H. Paul Honsinger's Blog, page 7
February 3, 2014
T-15 Days and Counting
Here’s a quick update as we approach what I’m calling “Publication Day.” Pre-orders have started to pick up today, with the 47North Edition of “To Honor You Call Us” right now posting at the #94 on the Amazon Bestseller for Kindle E-books, War and Military and in the top 40 on four Hot New Release Lists.
I also remind everyone who has read the self-published edition that the 47North Edition is MUCH improved over the original, with new scenes, new characters, and a tighter narrative. Not to mention fewer typos, etc. If you liked the previous edition, you should love this one.
In addition, folks should remember that this edition is available as an audio book, either on CD or as an Audible.com download. I haven’t heard the audio version, but the narrator (Ray Chase) and the audio publisher (Brilliance) are both outstanding. I think that this is going to be a good product.
January 25, 2014
“Vine Voice” Reviewer Gives 47North Edition 5 Stars
The Amazon “Vine Voice” program releases advance copies of upcoming products to select, highly-regarded reviewers. One such “Vine Voice,” Ginny Mapes, just reviewed the upcoming 47North edition of the first “Man of War” Novel, To Honor You Call Us.” She has written well over 300 reviews on Amazon.com. You can find the full review here, http://www.amazon.com/review/R239VUYRDTWUMX/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1477848894&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag= but for the purposes of blogging, I’ll tell you she gave the book five stars (out of five” and was VERY complimentary.
Among other kind things, she said: “This story is richly detailed in naval lore which many refers will relate to. There is humor, honor, heroism, redemption, and a plot that will make you sweat in your space suit. This book is the first in the trilogy. Next up, H. Paul Honsinger’s, For Honor We Stand. Oh, yes!”
Let’s hope that this review is a harbinger of how these books will be received by critics and the public.
January 23, 2014
Going, going . . . .
I’ve been in communication with my “Author Team” at 47North and am told that I need to remove the self-published editions of the first two “Man of War” books seven days before publication of the 47North editions of each volume. Accordingly, the self-published edition of To Honor You Call Us, in all versions, will be removed from availability on February 11, 2014–I can’t tell you what time of day the change will go through the computers at Amazon and Createspace and Barnes & Noble, so if you want to be sure to get your copies, you will want to buy them by February 10. Similarly, availability of the self-published edition of For Honor We Stand will end on March 4, 2014.
These editions will never be available again. If they ever appear in self-published editions again, the new editions will be based on the 47North versions, which I regard to be superior. It is certainly possible that, if the 47North versions become best-sellers, the self-published paperbacks will be rare collector’s items of considerable value.
Or not.
But you never know . . . .
In any event, if you want them, not is the time to get them because, as the obnoxious TV commercials say, “when they’re gone, they’re gone!”
Here’s the links to the purchase pages on Amazon:
To Honor You Call Us (Man of War)
January 14, 2014
Box of Books
The 25 “Author Copies” of “To Honor You Call Us” arrived unexpectedly via UPS tonight. It’s very exciting to be able to hold the published book in one’s hand. I’m blown away by the experience.
January 9, 2014
“To Honor You Call Us” Publication Date Moved Back
I just received word from my Acquisitions Editor at 47North that the publication date for To Honor You Call Us, the first book in the Man of War Series, has been moved back from February 11, 2014 to February 17, 2014. The reason is to avoid the publishing too many books on the same date: apparently there are already 5 books set to be published on the 11th while, after my book is moved, there will be only two being issued by 47North on the 17th. Although it’s kind of like having Christmas moved back a week when you are 12 years old, I went along with the change because I am in favor of anything that will allow my work to get more attention.
So, remark your calendars. It’s still just over a month away!
December 27, 2013
200!
To Honor You Call Us, the first “Man of War” novel, has just gotten its 200th customer review on Amazon.com. This is a significant milestone–very, very few self-published novels get more than a few dozen reviews, much less 200. This is an indicator, not only of how many people have bought the book (well over 10,000, which huge for a self-published work) but of how much enthusiasm the book has generated. I am very fortunate and very grateful for both.
Of the 200 reviewers, 133, give the book 5 out of 5 stars, and 42 give it 4 stars, meaning that 175 out of 200 give the book a very good or outstanding rating. Only 16 give the book 3 stars (which some reviewers treat as a “very good” or “good), 5 give it 2 stars and 4 give it 1 (take a look at the 1 star reviews some time–these guys same some astonishingly stupid and, in some cases, blatantly false things).
A big “thank you” to my readers and to the reviewers–the reviews have truly helped sell the novel to other readers and are part of what persuaded 47North to buy the rights to these books and to begin publishing them in February 2014.
December 12, 2013
Wife Publishes New “Soul-Linked” Novel
My brilliantly creative wife, Kathy, who writes Adult/Romance/Fantasy under the name Laura Jo Phillips, has just published the ninth book in the Soul-Linked Saga, The Tigrens’ Glory. It is now available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and will shortly be available as a paperback and a Barnes & Noble Nook eBook.
Here’s the blurb. I like the blurb. Of course, I wrote the blurb (with significant editing by Kathy) so that’s no surprise.
Planet Jasan is mobilizing for war against the evil Xanti, enemies of all. As the warriors of Jasan prepare to strike across the immense void that separates the galaxies to end thousands of years of bloody conflict, into the gathering storm comes Warrior Princess, Gloriani of Ramouri, known as “Glory.” Stripped of her birthright for refusing to marry a brutal man who believes that a husband’s job is to break his wife through humiliating subjugation, Glory has fled to Jasan seeking not sanctuary, but information.
Within the recesses of her mind, Glory, a powerful Dream Walker, holds the key to recovering the Lost Clan of the Tigren, without whom the Jasani will eventually perish regardless of their efforts against the Xanti. The problem is, they’re trapped in a dream world, and not even Glory knows where they are or how to find them. Even as the Tigren introduce her to feelings of increasing passion and eroticism, Glory becomes more and more convinced that time is running out. She must solve the mystery of where they are, why they’re trapped, and how to wake them up so that they can be rescued. If she fails, they will die. If they die, so will all Clan Jasani.
The threads of the story begun in The Dracons’ Woman and developed throughout the volumes of the “Soul-Linked Saga” come together in this exciting conclusion to the saga. It will take the mystical gifts of all the Arimas from the previous volumes, the power of the Jasani Clans working together, and the unlocking of the secrets buried deep within Glory’s mind to save the Tigrens and, beyond all hope, for Glory to find the love she has dreamed of all her life.
This is the time foretold. The Jasani, the Tigrens, and Glory have a rendezvous with Destiny.
The Tigrens’ Glory is a full-length, 124,550 word novel, and is the concluding volume of the “Soul-Linked Saga” a million-word plus epic work of fantasy/science fiction/romance set in the 26th Century. Full of adventure, searing passion, aching emotion, and heart-felt romance, The Tigrens’ Glory brings the series to a thrilling and satisfying conclusion.
And here’s a link to the Amazon purchase page.
BTW, this is not the final cover. Kathy wanted to get the book published ASAP–a more artistic cover is in the works.
November 13, 2013
Announcing: Sneak Peek of “Brothers in Valor”
I’ve decided, against my better judgment, to put up my early draft of Chapter 1 of the next “Man of War” book, Brothers in Valor for you guys to read. I’m well past this part of the book now in terms of writing it now and have put this part through several revisions, so I’m fairly happy with the way it looks and reasonably satisfied that it integrates with where I want the book to go.
The main reason I’m putting this up at this point is to reassure readers that there WILL be a third book and that it is going to come out in a reasonable time frame. I also want to reassure readers that this book is going to be at least as exciting as the others (I think much more so, actually) and will be a fitting continuation to the “Man of War” series.
Lots of fans have written that they liked the tactical razzle dazzle that Max pulls out and that they wanted more. I admit that I have actually held back on that in the earlier books, so I’m experimenting with pulling out the stops in that department. I’m interested in hearing what people think.
You can get there from the menu at the top of the page or by following this link. http://hpaulhonsinger.com/brothers-in-valor-sneak-peak/
November 9, 2013
Get Autographed!
I am very pleased to have partnered with Authorgraph to make available personalized electronic autographs for current owners and purchasers of my ebooks and hard copy books. You can simply go to the Authorgraph.com site and enter either my name or the names of either book into the search windo, or you can follow the link below directly to request an autograph. As far as I can tell, the service is free to the user (I know I don’t make anything off of it)–it’s just another way to connect with readers.
There is also a widget in the right-hand margin of this page that will take you to the appropriate location.
I’m doing this on a trial basis–if it works out, I will keep doing it when the 47North versions of my books start to come out in February.
Please allow a few days for a response–it’s going to take me a little while to get the hang of this thing.
http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/HPaulHonsinger
November 3, 2013
G’day Mates!
I’m just figuring out how to use all the tools that WordPress provides and today found the additional site statistics available on the WordPress site. It was interesting to see the nations of the world from where people are reading these pages. In first place, as one might expect, was the United States with 1508 page views. In second place, however, was Australia, with 56 page views. There were significant numbers of views as well from Canada, the United Kingdom, German, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Brazil, and South Korea, New Zealand, and Norway. So, a shout out to international readers from those and other places and, especially, to my friends in Australia–whether you’re battlers or bludgers–you’re ace!
