Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 234
January 25, 2017
ebook sales 2016
I did some calculations, and 2016 was my best year ever for ebook sales so far. Thanks everyone!
Over the next couple of days I’ll share some interesting factoids I’ve picked up from the data. It’s always interesting to look at data like that over the long term, since it is difficult to find 100% reliable information about self-publishing, but numbers do not lie.
-JM
January 24, 2017
THE LADY IN THE LAKE, by Raymond Chandler
I happened to see that THE LADY IN THE LAKE by Raymond Chandler was on sale on Kindle, so I picked it up.
It’s one of Chandler’s novels featuring private detective Philip Marlowe, and it’s really good. In the book, Marlowe gets hired to find the vanished wife of a rich man, and in the process, he stumbles across a poor man whose wife has also disappeared. In the course of his investigation, he stumbles across a web of lies and corruption, and if he’s not careful, that web is going to eat him as well.
It was a well-constructed mystery book in its own right, but I also enjoyed reading it because of its influence on the Dresden Files, which I enjoyed greatly. Philip Marlowe is a lot like Harry Dresden, albeit with no magic and less of a pushover with women (some of the women in THE LADY IN THE LAKE would have rolled right over poor Harry).
Definitely recommended!
-JM
CLOAK GAMES: TRUTH CHAIN description
Here’s the book description for CLOAK GAMES: TRUTH CHAIN. Coming February 2017!
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…
January 22, 2017
Jonathan Moeller vs. release dates!
A reader asked why I never announce exact release dates for my books, and instead usually say what month they’ll be released. So instead of saying that FROSTBORN: EXCALIBUR will be released on January 13th, 2017 (like it actually was), I tend to say instead that the book will come out in January or February of 2017.
I do actually have good reasons for that! They’re reasons that I all learned the hard way, too. 
January 21, 2017
time to play some BALDUR’S GATE
It is Saturday night, so it’s time to play some BALDUR’S GATE!
I’m going to loot an abandoned tomb in the desert. What could possibly go wrong?
-JM
Frostborn & Cloak Games progress report
-Continue editing CLOAK GAMES: TRUTH CHAIN. It’s interesting to edit the CLOAK GAMES books because Nadia has such a distinctive voice.
-Finish up the outline for FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT (Frostborn #14). Hopefully I should be able to start the book during the last week of January.
-Work more on print book layout. CLOAK GAMES: SHATTER STONE should be available in print shortly.
-JM
January 20, 2017
CLOAK GAMES: TRUTH CHAIN editing underway
The editing is underway for CLOAK GAMES: TRUTH CHAIN, and if all goes well the book will be out in February.
That means it’s time to share the cover image!
-JM
January 19, 2017
thanks for reading FROSTBORN: EXCALIBUR!
I woke up today to see a bunch of emails and messages saying nice things about FROSTBORN: EXCALIBUR. Thanks for reading the book!
Several people said it was their favorite of the series so far, or that it had their favorite final battle.
I think my favorite final battles of the Frostborn series are #2, #5, #6, #9, and #12. The entirety of #8 has a special place in my heart because it was one long dungeon crawl and I do love a good dungeon crawl.
The battles in FROSTBORN: EXCALIBUR were based on a combination of the Siege of Alesia in 52 BC and the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 AD.
Now time to plot out what is going to happen in FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT.
-JM
January 18, 2017
Microsoft Ebook Store?
Apparently Microsoft is planning to add an ebook store to the next big update of Windows 10.
Adding an ebook store to Windows might sound silly, but Apple and Google both have ebook stores, so why not Microsoft? Google Play is my biggest market after Amazon.
I wonder if Microsoft would open its platform to self-published writers. One would hope so! A couple years ago Microsoft was making noises about buying the Nook platform from Barnes & Noble, so maybe they’ll do something like that.
Though that would lead to the highly amusing prospect of selling my Ubuntu book on Windows 10!
January 16, 2017
CLOAK GAMES excerpt
An excerpt from the CLOAK GAMES short story I’m presently writing:
Nadia kept her magical ability a secret, but I had known about it for a long time.
It was the little things. I lived with Dr. James Marney and his wife Lucy, former retainers of Lord Morvilind who could not have children of their own, and Nadia visited us often. Sometimes I saw her cry when she returned from one of her jobs from Morvilind. She knew way more about guns and bombs and locks and security systems than most people did.
Also, there was the time I walked into her room and saw her levitating small objects with magic. That was sort of a giveaway.
-JM
