Huge Audiobook Series Sale

Audible is having a major sale on series with prices in the $4 - $6 range (significantly below the $15 a month credit fee).  I have not one, or two, but ten, yes 10 titles in this sale. Each is narrated by the amazing Tim Gerard Reynolds (multiple Audible Award nominations and several Earphone Awards). \

 With Farilane coming out in June, I highly recommend digging into the Legends of the First Empire (the series that precedes the Rise and Fall Trilogy).

Here's what is on sale:

Legends of the First Empire (Books #1 - Book #4) - $21 for four books

• Age of Myth $6
• Age of Swords: $5
• Age of War: $5
• Age of Legend: $5

Riyria Chronicles (All Four books) - $20 for all four books

• The Crown Tower: $6
• The Rose and the Thorn: $4
• The Death of Dulgath: $5
• The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter: $5

Riyria Revelations (Books #1 & #2) - $9 for 2 books - but each is a 2-book omnibus so that is actually 4 books total.

• Theft of Swords: $4
• Rise of Empire: $5

If you've tried just one of my series and enjoyed it, then now would be a great time to try one of the other series.  I hope you do pick up some of these titles at these amazing prices.  But you have to hurry the sale ends April 29th!

What everyone is missing regarding Brandon Sanderson's Kickstarter

 

Brandon Sanderson's Kickstarter has been huge! $32.1M and counting - making it the highest-funded Kickstarter of all time.  A lot has been written about it. Some are asking if this puts a death-nail in traditional publishing? Some (bitter authors eating sour grapes), are lambasting it due to white privilege. Others wonder why someone so rich needs to do a Kickstarter. Here's a hint - Kickstarters aren't always about "need" but they always provide a more personal buying experience between creator and buyer.

Brandon did an excellent post that addressed some questions and provide some answers as to what he was trying to accomplish.

In it, he mentioned how he feels like there is a gun to his head.  85% of his income comes from Amazon, and if something were to happen he could see his whole livelihood vanish. But as someone who has been doing Kickstarters for a decade, I want to mention something that Brandon didn't spend much (or any as I recall) time on.

Here's the BIG secret of why Kickstarters are so important. Shhhh, don't tell anyone.  It's the emails stupid. I say "stupid" because I feel publishers have been exactly that in relying on retailers to sell their books. Amazon makes a ton of money, but their most valued asset is the millions (maybe billions) of emails they have collected over time. Why, oh why, haven't publishers understood this? It's one of the reasons Amazon rules and traditional publishers struggle.

Brandon will have the email addresses of 134,500+ readers--each one of which is willing to open heir wallet to give him money. These are fans so loyal, that they'll buy something even without knowing what it is!

It's not the 32.1 Million that is keeping the gun from Brandon's head - it's the fact that he can reach out -- personally - to his fanbase at any time and tell them, "Hey, guys/gals. I've written something new - would you like to support me to get it?" 

That's why I got into Kickstarters. I LIKE having that personal connection with my readers, and I know that if publishers, Amazon, and all the other "middlemen" disappear. I have my own little list (much less than 135,000) where I can reach out, and my bills will get paid.

I don't see anyone else talking about this, but when I recommend to fellow authors to do Kickstartarters, this is a big part of the reason.  

Oh, and I want to give a big thank you to Brandon for pointing out my own longevity in doing Kickstarters. At the end of his blog he writes:

"This is a step I could take.  It’s something I’ve wanted to try for years.  I’m certainly not the first to try it–not even the first bestselling fantasy novelist.  (Michael J. Sullivan has been using Kickstarter for almost a decade now to indie publish books.  He’s an excellent writer, and recently had a very successful Kickstarter of his own that deserves attention.)"

If you missed my Farilane Kickstarter, you can still join the fun by coming through the "backdoor." We can manually add you to the project if you tell us what you want at this link. 

Author's helping authors - Will Wight's Kickstarter

I've been trying to get Will Wight to do a Kickstarter for years now. He has a HUGE fanbase, and I knew he would kill it. I even predicted he'd blow me out of the water.  Well, he finally pulled the trigger - with a little help from my son, James, who has taken over running my own Kickstarters. I was right:

• Currently, it's raised over $445,000 in the first six days.
• It became fully funded in 6 minutes.
• It hit $100,000 in 1 hour and 45 minutes (it took Farilane 11 and a half hours to get there)
• It blew past Farilane's $200,000 funding limit in 6 hours
• It is the third-most funded fiction Kickaterter (right behind the other two Brandon Sanderson projects)

Will is a clever and funny man, and just before launching his project, he posted this video.  Anyone who knows about Brandon Sanderson's record-breaking Kickstarter (largest ever in Kickstarter history - currently at 27.7M) will recognize the brilliance of this video.

Yesterday, "the man" himself (Brandon Sanderson) shared this video on Twitter and Facebook, and that gave another shot in the arm to Will's Kickstarter. It's just one more example of authors helping authors. Brandon didn't have to do that - but the fact that he did shows what a "good bloke" he is as well.  With so much cynicism floating about in the world today, it's nice to see. 

I hope you'll join me and Brandon, and give Will's Cradle Kickstarter a look-see, and if you like what you find, please consider backing the project.

Farilane Kickstarter - 7 days left!

 

Wow, how time flies, and the Farilane Kickstarter continues to do well. It moved up a bit in the rankings and it is now the 9th most-backed and 9th highest-funded Fiction Kickstarter of all time.  Of my nine Kickstarters, it's in second place (based on funding) and only surpassed by Nolyn (Book #1 of the series.

The project is now over $150,000 in funding which makes it one of only nine fiction projects to reach that level.  And we've cleared a few more stretch goals which will provide the following bonuses:

• $111,000 - Matching Bookmark (see below) - UNLOCKED
• $137,000 - Online Bookclub Read - UNLOCKED
• $150,000 - Afterword to be written by Robin

The next stretch goal is $153,000 and it will mean that people with physical books will not only get the Farialane bookmark, but the Nolyn one as well:

Thanks, all for the continued amazing support. Please check out the Kickstarter, and if you like what you see, please back it.

Kickstarer Loves Farilane!

We are pleased to announce that Farilane has been selected by the Kickstarter team as one of their "Projects we Love" - thanks Kickstarter! They give this distinction to projects they think stand head-and-shoulders above other projects.  And I'm proud to say we've gotten this badge of honor many times!

And it looks like the backers of Kickstarter are also in love with the project. In its first two days it has reached the following milestones:

• Most popular fiction Kickstarter project.
• Fully funded in 18 minutes.
• First stretch goal completed - all books will have matching bookmarks,
• Crossed the $100,000 mark in 11.5 hours (only 15 fiction projects have ever earned that much).
• And it's in an all-time Top 10 fiction project both in terms of the number of backers and funding reached. It's even beat out a bunch of my prior Kickstarters!

We thank everyone for your continued support, and if you want to check out (and hopefully back) the Kickstarter, here is a link!

Big Kickstarter Day!

Well, Farilane's Kickstarter launched at noon today, and it was funded in just 18 minutes!  Thanks, all, for your continued support. But what makes me even more excited is that there are THREE great Kickstarters running right now by either myself or authors I've encouraged to get into Kickstarters.

Here are the links and a bit about each:

• Farilane (Book #2 of The Rise and Fall Trilogy) - ebooks, regular hardcovers, limited edition hardcovers

Some truth are dangerous, certain secrets best concealed, and one story should have never been written at all.

Being an unwanted twin in the Imperial line of succession, Farilane became a scholar, adventurer, and in a time when reading was once more forbidden - a book hunter. Her singular obsession is finding the mythical Book of Brin, a tome not just lost but intentionally buried. Respected and beloved by the Teshlor Knights, not even their legendary skills can protect her for what she finds is more dangerous than what she sought.

• Mother of Learning  (The first ARC in the serial bestseller) -  paperbacks and regular hardcovers

Zorian Kazinski has all the time in the world to get stronger, and he plans on taking full advantage of it.

A teenage mage of humble birth and slightly above-average skill, Zorian is attending his third year of education at Cyoria's magical academy. A driven and quiet young man, he is consumed by a desire to ensure his own future and free himself of the influence of his family, resenting the Kazinskis for favoring his brothers over him. Consequently, Zorian has no time for pointless distractions, much less other people's problems. 

As it happens, though, time is something he is about to get plenty of. 

On the eve of Cyoria's annual summer festival, Zorian is murdered, then abruptly brought back to the beginning of the month, just before he was about to take the train to school. Finding himself trapped in a time loop with no clear end or exit, he will have to look both within and without to unravel the mystery set before him. He does have to unravel it, too, because the loop clearly wasn’t made for his sake, and in a world of magic even a time traveler isn't safe from those who wish him ill. 

Fortunately for Zorian, repetition is the mother of learning…

• Fatemarked - (Book #1 in the 5-book Fatemarked series - #1 Bestseller in 10 Amazon categories) paperback, regular hardcover, and limited edition hardcovers  - ENDS IN JUST 3 DAYS!!

They are the Fatemarked. Misunderstood. Worshiped. Hated. Murdered at birth. Their time to step into the light has come.  

 

An ancient prophecy foretold their coming, the chosen few who will bring peace to a land embroiled in a century of mistrust and war. When kings start dying, that hope and belief swiftly turn to fear. Roan Loren is one of the fatemarked, but he has hidden his mark of power his entire life, fearing the damage it might cause to those around him. A great evil is coming, and he can't hide anymore.

For this Kickstarter, the project will be run by my son, James because we have twisted his arm into doing this as a business (mostly so that Robin can scale back what she does).  He is also running the Kickstarter for the third project - Fatemarked. It's a book I've read and recommend highly. So if you want to find another great fantasy to get into, stop over and back it.

The other project, Mother of Learning, isn't something I've read, but it's a serial sensation (found mostly through Royal Road).  The Kickstarter is being run by Wraithmarked - a company run by Bryce O'Conner and Dyrk Ashton - both are great friends and they are talented writers in their own right. I hope you'll check out that project as well!

Fatemarked Kickstarter

I belong to a small group of indie authors, and we get together at my house here in Luray for little mini-conventions in the summer.  They are a talented group, and I'm thrilled with seeing so many indies doing really well. One thing I've been trying to do is help in taking them to "the next level" which basically means utilizing Kickstarter, doing print runs (rather than print-on-demand books), and selling directly to readers.

As some have heard (via our Kickstarter updates), Robin is having to scale back because of decreased cognitive ability. The good news is our son James is stepping in to fill those really large shoes by making a new company called JMS Book Logistics. James will run my Kickstarter campaigns going forward, but he'll also be available to help out indie-authors who want to do Kickstarters but don't have the time to do so.

Well, James launched his first project a few days ago and it's for David Estes' Fatemarked. one of the authors from the group I spoke about. Now, I've not read books by all the authors in my little group, but I did read this one, and it's very good.  Those who know what a tough critic I am, realize that's really saying something.  I don't recommend books often, but I feel confident doing so for this one.  

Here's a bit about the book.

THEY ARE THE FATEMARKED. MISUNDERSTOOD. WORSHIPPED. HATED. MURDERED AT BIRTH. THEIR TIME TO STEP INTO THE LIGHT HAS COME.

An ancient prophecy foretold their coming, the chosen few who will bring peace to a land embroiled in a century of mistrust and war. When kings start dying, that hope and belief swiftly turn to fear. Roan Loren is one of the fatemarked, but he has hidden his mark of power his entire life, fearing the damage it might cause to those around him. A great evil is coming, and he can't hide anymore.

If funded, the Kickstarter will produce:

• Limited edition faux-leather hardcovers $65
• Regular hardcovers with dust jackets $25
• Trade paperbacks $15

Fatemarked is the first in a completed 5-book series:

David has sold more than 346,000 copies across the series (120,000 of which were for book one). The ebook has been a #1 top-seller in 10 categories including Epic Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Military Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, New Adult & College Fantasy, Coming of Age, Myths and Legends, Arthurian Fantasy, Medieval Fiction, and Historical Fiction. That's doing a lot better than any of my books did!

So, if you are interested in a really good classic fantasy tale, I hope you'll stop over to the Kickstarter and grab a copy.  All books are signed, and just like with my Kickstarters, you can have your name printed in the book (or a loved one's name).   Here's the link.