Michael J. Sullivan's Blog, page 54

Has it really been so long?

Sorry all, I just noticed how long it has been since I've made a blog post. Things have been wicked busy...and also I'm on the road which makes online communication more difficult.  So here's a quick update.


Robin has finished the alpha read of The Death of Dulgath and officially put her stamp of approval on it. Yes, she had some changes, but they were (a) good and (b) easy to incorporate. I completed most of them yesterday, and will be finishing up a few other ones as soon as I get done with this post.

We are currently in Newago Michigan, staying at a lodge called "The Shack" - interesting place, a big log cabin on a lake that serves banana splits every night. We've been swimming, writing, editing, and enjoying a very quiet retreat. We'll be leaving in a few hours which brings me to my next bullet.
Gencon!  Will be arriving later tonight and have a number of panels. Schedule is as follows:
I also will be meeting with a few authors and doing a podcast - but outside of these times, I'm available for a meet and greet or just to say hello.  Email me and we can setup a time if you wish.
Humbe Bundle - continues to go strong. At last check nearly 12,000 people have gotten theirs and there is a bit over 4 days left.  My sciene fiction novel, Hollow World is included in the bundle. You can get 5 books originally started on Kickstarter for a "name your own price" or if you pledge $10.50 you can get 17 total books and comics. If you pledge $15 you can receive 21!  That's such a great deal - don't miss out.  Here is a link to get your own copies.
Writer's Digest course on Goodreads - I'm doing an online seminar for writers and how to utilize Goodreads to help build their brand. It'll be done through Writer's Digest University on August 18th at 1:00 PM (although you can participate "off-line" after this date as well.  Here is a link with all the information. If you can't get to my session at Gencon about this topic, then this would be a good place to learn more about this important venue.
Death of Dulgath Kickstarter, is over, but people are still joining the fun (via PayPal), You can check the Kickstarter to get a list of what the additional add-ons are, and you can click here to place an order.  I think we have everything set for sending the surveys. There was a problem with SKU's that Robin fixed earlier today. So should be soon!Well, I think that is all there is for now.  Busy times and lack of Internet makes posting a challenge but I'll do what I can to keep everyone informed.

It's a wrap!

I'm a few days late in this post, but for good reasons. When the Kickstarter ended I had three chapters left to write for The Death of Dulgath, so I've been busy finishing it. Today I'm writing the LAST chapter...and then it's off to Robin, who is a very busy woman as of late.

So, how did everything wind up?  We raised $73,163 from 1,750 backers.  This makes us one of the top fiction projects of all time! (3 out of 6,634 projects puts us in the top 0.05%)



Here's how the top 10 projects stack up

RankTitleProject Type$Backers1 The Warden and the Wolf King children's novel   $118,118   2,174 2The Numinous Place enhanced ebook$75,457 167 3The Death of Dulgath fantasy novel $73,163 1,750 4Fiction Unboxed  follow a book written in 1 month  $67,535 976 5Folktales from Finland anthology$64,823 1,886 6Storykillerillustrated novel$57,918 1,367 7Plympton publisher launch$56,588 420 8Big Bang Press publisher launch $53,890 1,174 9Elephant Books book & publisher launch $53,643 892 10Gemini Force One sci-fi novel £33,406 615
It was an amazing experience, made easy thanks to my incredible wife, Robin. Thank you all for joining us and making the Kickstarter such an event.

Last Chance to back the RIYRIA Kickstarer - 9 hours left

It's been an amazing ride, and while there is still 8 hours to go for the Kickstarter , I feel that hitting the $70,000 mark pretty much puts the cherry on the top of this sundae.  This project turned out to amazing and we became the 3rd highest funded fiction project of all time. 

The backers are getting all kinds of cool rewards (thanks to exceeding so many goals). Here's the final tally at each reward level.
All backers:Signed bookmarks ♦ Signed postcard ♦ Digital map ♦ Digital graphic adaptation of The Jester ♦ Wallpapers ♦ Acknowledgement in the book ♦ Social media shout-out ♦ Access to video diary ♦ Making of the Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ First chapter sneak peek of all First Empire novels before anyone else sees them ♦ Riyria Revealed e-book
$10 Backers:Signed bookmarks ♦ Signed postcard ♦ Digital map ♦ Digital graphic adaptation of The Jester ♦ Wallpapers ♦ Acknowledgement in the book ♦ Social media shout-out ♦ Access to video diary ♦ Making of the Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ First chapter sneak peek of all First Empire novels before anyone else sees them ♦ Riyria Revealed e-book ♦ The Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ Hollow World ebook ♦ The Jester (short story) e-book ♦ Professional Integrity (short story) e-book ♦ Traditions (short story) e-book ♦ Burning Alexandria (short story) e-book
$25 Backers:Signed bookmarks ♦ Signed postcard ♦ Digital map ♦ Digital graphic adaptation of The Jester ♦ Wallpapers ♦ Acknowledgement in the book ♦ Social media shout-out ♦ Access to video diary ♦ Making of the Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ First chapter sneak peek of all First Empire novels before anyone else sees them ♦ Riyria Revealed e-book ♦ The Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ Hollow World ebook ♦ The Jester (short story) e-book ♦ Professional Integrity (short story) e-book ♦ Traditions (short story) e-book ♦ Burning Alexandria (short story) e-book ♦ Death of Dulgath trade paperback (signed and stamped with upgrade to 60# creme paper) 
$35 Backers:Signed bookmarks ♦ Signed postcard ♦ Digital map ♦ Digital graphic adaptation of The Jester ♦ Wallpapers ♦ Acknowledgement in the book ♦ Social media shout-out ♦ Access to video diary ♦ Making of the Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ First chapter sneak peek of all First Empire novels before anyone else sees them ♦ Riyria Revealed e-book ♦ The Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ Hollow World ebook ♦ The Jester (short story) e-book ♦ Professional Integrity (short story) e-book ♦ Traditions (short story) e-book ♦ Burning Alexandria (short story) e-book ♦ Death of Dulgath hardcover (signed and stamped with upgrade to 60# creme paper)
$50 Backers:Signed bookmarks ♦ Signed postcard ♦ Digital map ♦ Digital graphic adaptation of The Jester ♦ Wallpapers ♦ Acknowledgement in the book ♦ Social media shout-out ♦ Access to video diary ♦ Making of the Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ First chapter sneak peek of all First Empire novels before anyone else sees them ♦ Riyria Revealed e-book ♦ The Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ Hollow World ebook ♦ The Jester (short story) e-book ♦ Professional Integrity (short story) e-book ♦ Traditions (short story) e-book ♦ Burning Alexandria (short story) e-book ♦ Death of Dulgath trade paperback (signed and stamped with upgrade to 60# creme paper) ♦ Death of Dulgath hardcover (signed and stamped with upgrade to 60# creme paper)
$75 Backers:Signed bookmarks ♦ Signed postcard ♦ Digital map ♦ Digital graphic adaptation of The Jester ♦ Wallpapers ♦ Acknowledgement in the book ♦ Social media shout-out ♦ Access to video diary ♦ Making of the Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ First chapter sneak peek of all First Empire novels before anyone else sees them ♦ Riyria Revealed e-book ♦ The Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ Hollow World ebook ♦ The Jester (short story) e-book ♦ Professional Integrity (short story) e-book ♦ Traditions (short story) e-book ♦ Burning Alexandria (short story) e-book ♦ Death of Dulgath trade paperback (signed and stamped with upgrade to 60# creme paper) ♦ LIMITED EDITION Death of Dulgath hardcover (signed and stamped with upgrade to 60# creme paper, special dusk jacket, linen, foil-stamped cover, 1,000 print run)
$110 Backers:Signed bookmarks ♦ Signed postcard ♦ Digital map ♦ Digital graphic adaptation of The Jester ♦ Wallpapers ♦ Acknowledgement in the book ♦ Social media shout-out ♦ Access to video diary ♦ Making of the Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ First chapter sneak peek of all First Empire novels before anyone else sees them ♦ Riyria Revealed e-book ♦ The Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ Hollow World ebook ♦ The Jester (short story) e-book ♦ Professional Integrity (short story) e-book ♦ Traditions (short story) e-book ♦ Burning Alexandria (short story) e-book ♦ Critique of up to 10,000 words of original writing.
$150 Backers:Signed bookmarks ♦ Signed postcard ♦ Digital map ♦ Digital graphic adaptation of The Jester ♦ Wallpapers ♦ Acknowledgement in the book ♦ Social media shout-out ♦ Access to video diary ♦ Making of the Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ First chapter sneak peek of all First Empire novels before anyone else sees them ♦ Riyria Revealed e-book ♦ The Death of Dulgath e-book ♦ Hollow World ebook ♦ The Jester (short story) e-book ♦ Professional Integrity (short story) e-book ♦ Traditions (short story) e-book ♦ Burning Alexandria (short story) e-book ♦ Death of Dulgath trade paperback (signed and stamped with upgrade to 60# creme paper) ♦ RARE EDITION Death of Dulgath hardcover (signed and stamped with upgrade to 60# creme paper, bonded leather foil-stamped cover, 100 print run)
Again, I can't thank you all enough for the amazing support. We became the third most-funded project in fiction and have more backers than just about any other project. (There is one in the US that beats us and two if you expand the list worldwide).
If you haven't backed, and still want to, well there are just under 9 hours and counting. Come on over and join the fun!   Here's the link.

Kickstarter Humble Book Bundle

As I mentioned in my recent post, I (and a bunch of other authors) have a book in the new Humble Book Bundle .  This one features some of the best Kickstarter projects of all time.  Let's stat with the "Name Your Own Price" books which include:


I have first hand experience with three of these projects:To Be Or Not To Be is a hilarious choose your own adventure telling of Shakespeare's Hamlet. You can play any one of various characters and find out how the stories goes as you make your decisions. My daughter bought this for me and it was only later that I realized it was originally created through Kickstarter. In fact, it's one of the highest funded publishing projects of all time (15,352 backers raised $580,905). Ryan North is an acclaimed writer and comic with a massive fan base. I highly recommend this book.

Hollow World - is of course my own science fiction novel. It's about a man who uses a time machine to escape his failed marriage and multiple regrets in the hopes of finding a cure for his terminal disease. He finds himself 2,000 years in the future in the midst of a muder mystery. Along the way he learns what it means to be human, what's the true meaning of love, and what sacrifices need to be made for paradise. Of course I recommend this as well.

Help Fund my Robot Army - is an anthology put together by John Joseph Adams, an amazing editor with a whole slew of anthology credits to his name. This was a really neat idea, story-telling through the format of a Kickstarter.  I have a short story in here called "Be Careful What You Wish For" which does a play-off of the Monkey Paw short story most of us read in our youths. Besides myself, there are contributions from Scott Sigler, Seanan McGuire, Chuck Wendig, Harry Connolly, Tobias S. Buckel, and several dozen more. It's very entertaining and each one is a short little read. Again, something I recommend highly.If you pay at least $8.91 (the average of the Pay your own price) you'll get 8 more books or comics. I'll detail each in a future post but for now know that you'll get:

And lastly if you pay at least $15 you'll get four more books: 


Again, I'll discuss these in more detail in a future post but I should note that The Warden and the Wolf King is the highest funded fiction project of all time - I know this because The Death of Dulgath Kickstarter is sliding into third place - very distantly behind it.

The Humble Bundle only runs for 14 days and it went live about five hours ago.  Still, it's already raised more than $10,600 with 1,160+ people purchaing it.   Check it out and I hope you find something you like.

The countdown begins

The Death of Dulgath Kickstarter has turned over from "days to go" to "hours to go," so we have entered the final stretch. To say it's been a huge success would be an understatement.  Here's some of what we've accomplished so far:
4th most-funded US fiction project of all time5th most-funded worldwide fiction project of all time2nd most-backed US fiction project of all time3rd most-backed worldwide fiction project of all timeFully funded $26,000 in the first 47 hours 23 minutesCurrently raised $64,552 from 1,543 backersReached 10 stretch goalsWe've sold out a number of the reward levels, added a bunch of add-ons, and provided all kinds of bonus material through the stretch levels. The easiest way to see what is currently available via the Kickstarter is through these graphs (click on them to see higher resolution copies).
Rewards for each pledge level:
As for the add-ons, here is what we currently have:

Of, course we still have a some goals I'd like to reach, which includes:
Another $301 will raise us a rung on the most-funded of all time list (to #4 worldwide)Another $1,478 will unlock Stretch Goal #11, providing all Kickstarter members sneak peaks to sample chapters of The First Empire books before anyone else sees them.Another $3,013 will raise us a rung to the #3 most-funded fiction of all time across all projectsThere are other goals above those, but making them is more than enough work for the remaining 52 hours. It's been a great run so far, and I hope we have a really strong finish. Thanks again for all the amazing support.

Featured Project in Publishing

I must admit to being thrilled when The Death of Dugath project was named a Kickstarter Staff Pick. Only a small percentage of projects get that distinction, so it was a great honor to have one of the staff championing the project.

So imagine how I felt when I learned that it was selected to be The Publishing Project of the Day! This means we are the featured project on the Publishing Discovery page , which will no doubt get it seen by a lot more people. This is no small feat. At the time I wrote this blog post, there were 629 active publishing projects and only one gets to be the top dog for any given 24-hour period.

Why was it picked? To be honest I don't know, but I'm sure the "chatter" from enthusiastic supporters on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and other social media sites certainly helped to get it it noticed...not to mention it's raised nearly $60,000 in just a bit over a month. We are now down to the final 5 days of the project, so please keep up the good work about spreading the word. If you know someone who you think might like to travel with Royce an Hadrian on this adventure, please reach out and let them know about it.

Your generous support has given The Death of Dulgath a fabulous launch which we should be able to parlay into bookstore and library success. What's more, I'm glad to provide all the perks and extras for the backers - it's a win-win for all of us.

Authors Helping Readers

I've been so busy with the Kickstarter for The Death of Dulgath , and finishing up the book, I've not been doing my weekeind "Authors Helping" posts. I do have one lined up for an author I want to shine a light on but because of a time sensitive nature of something that is coming soon, I need to talk a bit about something else this weekend. So, this one's for the readers and it involves one of my favorite sites...



More often than not,  Humble Bundle  isn't focused on books...it does a lot of game bundles and a fair amount of comic bundles. But when it does do a bundle with books it's something really special.  For instance, in October 2012 they did a bundle of fantasy and science fiction that included books from Neil Gaiman, John Scalzi, Cory Doctorow, Paolo Bacigalupi, Lauren Beaukes, Mercedes Lacky and six other authors.

Now here's the really cool thing about Humble Bundle...the reader gets to choose not only how much they want to pay for the bundle of books, but how they want the money distributed.  For each project, Humble Bundle chooses two reading related charities and when you buy the bundle you can determine how much money goes to Humble Bundle, how much goes to the authors, and how much goes to the charities.  It's such a great idea...and because it's a bundle of books not only do you get something you were looking to buy, but usually some other things that you can discover that you hadn't even realized.  All at a fraction of the full-price cost.

Now, of course, they want to entice you to bid higher than lower, so what they usually do is have the following:

The basic bundle - which gives a good assortment 5 - 6 products for any price you wantA bunch of additional books that come to you if you pay a certain price (say $10 or $15)A "beat the average" option - where if you pledge at least the average of what all backers have paid you'll get 5 - 8 additional booksI'll give you an example from a Humble Bundle one of my books was in. This was for audio books (rather than ebooks) and here's how it broke down:
Name your price (4 audio books)Grave Sight by Charlaine HarrisRed Rising by Pierce BrownThe Perfect Storm by Sebastian JungerStrip Tease by Carl HiaasenUnlocked with beat the average of $9.34 (3 additional books)Hollow World by Michael J. SullivanDown and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory DoctorowHow Music Works by David ByrneUnlocked with $10 (1 additional book)Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
For just $10 you could get 8 really great audio books  - that's a great deal!

So, why am I talking about Humble Bundle today?  Well there is another book related bundle coming up. I know this because one of my books is included.  Now this bundle is a really cool idea and has a nice mix of products.  There are:

NovelsChoose your own adventure storiesComicsFantasy art booksAnthologiesIllustrated children storiesThat's a really diverse set of books, but trust me they tie together rather nicely. I can't say too much more about the bundle until it is launched, but I can say mark your calendar for Wednesday, July 15th. The bundle will go live at  11:00 am Pacific Standard Time. I'll have a lot more to say then. You'll want to get involved right away for two reasons.
1. If certain thresholds are made there are usually books added to the bundle2. Bundles only run for VERY limited periods of time. 
I'm really excited to be included in a Humble Bundle, the last one got an amazing number of readers in just a few short weeks, I hope this next one does equally well.  Stay tuned, more about this on the 15th!

And done!

Yep, The Death of Dulgath wrapped up today, one day later than I thought. I just had too many interruptions yesterday and I didn't want to rush it.  So what are the next steps?


I have to do another editing pass - probably done by mid monthRobin has to do the alpha read - and give me feedback on changesI have to incorporate Robin's alpha changesRobin needs to give the whole book a good copy editAt this point the book is ready for the beta readersIncorporate feedback from the beta readersRobin will give the book another copy editI'l do another read throughThen the book is ready for the copy / line editorsI'll do an accept/reject on the copy editors remarksThe books will be laid outRobin, myself, and a proof reader will go over the books one last timeThen the book is essentially done and be sent to the printer and the audio producer.So, that looks like a lot left to do, but it will go by very quickly. There are some books that I know are "rougher" than others and I think this one is in really good shape.  Of course until I start getting feedback from Robin and the beta readers I won't know for sure, but since this is my 29th novel, I have a pretty good feel for such things.

Onward and upward!

Moving up on the "Can't Wait" List

Not sure if it is because of the Kickstarter or not, but Robin just noticed that The Death of Dulgath has moved up on the Can't Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2015   list (from #13 to #11). Now it's just outside the Top 10. Other changes since last time are a swap between Robin Hobb's book and Joe Abercrombie's.


If you want to add the titles to your Goodread's shelves, here's a list of them with links.
TitleAuthorSeries # Release DateThe Thorn of Emberlain  Scott Lynch    Gentleman Bastards  4  Before End 2015  Shadows of SelfBrandon Sanderson  Mistborn 510/06/15The Queen of Fire  Anthony Ryan    Raven's Shadow 307/07/15The Liar's KeyMark Lawrence Red Queen's War206/02/15The Skull ThronePeter V. Brett  Demon Cycle  403/31/15The Autumn RepublicBrian McClellanPowder Mage302/10/15Peace TalksJim ButcherDresden Files 16 2015 or 2016  FirefightBrandon Sanderson  Reckoners  201/06/15Fool's QuestRobin Hobb  Fitz and The Fool  2  08/11/15  Half a World  Joe Abercrombie  Shattered Sea  202/17/15  The Death of Dulgath  Michael J. Sullivan Riyria Chronicles  311/15/15 The Providence of FireBrian StaveleyChronicle of the
Unhewn Throne201/13/15The Aeronaut's WindlassJim ButcherCinder Spires  109/29/15Half a War   Joe Abercrombie  Shattered Sea307/28/15 ArmadaErnest ClineN/A-  07/14/15  

It's all coming toegether...

I'm starting the last chapter of The Death of Dulgath and the Kickstarter is entering its final stretch (9 days 14 hours left). Originally my schedule was to finish writing the first draft by the end of July, take a few weeks for going over it, and get the book to alpha by mid August. Current schedule has me finishing up today or tomorrow, and I'll probably only need a week for pre-alpha changes. That means Robin might get the book as early as July 15th.  We'll see, but in any case I'm definitely ahead of schedule, a good thing when on such a tight deadline.

As for the  Kickstarter,  it did remarkably well over the holiday.  I expected the pledges to dry up to a trickle for July 3rd - July 6th but it brought in almost $2,700. Thanks all for the continued support. That added push made us hit a new milestone. We moved up two spots from #8 to #6 on the all-time highest-funded US fiction projects.

Looking at what's ahead of us, I think it may be possible to hit #4. We are just $3,540 away so that's just $393 a day. Speaking of meeting goals, we are fast approaching Stretch Goal #8 (just $621 away).

It'll be interesting to see how this all comes together. Robin is running an analysis for me on the guesses people came up with, but already we blew by a lot of them so we're outperforming what most people thought we'd end up with.  Thank you to everyone helping to spread the word, your help has been greatly appreciated.