Last Day for Sale & Giveaway

Hey all, I love hearing from readers and I've amassed many emails through my correspondence, friends on Goodreads, and people who have signed up for my newsletters. What I haven't done is a very good job sending out updates to people. Earlier this month, I tried to correct that short-coming by sending out a Year-End News email. If you didn't happen to get your copy (or it was shuffled off to the spam folder), I wanted to take a moment to repeat the information here on my blog as some of of the items on that email are ending today! So here we go...

7 Authors, 50+ items, savings of 10% - 70% off signed books, short-stories merchandise, and ebooks.
A bunch of authors decided to band together for a multi-author holiday sale. I'm proud to be included with the likes of Brent Weeks, Kevin Hearne, Brian McClellan, and several others to offer books at amazing prices. And the best part, you can get them signed without traveling to a convention. One thing to note, the sale ends December 15th so don't wait too long to check it out.

Click here to find all items on sale

Age of Myth hitting best of 2016 lists
Starting a new series is a frightening prospect. Will readers be so wedded to past characters that they won't accept new ones? Have I completely forgotten how to write? Am I delusional about anyone being interested in my stories? So, there was more than just a bit of trepidation when releasing Age of Myth this June. I'm so pleased that the concern was unfounded, as the book has been so well received. In less than six months it has over 5,000 5-star reviews. Only 2% have been 1's or 2's, 8% have rated the book a 3, and 90% have been 4's or 5's. It's the readers' opinions that I care the most about, but it's also icing on the cake to receive recognition from industry leaders. So, I'm honored that some of the most prestigious best-of 2016 lists have included Age of Myth. Personally, I find checking out these best-of lists to be a great way to find new novels to read, so please click on the links and hopefully you'll find some books to add to your 2017 reading.

Release Schedule Announced
Many people have wondered why the Legends of the First Empire books are being released on a one per year schedule considering they are already written. My first response, is they're not. Outside of the first two books (which were spaced one year apart), we had only a tentative schedule for the remaining books. The other thing to note is there is a big difference between "written" and "done." You see, after turning in Age of Myth, I spent about a year making changes to the end of the series and that meant that Age of Swords(book #2) sat idle for all that time. Now that the new ending is done, I've started writing a 4th Riyria Chronicle novel and I hope to have its first draft done by the end of February. With five books in various forms of editing, and a sixth book to be finished in a few months, it became apparent that we would have to step up the release schedule. Robin, my agent, and Del Rey have been working on the dates for the next few books and here is what we've come up with.

There are a few things to note. First, the covers at these links are placeholders. Marc Simonetti is already working on Age of Swords, and I'll debut it as soon as it's ready. Also, pre-order pages are up for Age of Swords, so if you know you'll want to read it as soon as possible, please consider buying now. Pre-orders make a huge impact on how much marketing the publisher dedicates and how prominent the bookstores display the books. It's early support that can really impact the success of a release.

I should also mention that the next Riyria novel will have an unusual distribution plan, and initially (first six-months or so), it won't be available from retailers. That said, ebooks, hardcovers, and trade paperbacks will be for sale directly from me via my website and a Kickstarter campaign. Plus, audio versions will be on sale at Audible.com and through the iBookstore. Because of the unusual way we are releasing, it's best if you sign-up for notifications or you might not see when it's out there.

Click here to sign-up for Riyria #4 Notification

Age of Myth Giveaway
From time to time, either myself or my publisher hosts a Goodreads Giveaway, and I have one running right now for Age of Myth. I really wanted to make sure that any winners could get their signed hardcovers by Christmas, so it's only open to the US and Canada. I'm sorry to cut out other parts of the world, but I'll be doing another one early in 2017 that's open for all people. Winners will be chosen at the end of the day on December 15th, so, like the multi-author sale, keep that deadline in mind.

Click here to sign-up for the Giveaway

Beta Reader Sign-up
I've been getting a lot of emails from people who want to beta read. Robin runs the program, and it's a pretty intense system. Her process provides some really amazing feedback and the result is significant improvements to the books. Typically, we get several hundred volunteers, and given we have some beta-reading veterans, we only have room for 10 - 12 new people each cycle. From the sign-up link below, you can learn what's involved in the process, and if it looks like something you'd be interested in, you can add your name to the list. Oh, and just because the link takes you to a page that features Age of War, the form is actually a global list for both series. When you add your name, you can choose which books you are interested in, so, don't let that aspect throw you.

Click here for Beta Reader Sign-up

And that's it!
Whew, that's a lot of updates, and I'm sorry it's coming in such a big chunk. I want to be conscious of people's email burden, and as such, I'd rather send fewer messages with more content than the other way around. As always, I never sell, rent, or otherwise abuse your email address, and I try to provide content that you care about. I have no desire to spam, so if this message (and others like it) aren't something you are interested in, then by all means unsubscribe and It'll stop future messages. For your convenience, there is a link at the bottom of the page to do so.

I hope you're having a great holiday season and are as excited about 2017 as I am. I'll keep writing and releasing, and hopefully you'l keep reading.