Brian McClellan's Blog, page 17

Indiana Comic Con

Indianaites! Indianahans? People who live in Indiana? I'm at Indiana Comic Con this weekend (March 30th-April 1st). You can find me all three days at the Bard's Tower Booth. Come get books signed or just drop by to say hi!

Instagram Giveaway

Seven weeks left until Wrath of Empire hits the shelves! As this week's part of the countdown, I'm giving away something cool and unique over on Instagram: the signed cover proof of the powder mage RPG. Head on over to my Instagram page to see the cover proof and how you can enter to win it! #powdermage

Head's up: the giveaway for next week will require being signed up for my mailing list, so make sure you're on there!

Wrath of Empire fan art contest!

Just eight weeks to go until Wrath of Empire hits shelves! To begin the countdown, I've got something special for the artsy types among you: a contest to win a signed advanced reading copy of the book. Here are the rules:

To participate: you must submit a piece of powder mage fan art, created by you, by April 19th, 2018. That gives you just over four weeks from today to plan and execute. I'm leaving the definition of "art" fairly open: anything creative in a visual media of some kind. 

To submit: Post the art somewhere online, tagged with #powdermage, and be sure to let me know via email brian at brianmcclellan dot com with the subject line WRATH OF EMPIRE ART CONTEST. Please include your mailing address for in case you win. If I don't see it, your piece won't be considered for the contest! By entering you agree to allow me to post the piece on my website (it will not be used commercially and the art still belongs to you).

Multiple entries are allowedThe contest is open internationally

To win: I'm gonna pick whichever piece I like the best, plain and simple. I'll probably ask my wife for a second opinion if it's close. Here are the winners of a previous contest. A hint for those of you with no artistic talent: making me laugh counts for a lot.

Powder Mage Roleplaying Game - PDF

Hey everyone! I'm delighted to announce that the PDF of the Powder Mage RPG has been delivered to Kickstarter backers. If you're a backer and haven't gotten your update email, head here to learn how to collect your copy.

For those of you who missed the Kickstarter: you can pick it up either from DrivethruRPG or direct from my website here.

Quick update on the physical version: our original printer fell through at the last moment and we're scrambling to get proofs from a new printer. Once we've seen and approved the proofs, we'll let everyone know that printing is a go. You can pre-order the softcover here. Huge thanks to Alan Bahr for helping me get to this point, and once again, thanks so much for your patience.

Sins is a Kindle Daily Deal!

Sins of Empire, book one in Gods of Blood and Powder, is just $2.99 today (US only). If you've read the Powder Mage Trilogy and are looking for the next fix, this is the follow up! Tell your friends. Buy it for a family member. Get an extra copy for your phone because you don't understand how ebooks work. Go wild! Here are the links:

AmazonNookKoboGoogle PlayiTunes

 

War Cry Cover Reveal!

Hey everyone! I am delighted to announce that War Cry, my WWII-esque epic fantasy novella from tor.com (coming this August!), now has a cover. I'll give you a little tease right here, and then send you over to Barnes and Noble's scifi blog where I talk more about the story and show you the whole cover.

As always, I'm hugely grateful to those of you willing to pre-order my books. Here are some links:

United States

AmazonBarnes and NobleBooks-a-Million - forthcomingGoogle PlayiTunes BooksIndieboundKoboIndigo

United Kingdom

Amazon.ukWaterstones - forthcoming

 

The Mad Lancers Won a Stabby Award!

I am delighted to report that my latest powder mage novella, The Mad Lancers, won a Stabby Award! For those of you that don't know, the Stabby Awards are the yearly tradition of my favorite online community, /r/fantasy. They give out Stabbies for a bunch of different categories, including Best Debut Novel, which was won by Promise of Blood in 2013.

The Mad Lancers, a story that explores the history of the Fatrastan war hero Mad Ben Styke, won Best Novella this year. I couldn't be happier or more grateful to the fans. Thanks guys!

Wrath of Empire Pre-orders!

Wrath of Empire, the next powder mage novel, is out three months from today! If you've enjoyed my books so far, I'd mightily appreciate it if you put in a pre-order through your preferred vendor. Pre-orders determine marketing budget, size of first print run, a possible second print run, and so many wonderful things.

Thanks a ton! Links below:

Signed copies

From Brian

United States

AmazonBarnes and NobleBooks a MillionGoogle PlayiTunes BooksIndieboundKoboIndigo

United Kingdom

Amazon UKWaterstones

Australia

FishpondAngus and Robertson

Upcoming Event: LTUE

This weekend (February 15th, 16th, and 17th) is LTUE; a small science fiction and fantasy convention in Provo, UT. I will be in attendance for all three days. Because of the absurd concentration of authors in Utah, it might be the highest author-to-fan ratio of any con so it's a good chance to come and meet cool people and maybe learn yourself a thing or two at one of the many panels. You can see the guest list here.

My schedule is as follows:

Friday:

2PM; Effective Networking for Authors and Artists in room Zion3PM; How I Got My Agent in room Arches7-9PM; Mass Author Book Signing in Exhibit Hall A

Saturday

4PM; Making Money on the Side in room Elm

Siege of Tilpur for Sale

Hey all! Siege of Tilpur, an old powder mage short story of mine that was originally only available in the UNBOUND Anthology, is now available for individual purchase. Chronologically, it's the very first written event in the Powder Mage Universe. Here's the cover copy:

It is the height of the Gurlish Wars. Sergeant Tamas, a young infantryman in the Adran Army, struggles to keep his squad alive despite the blundering incompetence of their superior officers. Not only does Tamas have the curse of being an ambitious commoner in an army where rank is purchased rather than earned, he is also a powder mage. His magical ability to manipulate gunpowder is frowned upon by officers and feared by Privileged sorcerers.

When the Adran Army is about to give up on the siege of an enemy fortress, Tamas seizes upon the opportunity to prove his worth as a strategist and mage. But breaking the enemy on his own won’t be easy, no matter how strong he is.

Find your links below.

DirectAmazonNookKoboiTunes

A note on pricing: some of you will notice that Siege is only about half the length of my normal novellas, but still priced at the same $2.99. I waffled on this a lot, but the fact is that any self-pubbed books sold on Amazon for less than $2.99 make only a 35% royalty, rather than a 70%. Pricing Siege at $.99 (for instance) would have meant it made 1/6th the amount of money, rather than 1/3rd. After paying for cover art and ebook conversion, it just wouldn't have been worth it. Hope you guys understand!