Nolyn Kickstarter: Launches 02/09 @ 12:00 Noon EST

So, as many of you may know, I have a new series coming out! It's called The Rise and Fall and just as Legends of the First Empire shows the First Great War between men and elves and the founding of The Novronian Empire, this series will focus on three important points in the history of Elan that will give you the inside scoop on how the empire rose and eventually fell.  I sometimes call this my "bridge series" because it fits between the Legends of the First Empire and the Riyria tales.

Unlike most series where you follow the same cast of characters from start to finish, these books will span large amounts of time and each book will be self-contained and focus on one or two important characters from history.

• Book #1 - Nolyn - the son of Nyphron and Persephone
• Book #2 - Farilane - the historian and author of The Migration of Peoples
• Book #3 - Esrahaddon - the origin story of the mysterious wizard from the Riyria books

Nolyn will be released through the major retail market on August 3, 2021, but for people who pre-order through the Kickstarter, you'll receive the book 3 or 4 months before everyone else. As for the other books in the series, they will be released at one-year intervals - and each will have its own Kickstarter.

Like all our prior crowd-funding projects, we offer early-bird discounts where several of the most popular reward levels will be discounted by 20%.  Now, in the past, these levels have sold out in mere minutes, even though we increased the number available for each project.  This time, we are doing things a bit differently.  The following reward levels will be open for the first 15 minutes of the campaign (noon to 12:15 PM).  So, you still have to be quick to nab one, but not nearly as fast as in the past.  Here's a list of them:

• Digital Early Bird - $8 instead of $10 for ebook only
• Hardcover Early Bird - $28 instead of $35 for ebook AND regular hardcover
• Rare Early Bird - $60 instead of  $75 for ebook AND limited edition faux leather hardcover

Reward levels vary from $5 to $100 and this chart explains what is in each level:

While we are still working on the final design of the covers, this is what we currently have.  The regular hardcover will have a dust jacket with artwork from the amazing Marc Simonetti. The rare edition will be faux-leather with one or two color foil stamping.

How many copies of the limited edition will there be? I'm not sure. I'm going to print fifty more than are ordered through Kickstarter (to account for possible damaged books or books lost in the mail).  These will NOT be reprinted, they will be numbered and dated, and they won't be sold through retailers (you'll only be able to get them from the Kickstarter or directly from us (for the leftovers).  I suspect there will be less than 500 copies made.  The hardcovers will be printed in quantities of 10,000 - 15,000 copies and there may be multiple printing of them.

Okay, so what is this book about?  Well, here is the copy we've come up with for the back of the book:

After more than five hundred years of stagnation, the heir to the empire is suspicious about his sudden reassignment to active duty on the Goblin Wars’ front lines. His first assignment to rescue an outpost leads to a dead-end canyon deep inside enemy territory. Suspicion turns to dread and then sinks to despair when it’s discovered no such stronghold exists. But whoever went to the trouble of making his death look like a casualty of war didn’t know anything about the Seventh Sikaria Auxiliary Squadron to which he had been assigned. In the depths of an unforgiving jungle, a legend is about to be born, and the world of Elan will never be the same. 

Buying through a Kickstarter puts significantly more of your money into my pocket.  When books are bought through retailers 75% - 80% of the money you pay goes to others (our distribution partners and the retailers).  But you also get things that retailers can't provide such as:

• Signed physical books.
• Your name in print (if you so desire) - your name will be listed in the acknowledgment as one of the people who helped bring this project to life.
• Receiving the story months before the rest of the world.
• Digital artwork of Marc's illustrations (for screen savers).

There will also be various additional bonuses added as the project goes on, assuming we hit various stretch goals.  In the past, some of the things we've done include:

• Custom created bookmarks (usually signed)
• Bonus short stories
• Behind the scenes insights into the creation process
• T-shirts, tote bags, and posters
• Embossed signature pages

Well, I think that's enough for now. Remember to mark your calendar and show up between noon and 12:15 to get an early-bird discount. Here is the link (which will go live) on 02/09.  If you use it now, you can sign up for an email notification in case you forget.  I hope to see you there!