Or the Humane Society or ASPCA. Or Dogs for the Deaf. Or Guide Dogs of America. Or HALO Animal Rescue. Or the Millan Foundation.
Or, if you prefer something a little more people-focused…
The It Gets Better Project, or the Trevor Project.
Bait Dog is a fictional tale, but it focuses on some very real issues. Charity helps.
At the very least, hug your pets and be good to your friends.
Thanks, everybody. Hope you check out the book and enjoy.
Natalie says:
Ok, I’ve ordered. Even though I’m scared it’s going to be horribly disturbing. I know you, Chuck!
August 8, 2012 — 12:39 AM
Mark Matthews says:
A nasty topic but one that exposes human nature. Dog fighting is a topic in my novel Stray. I volunteered for 100 hours at an inner-city Detroit Humane Society (home of the original Animal Cops) and witnessed the results of dog fighting animal rescues, and saw the dog-body bags piled up in the freezers. In Stray, a recovering drug addict learns to find hope by rescuing these animals before they’re put to death.
Very curious to read how you dealt with the subject matter. Just bought Bait Dog off of Amazon.
August 8, 2012 — 7:55 AM
terribleminds says:
@Mark:
I’ve no doubt I don’t handle the subject with nearly the authenticity you could bring to the table, but I hope I get halfway there, at least. 🙂
— c.
August 8, 2012 — 8:04 AM
Shane Dodd says:
Great post and can’t wait to read the book! This may be the gateway book to get my wife reading your stuff (our pets are our kids, so animals are pretty much treated like little furry people around out house. And I tend to like them better than most people).
August 8, 2012 — 9:08 AM
Daniel Swensen (@surlymuse) says:
I’m about halfway through Bait Dog right now, and I can say with confidence that it’s well worth your time and cash. Atlanta Burns is back, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
August 8, 2012 — 10:18 AM
Sonia G Medeiros says:
Alright. You talked me into it. I’m probably going to regret it though. LOL
August 8, 2012 — 2:41 PM
Juana (@SlyJuana) says:
I ordered your book, Chuck. My first one written by you. Have no idea what to expect, but I’m used to dark books. 🙂
August 8, 2012 — 2:41 PM
AngieBatgirl says:
I am so glad that this popped up on my G+ feed, I just read Shotgun Gravy last week 😀 I wish I could’ve contributed to the Kickstarter!
August 8, 2012 — 11:00 PM
Mike Herman says:
Downloaded “Bait Dog”. Finished the novella “Shotgun Gravy” portion and have now moved into the the main novel, “Bait Dog.”
First impression was, “I’ve paid more for less.”
Second thought was the architectural saying, “Cheap use of precious materials.”
“Shotgun Gravy” story line is cliche with a twist ending to redeem it….if you make it that far. What got me through was the enjoyable Chuck Wendig dialogue and Chuck Wendig way of describing things. But moving from Shotgun Gravy to Bait Dog is a stumbler because the beginning of Bait Dog recaps parts of Shotgun Gravy (for those who did not read Shotgun Gravy). Maybe if the two weren’t bundled together that might be necessary but since the decision to bundle was made, it comes off as a reading stopper.
My wish is to read a “Lord of the Flies” quality story written by Chuck Wendig.
Based on the opening to Bait Dog, i’m guessing i’m not going to get that. But that won’t stop me from reading it.
And finally, Chuck needs to use a different copy editor. There were a few too many typos. It makes the work come off as standard self published.
August 12, 2012 — 11:45 AM
terribleminds says:
@Mike:
Sorry it didn’t work for you.
— c.
August 12, 2012 — 12:08 PM
Mike Herman says:
I should clarify some above statements. “I’ve paid more for less,” means that in the past i have spent a greater sum of money on material much less readable.
The “Cheap use of precious materials,” refers to Cuck Wendig writing as the “precious material” and the story line as the “cheap use”.
I finished Bait Dog and read all the way to the end of the people being thanked.
What i got out of it is that Chuck Wendig could do a three or four person play that lasts about an hour and i’d be a happy reader. Forget the physical action. Forget the over the top unreal events. (Not that the dog fights came off as unreal…quite the opposite in fact)
Atlanta’s mother’s weakness used as a foil to the strong Atlanta was a start for me.
Just give me down home believable drama that, it seems, you could be so good at. Dialogue. Dialogue. Dialogue. You talk, people pay attention, people laugh, people like it.
But that’s just me. Probably a lone voice drowned out by a crowd of fans.
August 13, 2012 — 5:55 PM