In my last post, I forgot to mention that Empty Horizon had released. I'm doing a little better this time. Empty Horizon audiobook is out TODAY! I've linked to Amazon since that is where most of you will get it, but it's available at all major online retailers. I noticed that on the new Google Play audiobook store it's on sale for $14.99 (all of my books are on sale). That promotion will run for a limited time only while the store ramps up, so go grab it soon if you're interested.
Empty Horizon
This is kind of embarrassing, but I forgot to mention that Empty Horizon is live now...
Glad we're past that. For those who are interested in this kind of thing, the debut went well. It topped out at #200 in the overall Amazon Kindle store and reached, I believe, #3 in Swords & Sorcery and about #10 in Epic Fantasy. I was nervous, because it released shortly after Brandon Sanderson, Jeff Wheeler, and on the same day as Nora Robert's new Epic Fantasy. Poor timing, but it worked out Ok and I made my release goals.
I've finished up the outlines for Book 5&6 and I started writing Book 5 today. It's shaping up to be a bit longer than the others, and pretty action packed. Expect it 2018.
Happy reading!
AC
Empty Horizon: Benjamin Ashwood Book 4 Pre-Order
2 blog posts in a week, something must be happening!
Empty Horizon: Benjamin Ashwood Book 4 is just two weeks away. Already, the eBook is up for pre-order and 1,600 people have purchased it. Have you?
Only 3 people - including me - will have seen this book prior to its December 5th release. Time to go click that link if you want to be next in line.
In Book 4, the stakes increase, and Ben has to scramble to prevent complete disaster. He gains new allies, and loses some as well. We see more magic in this book, and get a few clues about ancient conflicts that have been building for centuries. There is a lot of action throughout the book, and a little bit of humor (I think it's funny at least). Toward the end, we round the corner and setup the last few stages of this epic series. If you liked the first three books, then you're certain to like this one. I hope at the end you feel satisfied, and eager to find out how the whole thing ends.
December 5th!
Mark it on your calendar. The eBook goes live, it will be available through Kindle Unlimited, and I should get the paperbacks out within a day. The audiobook requires a bit more production and scheduling with the narrator, so it will be a little delayed, but don't worry, it's coming soon.
Happy reading,
AC
3 Questions
In my monthly newsletter, I started a new section called 3 Questions. This is a short format interview I'm conducting with fellow authors. We're talking about books that I've read, and questions I want to know the answers to. If that sounds interesting, you can sign up for the newsletter HERE. Feel free to contact me and let me know if there are any authors you'd like to hear from (fair warning, Patrick Rothfuss won't tell me when his next book is coming out either).
The December edition will include 3 Questions with Duncan M Hamilton. November was with Alec Hutson, see it below:
"This month, we’re talking to Alec Hutson, author of The Crimson Queen. CQ was Alec’s debut novel and one of the Top 5 Epic Fantasy debuts in 2016 (guess who else is on that list?). It was also the Judge’s Favorite in the 2016 Ink and Insights competition and was a 2017 Reader’s Favorite for Epic Fantasy. If you haven’t read it, click here to check it out on Amazon.
Q1: What fantasy books and worlds have inspired you?
AH: When I was very young, I lost myself in The Wizard of Eathsea, The Chronciles of Prydain, and the old Forgotten Realms novels. I read Game of Thrones when it was released in 1996, and it completely changed my sense of what fantasy could be. Later, New Weird authors like China Mieville, KJ Bishop, and M. John Harrison were hugely influential. For worlds, Westeros, certainly. Faerun. Krynn. Bas Lag.
Q2: After finishing Crimson Queen, I couldn’t wait to dive into the next book and learn more about the world. Can you give us a sneak peek of where the story will go and when to expect it?
AH: The next book will be Shadow King, and I expect to have it ready to go sometime this Spring. Most of it is already written, but I’m going to make sure I’m completely happy with everything before I usher it out into the world. The story will follow three main POV threads – Keilan, Demian / Alyanna, and Cho Lin. The first three characters will be familiar to readers of Queen, and Cho Lin was introduced in a story in my short story collection The Manticore’s Soiree. She’s the daughter of the Shan demon hunter who was tasked with recapturing the Chosen in The Crimson Queen. That duty now falls to her.
I have the story arc for the three books in The Raveling trilogy all set. Readers will get to wander around fairly widely, with extended stops in The Empire of Swords and Flowers and the Frostlands. I may write further books in Araen, as I do enjoy the world and I think there’s plenty more to explore.
Q3: How did you get into writing?
AH: My aunt owns a very large and excellent independent bookstore in Newburyport, Massachusetts. I grew up among the shelves and worked there when I was younger. I read voraciously as a child and my lifelong dream has been to instill the same sense of wonder in others that I enjoyed.
Bonus Material: Alec Hutson lives in Shanghai China, loves ultimate Frisbee, and the first chapter of CQ was written after exploring the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia."
Houston Writers Guild - Indiepalooza
I spent last weekend at the Houston Writers Guild's Indiepalooza conference. It was a 3-day event that focused on topics relevant to Independent / Self-published authors. Topics like; motivation, craft, how to self-publish, marketing, audiobooks, copyright law, trademark law, and more. It was great to get out and meet other Houston area residents in the business.
It also reminded me about how difficult it is to get started in this business. There were a lot of people there who had complete / near complete manuscripts and they simply didn't know what to do next. They knew querying agents was a frustrating process, and they were intimidated by what goes into successfully self-publishing. The end result was that a lot of the folks there were hobbyists and hadn't made the effort to turn it into more. They love writing, but they haven't been able to get over the wall to make it a business. When people realized I write full-time, they had A LOT of questions for me. I thought I'd answer a few of them here.
Q: What's it like to write full-time?
A: Exactly as awesome as you think it would be.
Q: (following a very lengthy session from an editor trying to drum up his business by explaining how complicated the editing process is) Do you do all of that?
A: No, I don't. My writing is told from one point of view, and my story is linear. I write from A to Z. It helps me maintain flow. Basically, I start with a 2-3 page outline that has bullet points with all of the major events in the story. From there, I start writing. There are deviations from the outline, of course, but for the most part, I'm just filling in the blanks between story milestones. I write the entire 1st draft without going back and tinkering. After that, I do about 2 read/rewrite drafts where again, I work from A to Z. Then 2 to 3 copy edit drafts after that. When it's relatively clean, I send it to a professional proof-reader. When I get it back from her, I will go over it at least twice more before I upload and hit publish. The workload is roughly 50% 1st draft, 25% read/rewrite, 20% copy edit, 5% proof-read. Not included, I spent years thinking about my characters in my free time. Thinking about the world, imagining different scenes and how characters would react, etc. One 10hr plane flight for the outlines. Total process time is 6 months for Books 2-4.
Q: Do you hate Amazon?
A: No, I love Amazon. Amazon is the largest book retailer in the world and the friendliest place I have come across for Indie authors. Bookstores hate Amazon because they can't compete. Traditional Publishers hate Amazon because Amazon is single-handedly pushing down the price of books. Amazon leveled the playing field where Indies and Small Press can now compete effectively against the Big 5 Publishers. I was shocked to hear how many people in the business took a negative view of Amazon. My advice to people was, feel however you want about Amazon, but understand they are By Far the largest retailer. Do you want to sell books, or not? One group I do feel bad for, independent bookstore owners.
Q: Traditional or self-publish - aka - what the hell should I do?
A: That depends on you. With self-publishing, you earn the highest royalties for your work. You have complete creative control, and you can respond instantly when the market changes. For me, it's also fun, but I still consider myself more of a business guy than a writer. You can absolutely make a very good career out of self-publishing. BUT, self-publishing is an enormous amount of work. If you want to be a writer simply so you can write and not worry about anything else, then you shouldn't self-publish. Over half of time my is devoted to the business side of things and marketing. If you don't put in that time, you'll fail.
I will write another blog about Traditional publishing and cover things in more detail, but real quick, traditional publishing means the publisher pays you to license your work. They pay you. Let me say it again, they pay you. If they ask you to pay them, that is a vanity press. You will never be a commercial success doing that (their model is collecting fees from you, not collecting dollars from sales).
As I said, more to come on this topic. It's something I'm getting pretty passionate about because * sales plug time * I'm starting a traditional small press. If you write fantasy fiction, then it may be a good option for your book. Come check me out at cobblepublishing.com. There are many paths up the mountain, and you have to find the right one for you. If you've got that book, and now you're stuck, reach out and I'll have an honest discussion with you about which path is right for you.
Any other questions that I didn't answer above, please feel free to use the contact page. I always like interacting with readers and I love talking about this business.
Happy reading!
AC