K.M. Alexander's Blog, page 95

Stars is on Google Play, longer excerpt now available, and more!

I am seeing some great activity around “The Stars Were Right,” and the feedback has been really exciting. I am glad everyone is enjoying it and having fun. That was my goal. As always tell your friends and please leave honest reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. They go a long way.

Few things I want to highlight:

“The Stars Were Right” is now available on GooglePlay for those of you who do your reading on Android and Google devices.


If you head on over to Goodreads you can read the prologue and first three chapters for free! (Don’t forget to add the book to you library.)


I’ll have some big announcements coming in the next few months. Including: the name reveal for “Deep” and the cover reveal of “Old Broken Road” (the sequel to “The Stars Were Right.”) Be the first to see these reveals by signing up for my monthly newsletter: The Telegraph. It takes seconds to sign up.


I am still working on iBooks and Nook support. I am hoping both are ready for release soon.


I am also hunting for a local publisher to do a small run of trade paperbacks. I am not ignoring those of you who want physical copies, it’s coming—not sure when—but it’s coming.

More updates as things happen.

Read some early reviews of “The Stars Were Right”

I’m beaming over here. Can you see me beaming? That bright light outside isn’t the sun, it’s me, beaming. Why? I’m starting to see early reviews come in for “The Stars Were Right” and they’re looking great. I am kind of overwhelmed. Right now “The Stars Were Right” is currently getting 5 Stars on Amazon, and has 4.86 Stars on Goodreads. Wow.

I wanted to share a few of the reviews here:

A gritty adventure through a city rich with life and death, in the style of a tale told over some cheap whiskey at a dusty dive bar on the outskirts of a bizarre Lovecraftian town. Excellent pacing, excellent lead character, and excellent world building.

and…

Move over, Mieville – there’s a new author on the scene equal (if not greater!) in his ability to create captivating urban landscapes, people them with a myriad of races and cultures, and show them to readers in a way that mimics the complexity of the real world. Simply put, I appreciate that Alexander treats readers like they’re too smart to be handed a simplistic and overt explanation of the mythological context of the story. Instead, you piece together a vision of what kind of world you’re visiting through colorful experiences.

After exploring it myself, I’ll tell you – this is a world to which I hope to return. Sometime when I have a few dedicated hours to spend, knowing that I’ll be unable to pull away. This is a story with tempo, one that pulls you along in its wake, raising your heart-rate and your need for more with each page. Read an excerpt to see what I mean.

also…

In his first book, K. M. Alexander masterfully introduces us to a new world and exciting lead characters through a story that weaves elements of sci-fi, old world paganism, and the wild west into a page turner that’s hard to put down. Looking forward to the next book in this series!

finally…

A fantastic story with a genuinely likeable protagonist and plenty of suspense. Fast paced and lushly detailed. A very enjoyable read. I look forward to further works from this artist.

Thanks again for those who have purchased “The Stars Were Right”, and thank you to everyone who has left these reviews. They go a long way towards helping out indie authors. So please keep reading, please keep leaving reviews, and please keep letting your friends know.

Oh and one last plug: if you haven’t picked up your copy of “The Stars Were Right” yet you can get it from Kindle, Kobo, or direct for me as a DRM-free epub.

More news coming later this week!

Art Highlight: Josh Montreuil

The above image (click to see it larger) comes from my best friend and one of my favorite illustrators: Josh Montreuil. Last Christmas my wife commissioned him to draw the cast of “The Stars Were Right” as a surprise gift for me and he did a fantastic job. Wouldn’t you agree?

As writer I love seeing the different ways people interpret these characters. I posted this piece before, and as I said last year there’s a lot going on that I really like: Wal’s tattoos, to Samantha’s robes, Josh’s take on Wensem, and even the details in the world around the cast: from the open sewer to the strange writing on the storefront window.

Josh Montreuil is available for commissions, check out more of his work at his blog.

I really want this to become a weekly series. So I plan on starting to highlight art from “The Stars Were Right” fans and readers and sharing it with all of you! If you have any submissions please email them to me at: hello@kmalexander.com with the subject line: “Stars Art Highlight.” Include any links to a website showing your work so I can share that as well and let me know if people can buy your piece/prints/etc.

Post-launch updates and how you can help out.

Well it’s three days post-launch and I’m sure everyone who reads my blog is now aware “The Stars Were Right“ is now out and is available on Kindle , Kobo or direct from me. Without readers books are of little value, so it feels good to get it out into the wide world and into your hands. 

So far I have had a lot of interest (yay!) and quite a few of you have taken the time to both purchase and start reading (yay x2!). Thank you! I appreciate you helping me out. It’s fantastic to see so many people excited to read Stars.

If you have finished or you’re still reading and enjoying the book I want to take a moment to list out a few ways you can continue to help make “The Stars Were Right” a success:

If you like it, tell your friends.

Seriously, this is an enormous help. Tell your friends you’re reading it and enjoying it. If you have finished, tell them what you thought. This is the best way to spread the word: face-to-face recommendations.
Post about it socially

Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, message boards, wherever. Tell people you’re reading Stars. Give them a link. Start a discussion. On Twitter I have been using the hashtag #TheStarsWereRight.
Leave honest ratings and reviews

Your opinion matters. Please give the book ratings and reviews on Amazon, and Goodreads, or wherever you picked up your copy. Honest reviews can really help an indie title become a success. For everyone who reads a book, fewer still will write a review, yet people shopping for a new book will pay close attention to reviews. They help a lot.

These little actions can go a long way, and they work for any new author— independent or traditional—and their stories. So if you want to help out, take some time and follow one of my suggestions.

Finally, thanks once again to everyone who took the time to pick up “The Stars Were Right.” I hope you’re enjoying it. Please feel free to drop me a line with comments, questions, feedback, really anything. You can leave a comment here or email me at hello@kmalexander.com—I do my best to respond to all my emails.

Happy reading!

“The Stars Were Right” is Out!

As promised “The Stars Were Right” is now available! Read an excerpt here if you have no idea what I am talking about or head on over to the usual locations and buy your copy today:

Amazon Kindle –  Kobo - My Store

When I have a choice I go out my way to make sure everything is DRM-free. More announcements coming  as “The Stars Were Right” is released on iBooks, Nook, and other platforms.

Make sure to mark “The Stars were Right” as the book you’re reading on Goodreads! If you’re tweeting about it I have started using the hashtag #TheStarsWereRight on Twitter.

Tuesday.

Friday Link Pack

It’s the last Friday before “The Stars Were Right” is released! I figured why not take the time to share a few interesting links I have found throughout the week. Some of these I mention on twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do! I’m always looking for new links if you have any suggestions, please, let me know.

Writing:

“The Stars Were Right” on Goodreads

Yep, I’m going to recommend my own stuff. :) Early reviews are starting to come in and they’re looking swell! Make sure to add “The Stars Were Right” to your own “to-read” list.

Bring the Storm! How Ugly Emotions Can Ignite Your Setting

Lauren Sapala offers up some suggestions for writers working with adding some flair to their setting using emotion.

An Invocation for Beginnings

I’m going to post this again. If you’re ever struggling with your own creative endeavors: watch this. Ze Frank offers some of the most honest advice you’ll get from anyone, ever. (Warning: It’s NSFW but damn is it ever encouraging.)

Art:

Posters That Motivated Jazz-Age Workers To Strive

My good friend Steve shared this Slate link with me. So often we see posters like this as propaganda for governments, rarely does that cross over into the corporate world. While the tone is similar the messages are quite different.

Random:

Home is Where You Park It

One of Kari-Lise and my not-so-secret fantasies is to buy a VW Westy and head into the wilds of Alaska for a few months or drive down the pan-American Highway. “Home is Where Your Park It” is the Kickstarter for photographer Foster Huntington who essentially lived my dream and took a bunch of photos along the way. He’s assembling a book. It looks rad. Check it out.

Kowloon Walled City

Kowloon served as a great source of inspiration for the megalopolis of Lovat when I was working on Stars. It’s gone now, but at its peak 33,000 people lived in its 6.5 acres. The images and pictures behind Kowloon are as fascinating as they are heartbreaking and really shows the adaptability of humanity.

4 Rules to Make Star Wars Great Again

Portland creative house Sincerely Truman creates a fun little video directed at J.J. Abrams with their suggestions for making Stars Wars great again. The animations are a lot of fun, as for the rules, well…they are rules I can get behind.

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

Cool Air

Great little story with a excellent ending. If you don’t have time to read it make sure you listen to the audio version from HPPodcraft.com. They do a really fine job.

Farewell Gif(s) of the Week:

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How to take a great author photo

Richard Kadrey tweeted this on Friday. It made me laugh, so I am sharing it here. (Click the image to see it larger.) Obviously with “The Stars Were Right” only five days away I have been thinking about my own author photo.  As you can tell: I am clearly following a few of these tips.

The Stars Were Right coming next Tuesday, Oct. 1st!

That’s right. Official announcement time:

“The Stars Were Right” digital release is coming Tuesday, Oct. 1st!

Amazon Kindle and Kobo will be my first launch platforms. (You can pre-order from Kobo today!) iBooks and a few other platforms will be coming later. If you prefer you will also be able to buy a DRM-free .epub directly from me at my personal store. (Helpful for you iPad readers who don’t want to wait for the iBooks release.)

Only one week! More as everything develops.

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Be the first to know when “The Stars Were Right” is available. Sign up for my personal newsletter: The Telegram. It’s packed full of writing tips, news on my other books, reading recommendations, interesting links, and even a few guest posts. Sign up today!

I’m scared.

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When I started this blog I told myself I wanted to document my whole writing process. Start to finish. Concept to publishing. Ups and downs. So, in that spirit, it’s time to be honest about where I’m at with “The Stars Were Right”:

I’m scared.

I’m scared it’s full of mistakes. I’m scared it’s not going to be good. I’m scared people are going to hate it. I’m scared my prose sucks. I’m scared that I am going to fail.

I spent this weekend thinking about this a lot. That’s a lot of fear, but nothing I listed is a good enough reasons for me not to publish. The risk is there, but in the long run it’s really inconsequential. You know what I will do if “The Stars Were Right” bombs? I’ll press on. I’ll keep writing.

Life is a learning process. Failure and success are a part of learning. It’s a part of everything, even the things we care so much about and pour so much of ourselves into. The thing is though, you can’t fail or succeed unless you try.

It’s time to try.

Big announcement tomorrow.