Back From the Dead!

So, this is just a little post for some general info on Peacemaker and other sundries. A FAQ, if you like. (though, in all fairness, FAQ sounds like you’re saying something rude.  Just sayin’.)

Is this a new book?
No.  Peacemaker is the same book that was published by Intermix back in 2014.  However, it was only published in ebook format at that time, and so the print version is a new beastie.

If this isn’t really new, why should I buy it?
If you haven’t read it yet, then duh, buy it.  If you HAVE read it in ebook, technically, there’s no reason for you to buy it again.  However, if you want a print copy, this is your first shot at that.  AND… There is a small teaser at the end of it, the first chapter of the sequel.  So that at least is new material.

When will the sequel be out?
I have no idea.  I haven’t written more than the first couple of chapters of it.  My major goal at this moment is to get JJD6 written and out, and THEN start on the Peacemaker sequel.  Ideally, I could have both JJD6 and AW2 out next year, probably one toward the beginning and one toward the end.  (Don’t hold me to that.  Life happens.)

Where can I get the print version?
You will be able to order through Amazon, as always, and as part of my newest endeavor, your local bookstores can also order copies in.  (Not just a copy for you personally, but ones to have on the shelf!)  Please please PLEASE make sure that your local bookstore knows about it.  I am one person, I do not have a huge publicity department, and that’s where I rely on you!

Where can I get signed copies?
I’m working on this.  Not only for Peacemaker, but for all of my Pirate Ninja Press books.  Ideally, I’d like to partner up with one of the local indie stores here in KC to be able to provide that service, but it’s a work in progress.  HOWEVER…  Because my books are now “order-able” for bookstores, this also means that I COULD do signings again, in bookstores.   I haven’t arranged anything like that, because frankly I’m scared to death to approach these people and have them laugh at me.  But give me time.

I want you to come sign books at MY store, how do we make this happen?
If you have a connection at your local bookstore, by all means, mention it to them and have them reach out to me if they would be willing to host a signing. (kari.stewart21@gmail.com) My travel budget isn’t huge right now, but I am totally willing to see what I can do.

If you have any other questions, feel free to leave them in a comment at the bottom of this post, or even email me if you like.  Hate mail & sexual harassment will be graded and ridiculed publicly.

More Ingram & Other Pleasantries

Tada!!!

All four of my self-published books are now available on Ingram.  This means that your local bookstores & libraries should be able to order them with no problem.  However, this means that YOU have to go ask them to!

If they need specific ISBNs, here they are:

A Snake in the Grass - 9780997950410
A Line in the Sand - 9780997950427
Second Olympus - 9780997950403
The Music Box Girl – 9780997950496

Also, Peacemaker’s official re-release will be on November 1st, but it should be available for pre-order well before then.  I’ll keep you posted on that one!  I’ve seen the rough draft of the cover art, and it is swoon-worthy.  It makes me really want to write the other two books in that trilogy, just so I can see what covers the amazing Robin Ludwig comes up with.

And speaking of writing.  Now that I seem to have the administrative portion of self-pubbing caught up for the moment, I really need to get back to writing.  JJD6 is on my agenda, as is AW2 (the Peacemaker sequel).  And at some point, I should really write something new to get to my long-suffering-but-amazing agent.  I’ve dabbled all summer, but nothing has really taken hold of me.  Hoping I can turn this latest rush of book energy into writing energy.

Ingram and You

Part of me wants to try to do this like some cheesy 50's health class movie. "Ingram and your body..." But in the interest of time (and sanity)

Most of you (I hope) saw me announce that The Music Box Girl is now available through Ingram. And you may be thinking "But MBG has been out for a while, what does this mean?"

The very short answer, for most of you, is nothing.  For the longer answer, read on.

Ingram is a part of publishing that is largely invisible to the average reader. They are a book distributor & printer. When you buy a book at a B&N or indie store, it most likely got there via Ingram.

You may say "but wasn't Createspace already printing and distributing your books?" Yes! Good question. The difference is that Ingram is the supplier that most bookstores and libraries order from. See, Amazon (Createspace) is a direct competitor of other bookstores, so they don't want to order from someone who is actively trying to put them out of business.

There are other things that also make Ingram preferable, involving wholesale ordering prices and the ability to return books that don't sell, but that's probably a bigger topic than I intend to cover in this Cliff's Notes version.

So, back to the question. What does this mean? It means that MBG can now appear on library and bookstore shelves. It means that someone could be browsing a bookstore and pick up my book and think "Hey, this looks cool." And just like that, I could have a new fan.  It also means that I can do in-store book signings much easier, since the stores can actually order books to have on hand. My hope is that we (my family and I) will be able to travel more in the next few years and get to places where folk might want to see me.

"That's fantastic! How can I help?"  I'm so glad you asked! The thing that will do the most good is to tell people. Ask your local indie store to order copies in. Request the book from your local libraries. Let them know that Second Olympus and the JJD books will be coming soon in the same format. Get the word out, folks!  Help me, Obi-Wan. You're my only hope.

Also remember that, before the year is out, Peacemaker will be re-released, in print for the very first time. This too will go through Ingram as well as my other channels. Tell the world!

The Beginning of the End

I’m sitting here on my lunch at the Real Job™, making notes about JJD6.  Just notes.  No actual writing yet, because if I start writing it, then I have to finish writing it at some point in the future.  And then it’s over.

I mean, I always knew it would be over someday.  Jesse’s story has been plotted out, beginning to end, since the first day.  I’ve known since May 20th, 2007 how this would go.  That’s a really long time, when you stop to look at it.  For nine years, I’ve had this guy living in my head.  I feel like I know him just as well as I know any real person in my life.  Maybe better.

How do I say goodbye to that? I have to, of course.  The story ends, like I always knew it would.  I wonder, three years from now, five years from now, will I think “I wonder what Jesse is up to now?” and be tempted to write about him again?  Right now, I have no plans to.  The only thing worse than a story ending is a story dragging out long past its natural life.  No zombie stories here, thank you very much!

Jesse’s been good to me.  Better than I have been to him, that’s for sure.  I have dreams that in some alternate universe, Jesse probably hates my guts for all that I’ve put him through.  But he’s soldiered on, coming out on top against long odds again and again.

All I have to do is start typing the words.  Some of them will be a surprise to me, because even though I know how it goes, I don’t know how it gets there.  Some of them have been floating around in the dark spaces of my brain for nine years.  Once I put them down on paper (on computer screen), they’re out.  There will be a hole in my cranium where they used to be.  There will be a hole where Jesse used to be.

So I make notes, for now.

Because I’m not ready to write it just yet.

The Nuts and Bolts

First things first, thanks to everyone who purchased Second Olympus during my birthday sale!  I hope everyone loves it (or at least doesn't want to throw tomatoes at me). Once again, I beg,implore,grovel at your feet to PLEASE post reviews to places like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  The number of reviews a book has (doesn't matter if they're good, bad, or indifferent) dictates which books get picked up by the system for things like "If you liked this book, you might also like THIS one!" which can bring me to new readers.  The general rumor is that 50-ish reviews is the golden spot for being included in the system algorithms, and you'll note that not a single one of my books has that many reviews on Amazon.  Love an author?  Leave a review.

Secondly, A Line in the Sand, better known as JJD5, is now available for preorder!  Ebook only, of course, because preordering the print copy isn't something that's available at this time.  The release date is currently January 23rd (bonus points if anyone can guess why), so I'll try to have the print copy released prior to that, so that we can all hopefully be reading on the release date.

Kindle
Nook
Kobo
iTunes

Now, you might be saying "But why is there no cover art?  We want a cover!"  Well, yes, so do I.  Very very much, in fact.  But, things have to go in a certain order when designing a cover, so I'll gladly bore you with excessive details.

Pick up the book nearest to you.  Look at the spine.  Most likely, the cover of the book has a front piece, a back piece, and a spine piece.  Well, the front and back covers will always be the dimensions you designate.  For example, my self-pubbed JJD covers will be 5x8.  The spine dimensions, however, are determined by how thick the book is.  More pages = thicker book = wider spine.  Everything has to fit just so to line up with the edges of the book.  So, you can't begin designing a print book cover without knowing how many pages your book has, first.

Look!  Visual aids!

So where does that leave me?  Well, last night I finished making editing notes on JJD5. Some were handwritten new paragraphs, others were things like "Awkward sentence", or "re-order" or "WTF?".  My next step is to start typing all those changes into the actual Word doc that is my manuscript.   Once that's done, I can copy/paste the document into a template that will become my print book file.  I have to decide all about the front-of-the-book material, and if I want to include pages at the back from any of my other books, that sort of thing.  Only when that is ALL done, and I can get a final page count, do I then request my cover from my cover artist.

I'm hoping to have the edits all done by the 16th at the VERY latest.  That was the deadline I gave myself, and getting it done sooner would make me do a happy dance.  I'll probably spend a couple of days (or three, or four) getting the print copy formatted and prepped, and then I'll email about the cover.  I'm pushing the time limit to get everything set for a January 23rd release date (all final files have to be uploaded by January 13th at the very latest), but I'm way behind where I wanted to be originally anyway, and I hate to drag it out any longer.

In the meantime, while we wait, I give you my Christmas Groot.

Another Year

If possible, I’m actually getting worse about maintaining this blog.

SO, where am I, and what am I doing?

First off, Snake has done very well since its release. (at least, in my mind) Well enough that I am wholly encouraged about self-publishing more things in the future, not just the JJD books. I fully admit, though, every time I see a sale pop up in my report, I do a little happy dance. That’s never going to get old.

 My intention is to have Muse available in the coming spring (though I’m pondering a title change, I’ll keep you posted). It’s a story I dearly love that I just don’t think is ever going to find a traditional home. I’ll have some fun stuff to go along with it when I get close to releasing it, as it’s one of the few books I have that actually has a soundtrack.

And JJD5 I’m still pondering for fall next year, but considering that I haven’t actually started writing it yet, that’s a moving target. On the upside, I’ve finalized titles for the last two JJD books, so that’s one less thing on my brain. No, I’m not going to tell you yet, because final is only truly final when it’s on the cover.

 “But, what about Ernst?” you cry. “Don’t you love Ernst anymore???” Of course I love Ernst. How can you not love Ernst? But right now, I feel like I need to finish at least ONE series before I worry about the next one. Especially when I still feel like I need to alternate writing for myself (self-published) and writing to try to sell traditionally. On that note, once I get JJD done, and AW (which is only intended to be a trilogy), I’ll be seriously considering self-pubbing my Otherkind series as well. Only have the first book of that done, but there are more in my brain, and since urban fantasy seems to be flagging a little in the traditional market, self-pubbing may be the way to go with that one too.

At the very least, I’m hoping to have those two books out in 2015, then maybe try to get AW2 & JJD6 out in 2016 (gods, it’ll be weird to say goodbye to J & Co.), and then AW3, OK1 in 2017. This is all barring any other book sales I might make between now and then, and since the Lovely Agent is currently shopping something around, it’s entirely possible.

So if I’m not working on JJD5 or AW2 right now, what am I working on? Funny you should ask. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve seen me use the hashtag #MMwD. I don’t have an actual title for this bizarre thing I’m fiddling with, but in my brain, I’m calling it “Mad Max with Dragons”. You could also call it the bastard love child of “Reign of Fire” and “Book of Eli”. In short, I’m not sure what the hell I’m doing, but the words keep coming, so I’m just rolling with it. I’ve honestly lost the ability to even tell if this thing is any good. In fact, I’m about 90% sure it’s not any good. I’m about 40K words into it, which would be half a novel, but I have a feeling that this is going to be longer than my normal 80K goal.

And that’s my life in a (very large, rather disjointed) nutshell.

Feel free to ask any questions, or point and mock, or berate me on my treatment of magical jackalopes.