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Friday, March 22, 2013

First Draft of Gavain's Proving Completed & Other Things

I have a few different topics I want to talk about today, so without further ado I'll jump right into them.

Gavain's Proving is Nearing Completion

Gavain's Proving has quickly expanded from a short story into a novella. Today I finished writing the last scene for the story, much to my delight. Next week I will put the novella through revision and editing. I've read through most of the scenes before, and I don't think much revision will be needed. I have a mock concept for the cover started. I'm not completely happy with the way the cover is going, but I have a few ideas that I think will clean the cover up and make it eye-catching.

My original estimation of mid-March was obviously off, but I'm feeling confident about an early April release, assuming I can get the cover finished by then. Despite the increased length from short story to a novella at just over 20,000 words, Gavain's Proving will still be a free release, at least at first. Either way, I'm excited that I'm so close to releasing a second title!

New Retailers

Smashwords.com has distributed Laeryk's Proving to multiple retailers already, but the book is still absent from what I consider to be some key retailers. One such retailer is Amazon.com, which Smashwords distributes to in limited quantity. I had planned on waiting things out, but upon further consideration I've decided to use Amazon's KDP program (Kindle Direct Publishing) to publish Laeryk's Proving on Amazon.com, allowing Kindle owners to purchase the title direct from Amazon's catalog rather than only at Smashwords.com. This should make it easier for Kindle owners to find Laeryk's Proving (and Gavain's Proving once it is released), and hopefully increase sales of the .mobi version of the book.

I am also looking into including my books in the Google Play Books catalog, which will not only add an additional international retailer to the list of retailers my books are available through, it will also help make Laeryk's Proving appear in more search queries, something I'm very excited about. I'm going to hold off on publishing through these retailers until after March due to the March Madness Sale that is still going on, but expect to see them added to the roster very soon.

The March Madness Sale Continues!

If you haven't had a chance yet, head on over to Smashwords.com (click the link on the side of the blog) and use coupon code WW37F to purchase Laeryk's Proving  in the format of your choice TOTALLY FREE!! The coupon code is valid until March 31st, so hurry and get a copy for yourself now - or, heck, get a copy for your friends and loved ones! Free books are always a great thing!

Monday, March 18, 2013

March Madness Is Here!

Basketball fans in the United States are probably all familiar with March Madness, and have been thinking about their brackets all season long. In my house, March Madness became an annual event for my family a few years back. My wife, Lisa, loves March Madness, and she brought the excitement of the tournament to the rest of us. Everyone in our house come up with a bracket, and often times we're at odds with one another as we flip channels to simultaneously watch as many games as possible. With my family gearing up for some major basketball fever, it seemed only appropriate to share our excitement with everyone.

MARCH MADNESS BOOK SALE!!!

Sure, the first four aren't playing until the 19th, but most people have been planning their brackets for a while now, waiting for the seeds determined on Selection Sunday to actually commit their predictions to paper. Since you'll likely have those brackets filled out rather quickly, why not spend the rest of the time before the games start reading... you know, to combat all those hours of watching the television turning your brains to jelly?

And if you're going to read, I can't help but suggest Laeryk's Proving, Book One of the Saga of Thorns! To prove how much I'd recommend it, I'm going to show a little March madness myself, and give Laeryk's Proving away for free.

That's right. FREE.

Once again, FREE.

Just enter coupon code WW37F at Smashwords.com (click here) when you make your purchase, and receive a 100% savings on a great book! This isn't the free sample -- this is the full book, available for download in the format of your choosing for ALL devices, 100% FREE!

This coupon code will be good until the end of March, but buy the book now and download it whenever it is convenient to read! I mean, you need something to do during the cold, grey hours between games, right?

REVIEWS WANTED

The Laeryk's Proving book pages are looking pretty lonely right now, but I know what would make them more cheery -- user reviews! If you've read Laeryk's Proving, please provide a review, even a short one, letting everyone know what you thought of it! I would love some feedback from my readers, good or bad, so please take a moment after finishing the book to provide some!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

A Slow Week Means It's Time For Updates!

I'm still recovering from a minor surgical procedure I had on Friday, leaving me away from my desk for the moment. Consequently, I have less "new" material to discuss, so I thought that instead I would talk about some irons I have in the fire for the future. Since I am away from my desk, and the computer I normally write these posts from, I've decided to try out the Blogger app for Android on my phone. Please excuse any typos; Autocorrect can be a real pain. I'll try to clean them up when I'm at my main computer again.
Laeryk's Proving Free Sample
Yesterday I uploaded a free sample of the first fourteen chapters of Laeryk's Proving to Scribd.com in epub format. Yes, I know, Smashwords offers a free sample in multiple formats, including epub, already. My thinking went like this: Not everyone knows Smashwords, and not everyone is going to click on a link fo an unfamiliar site, and register an account with that site, all just to read a free sample. And sure, I have thus nifty button on the side of the blog which will load the sample into a new window for visitors to read... but what about those people who don't have time RIGHT NOW to read the sample? Out of sight, out of mind, right? So instead, I have a free sample ebook available on another site which is fairly popular, and can help promote my book. And if I find other websites where I can upload the sample, I have it ready to go on my hard drive. (In fact, if anyone has a recommendation, please post it in the comments!) If you want to check it the sample, click here.
Gavain's Proving
Anyone who contributed to the kickstarter might remember this title. Gavain's Proving is a short story featuring one of the main characters from the Saga of Thorns, and is a sort of "prequel" for Laeryk's Proving. I had hoped to be into editing this week, but I hadn't anticipated how slow my recovery would be. I anticipate this sort story being released sometime mid-March, as a free release.
Laeryk's Fate, Book Two of the Saga of Thorns
The sequel to Laeryk's Proving, this book is still in the early draft phase. Working on promotional material has taken my attention from this draft, but I plan on getting right back to it by next week. I wish I could provide some spoilers, but since book one has only been out for a month, I'm going to assume that any spoilers I released right now would make no sense. One thing I will say, is expect for considerably more attention to be focused on the Triumvirate.
Blood On The Thorns
I read a lot of Dragonlance when I was younger, and I enjoyed the short story anthologies they released for that series. Blood On The Thorns (which is only a working title) is an anthology set in the world of the Saga of Thorns, focusing on some of the main character's histories, and also on showing some areas of Aerth that I'm not planning on showcasing in Laeryk's books. Most of the short stories are still in the planning stages, but one (Rivals, featuring Arngrim Icehart, Laeryk Thorn, and Gavain Whiterose) is already in the draft stage, and another (The Fall of Kaerodan) will make use of material I had written for Laeryk's Proving, but ultimately decided to exclude despite liking them. I don't have an ETA for the release of this anthology, except "sometime before Laeryk's Fate."
Children of Llothora
H.P. Lovecraft is one of my favorite authors. Anthologies of his stories full my bookshelves, and I carry his complete collection with me wherever I go. Children is a sort story I wrote with the intention of imitating Lovecraft's style, and it was my first attempt at getting published, submitted to the same magazine where many of Lovecraft's stories first saw print. Unfortunately, my submission was too late for consideration, as they had already selected a year's worth of stories to print, but if at first you don't succeed... Since it has been a few years, and I would like to think that I've grown as a writer, I'm going to look thus story over again and decide if I want to make any changes. Then it will just need a cover, and will see publication! I'm skating this for "sometime after Gavain's Proving" in terms of a release date.
The Sound With Teeth
Is another Lovecraftian inspiration. This story draws heavy inspiration from Lovecraft's The Colour Our of Space, and is currently in the drafting stages.
No Other Novels?
So you might be wondering, "3/4 of what you posted here are sort stories! Don't you have any other novels planned out that aren't Saga of Thorns books?"
Of course I do. I'm just not ready to talk about them! When they're more concrete I'll let loose a hint or two, buy right now the Saga of Thorns is my main focus. Keeps your eyes peeled though, as I might have more to say sooner than you might think!