I sat down and basically did nothing for the past couple of days after getting A New World: Return out.  I had to rest my weary and aching mind – yes, I might like some cheese with that.  But, now it is back to work.  First on the agenda is to get A New World: Chaos and A New World: Return formatted into paperback editions and get them out.  That should not take too long to get them formatted as I have the previous rough draft already done.  It is just a matter of copying the latest versions and getting the page count right.  The timely aspect will be receiving the books to review and giving the okay for print publication.  That may take a couple of weeks at least to accomplish.

In the meantime, a touch of my time will be spent on some marketing and putting together a clean outline for the next book which is tentatively set to be called A New World: Sanctuary.  Response has been great on the first books in the series so far and I want to thank you all for your support.  Makes me happy that you are enjoying them.

A timeline for the next book you ask?  Well that is really hard to say.  The writing on the second book took off after the first 20,000 words and I was getting in anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 words a day.  10,000 was a top day and averaged really from 5,000 – 8,000.  I don’t know if this next one will flow like that but I am hoping so once I get the plot and plot lines figured out.

I send the very best wishes to everyone on this gorgeous Saturday!

 

John

First, Happy Monday to everyone!

The book sales on the first book, A New World: Chaos have skyrocketed in the past two weeks.  I would like to thank everyone for supporting my endeavor.  I have completed the second book, A New World: Return.  I have the book back from the editor and am now going through those edits.  I may have to change the publication date for this book for several reasons.  One is that JL Bourne is releasing his third book on September 27th and I don’t want to step on his opening.  Another is that I may not be able to make the edits in time to get the book out before his release thereby pushing the publication date out to October.   The learning experience from publishing the first book makes me want to put out a finely-tuned, edited edition the first time.  I found several mistakes in the first book and had to republish that one.

Now, for the great news and one other reason the second book may be pushed back.  I have been contacted by Permuted Press and offered a publishing deal for the first three books in A New World.  I don’t know what this means for the current publication nor for the second book’s publication date as yet.  I don’t know whether to take the deal or not as yet as I do like retaining the rights for my babies – yes, that is how I think of them.

If anyone has any opinions or experiences with the Indie versus traditional publishing, I would certainly enjoy hearing from you.  I am stuck on the royalty, book momentum, and rights aspects.  Overall though, I am ecstatic over the deal and feel very privileged to be contacted and offered a deal.  It makes me feel good about the book and that the readers are enjoying it.

I wish everyone a great day!

John

The new cover art by SM Reine arrived last night.  I loaded up the new cover art for A New World: Chaos late last night to Amazon and Smashwords.

Here is the cover art for A New World: Chaos and A New World: Return:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am still waiting for A New World: Return to get back from the editor and then it is announcement and publication date.

For those of you looking for a cover artist, seriously check into SM Reine.

smreine (at) gmail (dot) com
http://smreine.deviantart.com/

Off to the editing world for a little while.  I wish everyone a very happy Tuesday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a story to tell and had to put it write it down as I wanted to share it with others.  I wrote the series with one thought in mind – What would I actually do in the event of an apocalyptic event?  This story and series being true to the actual skills and experiences I possess. No super heroes or someone possessing miraculous abilities, just a normal person seeking to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

Months later, the first book in the series was complete.  But not my feeling of completeness as it wasn’t being shared with readers.  The thought of getting it published was daunting.  First, because I had heard the stories of how hard it is to get published.  Second, because I was stepping into completely unfamiliar territory.  But, I was determined and really wanted to share what I had written.

Rejection after rejection came from agents.  And then, I happened across Smashwords.  The ease of getting published with them was mind-blowing.  And they have a fantastic distribution channel allowing me to get my book out to all of the major distributors through one outlet.  I found that I don’t have to manage a lot of sites at once.  Their guidelines are easy to follow and adopt.

I only had to read their ‘how to publish’ document How to Publish and Distribute with Smashword  and follow the easy to use style guide  Smashwords Style Guide.  I was and still am amazed at how easy it was to get my story out and the response has been overwhelming.  I read about and talk with other authors, who are either finishing their books or have finished them, who worry about getting published.  I tell them the success I have had with Smashwords and how simple, easy, and quick it was to get my book in front of readers.  I would recommend this to all who read this blog as well.

The one tip I can give is to follow the style guide line by line and letter for letter.  I did this one step at a time with my manuscript and my book was accepted on the first try.

Get your work out so you can continue your writing rather than spend time worrying about publishing the one you finished.  Keep writing and have a great day!

Hello and good morning everyone,

I finished the rough draft of the second book in the New World series on Friday.  No, not the baseball game unless you count the games as an apocalyptic event.  Which I am sure some do.  I am currently a little over half of the way through the first pass edit.  I tell you, this is the hard part and not the most exciting by any stretch.  Rather boring at times to be honest.  And after that will be the design of the cover art.  I am hoping to have the book “A New World: Return’ published and available to the eBook world by the middle of September.  I will be setting an exact date here shortly.

My mind is a little fried after the marathon of writing to finish it but I am rather pleased with the result.  There were some twists I didn’t expect and one part I thought would be in this one that will have to be carried to the next as it didn’t quite fit in with the flow.  As I said in earlier posts, I don’t think I am actually writing the book as much as I am a conduit through which the story flows.

I am excited to be finished and to be able to get it out.  I hope those that read it will enjoy it as much as the first and as much as I enjoyed telling it.  I am off to the never-ending editing – Oh Yay!  I hope this day treats you well and it is an enjoyable one for you!