Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 358
January 8, 2012
Soul of Dragons – the revisions begin
I was finally able to begin the second draft of SOUL OF DRAGONS, the fourth DEMONSOULED book, today. Still planning for a release towards the end of February.
Here's the very first sentence of the book:
Mazael Cravenlock turned his head just as green lightning exploded from the sky and tore into the earth.
There are more (and longer) previews to come, so watch this space.
-JM
January 7, 2012
ebook sales for 2011 – the year in review
8,365 is the number of ebooks I sold in 2011. Most of that happened in the last four months. (Note that this is for paid ebooks, not the free books.)
First, thanks to the Lord, who has been unaccountably good to me this year.
Second, thank you to the, um, thousands of you who bought one.
Third, let's look at the individual book sales.
DEMONSOULED (free downloads): 19,479
SOUL OF TYRANTS: 1,817
SOUL OF SERPENTS: 1,464
CHILD OF THE GHOSTS (free downloads): 15,021
GHOST IN THE FLAMES: 598
GHOST IN THE BLOOD: 465
THE TESTING (before it went free last week): 133
THE ASSASSINS: 191
THE BLOOD SHAMAN: 111
THE HIGH DEMON: 127
DRIVEN AND OTHER STORIES: 1
THE DEVIL'S AGENT: 11
ANGEL SWORD AND OTHER STORIES: 1
SHARE THE PAIN: 20
THE $0.99 UBUNTU BEGINNER'S GUIDE: 3,041
THE $0.99 WINDOWS COMMAND LINE BEGINNER'S GUIDE: 385
You'll note that SOUL OF TYRANTS is almost at 2,000 copies, and (if all goes well) might very well get there by the end of January. I find it absolutely astonishing that a book I wrote seven years ago, and essentially forgot about six years ago, has sold almost 2,000 copies in four months, and made me almost $4,000. That is almost as much as the standard $5,000 advance from a traditional publisher – and SOUL OF TYRANTS has no need to earn out. Nor will it go out of print (unless the world economy collapses, of course).
I don't want to take sides in the endless debate over traditional and self-publishing. Though in all candor, I have no longer have any wish to seek out either an agent or a traditional book publisher (save for those with whom I already have relationships). But if you're a writer, I'm not going to tell you what to do. This is what I did, and here's my data. Draw from it what conclusions you will.
Anyway. What's next for 2012? SOUL OF DRAGONS, the next DEMONSOULED book, should be coming up, if all goes well, by the end of February. Then I'm going to write the next book in THE GHOSTS series, GHOST IN THE STORM. I'd also like to do another $0.99 BEGINNER'S GUIDE on a computer topic. They're quick and easy to write (the Windows command line one took me all of three weeks, start to finish, in September), and generally have no trouble selling.
So. Two novels and a computer book. Those are my writing objectives for 2012. Once those are done, we'll make new plans.
And, again, thank you to all of you who bought a book!
-JM
January 6, 2012
Reader Question Day #6 – the Middle Ages and the best ebooks
The New Year is upon us, and that means it's time for Reader Question Day to return!
Manwe writes:
And considering our prior comments, don't let this song fool you, as much as I enjoy the Total War series, it's history is biased and deeply flawed, especially when the series deals with the Middle Ages, all the tropes come out to play! It's sad too, but the game is made by Brits, and if one understands modern british (pop) culture, than you kniow there is not much chance for a nice or even accurate view of the medieval era.
Yes indeed. The Middle Ages are very often maligned unfairly. I believe this started with the humanist writer Petrarch in the 14th century – he liked to portray classical Greece and Rome as a golden age of rationalism, followed by the groaning darkness of the Middle Ages, and then the rediscovery of Roman and Greek thought by intrepid humanists such as himself.
Granted, the Middle Ages were not all sunshine and roses – a brief overview of say, the Albigensian or Aragonese Crusades, or Philip IV's rather Nazi-like suppression of the Templars, will put that to rest. And medieval Jews consistently got the raw end of the stick. But modern science grew out of the medieval university (an organization sponsored by the medieval church, which rather puts the lie to the notion of medieval churchmen as gimlet-eyed inquisitors, hunting down bright-eyed pagan Greek women on the verge of inventing the steam engine), and the High Middle Ages saw technological advancement unprecedented in human history, something that has only accelerated in the centuries since.
And we clever moderns have invented many new forms of evil that the Middle Ages simply did not have. No one in medieval Europe had, say, nuclear weapons, or concentration camps, or well-organized police states like the old Communist bloc.
So the Middle Ages, like any other historical era, had its good sides and its bad sides. But to portray it as a thousand years of groaning, fanatical ignorance is simply incorrect.
Kallinikos writes:
Which of your books do you think are the best?
I think CHILD OF THE GHOSTS and SOUL OF SERPENTS are, so far, the best things I have written.
Many Google searches to my site ask:
jonathan moeller reading order
Ah. Good question.
The DEMONSOULED series goes like this:
#1 – DEMONSOULED
#2 – SOUL OF TYRANTS
#3 – SOUL OF SERPENTS
#4 – SOUL OF DRAGONS (coming Feb/March 2012)
THE GHOSTS series goes like this:
#1 – CHILD OF THE GHOSTS
#2 – GHOST IN THE FLAMES
#3 – GHOST IN THE BLOOD
#4 – GHOST IN THE STORM (coming late summer 2012)
Finally, THE THIRD SOUL goes like this:
#1 – THE TESTING
#2 – THE ASSASSINS
#3 – THE BLOOD SHAMAN
#4 – THE HIGH DEMON
The first book in each series is free, so either DEMONSOULED, CHILD OF THE GHOSTS, or THE TESTING would make a good starting point.
That's Reader Question Day for this week. If you have a question, leave it in the comments or send an email to jmcontact at jonathanmoeller.com, and I'll answer it next week.
-JM
January 4, 2012
The Testing – a free eBook for your Kindle
Quite unexpectedly, my novella THE TESTING (the first in THE THIRD SOUL series) has gone free on Amazon.com. So if you have a shiny new Kindle (or a shiny new iPad with the Kindle app) you can get it right here.
It's not free on Amazon UK, alas – but if you're a UK reader, you can get it for free here, and sideload the book file onto your device.
-JM
January 2, 2012
ebook sales for December 2011
The Lord has been good to me, for I sold 2,340 ebooks in December, up from 2,142 in November. Thank you, everyone!
A longer post to follow looking at the entire year.
-JM
Reader Question Day…
…will return on Friday. I've been extremely busy, but the Christmas holidays are over, and I can now relax by getting back to work! 
-JM
December 31, 2011
Soul of Dragons – a preview
MAZAEL CRAVENLOCK stands victorious over all his foes, and wishes nothing more than to live quietly in peace, overseeing his lands. Yet a relic of the ancient world, a thing of black sorcery, has been unearthed, a weapon that threatens to turn the Grim Marches to a realm of corpses.
And Mazael's sins might return to devour him…
ROMARIA GREENSHIELD has mastered herself at last, the human and Elderborn halves of her soul in harmony. Free from her past, she travels north to start a new life in the Grim Marches.
But now she faces a hunter that even she might not have the skill to overcome…
LUCAN MANDRAGON is trapped in the netherworld between life and death, imprisoned by his own folly. Haunted by visions of his mistakes, tormented by memories of his past, Lucan finds himself the prey of a spirit both mighty and corrupt.
And the price to escape might consume all he has left…
CORVAD burns with the blood and power of the Demonsouled. He will take up the sword of the Destroyer, and throw down the realms of men.
And once he claims the ancient relic for himself, all the world shall be his…
MOLLY has lost everything she holds dear, and has no reason left to live.
There is only one cure for her loss, one vengeance she can take for her pain.
The death of Mazael Cravenlock.
SOUL OF DRAGONS – coming February/March 2012.
-JM
December 27, 2011
The next Demonsouled book, coming soon
A bunch of people have emailed today asking if, and when, a new DEMONSOULED book will be out. (I suspect many of y'all got new ereaders for Christmas. If you did, have some free books to help fill it up.)
The answers: yes, yes there will be another DEMONSOULED book. It's called SOUL OF DRAGONS, and the rough draft is already done. I'm going to start editing it as soon as I finish my current project, the third edition of THE $0.99 UBUNTU BEGINNER'S GUIDE. I'm hoping to wrap that up by the end of next week, and then I shall proceed straightaway to editing and revising SOUL OF DRAGONS.
If all goes well, SOUL OF DRAGONS should be finished, and on sale, by the end of February. As I finish the final draft, I'll post short excerpts or even sample chapters here.
-JM
December 25, 2011
free eBooks for your new Kindle, Nook, and iPad
So you got an ereader for Christmas? Congratulations! Though you're likely wondering where you can find free books to read upon it.
Fortunately, I've got you covered.
DEMONSOULED is the first novel of my DEMONSOULED series, sword-and-sorcery tales chronicling the adventures of the knight Mazael Cravenlock as he wages war against serpent men, inhuman invaders, and other creatures. You can get it for free at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Smashwords, and also at Amazon.co.uk.
CHILD OF THE GHOSTS is the first book of my "Ghosts" series, the adventures of Caina Amalas, an elite spy and assassin who fights rogue sorcerers, slave traders, corrupt lords, and anyone else who threatens to overthrow the Empire of Nighmar. It's available for free at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Smashwords, and also at Amazon.co.uk.
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THE TESTING is the first novella in "The Third Soul" series, about Rachaelis Morulan, an apprentice mage in the corrupt Conclave of Araspan. It's not free at Amazon, but you can get it for free at Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Smashwords.
Hopefully, these free books should give you something enjoyable to read on your new ereader.
-JM
