Brian McClellan's Blog, page 21
February 22, 2017
Chapter One is up!
Orbit has posted chapter 1 of Sins of Empire over on Facebook. You can find it here. Those among you who have read Ghosts of the Tristan Basin will immediately recognize the locale. Don't forget you can read the prologue here. Less than two weeks left until release!
A couple contests you can enter:
I'm giving away two Sins of Empire paperbacks over on /r/fantasy. All you need to to do enter is write a haiku about your favorite character. You have about 24 hours from the time this post goes live to enter.Orbit is giving away copies of Sins of Empire over on Goodreads. You've got until the end of February to enter.If getting a copy of Sins is too dear for you right now, head over to your local library and put a hold on it. You can even request that they order more copies!
February 17, 2017
Audiobook for Sins of Empire
Audible is now taking pre-orders for the audiobook of Sins of Empire. Like the Powder Mage Trilogy, it is narrated by the wonderful Christian Rodska. You can head on over to pre-order here!
February 15, 2017
Prologue is up!
My publisher has posted the prologue for Sins of Empire over on Facebook. You can find it here! Sins will be out in just three weeks, so I'm just counting down the days now. A couple of common questions I've been getting:
Q: Will you go on tour?
A: Yes! Orbit is sending me on a small tour that includes Cleveland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, and Tuscon. My event page is here.
Q: Will there be a hardcover in the UK?
A: Unfortunately, no. My UK publisher decided to go straight to paperback to try and reach a wider audience. I am selling US hardcovers on my website and will ship internationally, but for most people the cost of international shipping is prohibitive.
Q: Will Sins of Empire be translated in my language of choice?
A: I don't know. If the first trilogy was translated into your local language there's a good chance they'll buy the second series, but it's not guaranteed. Keep an eye on my website for announcements.
February 12, 2017
Fan Art Winners!
It took me a couple of days, but I finally picked the winners of the fan art contest. And because I couldn't decide between my favorite two, I went ahead and awarded two first-prize winners. Congrats to Allison Whitley and Mariah Lynn Holman. You both will receive a signed ARC of Sins of Empire.
I'll also be sending signed hardcovers of Promise of Blood to A.E. Coggon, Josh Buker, Peter Holland, and Spencer DeShon. Thanks for all your awesome entries, everyone! The winners are below:
February 10, 2017
Bookplates for Pre-orders
As you all know, I can only go so many places on a tour - and not everyone can afford to order signed hardcover from my store. But if you still want my signature to put in your copy of Sins of Empire, Orbit has you covered. Go to their website, fill out the form, and attach an image of your pre-order receipt and they'll send you a bookplate with my signature. The bookplate has a sticky backing, so you can slap it onto the title page of your book, or on your kindle, or over the face of your greatest enemy in your high school yearbook!
February 9, 2017
Fan Art Contest Entries!
Hey everyone! The Powder Mage fan art contest has come to a close, and I want to show you all the awesome entries we had this time. Per usual, Taniel was the fan favorite, but we also have great range of characters showing up, from Ka-poel and Vlora to Major Buker and Lady Winceslav. Thanks for all the awesome entries! I'll post the winner and runners-up tomorrow morning, and send them their books.
Which do you guys like the most?
From left to right, entries are by A.E. Coggon, A.E. Coggon, Allison Whitley, Constantina Natsiou, Daniel Wheatley, Josh Buker, Mariah Lynn Holman, Meenu Samaraweera, Meenu Samaraweera, Meenu Samaraweera, Peter Holland, Spencer DeShon, and Veronika
February 7, 2017
The Importance of Pre-Orders
I've got a new book coming out in four weeks. Sins of Empire, the first book in Gods of Blood and Powder, will hit shelves on March 7th and because of that I've been a little pre-occupied with getting people to order the book ahead of the release.
A lot of people ask me if pre-orders are more important or make me more money than if, say, they waited until the book has hit the shelves and bought it then. All things being equal, they do not make me more money. They are, however, more important for a couple different reasons.
The most obvious reason are bestseller lists. Pre-orders count toward first week sales that often determine whether a book winds up on a bestselling list, a possibility that can be huge for any author.
Pre-orders also affect what happens behind the scenes. A large number of pre-orders can cause a vendor (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million) to go back to my publisher and ask for another order of books. That's before the book is even out. How cool is that? That order could be 200. It could be 2000. Doesn't matter how small it is, another order is fantastic. In addition, notes will be made about how well these books seem to be selling. My publisher can go to their other vendors and say "Hey, X just ordered another 300 copies of Y, which means you'll probably have a high demand as well. Can we send you more?"
It's a snowball effect. It can cause sales to grow before the book even hits the shelves, which gets booksellers and the publisher excited for it, and they'll turn around and push it even harder to the book-buying public.
What I'm saying is: if you plan on buying a book, head over to your favorite vendor and put your money down ahead of release. It really does make a difference.
You can pre-order Sins of Empire from the following links:
Signed Copy Amazon Barnes and Noble Books a Million Google Play iTunes Books IndieBound Kobo Indigo
February 1, 2017
LTUE Schedule
If you live in Utah, I’m going to be at LTUE in Provo over the weekend of February 16th. You can come listen to me yammer on about writing fantasy novels, or get a book signed, or just stop by to say hi. There will be a huge number of awesome authors there, so be sure to check out the whole lineup. Here’s my schedule:
2-Fri 1:00 PM So You Want to Write Fantasy...
2-Fri 2:00 PM Choosing a POV Character
2-Fri 3:00 PM Narrative
3-Sat 3:00 PM Plot - The Beginning, Murky Middle, and End
There should also be a signing time, but I don't think I have mine yet. I'll update when I do. You can get more details about the panels by going here.
January 29, 2017
Sins of Empire Goodreads Giveaway (US only)
Orbit is currently giving away 5 copies of Sins of Empire over on Goodreads. In order to enter to win, all you have to do is head over to this page and click “Enter Giveaway.” This giveaway is US-only and goes until February 27th.
Sins of Empire comes out March 7th, and can be pre-ordered from all your favorite vendors (including me, if you want a signed hardcover). Only about five weeks left!
January 24, 2017
Birthday! Free Stuff! Yay!
Hello friends! The 25th of January is my thirty-first birthday. It also coincides (plus or minus a week) to the fifth anniversary of me becoming a full-time author. To celebrate, I'm giving away the ebook of my Powder Mage short story collection, In the Field Marshal's Shadow, to anyone who wants it! You can get it for free from my website store here until the end of the day on the 25th.
If you'd like to do something for me, you can pre-order Sins of Empire, or tell a friend about my books, or just leave a review of one of my works on Amazon or Goodreads. Thanks for being the best readers an author could ask for!
