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Book Progress

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Though it’s been a while since I talked about them, I do still write books. I finished up the first draft of Book 7 late last year; it’s with my beta reader right now. I also have a short story collection ready to put out, assuming I can figure out a cover and get one arranged.

On top of all that, I’ve started work on Book 8. It’s structured a little differently than previous Hazzard stories. Rather than this being one long case, it’ll be a series of shorter cases that all build up to something bigger. I’ve finished the first quarter or so of the book, and I have the other three sections roughly plotted in my head. It’s progressing well; I’m hoping to have it finished by the summer, ready for an autumn 2023 release. We’ll see how the process goes. I still need to get Book 7 edited and a cover made for it, and all that costs money.

So. y’know, if you haven’t already, consider buying one of my books or emailing me at crooked42 [at] gmail dot com to order a CD.

Death Comes Calling

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The new book, Death Comes Calling, is out today! Go pick up your copy from Amazon right now! Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell random strangers you encounter on the street! Shout it from rooftops and with bullhorns and while frothing at the mouth and grabbing people by their lapels!

Well, okay, maybe not that last one. But definitely the rest of them!

Seeking Reviews

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The success of the self-published author, as many have said, is all about reviews.  We live and die by them.  The Invisible Crown is the most-reviewed book I’ve ever put out, and even it only has *checks Amazon page like he doesn’t know off the top of his head* five reviews.  I need more.

So, here’s the deal: if you’ve read and enjoyed the book, awesome!  Tell folks about it by leaving a quick review on the Amazon page.  It doesn’t have to be a gushing five-star review.  You don’t have to write paragraph after paragraph detailing your favorite bits and how your greatest sadness in life is that you don’t get to spend every waking moment of it with me (that can just be subtext).  Just a line or two saying, “I really enjoyed it, you should totally check it out if you like mysteries with snarky protagonists who drink far too much” is plenty.

And hey, if you haven’t read it yet, and happen to review books for a website?  Hit the Contact page and drop me a line, I’ll hook you up with a review copy!  Just like that?  Just like that.

I want reviews, folks!  Help a guy out!

Housekeeping

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Conventional wisdom would indicate that the absolute worst time for an author to drop off the face of the earth would be in the month following his book’s release.  But hey, everything else about how I do things defies wisdom (conventional or otherwise), so why would I buck the trend here?

Anyway, a couple of things before I bury myself under my Author Rock™* again and get back to creating stuff.

1. The Invisible Crown is available for the Kindle, Smashwords, and as a dead-tree-actual-physical-book!  So many ways for you to show you love me.

2. Speaking of showing me love, reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are welcomed and encouraged!  Reviews help sell books, assuming they aren’t just trashing the book or my new haircut.

3. Fellow Royal James author Steen Jones has a novel coming out next month, and the pre-order for it is up today!  I’m personally super-excited about this book.  Modern-day fantasy with gateways to different worlds?  That is my jam, folks.  She’s also running a giveaway thing on her blog if you pre-order the book and snap a pic of your receipt, so you should do that.

Anyway, the underside of that Author Rock™ isn’t going to describe itself via haiku, so I’m off to go do something very much like that.

* – All authors live under rocks.  It’s where we’re most comfortable.  The official Author Rock™ is only available to any author who wants one and is willing to lug the thing around.  It is quite large and heavy, as befits a rock.

Letting Go

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It’s less than two weeks away.  On December 19, you can hold my book in your hot little hands…well, the kindle version.  You can order a print copy that day, but you won’t get it until a few days later.  Maybe in time for Christmas?  I honestly do not know.

Working with a publisher is definitely different than working by myself, though.  One of the biggest differences is the lack of control I have over things.  I want to do things my way, put the book out when I’m ready to do so, things like that.  I’ve never been good at relinquishing control of things.  Trusting someone else with the story I’ve been working on for over a decade?  It’s tough.

But those are just my hang ups.  Working with Royal James Publishing should ultimately be pretty rewarding.  They’ve been a big help so far with helping set up the marketing and all that.  The cover turned out great, even if they didn’t go with my original idea (I figure they’ve got actual experience designing covers and things, whereas I do not, so I’m gonna trust they know what they’re doing.  Besides, I really do like the cover a lot).  I have to trust my partners in this.  They want this book to be successful as much as I do.  I mean, for me, it’s a passion project, but not my only source of income.  Not even my primary source of income.  Hell, maybe not even my secondary source of income (we’re talking tertiary, behind my day job and driving for Uber, largely because I’ve made a grand total of $0 off the book so far).  I mostly just want folks to read and enjoy my book.  The publisher wants it to be financially successful.

So, yeah, hard as it is for me to give up control of things, as hard as it is for me to let someone else take responsibility for aspects of my work, I don’t really have a choice at the moment.  And that’s okay.  Learning to let go can be a liberating experience.