Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Audible's Most Anticipated Sci-Fi & Fantasy of Fall 2017



Audible has just released it's fall preview where it highlights their most anticipated releases that are coming soon. I'm proud that The Disappearnce of Winter's Daughter is one of their featured selections. Here's the full list.

Title
Author
Narrator
Series
Genre
Release Date
TBA
N/A
Contemporary
Sci-Fi
 11/14/17 
Book 3:
Stormlight Archives
Epic
Fantasy
 11/14/17 
Book 0:
His Dark Materials
Epic
Fantasy
 10/19/17 
TBA
Book 1:
Seven Kennings
Epic
Fantasy
 10/17/17 
N/A
Post
Apocalyptic
 09/05/17 
Book 4:
Riyria Chronicles
Epic
Fantasy
 12/05/17 
Multiple
Multiple
Book 2:
X-Files
Contemporary
Sci-Fi
 10/03/17 
Book 1:
Chronicles of the One
Epic
Fantasy
 12/05/17 
Book 1:
Tainted Cabal
Epic
Fantasy
 09/05/17 
N/A
Military
Sci-Fi
 10/10/17 
N/A
Horror
 09/26/17 
Book 5:
Demon Cycle
Epic
Fantasy
 10/03/17 
Book 4.5:
Demon Accords
Dark
Fantasy
 08/29/17 
The Last Jedi
Star Wars
Sci-Fi
 09/01/17 
Multiple
TBA
Anthology
Anthology
 10/03/17 
Multiple
TBA
Anthology
Star Wars
Sci-Fi
 10/03/17 
TBA
N/A
Military
Sci-Fi
 10/03/17 
TBA
The Last Jedi
Star Wars
Sci-Fi
 10/31/17 
N/A
Contemporary
Fantasy
 10/31/17 
TBA
Book 3:
Mass Effect
Contemporary
Sci-Fi
 11/07/17 
TBA
N/A
Epic
Fantasy
 11/21/17 
TBA
Star Trek
Star Trek
Sci-Fi
 11/28/17 
The Last Jedi
Star Wars
Sci-Fi
 09/01/17 
Book 3:
Tyrus Chronicle
Epic
Fantasy
 08/29/17 
Book 3:
Embers of Illeniel
Epic
Fantasy
 08/29/17 

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Writer's Digest Goodreads Seminar


I'm a huge fan of goodreads. Not only do I love the site as a reader...but it has also been hugely instrumental in my writing career. In fact, I'd say that apart from my books, themselves, goodreads is the single biggest reason I've been able to make a full-time living from my favorite pastime.

But goodreads is intimidating to many authors, and it's easy to see why. It's massive and complex, and it's a site that if you approach in the wrong way can hurt your reputation with readers rather than help it.

Having been at the site since October 2008, I've learned a few things, and seen a lot of changes. I'm also fortunate to have a wife that knows goodreads inside and out, and has helped me build a brand on the site that goes far beyond my writing credentials. In other words, I have a much larger footprint on goodreads than my book sales reflect. In short, I'm a solid mid-list author, but on Goodreads I'm ranked #39 in the US and #45 globally. That puts me side-by-side with the likes of Stephen King, James Patterson, and Margaret Atwood.

How is this possible? Well, it's because of what I've learned and howI approach the site. And Robin and I are going to be sharing our secrets in a on-line workshop for Writer's Digest University.  Here are the specifics:

When: Thursday August 24th at 1:00 PM EST
Where: Writer's Digest University
How: It's an online seminar, which will be recored such that if you aren't available on Thursday at 1:00 you can watch it at your own leisure and re-watch it for the next year
Cost: Yes, there is a fee, but it's quite reasonable $79.99 for a 90 minute seminar so less than a dollar a minute.

So, if you're a writer and want to learn more about how to use goodreads to help find and audience join Robin and I. Not only will we be presenting, but there will be plenty of time for Q & A.  Hope to see you there.

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Keystone Media Live Podcast - Take two.



Well, we had a family emergency so we missed the live podcast with Josh, Scott, and Ralph. But, they were good enough to reschedule for tomorrow (Monday) August 14th. Same time: 12:00 noon. Here is the link if you want to tune in.

This will be the first interview I do from the "The Valley" (where Robin and I living now). For a long time, we couldn't consider such a thing because the Internet was so slow, but Robin was able to get us high speed which has changed EVERYTHING!

Hope to have some people tune in then.

Monday, August 7, 2017

#1 Audiobook of July 28, 2017


Look what Robin stumbled over in the New York Times: Age of Swords is the #1 Best-selling audio book for the week of July 28th! Even though it's not THE New York Times Bestseller list, we'll take it!


Title
Author
Narrator
Genre
Release Date
 Rating
# Ratings
Fantasy
07/25/17
4.7 
918
Sci-Fi
08/16/11
4.7
91,671
Sci-Fi
12/05/08
4.3
2,833
Sci-Fi
07/25/17
4.6
872
Suspense
01/03/17
4.3
2,271
Horror
01/01/16
4.3
13,195
Romance
09/01/15
4.2
1,059
Fantasy
12/09/03
4.7
69,265
Thriller
01/03/17
4.0
675
Historical
01/24/17
4.2
373


Friday, August 4, 2017

Updated Best-selling Epic Fantasy Hardcovers of 2017



Recently I did a post which looked at the 15 Best-selling Epic Fantasy Hardcovers of 2017. This was 3 days prior to the release and I was pleased that Age of Swords came in at #6 and Age of War was showing up at a respectable 39. Now that we are 10 days post release, I thought I would look at the list again, and this time the results were even better.  Both lists were obtained the same way, by looking at Amazon and doing an advance search with the following criteria.
  • Epic Fantasy Hardcovers
  • Release date older than Jan 2017
  • Sorted by best-selling
Once again, this is a momentary snapshot in time, and the same search will be much different many months from now but it was still fun to see the books performing nicely. Two books dropped off (Anthony Ryan's The Legion of Flame & Mark Lawrence's Red Sister) and the ones that came are are: The Book of Swords (an anthology) and ... wait for it... Age of War by some guy named Sullivan!

Title
Author
Series  
Release Date
Book 3:
  Stormlight Archive  
11/14/17
Middle-Earth Universe
06/01/17
Book 2:
Legends of the First Empire
07/25/17
Book 1:
Fall of Shannara
06/13/17
Book 1:
Chronicles of the One
12/05/17
Book 11:
Imager Portfolio
07/25/17
Multiple Authors
N/A
10/10/17
Book 3:
Fitz and the Fool
05/09/17
Book 1:
Sister of Darkness
01/09/18
Book 1:
The Last King of Osten Ard
06/27/17
Novella:
Stormlight Archive
10/03/17
Short Stories:
Iron Druid Chronicles
07/11/17
Graphic Novel
08/08/17
Book 5:
Demon Cycle
10/03/17
Book 3:
Legends of the First Empire
04/17/18

Kinda cool to be swimming with the big fishes.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Amazon's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of August


I'm pleased to announce that Age of Swords hit another Editor's Pick List, this time from Amazon.


Here's the full list in case you want to check out some of the titles.

Title
Author
Series  
Release Date
N/A
08/01/17
Book 1:
John Nyquist 
08/01/17
Book 2:
Legends of the First Empire
07/25/17
Book 1:
Secondborn
07/11/17
N/A
07/25/17
N/A
07/25/17
N/A
08/01/17
Book 2:
Licanius Trilogy
08/22/17
Book 1:
Waning Moon
07/25/17
Star Wars
07/25/17
Book 2:
Breath of Earth
08/15/17
Book 3:
Broken Earth
08/15/17

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

July's Highest-Rated Books on Audible


I'm pleased to announce that Age of Swords has hit Audible's Highest-Rated Books of July list.



If you're looking for some good audio to listen to while you're hanging out at the beach or by the pool you might want to check out some of these:

Title
Author
Narrator
Series  
Release Date
 Rating
# Ratings
Book 2:
Legends of the First Empire
07/25/17
4.8 
443
Short Stories
Iron Druid Chronicles
07/11/17
4.7
1,429
N/A
07/11/17
4.6
81
Book 6:
Half-Moon Hollow
07/25/17
4.7
379
Book: 17
Gabriel Allon
07/11/17
4.7
784
N/A
07/11/17
4.6
59
N/A
07/04/17
4.7
291
Book 3.5
Expeditionary Force
07/04/17
4.7
2,017
Book 1:
Arcane Ascension
07/04/17
4.6
1,482
Star Wars
07/25/17
4.6
513
Book 4:
Cycle of Galand
07/11/17
4.8
1,312
Book 13:
Nick Buchanan
07/04/17
4.3
428
Book 1:
Renée Ballard
07/18/17
4.4
1,293
N/A
07/01/17
4.5
1,242
Multiple
N/A
07/18/17
4.6
112
N/A
07/18/17
4.2
460
N/A
07/11/17
4.3
792
Book 2:
Hell Divers Trilogy
07/18/17
4.8
921


Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Livestreaming with Kestroke Medium on August 7th 12:00 noon (EDT)



Hey all, I'm going to be sitting down with authors Josh Hayes, Scott Moon, and Ralph Kern next Monday at 12:00 noon (11:00 central). If you want tune in and listen here is a link. This will be the first interview I do from the "The Valley" (where Robin and I living now. For a long time, we couldn't consider such a thing because the Internet was so slow, but Robin was able to get us high speed which has changed EVERYTHING!

Hope to have some people tune in then.

EDIT: We had a family emergency and as such we weren't able to make the KeyStroke Podcast. We've rescheduled and will be held on the 14th. Here's the link.