Julia Huni's Blog, page 2

New Book, New Series

Finally! I wrote this book in the spring, but between the Kickstarter and all of the other things life has thrown my way, it's taken a while to get it finished. But the ARCs went out on September 15, and direct sales will commence on September 24th. Check out my payhip store if you want to grab it before it goes to Amazon. The direct sales link will come down when it goes live on Amazon, because KU requires exclusivity.

What's it about? Here's the blurb:

In the heart of enemy territory, Vanti must save the day without blowing her cover… or her cool.

Security for a reality star cruising on a billionaire's space yacht should be excellent cover for secret agent Linsay “Vanti” Fioravanti. Her boss, the famous Elodie-Oh, doesn't care where they go, as long as it's viral.

Then Arun, the ship's owner and pilot, grabs an opportunity to do business on Gagarin–a planet emerging into capitalism with enthusiasm. Getting in on the new market is a huge risk, but could offer enormous rewards. And visiting Gagarin gives Vanti the chance to recruit new informants.

But when a shipmate is kidnapped, Vanti and Arun must come to the rescue. Can they do it without exposing Vanti's secret identity? And if not, who will feed the cat?

The post New Book, New Series appeared first on Julia Huni, Author.

Space Opera Sisterhood

Live Tonight–August 23–at 9pm Pacific Daylight Time!

With all of my energy focused on fulfilling my Kickstarter campaign, I've asked Robert Jeschonek to tell you about another amazing project I have a story in: The Space Opera Sisterhood StoryBundle.

The Space Opera Sisterhood Bundle  

– curated by Robert Jeschonek

What is it about space opera that makes us love it so much? The action,
the exotic settings, the colorful characters, the alien species? The promise
of countless adventures in the face of the great unknown?

Or is it mostly just the incredible wow factor of all the ships…the
technology…the planets…the ray guns and laser swords? In many ways,
it's the ultimate escapist genre, transporting us to places and situations that
dwarf our everyday troubles. And yet, at its heart, space opera is all about
us—what it means to be human, and how we can triumph over our human
limitations.

Whatever your reason for loving the genre, this bundle has what you're
looking for in abundance. The eleven books I've selected—each written by
a true heroine of the genre—are packed with space opera goodness that
will propel you to the furthest reaches of the known and unknown universe.
In this set of books—including six StoryBundle exclusives—you will meet
heroes and villains, all larger than life, roaming myriad worlds and stations
and outposts on quests for survival or freedom or love or redemption. You
will find yourself with enough thrilling adventures to banish every doldrum,
and every one of them will take you far in every way possible.

If you love space opera, science fiction, action-adventure, or great writing
regardless of genre, this bundle will light up your universe in all the best
ways. Grab your copy during the limited three-week sales window, load
your e-reading device or app, and launch yourself into orbit for a Big Bang
of breathtaking, soul-stirring, and thought-provoking reading. 

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if
you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle of four books in .epub
format—WORLDWIDE.

Dominion Chronicles – The Lyra Cycle: Episodes 1-2 by Rene Astle
Becalmed by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Luna City Limited by Julia Huni
In Darkness Dwells by James Fox and A.K. DuBoff

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $20, you get all four of the regular
books, plus six more (all StoryBundle exclusives) books for a total
of 10!
Gray Lady – Books 1 & 2 Omnibus by Robert Jeschonek and Annie
Reed (StoryBundle Exclusive)
Paradox by Louisa Swann (StoryBundle Exclusive)
Tales from the Sehnsucht Series – Books 0 and 0.5 by Keyla
Damaer (StoryBundle Exclusive)
Lone Wolves Heroines – Vol. 1 by Barbara G. Tarn (StoryBundle
Exclusive)
Victoria Eternal by Anthea Sharp (StoryBundle Exclusive)
Quinn of Cygnus – Lift Off by AM Scott (StoryBundle Exclusive)

This bundle is available only for a limited time
via  http://www.storybundle.com . It allows easy reading on computers,
smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file
transfer, email, and other methods. You get a DRM-free .epub for all books!
It's also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to
our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can
redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which
allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of
StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

Get quality reads: We've chosen works from excellent authors to
bundle together in one convenient package.Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these
fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little, that's fine!
You'll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a
platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles
featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there's nothing wrong with ditching DRM.Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a
portion of their proceeds to AbleGamers!Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you'll get the bonus
books!
StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to
showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers.
StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be
purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle,
Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for
Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com.
For more information, visit our website at storybundle.com, tweet us
at @storybundle and like us on Facebook .

The post Space Opera Sisterhood appeared first on Julia Huni, Author.

Krimson Empire update

The Kickstarter campaign has wrapped, and we ended up raising $4600 with the relaunch! Three of the four new covers have been revealed (the last one is being finalized as I type,) and we met several stretch goals, including two new stories, and a merch store.

The new stories–a prequel in which Quinn and Tony first meet, and a Space Janitor/ Krimson Empire cross-over–will be exclusive to the Kickstarter Backers until at least 2024. After that, I'll likely share them with my newsletter readers, so sign up to join us if that sounds good to you. Backers will also get a download of my story The Darenti Incongruence. It was published previously in The Expanding Universe 8 and will be available to newsletter readers shortly, too.

The Krimson Empire books–ebook and paperback–will be published this fall via my PayHip store. They'll be distributed to all of the major ebook sellers shortly after that.

The post Krimson Empire update appeared first on Julia Huni, Author.

Krimson Empire Kickstarter!

I'm using a Kickstarter campaign to launch my rebranded Krimson Empire books. After the campaign, the books will be available wide–that is on all of the major ebook retailers. But the Kickstarter versions will have some exclusive art and rewards. So follow the campaign here, and you'll be notified when it goes live!

Here's a sneak peek at the first section of The Trophany–the story that launched the series:

The Trophany

The speakers crackled, and a smooth, tenor voice spoke. “Attention, civilians! The Krimson Empire is not attacking. There’s no reason for panic. Federation and Empire diplomats have decided the presence of non-combatants in the forward area is hindering negotiations. Therefore, you are being relocated to Federation Base Zauras for now.”

Quinn Templeton leanedcloser to her friend Tony Bergen and muttered, “Right. And my great-grandmotherteaches marksmanship classes at her old-folks home.”

Bergen shrugged. “Mygrandmother does teach marksmanship,” he said, a hint of a laugh runningunder his words. “But she’s an instructor at the special forces academy.”

“At this time, groups one throughtwenty, proceed to Alpha Shuttle. Follow the blinking lights.” Green lightsstreaked across the shuttle bay floor, creating a meter-wide path to thespacecraft near the huge hangar doors.

Quinn frowned and turned tocheck on her kids. Ellianne stood silent beside her, one hand gripping a pinkduffel, the other clutching the corner of Quinn’s jacket. Lucas slouched a fewmeters away with another preteen, both struggling to maintain cool attitudes.Lucas glanced around, made eye contact with Quinn, and quickly turned away,pretending he hadn’t just looked for his mother.

The shuttles loaded quickly.Quinn got Ellianne and Lucas strapped in and their bags stowed. Settling backinto the uncomfortable seat, she reached to pull the straps across her body.

“Templeton, Quinn!” a voicebarked over the din. “Piruytha, Steve! Front and center.”

Quinn jumped, her bodyresponding to the command before her mind caught up. “Don’t worry, I’ll beright back,” she told the kids. Pushing through the sea of people, she workedher way down the aisle to the front door of the shuttle, followed by Piruytha.

“This way.” An enlisted manin the familiar gray and black camo uniform jerked his head and started acrossthe shuttle bay, not waiting to see if they followed.

“What’s going on?” Quinnasked, but both men ignored her. With a glance back at the shuttle, she trottedafter them. In the ready room, she joined a dozen other grumbling passengers.

A tall man stepped to thefront of the room and cleared his throat, stilling the muttered conversations.“I am Master Sergeant Kress.” The man twitched his sleeve, as if to draw theirattention to his rank. “We need to re-balance the load on one of our shuttles.We’re moving passengers from that shuttle to the others, and we’re going tomake a second run to pick up the last of the civilians. You will wait hereuntil the Alpha Shuttle returns from the transport.”

“My kids are on that shuttle!” Quinn screamed, pushing back toward the door.

You’ll get the entire story if you back the Kickstarter for even a dollar. I’ll send you the download link within 48 hours (give or take.)

I can also give you a preview of the new covers:

That's Quinn and Tony on the first cover. The second one features Tony's aunt and her ex-husband/business partner. The third one has Francine and another character. The fourth? You'll have to follow the campaign to find out!

So come on over and follow the Krimson Empire campaign!

The post Krimson Empire Kickstarter! appeared first on Julia Huni, Author.

Book Sales

If you live outside the US or UK, I'm sure it's frustrating to see an author advertising a 99 cent sale with the caveat “US and UK only.” Believe me, as an author, I find this frustrating as well. The reason is based in Amazon's strange royalties scheme.

To start with, Amazon offers two royalty options: 35% and 70%. Why would anyone choose to earn half as much on their book? Because the 70% royalty only applies to books priced between $2.99 and $9.99. So if you price your book higher or lower, you only earn 35%. In addition, certain countries are only on the 35% plan. And books in the 70% option are charged a delivery fee. So if your book is big (think pictures) it will cost more. The fees are subtracted before the royalty is calculated, so sometimes you'll make more in the 35% option with no delivery fee. If you want to really get into the weeds on all of this, Amazon's pages explain it in detail.

Now, if your book is in Kindle Unlimited, you can use Kindle Countdown Deals once per quarter. This allows authors to reduce the price on a book below that $2.99 threshold (in the US or UK) for up to 7 days while still earning 70%. On a 99 cent book with a 14 cent delivery fee (pretty standard for a box set) this means earning 59.5 cents per copy vs 34 cents.

It might seem odd that we're quibbling over 25.5 cents, but if you sell a lot a hundred books, that's $25.

If I set a KCD on my book in the US and UK, then lower my price in other countries below the threshold, Amazon pays 35% ON ALL SALES. Even the KCD sales. This is why most authors only run their sales in the US and UK.

I'm trying something different this time. I'm offering my Tales of a Former Space Janitor box set to readers outside the US and UK at a higher sale price. I'm sorry it's not as good a deal as 99 cents, but it's still a great deal compared to full price. Here's the sale plan:

US: 99c

UK: 99p

Europe: 2.69 Euro

Canada: 2.99 CAD

Australia: 3.99 AUD

Like I said, still a pretty decent savings.

So why not sell books directly to you? (Like I do at launch time.) Because Kindle Unlimited requires exclusivity. And since a lot of my readers get their books in KU, I'm not ready to pull the plug on that.

If you have an idea how I can make sales more equitable, let me know!

The post Book Sales appeared first on Julia Huni, Author.

Long time coming

I know it's been a minute (actually, a year, if you can believe it!) since the last Space Janitor book came out. But now the wait is (almost) over! Changing the Speed of Light Bulbs, book 4 in the Tales of a Former Space Janitor, will be out February 28th! And here's a sneak peek at the cover!

The post Long time coming appeared first on Julia Huni, Author.

New Colonial Explorer Corps!

I'm about 90% finished with the new Colonial Explorer Corps book, The Darenti Paradox. In this story, Siti is a few years older, and hopefully wiser. Together with her friend Joss and frenemy Derek Lee, and of course, her sair-glider Liam, Siti returns to the planet that made her father “The Hero.”

Here, for the first time, is the new cover by Jennifer Wilson of JL Wilson Designs.

Isn't it fantastic?

Here's a little about the story:

Over a hundred years ago, Nate Kassis encountered the first sapient aliens in the galaxy. Since then, the Darenti have been quarantined on their planet, until the Colonial Commonwealth decides they're ready for the galaxy. Or that the galaxy is ready for them.

When Siti and her team arrive, talks are under way and the decision is imminent. But a strange group of Darenti kidnap Siti and beg for her help.

Will she escape and return to her base? Will she help the Darenti in their mystical mission? Or will something completely unexpected happen?

(I'm betting on number three.)

The post New Colonial Explorer Corps! appeared first on Julia Huni, Author.

Spring Update

I haven't posted to this page in a very long time! I guess the pandemic has gotten to us all.

But I thought I'd take a few minutes to update you on, well, everything.

My last post was in August! I didn't publish as many books last year as I expected, but that's because I kind of stored some up for the future. But, in case you missed it, here's what happened in 2021:

January: The Rings of Grissom went live. This is the first book in the Tales of a Former Space Janitor series. There are three books in that series now! Rings takes up where Sweeping S'Ride left off. In fact, the first chapter happens the same day as the last chapter of Sweeping.April: The Grissom Contention , book 2 in the Colonial Explorer Corps series went live. No real relationship to The Rings of Grissom–both books take place on the same planet, but I should have come up with a better name to differentiate them. June: Planetary Spin Cycle , book 2 in Tales of a Former Space Janitor, came outJuly: I started publishing a serial on the new Kindle Vella platform: The Phoenix and Katie Li September: The Saha Declination, book 3 in the Colonial Explorer Corps series came out.November: I launched my second Kickstarter campaign, to fund the audiobook for Glitter in the Stars. That campaign funded within three days of the launch!December: I published the “box set” of the first three Colonial Explorer Corps books.

Since then, I've finished the third Former Space Janitor book, Waxing the Moon of Lewei, which published in February, and was one of the rewards for the Kickstarter. And the Vella story will be published at the end of April as Luna City Limited. It's meant to be the first season in the Vella series, but I'm not sure when season two will be written.

In between, I've been writing a romantic comedy series that will be published under a pen name. And in early April, I'll start work on a new Colonial Explorer Corps book.

Oh, and I had this cool logo created! Plus I got a new narrator, Rachel Music, and she just finished the audiobook for Glitter in the Stars. You can listen to a sample here. She is Ah-mazing!

The post Spring Update appeared first on Julia Huni, Author.

StoryBundle

I am beyond excited to announce that not one, but two of my books are part of a StoryBundle with some heavy hitters of the science fiction world!

StoryBundle is a curated group of books that are offered together—and the readers decide how much to pay. You can get the books for as little as $5, but if you want to support and reward the writers, you can pay a little more. You can also get additional books by meeting the bonus threshold.

The Earth Concurrence is being offered as one of four books in the initial bundle, while you’ll get Krimson Run, and five other books, if you meet the bonus threshold of $15.

My all-star bundle buddies include:

Hugo Award and Asimov’s Readers’ Choice winner Kristine Kathryn RuschTS Snow, author of more than 70 SF, Fantasy, Horror and Romance novelsUSA Today bestselling author and Star Trek novelist Dean Wesley SmithIndie SF powerhouse—and my co-author—Craig MartelleTwo-time Coyotl Award Winner and Hugo and Nebula nominee Lawrence M SchoenWriters of the Future finalist Patty JansenEditor and publisher of Boundary Shock Quarterly Magazin Blaze WardFellow science fiction writer and friend, J.L. StowersPlus a 1970s-style science fiction anthology edited by USA Today bestselling author Robert Jeschonek, featuring a double handful of well-known SF writers.

I am humbled to be in the same bundle with these folks. Even if you've already read both of my entries, the other books are well worth the few dollars they'll cost you.

This bundle includes ten books (one of which is a five-book omnibus) two of which are StoryBundle exclusives. Take a look at the StoryBundle and grab some amazing stories!

The post StoryBundle appeared first on Julia Huni, Author.

Serial reading

If you're as old as I am, you might remember reading serial in the newspaper. A new bit would come out each week, leaving you on the edge of your seat and panting for the next installment. If you're older than me, you might even remember serials at the movie house.

Well, Amazon is entering the serial world with Kindle Vella, which launched this past Tuesday. 

Serials are big business in some parts of the world—Asia, for example—and quite popular with younger generations. They're ten to thousands of episodes, each of which is several hundred to several thousand words long—five to thirty-minute reads, that are easy to access on your phone.

The first three episodes of every Vella story are free, and Amazon is currently giving away 200 free tokens to every reader. A token is worth 100 words, so each of my episodes is in the ten to twenty-five token range.

My Vella entry is called The Phoenix and Katie Li. It’s kind of an homage to the old Scarecrow and Mrs. King television show, but set in space. In my story, Katie Li, an ordinary girl working in the call center of a novelties company (anyone familiar with Archie McPhee?) encounters a secret agent who needs her help.

Katie lives on the moon orbiting the planet Lewei—if you read Planetary Spin Cycle, you might remember this USSR-flavored political rival from Triana’s arm of the galaxy. As a result, a lot of the tech will be recognizable, and the light, rom-com style will feel familiar.

If you aren’t in the US, or don’t care for serials, or don’t want to pay Amazon, but want to read the story, I have a couple of options for you:

Wait. I can publish the serial as a book 30 days after the last episode goes live. At one episode per week, that’s going to take a while, but it’s an option.Wait until Vella comes to your country. There’s no word on when this will happen, but if it takes off in the US, it’s likely to be fairly soon. After all, Amazon likes to make money. If the US venture isn’t successful, then I’ll pull my story down and publish it sooner rather than later.

But, Julia, I want it now!Join my new Patreon account. I will warn you, paying $2 per month is going to be more expensive in the long run than buying tokens on Amazon, which is why I recommended waiting first. (Although Vella is addictive, so once you’re on there, it’s easy to start spending tokens left and right!) However, if you don’t mind spending a couple of bucks to support me, I’ll appreciate it.
Patreon Bonus: You’ll get each episode a week before it goes live on Vella.
PRO TIP: The longer you wait, the better the deal. For example, if you join in August, you’ll get all of July’s episodes and August’s for the same $2. Are you getting the feeling there’s a lot of waiting involved? That’s the nature of serials—you have to wait for the next episode.

By the way, if you decide to join the Patreon account, the $5 option will give you access to chapters from my other works in progress, too. I’m not promising you’ll get to read ALL of EVERY book there, but you’ll see a fair bit.

Jump on the serial bandwagon!

The post Serial reading appeared first on Julia Huni, Author.