E.S. Lell's Blog, page 6

20% off Sale!

Hey everyone!

Still plugging along here. I’ve got a couple requests to do some guest blogging at a couple different writing sited/forums/blogs. Any ideas what would be interesting/fun to blog about?

Also, there is currently a 20% off sale happening at the Kalijor Press Book Store. Use cupon code CHASE at checkout to save 20% on whatever you buy! Sale ends at the close of June 29th, so act soon to get your books at a discount that I can’t really offer directly.

In RPG news, I’m still working on reqriting a bunch of text, but it’s pretty much all there now. I’ve submitted three 2-hour gaming sessions for GenCon, working on getting them approved with teh staff now (apparently there is some confusion about the Kalijor RPG having the same name as the publisher, Kalijor Press… Not sure why that’s an issue but…. whatever…. we’ll suss it out). I’m building a quick, two hour scenario to play folks through with premade characters so they can use the rules and check out the world of Kalijor. Here’s hoping we can get them approved quickly and generate enough interest to get players to come check it out!

I think that’s about it for now, so hang in tehre, everyone and I’ll chat with you later on.

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Paul

70% off ground shipping at the Kalijor Press book store!

Heyas, everyone!

I know it isn’t a huge savings with the cost of books where they are these days, but I wanted to let you all know that through June 22nd you can save 70% on ground shipping at the Kalijor Press Book Store.

No coupon codes required, just spend more than $10, and select one of the ground shipping methods, and you get 70% off the shipping costs.

In other news, still plugging along in the Fifth Key. RPG play testing is spinning up into high gear now that the bulk of the material has been translated to the new rules/book. Still lots of rewriting of text to do in order to make it more mine, but much of the hard work is done. Now we just play the heck out of it, try to break it any and every way we can, and tune it up as we go.

Also, I have submitted three events for GenCon. All three are two hour play-test sessions for the game. I hope to get some folks in there to test it out on some ‘strangers’ and get some unbiased opinions. The sessions have not been approved by the con folk yet, and they may not be since they were submitted a ~bit~ late, but we’ll see.

If they go live, will I see any of you there?

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Paul

April Update…

All of the new books are on their way to me. I should start receiving them as early as Monday. *super excited*

With any luck, it will be available in stores on or just after StarFest, but there really is no accounting for red tape, so no promises. It is, however, available now on Kindle, Nook, and at the Kalijor Press book store at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/paullell, and at a discount of 15% or more, until Friday, April 6th, around midnight Eastern time.

Other than that, just gearing up for StarFest where the book will officially debut!

In other news, I added about 2,000 words to the Fifth Key last night, and I just received a few stylus (styli?) for folks to use for signing on the iPhone/iPad when using credit cards at the table!

The RPG is in a bit of a holding pattern for a while, but I did finish my taxes, so that is out of the way. I am now juggling mostly just the new novel, and the RPG, so headway will begin being more apparent going forward!

On the RPG front, I have a basic rule system set up that, I think, will work fairly well. It still needs play testing to prove it out and make tweaks though, and to make that happen, I need to get on with rewriting all of teh skills, abilities/psionics, genetic mods, cybernetics, and magic/spells to be in line with the new rules. No small task, but certainly doable. I tjust means play testing needs to be held off for a while as that work is being done. I should be able to reconvene the group when I'm at about the 50% mark, or there-abouts. We don't need ALL of the material translated in order to test the rules, but we do need enough that a variety of characters, play styles, and situations can be tested pretty thoroughly.

I have to say, I am really looking forward to StarFest on the 20th. And we didn't get into Denver Comic Con (I waited WAY too long), but we will be there next year. Plus, we still have GenCon this year, and Mile Hi Con!

Okay, I'm rambling, so i tmust be time to sign off. So, to recap: Go buy books now at our book store and save 15% or more instantly. Looking forward to StarFest. Working on the RPG and the Fifth Key. Oh, and Spring!!!!

Okay, that is all…

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Paul

Fourth Key update and a sale!

For those interested in getting a copy straight away, you can now purchase the Fourth Key of Kalijor on Kindle, Nook, and paperback. Although, until it gets thought the Bowker database, the physical copies are only available at my own store.

I have copies coming, for those that want to get them at StarFest.

Next up, a sale! If you visit the Kalijor Press book store and buy anything between now and April 6th, you will get an instant savings of 15% or more (that's about $3 per book). Savings are instant, no coupon codes required. Just add them to the shopping cart and see the savings applied!

That's it for now, so have a great evening/day and I'll see you at StarFest!

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Paul

It is done!

Copies are being printed as you read this.

The cover art looks absolutely stunning!

Very much looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks of the new book.

That's pretty much it for today. I'm going to take a break, enjoy the day, and get ready to knock out the business taxes tomorrow before really tearing into the Fifth Key!

Looking forward to StarFest with the new books!

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Paul

Thursday, Thursday, Thursday!!!

I've just heard from David over at Full Spectrum Arts that the new cover art should be delivered today or tomorrow! This means that the Fourth Key of Kalijor should be completely wrapped up by the end of this weekend!

By completely wrapped up, I mean that I will have published and ordered copies for StarFest, and pushed copies out to Apple, Amazon, and Barnes and Nobel for the eBook versions. It will still be six weeks or so before you can get it in book stores, just because of system lag between Bowker and the rest of the world, but fear not, I can, and will, have copies, both hard cover and soft cover, at StarFest!

In other news, the Fifth Key is growing again. I just got through a particularly difficult bit of writing last night and things are breaking free again, so there should be some much more measureable progress there going forward.

In other, other news…… I have no other news……

Be well!

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Paul

Quick Update…

All is still on track. Trying to set up a cos-player to dress as Riana at StarFest.

Also, having some great discussions with David about the appearance of the Neophyte's Serendipity. How do YOU picture Vincent's ship?

Added another 2k words to teh Fifth Key yesterday whilst sitting in the waiting room at the dentist's for the kids' cleanings.

More to come soon!

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Paul

Update!

Did a ton of work on teh new RPG book yesterday. I'll probably work on it a bunch more this evening. Mostly through moving race and class descriptions and info from the old book to the new one. There will be some updates/changes necessary once the rules are firmed up more, but for now it's just nice to see it taking more soild shape.

The Fourth Key is in the can. Cover text has been sent to Full Spectrum Arts for layout on the new cover art. We're on schedule for a StarFest release.

So, only one person has offered thoughts on my question about what other sorts of goodies you'd like to see at StarFest. Am I to assume silence means 'Don't bring anythign but books'? Or is there something folks would like to be able to pick up there aside from books?

T-Shirts? Hoodies? Polos? Gadget cases (iphone, ipad, nook, kindle, somethign else?)?

Oh! I also have entered talks with a great local cos-player to dress as Riana during the con. She sounds interested, but we're still hashing things out, so stay tuned!

That said, I am out of here to go work on the RPG, and maybe the Fifth Key!

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Paul

Better late than never!!! right?

SO, hey!

I know this is late, but you know…… since when am I ever on time with updates to journals, blogs, or websites?

*sigh*

Anyway, moving along… I added a couple dozen images to a new gallery for GalaxyFest 2012. Go check them out and see what you think.

As for the con itself, It was pretty good, especially for being a first run. I haven't heard any official figures, but if I had to guess, I would say they had around five thousand attendees. The quality of people and events there was quite high, and the hotel was very gracious and accommodating. I was even able to take my whole family, including our almost 80-pound Kuvasz with me. I think Malcolm (yes, we named him after our favorite starship captain) was a bigger draw than most other attractions there.

My good friend and support Mike came down to the show from 'way up north' and we had a great weekend, talking about life, the universe, and everything. Mostly we chatted about the Kalijor books and where the plot is headed, as well as the spin-off novels and what was going on with those. We met Miss Crosby, and Miss Masters, in addition to a few other folks whose names I can't recall, and we sold enough books to cover the cost of the table, so all in all it was a win and I think we'll most likely be going back for year two. Although we'll probably grab a table in a different spot, to see if we can increase traffic any.

In other news, I will begin the final rewrite on the Fourth Key of Kalijor Tomorrow (Monday the 12th), and should have the text in the can by mid-week. The cover art is well into production and I should be seeing samples soon, and ordering the first book proof early next week.

In similar news, I just received a shipment of new books for StarFest, including hardcovers of all of the first three books! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I will have hardcover books for all of the novels, beginning this year! I will have them on hand at StarFest and will make them available via the Kalijor Press store just as soon as I have a chance to go through them thoroughly and make sure there are no errors. I will ~not~ be shipping them to book stores at least until we get the new cover art for the second editions. Then we'll see what you all think and make a determination from there.

Also, I am interested in bringing some other merchandise to StarFest this year, like some t-shirts and maybe some coffee mugs and/or mouse pads. I would be very interested in hearing what, if anything, you all would be interested in seeing/having available.

In addition to all of that, the RPG is well into re-writing. I think I have a decent bead on how I want to work the system and will be spending time here and there getting it all moved over to the new rules. That said, at this point in time, my focus is shifting almost entirely to the writing of the Fifth Key. I am at about 10,000 words now, and have a long, long way to go yet. But U want it done this summer so there is plenty of time for editing and revision and loads of flexibility in the release schedule.

Once that is done, I will begin rewriting the other novels that are already done and in holding patterns, and we should be able to release books every six to twelve months for the next 5-10 years consistently. Assuming I can keep writing while that is going on (and I see no reason why that should not be the case) there should be a lot coming from Kalijor Press for as long as you all will continue reading our work!

For now, however, I am going to go watch Iron Chef, then go to bed and try and get some sleep before the re-write begins!

I hope you all have an amazing day, and I look forward to chatting with you the next time we meet.

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Paul

Last day to enter for a free eBook!

The iBooks download codes will be awarded this evening after business hours (around 6pm Mountain Time), so these are the last few hours for you or your friends/family to get your names into the hat for one.

All that need be done is to 'like'/follow Kalijor Press on Facebook (available to the right here at Kalijor.com). If you refer someone to us and they 'like' the page, then drop a note to us, or post on our wall saying whom you referred, and both your names go into the hat.

Download codes are for iBooks only this round, we'll do another eBook promotion on another platform here sometime soon.

Also, in related but dissimilar news, I finally finished the hard cover editions of the 2nd and 3rd Keys last night. They aren't available for general purchase yet as I wanted to get proof copies and make sure I don't need to make any final tweaks before releasing them, but we're now just a couple weeks away from availability, and I will have some copies available at StarFest in April, along with some T-shirts and other odds and ends… and… you know…. that other new book everyone has been asking for…

That's all for now. Stay tuned for the GalaxyFest rundown and pictures sometime this weekend. Working on getting a short story submitted for the GenCon 2012 Missing Pieces book before I go there.

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Paul