Good morning, Readers and Followers!
Today is Publication Day for the Bones of the Past!
It has been a very, very long road to get to this point: I started writing what would eventually become the Books of Dust and Bone in January 2010. I made my way to Inkshares in late 2015 and launched my funding campaign on December 18. With support from you, my readers, I managed to place in the top 3 of the Sword and Laser contest (The Sequel) and on January 15, 2016 won a publication deal. Today, the book is available in hundreds of brick and mortar stores across North America, not to mention a number of online retailers worldwide.
I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you, and I sincerely hope you enjoy the final product!
Once you have had a chance to read The Bones of the Past, I would really appreciate a review! Reviews are the single most important factor in the continued success of a book. Just a short note (a sentence or 2 is all it takes!) to tell other people what you thought really can make all the difference. Those who would like to help even more – please copy and paste your review to all of the sites listed below!
Thank you all yet again!!!
Which do you want first: the Good News, or the Good-er News?
Fine. Good news is I’ve finally had the epiphany I should’ve reached months ago (which, by the way, is why you’re receiving another update so soon after the last). I’ve decided to SPLIT THE ANIMAL IN MAN IN TWO. Yes, you’ve read that correctly. Fellow authors, publishing industry gurus, inkshares itself, close friends and relatives - all these folks had been asking me for so long “why not just split the novel? Honestly, my dear animals, working on The Animal in Man had become a lot like sculpting pottery: the wheel spins and spins at a constant, but the larger the pot I was trying to make, the more likely it was to start coming apart and ultimately wind up an unrecognizable ruin. I’d rather make something beautiful - keep the pattern intact - and I figured you’d rather read it that way.
So what’s the Good-er News?
I re-submitted the manuscript last week! This means the ball is now in the publisher’s side of the court. I’ve done a little research that should make all parties involved (including you and me) much happier: An author with multiple books develops a better readership. Trilogies sit better on store shelves and are more likely to be stocked & re-stocked by booksellers. Imagine you’re just Joe-Schmoe Bookreader at the B&N down your street, just browsing the Sci-Fi Fantasy section like you always do, and you spot book one, book two, and book three of The Animal in Man all side-by-side. You are more likely to wonder what you’re missing out on when you discover a trilogy for the first time.
Yes, I said “trilogy.” That, in fact, was the straw that broke this camel’s back. The original, monstrously-oversized Animal in Man ended on a the mother of all cliffhangers, and I’d originally intended to leave it as-is (frankly I like unfinished endings, like Watchmen or Inception). But the ideas just kept gestating in the dark, warm, moist recesses of my brain, fed by the questions. What would happen to so-and-so? Did so-and-so make it out alive, and if he did, what would he do next?
Stay tuned to find out. Because of the decision to split the book, it won’t be as long of a wait.
In the meantime, check out some of the AMAZING sci-fi novels burning up the leaderboards on Inkshares’ Nerdist Contest. The second I read the description of Jenny Graham-Jones “1000 Faces” I knew I had to have a copy. That kind of dystopian, bleak-future vision of our world - where everyone wears a mask and all is never as it seems - is my kind of jam. Take a look at the submissions, you’re sure to find something great.
Until next time, my dear animals.
Machiners!
Can you believe we flew past the one month mark since publication? Crazy times! This will be a quick update with some goodies to report.
First, The Last Machine AUDIOBOOK is coming! You read that correctly, this is going to be epic! And I don’t expect it to take very long to produce. After a highly competitive audition process - 60 narrators submitted recordings to read Jonathan’s story - I’ve selected the voice to read our story! Look for an update in the next month or so about a release date. Shooting for around July 1.
Super important: Have you read the story? Have you not left a review on Amazon?
Then I need your help. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. I liked the Last Machine for x and y reason, etc. One or two sentences will do the trick. Want to write a longer response to the story? Please do - Reviews come in all shapes and sizes! We need to get to 100 on Amazon, and at the moment, we have 16. Many thanks in advance!
Amazon page for reviews: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Machine-Solar-System-ebook/dp/B06XRSS26Y/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8
Goodreads page for reviews: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30221887-the-last-machine-in-the-solar-system
Lastly, pics! From the book launch at Book Passage in the San Francisco Ferry Building. Oh, and the book in Huntington, NY at Book Revue next to some guy named George R.R. Martin.... I told you these were crazy times :-)
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