Mike Shepherd's Blog, page 8

A Busy Week

This was quite a busy week. Monday morning the copy edits for Furious showed up. They were pretty clean so that only took a couple of days. Then I started polishing the rough draft of Defender. It wasn't clean, so that took a bit more time. The contract for KL: Welcome Home-Go Away arrived. I signed them and sent them back.

Oh, and the cover for Furious arrived. Isn't it lovely.

In early February, I published two more short story collections and Second Fire, the second book of the Lost Millennium Trilogy. Amazon and B&N.com sold some 50 copies of my five e-books, almost a quarter of what I sold all last year. Thank you, e-readers.

Here’s Furious

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Here's Furious

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What a difference a day makes!

While I and my Ace editor, Ginjer, were talking about bringing the three old Ray Longknife books back into print, the question of Hounds of War came up. Back in '99, Ace declined it and started me down the path that is Kris Longknife. By late today, Ace was offering me a contract to deliver HoW by Dec 12 to be published in early 14.

If it sells well, you can look for the three Iteeche war books to follow.

Then Ginjer asked for a treatment on Vicky Peterwald — Targer. I sent it in and it looks like we'll be negotiating publishing it some time early in '13.

Since some 85% of you are still buying my books in paperback, I'm only too happy to be going that route. Lots of fun ahead.

Now, I need to go write.

Vicky Peterwald — Target, will be an e-book

I've spent a week at the Oregon Coast in December, January, and this week seeing if there was a story about Vicky Peterwald following Kris Longknife– Daring.

You may recall that when Kris got yanked away from the Wasp for some 'quality time' with her Great-grandfather the king, most everyone on the Wasp got left.

So I went back and followed Vicky's misadventures and now I've got some 76,000 words and a clear end in sight next month at about 90,000 words.

Plans right now call for independently publishing it as an e-book in February of '13, a good four months after you've had a chance to enjoy Kris Longknife — Furious, the sequel for Daring from Ace.

As I said, a lot of fun reading ahead.

The Ray Longknife books are coming next year.

I got the following e-mail from my editor today.

We've decided to begin the "Mike Moscoe who is also Mike Shepherd" reissue program for your earlier books in 2013, starting with the First Casualty trilogy and then going on to (my personal favorites) the LOST MILLENNIUM trilogy

We'll be doing a book probably every three months (that's how we did Hemry) beginning, I think, In March, That means the program will extend into early 2014, I guess.

When I have the entire schedule, I'll let you know.

So, it will be next year, but First Casualty, The Price of Peace and They Also Serve will be available in print and e-book sometime next year.

And I'll likely have a fourth book available, the one just before the Iteeche war heats up, out about the time the third book is up. Lots of reading material coming.

Two more e-books are out there.

I finally managed to get The Job Interview and The Strange Redemption of Sister Mary Ann up for sale as e-books at B&N, Amazon and Smashwords. The covers are still causing me trouble, but I'll keep working on them. Enjoy the new short stories.

Back Cover Quote for Furious.

I haven't done copy edits for Furious yet, but I just got to look at the back cover quote for it. I thought I'd pass it along to all of you.

Having used unorthodox methods to save a world—and every sentient being on it—Lieutenant Commander Kris Longknife is wanted for crimes against humanity across the galaxy. For her own safety, she's been assigned to a backwater planet where her (First) Fast Patrol Squadron 127 enforces immigration control and smuggler interdiction.

But Kris is a Longknife and nothing can stop her from getting back to the center of things( — not when all hell is breaking loose). Now, she's on the run, hunted by both military and civilian authorities—and since the civilian authorities happen to be her immediate family, Kris soon finds herself homeless, broke, and on trial for her life on an alien world…

The first parenthetical is a mistake. The second is something I'm asking to add.

I'll publish the cover as soon as I see it. Enjoy

All Kris e-books are out there now!~

I got the following e-mail from my editor today.

"Okay, the territory codes have been changed for the backlist, and the feed will go out Tuesday next.

We've checked and TRAINING DAZE is coded correctly. On-Line will try to find out why it dropped out of sale on Amazon UK, but we can't really control what e-tailers offer, particularly outside the US. I'd suggest that you ask the person who alerted you to this to query Amazon UK, and let me know what they say."

Soo, starting next Wednesday, or say week after next, folks worldwide should be able to get Kris's e-books. Say by the first full week in February.

I intend to spend that week at the Oregon Coast finding out what happens to Vicky Peterwald next, so I won't be in a position to respond until the week after that.

Good Luck.

Where the H *** is Training Daze!

I e-mailed my editor about this problem with Training Daze disappearing from Amazon. She says Ace has done it's job. It changed the metadata coding (oh, don't you love techy talk) and it's shown up over seas. The fact it vanished isn't in ACE's control.

Just as in the days of walk in stores, if a book isn't on the shelf, you ask for it. Well, folks, she suggests you ask (bug) Amazon for it. She says they're the ones who should be putting it up and keeping it up.

I also asked about getting all the Kris Longknife e-books up world wide. I signed the contract mod in November. She's looking into that and it should show up soon. (I hope).

Let me know how it goes, folks. My editor is having to do stuff that wasn't a part of her job or skill set a few years ago. She's having it rough, so I want to be gentle for her, but yes, you want the books and I want to sell them.