Taylor Hohulin's Blog, page 9
February 13, 2014
Free Ebook! Paperback Giveaway! New book update!
First of all, I am doing another giveaway for the paperback version of Alpha. I enjoyed doing the last one (mostly because it involved several people automatically listing the book as "to read," and that's nice for an ego), so I thought I'd do it again. This time, you've got longer to enter. I'll be running the giveaway for the rest of February, so if you haven't gotten in on it yet, check it out here. Like the last one, this will be a signed copy, complete with a totally awesome doodle of a robot that I've been practicing for much longer than I care to admit.
Second of all, there is now such a thing as Noisetrade Books, which I am ridiculously pumped about. I love the idea of Noisetrade for musicians, and I've long thought indie authors need a similar platform. Since Noisetrade Books launched this month, I thought it was perfect timing to offer Alpha for free for the duration of this giveaway. That way, even if you don't win the paperback, you can at least get a digital copy of the book. If you're interested in that, check it out here. Like the giveaway, this is running for the rest of February.
I'm moving through the rough edits of the next book. Like when I was editing Alpha, there are some parts I'm really happy with, and some parts that are going to need a lot of work. Overall, I'm still very excited about this project, and I'm going to work hard to get it as good as it can be in the shortest amount of time possible.
That's all for now. Happy Valentine's to all!
Second of all, there is now such a thing as Noisetrade Books, which I am ridiculously pumped about. I love the idea of Noisetrade for musicians, and I've long thought indie authors need a similar platform. Since Noisetrade Books launched this month, I thought it was perfect timing to offer Alpha for free for the duration of this giveaway. That way, even if you don't win the paperback, you can at least get a digital copy of the book. If you're interested in that, check it out here. Like the giveaway, this is running for the rest of February.
I'm moving through the rough edits of the next book. Like when I was editing Alpha, there are some parts I'm really happy with, and some parts that are going to need a lot of work. Overall, I'm still very excited about this project, and I'm going to work hard to get it as good as it can be in the shortest amount of time possible.
That's all for now. Happy Valentine's to all!
January 9, 2014
New Book Update
I'm excited to say I've finished the rough draft for a brand new book.
At least, I think it's a book.
The plan is for it to be the first in a trilogy, but it could turn out that I've completely misjudged how long the rest of the story will take. It's honestly hard to tell at this point, but I'm leaning toward the trilogy approach, partly because the story has a really big feel to it, and I'd much rather release three fairly short books than one ridiculously long one.
In the meantime, I'm moving onto the editing phase while still chugging away at the story. Once I dig into this next section for a month or two, I'll have a better idea of whether it will fit better in one, two, or three books. It's funny, Alpha ended up being much shorter than I had planned it to be in the plotting phase, while this one has almost doubled my expectations for word count on a scene-by-scene basis.
All that to say this: it took me about a year to get Alpha from rough draft to completed manuscript, so if (1) I have a complete novel on my hands here, and (2) I hold to the same timeline, look for it to release sometime around the start of 2015. It could be earlier than that, considering I had to move 300 miles in the middle of editing Alpha, and stuff like that has a way of throwing off creative processes. I don't foresee that happening with this one, but you never know.
This is a story that I've been really excited about for some time now. I had the idea mostly fleshed out long before Alpha was published, so I've had time to chip away at the edges and really do some world building, which is something I think was missing in Alpha. I won't say a lot about the story, except that it's a post-apocalyptic pirate adventure with nods to Robin Hood and Freaky Friday.
That's all for now. Stay tuned here if you'd like more updates - I won't be overloading you with word counts and up-to-the-minute news, but I'll try to share the big milestones as I hit them.
-Taylor
At least, I think it's a book.
The plan is for it to be the first in a trilogy, but it could turn out that I've completely misjudged how long the rest of the story will take. It's honestly hard to tell at this point, but I'm leaning toward the trilogy approach, partly because the story has a really big feel to it, and I'd much rather release three fairly short books than one ridiculously long one.
In the meantime, I'm moving onto the editing phase while still chugging away at the story. Once I dig into this next section for a month or two, I'll have a better idea of whether it will fit better in one, two, or three books. It's funny, Alpha ended up being much shorter than I had planned it to be in the plotting phase, while this one has almost doubled my expectations for word count on a scene-by-scene basis.
All that to say this: it took me about a year to get Alpha from rough draft to completed manuscript, so if (1) I have a complete novel on my hands here, and (2) I hold to the same timeline, look for it to release sometime around the start of 2015. It could be earlier than that, considering I had to move 300 miles in the middle of editing Alpha, and stuff like that has a way of throwing off creative processes. I don't foresee that happening with this one, but you never know.
This is a story that I've been really excited about for some time now. I had the idea mostly fleshed out long before Alpha was published, so I've had time to chip away at the edges and really do some world building, which is something I think was missing in Alpha. I won't say a lot about the story, except that it's a post-apocalyptic pirate adventure with nods to Robin Hood and Freaky Friday.
That's all for now. Stay tuned here if you'd like more updates - I won't be overloading you with word counts and up-to-the-minute news, but I'll try to share the big milestones as I hit them.
-Taylor
October 15, 2013
Get Alpha for FREE
That's right. For a limited time, I'm giving away Alpha for free on Amazon!
If you must know why, I'm doing the KDP Select experiment, which probably means little to you except for YOU GET FREE STUFF.
So stop reading my shameless self-promotion and download my book for free here.
And if you really like it (or me), you can get a paperback copy here.
If you must know why, I'm doing the KDP Select experiment, which probably means little to you except for YOU GET FREE STUFF.
So stop reading my shameless self-promotion and download my book for free here.
And if you really like it (or me), you can get a paperback copy here.
September 8, 2013
Alpha Available in Paperback!
This bad boy came in the mail Friday night. It's the proof copy for the paperback version of Alpha. I took a few hours to look over the layout and make some final tweaks this weekend, and the book is finally available for purchase in my Createspace store. I know there were more than a few people who were hoping to get this in paperback, so I'm thrilled things came together this way. I was a little nervous using a print-on-demand service, but the book looks amazing.I do need to thank the fantastic Denise Wy of Cover Atelier. She did a great job on the cover, and without her great work, I'm not sure I ever would have offered Alpha as a paperback. The original cover wasn't awful, but it wasn't near good enough for me to feel comfortable slapping it on a physical book. I love what Denise did with the cover, and if you're an indie author looking for someone to do cover art for you, Denise does fantastic work for a really good price. And she's ridiculously fast. She had this and an alternate version ready to go the day after I told her some very basic ideas, and from there we just made minor tweaks until we landed at the idea you see here.
Anyway, you can get a hold of Alpha now for $9.99, or you can wait for another week or two, as I will most likely be running a giveaway through Goodreads soon. Stay tuned to my author page for updates on that front.
August 27, 2013
Interview with A.B. Shepherd
I recently got to do an interview with author/reviewer A.B. Shepherd and talk about Alpha, how I see faith and art coming together even when a book isn't "Christian fiction," and a few other odds and ends. Click the link below to check it out!
http://www.abshepherd.net/2013/08/int...
http://www.abshepherd.net/2013/08/int...
August 23, 2013
New cover for Alpha and other cool news
It's been a fun couple weeks for Alpha. A few of the reviews from bloggers I approached have started rolling in, and they've been pretty positive so far. I try not to be incredibly ego-driven, but good golly, it feels good to get compliments from strangers on something you spent two years working on and dreaming about.
The really exciting news about Alpha right now is that I was just able to re-release the ebook with a spiffy new cover design! A month or so ago, I stumbled across Cover Atelier and her monthly Book Cover Bonanza, which offers a free book cover to indie authors every month. If you're an indie author, I highly recommend you check her out. Even if you don't win the contest, she does great work, and her rates are on the lower end of the pricing scale. Anyway, I won her contest, and within a week, she had a brand new cover for me in just a few days. Go to the book page to see it if you haven't already. I'm absolutely thrilled with what she came up with. So thrilled, in fact, that I have more exciting news for you:
Alpha is coming to paperback.
I know a lot of folks were disappointed when I released Alpha only in ebook form, and now that I have a cover I'm really excited about, I'm working with Denise from Cover Atelier to design the rest of the cover needed to put this bad boy out in paperback form. I'll have to charge a little more than the ebook format to cover the printing costs, but you can certainly count on it being less expensive than most new paperbacks out there.
That's all for now. Have a lovely weekend.
The really exciting news about Alpha right now is that I was just able to re-release the ebook with a spiffy new cover design! A month or so ago, I stumbled across Cover Atelier and her monthly Book Cover Bonanza, which offers a free book cover to indie authors every month. If you're an indie author, I highly recommend you check her out. Even if you don't win the contest, she does great work, and her rates are on the lower end of the pricing scale. Anyway, I won her contest, and within a week, she had a brand new cover for me in just a few days. Go to the book page to see it if you haven't already. I'm absolutely thrilled with what she came up with. So thrilled, in fact, that I have more exciting news for you:
Alpha is coming to paperback.
I know a lot of folks were disappointed when I released Alpha only in ebook form, and now that I have a cover I'm really excited about, I'm working with Denise from Cover Atelier to design the rest of the cover needed to put this bad boy out in paperback form. I'll have to charge a little more than the ebook format to cover the printing costs, but you can certainly count on it being less expensive than most new paperbacks out there.
That's all for now. Have a lovely weekend.
July 13, 2013
Interview with Crystal Crichlow
I recently got to do an interview with Canadian author/book reviewer Crystal Crichlow. Check it out here.
July 11, 2013
Alpha Release, Discount, and Other Odds and Ends
Alpha has been out for nearly a month now, and if you haven't gotten a chance to download it yet, it's currently a part of the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale, so you can get it for just a couple bucks now, in case that $3.99 price tag was giving you a heart attack. Check the book out here, and enter the code SSW50 at checkout any time this month for the discount.
I'm working on my next project now, and I'm really excited about it. Without saying too much, it's a wild, post-apocalyptic adventure with pirates and a little bit of time travel. But it's nothing like Time Bandits . It'll either be one long-ish book or three short-ish ones. It all depends on how wordy I get.
Anyway, that's all for now. Give Alpha a read if you haven't already, and let me know what you think!
I'm working on my next project now, and I'm really excited about it. Without saying too much, it's a wild, post-apocalyptic adventure with pirates and a little bit of time travel. But it's nothing like Time Bandits . It'll either be one long-ish book or three short-ish ones. It all depends on how wordy I get.
Anyway, that's all for now. Give Alpha a read if you haven't already, and let me know what you think!
