Around September first I listed The First Light Chronicles Omnibus for free on Smashwords.com. Since then over 3,100 copies have been downloaded.Copies are still selling on Mobipocket.com and there's a trickle in print, overall the Omnibus has done well. To be honest, I can't wait to see what those 3100+ downloaders have to say when they finish reading it. People have been kind so far, but there's always a different reaction to free material.
There's something going on with this book other than mondo downloads, it's still in editing. With the long time success of this book the decision was made to commit to doing a final edit several months ago. That edit is still underway. My part is done, rewriting a little in rough places and editing the text line by line, and now the editors are busy going through it.
The new cover was supposed to be on hold until the book was updated internally, but with over 3100 free downloads from Smashwords, I couldn't resist updating the outside of the book so it better fit in with the Spinward Fringe Series.
When will you see the final version of the Omnibus? That'll come in January, we're taking as much time as we need to improve what's there without changing the story or style. Everyone who already owns an eBook copy will be able to re-download it for free, either from the site they originally purchased it from or from Smashwords.
What's happening with the next Spinward Fringe Book (part 2 of the Rogue Element Trilogy)? It's well under way, and there are more than a few surprises waiting for you. It's an unconventional piece of fiction and I believe it holds up to the first book in the Rogue Element Trilogy. There's a lot more news to come on that soon.
RL
4 comments:
Glad to hear the next book is comming along. Friend turned me onto the omnibus several weeks ago, and I couldn't stop reading. Was so bad infact that I ended up ordering all the spinward fringe books within a week of finishing the omnibus. Sadly I had them finished within a week of recieving them. That's the only problem I have with them, too short. :P
On a different note though. Have you given any thought into developing the setting you've created into a Role-Playing Game? It seems you've really thought through the history of the setting and the various piecesof technology used within it. I'd definately buy the core rulebook and any suppliments you made.
Welcome to the crew and thank you for buying the books, I'm glad you enjoyed them!
A lot of the technologies are based in the kind of research and tech we have right now, and research is ongoing. There are only a couple pure fiction techs in the series, and if you lurk around on some of the same websites I lurk on you can pick them out pretty quickly. *cough*organic steel*cough* Giving everyone a feeling of authenticity is pretty important.
As it is with a good RPG source book or system. I posted a survey a while ago asking if the regulars on the site wanted to see a tabletop RPG, and the vast majority thought it was more important that I work on writing more books... faster than I already am, in fact!
The good news for you and the other 3 people who want a tabletop role playing game is that I've been building an encyclopedia of technologies, items, ships, locations, characters, and events just in case. In case of what? Well, for my own reference, because I have the memory of a mentally disabled goldfish, in case it's ever big enough or interesting enough to publish (doubt!), or if I ever have an audience large enough to warrant a tabletop Role Playing Game.
I've worked with the Wizards of the Coast D20 system before while creating a Fantasy Sourcebook and Core Rules Book for the Fate Cycle and was a game master for over 20 years. I've also created systems of my own, the last of which was very simplified, my preference. I'd feel very comfortable as the lead designer of the project, but what I'd be missing is the artwork, a couple writers and ready alpha/beta testers. That, and the audience / funding for the project, since I may not have time to put out a book every 3 months while I'm working on the RPG. If that stuff fell into place, I'd certainly put a real sourcebook out, like the ones us RPG fans always dream of, with 800 pages of story seed and setting material and 50 pages of rules.
Until then, I'll be over here working to finish the Rogue Element series. That's an entirely different elephant.
Congrats on those download numbers, Randy. That's great coverage.
"I have the memory of a mentally disabled goldfish"
I've got you beat; mine's the memory of a geriatric chicken.
~Cat
Then I'd imagine you have exceptional note taking skills!
Thanks for stopping in Cat!
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