Preorder Excitement Continues to Build for Nolyn

 

Look what's #1 on the "Coming Soon" list for Science Fiction and Fantasy. Yep, it's Nolyn. I'm so pleased that so many people are excited enough about the new release that they are pre-ordering. This ensures you'll have the audiobook waiting for you on August 3rd.

If you haven't picked up your copy yet, you can do so here. And the first chapter and the Author's Note is already posted there so you can listen to them now!

Robin and I thank you for your continued support, and we'll do our best to keep the stories coming.

Nolyn: Moving and Shaking

 

We are a bit less than 2 weeks away from the retail release of Nolyn. Are you excited? I know Robin and I are.  It looks like some other people are as well because the rank is rising massively.  So much in fact, that Nolyn is #6 on Amazon's Movers and Shakers list (which is updated hourly and shows the biggest change in rank over the past 24 hours. It won't be long now!

Novel Notion's Top 10 Fantasy of 2021 (so far)

Petrik at Novel Notions just completed his top 10 Fantasy Picks for January - June 2021, and I'm thrilled, honored, and thankful to have a book on his list: The Crown Tower.  For those that don't know, this is the first book in the Riyria Chronicle and it details how Royce and Hadrian met and the first job they did as a team (later to be known by Riyria).  Here are all ten titles.

• She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan - June 2021 - Goodreads: 4.26 | 638 ratings
  
  
• The Helm of Midnight by Marina J. Lostetter - April 2021 - Goodreads: 3.88 | 366 ratings
  
  
• The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan - August 2013 - Goodreads: 4.33 | 32,071 ratings
  
  
• Bloodline by Will Wight - April 2021 - Goodreads: 4.53 | 7,148 ratings
  
  
• Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover - May 1999 - Goodreads: 4.09 | 11,234 ratings
  
  
• Daughter of the Empire by Feist & Wurts - Jan 1987 - Goodreads: 4.28 | 33,758 ratings
  
  
• The Shadow of Gods by John Gwynne - May 2021 - Goodreads: 4.44 | 2,253 ratings
  
  
• The Hand of the Sun King by J. T. Greathouse - Aug 2021 - Goodreads: 4.54 | 35 ratings
  
  
• Dreams for the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau - Oct 2020 - Goodreads: 4.48 | 428 ratings
  
  
• The Empire's Ruin by Brian Staveley - July 2021 - Goodreads 4.30 | 50 ratings

I hope you'll check out some of these amazing titles and find a good summer read!

Anticipation Mounts!

Hey all, we are just a tad less than 1 month from the retail release of Nolyn, and we're starting to see a lot of excitement building.  For instance, the book has made not just one but two Most Anticipated lists.

First, there's Audible.com. They selected Nolyn as one of only a handful of titles to get their Most Anticipated Books of the summer approval.

And while I'm at it, I just want to say I'm thrilled that David Estes (a friend and fellow indie author) also made the list - so you might want to check out his book KingFall as well. If you haven't yet pre-ordered your copy of Nolyn please do so now!  Oh, and while you're on that page, check out the first chapter read by the amazing Tim Gerard Reynolds and the author's note read by yours truly.

As for the other list, we've just received an email from our book distributor that Canda's Largest Bookstore is adding Nolyn to its Most Anticipated Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books list.  This is especially good news because it comes with great savings. From July 5th to the 11th Canadian book buyers can receive Nolyn at 30% off the list price.

So if you are in Canada, wait a few more days and pick up your deeply discounted copy here.

Another positive sign that people are interested in Nolyn is the larger number of people who has entered our  Goodreads Giveaway.

So far more than 6,700 people have signed up for a chance to win one of the 10 free SIGNED copies. If you haven't yet signed up - please hurry. This is the last day to enter and there is only a bit over 18 hours left. 

And our last indicator comes from NetGalley where almost 200 librarians, booksellers, educators, and reviewers have grabbed their free complimentary ebook editions of Nolyn.
 

If you are a NetGalley Professional Reader, then please request your free copy.

Here are some comments from early NetGalley reviewers

"Nolyn was a beautiful story that broke my heart and made me grin in equal measures. I will think about these characters long after having put the novel down, and I look forward to seeing what's next in the series."

"I have always felt that Sullivan's books have great climaxes/conclusions and this book was no exception. I really loved how all the storylines tied together towards the end and the little clues and hints from throughout coming together. I also felt like this was really satisfying to read as a standalone, and felt like an end for the characters we are following whilst still managing to have some subtle setup for the other two books in the trilogy - and it's safe to say I am very excited for those!!"

"I am sure that anyone who has read Sullivan’s works before probably won’t be surprised by how good this book was. I am a first-time reader and I loved it! Sullivan has written a top-notch story and I for one will be diving into his previous works so I can get some more!"

It's a bit difficult to know "exactly" how the sales are going (especially when there is a third party between me and the data (which is the case with print copies and audiobooks), but it's encouraging to see that Nolyn is on Amazon's 100 Best-selling New Releases in Epic Fantasy list.

We'll be watching the data over the next few weeks and hope to see that rise even higher!  As always, Robin and I thank you for your support.

An Aniversary and Some Good News.

 

It's been exactly 5 years since the hardcover edition of Age of Myth came out. One always hopes that a backlist title will continue to sell well after the initial release, but only a very small % of books do. When sales remain strong over an extended period of time it is referred as "long-legged." In many ways, this type of title is even better than one that hits a major bestseller list (such as the New York Times or USA Today).  Why? Because bestseller status just means a book has had at least one really good week (or month in the case of audiobooks) worth of sales.  In most cases, a book that sells for many years will out-perform those "one and done" bestselling titles.  

Another aspect of book sales has to do with when the hardcover goes out of print. After the publisher's warehouses go bare they have a choice to make: Do they print up more, or do they put that version out of print? In the case of Age of Swords, the first print run sold out at a good clip, but the second print run wasn't flying off the shelves. Storing books in the warehouse is expensive, so not only did they put that title out of print, they also decided to "remainder'" the copies they had.  This usually means the books are sold for a few pennies a pound and the author receives no money on copies sold that way.  As an author, you DO NOT want your books to be remaindered.  In our case, there was a silver lining to the Age of Swords hardcover going out of print . . . all because Robin is a savvy business person.  She added to the contract the condition that before a book is remaindered, we get the chance to buy the excess stock.  Which we did.  I can't remember the exact number of books we purchased, but I think it was around 4,000 or so.  Since receiving them, we have been selling them directly to readers (which gives us a much higher % of the money paid because there is no publisher or retailer involved -- and we bought the books at a much higher discount than the standard 50%).  I'm pretty sure we have sold about 2/3 of them and have around 1,000 left.  

Why did I mention that? Well, an email arrived today from Penguin Random House announcing that Age of Myth's hardcover has gone into its 7th printing!  That means there are more than 23,000 copies of that version "in print!" So we have two things to celebrate today.  For most books, the hardcovers "run their course" in the span of 9 months to a year, but as far as Age of Myth is concerned, its hardcover is still going strong a full 5 years from its release.

According to the numbers we get from the author's portal it looks like this book has sold about 389,000 copies across hardcovers, paperbacks, audiobooks, and ebooks.  That's amazing!  Robin and I thank all the people who picked up a copy of this book. Here's hoping you are one of them. 

Nolyn Audiobook Sale - 3 days and counting

 

It's about 6 weeks until the retail release of Nolyn, which is great timing because there is a sitewide sale going on at Audible.com.  They priced the book at 50% off which puts it about 17% lower than the price of a credit. 

And if you want to get started right now, the first chapter (as well as my author's note are on the Nolyn page and can be listened to right now).

I'm so excited about this release. Starting a new series doesn't happen often around the Sullivan household (2008, 2013, 2016, 2021) and this is the first time in thirteen years that we own and control the release - which is VERY exciting.  If you aren't yet familiar with this release. Here is some information about the book:

After more than five hundred years of exile, the heir to the empyre is wary about his sudden reassignment to active duty on the Goblin War’s front lines. His assignment to rescue an outpost leads to a dead-end canyon deep inside enemy territory, and his suspicion turns to dread when he discovers the stronghold does not exist. But whoever went to the trouble of planning his death to look like a casualty of war did not know he would be assigned to the Seventh Sikaria Auxiliary Squadron. In the depths of an unforgiving jungle, a legend is about to be born, and the world of Elan will never be the same.

From Michael J. Sullivan, the New York Times, USA Today, and Washington Post bestselling author, a new adventure begins with the first book in The Rise and Fall trilogy. Although this series is set in the same world as the Riyria novels and the Legends of the First Empire books, it is a standalone tale. As such, no prior knowledge of the other works is required to enjoy this tale to its fullest.

NOTE: The sale ends in about 3 days and 9 hours - so get your pre-order in by then!

Rise and Fall Artwork

 
Well, we are dangerously close to having the presses roll for the printing of Nolyn.  All the interior files are approved, I'm waiting on just three minor changes to the dust jackets, and the foil stamps for the limited edition copies were approved a few hours ago.  

If you are anything like me, knowing how the books will look when lined up on the shelves is an important aspect, so I thought I would share with you the spines for this series.  We wanted to do all the covers up "first" so that we could ensure a consistent "look" across the three titles. So here they are:

As soon as we get the three minor changes in for the dust jacket, we'll share the front and back for Nolyn as well.