Mike Shepherd's Blog, page 3

Where did the cover for Bloodhound come from?

The official explanation for the photo of Kris on the cover of Bloodhound is that it’s a file photo of a younger Kris back when she was in college and on the stump for her dad’s reelection.

Now, the other explanation for it is that I published this e-novella myself. That meant I either did the cover myself or paid someone for it. Those lovely covers that Scott does for the Ace books cost, at least $5,000, possible more. I don’t really know because I don’t have to write the check, but for this one, I would have.

The e-novellas have had rather vague covers. I wanted something more eye-catching. I was at the Oregon coast the week that Kris and Dean were putting on a class on doing covers. I was busy writing and didn’t have time to take the course, but one of the fellows taking it was really showing a gift. He also has long been a fan of Kris. I asked him if he could do a cover and he agreed to . . . in a couple of months.

But that evening, in class, he started working and that is the cover he did. The art cost $7.00 I’m told from a for sale site. The cover font cost more. The work, however, was worth a whole lot more. So, if you like the general flavor of this cover over the other two e-books, I’m glad.

If, however, you feel our gal has changed too much for your taste, I’m sorry about that.  So far, in less than four weeks, you’ve bought over 1,700 copies of the story.  Kris Longknife, Welcome Home – Go Away sold 4,800 copies in the first nine months it was up, so it seems to be getting a nice reception.

Mike

Kris Longknife – Tenacious is delivered! and early no less.

I just e-mailed Tenacious to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace. I shouldn’t talk too much about the story. You’ll want to read Defender before we talk about what happens next. This finishes up this 3 book contract. Now to knock together a proposal for the next 3 books. Oh Joy!

World Con will be in London next year.

I’ll be in London next year for World Con, August 14 through 18. I can fly there, stay in the hotel and fly back, or I can see a bit of England that I’ve always wanted to see, like the Mary Rose and HMS Victory, Biggon Hill and Imperial Museum. Of course, I’m a bit nervous about driving on the other side of the street. Is there anyone in England that might enjoy showing a Yank writer some of your fine sites?

I started a new Novel.

By the end of this month, I hope to turn in the next Kris Longknife novel, Tenacious for 10/14. That will fulfill the three book contract. I spent this week writing at the Oregon coast on Relentless, the first book of the next 3 book contract and the Kris book for 10/15. I got 35,000 words into it, so it’s a good start. It’s a bit different, but still enough ships get blown up that I think you’ll like the blend.

Kris Longknife’s Bloodhound is out!

I just published the e-novella Kris Longknife’s Bloodhound. It’s up on B&N.com, Amazon and should be up soon on Kobo.com. Included with the 27,000 word novella are the first five chapters of Kris Longknife – Defender, coming from ACE in October, and the next grandparents’ story, To Do or Die due out from ACE in February.

Bloodhound tells the story of Inspector Foile who runs into not one but the whole family of Longknifes as he seeks to solve the mystery dumped in his lap by Kris. Just what is Grampa Al up to? Enjoy.

Sorry, for now, like the other novellas, it’s just in e-format.

A question from on of you.

A fan asked me this:

I’ve always wondered how they design the covers of books, primarily the ones that feature renderings of the main characters on them. For example, I’m a huge fan of the Kris Longknife series and I’m currently reading Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi – Author.

Do the authors collaborate with an artist until they get the details just right or do they find models to pose for them that look close enough to how they’ve envisioned their characters to look? When you look at the pictures, you could almost swear they could be actual people.

I’m heading for WorldCon and will finish this post after I get some sleep.

This is frustrating

Some one keeps spamming the blog. I had to delete 7000 yesterday and another 1700 offers for knock off stuff today. If you’ve sent in a comment and don’t see it, it’s very likely it got hosed down with the spam. Sorry about that.

They just Keep Coming.

The Copy Edits to To Do or Die (2/14) went back August 1. Then the nice folks at Audible wanted to know how to pronounce some of the odder words in First Casualty. They’ll get back to me soon for the other two books.

I finished my novella (22,000 words) The South Shall Rise Again, alternate April 1865. I’ll let you know where and when you can buy that.

I also did the second Draft of Vicky Peterwald – Survivor (tentative 2015) and now my wife has it for a first read.

I’ll be in Spokane this weekend for SpoCon. I’ll be in San Antonio for World Con. Look for me at the bar, I don’t have any panels.

Another Busy Week.

No sooner than I got the galley proofs of Defender back to Ace for October release than the copy edits of To Do or Die appeared with a due date of August 1. Another good read.

And then Ginjer, my editor, e-mails me to say that the preorders for They Also Serve has been so early and so high that they’ve decided to ship it out August 7 even though the official date is still August 27. The e-book is in final edit and will likely go up sometime between the 7th and 27th. Thanks for asking for it, folks. Enjoy!

The Galley Proofs for Kris Longknife – Defender are here.

I’ve got the next fifteen days to review them, so I’m going to curl up with a good book and enjoy the read. Galley Proofs almost look like a book. Weee! This is the last stop before it gets published October 29.

Now, I’m keeping an eye out for the Copy Edits of To Do or Die. Oh, and the cover of Vicky Peterwald – Target. Lots to look forward to.