Michael J. Sullivan's Blog, page 92

Royce & Hadrian Face Their Greatest Opponent Yet

Bookspot Central has an annual tournament where they pick the top 64 books of the previous year and pit them head to head in a "March Madness-eque" bracketed tournament. I was shocked and of course humbled to have Avempartha selected to be amoung such industry heavy weights such as: Terry Pratchett, Joe Abercrombie, Brandon Sanderson, Peter V. Brett, Robin Hobb, and Jim Butcher.


Imagine my surprise when Avempartha won its round one match up in a landslide over The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff. Now it's on to round two and an even greater challenge as it is pitted against Finch by Jeff VanderMeer.


Voting for the second round is open until March 25th, 2010 and you can place your vote here:


http://www.bscreview.com/forum/viewto...

Theft

Having written a six book series about thieves, it strikes me as ironic to learn that my books are being stolen.

Robin, who keeps a vigilant eye on the real world while I play in Elan, informed me that all three of my novels are being illegally distributed across the Internet. In addition to the printed versions, all three books are available in Kindle and eBook formats, and it appears that individuals have used the eBooks, intended for use with mobile readers such as Stanza, Palm and computers, to copy and offer as free downloads. This is not a singular incident to be sure. Various independent sites have been discovered to be doing this.

I’m not the only one of course. Gail Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Stephenie Meyer, and many more are all being pirated. This is the same problem that musicians and moviemakers face—the idea that everything offered on the net should be free.

I’m not exactly certain how to take this. I can’t say I like the idea of people giving away work that I am trying to sell. On the other hand—look at the company I’m in! I don’t know of any other independent titles being pirated. Is there some invisible line I’ve crossed that raised a flag saying The Riyria Revelations are now worth stealing? I’m also not losing the kind of revenues that these other authors might be, but perhaps I’m facing a larger percentage.

Part of me is pleased I have joined this fraternity. The more people who read my book the better—even if I don’t get paid—and there isn’t all that much difference between these sites and a library, except you have to return the books and you can’t copy them repeatedly and distribute them on street corners. So yeah, it’s not quite the same thing.

I recall something happening with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series and a bit of pirating. As far as I understand it, Meyer planned to have Midnight Sun published some time shortly after the release of Breaking Dawn, but part of the rough draft was leaked and distributed on the Net. As a result, Meyer chose to delay the project indefinitely. So apparently this isn’t something new at all—just new to me.

While I can track each site down and ask them to remove the books, and some may do so, that is a bit like playing Whack-a-Mole. And at this point it could be argued that these sites are disseminating the books to an audience who might otherwise not read them. Very likely, those who are inclined to buy my books in dead-tree version are not about to skip the feel of paper and the sheen of that glossy painted cover for the chance to read it on screen or drain their printer dry of ink. Kindle sales don’t look to be hurting either. And realistically, like the lone and determined gunman, there’s really no way to stop them. I even seem to recall someone personally sat down and translated the—then—latest Potter book into French and offered them online in lieu of an official version.

Still I could make it harder. I could simply discontinue the eBook versions for the remaining three novels of the series. Kindle, who encodes their files, would still be available, and I might be able to manage to offer the LRF format native to Sony Readers, but all other versions would be cut off. This might not plug the hole entirely. A really determined fellow could use a scanner to read the books into text, but that’s a lot harder to do and requires equipment. Would someone really go through that kind of effort for Riyria?

I’m still not certain what I want to do, if anything, but I suppose at the very least I will ensure that eBook versions will be drastically delayed.

I would like to hear opinions, if anyone has any. Should free downloads be tolerated? Should those who properly pay for books on their mobile devices be punished for the actions of those who do not? Should some readers get the books free while others pay? Should I just be flattered? Should I refuse to release the last book out of spite? Should there be a law against people reading novels on such tiny screens that they might incur eyestrain?

Talk to me I’m listening.

Rookie Makes Varsity Team

Since its publication, The Crown Conspiracy and the rest of The Riyria Revelations series has been well received—but conditionally. For the first year most people bought the book from me either because they liked the cover art or out of pity for the poor man standing at the little rickety table at the front of the bookstore who everyone is ignoring. Reviewers had to be cajoled or begged to pick it up and the reactions always began, “I was very surprised…” I was sure the standard bar was a line painted on the floor. And yet, “I was surprised…” is light years better than “This is an example that anything can get published.” So I wasn’t going to complain.

Somewhere around last summer, the comments began to change. The surprised readers faded, and were replaced with “For an independent novel…” I sensed I had moved up a notch but the whole scale thing was murky. All I knew was that the training wheels were still on the bus and I was still at the kiddy table. There’s a certain comfort in that. I received lots of positive encouragement, but it always felt like pats on the head and delivered with a tone that meant, “You did real good…for a little kid.”

I’ve always been a little wary of praise. It’s a trap writers can get into. Friends and family are quick to tell you how great you are, just as your mother praises the Crayola drawings on the fridge, but the next day when you sneak down to the city museum with your lunch box full of masterpieces, you face a rude and rather embarrassing awakening. They were just being polite. Yes, there’s a downside to being polite. Polite people can really mess you up. This might have something to do with my famous lack of tact.

I’ve been fooled before, so I am always skeptical of praise. I take it apart and look for clues of insincerity. If the person knows me, that’s an automatic disqualification. Even if the person only knows me via email. If the person can in anyway feel obligated to me or want something from me, again instant disqualifications. If the person is just commonly nice, again I set that aside in the reject pile. Even if all of the above aspects are missing, if the reviewer can reasonable guess that I, or someone I know, will hear or read the remarks, again I must assume their kind words are the result of politeness.

Only those who know I’m not listening can speak freely. On occasion, I am able to find posts on small forum boards about my books. And while over all they speak well of my work, there is a night-and-day sort of approach. Punches aren’t being pulled in these secret fight-club worlds and they don’t hesitate to hit hard. Yet, even here they know the books are put out by a small press and they cut a little slack. And when you’re in Special-Ed, it’s hard to know how you stack up against the real world.

But today I found something new—something most unexpected.

Included in the online magazine Suite101.com there was an article entitled: The Best Fantasy Books of the 21st Century , and lo and behold—I’m on it.

I’ve never heard of Suite101, and I have no idea who “contributing writer” Ben Lingenfelter is, but it’s defiantly not “Bob’s Webpage.”

Reading the article, I am immediately struck by the stark lack of “I was surprised…” and utterly floored at the total absence of even the mention of “Small Press,” or “Independent publisher.” But what knocked me cold were those names listed with mine.

• Joe Abercrombie
• Jim Butcher
• David Anthony Durham
• Steven Erikson & Ian Cameron Esslemont
• China Mieville
• Patrick Rothfuss
• Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Jay Lake

These authors don’t sit at the kid’s table. Not one of them is published through a small press. What am I doing on this list?

None of it adds up. I’ve looked. I’ve done some research, but I can’t find the disqualifier here. There’s a place card at the adult table with my name on it, and I don’t think it’s a mistake. I’m not saying I’m sitting down or anything, but I have to admit, this is nice.

It's a Wonderful Life

Everyone knows the scene, there is a run on the bank, and George Bailey has only a handful of cash standing between him and the demise of the old building and loan.

“Now tell me, how much do you need to tide you over until the bank reopens?”

It is only Christmas Eve but the holiday season has already been very good to me. Sales of The Crown Conspiracy, Avempartha, and Nyphron Rising have been phenomenal.

“This is a very interesting situation!”

While I have no means of determining how many copies of The Crown Conspiracy have sold, I’ve noticed that the Amazon rank for the book has been doing amazing things. This could be due to holiday shopping, or people waiting until book three came out to start the series, or word-of-mouth hitting a certain critical mass, but whatever it is, the books have been flying out of the warehouse in unprecedented numbers. Then this morning it suddenly stopped.

“I’ve never seen one, but that has all the looks of being a run on the bank.”

Amazon is out of stock. Book Depository is out of stock. Powell’s is out of stock. Barnes & Nobles is out of stock. Abes Books is out of stock. Everyone except rare booksellers—who are offering the book as outrageous prices—are all out of stock.

“Can't you understand what's happening here? Don't you see what's happening? Potter isn't selling. Potter's buying! And why? Because we're panicking and he's not. That's why. He's picking up some bargains.”

I’ve seen this happen before due to distribution glitches, so I contacted Crown’s publisher and learned that the warehouse was empty. The first printing of The Crown Conspiracyhas sold out. While this is great news—few books sell out their first printing, and even fewer independents, but it poses a problem—no one can buy the book at a time when everyone appears to want it and it will take months to reprint.

“I feel like a bootlegger’s wife.”

After the last distribution hiccup, Robin and I bought three hundred copies that I keep in cardboard cases in my bedroom closet—ten heavy boxes that make getting to my slippers and clothes a bit of a problem, but are there in case…well, in case something like this happened.

“That’s your own money, George.”

As a result, we have a small supply that we hope will last until the book can be reprinted, but we have no idea how long this little supply will last.

“A toast! A toast! A toast to Mama Dollar and to Papa Dollar, and if you want to keep this old Building and Loan in business, you better have a family real quick.”

It is a problem, but it is the kind of problem writers dream of, and it could not have happened without all of you. Every day I hear of people referring the books to friends. They loan them to parents, or buy them as presents to nieces and nephews. Recently one person ordered eight full sets—twenty-four books to give away as Christmas gifts! You can’t buy that kind of support. In addition, reviewers such as Fantasy Book Critic, Dark Wolf, David Brendon, King of the Nerds, and Speculative Fiction have been doing a wonderful job of keeping the books in the minds of the internet community. People have been discussing it on random forums and on their own small blogs, and each time I see readers commenting how the review has convinced them to try the series. The Riyria Revelations is only halfway out, but already I feel I have made scores of friends—friends I’ve never met.

“Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.”

So if you, or your mother, father, brother, sister, neighbor, would like to get a copy and start the Riyria Revelations series without waiting for the second printing in March you can order from this link . I can't offer the whopping 28% discount that Amazon gives, but I will give you 15% off and through in a signature and dedication to boot. You have made it a very merry holiday season for us, and I wanted you all to know how much my wife and I appreciate it.

So from Robin and I…Happy Holidays, and thank you.

Trusting the Reader

I have spent a great deal of time working with aspiring novelists as of late, and doing a large number of critiques. As I mentioned in earlier posts, there are patterns. Those following the path of writing fiction appear to become lost in many of the same places. Having wandered aimlessly myself, I am familiar with most all of these traps. Some are obvious, like knowing that a story should consist of a beginning, middle and end; that a book should have a setting, characters and a plot. Others are not as blatant. You might not be familiar with them unless you’ve studied creative fiction, or hung out with writers, concepts like, “showing” instead of “telling,” or the pitfalls of a shifting point of view. Then there is what I consider the more advanced aspects of writing, the extra stuff like foreshadowing and symbols, but the one technique in writing that I rarely hear anyone speak of is “trusting the reader.”

Trusting the reader comes in many different forms and levels, but it can make the difference between a story that is lethargic, and one that comes right off the page at you. Simply put, trusting the reader makes reading a book interactive. The reader stops being a passive witness to events and becomes an active part of the story. While this sounds great, it is extremely dangerous if done incorrectly.

What is trusting the reader? It means that as an author you don’t handhold your audience, you don’t explain what you want them to understand. Instead, you trust that they will grasp your meaning. The danger being—they might not.

Trusting the Reader comes in different forms. It can be applied at the sentence and paragraph level, where an author might provide a detailed description of a room, “empty bottles littered the floor, dirty clothes lay on door handles or piling in corners…” and in doing so provide the graphic scene of a messy room. All too often writers then follow this with the paragraph concluding sentence, “The room was a mess.” This sentence is put there as insurance. The author doesn’t want you to miss the point, but they know if they just came out and said, “the room was a mess.” Their creative writing instructor would slap them for “telling” instead of “showing.” So now they show and tell—just to be safe.

As with most things however, taking risks offers the greatest rewards, so long as you don’t go crazy. If you have adequately described a scene, you don’t have to explain it afterwards. The reader will get it and they won’t feel insulted knowing that the author did not think they would. Still this is the easy stuff. It is when you take the same idea to the character and plot level that things get dicey.

Applying the idea of trusting the reader to a plot runs a huge risk. If the reader doesn’t get the fact that the room is dirty, it isn’t a huge deal, but if you lose a major plot point, the whole story might collapse. On the other hand, if you create a gap in the story and provide no bridge for the reader to walk across so that they have to make a leap of understanding to figure out what is happening, then they will feel included in the story. They will feel clever at having figured the secret out and the story will become something they are “doing” rather than merely “reading.” Make the gap too wide and well…splat.

In the novel “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” David Sedaris provides a simple example of this technique where he speaks of a young boy thinking of all the things he did that he might be in trouble for and one of those items listed is: “…altering the word hit on a list of rules posted on the gymnasium door…” Mr. Sedaris never says how he altered it. He leaves this for the reader to figure out. The result is like a perfectly delivered punch line. There is a pause, a moment of confusion and then it dawns on the reader and that brief moment of hesitancy punches the joke delivering it with tremendous power that causes the idea to pop off the page far more than if he just explained it. Still if you don’t get the joke, it won’t ruin the book. For that you have to go higher still.

In Khaled Hosseini’s “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” he takes trusting the reader to soaring heights when crucial parts of the story’s plot are hinged on the assumption that the reader will guess correctly about certain aspects that are merely hinted at. Mr. Hosseini describes a common aspect of a character near the beginning of the novel in a specific manner, then much later in the novel he describes another character using the exact same descriptive element, but never identifies the individual. He is trusting that the reader will remember the earlier reference and understand it is the same person. Creating such a leap of faith is gutsy for a writer, but the effect, when it works, is fantastic. When I connected the dots, I was thrilled like figuring out a whodunit before the sleuth explained the murder. And this was only one small part of a well constructed, reader-trusting story that puts the reader to work and makes them feel useful.

A related aspect to this same idea is “holding-back.” As a novelist with a great story to tell, it is hard to stop yourself from blurting everything out right away. There is so much you want to explain, and writers can be very impatient feeling that the reader won’t truly enjoy the story until they learn this crucial plot twist. Again, it is important to trust that the reader will stay with you, and if an author does the job right, the reader will be just as impatient to discover the answers, as the author is to reveal them.

This has been an issue with my own books—more so perhaps because I am writing a series of novels that is in many ways one long story. So much is unexplained and so much is intentionally misdirecting that as the author it can be frustrating to hear negative comments that are merely the result of false assumptions. It is like playing a practical joke on someone, hearing them complain, but not being able yet to reveal the joke.

Being patient, holding back, and having faith that readers will make the leaps across chasms and be happier for the exercise, is scary, but just as the reader relies on writers not to strand them with a nonsensical story, the writer must also have the courage to trust the reader.

Reviews

More and more people are relying less on newspaper and magazine articles and turning instead to the internet for information when deciding on what books to read and movies to see. Sites like Amazon, Facebook, GoodReads, LibraryThing and a host of independent blogs and journals are becoming more trusted than the New York Times. Reviews have always been notorious for their corruption. Some are paid for, others written out of obligation; publishers make deals, pacts are agreed on by mutual authors. But it is hard to control the opinions of hundreds of people posting on Amazon or on their own websites. Sure there are the “friends and family” posts you need to look out for, but how many of those can there be? With the proliferation of reviews on the Internet, the truth is impossible to suppress for long. There are a handful of intrepid bloggers that don’t receive a paycheck and all they have is their reputation.

Big publishers have resources and connections to roll out a title and ensure it is seen. Independents, don’t and are ignored by “reputable” reviewers and shunned out of hand, even by libraries (because they don’t have “reputable” reviews.) Readers buy the big titles, sometimes because it is all they know exists. Given this, reviews, even small ones posted by first timers make a difference. There are many books that have one review on Amazon, books that if you do a global search across the Internet turn up nothing. Potential readers mark this as a red flag and pass.

As it happens, my family is a bit on the older side and I’m certain they think there are evil spirits in computers, so they stay away from them. I’ve moved a few times, which limits the number of friends I can pressure. To date, there’s about three or four who actually wrote a review on Amazon for Crown Conspiracy—none for Avempartha. Since I am published through a very small, independent house, I shouldn’t stand a chance. My only hope is for people to notice me and spread the word, but am one guy waving my hand in a sea of millions—but you have helped.

Those of you who read Crown or Avempartha and took the time to post a review on Amazon, on LibraryThing, on GoodReads; who mentioned it on Facebook, in your online journal, on your blog or just nudged a friend and said, “read this, it’s good,” have done me a great service. And it isn’t just a matter of selling books. I am nobody at all. I’m not famous, I consider spending a hundred dollars on anything to be expensive. I drive a seventeen year old Camry—when I drive at all. I usually walk, bike or take the train, and not to be green, but because I hate traffic. I wear jeans and a t-shirt, most of which are many years old. I have a wife, three kids, a dog and a very small condo that I clean from top to bottom once each week. Instead of watching television I write books. For years, everyone gave me condescending smiles about my “hobby” and asked what I will do afterwards, as if I am suffering from an illness. It is easy to lose confidence, easy to second guess, easy to feel self-deluded. Sure, my wife says she likes my books, but it’s a whole different thing when people I’ve never met, never spoken to, never had any dealings with at all, come out unsolicited and make comments like these recent posts:

“I knew once I started reading I would not be able to stop. Saturday arrived. I put my phone on vibrate, sent the boys to the patio and sat back to read my precious, (Avempartha), cover to cover. I had high expectations and Michael Sullivan surpassed them. // Thank you Michael for such a wonderful series. I'm eagerly anticipating your next installment. I have it marked on my calendar and once again I'll be ordering it as soon as you release it.” –Sarah, GoodReads.

“The first thing that happened to me when I started reading The Crown Conspiracy was that I realized that I couldn't put it down. I tried prying it off my fingers and shaking my hands around like I'd just touched a hot pan but all to no avail. This book is that good. Even more amazingly, Mr. Sullivan manages to sustain this effect throughout the entire novel. // The Crown Conspiracy reminds me why I fell in love with the fantasy genre in the first place.” –Speculative Fiction Junkie

“Royce and Hadrian are two well-developed characters shrouded in mystery and written with a delightful dry wit that few veteran authors could emulate. You get hints about the duo’s past, but they are surprisingly small tidbits and yet they are strangely satisfying. Perhaps it is simply that the characters’ presence in the here and now is so fully-realized that everything else is merely secondary; regardless I’m excited to learn more rather than disappointed that I learned so little. // With the “big” publishers putting out any number of quality titles it is far too easy for independently published titles like The Crown Conspiracy to get lost in the shuffle. There isn’t a massive marketing push. The Crown Conspiracy and it’s sequel Avempartha are out there and garnering attention thanks mainly to Sullivan’s own work and word of mouth. It is a work and series that deserves attention.” -- Mike Ferrante, King of the Nerds

“I was quite eager to see if the book would live up to the expectations raised by Mr. Sullivan’s marvelous debut. I am happy to report that not only did “Avempartha” meet expectations, but it took the series to another level, ensuring that the future installments will be must-reads...//In short, “Avempartha” is highly, highly recommended and a novel that raises Michael Sullivan’s The Riyria Revelations to “major league” status...// I would not call "hype" the good buzz about Crown Conspiracy and the series in general. It's more that being an unknown small press release without the marketing push of the big houses, with little exposure in major bookstores and such, CC and Avempartha managed to beat a lot of what is pushed out there in both quality and entertainment value and they deserve to be much better known.” – Liviu C. Suciu, Fantasy Book Critic

I don’t know any of these people, and I can’t rationalize any reason why they, or any of you would lie, so I have to believe that you mean what you say, just as I hope others will. I’m sure most of you think, “what the heck, sure I’ll take a second to say I liked it. Why not.” But I doubt you truly realize how much I appreciate it. I actually have a few of these taped to my walls, and I re-read them, perhaps more than I should. You see, I’ve never been motivated much by money or false praise, but real recognition is like gas on fire—that makes me want to sit down and work. That makes me want to be a better writer.

So I want to tell everyone who wrote a review, mentioned the books on a forum, or told a friend—thank you so very much, you make my dreams come true.

Amazon reviews: Crown Conspiracy: 47, Avempartha: 11
Goodreads reviews: 132
Amazon UK: 3
Barnes & Noble: 3
Borders: 1
Shelfari: 6
LibraryThing: 6

Release Day!

With virtual lines of dedicated readers standing in the cold April morning air, the doors have finally opened. At midnight this morning, Avempartha was officially released. What that really means is that I personally have books I am selling directly through my website and Amazon has books in stock that they are selling. The Kindle version is also done and should be live any day now. The last thing is the distribution channel into the brick and mortar stores, but that is the slowest avenue to march down.

Amazon popped the cork early, going live with its sales of Avempartha on Friday. Some of you diligent fans noticed and took advantage of this. Robin put up the sales page on my website on Monday, expecting to announce it today, but once more fans found it and began ordering by mid-morning Monday! So while today is the official launch day, the book has already been selling copies since Friday evening.

My name, not being a household word, is not able to command legions of fans to surround Borders and Barnes, so a real midnight release is not in the foreseeable future, but I wonder if for the next book I could do a virtual midnight release. Perhaps when we are not so harried as we were this time, I might be able to organize some kind of chat event, and maybe all of you can come…and bring a date.

So far sales have been pleasantly brisk, and I want to thank all of you.

The Crown Conspiracy was published through a small press with limited resources, and Avempartha has none at all. Robin and I have worked incredibly hard to make a success of this series, but we simply can’t do it alone. We don’t have the resources or funds to advertise. I have met people who think once you’re published you’re automatically a millionaire. I’m not even a hundredaire. In fact, being a published author is little more than an expensive hobby.

My wife Robin has been a saint. She has worked tirelessly as my publicist trying to get the word out that my book really is worth reading. It isn’t easy. Who’s going to listen to the wife of the author? Still, she strives, and miraculously, she succeeds, but even so, she can only touch so many.

We attend cons, and do numerous book signings. We exploit the Internet as best we can, but it will never be enough. We simply don’t have the visibility of the big publishers. I can’t afford to put a full color end-cap and reserve shelf space at every Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstore across the country. I don’t have the clout or connections to draw the eyes of major reviewers. My hope of success is doomed to failure despite anything Robin and I can do.

But there is one hope—you.

The only way The Riyria Revelations will ever succeed is through word-of-mouth spread by fans who enjoy it. In my mind, it is like a giant wheel that Robin and I have tried to turn, a pump we have endeavored to prime. It is too large for the two of us to move much, but at some point, we hoped there would be a momentum that would spin the wheel on its own. It’s a long shot, and we knew that going in.

As it happens however, it feels like the wheel is starting to turn.

Robin and I used to struggle to find anyone willing to review my book. Now people are writing to us, asking for the chance to get a review copy. Robin battled to get my novel into the schedules of book clubs. Now members of clubs are nominating my book on their own. Reactions to my work have gone from, “Wow! I have to admit I had my doubts when I was asked to read this…” to “My already high expectations were exceeded.”

The wheel it seems is starting to turn of its own accord. The books are building a life of their own. Interest is sparking an engine that is slowly sputtering to life, and all of this is your doing.

Like I said, Robin and I have worked very hard for a very long time, but none of these most recent developments have been our doing. The wheel is turning now because of your interest, excitement, and kindness. People are spreading the news, sharing the books, posting on websites, nominating it for reviews, for reader’s groups.

Each day I watch the great wheel creak and turn. It moves very slowly, but I don’t think it is my imagination anymore. It is turning, and that is very exciting.

I want all of you out there, those who mentioned my books to someone else, who gave one of my books to a relative, or bought one for a friend; those who did a review on Amazon, or Goodreads, or on a blog, to know how happy you made me.

Royce thanks you, Hadrian thanks you, Robin thanks you… and I thank you.

You’re keeping us all alive.

Happy Release Day!

It's coming!!

I am pleased to report that Avempartha, the second in the Riyria Revelations series, is on time and on schedule to be released April 1st. While you might not find this surprising, after all I promised you it would be, it is in reality just short of a miracle. In fact, Avempartha is reported to be in stock and available from Amazon at this very moment. I will have a “buy page” up and running on my site www.michaelsullivan-author.com this weekend with the anticipation of books shipping out as early as Tuesday night.

Now for some Avempartha Trivia tidbits:

Size matters
Avempartha is the same size as Crown, but whereas Crown had 296 pages, Avempartha has 331—a bit longer a bit heavier.

Missing Parts
There are ten “chapters” in Crown, but the publisher decided to present them as “parts” and subdivide these into chapters. Avempartha will be presented as I originally intended. There are fifteen chapters comprised of simple section breaks. Also chapter names will be more prominent than the number of the chapter. In addition, the chapter name will appear at the top of the page opposed to my name. I trust you will still be able to remember who wrote the book.

Mapping success
Thanks to the wary eye of fans, I corrected a misspelling and a few other mistakes, that I don’t even think anyone noticed. The map has also been split into two sections rather than spread over two pages. Now instead of Avryn being lost in the spine of the book, I have included a full world map on one page and a blow-up of Avryn on the other. I also moved the maps away from the dedication page, so I can now autograph in felt tip pen and not ruin the map on the other side. (My apologies, and my thanks to those who pointed that out.)

Tis the Season
Crown was released in the Fall (October 2008.) Avempartha is being released in the Spring (April 1 2009.) Crown took place in the autumn, Avempartha takes place in the Spring. (No I didn’t plan that.)

Artistic Vision
Just as with Crown, I painted the cover for Avempartha. And while I am maintaining the Celtic knot tradition in the book’s design, I created a new book symbol for Avempartha.

Branded for Life
I added a fantasy code to the back to assist bookstores in properly shelving the book. Some of you may have noticed that Crown is often misplaced in general fiction and I have even found it wandering around the mystery and political sections. Even as I, the author, inform them of the mistake, they still don’t listen, maybe if it is printed on the book itself…

Now just one more thing:
Please be considerate while waiting in those lines that wrap around the outside, and weave through the parking lots of the Amazon booksellers. Remember it is only a book and there is no reason to fight your way to the door.

It is still very cold in many regions above the equator so if you plan to spend the night of March 31st in line please dress appropriately. Bring thermoses of hot drinks and use down-filled sleeping bags not the cloth ones, and place mats or even cardboard underneath if you are on cement.

Keep in mind that Amazon is not accustomed to having long lines stretching out their doors so remember to watch for, and avoid blocking traffic. If the lines stretch into busy roads remember to wear bright colored clothing, or better yet, reflecting vests. Police have already announced they will not allow lines to block streets consisting of four lanes or more.

Those who get in first, please don’t taunt the others in line, that is cruel and could lead to violence. For this same reason, Amazon and local law enforcement are requesting that customer do not bring swords or daggers with them. Also, remember the fifty-book-limit policy. It is there so everyone has a chance. How would you feel if you waited eighteen hours in line only to be turned away steps from the counter?

Re-selling on the grounds of the Amazon stores will not be tolerated. Amazon officials—dressed in uniform and undercover—will be patrolling the lines.

I have heard that Amazon does not have a problem with selling places in line.

In the event news crews arrive at your branch of Amazon, please act dignified in your interviews. It not only hurts the fantasy genre, but literary fanatics in general if you act like movie, music or techy geeks.

When you get your books home, keep them in a cool, dry place. It isn’t necessary, or advisable to sleep with them as you might roll over and crush them.

Be thoughtful of spouses, siblings and others residing in your home and don’t stay up all night with the light on reading and nudging them with comments like, “I knew it!” and “Oh my god!”

And remember that Avempartha, like all my books, are best read slowly to savor each word and soak up the moment because the next one won’t be released for six more months.

Putting Commas In and Taking Commas Out

Behold, a preview of the book—a photo of the first ever proof of Avempartha—the only one of its kind in the world.

The last two weeks have been like cramming for finals. After receiving the edited version of Avempartha back from the publisher, Robin and I proofed it ourselves and found a number of errors as well as numerous needed edits. When you are proofing a book you wrote for final publication, this sort of thing drives you nuts. Kurt Vonnegut once said; he spent half his time putting in commas and half his time taking them back out again. This about sums up the final proofing stage.

The English language, while governed by rules, is often vague and capricious about those rules. As a living language, it is based on what is most commonly spoken and as such, the rules can change. What is written also alters the language-scape as well. Shakespeare invented scores of new words that became part of the common language such as: antipathy, critical, frugal, dwindle, extract, horrid, hereditary, excellent, eventful, barefaced, assassination, lonely, leapfrog, indistinguishable, and zany, not to mention a host of words that never before had the prefix “un” in front of them such as unmask. More recently J.K. Rowling’s “muggle” and “Quiditch” entered the dictionary. Writers frequently and intentionally break the rules of grammar as well. Most authors consider the “complete sentence” rule more of a guideline. Cormac McCarthy refused to even use quotes and commas in his prize-winning novel, The Road.

All this leaves fiction writing far more an art than a science and like art, the results are often subjective. What this means is that a lot of completely random decisions are made. Does that “had” really need to be there? Sure, it makes the sentence clearer, but it doesn’t sound as good and interrupts the overall flow. Technically, I should put a comma between those two adjectives, but commas form roadblocks for readers and the pace will be wrong. The outcome of all this is that a writer can spend the rest of his life dinking with the words—taking out commas just to put them back. Meanwhile, fans are beating on the door like villagers after Frankenstein. It has to go out—but oh no! How did that “surly” get in there, it’s supposed to be “surely!”

I’ve read Avempartha three times in two weeks, and I’m not a fast reader. The house looks like a dorm room with empty pizza boxes and dead cans of soda. With both Robin and I killing ourselves to get this release out as close to on-time as possible we’ve done nothing but work on it. I edit text in my dreams now. I edit my own thoughts. I have actually edited other people’s verbal speech. “You know you don’t need to use the word ‘and’ twice in that sentence.” People look at you strangely when you do that.

So what am I doing wasting time writing this blog? The final proof of Avempartha was approved and released for printing yesterday. Now comes the hush before the storm. The nervous waiting. The period of anxiety before the first reviews. Nothing to do now but cross my fingers and hope.

A Short History of Fantasy

I have always lamented the lack of respect the fantasy genre receives.

Now it doesn’t seem to matter what genre an author writes in, they all complain about how little respect their literary form gets. I recall Stephen King mentioning how maligned the “Horror” field was and recently a thriller writer I know bemoaned the lack of respect his writing category garnered. As I thought about it, none of the genres are respected. Sci-fi, Romance, Thrillers, Mysteries, Horror, Adventure…they all are denounced. Fantasy however, is the ugly stepsister to the ugly stepsister. It doesn’t even have its own section in a bookstore.

I have yet to walk into a Barnes and Noble or Borders and see a fantasy section. The best that can be hoped for is a “Science Fiction/Fantasy” section. I personally feel there is a huge difference between Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but one could argue that Sci-Fi and Fantasy are both part of Speculative Fiction and this is why they share shelves, but Horror is also Speculative Fiction and yet it manages to have its own section. Given the recent upsurge in fantasy’s popularity, with such successes as Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings books and films, I would have thought it could have earned its own distinction, but so far, nothing.

I find this a strange rebuke given the distinguished history of the fantasy genre. Recently I was asked to give a talk on this very subject (more or less) for a writers group, which caused me to take what I already knew and add research to it. What I learned was interesting enough that I thought I would share it here.

Fantasy is the oldest form of literature. The ancient Sumerian Legend of Gilgamesh, suspected of being the first literary work of fiction, is a fantasy tale. The story of a hero-king who goes on amazing adventures with his half-wild friend Enkidu, follows the genre standard fairly well. While it abounds with myths, so do most modern fantasies.

Following this auspicious beginning, we find such works as Beowulf and Homer’s Odyssey displaying the classic fantasy precept: “a hero with a destiny, on a quest against fantastical, often supernatural, adversaries.” Then as social constraints tightened, fantasy used allegory to say what couldn’t be so easily spoken of as in Dante’s Divine Comedy and Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, and more recently a means of conveying a complex idea through parable or fable such as George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Oddly enough, you won’t find any of these books in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of your local bookstore, and yet each one is pure fantasy.

Of course, the modern age of fantasy began in the 1800’s with the three: George MacDonald, William Morris, and Lord Dunsany. MacDonald was the first to write fantasy for adults saying, "I write, not for children, but for the child-like, whether they be of five, or fifty, or seventy-five." His stories concern themselves with people from reality entering into a fictitious world similar to Alice in Wonderland that came not too much later. Morris took it a step farther, having the whole story take place in a completely separate invented world. Dunsany (his real name being Edward Plunkett), established the genre in both novel and short story form.

Despite Morris and Dunsany using ancient Norse style myths, such as dwarves and magic swords, the fantasy genre was dominated through the turn-of-the-century by wild adventure stories such as King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard, (1885) writing in response to Treasure Island which he considered “over-rated”, Rudyard Kipling (Jungle Book), and Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan) 1912.

What today we consider fantasy was still trapped in the realm of Juvenile fiction with works like Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan. It wasn’t until the twenties with the publication of the first all-fantasy fiction magazine, Weird Tales created in 1923 that popularity for the genre took hold. Other magazines followed and launched the careers of writers like H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard (Conan), Fritz Lieber (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser). This pulp fiction format brought fantasy, as a serious genre, to wide audiences in the U.S. and Britain.

Then came the Inklings, most notably J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis who reached back and tapped into the ideas of Morris and MacDonald respectively and created The Lord of the Rings and The Narnia Chronicles, stories of swords and wizards, dwarves and elves, destiny and good versus evil. While they were reasonably well-received at the time of publication, between the thirties and mid-fifties, it really wasn’t until the paperback publication of the Lord of the Rings in the sixties, that the fantasy genre really took off.

Science Fiction had already been popular through the fifties, but as the popularity of fantasy grew across college campuses, some science fiction writers began to turn to fantasy. Lin Carter and Ursula LeGuin for examples transitioned and I suspect this may be why fantasy was, from then on, stuffed in with the more established Sci-Fi books and seen as being of the same kin.

Still it wasn’t until 1977 when Terry Brooks published the Sword of Shannara—the first to appear on the New York Times Bestseller’s List—that it was proven someone, whose name wasn’t Tolkien, could succeed in fantasy.

In the eighties came the ongoing series phenomenon with the likes of David Eddings and in the nineties came the “fat-books” as epitomized by the likes of Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind. This became entrenched as the tradition of fantasy. The long, dense books of world-building, of endless series that ended in cliffhangers, of unpronounceable names and archaic dry prose. For traditionalists, these are wonderful books, only as the nineties ended a new audience was discovering fantasy.

Lured into reading by J. K. Rowling’s Potter series, kids grew up and wanted more. Adults, who never considered reading fantasy before, went to see the “Ring” movies and liked them. They picked up the fat-books, but didn’t care for the heavy, long-winded descriptions and the all too typical stories of the last forty years. They want engaging, character driven stories that—if not totally new—are fresh takes on old ideas (much the same way Tolkien and Lewis were on Morris and MacDonald.)

As the century turned again, a new revolution appears to be taking shape in the fantasy industry. New, unconventional, writers are popping up and fans are embracing them. Writers like Brandon Sanderson, Suzanna Clarke and Patrick Rothfuss who defy the traditions and push the boundaries are finding more than just acceptance, they are finding thirsty readers, parched from a long drought of sameness.

It does not surprise me that a young adult book such as Harry Potter appears to have precipitated this change. After all, the revolution of Tolkien, which established the benchmark of fantasy, also began with a young adult novel—The Hobbit.