Hardcover editions of Riyria are going to be a reality

For those who don't know, all my recent books (those published since 2015) have had hardcover editions, but the original 5 books of Riyria were only produced in trade paperbacks. There were a few hardcovers produced as a book club edition, but they (a) sold out years ago and (b) weren't the best quality.  We've finally received agreement from Orbit to buy the rights to do a hardcover edition on our own (yeah, it's odd to pay someone for the right to publish books I wrote, but that's the nature of traditional publishing).

Now, there is a catch...we had to limit the print run (Orbit wouldn't let us base the number on demand). When we get all our ducks in a row, we'll be launching a Kickstarter, and since the numbers are limited, it'll be one of those first come first served things. So, we are have a sign-up form and all people on it will be told ahead of time the day and time of the Kickstarter's launch.  So, if you want copies, please sign up now.

Okay, a few things to note:

• The books will have new covers, and I'm sure Marc Simonetti will be the designer for them (although I've not yet commissioned him for them, but he's always done any covers I've asked him to).

• There will be two versions (a) a Rare edition (which should match the rare editions of The Death of Dulgath and The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter) and (b) a limited edition.

• As for the covers of limited edition versions, they'll match the limited editions of the other books (full graphic rather than a small graphic with a color block). But, I'm also going to get pricing to see if we can offer a dust jacket that matches the hardcover edition, that way you can have a "match a set" even though we don't have three versions of the books like we do the other ones. No promises until I find out the printing costs, but that's my plan.

• If you plan on getting a matched set of the limited editions, and don't already have the other two books, you'll have to hurry. We have about 50 copies left of Winter's Daughter, and about 75 copies of the Death of Dulgath. You can buy those limited editions here.

• If you don't have a hardcover edition of The Death of Dulgath, there are 2 copies left at Amazon, but, we do have about 300 copies here and once those are gone, there will be no more of them. You can buy those limited editions here.

Well, that's about it. Robin's been working on this contract for over 2 years, and while the ink is not yet dry, it is being "written up" so we feel confident in making the announcement now. Hope you are as excited as we are.

Age of War Pre-ordering

Hey all, sorry I meant to make a "page" and I instead created a "blog post."  Doh!  For those who want to pre-order Age of War directly from me, I can send you a link where we are offering a limited number of signed copies.  I'm keeping the link to just members of the "Dark Room" at the moment (our secret/private Goodreads Group). If you want an invite to it, send me an email with the subject "Dark Room Invite"

Last of the First Edition & First Printing

Age of Swords Hardcover First Printing  $28.00 Signature Options: Signed Dedicated Unsigned Dedication Name:

Hey all, Robin and Sarah spent the weekend organizing our new shipping department in the carriage house we built out in the valley.  In doing so, we now have all our books organized and categorized. For those who have been asking about first printing and first edition copies...no, we don't have any Age of Myth left. The only copies we have here are 4th printing ;-(.

But...we do have 22 copies of Age of Swords 1st printing. Since there are just a few of them, we have set them aside and you can only get them from this page.  All future shipment of those books will be the most recent printing (which I think is on it's third printing)

We also have a VERY few copies of the original paperback editions of Riyria self-published books (including 8 "full sets" and a few extras here and there. If you are interested in getting any of those books, send us an email and we'll coordinate with you.

Advice from the mailbag: Write bad books

People often email me asking for advice about writing. I answer the questions directly, but as I do receive similar questions, it makes sense to post some of them in the hopes of helping other authors, published or aspiring.  Here is a paraphrased question I received recently:

I'm struggling with writing fiction. I find planning a book extremely difficult let alone a series of them. I have abandoned more than a few projects in the past, frustrated that I couldn't come up with good enough plot twists or how to satisfyingly end the book. Any advice?

Here is how I responded:

It is hard to remote diagnose, but my advice in how to avoid being discouraged about not coming up with good enough plot twists or a satisfying end, is to not try to write the perfect book. One of the biggest obstacles for aspiring writers is to think what you create must be great. All too often writers make impossible goals and when they fail, grow discouraged. It is highly unlikely that anyone can hit a home run the first time they step up to the plate; one does not make a symphony after their first piano lesson. 

What separates writing novels from brain surgery, (or more accurately one of the things)  is that no one dies when you screw up a book. It can take from eleven to seventeen years to become a good surgeon. It took me twenty years to become a decent writer, and that doesn't include the first ten years where I wrote three complete novels, dozens of partials, and a dozen short stories. That's what I did  between the ages of thirteen and twenty-three. I doubt too many kids get to practice medicine at the age of thirteen. 

Writing is insanely complex. All literate people can do it, so it appears easy, but while most people can whistle a tune, few can compose a jingle much less an opera. Even after thirty years, and more than thirty novels, I still learn all sorts of new stuff every day. Why? Because good fiction writing has so many facets, but at its heart is how you think, and how you communicate this using words. There is an infinite number of ways to do this, and as a writer you need to make millions of decisions, many of which will make or break a book. Only through trial and error, only through committing to your sub-conscious and muscle memory of the basics, can you hope to master enough of the complexity to get it right enough to succeed at making people love what you write. 

So don't sweat it. Write bad books. Write awful books. Make lots and lots of mistakes. That's how you learn. And never, ever, aspire to become perfect. To be perfect is to give up. Concentrate, instead on constant improvement, on learning, on doing better on the next novel you write. Give yourself the freedom to fail and you will learn to write.

3 days left to save on Age of Myth

Thank you Del Rey for putting the ebook of Age of Myth on sale. This is making now a perfect opportunity to jump into the Legends of the First Empire, especially given that book #3 (Age of War) is just a few months from releasing. If you haven't picked up the deal yet, you need to hurry. It'll go back to $9.99 in just three days.  

And thanks to the thousands of people who have already read, and loved the books. I can't wait until you get Age of War, and I'm anxious to see what you think of the next installment.

Smashwords is running it's annual ebook sale where for 7 days various books will be either Free, or 25%, 50% or 75% off. I have two books at Smashwords and both can be read independtly of my other works. Here's a bit on each that is in the sale, sample chapters, and discount calls.

The Death of Dulgath: $2.50 Save 75% from $9.99 regular price (USE CODE: RAE75)

Three times they tried to kill her. Then a professional was hired. So was Riyria. When the last member of the oldest noble family in Avryn is targeted for assassination, Riyria is hired to foil the plot. Three years have passed since the war-weary mercenary Hadrian and the cynical ex-assassin Royce joined forces to start life as rogues-for-hire. Things have gone well enough until they're asked to help prevent a murder. Now they must venture into an ancient corner of the world to save a mysterious woman who knows more about Royce than is safe and cares less about herself than is sane.

Hollow World: $4.00 Save 50% from $7.99 regular price (USE CODE: RAE50)

Award-nominated sci-fi in the tradition of Heinlein, Asimov & Wells. He wanted to escape his problems. He wanted to see the future. He never considered what the future wanted. Confronted with a painful death from cancer, Dan Sturges foregoes treatments to try an idea of his own. With nothing to lose but a few months of pain, Dan builds a time machine in his garage and pins his hopes on a future where his disease might be cured. How could he have known that what happens after he presses the button is more shocking than the eighteen car batteries he connected himself to?

If you want to check out other titles on sale, here is a link. 

Age of War is coming, and Age of Myth is on sale

Age of War (coming July 3rd) is just a few months away, and to entice readers into the series, Del Rey has lowered the price of Age of Myth to just $2.99.  That's 66% off the regular $9.99 regular price. I think if you've enjoyed the Riyria tales, you will like the Legends of the First Empire as well. I'm not sure how long the book will be on sale, I actually just stumbled over it today, but if you've not tried the new series set 3,000 years before the events of Riyria, now is a perfect time to give it a try.