Riyria 2 for 1 sale

Hey, all well the Kickstarter is over, and I have updates for it, but we also have a time-sensative sale running right now, so I'm going to bump that other post to the back burner. Here goes...

Two of the Riyria Chronicle books are in the Audible 2 for 1 sale. That means you can get both of them for just 1 credit! Plus there are a lot of other great fantasy titles on sale right now:

Here's some information about the books to help you decide what you might be interested in. But hurry, sale ends October 20th at 11:59 PM PT.

Title	Author	Narrator	Series	Rating	# reviews
The Emperor's Blades	Brian Staveley	Simon Vance	Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne: #1	4.4	5,693
The Providence of Fire	Brian Staveley	Simon Vance	Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne: #2	4.5	4,105
A Warrior's Path	Davis Ashura	Nick Podehl	Castes and the OutCastes: #1	4.3	3,360
A Warrior's Knowledge	Davis Ashura	Nick Podehl	Castes and the OutCastes: #2	4.6	2,391
A Discovery of Witches	Deborah Harkness	Jennifer Ikeda	All Souls: #1	4.3	16,140
Shadow of Night	Deborah Harkness	Jennifer Ikeda	All Souls: #2	4.5	11,651
Furies of Calderon	Jim Butcher	Kate Reading	Codex Alera: #1	4.4	9,150
Academ's Fury	Jim Butcher	Kate Reading	Codex Alera: #2	4.6	7,133
Dreamer's Pool	Juliet Marillier	Scott Aiello Natalie Gold Nick Sullivan	Blackthorn & Grim: #1	4.4	1,201
Tower of Thorns	Juliet Marillier	Scott Aiello Natalie Gold Nick Sullivan	Blackthorn & Grim: #2	4.6	672
Den of Wolves	Juliet Marillier	Natalie Gold Nick Sullivan	Blackthorn & Grim: #3	4.8	496
The Grace of Kings	Ken Liu	Michael Kramer	Dandelion Dynasty: #1	4.1	760
The Wall of Storms	Ken Liu	Michael Kramer	Dandelion Dynasty: #2	4.6	160
The Crown Tower	Michael J. Sullivan	Tim Gerard Reynolds	Riyria Chronicles: #1	4.7	8,543
The Rose and the Thorn	Michael J. Sullivan	Tim Gerard Reynolds	Riyria Chronicles: #2	4.8	7,055
Fool's Errand	Robin Hobb	James Langton	Tawny Man: #1	4.5	2,850
Golden Fool	Robin Hobb	James Langton	Tawny Man: #2	4.6	2,160
Fool's Fate	Robin Hobb	James Langton	Tawny Man: #3	4.7	2,380
Nightblade	Ryan Kirk	Andrew Tell	Nightblade: #1	4.3	1,858
World's Edge	Ryan Kirk	Andrew Tell	Nightblade: #2	4.5	1,173
The Wind and the Void	Ryan Kirk	Andrew Tell	Nightblade: #3	4.5	938

Final Hours - Kickstarter ends at 7:30 EDT today!

Well, all good things come to an end, and it's been an exciting run doing our third, and most-successful Kickstarter to date.  You still have a few hours to join the fun, just click here, or on the graphic below:

We'll see where things finish out yet, as well as discover who guessed the closest and will be winning the limited edition copies. I think we'll probably fall short of the #1 most-backed project (still need 153 backers and we tend to get around 30 - 70 a day, but who knows, last days can be pretty exciting as people both join in (and leave) the project in the final few hours. Still #2 worldwide of all time isn't so shabby. As of this writing we have 2,025+ backer - which is really quite amazing.

I think we'll end up making the $80,000 stretch goal, which will put us in 4th place as far as highest-funded worldwide projects of all time. Again, as of this writing we had just $246 to jump into 4th place and $1,135 to hit the stretch goal.

Don't forget, there will be a live-streamed AMA (Ask me Anything) starting at 7:30 EDT.

Even if you can't be there - use the link to ask a question, and you can watch the video on your own schedule. I think they stay up 24 or 48 hours or something like that.

Oh, and a few other things about the book.

• Yesterday we did a remote "sit in" on the last recording session. Alex (the engineer) and Tim (the narrator) were in New Jersey and we spent 7 hours on a conference call as the last 4 chapters were recorded. (We had listened in on the other 5 sessions while up in New York last week).  So much fun - you guys are going to LOVE the audiobook - Both of those gentlemen did an exceptional job and we were able to step in from time to time to smooth something or make our own final adjustments. If the book wins and Audie, I want directorial credit!!
• Also yesterday, Robin poured over the printer's proofs.  They were in mostly good shape - the "big things" you worry about is color and that all turned out fine. They weren't perfect though, as she needed to nudge a bit here or there, and we did change a few words during the last recording. But al those are easy to fix and the proofs will be over-nighted and presses should roll next week. Our hope is to get the books out to people before Christmas. It'll probably be tight, but we'll do our best.

Okay, that's it. Fun times, but also exhausting, too. Can't wait to have this book in the can and get aback to writing/editing some of the other projects. Age of War is with the copyeditors and due back to us in just a few days. And Robin is compiling changes for book #4 -- currently it's titled Age of Legends but we are thinking of changing it Age of Despair.  We'll need to make a decision on that really really soon! Marc Simonetti is already working on the cover design for it.

That's all for now, hope to "see" some of you tonight - at least virtually for the AMA.

Live Stream October 26th 7:30 PM EDT - Ask Me Anything

Hey all, as we wind down to the final few hours of The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter Kickstarer we have schemed a live-streamed AMA (ask me anything). It'll start an hour before the close of the Kickstarter and will continue through it's end and until all the questions are answered.

To participate in the live-stream AMA here's a link. From there you can ask questions, see our lovely faces, and we might even give you a tour of my office, and a bit of the cabin.  Hope to see you there!

Final 4 days for the Kickstarter

The Death of Dulgath Kickstarter was a huge success, and I admit that while I hoped for similar results from The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter, I wasn't expecting similar results. We had a huge day yesterday: More than 190 backers came in and pledged over $5,300.  That pushed us to the #2 most-backed US Fiction Kickstarter project, surpassing The Death of Dulgath by more than 50 people so far.

That's pretty incredible when you consider the new Kickstarter has only been running for 18 days and it took 43 days for the previous one. Given we have 4 days left (and end of Kickstarters tend to have increased traffic: The Death of Dulgath brought in more than $11,000 in its final day), I think we'll be able to raise the remaining $1,393 to surpass it in total pledges in addition to the number of backers.

For those who haven't been following the Kickstarter, here is a link as well as some of the bonus items brought in by stretch goals:

• $50,000 UNLOCKED! - Online, searchable glossary of terms and names. I love glossaries, but they are time consuming to produce. With a few more dollars we can justify taking the time to produce one. 

• $55,000 UNLOCKED!- Inclusion of a backer's list in the ebook listing the names of all the people who made the project possible (you can, of course, choose to opt out) if you wish to remain anonymous. The name to be inserted will be collected during the survey process

• $60,000 - UNLOCKED Bookmarks! We'll design up a bookmark that matches the book and provide them to every person who buys a physical copy.

• $65,000 - UNLOCKED Digital Version of the The Jester Comic and Jester short story. This is a standalone Riyria adventure that exists in both short-story form and also beautifully adapted to a comic. You can see a small excerpt of the comic at this link. This stretch goal will be given to every backer and you can access it from the BackerKit self-service portal after the project ends.

• $70,000 - UNLOCKED: Screen savers! We'll take Marc Simonetti's amazing artwork and create screen savers that you can use for your phones, computers, and tablets.

We still have two more stretch goals, and depending on how the final days go we may be adding some more.

• $75,000 - Posters! If we reach this level we'll add 2 posters to the list of add-ons that people can buy: Hollow World, and The Death of Dulgath. Both are 24" x 36" and suitable for framing. 

• $80,000 - Making of the Disappearance of Winter's Daughter ebook: Get a look behind the process of writing and editing the book and learn about how the book changed from first manuscript, through beta testing, to the final product.

Riyria Kickstarter, how far will it go!

The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter Kickstarter has done amazingly well!  Yes, we're fully funded, which means there WILL be hardcover editions of the book (rare, limited, and regular) and we've already hit two stretch goals which will include everyone's name in the ebook and the creation of a searchable on-line glossary.

• Here's jut a bit about what's happened so far: 
• $34,500 raised in the first 12 hours
• Fully funded $47,600 in the first 54 hours
• $56,144 raised in the first 130 hours
• 1,321 backers (8th most-backed US backed fiction project of all time
• Two stretch goals reached next level is $3,856 away (custom bookmarks)

Given how well it's done has Robin speculating at the final numbers. So she thought it would be fun to do a little contest and have others join in.

So here's the deal. We'll give a limited edition of The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter to two people:

•  The one who guesses the total number of backers the closest 
• The one who guesses the final amount the closest. 

Now, you DO NOT have to be a backer to participate in this contest, and if you're a winner and already have a limited edition, we'll give you the choice of receiving a second one (to give as a friend) or give you a credit back on your pledge that is equal to the value of the book ($50). Sound like fun?

Here's some data I've collected so far to help with your guesses. First, the amount of funding we've seen so far (plotted over the number of hours of the Kickstarter.

And here is he same data for the # of backers.

And here is the link where you can add your guesses.

Now, of course, the closer to the end of the contest, the easier it will be to guess, so we'll stop taking guesses on October 17th. Also, you can put in multiple guesses. If you put in more than one in a day, we'll take the latest one as your official guess.

I think this will be a lot of fun. So put on your thinking cap, look at the data, and make your best guess as to where we'll end up. If you're smart, you'll get a free book!

Some more astounding covers from indie authors

The other day I shared an amazing cover from Davis Ashura and I held it up as an example of the kind of attention to detail and professionalism of many of the leading indie authors.  Well, today I stumbled upon another set of covers.  These are from Benedict Patrick and stunning doesn't begin to do justice to these incredible works of art. I said it before, but I'll say it again. We certainly have come a very long way.

KIckstarter launches is a really big way!

Well, I really shouldn't have been surprised, as I have the best, most supportive readers a writer could wish for, but the Kickstarter for The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter has kicked off in a really incredible way.

As of this writing, we are 76% to fully funding and it's been less than 24 hours!



Here's some of the really impressive stats:

• $10,000 raised in the first 10 minutes of the launch!
• $18,452 raised in the first hour
• Currently the 22nd highest-funded Fiction Kickstarter in the US based on total pledges
• Currently the 18th most-backed Fiction Kickstarter in the US based on # of backers

If we look at this project compared to my other Kickstarters, it blows them out of the water. The following data is for first-day sales as tracked through Kicktraq:

Project	$ Pledges	# Backers
The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter	$34,234	728
The Death of Dulgath	$19,082	472
Hollow World	$1,545	50

At the time it ended, The Death of Dulgath was the 2nd (or maybe 3rd, I forget) highest funded Fiction Kickstarter. It's now currently #6 (#2 as far as most-backed). With such good first-day results, we may just be able to surpass it!  Thanks everyone for all the support.

Winter's Daughter Kickstarter is Live!

Well, today is finally the day. I've just pushed The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter Kickstarter live. Our advance thanks to all the backers who are working to make hardcover editions available!

Kickstarter Launch Date Set!

Okay, the Kickstarter project is approved! So I'll launch it tomorrow.  Here are some specifics on the project:

• Project launch:  Thursday, October 5th at 12:00 noon EDT

• Project end: Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 8:30 p.m. EDT

• Find a link for the project by searching "Winter's Daughter" in Kickstarter after the launch, or come back here at noon for a link.

• Backers will be able to read the book on December 5th, a full 6 months before the retail release!

• We are raising money for a print run to produce: rare editions (faux leather bound books in a slipcase), limited editions (linen hardcover with a custom cover), regular hardcovers, and trade paperbacks. If the Kickstarter doesn't fund, the book will still be released, it just won't have any hardcover editions.

• We will be able to offer audio versions of the book. They will be distributed through download codes redeemed at Audible.com. If you don't have and Audible account, you can start one for free, and your book will still be available even after you leave Audible.com.

• If you want both a physical book AND an audio version, choose the appropriate paper level, and then add $10 to your pledge. You can then "assign" that $10 to an audiobook edition after the Kickstarter has ended.

• If you want both a physical book AND an ebook, just pick any paper level, the ebook is already included for all people with physical books.

• Last time we did the shipping ourselves (which turned into a nightmare), this time we are going to use a fulfillment processor so the shipping should go much more smoothly.

• There are a number of reward levels which have limited quantities (the rare and limited edition copies), and some early-bird specials (20% discount off of popular reward levels but only for the first 50 backers). 

That last bullet is why we are (a) pre-announcing the Kickstarter, and (b) launching at a particular day and time. This will allow everyone to have an equal chance at the limited quantity items.

Backer Levels range from $8 (for an early-bird digital only version to $125, for the rare editions) In order for  you to plan what level you will be backing at, Robin has put together this handy little table. Click here, or on the table to see a high-resolution version which is easier to read.

Once again, it's Robin who has done all the heavy lifting for the Kickstarter. My contribution was (a) writing the book and (b) recording a video. I hope you are excited as I am about the launch of this Kickstarter. I'm hoping it will be a huge success.

The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter Kickstarter Update

Hey all, I've been getting a lot of emails about the Kickstarter project (especially now that October is here.  Some of that stems from some limited and rare editions (which will probably go fast, as well as some early-bird discounts for people who pledge early. If you've not signed up for early notification, here is a link where you can.

• We are really close to it's launch - probably within a week. Robin is still working on the content page, and I have to record the video. I can't today because I'm hoping to get the final beta changes in for Age of War, but if I get that done in a day or two, I'll be able to do the video.

• It took Robin a little longer than she had hoped to get me the beta changes to Age of War, and that put both of us behind.

• Copy edits are due back for Winter's Daughter in just a few days, and we leave in less than two weeks to go up to New York to sit in on the recoding. We are hoping to do some "live" sessions from within the studio.

• Once Robin has incorporated all the copyedits I need to read it one more time.  But I REALLY like the way the book turned out.

Once we get the page finished and the video done, we still need approval from the folks at Kickstarter, but I'm guessing we'll be live in about a week - stay tuned!