Did you know that today, July 1st is INDIE PRIDE DAY? Well, now you do!
On July 1st 2016, Indie Authors from around the world will be posting to social media pictures of the authors holding up their books with the hashtags #IndiePrideDay and #IndieBooksBeSeen. Last year thousands participated, and the Indie Pride Day trended for three days on Twitter; generating over 25,000 tweets.
As most know, I'm a big indie supporter and have a number of titles that are self-publishes as well. To give a helping hand I plan on buying 10 indie books and then posting reviews of the ones I enjoyed. My preference is not surprisingly fantasy so if you are an indie author and have a book for sale, leave a one paragraph introduction in the comments and I might pick yours.
I should also mention that some authors will also be offering book discounts and giveaways – so keep an eye out for the Indie Pride hashtags; you might just end up with a new book to add to your shelf.
Also, if you know an indie author, tell them to participate as well. Hoping that I'll find some great new books and that some new authors will get a needed spotlight.
Several of my author buddies are participating today.
ReplyDeleteHi Michael, Benedict Patrick here. This is a repeat of the post I made in your Reddit fantasy thread yesterday - I'll never pass up another chance to shill my wares :p
ReplyDeleteHere's the pitch:
They Mostly Come Out At Night launched a few weeks ago - it has been selected as one of the top 30 covers in Mark Lawrence's SPFBO, and a recent advance reviewer on Goodreads wrote: "They Mostly Come Out At Night is every dark fantasy reader's dream."
He locked himself away from the dark, but in the Magpie King’s forest nowhere is safe…
Lonan is an outcast, accused of letting the monsters that stalk the night into the homes of his fellow villagers. Now, he will not rest until he wins back the heart of his childhood love and reclaims the life that was stolen from him. However, locked safely in his cellar at night, in his dreams Lonan finds himself looking through the eyes of a young prince…
Adahy has a destiny, and it terrifies him. How can he hope to live up to the legend of the Magpie King, to become the supernatural protector of the forest and defender of his people? But when the forest is invaded by an inhuman force, Adahy must rise to this challenge or let the Wolves destroy his people.
Watching these events unfold in his sleep, Lonan must do what he can to protect his village from this new threat. He is the only person who can keep his loved ones from being stolen away after dark, and to do so he will have to earn back their trust or watch the monsters kill everyone that he holds dear.
The book is just 99c/99p on Amazon at the moment because, well, I'm new :p
Hello Michael!
ReplyDeleteMy name is James Vernon and I've been a struggling indie author for a few years now. My main career is a high school math teacher, but a long commute every day gave me plenty of time to think up a fun fantasy world and some characters that I've enjoined writing about. I've released three books so far, with a fourth in the works along with another side project. The process of being an author with no idea how to sell myself or my work has had its ups and downs but I've enjoyed every second of it.
Although I'm a huge fantasy fan, I actually first came across your work during your kickstarter for Hollow World. I was looking around, trying to get some ideas for my own kickstarter and happened upon your project. From there I got into Royce and Hadrian and have been following you, and your advice for authors ever since.
The series that I've written is called Bound to the Abyss, also the title of the first book, and follows a young man named Ean, who falls into the trope of being the outcast of his village because of the sins of his parents. What the village doesn't know is that Ean has access to a book that summons creatures from the Abyss, a dangerous land filled with savage and intelligent monsters. His few attempts at using this magic havn't gone as planned, but he has succeeded in summoning his only friend, Zin, an imp with its own motives. The story begins as Ean attempts to get a better handle over the magic he can wield, which of course drives him out into a much bigger world.
The three stories I have written so far are all on Amazon, with Bound to the Abyss being found here.
https://amzn.com/B00JG7JC2K
If you have the chance I would love for you to check it out. I'm sure your going to get swamped when people see this, so enjoy all the new books you'll be introduced to and have a great summer!
James
Hello Michael,
ReplyDeleteA friend told me about your plan to review ten indie stories... Sounds like a great idea!
First, let me explain that I write as Thorby Rudbek, and have so far published four Sci-fi novels and one fantasy story. As your genre is fantasy, let me suggest you might enjoy Terraless, my fantasy tale.
Waking up with a cat draped over your face might be okay if you, like the heroine of our story, are a cat-lover, but finding out that everything seems not quite the same and that you remember nothing before your awakening might make your new day seem altogether too new.
Family gone, though of course your vacant mind makes it impossible to really remember this – there are only hints, echoes, and surprises. You investigate and find medieval-style weaponry and toilet, small ground floor windows and two heavily-armoured exterior doors with huge bolts. This structure is a fortress! Outside: an endless blanket of wheat, above, a glowing object with tentacles that never sets and seems to be alive. You experience visceral visions and discover rope and bolts move at your wish.
A water well beyond the bolted safety of your fortress, hidden in the tall grasses; there is something hidden out there that screams, knocks on doors and leaves hidden messages. Your thirst means that you must step outside and risk contact with the screamer.
You find a small town populated by a scattering of feudal inhabitants controlled by the soldiers of the sinister Seirchaal. You break the fragile balance and are sucked into the conflict, finding you must protect both the locals and yourself with the bow and arrows that seem so familiar.
A land called Terraless – so many meanings within. Eternally lit by creature-power, filled with endless fields of wheat… and no one who can remember anything beyond three years before your arrival!
Fantasy and fallibility, young adult style with strong character development, adventure, action and depth to satisfy the general adult reader, too… Find yourself as you get lost in Terraless! https://www.amazon.com/Terraless-Fantasy-World-Thorby-Rudbek-ebook/dp/B00HXK47AO#navbar
Hi Michael,
ReplyDeleteit's awesome that you're doing this! I had no idea about #IndiePrideDay so I will be heading for twitter next :)
Anyway, here's my pitch, followed by the description and amazon link for my fantasy novel "Age of Torridan":
"A disillusioned knight, who is framed for murder by a mysterious wizard, sets out to clear his name and ends up discovering himself."
"The future seems certain, devoid of promise. Ferro Torridan believes that his career as a knight has reached an impasse with his latest assignment at Mountain Watch garrison. All that changes when demons from an age gone by raze the outpost, killing most of his fellow knights. With the aid of his fiancé Leena and the other survivor, Knight Jarina Dagon, Ferro embarks on a journey to find out what prompted the attack.
There's little respite for Ferro, as his survival puts him on the wanted list of a mysterious wizard, of the interim ruler of his homeland and of the queen of a neighboring state.
All of these power players want him for different reasons and suddenly he finds that clearing his name of the accusation of being in league with the demons is the least of his worries: the events set in motion at Mountain Watch threaten to tear the world asunder. Ferro Torridan must face his fears if he is to save the world. But what is the mark of a true hero?"
http://t.co/9Jw2O7yvew
Again, thanks for doing this,
all the best,
Kai Herbertz
Hi Michael! I saw your blog post on GoodReads and thought I'd swing by...been following you for a few years now, I think (that always sounds so wrong!), and am a huge fan of the Riyria books. I'm a nursing student, so I was at clinicals yesterday and completely missed that it was Indie Pride day. :-( Hope a day late is better than not at all. A little intro...I write mainly fantasy as well, and my current series in progress, The Madness Method, is a fantasy with a steampunk sort of flair. In a country where magic has been shunned for a century, and those gifted with magic are prohibited from holding positions of power in society, Crown Prince Tarik has had to hide his own Gift since he was five years old. But on his seventeenth birthday, an attack on his family shocks his nation and threatens to destroy everything he has ever known. All the evidence points to an underground society of mages, and with his rare ability to alter his appearance, Tarik is the only one with any chance of infiltrating their ranks and discovering the extent of their plans. But in a world of crime, secrets, and violent ambition, nothing can prepare him for the life of lies he will have to lead. Or for Hayli, the shape-shifter mage who may be the one who will ruin all his plans...or the only one who can save him from himself. The book isn't on sale today, but it will be free on July 4th! :) https://www.amazon.com/Madness-Project-Method-Book-ebook/dp/B00FIYEQYY
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this! Your own story is a huge inspiration to me. Hope you find some great new reads this weekend! :)
J. Leigh Bralick
Hi! I'm an indie author with two novels and four collections for sale. Hmmm. . . .
ReplyDeleteI shall suggest Madeleine And the Mists.
"Enchanted pools, shadowy dragons, wolves that spring from the mists and vanish into them again, paths that are longer, or shorter, than they should be, given where they went. . . the Misty Hills were filled with marvels.
Madeleine still left the hills, years ago, to marry against her father's will. If her husband's family is less than welcoming, she still is glad she married him, and they have a son, two years old.
But her husband's overlord has fallen afoul of the king. And all his men fall with him, including her husband.
She sets out, to seek the queen and try to bypass the king -- and the Misty Hills.
Some things are not so easily evaded.
Hi Michael, this is re-post from the reddit fantasy forum. Please allow me to suggest The Dragon's Blade: The Reborn King. It is an epic about a sixty year old dragon prince who is reborn and raised by humans instead. Drew from the Tattooed Book Geek described it as, "fantasy at its fast paced finest." Full blurb below:
ReplyDeleteDragons once soared in the skies, but that was before the Transformation, before they took human form. Now, demonic forces stand to obliterate them. When left mortally wounded, Darnuir, the Prince of Dragons, can only be saved through a dangerous rebirthing spell. He is left as a babe in human hands.
Twenty years later, Darnuir is of age to wield the Dragon's Blade. As the last member of his bloodline, he is the only one who can. He is plunged into a role he is not prepared for, to lead a people he does not know. Shadowy demons ravage his new home and the alliance between humans, dragons and fairies has fractured.
Time is short, for new threats and deadlier enemies are emerging...
Reviews to be found on Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dragons-Blade-Reborn-King-ebook/dp/B017UDTDCK and Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27984704-the-dragon-s-blade
Although not relevant to the book itself, I'll add that just today it won both the blogger and public vote for best cover in Mark Lawrence's SPFBO2 http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/favourite-covers-from-spfbo-2016.html
Whether you decide to give Dragon's Blade a shot or not, I hope you find some good reads out of all the books suggested
Thanks all, I'll be making my selections shortly. Hope you all had a great Indie Day.
ReplyDeleteHi Michael. I know I'm late to this party (I just found you today through a Goodreads news email and began following your tracks until I wound up here) BUT I see that you may not have 10 indie books yet? #wishfulthinking
ReplyDeleteSo I'd like to introduce my fantasy novel, A Sawmill's Hope:
~
Tucked in a forgotten corner of Silexare, in the foothills of the Moonstone Mountains, lies the small town of Berdes. Here, Darke and his three closest friends agree to track and capture the Parandrus, a mythical beast that dwells near the wild and uncharted Lake of Four Falls. On their way through the Unwithering Woods, they are confronted by ancient guardians of rivers and forests, assaulted by vengeful alchemists, chased by territorial grindbears, tested by pine spirits, and stalked by a lurking evil.
The party is broken and when the moment comes to fulfill the agreement, it is not at all what they expected.
There is more than the sawmill at stake.
~
If you're interested, here's its Amazon page -
https://www.amazon.com/Sawmills-Hope-Mature-Fantasy-Adventure/dp/0991516214
Thanks for you attention and the help you offer authors! I was glad to be affirmed by your advice - spend more time writing the next book than you spend marketing your last.
David T List
www.DavidTList.com
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