Finally, after much trial and tribulation, the paperback version of Scriber is ready!
Anyone who’s interested can grab it on Createspace, or on Amazon!
Exciting stuff, I think. I’d say more, but I am on my way out the door to go to the Calgary Comic Expo, so suffice it to say that I’m thrilled to have it finally done, and I hope everyone who grabs it enjoys it.
I know, I’m terrible at regular news updates. Sorry!
Anyway, I’m still plugging away at the next book, but it’s slower going than I expected, so I don’t have much to say there. Still on track to be done this year, at least, though. Also, I finally have the cover issues with the paperback version of Scriber ironed out–also took way longer than expected–so that should be all put together within the month. Fingers crossed!
Anyway, that’s all for now, I’ve work to do! Just wanted to post something to assure people I’m not dead. I will be posting shortly-ish when the paperback is ready as well, so stay tuned. If you’ve got any particular questions (and I’m sure no one does, but hey, you never know) about the next book or anything, feel free to comment here and I’ll answer in my next post, too.
So, today we have something very special: a guest post by author Ty Johnston! Special both because he’s written some interesting novels (I can personally vouch for City of Rogues–haven’t read the others yet, but I enjoyed that one), and because–and this is important–I don’t have to come up with something to post myself.
I’m just one step on the route of a blog tour that started on February 1st and will continue until the 29th, to advertise his upcoming novel, Demon Chains. Check out that cover–looks exciting, doesn’t it?
He’s also written a number of other books, including the aforementioned City of Rogues, as well as Bayne’s Climb, Ghosts of the Asylum, and more, all available on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords. For more information, check out his blog at tyjohnston.blogspot.com
Now, without further ado, here’s Ty with some thoughts on the world of digital publishing:
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If you get a group of fiction writers together, each of them will have differing suggestions for how to “make it” as a writer in today’s modern world of digital publishing. One might tell you to give away some of your books and/or e-books for free. Another will likely suggest taking part in social networking, utilizing sites like Facebook and Twitter to build an audience. Still another might tell you to forget about promotions all together, just to keep writing and writing, and that eventually you will draw an audience.
All of that is decent advice, but the truth is there is not one single key element that can make a fiction writer successful. All of the notions mentioned above might work, or they might fall flat. You might write and self publish one novel and have it become a hit, or you might write and have professionally published a hundred novels and never draw more than a few readers’ interest.
The truth is, no one knows for sure what will be a big seller when it comes to fiction.
Now that doesn’t mean writers can’t do themselves some favors by performing certain tasks that can increase their chance of success. Being able to write a lot and publish a lot is a big boost, because the more material one has available, the easier it is for readers to find you. Social networking can also work to build that audience, and giveaways have been known to propel some writers forward.
But don’t bet on it. Never, ever plan on a promotional racket working. Why? Because they fail as often, if not more often, than they work.
Don’t give up. Don’t cry yourself to sleep at night. Just get out there and write.
More than that, get out there and do what you think will boost your writing career. Think for yourself. Be willing to try something new. Most importantly, be willing to fail, then to pick yourself back up and try something else.
If you write romance novels but find they don’t sell, give it a go at writing a thriller. If you’ve been giving away free e-books but find you still aren’t finding readers, do the opposite and hike up the prices of your e-books (within a reasonable range, of course). Change the covers of your books. Hire a professional editor. Hire a cover artist.
Do something different. Think outside of the box.
Yes, it is fine to draw inspiration and advice from others, but when it is all said and done, this is your writing and possibly your career we are talking about. Don’t take the words of others for granted. Again, think for yourself.
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Been a long time since I posted anything–Christmas distracted me and then I was sick for a while. Sorry!
I had been kind of waiting, too, because I hoped to announce when the paperback version of Scriber was up and ready in my next post. Unfortunately, though, I’ve had some problems with the proof, so that’s taking a bit longer than expected. It will probably be a couple of weeks yet while I get a new proof sent and make sure it’s all in working order. Annoying, but necessary.
Work on the Swampling King is coming along, too, though a bit slower than I anticipated. I’m doing a lot of shifting chapters around and debating on adding or cutting various viewpoint characters. I still hope to get the first two books in the trilogy out this year, though.
The next post on the mythology I promised a long time back will come up eventually, but some changes I made to the background and history affected what I would have posted, and I didn’t want to post obsolete information. So, if you’re interested in that, keep posted. Once I get the chapters and viewpoints organized properly, I’ll post a sample from the beginning of the book, too. Man, I am overusing the word post in this paragraph.
So, there’s some news! I wish I could have said the paperback was ready, but alas, such is life.
I’ve been struggling with a certain bit of plot in the Swampling King for a while, so I haven’t posted much in the way of update on that, but I think I’ve finally got it worked out. Without spoiling anything, it was a matter of making sure all the characters could be where they needed to be for a big scene without having anyone appear there when we last saw them halfway across the world at someplace they could never make it from in time. Keeping all these characters in hand, it’s a big job!
I’m also working on getting Scriber formatted and ready for a paperback version on Createspace. Just need to get the cover done now. So that’ll be cool. Even if no one buys it, I can get myself a copy and be all “Look at this book that I wrote” to everyone I see.
I’m also going to do another post about the mythology of my upcoming series soon, because I haven’t done one in a while, but I’m still writing it up–it’s kind of hard to do them in a way that doesn’t actually spoil the plot, sometimes.
Scriber just got reviewed at Adarna SF–5/5 stars! They don’t give too many of those out, I’m absolutely thrilled! And I’m in good company. The last 5 star book, just before mine, was Joseph Garraty’s Voice, which was a fabulous book.
Check it out here: http://adarnasf.com/2011/12/02/scriber-ben-s-dobson-2011/
Now I just need to pick a good line from it to display in all my blurbs and covers, everywhere, forever.
Time for a bit more of the mythology of my upcoming trilogy.
After the Sky God created the world and humanity, the deep places in the Earth were still corrupt and unclean, and foul creatures grew there. Some had the burrowing claws of the rodents that live under the ground, others had the hard carapaces of insects, still more slithered like worms, or had bodies formed from the rotting flesh of buried things. These creatures grew jealous of the purity of the humans who lived above, and they waged war against them, striking from the depths without warning. The humans came to call them the Deeplings, and they were led by the most powerful of their number, a monster of writhing legs and rotting flesh and terrible cunning, called the King in the Deeps.
In these early days, humanity was not equipped to fight such a terrible foe. They had not yet learned the art of forging steel, or the tactics of war. They needed leaders. So the Sky God gifted his nine most favored children with his mark–the golden eyes of eagles–and his power, the High Arts, allowing them to create great miracles and soar on the winds. These nine prophets became known as the Windwalkers, and there were three for each aspect of the Sky God. Aryllia the Wise, Orim the Scholar, and Dasson the Pious were the Walkers of the Eagle, great leaders and philosophers and tacticians; Carris of the Fields, Luthas the Bright, and Berial the Tamer were the Walkers of the Wind, who brought the Sky God’s bounty to the land, making the crops grow and the livestock prosper; and Dalleon the Golden, Elica Braveheart, and Terene the Stern were the Walkers of the Spirit, great warriors whose strength and conviction knew no bounds.
Led by Aryllia, first of the Windwalkers and most favored of the Sky God, the people fought back against the Deeplings, seeking to rid the world of them once and for all, in a war known as the Purge. The Purge lasted for a hundred years, until finally Dalleon the Golden, the greatest warrior ever known, bested the King in the Deeps in single combat. With the King’s defeat, the Windwalkers were able to banish the Deeplings back beneath the Earth once more. But the Deeplings were not destroyed, only imprisioned. While the Windwalkers led humanity to great prosperity in the aftermath of the war, the King in the Deeps watched and waited for his time to come again.
As he knew it would.
