So, the aim of this week was to hit either 30 followers or 5 pre-orders. 

Overnight, with the help of some amazing people, I hit (and went past!) both of those targets! So thank you so much, you are all awesome, and as promised - this is my character art-in-progress for Nia, one of the protagonists of Spectrum.

Next target: either 50 followers, or 15 pre-orders and then I’ll put up the character art for Assassin. Please share, please keep following and put in a pre-order if you haven’t already and modern-day dystopia with magic sounds like something you might enjoy!    

Map!!!

Okay, maybe my initial excitement was overblown as I’m clearly not the best cartographer.  I hope that one day my topographical sketching/watercoloring skills improve, but that is not today.  At least this time its a map that none of you have seen before.

The bulk of this map covers the western half of the Zaltruscan empire.  They control most of the Sea of Serpents, the exception being the Isle of Karpa which is controlled(mostly) by Pentaz’ home country - Thierdenvolgenlund.  Pentaz’ journey first takes him south along this sea and onto the plains near the river.  During an ordeal on these plans he meets Buscidia who guides him safely around the swamp and to the city of Jacirst(you can read more about these events starting at this collection of chapters).  She continues acting as his guide and bodyguard afterwards, doing her best to improve his knowledge of the mainland and its languages on their way to Llanchland.

Llanchland(near the left edge) is also not part of the Zaltruscan empire, being an independent city-state ruled by Llargas Llanch II, son of the city’s founder Llargas Llanch and one of a long line of Llargas Llanch’s who will rule over a city which has a far larger part to play in the future of the world than one may suspect from such a seemingly insignificant city-state.  Buscidia and Pentaz go through another ordeal while under the employ of Llargas Llanch II, growing closer to one another in the process(you can read more about Llanchland and the ordeal starting at this collection of chapters).

From here they sail around the unnaturally circular island(which you can find out more about in this collection of chapters), and south off of this particular map.  They eventually find their way back to this map, heading north along the purple road you see winding through the mountains to the Calden barony, home to the Magus Baron Caldus whose family crest graces the book’s cover.  Pentaz makes his way north out of the Calden barony, into the foothills then mountains of the Frozen North, eventually reaching the tip of the Dragon’s Head Peninsula for the book’s conclusion.  The Zaltruscan empire also claims the Frozen North as their territory, but this is an entirely unenforced claim as the landscape is too treacherous and the environment a bit too hostile to easily field/garrison an army with which to truly hold the area.

Beyond this you may be able to make out the circles drawn on some of the coastlines, these being some of the more significant port towns.  There are certainly more settlements than I’ve marked on the map, but I tend to only mark those which are included in my books in an important manner.  Naming some of the unnamed features(rivers, lakes, bays, forests, etc) is among the list of "wild card" rewards that I would be willing to honor for anyone winning the referral giveaway or the preorder giveaway.  Hopefully by next week’s update I will have made a more reader friendly, bullet pointed list of rewards and how to win them.

I hope you enjoyed the map and my very abbreviated textual trek through it with you.  Keep reading, enjoying, and recommending!

Dear Readers,

Or should I say...Listeners? For behold, thanks to the magic of Inkshares and Drew Campbell’s British accent...

An Unattractive Vampire is on Audible!!! 

Thank you to everyone at Inkshares, Audible, and Mr. Campbell for making this happen. 

So I know you’re all thinking: "Jim, I need this for my sound holes, but money has decided (literally) to see other people right now." Well, here’s a thing: Audible sponsors just about every podcast in existence. They offer so many deals and promos, it’s kind of ridiculous. For example: Lore podcast, Hardcore History, and Blurry Photos all offer trial codes. So yes, listen to awesome inspiring podcasts and when you’re done, listen to my book as well.

Also, just a reminder that the Dragon Awards are quickly approaching, so time is running out to VOTE for Inkshares/Sword and Laser books including The Life Engineered, Asteroid Made of Dragons, and, of course, An Unattractive Vampire which also all happen to be available in e-book for the special low-low price of 99 cents until the end of the month. (Completely coincidental, I assure you. *WINK*) So please, vote for An Unattractive Vampire because what could be better than mixing vampires and dragons?

Updates, Faoii! Listen up!

We’re doing a good job so far. 18 hours in and we’ve got 29 pre-orders. That’s more than halfway to the number 10 spot on the leader board. I still think we can get that number 1 spot and let EVERYONE know who we are-- but I’ll let you know when we’re at least on the map. Good work, Faoii. Keep it up!

Now, for the bad news: I got a missive from the head of Thane Studios today. Thane Studios is/was an ally that asked me to join their collective about a month ago. You might have seen their shiny medal on our front page. This was a big honor for me, because collectives usually have more money, viewers and marketing abilities than regular authors, and when he invited me to join there was a lot of discussion on how they were going to help me get the necessary pre-orders to publish. In payment, they were to get 12% of the royalties of the books that were pre-ordered after I joined the collective. 

Today, exactly 18 hours and 29 pre-orders after the beginning of the campaign, Thane Studios said that they wasn’t going to be able to help me market, after all, and told me that I could opt out of the collective. That’s all well in good, but Inkshare’s contract on the matter decrees that he still get his 12% within 30 days of me opting out (supposedly because it’s assumed that at least some marketing was done prior to this, and therefore at least some of those pre-orders could have been because of the collective’s influence). On paper, it makes sense. In reality it means that 12% of every pre-order thus far (and for the next 30 days) goes to these people who did absolutely nothing to assist with seeing The Last Faoii become reality, and that fills me with a rage I’m not sure I can adequately portray. 

Obviously there’s nothing that I can do about it now, and we’re just going to charge forward after this. I still want that hill as quickly as possible, Faoii, regardless if someone else is profiting from our hard work. But if anyone who is reading this is trying to publish their own story through Inkshares-- DO NOT sign a contract with Thane Studios. As far as I can tell, it’s a scam. 

Shields up, Faoii. We’re going to take that hill. Our banner will sit atop it and every single person on inkshares will know who we are and what we’re fighting for. Others will come to the call and help us hold it. This campaign is going to succeed, no matter what other people do to try and weaken our resolve.

Faoii-Tahani