Several times, I’ve extolled the virtues of the indie world and the wonderful authors I met on Twitter and Facebook. When people complain that technology is limiting interactions in real life, I can’t help but think that I would be so alone without said technology.

Recently, Julia Hughes contacted me and asked if I wanted to give a hand in a collective effort to help a fellow author in need, Stephen C. Spencer. Stephen has been battling brain cancer for a while, and doesn’t have the time and energy to keep marketing his books. As any indie author knows all too well, if you don’t advertise your books they disappear, buried under millions of other titles. Soon, your sales dwindle to nothing and your livelihood is seriously compromised. Imagine having to pay exorbitant medical bills on top of that.

Authors following Stephen on Twitter and Facebook—fans of his books—touched by his personal tribulation decided to do something for him, and Operation Mallory was born.

Several authors have come together to help revamp Stephen’s thriller series and put his books once again on bookshelves worldwide. Sean Campbell has put together a new website, found a graphic designer, Clarissa Yeo, who created brand new covers for the series, coordinated the cover and blurb release, and looked for venues where to advertise the titles. As you can imagine, it took a great effort to manage a launch of such magnitude.

At the moment, the first Paul Mallory novel, It’s Always Darkest, is free on Smashwords. If you like thrillers, grab a copy and please consider spreading the word. Sharing is free, but it can make a huge difference for an author to be discovered.