Paul’s Comments (group member since Jul 15, 2012)

Paul’s comments from the Q&A with Paul Vincent group.

Would anyone be interested in reading some sample early chapters (for example the first 2 or 3 chapters) of Astronomicon: Those Left behind?

I'm wondering about posting a few on Wattpad, if there's any interest in that idea.

I've almost finished the revamp and combination of Astronomicon books 1 and 2. As soon as those are released I'll be free to concentrate my efforts on getting Astronomicon: Those Left Behind published.

I wish I could work out why Icarus sells far better in the US than the UK, when all my other books sell about 4x better in the UK than the US.

Perversely I was worried that Icarus would not be popular amongst American readers. I seem to have been wrong on that one!

Anyone here still prefer paperbacks over e-books?

I still can't seem to crack the review thing. Book is still selling steadily, mostly in the UK, but not a single review yet :(

I can't believe how well this one is already selling, especially considering I haven't had time to do any serious promotion work at all yet.

No comments on the new cover style? It's quite a departure for me and it would be really good to get some feedback.

Just got to do a little consumer testing, but it looks like I have a new, and much improved, front cover for Icarus.



UK sales have kicked off now, still lagging behind my US sales but I'm sure they'll catch up.

Just remembered to add Icarus to the database here on GoodReads:

Intriguing sales so far. My books usually sell better in the UK than the US, never really been sure why, but this one is selling reasonably well in the US but has literally not sold a single copy in the UK!

I can't imagine what the reason for that might be. I was hoping the hundreds of existing UK readers of the Astronomicon series would have bought it, but not one!

Astronomicon: Those Left Behind will be out later this year, hopefully only a couple of months from now. I'll post more details as soon as they become definite.

Those who follow me on Google+, Twitter, Facebook or my RSS Feed will already know this, but I thought I should announce it here too:

Astronomicon: Icarus was published today on Amazon. Click here to find out more .

Six months later - people are still buying it, but no-one seems to want to review it. Should I be worried?

Hit the final stage of checking now. Should have a publication date within days. Exciting times!

No-one's actually reading this, are they?

I always try to make a point of writing down my ideas. Currently I have a list of almost 20 partially formed ideas for books. Many of them don't make it as far as being a complete book plan as such but I often seem to combine two or more book ideas to make a fuller, deeper story.

Astronomicon: Those Left Behind was a combination of two ideas. The first, the main theme, was a side-effect of a storyline in Astronomicon: Distant Relatives. In distant relatives the Eridani arrived at Earth on the run and in need of help. Those Left Behind was a natural progression to cover just why they were on the run. The other book idea, which never got as far as a name, was that of a man trying to save his family in the face of alien invasion. The combination made for an excellent storyline.

Astronomicon: Icarus - my current project - was a combination of my original idea for Icarus, a mining vessel competing in the asteroid against rival mining companies and bandits, and a loose plan for a horror story about a vessel which, after completing Earth's very first interstellar faster-than-light jump, returns modified by an alien race to locate Earth and send back intelligence data.

Obviously, in both cases, many story strands were removed or drastically altered, which is sad at times, but the results make it more than worth it. Of course there is always a chance that some of the shed strands may be of use in other stories.

I'm confident now that "Astronomicon: Icarus" will be available on Amazon before the end of February 2013. The final edit has gone well and now most of the work is down to my team of proofreaders.

It's looking good, and a little different to the previous books I've written. Being a standalone story should make it a little easier to market too - no need for any prior knowledge of the stories in the previous books.

I've just made the wordcount for Icarus worse. :(

I think I was rushing too much at the end of November, and two of the last three chapters were no good. I tried to edit them into something better but suddenly realised that I was wasting my time and deleted both of them (losing 4500 words from the total). The final chapter is really good and rounds off the book nicely, but now I've got to rebuild the storyline between the final assault on the Icarus (which went pretty well) and the last chapter.

I think it's safe to say that Astronomicon: Icarus isn't going to be published before the end of this year!

Oh well, there are some nice plans coming along for Astronomicon: Purity. I suspect I'll end up writing that one before I get to the next book in the main Astronomicon series.

Survived NaNoWriMo by the skin of my teeth. Got Astronomicon: Icarus passed the 50,000 word mark, but of course that's not the end of the book.

I really don't think I'm going to reach my usually 70,000 word target for a novel, but I should get quite close. If it turns out to be short, should I reduce the price proportionately?

Only 10,000 words to go now, but only six days to write them! Shouldn't be too hard.

Anyone know what percentage of people complete NaNoWriMo on their first attempt?