Release Day +10 Esrahaddon

It's been 10 days since the release of Esrahaddon (in audiobook and ebook), and the reviews are coming in. I'm pleased that peole seem to be liking the book so much.  The audio version received more than 100 ratings and is running at a 4.8 average.  Out of the 42 books released on August 15th, only one has more ratings than Esrahaddon. Here are some of the things people are saying:

This is my longest single book so it's a great credit to lisening hours ratio (more than 29 and a half hours!) And as always, it's narrated by the exceptional Tim Gerard Reynolds. If you haven't gotten a copy yet, you can get yours here.

 

Release Day+1 - Esrahaddon!

 

Hey all, yesterday we launched Esrahaddon, the 19th book in the world of Elan. I should not this is ONLY for the ebook and audiobook versions. The printed books (both limited editions and regular hardcovers) are with the printer, and it will still be a few months before those are in our hand,

Even so, we ended up with just a tad over 15,000 books sold in pre-order (either through Amazon, Audible, our private store, or the Kickstarter. That's pretty good!  Long ago we learned that most mid-list books are lucky to sell 5,000 copies so we are way ahead of that.

We also hit a number of the bestseller lists on Amazon (37 total, and 7 of them where #1)

If you would like to pre-order a signed hardcover (regular or limited edition), you'll get it before the December 5th release date (basically as soon as we receive copies.

Thanks to the Kickstarter, nearly 4,000 people received the gamma version of Esrahaddon starting in May. If you are one of those people who have already read the book, please consider posting a review on Goodreads or Amazon. When it comes to a newly released title, no one wants to be the "guinea pig," and pick up a copy without hearing if others have liked it, so that would be a great help.

The free story experiment begins!

When I first started writing the Riyria Revelations, my plan was to post the stories on the Internet for free. You see, I didn't want to publish (that way just led to the dark side), and I had no clue how to self-publish (this was before the kindle, after all). At the time, there was no good place to do this so I think I had about three or five readers. Well, these days there's a great site for free stories, and it's called Royal Road. There are hundreds of thousands of readers out there, many reading early works by unknown authors, but Robin thought it might be a good place to help people discover Royce and Hadrian as well. She was right about using Kickstarters, so maybe she can pull this rabbit out of her hat, too.

Right now I have 50,000+ words posted and only 4 - 6 followers per title. That's not so good, but at this point there's no place to go but up.  Here's what's out there so far.

• 4 Riyria short stories (25,888 words)
• 2 non-Riyria shorts (13,280 words)
• 3 chapters of The Death of Dulgath (12,690 words and new chapters posting daily)

The plan is to release my two indie standalone Royce and Hadrian novels (The Death of Dulgath and The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter) a chapter at a time - each day at 12:00 noon Eastern Time. When completed, that will be 215,000+ words.

Already a fan? I need your help!

Perhaps you've already read these shorts and novels. And if so - great! I thank you for your support, and I hope you loved them. And if you did, would you care to help others find these stories? 

You see, Royal Road has hundreds of thousands of readers, but there are millions of words on the site, and it's almost impossible for those throngs to find a new title. The solution is the "Rising Stars" list where books that are gaining momentum (as evidenced by followers and favorites), get a spotlight shown on them. So, if you could go to the site (it's 100% free) and click follow and favorite, that would help a great deal. 

Haven't read the Riyria Chronicles?

Maybe you've only read the Riyria Revelations.  Or perhaps you've come to my writing through Legends of the First Empire or the Rise and Fall books. If that's the case, then there's an even better reason for you to visit Royal Road. Free stories!  The way this site works, is authors regularly publish chapters (usually as they write them), but because these books are already written and published, I'm going to post a chapter a day (that's what the Royal Road experts suggest you do in order to gain a following). 

By the time this experiment is over, I'll have posted two complete full-length novels (that's 215,000+ words). Below is a bit about each book, to see if you might be interested in taking a peek.

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 and the cynical ex-assassin 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.

A daughter vanishes. Two rogues are paid a fortune to find her. It isn't enough. When Gabriel Winter's daughter mysteriously disappears and is presumed dead, the wealthy whiskey baron seeks revenge. Having lived in Colnora during the infamous Year of Fear, he hires the one man he knows can deliver a bloody retribution - the notorious Duster. Riyria's job appears easy: discover what happened to the missing duchess and, if she lives, bring her home . . . if not, punish those responsible. But nothing is simple in the crowded, narrow, mist-filled streets of Rochelle where more than one ancient legend lurks.

As always, I'm eternally grateful

I must say, that I feel a bit embarrassed to make this request. After all, you've already helped to make my dreams a reality, and now I am asking for more. But I truly think these books are a great deal of fun and I would like more people to read them. And since, they can do so without giving me a dime, I think it's might be worth asking for a helping hand.  I'll keep writing and hopefully others will keep reading.