Lois McMaster Bujold's Blog, page 17
June 10, 2021
Assassins of Thasalon on audio in August
I am pleased to report that we have just licensed The Assassins of Thasalon to Blackstone Audiobooks, for projected release in, probably, late July or early August. (They tell me they are shooting for July 27th, if all goes smoothly.)
The pixels are barely dry on the DocuSign, so production isn't started yet, but anyway, it sounds as if they plan the excellent Grover Gardner for the narrator again. The book will appear, when it does, at all the platforms and places the prior novellas did.
For the curious -- one sees simultaneous releases of print and audio editions when a work is having traditional publishing, with its long time queues, which gives plenty of time for the audio subrights to be contracted and produced in coordination. With my semi-retirement indie epub scheme, I make no announcements, promises, or contracts till a work is finished at least in first draft, and I e-publish it as soon as it's gone through its final edit, however long that takes, and I've done all the other tasks such as arranging a cover. (About which there is usually a lot of behind-the-scenes back-and-forthing you folks don't see, but which eats up some lead time -- I usually contact my cover artist when I'm within a very few certain scenes of the end.)
Speaking of which, plan is to re-use Ron Miller's cover art on the audio edition, which will be good for several things, among which are making the book more recognizable to cross-media browsers.
Ta, L
The pixels are barely dry on the DocuSign, so production isn't started yet, but anyway, it sounds as if they plan the excellent Grover Gardner for the narrator again. The book will appear, when it does, at all the platforms and places the prior novellas did.
For the curious -- one sees simultaneous releases of print and audio editions when a work is having traditional publishing, with its long time queues, which gives plenty of time for the audio subrights to be contracted and produced in coordination. With my semi-retirement indie epub scheme, I make no announcements, promises, or contracts till a work is finished at least in first draft, and I e-publish it as soon as it's gone through its final edit, however long that takes, and I've done all the other tasks such as arranging a cover. (About which there is usually a lot of behind-the-scenes back-and-forthing you folks don't see, but which eats up some lead time -- I usually contact my cover artist when I'm within a very few certain scenes of the end.)
Speaking of which, plan is to re-use Ron Miller's cover art on the audio edition, which will be good for several things, among which are making the book more recognizable to cross-media browsers.
Ta, L
May 31, 2021
essay on The Sharing Knife
I was recently reminded of this older piece... one of the more insightful readings of the tetralogy.
https://bracketyjack.livejournal.com/...
Ta, L.
https://bracketyjack.livejournal.com/...
Ta, L.
May 26, 2021
May 23, 2021
Penric's Travels out in paperback
Lost track of in my mad flurry of finalizing the new novel this month, Penric's Travel's has come out in its paperback morph, for all who prefer that format.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
The second volume chronologically after the first collection Penric's Progress, it contains the three novellas I've been dubbing "the Cedonia triptych": "Penric's Mission", "Mira's Last Dance", and "The Prisoner of Limnos". (And so makes an excellent read, or reread, before/with The Assassins of Thasalon.)
Besides the usual bookstore and vendors, it, and most of my other titles, are also available signed as mail-order from Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore here in Minneapolis; also some signed titles from Dreamhaven Books & Comics. The hardcovers of both collections remain available, too.
Ta, L.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
The second volume chronologically after the first collection Penric's Progress, it contains the three novellas I've been dubbing "the Cedonia triptych": "Penric's Mission", "Mira's Last Dance", and "The Prisoner of Limnos". (And so makes an excellent read, or reread, before/with The Assassins of Thasalon.)
Besides the usual bookstore and vendors, it, and most of my other titles, are also available signed as mail-order from Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore here in Minneapolis; also some signed titles from Dreamhaven Books & Comics. The hardcovers of both collections remain available, too.
Ta, L.
May 22, 2021
Thasalon is #19!
Good heavens, The Assassins of Thasalon is sales ranked #19 in the Kindle store this morning. That's the whole list, not some subcategory.
Bearing out my prior observations that the second weekend after release shows the best sales velocity, but more likely because of an auto-notice Amazon sent out yesterday, passed along to me by my ebooks wizard at Spectrum, announcing it to, I'm guessing, everyone who signed up in their system to "follow" me as an author. All right, I concede, this sort of PR is effective. (For a little while, till the feedback loop fades off.)
Ta, L.
Bearing out my prior observations that the second weekend after release shows the best sales velocity, but more likely because of an auto-notice Amazon sent out yesterday, passed along to me by my ebooks wizard at Spectrum, announcing it to, I'm guessing, everyone who signed up in their system to "follow" me as an author. All right, I concede, this sort of PR is effective. (For a little while, till the feedback loop fades off.)
Ta, L.
May 19, 2021
Bujold reading-order guide link
I am reminded to make my periodic post of the link to my recommended reading-order guide, or guideline, for all my work. Feel free to add this link when you are discussing my stories out and about on the net -- it can save a lot of hand waving. And typing.
https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
Now updated with new book. As always, about the only PR my work gets is from readers, you folks. Which seems pretty targeted to me -- most of my own new book tries as a reader are from reader reviews or friends' recs.
Ta, L.
https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
Now updated with new book. As always, about the only PR my work gets is from readers, you folks. Which seems pretty targeted to me -- most of my own new book tries as a reader are from reader reviews or friends' recs.
Ta, L.
May 12, 2021
Assassins of Thasalon spoiler discussion space
Here, as has become my custom, is a space for persons who have already read to book to freely discuss it with each other in the comments. Enjoy!
Ta, L.
(Didn't think I'd need to set this post up so soon, it being a novel this outing -- it takes me 3 or 4 days to get through, though I'm slower these days -- but, speed readers.)
Ta, L.
(Didn't think I'd need to set this post up so soon, it being a novel this outing -- it takes me 3 or 4 days to get through, though I'm slower these days -- but, speed readers.)
May 11, 2021
The Assassins of Thasalon now up
...although not yet worked through the systems at all 3 vendors. I'll add the other links as they go live. B&N's just appeared this morning, though, complete with a look-inside sample on its vendor page for those who want a taste.
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094PLPFQH/
iBooks/Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-a...
(Though while we're waiting, this is kind of an interesting link -- the whole accumulation of my ebooks laid out to see at one time. https://books.apple.com/us/author/loi... )
Upload completion can be pretty erratic. Sometimes the books appear in 3 hours, sometimes in 3 weeks, in mysterious ways out of my and Spectrum's control. But they all seem to get there in the end.
As usual, the only push these indie ebooks get from me is a few blog posts -- they rely on word of mouth by readers to get the word out. Amazon always gets plenty or reviews -- it's everywhere else that could use a mention, from those so moved.
Ta,L.
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094PLPFQH/
iBooks/Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-a...
(Though while we're waiting, this is kind of an interesting link -- the whole accumulation of my ebooks laid out to see at one time. https://books.apple.com/us/author/loi... )
Upload completion can be pretty erratic. Sometimes the books appear in 3 hours, sometimes in 3 weeks, in mysterious ways out of my and Spectrum's control. But they all seem to get there in the end.
As usual, the only push these indie ebooks get from me is a few blog posts -- they rely on word of mouth by readers to get the word out. Amazon always gets plenty or reviews -- it's everywhere else that could use a mention, from those so moved.
Ta,L.
May 9, 2021
The Assassins of Thasalon cover reveal!
This just in...
Cover art and design again by Ron Miller,
http://www.black-cat-studios.com/
Recapping the vendor-page copy:
* An unholy attack upon his brother-in-law General Arisaydia pitches sorcerer Learned Penric and his Temple demon Desdemona headlong into the snake-pit of Cedonian imperial politics. But they will not travel alone. The mission from his god brings Penric some of his strangest new allies yet, and the return of some of his most valued old ones.
This novel-length story takes place two years after the events of “The Physicians of Vilnoc”. *
All the pieces have now been assembled. It shouldn't be too many days more before the ebook goes up at the usual vendors: Kindle, Nook, and iBooks. I will post the links when they go live.
Ta, L.
Cover art and design again by Ron Miller,
http://www.black-cat-studios.com/
Recapping the vendor-page copy:
* An unholy attack upon his brother-in-law General Arisaydia pitches sorcerer Learned Penric and his Temple demon Desdemona headlong into the snake-pit of Cedonian imperial politics. But they will not travel alone. The mission from his god brings Penric some of his strangest new allies yet, and the return of some of his most valued old ones.
This novel-length story takes place two years after the events of “The Physicians of Vilnoc”. *
All the pieces have now been assembled. It shouldn't be too many days more before the ebook goes up at the usual vendors: Kindle, Nook, and iBooks. I will post the links when they go live.
Ta, L.
