Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 232

rough draft of FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT finished!

I am pleased to report that the rough draft of FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT is done! 101,000 words in 18 days.

Next up is THE RUIN GATE, the FROSTBORN short story I’ll give away for free to newsletter subscribers when FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT is released.

-JM

assimilate

Apropos of a discussion in the CLOAK GAMES thread, I should mention that I liked to think of my writing career as being like the Borg from STAR TREK.

I am always trying to learn new things and adapt new techniques and new technologies.

Of course, if one day you look up and the see the sun blocked out by a Giant Space Cube, you’ll know I’ve taken the metaphor too far.

CLOAK GAMES: TRUTH CHAIN first week

Despite technical difficulties, CLOAK GAMES: TRUTH CHAIN is doing a LOT better than I expected! I have to admit I wasn’t sure how the book would be received, but the response so far has been quite positive.

Thanks everyone! If all goes well, I hope to have CLOAK GAMES: TOMB HOWL out before the end of April.

-JM

Frostborn update

I wrote 7,300 words of FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT today.

Now I’m playing some Baldur’s Gate. I have to admit the game is a lot easier playing as a Paladin than as a Wizard.

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT update

I wrote 7,000 words of FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT today.

I feel like the scene I wrote today has a lot of emotional resolution. Like, this is the 2nd to last book in the series, so it’s time to start wrapping up some of the plot arcs that have been going on ever since Ridmark walked into Dun Licinia on the day of the omen of blue fire.

I think this scene is a good resolution to one of those plot arcs. Hopefully the readers feel the same way!

FROSTBORN meets the Super Bowl

I could have watched the Super Bowl, but instead I decided to finish Chapter 15 of FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT.

Alas, I think I might have had more fun than the Patriots.

ebook sales 2016, all other series

Here’s some more details about ebook sales for 2016.

FROSTBORN was my bestselling series at 66% of the total, with THE GHOSTS/GHOST EXILE coming in at 12.2%. In a close third was the DEMONSOULED/MASK OF THE DEMONSOULED series at 11.7% of the total. Let’s look at my remaining series now:

Technical Nonfiction Books: 2.8%

CLOAK GAMES: 2.3%

THE THIRD SOUL: 1%

THE TOWER OF ENDLESS WORLDS: 0.05%

That’s actually pretty cool about THE TOWER OF ENDLESS WORLDS. I started working on what would become that series in 2002, and fifteen years later it is still selling copies. Can’t complain about that!

I’m also pleased THE THIRD SOUL is still selling. I suppose it was sheer luck that I started writing more in THE GHOSTS series instead of THE THIRD SOUL. When I discovered the Kindle in 2011, I had three GHOSTS novels ready to go, so I published those and wound up writing way more in the series.

I think the CLOAK GAMES percentage will go up in 2017, partly because I’m writing more CLOAK GAMES books in 2017, and partly because the first book is now free on all platforms. For example in November of 2016, CLOAK GAMES was 1.6% of the month’s book sales. After the 1st book went free in December, the total in December rose to 6.4%.

I have to admit that while I like doing technical nonfiction books, I don’t think I’m going to do any in 2017. For one, they’re a lot more work than novels, since they need to be researched and tested. For another, novels sell better (and therefore pay better). Six years on, and that STILL boggles my mind. When I started self-publishing in 2011, I thought there would be more money writing about Linux and computers than writing novels. Sometimes it’s nice to be wrong!

(Which is kind of funny, because I never talk about my writing in Real Life since it takes too long to explain the truth. If people figure out that I’m a writer, I usually tell them I’m a technical writer. Since I’ve written nine technical books, this is technically (heh) true, and it has the additional advantage of avoiding social awkwardness since no one wants to listen to me talk about Linux.

FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT progress update

13 chapters of the rough draft down, 13 to go. Halfway there!

-JM

CLOAK GAMES: TRUTH CHAIN now available!

I’m pleased to report that CLOAK GAMES: TRUTH CHAIN is now available at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Australia, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Google Play, and Smashwords.

Click here to read the first chapter of CLOAK GAMES: TRUTH CHAIN.

Nadia Moran’s luck has run out at last.

The High Queen’s Inquisition is coming for her, led by the Lord Inquisitor himself. Desperate and trapped, Nadia has no choice but to cut a deal.

Nadia is a master thief, and even the Lord Inquisitor needs things stolen.

But the price of Nadia’s freedom might destroy her utterly…

The Grand Tour

Finished watching the last episode of the first season of THE GRAND TOUR on Amazon.

I have to admit I really enjoyed the show. I think my favorite parts were the Car Battleship game, the Eco-Car Challenge, and the Namibia episodes.

Anyway, if you happen to get the chance, watch the show. The highest compliment I can give it is that I actually put away my laptop and my Kindle to pay attention, which hardly ever happens when I watch TV or streaming video!

-JM