Life just got harder for writers - New scams to avoid

Being an author has never been easy. It's difficult to write a book, and nearly impossible to create one that is "good" (defined as a story that after reading others will tell their friends about it).  Then there are always a mountain of rejections, being taken advantage of by retailers and publishers who take the lion's share of the profits leaving them crumbs, and then there is the whole issue of how to "get the word out" so that people know your books exist.

But lately it's been even harder. Anyone reading my posts knows just how much Robin does for me.  One of the most annoying jobs as of late is organizing the email. She goes through it every day and puts fan mail to my attention, and takes care of any "logistics" stuff like contracts, shipping issues, coordination with copyeditors and Tim (our narrator), and so forth.

With the advent of AI there has been an explosion of what I can only assume are AI generated emails. One category are people who "run bookclubs."

They are remarkably similar and always include some "generic praise" such as: 

"The dynamic between Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater is so good. The contrast between cynicism and idealism, and the moral tension woven into such a concise Riyria tale, sparked great discussion among our members.

They bring up being "featured" but usually don't mention money - not yet. But Robin likes to "play along" and tells them I'd be happy to join the group for an Author Q&A.  Then they do ask for cash (either to cover the logistics of setting up the feature or to pay for "snacks" for the group."

It's all a scam of course, and the simple thing would be to just ignore them, but Robin doesn't like the fact that they are besmirching the bookclub's name without them even knowing it's going on.  So she's been going the next step which is:

1. Contacting the real bookclub to verify they didn't send the request (so far none of them have)
2. Filing a abuse report to Google because these people are impersonating others

It's a time consuming process, and it's no doubt "tilting at windmills" but she feels like she's making a difference in some small way, so who am I to stop her.

But there was a recent email that has been even more nefarious. This one is from a guy (Rob Cox) - with the email robcox.bookpublicist@gmail.com.  He offers various "marketing services" that run from $550 - $6,750. Robin hopes there is a real person and not just an AI because she keeps asking for "more information" to burn his time.  At one point, he offered up an reference: Mark Lawrence with an email address that is NOT Mark's.  But Robin was like a cat with a mouse so she wrote to it with the subject "Hey Mark, is this really you."

And of course a response came back! 

Hi Robin,
Yes, this is Mark.
First, congratulations on Michael’s works in progress! The Cycle, After the Fall, and Blythin Castle all sound like exciting projects, and it’s impressive to see such a strong lineup coming together.

I want to clarify upfront that I don’t work with multiple marketing people, I only work with Rob Cox and his team. They are the ones who have handled all of my marketing and consistently delivered results.

We first connected by email when I engaged them for marketing support for my books. Since then, Rob and his team have been my sole marketing partners, managing everything from strategy to execution.

Before we go further, could you let me know who provided you with my email for a reference? I want to make sure my contact information is only shared appropriately.

If you would like to verify their work or get more details on the results they’ve achieved, you can reach out to Rob directly. I’m confident he and his team can provide all the information you need.

Best regards,

Mark Lawrence

Oh the "balls" on this guy.  Now Robin also sent an email to the real Mark Lawrence, and hopefully he can take action against these guys for using his name to defraud others. But I can't believe how much effort this guy has put into this. He's later sent Robin three other authors as references, and she, of course, hae told them how they are being used.

For many years critics of my writing say that my glasses are too rose-colored. And I'll admit, I try to think better of people than worse - but Dear Maribor, this kind of scum make something that is so hard to begin with so much worse that it's more than a little disheartening.

Okay, I'm off my rant and back to writing.

 

Cradle Animatic - Now on YouTube

Back in March of 2019 I made a post on our blog about Will Wight.  This was the first time I saw an indie published book hit the top 5 on Amazon's overall list, so I wrote a little note of congratulations to Will, someone who I had never met. I should note that Will went on to hit #1 on Amazon - and multiple times!

It wasn't until I was watching Adam Grandy's Indie Author Documentary that I learned just how much that post meant to Will (and his family).  Years later, I did some mentoring of Will and his team to get him to (a) run Kickstarters and (b) move from print-on-demand for his books to doing print runs and getting them into mainstream brick-and-mortar distribution.

I've been nothing but thrilled with Will's success, and just about exactly two years ago he surpassed my capabilities at "taking it to the next level" by launching an initiative to animate Will's Cradle series. His Kickstarter brought in more than 1.25M and a few months ago I flew out to Los Angeles for the animatic premier.

I WAS BLOWN AWAY!

Not only was it entertaining, but it as a testament to the quality and stewardship of an author's vision when they had full creative control. For those that didn't back the Kicksarter here is a bit about what was produced (text from Will's team):

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This is the two-hour animatic movie adaptation of the first two books in the Cradle series funded by the Kickstarter campaign we ran in 2024! Enjoy this journey through Unsouled and Soulsmith. 

This animatic was directed and hand-drawn by veteran animators Jay Oliva and David Hartman of Lex + Otis Studios. It includes an original score and a top-notch voice cast featuring Matt Mercer, Steve Blum, Travis Baldree, Kari Wahlgren, Phil LaMarr, Baraka May, Sumalee Montano, Matthew Yang King, Morla Gorrondona and Maxine Phoenix. 

The script was written by Will Wight himself with the help of Cradle fanatic and writer/producer Cory Gustke. Original score composed by Frederik Wiedmann. Even though it is black and white and hand-drawn, we would rate this as PG-13. There is quite a bit of violence.

An “animatic” is the step before full animation. Since it is hand-drawn, the character designs aren’t perfectly consistent from scene to scene. If we were able to pair with a studio to fully animate this project, the characters would be “on model” and look consistent and the motion would be fluid. 

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Recently, Will's team posted the animatic on You Tube, so I'm here to share it with you. Yes you can watch all 2 hours and 10 minutes of it (be sure to stay through all the credits as there are some great bloopers)

But to truly appreciate the "vision" of what this could be - you MUST see the full-color fully animated trailer:

I'm sure you'll enjoy both.

The next logical step is for some big studio (like Netflix or HBO) to build on what Will and his team have started and produce an animated series or movie. I do hope that happens. But more than that, I have a dream that Will can continue to maintain "his vision and involvement," something that is definitely not an easy thing to do when "Hollywood" is involved.  Will and his whole team have proved time and time again their abilities - if anyone can do it, I think they can.

J.A. Andrews says, "If you only back ONE Kickstarter this winter . . . this would be AN EXCELLENT choice

Hey all, Robin here.  I'm reaching out to you today for two reasons.

1. I'm a big fan of J. A. Andrews (both personally and professionally) - and if you don't know her work, then I definitely think you should check it out.
   
   
2. When a fellow author is in need, I try to do what I can to help. 

Over the years I've heard a lot of people say that they find similarities between J.A.'s writing style and Michael's. It's even a topic on one of our discord servers.  Instead of trying to summarize the comparison myself, I used the dreaded AI (yes, it is good for some things - namely taking large amounts of data from the Internet and summarizing it) to help make a case as to why people who like Michael's writing might also like J.A's books. 

---

 So I asked chatgpt:

"Do people who like Michael J. Sullivan's writing also enjoy J.A. Andrew's books?"

And it replied with the following:

Yes — many readers who enjoy Michael J. Sullivan’s books also tend to like J.A. Andrews’ works, especially if they’re drawn to classic, character-driven epic fantasy with a generally optimistic tone. Here’s how they overlap and why fans often cross over:

🔹 Classic epic fantasy style

Both authors write in a traditional epic/high fantasy vein, with clear world-building, engaging quests, and a focus on adventure. J.A. Andrews’ The Keeper Chronicles and related series fit this mold well.

🔹 Character growth and camaraderie
Like Sullivan’s Riyria books (which balance witty dialogue, layered friendships, and engaging character arcs), Andrews’ books emphasize character relationships and growth over grimdark violence. Reviewers note that Andrews’ series is “meant for an adult audience, and have high stakes, but don’t need graphic gore or sex scenes” — a tone many Sullivan fans appreciate.

🔹 Light and hope balanced with real stakes
Andrews mixes hopeful, optimistic storytelling with real consequences — not a grimdark world, but one where characters are tested and changed by their journeys. That’s similar to the way Sullivan balances danger and humor in his work.

📌 Who might especially enjoy both

Readers who like:

• Adventurous epic fantasy with clear stakes and structured world-building

• Strong friendships and team dynamics

• Balanced tone (not overly grimdark)

• Accessible prose and satisfying quests

are likely to enjoy both Sullivan and Andrews.

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I'm sorry to say that I've yet to read any of Janice's works, to be honest, I've not read much of anything except Michael's works for years), but I have backed every single one of her Kickstarter (sometimes during the project and other times as a late backer) and she's created some really great looking additions to our library.  

I'm also in a writer's group with Janice and have met her personally on several occasions. Not only is she a  talented writer, but she's also a wonderful person. When Janice reached out to ask me to help her friend and fellow writer Mellissa Wright, well, there was no question that I would do what I could.

As some of you may know, Michael and I helped Shawn Speakman through his Unfettered Anthology, and we are also helping Peter Orullian with the Unbroken Anthology (launching on Kickstarter April 21st) both projects were used to pay medical debt after cancer diagnoses. 

Mellissa's problem isn't cancer but rather a long ordeal due to a spinal injury in 2019.  If you want to read more about it, Janice does an excellent job here. But the long and the short of it is comes down to s surgery that could bring her back to 80% - 90% of being fully functional.  So, she's launched a Kickstarter for A Necromancer's Guide to Grave Mistakes Deluxe LE Hardcover, and some of these proceeds will cover the travel and uncovered medical expenses.

Here's a bit about the book: It’s this cozy, hilarious story of Cinder Ella, a necromancer who can’t seem to put the dead back into their eternal rest once she’s raised them. Prince Charming, whose name is Silas, is the most charming prince ever put into print. He’s long-suffering and calm in the face of Ella’s increasingly unorthodox plans to find her father’s killer and keep her evil stepmother from sabotaging the royal family.

Michael and I have already backed the project, and it's doing well. (Over $25,000 raised to date). So please check it out, and if it looks like something that will scratch your reading itch, join us and pick up a copy.

As always, Michael and I thank you for your support and for supporting indie authorship.

Robin.

Indie Author Documentary - now available on YouTube!

 As some of you may know, Adam Grandy approached us about doing a documentary about our lives. We didn't think anyone would be interested in such a thing, but Adam persisted. We finally relented but only on the condition that he expand the scope to talk about Indie Authors across the board and add some insights from other Indie authors (many of whom are our friends).  

This was Kickstarted, it "made the documentary circuit" but didn't get any awards - boo...but it is now available on YouTube, so if you didn't get the movie as part of the Kickstarter, you can now watch it FOR FREE.  I hope you'll give it a look.

Who is in the movie? Well, myself and Robin (of course), but also Andy Wier, Travis Baldree, Will Wight, Bryce O'Conner, A.C. Cobble, Emilie Nikota (also known as delemhach), Lorian Ellis (co-author of Out of the Ashes), M.L. Wang, Lydia and David Sherrer and other!

Audiobooks: 4 Series, 8 bestsellers, 1 on sale, 2 ownership changes

Hey all, Robin here. Michael and I are fresh back from an extended vacation in Key West (more on that at some point in the future).  But there have been some shuffling of audiobook titles recently, so I was taking a look at one of the fantasy bestsellers lists, and I was happy to see at least one book from each of Michael's 4 series hitting the list, and that there are currently 8 titles in total!

Another surprise is that Age of Myth is currently part of Audible's monthly deal sale so if you don't already have that title in your library - pick it up while it's discounted nearly 70%!!

Okay, so what do I mean about "shuffling of titles." Well, what I'm referring to is that in the past, we have licensed the audiobooks through one of two sources:

• Recorded Books - the largest audiobook distributor
• Audible Studios - the publishing arm of Audible and an Amazon subsidiary

And recently, we added a new distribution strategy to our mix

• Self-publishing through Riyria Enterprises, LLC.

Unlike print and ebook rights (which are sold for the life of copyright (which means 70 years after Michael dies), audiobook contracts expire after a fixed term (usually 7 or 10 years).  As such, these rights become "available" from time to time.  This recently happened with two titles - which you may see in your audible library as "new releases" - even though they aren't new - they have just changed hands.

• Age of War - previously licensed to Recorded Books is now released through Audible Studios
• The Death of Dulgath - previously licensed to Audible Studios is now released through Riyria Enterprises.

In the case of Age of War, Recorded Books wouldn't sub-license the narration, but don't fret, as Tim Gerard Reynolds re-recorded it. Nothing in the book has changed, but the new version may be slightly longer (or shorter) based on how fast or slow he did the reading the second time around.

For The Death of Dulgath, Audible Studios sold us the sub-license to the narration, so that recording is exactly as it has always been. That said, at some future date we plan on making a "10th anniversary version" of this audiobook, and we'll offer a slightly enhanced version through a Kickstarter campaign including a new author's note, an updated afterword by myself, and we'll bundle some bonus material such as a few Royce and Hadrian short stories, and a "behind the scenes" making of the book that some might find interesting.

Michael and I want to thank you for your continued support of his writing. It's great seeing books from all four series making the bestseller list. This is especially encouraging as it's only people who have "read everything" who will truly appreciate The Cycle series (a post-Riyria Revelations set of books which he is writing now).  The fact that all four series are selling well bodes well for a good number of people being eligible to read that when it comes out. More books coming soon!

Unbroken Update

Happy 2026 all!  As you may have heard, Robin, I, and Shawn Speakman are helping Peter Orullian with the Unbroken Anthology. In the same spirit as Unfettered (which was created to relieve Shawn Speakman of medical debt from his second cancer diagnosis), this anthology will (hopefully) do the same for Peter and his wife, neither of which have medical insurance (and both of whom have incurred high debut from cancer). A big part of this situation is  because earning a living wage and healthcare as an author isn't an easy feat.

We were planning on launching the Kickstarter in January, but for a number of reasons, it's been pushed to April 21st.  More than 7,000 people have signed up to be notified about this pre-order and there is a free gift if you back it within the first 48 hours, so if you want to sign up for notification, then you can sign-up from this link.

Since the anthology was originally announced, some authors couldn't participate, and others have been added. Here is the full list:

As you can see, there are some "heavy hitters" on this project including Brandon Sanderson, Terry Brooks, Christopher Paolini, Brent Weeks, Kevin Hearne, Mark Lawrence, and R.A. Salvatore. Some of the most recent adds were a number of notable indie authors such as Matt Dinniman, Will Wight, and Ryan Cahill. This will be a must have anthology, and what's even better is it's for a good cause.

For my own contribution, it'll have a short story from The Cycle: the highly-anticipated post-Riyria Revelations series.  If you are anxiously awaiting those 5 books, then you'll want to nab a copy.

A belated Christmas Gift

Hey all, Robin here. Since the end of November, and continuing for another week or so, Michael and I have been in Key West Florida, soaking up the sun, biking, playing tennis, and really enjoying ourselves.  Being away from the cold and "the kids" has made it an odd holiday - it was weird hearing Christmas songs while sipping on Margaritas and eating shrimp and oysters.

We didn't even exchange gifts!  So I thought I'd give one to all of you instead (albeit a little late).

Unfortunately, I don't have a new story to send your way (although I did just take back control of The Jester audiobook and you can get it free from us from this link).  WhatI have instead is an update on "The Cycle" (shh . . . don't tell Michel, I'm posting this while he's out for a walk).

If you don't know what that is, then you'll want to learn more about it from the link above. This will be Michael's magnum opus, and it is a love letter to his most ardent fans.  In short, it's a 5-book sequel to the Riyria Revelations, and it will utilize characters and tie in plots from EVERY book (and short story) that is based in Elan.

If you are already familiar with The Cycle then you know it won't be released until it's 100% written and Michael has been working on the project for almost 4 years now. A lot of that time was spent just trying to figure out if such a feat was possible, and after a few filed attempts hit the vertical filing system, writing has been going pretty steady with 2.66 books completed - that's over half way!

• Book 1: 33 chapters (152,667 words) 
• Book 2: 40 chapters (178,045 words) 

As for the current book, Michael's at 89,608 words and he started it on 09/09/25.  The plan is to get it completed before May 1st, and he's well on track for that.

• Book #1 took about 9 months of writing
• Book #2 took just a bit over 10 months
• Book #3 is presently at 3.75 months and if the pace continues he should be done by March 1st which would make it the "fastest one yet" - just 5.7 months!

I've read the first two books and they are nothing short of amazing. I hope you are as excited about this project as I am, but I should warn you, it'll be best if experienced by people who have read all four series. So, if you've not done that yet, well you'll have some time to catch up.

Happy 2026 all!