Tag Archives: Stories

The Redemption of Erâth: Newsletter and Giveaway

I was talking with a friend the other day about the difficulties of publishing, and the point came up that, often, the people most inclined to write a book (i.e. people who are content to sit alone for hours on end) are also those least inclined to evangelize their own work. It makes marketing your novel a pain in the ass, because frankly all you want to do is sit down and keep writing, but instead you have to advertise, talk, Facebook, post, blog … all the things that it takes to get yourself noticed.

Probably the biggest frustration is that, after all that work, you might end up with nothing to show for it anyway. A handful of sales, a couple of reviews, and negligible exposure. After all, with all the books being published these days, how does one go about getting noticed?

Well, one of the things I’ve decided to do—inspired by my good writing friend, Nancy Chase—is start a newsletter going. Once a month I’ll send out a very brief update on things in the world of Erâth, the road to publication, and any new offers or giveaways that might be going on. I’ve set up an account with MailChimp, and the first newsletter goes out on October 1.

To give you an incentive to sign up (other than just hearing wonderful words from me!), I’ll also be hosting a giveaway: the first thirty subscribers to my newsletter will receive a free Kindle copy of The Redemption of Erâth: Consolation as a gift through Amazon. I’ll be running this giveaway throughout the month of September, so you have plenty of time to sign up! The signup form can be found at the bottom of this page, and I’ll be including a link in the sidebar of the website to make life easy.

So sign up now, get a free book, and keep up to date on all the goings-on in the world of Erâth!

Sign up here: http://eepurl.com/bxDBX1.

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The Redemption of Erâth: History of Erâth

Someone pointed out to me recently that part of my problem with selling The Redemption of Erâth: Consolation is that I have absolutely no back-catalogue—I’m an utter unknown, and no one’s going to risk their hard-earned cash (even $3.99 of it) on someone they’ve never heard of before. No ratings, no reviews—nothing.

So I’ve decided to take a step back from the novels for a moment, and (as quick as possible) brush up the History of Erâth I wrote as an appendix to the stories themselves. It’s an interesting task, because this history forms the foundation of everything that happens in the novels: it was the original NaNoWriMo project that spawned the whole series, back in 2012 (or was it 2011?).

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Thought of the Week: The Seventh Magpie (Review)

Last week I introduced you to a new book by first-time author, Nancy Chase, called The Seventh Magpie. This week I come to you bearing good tidings: it is everything I hoped it would be, and more.

The Seventh Magpie is billed as a “dark fairy tale of loss and renewal”. I would possibly debate the tag “dark”; so many things these days are dark, and inasmuch as death, grief and despair are dark, this story has just as much darkness as a traditional Hans Christian Anderson tale. As far as calling it a fairy tale … it is on par with the aforementioned master, if not, in places, better.

[the writing is] minimal, yet laced with a lyricism that never feels dull.

In it, we witness young Princess Catrin sent away from her home and her father in the wake of her mother’s mysterious disappearance, left with a single token to remind her of what she left behind: a golden book, containing The Best Story in the World. It comes at a price, though—she can read but one page a day. The book, however, is confiscated for twelve long years, and when she finally has the chance to read it again, she defies this warning—to the loss of all she loves. Striking a bargain with seven devilish magpies, she sets out to redeem her losses, and save her life.

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