Tag: singularity deferred

Reports of print’s death are exaggerated

Okay, I never actually said print was dead, did I? Well, I did clarify, at least, yeah? So, to cease to dissemble, the big news is this:

My books are not in actual dead tree paper print! I’ve been spending the last… goodly amount of time in editing, formatting, proofing, cover creation, and the end results can be sent to your grubby but discerning and generous hands!

Singularity_Deferred_Cover_for_KindleSingularity Deferred: Amazon and Barnes and Noble

First Hand of the Night: Amazon

I’ll soon be hawking my wares to local bookstores friendly to local independent authors.

This is the next big benchmark of both my career as an independent author and as a hopeful publisher. Some inside baseball: My goals have been to fully grok ebook creation and distribution. Then, research, understand, and delve into the vagaries of print publishing my own works. I feel I should do at least one, maybe two, more works of my own before I feel competent in that regard. The next stage from there is to publish another’s work.

Then I have some choices to make regarding where to go from there. Do I want to continue solely publishing my own work and the occasional compatriot? Or do I want to expand and actually become a publisher legit, and pay proper fees and royalties to authors to publish? It’s one of my dreams, but how much might that take from my greatest goal and dream of “simply” being a writer? I’ve said before how Jason Sizemore and his Apex Publishing is a model for me, and in many ways still is. But, how far do I want to go down that road? I still have a lot of thinking to do.

In the meantime, buy my stuff? *cheesy grin* Spread the word? Meantime, I’m still working on that novel sequel, quit bugging me!

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New year; new projects. And thoughts on Fading Suns

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Has it really been an entire year since my last post? Well, no John Scalzi am I! I plan to remedy the lack of communication issue in 2014, especially since I’m working on some projects this year that I can’t wait to talk about.

On the novel front, I’ve switched my focus. I had been working much of last year on my epic SF/fantasy trilogy. Some good research, some good outlining, and a decent amount of narrative written. But I reached a stopping point at the same time that thoughts of finally getting that sequel to Singularity Deferred out of my head started to peak. So, I’ve shelved the trilogy for now and picked up the sequel–which should make 6 people on Amazon and a couple on Smashwords happy.

Now, some truly awesome news: I just started working with FASA on one of my mostest favoritest role-playing games evar! Fading Suns. (Some additional info.) I’ve been into this system since the late 90s, ever since I got the “Emperor of the Fading Suns” strategy PC game, and then checked out the RPG it was based on. (That game has a truly amazing soundtrack that could be ripped off the CD! I’ve used it for years as part of my writing soundtrack.)

So they released a newly revised edition of the core rules about a year and a half ago, and a new game master’s guide this last December (with much old, revised material). Now, they’re working on redoing the supplemental source books. And that’s where I come in!

I can’t say much, but I’m working right now on a source book that’s going to contain a pretty big ratio of new content! It’s very exciting! And the fact that I get to have a role in the creation process really is like a dream come true.

As for the game itself, I’m quite pleased where it’s going. I won’t get into the messy details, but the original creators of the game were supposedly working on an entirely new 3rd edition of the game before Crazy Stuff Happened, and the line changed hands and people left…. And what happened instead was the Revised Edition was released. And as much as I was really looking forward to a new version, I think this is better. I mean, at the core of Fading Suns is a very good rules system that really did only need some fixing and enhancing. Which they did. It’s a much better system now.

Though, I’m still unsure about the physical copy of the new book. It’s a nice, portable size now, but it doesn’t lie open on the table anymore. Which is a shame. But I think I’ll live. 🙂 I’m excited to see what the source books end up looking like.

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No Kickstarter, but Singularity ebook is a go!

Update 1: Added Amazon Kindle links.

Okay, so the Kickstarter project to get the novel Singularity Deferred didn’t go over so well. That’s fine; it was something of a long-shot. So, we move on to Plan B: While I won’t be able to crowdsource the funding from contributors (who would have received the book as well as incentives), I’ll simply put out a first edition e-book to raise the funds. This will allow me to possibly succeed in two ways:

1. If the sales of the e-book go really well, then that’s all I’ll need to rely on and the funds from that will go to the professional graphic design and artwork, layout, marketing materials, and print run. But, if after a while the income isn’t as great as it might be but the feedback is positive, then…

2. I can use that feedback and garnered book reviews posted where it’s purchased (Smashwords, BN.com, and Amazon*) to help give a second Kickstarter attempt more promise. And, whatever funds gained from the e-book sales, would help mitigate what I would need to generate from Kickstarter contributors to complete the print project.

So, if you want an exciting scifi adventure to read, spend a mere fraction of what you would in a Nook or Kindle store e-book and purchase and download Singularity Deferred! Then, when you discover how much you’re enjoying it, go back and post a review, if you would. It’d certainly be appreciated!

And while you’re there, buy an additional copy or two to give as gifts! Everyone wins! 🙂

(*At this moment, the review processes to add the novel to BN.com is still going on. But if you have a Nook or even a Kobo or iPhone/iPad, copying the EPUB you buy from Smashwords should be a breeze!)

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Quick Kickstarter update

Kickstarter logo owned by kickstarter.comWell, the Kickstarter project to publish my novel, Singularity Deferred, is nearly over, but it’s far from successful. Despite the contribution of some very generous people, it doesn’t look like it’s going to reach the goal. The various places I planned on promoting the project hadn’t turned out quite the way I’d hoped. For example, just as I sent my promotional material to Dragon Page: Cover to Cover, they decided to stop putting out episodes.

However, I have one last hope: a favorite author of mine, John Scalzi, is actually allowing people to promote their Kickstarter in a special thread every Wednesday! I’ve set up an alarm to remind myself to post there promptly the next two weeks before the Kickstarter ends.

Some significant changes coming in my day job very shortly. We’ll see how that affects my writin’ n’ publishin’ work shortly.

And finally, in update news, my cold’s just about subdued enough to be a non-issue. I plan on recording chapter 6 tomorrow evening. Then, look for the official beginning of the novel draft exercise I mentioned last week.

Caio!

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The start is being kicked!

Well, it has begun. My Kickstarter project to help fund the production, printing, and distribution of my novel, Singularity Deferred, has been approved and it’s live! In 29 days from this moment, we shall see if there’s enough interest in the novel to have allowed it to be brought to life! So clap as hard as you can or the fairy dies!

If you have somehow accidentally stumbled upon this post and have no idea what’s going on: check out the novel info here: http://www.tragic-sans.com/stories/singularity-deferred/.

If you’re totally up to speed, like what you see, and want to pledge some bucks, please visit the Kickstarter! But, even more importantly, if you wouldn’t mind spreading the word and giving other people the opportunity to take a look and see if it’s something they’d like to support–I’d really appreciate it!

Did I mention there’s some cool reward incentives? From autographed copies of the book, up to being able to name a ship or character in the novel!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1696794878/singularity-deferred-a-novel

Well, with bated breath, I begin a month of obsessive webpage reloading. 🙂

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It is finished! …again!

This is going to be a brief post because it’s late, I’m tired, but I must tell the world! You know that novel I finished back in the post “It is finished!“? Well, I ran it through the “Critters” online writing workshop I belong to and a couple of trusted readers, and I’ve just tonight finished the final-final draft! (Well, I figure if an agent decides to take it on, they’ll likely have me complete yet another draft — but I’ll cross that stream when I have to bust it.)

In the meantime, I’m taking the leap and starting e-publishing it. (Hey, self publishing didn’t hurt Amanda Hocking’s or DAEMON’s Daniel Suarez’s. Though, no clue yet if my novel is good enough, but I think it’s not bad at all! *grin*)

Maybe tomorrow I’ll put up an excerpt and all… but right now: sleep! Aaahhh!

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It’s a novel, folks!

quillMy Master’s thesis is a “creative thesis” since my focus is on Creative Writing, and I finally passed 60,000 words (aprox. 190 MLA formatted pages or 240 mass market paperback pages). Technically 50K is the minimum publisher accepted length for a novel with 80K being the generally preferred length especially for a first novel. By the looks of it, I should have at least 90K when I’m done. That is, according to my loose outline and my gut feeling of how it’s turning out.

I reached a point recently where I got “that feeling” that authors sometimes talk about where the story writes itself (I’ve been writing, unpublished, for like 20 years now, and I’ve had those moments before but in a very superficial way). I have this feeling of impending doom that one of the main characters has to die. It’s a really weird feeling, almost like a premonition (if I believed in such things) which is doubly weird since I’m “premonitioning” a fictional event in a narrative I’m writing! But I’m actually filled with anxious anticipation as I really don’t know what her fate is going to be and I know it will have to work as an appropriate result of story events.

Anyway, it’s all very exciting…for me. 🙂

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