Author
The audiobooks for the Heirs of War series have now been published and are available on amazon and audible. It was great working with Aaron Smith on the series and he really made the characters come alive.
Earlier this year, I released a multi author eBook set with six first in series books in it, titled Rise of Legends. It is free to download from most stores, and has proven very popular with fantasy fans!
Stay tuned, more book news coming this summer!
It feels awesome to announce the publication of the audiobook of An Inheritance of Ash and Blood. It’s now available on audible/amazon, with a run time of 13 hours 40 minutes.
It was great to work with Aaron on this project. He really killed it with the range of voice work which I think adds a lot to the story.
It’s been a busy 7 days and I’ve just realised I haven’t officially announced the release of A Crucible of Fire and Steel on the website. So now I have.
A week on and the release is going well. Book One has a temporary price reduction on the eBook for January if you are new to the series. As for Book Three, this one is in the very early stages of the writing process and I don’t anticipate serious progress until later in the year.
That said, I do have a release of something else scheduled for the summer and some big news around that, so stay tuned. For more regular updates than this blog, make sure to sign up to my newsletter which is my primary method of communication. This is an email delivered to your inbox, around once or twice a month, depending on news.
My first ever podcast interview is now up on the Fantasy Focus website!
It was a lot of fun chatting with Jamie and a great experience for me. Have a listen as I discuss The Weapon Takers Saga and my writing journey with fellow Fantasy author Jamie Davis.
Since she was a young girl, Moneva has worked for the most powerful crime lord in the Empire. A chance encounter offers her a way out. Can she take it?
Introducing my short story, Striking Out. This is a prequel story, set five years before Toric’s Dagger starts. It’s written from Moneva’s point of view, and develops aspects of her backstory that are mentioned during the series. I enjoyed adding some flesh to these bones, and also featuring some other characters from the series in the story.
Moneva sighed. She really didn’t like Barissians. Some indefinable, can’t put your finger on it reason, that made her think they were all a bunch of arseholes.
Striking Out is not available to buy and is currently exclusive to members of my newsletter, who can download it FREE from Bookfunnel. I will also be featuring it elsewhere as a free introduction to the series.
Fuck thinking things through. Fuck always being in control. Fuck being patient, waiting for the right moment. And fuck Salvinus. She was going to kill him, here and now.
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So, here is the agreed cover for Bolivar’s Sword, the next instalment of The Weapon Takers Saga.
I really like the colours and feel we now have a ‘brand image’ for the series. What do you think?
I’ve still got some work to do on the text, and struggling to find the time at the moment. But looking forward to getting this story published in the new year!
After a brief hiatus, I am back to work on getting Toric’s Dagger published. The script has received a professional line edit from Invisible Ink Editing, resulting in many improvements. Next, I need to get a final edit done and then get it formatted for publication. I will also need to get a book cover done and I think the book needs a map of Dalriya in it.
I have joined Wattpad, a cool site to discover new writers. I intend to put my first chapter there, in instalments. I will post here when it is up!
So, becoming a self-published author is turning into an interesting journey. I am learning about the industry all the time at the moment, largely thanks to the websites of other writers who have been kind enough to share their experiences and give a newbie like myself a leg up.
The ‘traditional’ way of publishing would involve landing a deal with a big publisher, who sees enough in your work to think they might make a profit with it. They would then use their in-house experts, such as editors, cover designers, publicists etc to get your manuscript up to scratch and your book marketed to potential readers. If you are self-publishing, you have to do all this yourself. This can seem quite daunting. Some of it you may need to pay someone else to do. This can be expensive. DIY can be empowering and, of course, cheaper. But if you DIY and produce something crap, you’re not doing yourself or your book any favours.
I am currently embarking on phase one of outside help, which involves improving my novel. To simplify more than a little, there are two ways in which you can do this. One is to ask people to read your manuscript and give you their feedback. The idea here is that you use said feedback to improve what you have written (rather than ignoring it all because actually what you have written is brilliant and perfect and they are idiots, which is my initial response). You can get family and friends to do this: if they are prepared to be honest – if they have the skill set to give helpful feedback – & if they understand the genre you are writing in. If you are not blessed with such people in your life, you can get strangers to do it. These people are often referred to as beta readers – willing to read your work and give constructive feedback. One option is for two writers to read each other’s material and swap critiques.
Method two is to pay a professional editor to look at and improve your work. With the growth of the self-publishing industry, there are plenty of professional editors about. There are a number of things they can do to what you have written, from a proofread correcting your written errors to an analysis of your story elements, such as plot and character. If you are going to spend any money on this, you should carefully research the options before committing to anything.
I am about to try both options and hope that the result will be a better first novel when I come to publish next year. Anyone interested in beta reading my manuscript, please let me know!
If you are interested in self-publishing, here is a list of some of those writer websites I mentioned who discuss the ins and outs of the industry.