Gregory S. Close's Blog, page 4

How to help out an Indie Author (i.e. ME!) :)

Hi!  Here are some great ways to help out your favorite Indie Author (and/or me ).  Only the first option involves spending money, so you can actually have quite a positive impact without expense!




First and foremost, you can buy the book in Paperback or eBook.  
This obviously helps me out because I earn royalties on the purchase, and thus it is ultimately my livelihood.  It doesn't really matter which format you purchase, as I recieve a comparable royalty on each (even though the paperback is significantly more expensive - I don't see much of that extra money, myself).




Buy the paperback on Amazon.com: http://amzn.com/0988852012
Buy the Kindle version on Amazon.com: http://amzn.com/B00D0TFNZK



(If you do buy a copy, and read it, and enjoy it, please do not underestimate the value of a good honest review/rating on Amazon.com and GoodReads .  Even a less postive review can have a net positive effect if it is informative and helps readers determine if the book is for them.)



You can also ask about In Siege of Daylight at your local bookstore (the book is/will be available via mainstream distribution channels, although I doubt it will be stocked unless there is local demand or it sees great success online).  Ordering the book is also nice, but creating awareness is a step in the right direction.


Social Media!
This is really important to us little folk in the publishing world, because we don't have a $5k/month advertising budget, travel budget, book tours, or promotional goodies provided to us.  It's all out of our pocket.  So here are some NO COST options to show some love:



"Like" my Gregory S. Close Author Facebook page: www.facebook.com/gregorysclose 

"Like" my Amazon Author page: http://amzn.com/e/B00CP4UW48

Share/tweet my Amazon paperback page: http://amzn.com/0988852012

Share/tweet my Amazon Kindle page: http://amzn.com/B00D0TFNZK



Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@gsclose



Become a "fan" on GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/gsclose



SHARE, SHARE, SHARE with friends, co-workers, colleagues, traffic cops, etc. etc.  This is one instance where "viral" is a good word.  Word of mouth can really help, and a few clicks can go a long, long way.



Although I selfishly used myself and my links as an example, the same formula is applicable to any writer trying to make it without the support of the Big Six.  Your support is greatly appreciated, in any way you choose to show it.



Cheers,

Greg

Official Release Trailer for In Siege of Daylight

I question the effectiveness of book trailers, especially little homemade ones like the one I cobbled together.  However, I guess it's good to have promotional material in several media since that is about the best Indie authors like myself can expect in terms of trying to gain more widespread exposure for our work.



So, here it is!



Feel free to share it, as more shares = more exposure = a potential book sale.












All artwork (C) 2012 Mike Nash (www.mike-nash.com)

Music "The Cythe" (C) 2013 Gregory S. Close

In Siege of Daylight - Pricing and Availability (Updated!)

So, the day has come at last.


I am published.
(pause)



Wow.



Anyway, for those of you asking where to buy the book, the paperback is available through the following channels:




CreateSpace eStore:  On Sale Now

Amazon: On Sale Now

Amazon UK: On Sale Now


Expanded Distribution (book stores, etc.): 6-8 Weeks (from May 7, 2013).



The paperback is expensive, but the price is set at the lowest I'm able (due to production costs).

For those of you hoping for something less pricey, the eBook will be available in Kindle format  in June 2013.



I will also be selling books at WorldCon in San Antonio, TX over Labor Day Weekend (at a considerable discount).



You can also help me out without even buying a copy of the book, just by helping spread the word on social media.  This is extremely helpful.  You can stop by and "like" my Facebook Author page, follow me on Twitter, or email and harangue your friends and colleagues by phone.  Requesting the book from your local bookstore would be nice too.  Any help is appreciated.



Greg on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gregorysclose

Greg on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gsclose

In Siege of Daylight - Pricing and Availability

So, the day has come at last.


I am published.
(pause)



Wow.



Anyway, for those of you asking where to buy the book, the paperback is available through the following channels:



CreateSpace eStore:  On Sale Now

Amazon: 5-7 Business Days (from May 7, 2013)

Amazon Europe: 5-7 Business Days (from May 7, 2013)

Expanded Distribution (book stores, etc.): 6-8 Weeks (from May 7, 2013).



The paperback is expensive, but the price is set at the lowest I'm able (due to production costs).

For those of you hoping for something less pricey, the eBook will be available in Kindle format  in June 2013.



I will also be selling books at WorldCon in San Antonio, TX over Labor Day Weekend (at a considerable discount).



You can also help me out without even buying a copy of the book, just by helping spread the word on social media.  This is extremely helpful.  You can stop by and "like" my Facebook Author page, follow me on Twitter, or email and harangue your friends and colleagues by phone.  Requesting the book from your local bookstore would be nice too.  Any help is appreciated.



Greg on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gregorysclose

Greg on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gsclose

The final proof has arrived!

I may have inadvertantly written a text book.  This thing is HUGE!  Oh, I mean epic, of course.  Epic.  The cover looks amazing, all thanks to Mike Nash (www.mike-nash.com) and CreateSpace did a great job with the interior design and production.  I know for a fact that the manuscript is 99.9% ready to go, thanks to the tireless efforts of my editor, Thomas Weaver.  I must make one more read-through to make sure all formatting has come out right and (ahem) to fix a couple of errors I may have accidentally introduced into the manuscript at the final upload (I deleted a word or two while trying to make a last minute find/replace sort of change, because I am an idiot and didn't leave well-enough alone well enough.

Buffalo & Co!

I just had the great honor of stopping by my daughter's First Grade class to talk about writing and story-telling, and it was a blast.  Kids have imagination dialled up to eleven and the ideas that effortlessly pop from their mouths can be endearing, hilarious or just plain amazing. I loved every minute.  And...



A funny thing happened on the way to this little pep-talk, and it proves that inspiration can come at any time and for any reason.  For years I've joked with my kids about some weird animal friends, sometimes in goofy songs, occasionally in a goofy story, but mostly in a spur of the moment ad-lib goofy moment.




             Buffalo.
                                                                          Giant Chicken.
                                     Aardvark.


Unfortunately, as much as my kids encouraged me to write a children's book or a picture book starring these characters ("when will you write something we can read, Dad?") I just didn't have a story for them.  There was no conflict for them to solve.  Not specifically.  Just some notion that these three were oddball friends greater than the sum of their parts.  Like Kirk, Spock and Bones, but with fewer nubile green women involved in the story.



So, as I was thinking about what to say to a classroom of seven and eight-year-olds about the craft and process of writing, I started thinking also about my problem with Buffalo & Co.  What could I do with this?  Sitting on I-5 in bumper-to-bumper traffic for ten hours gave me plenty of time, and somewhere around the five-hour mark it hit me: agoraphobia !



Not to say that I suddenly became agoraphobic, but that I became enchanted with the notion of an agoraphobic buffalo.  Also, it provides a nice story catalyst: how did this buffalo become scared of wide open places?  How does this effect his life?  How will he learn to deal with it?  How are Giant Chicken and Aardvark involved in this?



I was pretty excited.  I think I have a story, here!!



I can't wait to go back and see how the stories the kids were working on develop.  I am selfishly impressed with Sabine's tale-in-progress about an owl that can't see at night... I might steal that one.




Shhhhhh....



In other news - I am waiting with bated breath and bubbling ulcer for my proof copy of In Siege of Daylight to arrive in the mail and I'm editing the Greyspace Kickstarter video.



Progress on all fronts.

Edging Closer to a Pub Date

All of the interior mock-ups have been approved for In Siege of Daylight.  I think it looks fantastic, so at least in terms of eye candy the book will look professional.  In terms of prose and plot and all of that stuff - well, that remains to be seen, I guess.



I should be receiving a physical proof of the paperback the week of March 18th.  In theory, if no tweaking or revising of the final product is required, it should be available for sale by the end of the month.  I'm counting on availability for WonderCon 2013 in Anaheim, where I shall be hocking it shamelessly.



Until then, I am working on an on-line Appendix and a nice new version of the world map.  (These things are required for great big fantasy epics, you understand).  Since this would take up a large (and profit-sucking) amount of space in the paperback I am just going to make it free on-line at www.lightdarkandshadow.com.



As I finish all of that and try to manage the gut-wrenching waiting, waiting, waiting I am going to launch the Kickstarter project for Greyspace soon so that I can get my business plan in order for its publication (hopefully by the end of the year).  I have to pay for cover art, editing and interior design and I need to know what budget I'm working with.



Please join my mailing list for updates on all things Light, Dark & Shadow and Greyspace!



That is my update, for what it is worth.

Next!

So, now that In Siege of Daylight is officially in pre-production for publication, and awaits only a trim size for the cover-fitting and an actual bona fide release date, it is time to start back in on the tale of Bronwyn Mare, Algonquin exile in the service to the Crown of Avalon as Second Ship's Apprentice of the HMS Morrigan.



It's spaceships!



It's magic!



It's fusion engines and eldritch cores!



It's laser rifles and magic staves!



It's A D V E N T U R E !!



(Okay, admittedly I am getting a little carried away due to the cool "create your own pulp magazine cover" that I made a second ago.  Inspiration.... Whatever works, huh?)



I'd be remiss not including a link for you to make your VERY OWN cool sci-fi pulp mag cover: PULP-O-MIZER

Very, very soon...

Some last minute feedback and edits to make sure the narrative is (as) perfect (as it's going to get) and a day or two to read through the entire novel on Kindle to make sure the formatting is right.



And that's it folks.  Uploading to Amazon will commence, followed by other outlets.



I might distribute some ARCs via Goodreads, or by request, if anyone is interested.



But first, I must drag myself to sleep...

The Hobbit: Or, Been There and Done That Again (a review)

Well, I was disappointed in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit.  It's not that I felt it was a bad film, in fact - it almost seems like it was made for me.  The acting was great, the action was intense, it looked amazing, and it had a lot of fantastic bits that any Tolkien nerd would love.*



So how could I be disappointed in a film that, by my own admission, was made for me?  Because it wasn't made for my kids.



I know, I know... Peter Jackson isn't specifically making movies for my kids.  He is selfishly making them for millions of other people without regard for my family and without even consulting me.  But, I think it's fair to say that, unlike The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is a tale aimed at children. Not just my children, but children in general.  It might entertain people of all ages, but it is clearly an adventure for the kids.  It's the definitive, entry-level, required-reading primer to All Things Fantasy.  It is not, and should not be, confused with the Lord of the Rings in tone or scope.



Unfortunately, I think that's exactly what happened.  The Hobbit went too dark, too violent, too graphic.  The more visceral action that earned The Hobbit a PG-13 rating was a missed opportunity to make a movie that fills the void in cinema between the animated Disney fables and more adult fare like  The Lord of the Rings.  Editing the film to a PG might have lost it a decapitation or a disembowelment here and there, but it would not have cost it anything in the way of story or character or excitement. 



There are already a bunch of science fiction and fantasy movies that will be fun to watch with my kids when they are a bit older.  I was hoping The Hobbit would be fun to watch with them now, when they are young.  I wanted this to be their Star Wars moment - the movie that they see as kids that stays with them for their whole life.  Instead, it was The Lord of the Rings (With Burping).



So yes, it's a selfish disappointment, one derived from my own personal expectations rather than the quality of the final product.  But is is my disappointment, after all, so I'm allowed.



And, having said all that, I'll be there with goosebumps to see Smaug next year...







* (... fantastic bits that any Tolkien nerd would love.) Or hate, if you are a purist.  A lot of liberties were taken to shoehorn the Azog and Radigast bits into the narrative, not to mention Galadriel and the personality makeover for Aragorn... um, I mean Thorin.  Personally, I didn't mind that part so much, because Jackson excels at brewing a nice steaming cup of Tolkien, even if he grinds the beans a little coarsely.