Signed, but not yet sealed and delivered

As some may know, the Riyria Revelations were: 

• originally released by a small press: Aspirations Media Inc. (for The Crown Conspiracy) 
• then released through self-publishing (for Avempartha through Wintertide)
• and finally released by Orbit (for Percepliquis)

These books came out every six months on October 1st and April 1st starting in 2008.  Well, except for Percepliquis which was delayed by 9 months so it's release could be aligned with Heir of Novron (which came out in January of 2012).

That means we are just a little less than two years from the series' 20th anniversary, and I'd love to have special editions to celebrate that milestone. Now, I know that sounds like a lot of time to plan for a special edition, but it took more than a year and a half to negotiate a contract the last time I approached Orbit for permission to print hardcovers of Revelations, so Robin started early. In April of 2026, she reached out to Orbit, and as of a few days ago, we have a signed contract!

For the twentieth anniversary  I had several goals in mind.

• I wanted to return to the original six-book format rather than the two-book omnibus editions. 
  
  
• I wanted the number of copies created to be large enough to run a Kickstarter. Afterall, a lot of fans missed that original printing (which we have now dubbed "the rare editions"). Why is that? Well, it's because they were only available "by invitation only" because the number of permissible copies was so small.

• Over the years, we have played around with a few different design options for faux-leather editions, and each had their own issues. But our most recent incarnation (the ones created for The Riyria Chronicles) are versatile enough to make it possible for all books in the Elan Saga to have a similar look and feel - and I wanted to mirror that design for the 20th anniversary edition of Riyria Revelations.

• But I can't lie, I'm still a fan of the original artwork that I created for the author-published books, and I didn't want to lose them.  The good news is, I can include those graphics on the front end sheets.

So, based on that, this is what we came up with for the 20th anniversary of the books (click on the image for a higher resolution look.

Here are some details from the signed contract:

• Territories: Worldwide but granted through 2 contracts: Orbit USA & Orbit UK
• Contract's effective date March 1, 2028
• Kickstarter cannot last any longer than 6 months from effective date
• Books must be published within 18 months of effective date
• No books may be sold after March 1, 2031, and any remaining copies must be destroyed
• Format: deluxe faux-leather copies - no standard trade hard covers permitted
• Price of a six-book set $260 (no individual sales allowed)
• Number of copies permitted: 3,000 (for NA) and 750 (for all other territories)
• Advance to be paid to Orbit: $78,000 (for NA rights), $19,500 (for all other territories)

Based on the above - we anticipate the following for the Kickstarter:

• Kickstarter launch date: March 7, 2028 12:00 noon (EST)
• Kickstarter end date: March 28, 2028 2:00 pm (EST)
• Reward levels: $260 without slipcase | $299 with slipcase
• Number of copies available: 3,750

If you missed the Kickstarter for the Riyria Chronicles deluxe editions, you can order copies from this link. Boxsets sold there are discounted $60 (for a four book set) and $80 (for a five book set that includes Drumindor). Also sales from that site include free US shipping and deeply discounted (50% off) for non-US shipping).

NOTE: We probably won't do any reprinting of the Riyria Chronicles books until their 20th anniversary, which won't be until 2033. So if you think you want a complete set of the Elan Saga in this deluxe format, be sure to order soon as supplies will no doubt sell out.

Okay, back to the Riyria Revelations series. If you would like to sign up to be notified when the Kickstarter goes live, use this link (775+ people have signed up as of 10/26/2026).

And that about covers it. We expect the UK contract to be signed by the end of next week. I can't tell you how excited that this beautiful set of books will be a reality. This was the one roadblock to having all books in the Elan Saga using this new design.  So, yes, there will be announcements about similar editions for Legends of the First Empire and The Rise and Fall.

Riyriacon, New Release, and Cycle Update

Sorry for the late post on this, but we were busy with Riyriacon and had to get the Luray house winterized and catch a plane for Key West.  

What is/was Riyriacon? 

 It was the second year of a get together of Riyria fans at our place in Luray.  Robin had to fly up from Key West and we hosted several days of "Riyria" events including Q&A panels, listening to The Storm and The Eternal Winter audio recordings, playing a Riyria TTRPG, meeting and greeting, and a Riyria inspired Cards Against Humanity game. There was also a field trip to the Luray caverns and I believe some people did a hike down Dark Hollow Falls in Shenandoah National Park. For aspiring or self-published authors, there were critique sessions where their work was reviewed by members of Novel House including Lorian Ellis, John Petrila,  Gregory Amato, and Tora Taylor.  

And speaking of Lorian Ellis . . . we had printer proofs of the physical books of her debut novel, so she could hold them in her hands and even take them with her.  There are a few minor adjustments that need to be made, but all in all they came out well.

Photo by Elliot Johnson

New Release - Book #1 in the 5th Elan Saga Series

The digital versions (audio and ebook) of Out of the Ashes (Book #1 in the After the Fall series) are now out in the world.  As I said, the print books need a few minor adjustments to them, but we hope to have them on the press by next week. This is is our sales so far:

• 1,942 Audiobooks (through end of September)
• 1,982 ebooks (through mid-October)
• 1,100 deluxe hardcovers editions (through early-October)
• 1,277 regular hardcover editions ((through early-October)
• 6,301 total books

For those that don't know, here is what a debut fantasy author can expect if they had a standard "modest" launch from a traditional big-five publisher (like Orbit, Del Rey, or Tor)

• 1st year's US sales: 1,000 - 3,000
• lifetime US sales: 2,000 - 5,000

That means we've already past the lifetime sales, and it's only been 10 days since the release of the audiobook and 8 days since the release of the ebook. And of course the print book numbers are only pre-orders that were sold through our Kickstarter.

If you missed the Kickstarter, you can pre-order your hardcovers through our Late Backer Survey.

For those looking for audiobooks, here are your choices: Apple Books | Audible: US | CA | UK | AU | DE | FR | ES | JP | IN 

For those looking for eBooks (but avoiding Amazon), here are your choices: From the author | Bookshop.org | Barnes and Noble (nook) | Apple Books | Kobo | Smashwords | Vivlio | Thalia

For Amazon eBook Shoppers: US | CA | AU | UK | MX | BR | DE | FR | IT | ES | NL  | JP | IN 

We are still waiting for links to populate for the following: Google Play, OverDrive, Everand, and Hoopla, and we'll make those available when they go live.

The Cycle Update

It's been awhile since we've had a Cycle Update, and to be honest it's on a bit of a hiatus at present.  I need to get my office setup again and there is a lot of yard work to do in Key West since we've been gone for several months. But here is where things stand.

• Lorian Ellis now has books #1 thorugh #3. She's the first person other than Robin to get a look at them.
  
  
• Book #4 is definitely past the halfway point. It's currently at 88,464 words and 18 of the 30 chapters are completed. My hope is to have it finished by early April 2027.
  
  
• Book #5's outline is being fleshed out as Book #4 is written, and the hope is that it will come together quickly.  
  
  
• If the above dates hold firm, and assuming the final book comes out to my satisfaction, then we plan on releasing the first book of the series in 2028.