Games - The Ally to Science Fiction and Fantasy

This year I'm going once again to Wondercon... And this time I'm not getting a booth.  Nor am I sharing a booth with anyone else.  Instead I'm getting a table in the gaming area and I'm going to hand out information there.  The reason is because most of the audience in sci fi and fantasy crosses over into games.

The reason I initially started developing games for Relic Worlds is because I knew it would be a way to interact with potential fans.  With books, I'm constantly pushing for them to purchase something.  With games, I could actually play with them; interact with them as they learn how to play.  They also get to step into the roles of the characters from the series, which makes them all the more curious to read about them.

Once the game is made, (which, thus far, I have also self-published like the books,) I can take it to game conventions in addition to sci fi conventions, and present it to a whole new, yet cross-over, audience.  I bring flyers for the books so people learn about it after playing.

I actually first learned about Game of Thrones from a board game.  I had no idea it was a book series until one of the players started saying, "that's what happened in the book!"  Of course, then I got interested and started reading it.  Since then, there have been more games about it that came out well before the show, which grew the audience faster than if it had just been a book series.

The game can also be visually pleasing.  In my case, the first game is a miniatures game, so I developed a large volcano, which my girlfriend jokingly calls "Breakup Mountain" because it almost led to that.  But it gets people's attention with its size and colorful orange and red lava pouring down the side; not to mention the fog that pours out the top when you pour dry ice inside.

We'll see what kind of crowd it can draw at Wondercon this year.  The entire intention is just to draw attention to the series.  I can't sell anything at the game table, but that's all right with me as even when I had my own booth, there were very few sales.  It was mostly about getting people to know about the series.

If you're there on March 23, come on by the gaming area.  We'll be easy to find.

Relic Worlds Book 1 is Now on Audible as an Audiobook

Relic Worlds, Book 1: Lancaster James and the Search for the Promised World, is now an audiobook available on Audible.  If you join audible, you can get the book for free!  The audio was done by a wonderful actor named Jon Ryan, who added music and some sound effects to give it the proper feeling.  You can find it at:

http://www.amazon.com/Relic-Worlds-Lancaster-Search-Promised/dp/B01AIYMH6C/ref=sr_1_1_twi_audd_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453169725&sr=8-1&keywords=Relic+Worlds

The New Schedule of Relic Worlds

After reviewing what’s been working and not working for me in publishing, and where I am in terms of Relic Worlds, I’ve reworked the schedule for the second book, short stories, and pick your path books.

The second book will now be released at Wondercon at the end of March.  The short stories will continue to be released up to that point, and the fourth pick your path book will come out on Christmas day.  In fact, the fourth pick your path book and the first novel will both be available for free on Christmas as an incentive to get people to reading them.  I might make all the pick your path books free on that day as well.  The idea is that people will be getting new Kindles on Christmas, and they’ll likely turn them on to see what’s available for free, so I’m hoping they’ll pick these up.

I plan on having a lot of events between January and March to build interest in Relic Worlds, and to generally have fun with it.  Overall, Relic Worlds is intended to be fun, so I want people to enjoy some events and games that relate to the adventure and science fiction of the story to get into the series.  Some of these will include geocaches, programming, online treasure hunts, etc.

For now, it’s time to release more short stories and continue building up the website for the immersive experience that is Relic Worlds.

The Martian - Self-Publishing to Major Movie

After watching The Martian I was so glad to see that such a smart movie could get made.  I was particularly happy when I learned that it was based on a book that was originally self-published, though I shouldn't be surprised.  Just as it's hard to get a smart film past studio executives, it's also often hard to get a smart book past the publishers.  While people assume books are the smart form of storytelling, this notion is often mocked by executives at publishing companies and literary agents.

Here's how it seemed to have happened.  Andy Weir was a computer programmer who enjoyed writing on the side.  He began uploading a story about a man stranded on Mars to his blog in 2009.  This slowly got the attention of more and more people who asked him to publish it on Kindle.  Weir had no goals to profiting on this story, so he wanted to put it onto Kindle for free, but Amazon doesn't allow that, so he made it available for 99 cents, using his five free days to give it away to as many people as possible.

This part is critical.  First, it's important to note that this only became possible because Amazon allowed anyone to publish to Kindle.  While Weir was getting a lot of people visiting his blog, Kindle was where he would get the most exposure, and where his fans could share his work most easily.  Without this, we would probably still not know about this wonderful novel.

What's also important here is to note the fact that Weir's lack of greed for the immediate present is what made him a success in the long-run.  If he had priced the book higher and expected everyone to pay for it, it probably wouldn't have been discovered.  But since he grew his audience slowly through blogs, then gave it away for free on Amazon, tons of people saw it and became interested, then they began sharing it, and he exploded onto the scene.

He still didn't make a huge amount of money from this, but it caught the attention of a larger publisher.  They then asked to publish it with their larger promotion engine, and when all was finished, it rose to #12 on the New York Times Bestseller list.  This, in turn, got the attention of film studios, (though it probably also was facilitated by the publisher as they often try to get their books made into movies as soon as possible.)  Once that got done, now everyone knows about it and even more copies are selling.

So Andy Weir, a great example of how a lack of immediate greed can yield large long-term results.

Relic Worlds: Lancaster James and the Search for the Promised World free on Kindle

It's that time; time to give away free promo copies of the book on the Kindle to give everyone a look.

I'm always wary of giving away my books for free.  After all, I spent months on them.  This particular Relic Worlds story has been in my mind since 1997.  So I'd rather get something for my efforts; after all, I promised my girlfriend a hammock and a lifetime supply of Bon Bons!

It is a bit frustrating to see mainstream books never having to go through this phase, but it's a necessity for independent books to get noticed.  I've made it a regular practice now to come out on the Kindle first, do the KDP Select program for 90 days to promote it with this free giveaway and other promotions, then do a wide release with other e-readers.

So today (May 29, 2014) to Saturday (May 31, 2014) Relic Worlds: Lancaster James and the Search for the Promised World, will be free on the Kindle at: http://www.amazon.com/Relic-Worlds-Lancaster-Search-Promised-ebook/dp/B00JSW7EBY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401383605&sr=8-1&keywords=Relic+Worlds

Relic Worlds: Lancaster James and the Search for the Promised World Released

Yesterday at Wondercon I released Relic Worlds: Lancaster James and the Search for the Promised World.  It is the first primary book in the Relic Worlds series.  What I mean by "primary book" is that there are other Relic Worlds books out there, but this is intended to be the first in the series.  The Deep Beyond, which was released several years ago, is the prequel, and is intended to be read after someone knows the characters and understands it.  That novella gives insight into the characters before the main incidents in the primary story.

The Relic Worlds series follows the adventures of Lancaster James, an anthropologist scouring the ruins of long lost civilizations on distant planets in search of powerful artifacts they left behind.  He is trying to find out what happened to these alien races, why they disappeared, and to see if the same thing can happen to humanity.

In The Search for the Promised World, Lancaster is following the trail of the subter-Siguerans, a race who left a trail of clues behind as they made their way to a planet they believed was promised to them by their god.  He will have to compete with space pirates, street thugs, and corporate barons to get to his destination and learn the truth.

The book is currently available on the website, www.relicworlds.com, and on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Relic-Worlds-Lancaster-Search-Promised/dp/1499197020/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1398023946&sr=8-11&keywords=Relic+Worlds

Book Conventions – What are they really for?

This Saturday I’ll be going to Wondercon to promote my new book Relic Worlds: Lancaster James and the Search for the Promised World.  That makes this the perfect time to explain how I use conventions to promote.

When I first started going to book conventions to promote my work, I went in with the mentality that they are book sales where I would sell my work and try to make a profit.  I was VERY disappointed.  When I compared not only how much I paid to get space at the table, but also to get gas to get to the convention, food while there, parking, and sometimes even having to buy a ticket to the convention, I found that I had to sell a huge number of books just to break even.  Frankly, I didn’t even make enough to justify the time spent.  I didn’t even make enough to pay for the gas it took to drive to get my seller’s permit.

Did that make it a complete waste?  At first I thought it was.  However, when I started giving material away, people flocked to me.  They started following my work, and some have become long-term fans.  This has paid off in terms of people purchasing my material later.

The moral of the story?  Bring material to give away.  Also, try to get a table with others.  Getting one by yourself is not only costly, but doesn’t look as good unless you have a huge amount to fill the table.  Sometimes there are lone authors sitting at a table that no one wants to go near.  It actually looks a bit sad and can be a deterrent.  I go with the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society.  Sure, it’s their name on the banner, but I get a space at the table with my own materials, and often I get people who came over to look at other authors.

I prepare for the convention by making a small diorama of the subject of the book.  This weekend it will be Relic Worlds, so I have a diorama of some ruins in the desert with an adventurer exploring them, and a little battle happening around him.  I will also have bookmarks, and the first chapter of the book to be given away for free.  It’s an investment of around $150, but the series will be seen by a lot of people and will be taken more seriously because they saw it at a booth at a major convention.

It’s also a good idea to get into a convention where the trend of your audience is going.  I’m actually more excited about being at a booth at Wondercon than I would be at Comic Con this year because a lot of the die-had sci fi and fantasy fans are moving to Wondercon from Comic Con.  They have gotten tired of how overly commercialized Comic Con has gotten, and how it’s more about the big mainstream movies than they are about sci fi, fantasy, and comic books.  So, while there will be a lot more people at Comic Con, most of them are curious onlookers wanting to see what the new trend is rather than people who will become long-term fans.

It’s always about the niche in independent publishing.  You’re not going to get the mainstream audience; not at first.  Go for your niche.

http://www.comic-con.org/wca