S.E.’s Comments (group member since Nov 01, 2012)

S.E.’s comments from the Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" group.

https://www.amazon.com/Kothar-Conjure...

Kothar and the Conjurer's Curse Book #4 free on Amazon/Kindle today.

Thanks to Kurt Brugel for sharing on facebook [S&S and Fantasy forum] :https://www.facebook.com/groups/36906...

All,

Goodreads rocks in many ways, but a change to monetize their giveaway program starting in 2018 will sour the mood. Currently a free service to giveaway books .... authors/publishers will soon have to pay between $120 and $600 for that service [plus the cost of the books and shipping as before].

Although eBooks will be allowed in the future, the cost is prohibitive for many self-pub and indy and small press.

Below is the email I got:




Hi S.E.,

As an author who uses Goodreads Giveaways, we want to let you know we’ll be introducing our new Goodreads Giveaways program on January 9, 2018, offering even more powerful book marketing benefits that authors have been asking for. Our new Goodreads Giveaways program includes two packages, Standard and Premium—you can learn more about them below. And for the first time, Kindle Direct Publishing authors can run giveaways for Kindle ebooks—a feature previously only available to traditional publishers. The new program, which replaces our current Giveaways program, will initially be for giveaways open to U.S. residents.

Since we launched Goodreads Giveaways nine years ago, we’ve helped authors and publishers get millions of books into the hands of readers to drive prerelease buzz, discovery, and reviews. Giveaways have become a core part of Goodreads’ suite of book marketing tools (advertising, deals, and giveaways), and have become a must-do tactic for authors and publishers, helping many titles – including The Girl on the Train – break out to early success.

From January 9, 2018, you can choose from the following two packages:

***
Standard Giveaway
(available in your choice of print book or Kindle ebook format).

1. (NEW) Everyone who enters your giveaway automatically adds the book to their Want-to-Read list, promoting your book via updates in their friends’ updates feeds, and building an audience for your title.

2. (NEW) The author’s followers and anyone who has already added the book to their Want-to-Read list get a notification, letting them know there’s a giveaway starting. This helps generate even more entries, creating more stories in the Goodreads updates feed.

3. About eight weeks after your Giveaway ends, winners receive an email from Goodreads to remind them to rate and review your book. This will help other readers discover and decide to read the book too.

4. Giveaways are featured in the Giveaways section of Goodreads.com, allowing readers to discover new books.

The new Standard Package is $119 per giveaway for either print book or Kindle ebook format. From January 9, 2018 to January 31, 2018, take advantage of our introductory price: only $59 (save 50%).

***
Premium Giveaway
(available in your choice of print book or Kindle ebook format).

Premium Giveaways are designed to give you more opportunity to connect with readers than ever. A Premium Giveaway includes:

1. (NEW) Premium placement in the Giveaways section of Goodreads, with tens of millions of visitors each month, giving your giveaway significantly more visibility and more entrants.

The Premium package also includes all of the benefits of the Standard package:

2. (NEW) Everyone who enters your giveaway automatically adds the book to their Want-to-Read list, promoting your book via updates in their friends’ updates feeds, and building an audience for your title.

3. (NEW) The author’s followers and anyone who has already added the book to their Want-to-Read list get a notification, letting them know there’s a giveaway starting. This helps generate even more entries, creating more stories in the Goodreads updates feed.

4. About eight weeks after your Giveaway ends, winners receive an email from Goodreads to remind them to rate and review your book. This will help other readers discover and decide to read the book too.

5. Giveaways are shown in the Giveaways section of Goodreads and the book page, allowing readers to discover new books.

The new Premium Package is $599 per giveaway for either print book or Kindle ebook format. From January 9, 2018 to January 31, 2018, take advantage of our introductory price: only $299 (save 50%).

***
New Giveaways created on or after 1/9/18 will initially be open to US residents only. Giveaways created prior to 1/9/18 will continue to run as scheduled, but will not benefit from any of the enhancements in our new Giveaways program.

We encourage you to take advantage of this introductory pricing and try the new products out!

Have questions? Take a look here to learn more.

Thanks,

The Goodreads Team

Nice! Thx for sharing!

Steve, I live in Cincinnati but was unable to attend Books on the Banks, so I missed meeting you. One of these days I will. Glad to hear your Pirate novel is well received.

Ragnarok Closes :(

https://www.blackgate.com/2017/11/17/...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...

Excerpt

The series won’t be a straight adaptation of the books. Amazon said in a release that it plans to “explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.”

The company is producing the Amazon Prime Original in conjunction with the J.R.R. Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies won a World Fantasy Convention award!

http://wfc2017.org/wfc2017/awards/

http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/

Great short stories of fantasy adventure lead by Scott H. Andrews

This would be a great tine to read Michael Shea's works

http://www.michaelsheaauthor.com

Nifft the Lean
or
Undying in Yana

On anyone's to-read list?

Cool.... but same producer as Conan 2011 is worrysome

Welcome Jem! We've a decent Sword and Soul crowd here (fans of Charles Saunders and Milton Davis). Glad they have you!

Richard wrote: "I read Carnacki, the Ghost Finder awhile ago and really enjoyed it. Wish he had written more of those stories."

(My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)

BTW, this Megapack has 6 Carnacki:

THE GATEWAY OF THE MONSTER (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 1)

THE HOUSE AMONG THE LAURELS (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 2)

THE WHISTLING ROOM (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 3)

THE HORSE OF THE INVISIBLE (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 4)

THE SEARCHER OF THE END HOUSE (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 5)

THE THING INVISIBLE (Carnacki the Ghost Finder No. 6)

I've been reading on of Wildside Press's The William Hope Hodgson Megapack: 35 Classic Works.

In the US, the Kindle is only $0.99, and conveniently organizes 33 of William Hope Hodgson with introductions from Darrell Schweitzer and Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

Finished the House on the Borderlands and will review that soon. Glad to have had this groupread to prod me into finally trying out Hodgson.

Jack, nice review. Always cool when you find a good one.

Joseph, you seemed to like HPLs Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath, which seems arguably as unfocused os House on the Borderlands. I could never finish Kadath, but am almost done with House.

Any thoughts on comparing weird, rambling quests?

I'm finally tackling William Hodgson's House on the Borderlands. I'm mostly impressed. More accessible than I predicted. He has some nice language, but is starting to repeat a bit too much.

I am guesting posting!  This one discusses how three recent S&S movies (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword ; Conan The Barbarian ; and Hobbit: Battle of the 5 armies) lured us in with conflict based on a magical artifact, only to sandbag us as the stories finished.

Thanks to James R. Schmidt for the invitation.; nice blog on our genre.


Also, keep an eye/ear out. Francesco La Manno runs an Italian website for Sword & Sorcery and is considering translating it:  https://hyperborea.live/

BLACKGATE article from Jason M. Waltz:
https://www.blackgate.com/2017/10/22/...

Mary wrote: ""

Is the cover artist a "Michael"?

Jason M wrote: "Spectacular banner design as usual, Seth! Thank you for all your work on this group! I love it!"

Thanks Jason. I struggled with the WILLIAM side...probably should have made it less complex. Anyway, it is fun looking up cover art and illustrations and working into a story of sorts.

Will you be playing in the MICHAEL group?