Peter W. Dawes's Blog: The Man Behind the Curtain, page 4
April 7, 2015
Mercenaries, Magic, and Giveaways
It’s been an announcement long since coming and delayed only in the effort to present an amazing story to you guys. For the last two years, I’ve been working on a set of stories I first titled The Unquiet Dead, which has since received a facelift and a title change while the series of tales have evolved. Today, it brings me great pleasure to announce…
Deathspell is upon us!
On April 15th, the book will be released on Amazon, for you lovely people with Kindles. (Don’t worry Nook, Kobo, and iTunes lovers, it’ll be available in all formats sometime this summer.) If you don’t want to wait until release day, then don’t worry. You can pre-order the book right now through the power of the internet.
Click here to pre-order Deathspell.
I have been looking forward to sharing this series with you guys and now that I can, I’m asking for your help. And I promise there’s incentives for you all in doing so. Pre-order the book! Prepare your rave reviews! And get your social media sharing fingers ready, because here’s the request first, and then here’s the carrot.
Please Support the Thunderclap Campaign
We have a campaign going to get people to tweet, Facebook post, and Tumblr post about Deathspell. Plus, if you sign up to help us, it counts as five entries into a giveaway we’re running. (“Giveaway?” you ask, leaning forward in your seat a bit. Giveaway, indeed. Read on for more details.)
By doing this, you help spread the message far and wide to people, and believe me when I say I have high hopes for doing so. You are the amazing people who helped me become a Bestselling Author and the best fans an author could ever have.
There Are Other Ways to Help!
Even if you do support Thunderclap, then you can still help expand our reach. Have a blog or a website where you do author features? At the end of this post is a story excerpt and a book synopsis for you to post. And this, too, will count for entries to our giveaway. (Above are the book links and cover image for your use as well.)
Don’t have a website or aren’t keen on social media? You can review one of the Flynn books for entries as well.
Now, what are we giving away to you fine individuals?
The Rafflecopter!
Here are the prizes and all of the different ways you can enter the giveaway:
That’s one week of madness left, so visit back daily. The winner will be announced on this blog post and on my Facebook page. And if you’re helping us out on your blog, then here’s some more useful information for you.
Thank you one and all for your support!
Deathspell Synopsis
DEATHSPELL will be the first book in a brand-new series written by USA Today Bestselling Author Peter Dawes.
A boy orphaned by violence grows up in the shadow of his father’s murder. His older brother offers him a home, but the life of a farmer is a poor fit for Christian Richardson.
Set in England in the 1400s, the Wars of the Roses litters the country with plenty of jobs for a young mercenary trained in how to wield a sword. Christian grows out of his youth and becomes a capable fighter, one who inherited his father’s blade. As a member of the Brotherhood of the Black Rose, he puts coins in his pockets and food in his stomach, but every day he searches for the sigil of the men who took his father’s life.
Finally, after years skirting the edges of a group called the Luminaries, he’ll make a discovery that will put him in reach of his goal. Vengeance.
The sword was not the only possession his father had given to him, though, and unbeknownst to Christian, the Luminaries have been hunting for Richard’s son – the boy who escaped from them nearly a decade ago – just as he has been scouring for signs of them.
An almost successful attempt on his life reveals hidden gifts, and even more secrets that his father had taken to the grave. As Christian reaches the threshold of claiming revenge, he faces the realization that retribution might come at a high price. Will he listen to the pleas of his loved ones, cautioning him away from danger? Or will his pursuit for justice take him down a path from where he can never return?
Deathspell Excerpt
“I can teach you how to use that sword of yours for money. Real money, not these coins people throw at you for show,” he said. When I failed to attend to the plate of food again, he arched a brow back at me, mirroring my expression. “You ever kill a man, lad?”
“No, I can’t say that I have.”
“The thought bother you?”
This time, I couldn’t conceal the reaction his question inspired. My eyes shifted to the far wall, then down to the table, a deep breath filling my lungs before being exhaled. Whatever Roland read of it, I neither knew, nor cared, but in the moments which followed, I saw the demons I used to entertain while working Jeffrey’s farm; the ones who lured me away when I couldn’t ward them off any longer. At the very least, I held them at a distance in using the blade, even for show. Each time I held a sickle or polished my father’s sword while under my brother’s roof, however, I wanted nothing more than to cut into the man who had taken Richard Hardi away from me.
Slowly, my gaze lifted, a look in my eyes even I could feel without seeing it for myself. Roland sobered and I shook my head. “No, sir,” I said. “The thought of killing people doesn’t bother me at all.”
November 14, 2014
Blogger Book Fair, Day Five: Featuring Tracy Falbe
As the Blogger Book Fair winds to a close, I want to add another thank you to both those who have joined me on my blog and those who have permitted me onto theirs. I relish the chance both to explore new authors and become acquainted with new readers. As such, I sincerely hope if any of these books have caught your eye, you have taken the chance to get to know a new novel.
I promise I am not the jealous type. 
November 13, 2014
Blogger Book Fair, Day Four: Featuring Robin Lythgoe
Robin O’Shane: Vampire and fantasy aficionado. Not the author, Robin Lythgoe.My next visitor for the blogger book fair presents a novel that has managed to achieve the impossible, and that is pique my brother Robin’s interest. As such a thing is usually reserved for Tolkien, Lewis, or any of the Sherlock Holmes stories, then I immediately know I should avail myself of reading it.
Fortunately, Robin Lythgoe has not chosen to hang us too far in suspense, as today’s feature bears not merely the description of her book, As the Crow Flies, but an excerpt from it. It pleases me greatly to be able to share it with you. (And pleases my brother as well, from one Robin to another. To take pity on you all, I shall spare you comments about birds of a feather.)
By now, you of course know to read to the end for the giveaway. But I shall remind you just the same. *Winks*
As the Crow Flies
Genre: Fantasy | Adult
For a thief, getting caught is never a good thing. Getting caught by a wizard is even worse.
‘One more job’ meant that Crow, a notorious thief, could retire with Tarsha, the woman of his dreams, but ‘one more job’ may just mean his life.
When he sets out to abscond with that last brilliant treasure and seek a life of ease and pleasure with the jewel of his heart, Crow seriously underestimates his mark, the Baron Duzayan. Under threat of death by poison, Crow is coerced into stealing an improbable, mythical prize. To satisfy the wizard’s greed and save the life of his lady love, he must join forces with Tanris, the one man he has spent his entire career avoiding.
But what’s a man to do when stealing that fabled prize could level an empire and seal his fate?
From a dungeon black as night, to the top of a mountain peak shrouded in legend, a man’s got to do what he must.
Until, of course, he can think of a better plan…
Buy Links:
As the Crow Flies Excerpt
I had scarcely stepped out into the street with my handsome new acquisition when I was abruptly and rudely accosted. Two hulking pieces of manhood caught me by either arm, and I nearly lost both my hat and the burlap sack of supplies I carried. Lifting me right off my feet didn’t trouble either of them, and while they whisked me off down the street, I took a moment to recover my breath, my composure—more or less—and to study their identities. “Do I know the two of you?” I inquired politely while they plowed through puddles I would have chosen to go around. The first splash caught me rather by surprise, but I had the forethought to lift my feet for the second. No sense getting wetter when there was an alternative.
“Raza wants to have a chat with you,” the bruiser on my right informed me.
“Jolly for him. Would you be so good as to put me down? I think I remember how to walk.”
“We’ll help.”
“You’re too kind. Really.” I looked from one to the other, but they showed no sign of responding to gentle persuasion and we were making good speed down the street in a direction I had no desire to go. So I held on tight to my belongings and stuck my foot between the legs of the less chatty fellow on the left. He went down in a heap, and I went with him, rolling half onto him. The other man swore and scrambled, trying not to fall, too. I helped him out as best I could by swinging my sack at his head. There were a pair of grappling hooks in there, a climbing rope, metal cleats, and other sorts of paraphernalia a thief might find handy on the job. It knocked him backside over teakettle, which was rather satisfying and alarming at the same time.
Both my delight and my worry at the damage a hook might have caused were arrested by an arm around my throat.
About the Author
Robin Lythgoe, the actual author of the book. Not my brother. And I am fairly certain not a vampire.Robin Lythgoe was born in Maryland, but spent several years in Oregon and did a short stint in upstate New York before moving to Utah. She married an artist, and together they have four wonderful children. Reading and writing have always been a part of her life, and she is particularly drawn to fantasy. When she was growing up her mother often led expeditions to the library, from which the entire party invariably returned laden with a stack of books guaranteed to make the arms longer. Robin read everything voraciously, and when she finished her stack, she’d start on her mother’s… and then her sisters’. Today she writes tales about wizards and magic, fantastical places and extraordinary journeys.
Her novel, “As the Crow Flies,” was selected as a Kindle Book Review, 2014 Kindle Book Awards Semifinalist.
Connect:
Official BBF Giveaways
$50 Amazon Gift Card
$30 Amazon Gift Card
$20 Amazon Gift Card
November 12, 2014
Blogger Book Fair, Day Three: Featuring Emma Weylin
And just like the sands of time, we continue to move along. Thank you to one and all of my readers for taking the time to get to know some astonishing talents, and greetings to all who have come to visit.
Today, I have the great pleasure of being able to feature author Emma Weylin. Emma is the author of a series of books called Time Walkers and comes to us today with book one, Bring Me to Life. Without further ado, I shall permit her to tell you more about it. And shall remind you all of the treats lying in wait at the end of this post.
Bring Me To Life (Time Walkers – Book 1)
Genre: Supernatural/Paranormal |Adult
They say love can conquer all … but Vincent’s been dead for two hundred years, and Bryna is the one who killed him! Ominous warnings, time travel, love, revenge, vampires, demons, and so much more … Emma Weylin presents Bring Me to Life, Book 1 of her amazing new paranormal romance series, Time Walkers.
Being dead sucks, or so Vincent Asher believes. He’s spent the last two hundred years of his death battling vampires because his boss won’t let him kill demons. Known as a force called the Wraith, Vincent has become bored with preventing the apocalypse. When he hopes his boss will give him a more exciting assignment, he gets the shock of his afterlife. He must protect the woman who killed him.
Bryna Wildrose accidently killed the only man she ever loved. In a self-imposed death sentence, she’s spent the last ten years of her life trying to get herself killed. She never meant to kill Vincent, and the guilt is eating her alive. A vampire gives her a dire warning. The Wraith is coming for her. She can run, or she can let death take her.
Given no choice, Vincent goes back in time to find the one woman he loved more than life itself, but when he expected to torment her for causing his death, he learns nothing is what he believed it to be. Real love never dies, but Vincent’s power might not be enough to keep Bryna alive.
Content Notes: Spicy, Graphic Violence, Paranormal, Vampires, Time Travel, Spirits, Demons, Fantasy, Suspense
Buy Links:
About the Author
Emma Weylin fell in love with the written word as a child. She loves to create her own worlds full of magic and wonder. One of her favorite things is populating those worlds with interesting and true-to-life characters who experience everything from epic love and heartrending battles to seriously silly or embarrassing “duh” moments. She believes love can and does conquer all things. When she’s not writing, she enjoys her family and has a copious yarn addiction.
Connect:
Official BBF Giveaways
$50 Amazon Gift Card
$30 Amazon Gift Card
$20 Amazon Gift Card
November 11, 2014
Blogger Book Fair, Day Two: Featuring Noree Cosper
As the Blogger Book Fair continues to Day Two, I have the esteemed honor of featuring an author I have had the pleasure of hosting before. Noree is a remarkable woman and a gifted fellow wordsmith, but she is also quite the partner in crime. As such, I wholeheartedly recommend you avail yourself of the books she is featuring on this fair. I have not had the chance to read one, Flower of Hell, but Prescription for Delirium plays host to an amazing ensemble of characters and shall be featured much more personally on here at some point henceforth.
And thus, without further ado…
(… and once again cautioning to make certain you enter the contest at the end of this post…)
The Flower of Hell
Genre: Supernatural/Paranormal | Adult
Gabriella devoted her eternity to carrying out her vengeance against demons. As she pursues her latest prey she stumbles across another hunter. To Gabby, Dimitri is an unneeded distraction, but he attracts her like no other man has for centuries. Will this hunter unlock the feelings she’d buried long ago or will he just open her up to more heartache? Can Gabby protect both of them from the demon stalking the Paris streets?
This is a short story companion to the Van Helsing Organization series.
Buy Links:
Only $.99!
And just in case you have ever missed talk about her book, Prescription for Delirium…
A Prescription for Delirium
Genre: Supernatural/Paranormal | Adult
Demons, werewolves, possessed bikers, madness spreading like a virus, and a revenge that has waited for over 500 years. What more could Gabby look for in a vacation spot?
Ninety years ago, Gabriella di Luca promised to protect the family of her dying lover. She failed to keep that promise. She was too far away to stop the devil that murdered the eldest Van Helsing son. Years later, Gabby learns the devil has resurfaced. She arrives in Hampton, TX, determined to stop the devil before it can lay a bloody hand on the remaining three brothers.
However, madness is spreading through Hampton. She suspects the devil is using this madness to test a drug which has a side effect of demonic possession. Gabby rushes to end the source of the madness only to fall victim to it. For a woman cursed with eternal life, dying is no threat. However, Gabby must stop the devil’s plot or risk losing her most precious possession: her mind.
Buy Links:
Only $.99!
About The Author
USA Today and Amazon top 100 Bestselling Author, Noree Cosper loves writing about magic in the modern world. While growing up in Texas she constantly searched for mystical elements in the mundane. She buried her nose in both fiction and books about Wicca, Religion, and Mythology. Everyday became an adventure as she joined a group of role-players, acting out her fantasies of vampires, demons, and monsters living in the world.
She embraced her nerdom wholeheartedly.
Noree grew, but never left her love for fantasy and horror. Her dreams pushed her and her hand itched to write the visions she saw. So, with her fingers on the keys, she did what her heart had been telling her to do since childhood. She wrote.
Connect:
Official BBF Giveaways
$50 Amazon Gift Card
$30 Amazon Gift Card
$20 Amazon Gift Card
November 10, 2014
Blogger Book Fair, Day One: Featuring Anya Breton
Come one, come all to the Blogger Book Fair! The time of year has arrived for us to showcase other authors whose work should most assuredly be brought to your attention. If you are unfamiliar with this event, then make certain to visit the website by clicking on this very distinguished image to your right.
But not before you meet the author I have the pleasure of showcasing today.
Each day, I shall play host to a different author and one of their books. And today, I have the honor of introducing Anya Breton and her book The Only Sorceress. So, without further ado, I invite you to try this new book today…
(Oh, and if you read on to the end, you can find out how to enter to win a few Amazon gift cards.)
The Only Sorceress (Sorceress Series #1)Genre: Supernatural/Paranormal | Adult
Self-proclaimed sorceress Kora Walsh knows exactly how to use her shiny new MBA. She’ll open a new age shop in a colony of the country’s most powerful witches. But the town rife with bigots doesn’t want her or her sleek shop tainting their perfect community.
Kora would leave if she had any choice in the matter. She’s trained from childhood for her true task—infiltrating coven leadership as her mother’s mole. Failure to do her familial duty is not an option, not when her childhood nemesis is assured her failed soul for an eternity of torture.
And thanks to the colony’s loudest supporter, the beautiful Desmond Marino, failure is a very real danger.
Buy Links:
Amazon | Other Formats
About The Author:
I was born in New England into a family of weirdoes. Being an only child, I quickly learned to amuse myself with quirky pastimes. It was only inevitable that I’d turn to reading and writing. After writing fanciful (and sickeningly sweet) love stories, I branched out into erotic romance, paranormal romance, young adult, and urban fantasy. I currently reside in the American Midwest with my cats and a good man!
Connect:
Website | Twitter | Facebook
Official BBF Giveaways
$50 Amazon Gift Card
$30 Amazon Gift Card
$20 Amazon Gift Card
October 28, 2014
My Big, Fat NaNoWriMo Project
So, as I’ve stated before, this time of year is my Christmas. Halloween kicks it off, then for an entire month, the wondrous word orgy that is NaNoWriMo takes place. This year, I’m breaking from the tradition of working on the historical fantasy novellas, since I have two completed and in need of editing before I write the third.
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Actual picture of me editing a book.
So, what is this year’s project? Allow me to introduce you to the Shadow Fox Chronicles.
Calling this a new project would be false advertising. A long, long time ago, in another life, I was a script writer for an independent comics studio and in exchange for my services, I got the chance to create my own title. Flash forward a couple of years later and I had two issues of a fledgling comic, featuring a superhero named Shadow Fox.
Sadly, the project died, never to be reanimated.
Two good things happened as a result of it, though. The Shadow Fox books were my first completed novels before Peter Dawes and The Vampire Flynn came along. And one project birthed another until I found myself where I am today. Yes, there are two full-length, completed novels for this old cast of characters, but truth be told, they’re not my best work. They’re nowhere near my best work, in fact, and a decade of aging hasn’t made them any better.
So, I sat back, rolled up my sleeves, and with the help of my partner-in-crime, I tossed out the old plot and decided to create a new plot for these guys.
The Book Synopsis
In present-day Philadelphia, there’s no lack of extraordinary things taking place. One year ago, vampires became part of the limelight, proving their existence and assimilating themselves into our culture. While reporter Andy Lane follows the vampire populace, writing blog posts about their exploits for the Philadelphia Inquirer, he stumbles upon a gruesome murder. At first the Philadelphia Police Department suspects a vampire might be the culprit. But the further Detective Luis Alejandro delves into the case, the more something sinister emerges from the evidence.
Andy’s roommate, Scott Reilly, is an attorney with the prestigious corporate law firm Beyer, Waibel, and Groff, who has lacked for nothing his entire life. The youngest son of socialites Robert and Beverly Reilly, he had grown up with the expectation that success was written in the cards for him from birth. Dating the beautiful Melissa Thompson, he stands on the other side of a court battle with his girlfriend which ends in victory for her firm. The client they represent? None other than one of the largest corporations in the area, Devlin Biosystems.
Rachel Connors is a research assistant for one of Devlin’s chief scientists, Dr. James McIntire. Slowly, she begins to realize not everything is as it seems in his laboratory. Each of their lives is connected by a spider web, and as each person carries on with their day-to-day routine, they immerse themselves further in a corporation that has been shrouded in secrecy ever since its newest CEO, Denise Devlin, came to power. Are their motives as altruistic as they try to make them out toward being and if not, what will that mean for Philadelphia? As the age of wonder dawns on this city, some monsters will remain cloaked in shadow, while the most unlikely heroes will emerge from within.
Is it November yet?
So now, with only a few days until the madness begins, I have a plot and I have the beginnings of a story outline, but there’s still a whole lot of winging it. And a lot of trust in my wits to figure out what I need to do next.
How are you doing, fellow WriMos? Do you have your destination in place? Or are you pushing off from harbor with nothing but the wind to guide your sails? And what are you working on this coming month?
If you want to be writing buddies, here’s where to find me.
Tomorrow, I’ll share more about my cast of characters and even what writing tunes I have planned for the month.
Jules
October 2, 2014
I Write Sins, Not Blog Posts
At some point, the act of blogging will become natural to me, which given the fact that I’ve maintained blogs for ten years, probably means never. But I can dream, right? When I’m quiet here, that usually means I’m busy with manuscript production, but at the same time, there’s news to be shared and announcements to be made, so without further ado, I bring…
MY QUARTERLY BLOG CHECK IN HOPEFULLY SOON TO BE SOMETHING MORE CLOSELY RESEMBLING A WEEKLY UPDATE.
Now, we have entered the season for pumpkin spice everything, which is admittedly my favorite time of year. Not necessarily for the sheer quantity of gourd that is being shoved at everyone, but because it’s Autumn. And Autumn means Halloween. (Try not to be too surprised that an author of vampire books loves Halloween.) It also means NaNoWriMo is around the corner, and regardless of how other authors might view that, I love it. I get a huge amount of rough, first draft material out in one month.
Then, my brain leaks out of my ears and renders me catatonic until January. But Christmas could be partly to blame for that.
There’s a lot happening before and after that happens, though, so here we go, now in bullet point format!
Holy Bestselling Author, Batman
In case you didn’t know, I was part of a collection of books called Pandora, which had an amazing two month run on the various e-publishing platforms. Of most note is the fact that we hit #32 on Amazon, and made it onto the USA Today Bestsellers list. I want to thank Rebecca Hamilton and everyone else who was a part of that amazing experience. There’s a whole lot more of you guys reading The Vampire Flynn because of it and it makes me excited to write more for you all.
Fate of the Seer
In that light, if you haven’t picked up the third book in the series – Fate of the Seer – then this is a prime time for you to do so, especially if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber. It will be available on KU only for another few weeks, and then we’re taking it out of the KDP Select program. It’ll still be available on Amazon, but not part of the lending library any longer.
The good news is, that means if you’re a Nook, iTunes, or Kobo reader, it’ll be available for you guys in November. And for our Kindle fans, we’re going out with a bang. Make sure you’re following me on Twitter, because you’ll find out when we do our last promotional hurrah for Amazon.
The Future of the Flynn Series
Yes, the Flynn series will continue, and the website will talk more about that, but I have begun work on book four – which is tentatively titled The Immortal Seer. Books 1-3 are the original trilogy I wrote, and four picks up ten years later, when things get dicey in Peter’s world again. We don’t have a release date set yet for that, but will keep you posted with taunts and teasers.
Okay, I admit I included that gif image solely to stare at Elijah Mikaelson, but there’s a breadcrumb here, too. A new character looming on the horizon, mayhap? Somebody who might be kindred to a vampire like Elijah? Might be a friend, but might be a foe? Time will tell.
ENOUGH WITH THE VAMPIRE STUFF, ALREADY.
Progress on the Deathspell Books
We hope to have the first part in the Deathspell novella series out for you before Christmas. There’s a cover reveal and more information coming on that soon. Do you have a blog that does cover reveals and release day blasts? Let me know. I would love to take over for the day.
Miscellany
If you’re a NaNoWriMo participant, then let’s be buddies! This is my NaNo profile.
I’m increasing my in-person appearances in the coming months. More to follow!
That’s all for now. Happy Halloween, friends, fiends, gals, and ghouls! I hope to be in touch before then, but in case I’m not, make sure to incite mischief and wreak terror in my name. Flynn will highly approve.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Writer of Stuff,
Jules
July 18, 2014
What’s With Today Today?
Lucas from Empire Records is one of my favorite characters. Throughout the movie, he is the guru that observes the chaos surrounding him – the chaos he created – and interacts with it like an Eastern mystic. At one point, another character walks up to him and asks, “What’s with you today?” to which he counters, “What’s with today today?”
Confidentially, that’s sort of how I feel right now.
Amazon Unlimited. Holy hell, hath the writing sphere of the internet exploded into the rocket’s red glare and bombs bursting in air. I’m usually not the type to weigh in on polarizing topics because that inspires trolls, and opinions are very much like assholes. And both are just as plentiful online.
Don’t over-analyze that metaphor.
But seeing the amount of panic one little thing has caused is enough for me finally say… Okay, guys, we’re finally getting a little out of hand here.
I don’t blame everyone. The tête-à-tête between Amazon and Hachette has caused a swirling shitstorm in an already tense standoff between author publishing and legacy publishing. And the more this debate has ensued, the more people have started drifting to one side or another in this steaming pile of rhetoric, because it is often easier to be black and white than to live in shades of gray.
I’m going to assume you know what I’m talking about here. If not, set us up the Google or visit Chuck Wendig’s blog because he’s been the one of the most neutral voices out there. (Not perfect. Just close to neutral, lest someone bestow the title of sycophant on me.) That being said, here are the problems I’ve been having with this latest explosion.
For one, nobody is actually reading the terms of service and the FAQs from Amazon’s end. My better half had a series of tweets which demystified it fairly well, and I know it took minimal amounts of time to find the pertinent information.
If you self-pub on Kindle in KDP select, your book no longer shows as free to Amazon Prime, it shows the spiffy new Kindle Unlimited logo.
— JR Wesley (@TheJRWesley) July 18, 2014
In effect, the KDP select fund (which is at $2 million guaranteed by Amazon) is still being divided up the same way it was before.
— JR Wesley (@TheJRWesley) July 18, 2014
The only difference is that Amazon is now allowing non-Prime members to sign up for Kindle Unlimited for $10 a month.
— JR Wesley (@TheJRWesley) July 18, 2014
KDP and Kindle Unlimited. Keep Calm and Read the TOS. https://t.co/nm3kzHeU9H
— JR Wesley (@TheJRWesley) July 18, 2014
For two, I think at this point we’ve got the Amazon is Satan camp screaming at the Amazon is God one and the religious tenacity of both sides has gotten cacophonous. What Amazon Unlimited does is simply extend a further offer to those who already participate (and are tempted to participate) in their KDP Select program. Now, the latter is the rub, and even I’ll admit I had to groan at my decision to have only one of my books active in the KDP Select program at a time. It is a sweet-sounding siren call that, in theory, makes one wonder if they can open themselves up to a larger audience (and thus, larger profits). Especially if they’re someone like me.
There’s no proven anything. In the last few years, the author publisher or hybrid author has been in a mad race to figure out what the fuck the consumer is going to do next while still trying to preserve some semblance of the integrity of publishing. And one of the reasons why there’s a concern about this, and subsequent war of wills, in the first place is largely because of the consumer.
The consumer demands. Amazon supplies. And while some readers are concerned about giving bookstores their patronage, the advent of the Kindle and e-reading has brought more readers into the market. Not all of them are reading Hemingway, but they’re reading. And when they’re buying books, they’re buying them cheap, or they’re buying the large name authors or the stuff they find on the daily deals. This is why large publishing houses are restructuring, author publishing has become so large, and the general publishing industry is collectively running in circles like their hair has been set on fire. Amazon changed the game because the consumer responded to what it had to offer.
And so, here we are now.
Jules the author has a problem. She wants her books accessible to as many people as possible at as cheap of a rate while still making money on her books. And while I agree with what hybrid authors especially have been preaching – that we need to diversify lest Amazon snare us and then bend us over its corporate desk – the point of fact is that they have the most alluring offer right now.
Thank you, sir, may I have another?
Smashwords needs to change its storefront and become more user-friendly. Nook is sinking to the bottom of the ocean for failing to be more innovative than ‘we aren’t Amazon’. iTunes has some level of popularity because almost everyone has an Apple device. Kobo is making a case for itself and so is Google Play (guest starring as the anti-Apple). There are places out there that are offering me platforms to sell my books, but none that offer as large of a pool with as much to earn from it.
Jules the consumer gets it. Jules the consumer is a broke-ass author who likes to read books and has four kids. I buy my stuff on discount. I buy e-books when they’re on sale for $5 or less. I buy them through Amazon. I’m that schmuck that visits Barnes and Noble, buys a latte with their membership, lets their kids buy a book from the kids’ section, and writes down the titles I’m interested in for purchase later on Amazon.com. Jules the author won’t ever price her e-books above $4.99 for this very reason. Legacy publishing has never paid my bills, so I don’t have the same horse a lot of legacy authors have in this race. I only have my experiences as a consumer. And my experiences teach me that Amazon has yet to have a viable competitor.
Does this mean I’m selling my soul to KDP? Not really. But I’m not ready to forsake it either.
I try to flirt with the middle. I keep one book on KDP Select at all times if I can help it, while making the rest available through every other market possible. I agree that if Amazon ever decides to take out the whip and chains, I am well and truly fucked as an author if I’ve surrendered my entire soul to them. They haven’t yet, though. And the suggestion that they will is starting to bear a level of ‘the end is nigh’ paranoia to it that has yet to be truly substantiated. Does that suggest they could turn on the providers of its content one day? That it’s merely a corporation looking to turn a profit or have the biggest piece of pie?
Duh.
But so are legacy publishing houses and, quite frankly, they’re pissed because they’re losing the game, not because they care about their authors. They’ve got the whip in their drawer too and have applied it liberally to many producers of their content throughout the years. Another author put it best in my opinion:
I’m bored shitless of Amazon vs. Big Publishing tweets. You people are basically trying to decide in which nut it hurts less to be kicked.
— Matt Wallace (@MattFnWallace) July 18, 2014
Publishers exist to exploit you. Amazon exists to exploit you. There is no side for you to choose. Figure out how to exploit THEM. BOTH.
— Matt Wallace (@MattFnWallace) July 18, 2014
Unfortunately, the best name in the game is still Amazon.
I will still play the field. JR and I are both advocates of trying many things to see their potential outcome and what works best for us and our books and our consumers. And at this point, I’m an advocate of everyone else doing the same. In the end, when the dust settles, it isn’t our literary holy war that’s going to decide the outcome.
It’s the consumer.
So, get thee henceforth and start wooing them.
July 17, 2014
And Now We Return You…
… to your previously scheduled blog, already in progress.
Actually, I wanted to welcome everyone to my new author website! Granted, it’s not new in some senses – the posts below are all from my previous WordPress venture – and a few of you might have seen this link floating around on my social media sites. After finally releasing Fate of the Seer on Kindle and attending an amazing Philly Comic Con in June, the finishing touches were put into place and now I can officially move in.
Which means, I get to pester you all again.
If you were subscribed to my old blog, please make sure to follow this one for future updates, either via email or the handy WordPress follow button. There’s a lot of exciting stuff coming up on the horizon, including.
An amazing, twenty book promotional offer that Eyes of the Seer will be a part of.
News about my historical fantasy novel Death Spell. (Formerly The Unquiet Dead.)
A series of blog posts about making kick-ass characters for your equally kick-ass novels.
AND MANY MORE THINGS. STUFF TO GO WITH THE THINGS. A VERITABLE CORNUCOPIA OF BLOG TYPE ITEMS.
And it goes without saying, to my fellow author friends, that I am open for business as far as hosting blog visits and paying visits to your blogs is concerned. Just touch base with me via Twitter or leave a comment here and I’ll get back to you.
Short post is short. More from me again soon.
*Retreats back into my secret spy bunker, resuming plans for world domination*
The Man Behind the Curtain
- Peter W. Dawes's profile
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