In 2007, for National Novel Writing Month, I wrote a book called “Soapstone,” a work of fiction that drew heavily on my experiences on foreign mission trips to Kenya. I thought about marketing it, but I knew it wasn’t perfect, and the former professor of mine who promised to look at it and give me advice never did so. The following year, a publish-on-demand concern gave NaNoWriMo participants the chance to get a free proof copy, and I thought it might be fun to self-publish the novel.

It has been fun. I’ve probably sold about 100 copies – 35 online and the rest in person. I have been given to referring to it lately as “my bad self-published novel,” and it’s the nature of self-published stuff to be a little self-indulgent, but the truth of the matter is there are parts of it and things about it that I’m quite proud of. I also think I have another novel in me somewhere, one that maybe I can get more serious about editing and publishing.

Sales have slacked off lately, and I haven’t been actively trying to market the thing. I was debating at the end of 2011 whether or not to drop my publisher’s “pro plan” (you pay an annual fee in return for higher per-copy profits and other benefits), but they did away with the pro plan and upgraded everyone, saving me the decision.

Meanwhile, of course, I’ve bought a Kindle . I’ve enjoyed it, and I’ve benefitted greatly from various offers of free or deeply-discounted books.

I had set “Soapstone” up for Kindle sales way back when it was first published, but I don’t think I’ve sold any that way. Now that I’m a Kindle customer, I decided the book might be a dollar or two overpriced, and that led to me going onto the Kindle publishing site and making some changes in how the book was set up there. In addition to reducing the price, I switched the book from one marketing plan to another, and the second plan allowed me to give the book away for free for up to a certain number of days each year, if I think I can get some promotional benefit from it.

So I’ve decided to celebrate Leap Day, and how much I’m loving my Kindle, I will offer “Soapstone” for free all day tomorrow, Feb. 29. Amazon’s sales periods are based on the Pacific time zone, so the sale will run from midnight to midnight PST, or 2 a.m. to 2 a.m. Central time.

By the way, the changes I made this week also mean that the book can be borrowed anytime for free from the Kindle Owners Lending Library if you have an Amazon Prime account.

If you don’t own a Kindle yet, you can still benefit from this. There are free Kindle apps that will allow you to read Kindle books on your smartphone or your desktop or laptop computer. While I was waiting for my tax refund to arrive so that I could order my Kindle, I used the Windows Phone app to read two Jules Verne novels on my smartphone, and it was actually a lot better than I’d imagined it would be. (The Kindle is still way better.)

Please feel free to pass this deal along to your friends with Kindles. I have been following some of the web sites that list and link to free Kindle books, and I’m not sure exactly how they work, so I don’t know if my book will turn up on any of them or if I need to specifically ask them to list it. (If it’s the latter, I may have another free day later in the year, and promote it properly.) It will be fun to share the book with a wider community.

All I ask in return is that if you decide to buy a Kindle, you come here and click on one of the Amazon links on this site. It won’t affect your price, but I’ll get a commission.