Welcome for Twitter followers

I wanted to give a big welcome to all of the Twitter followers that have joined over the last week.  I would love for you to experience my book, so if you click the link below, you will download a PDF of the first five chapters of Jason and the Draconauts.  I hope you enjoy the book and tweet and re-tweet this to anyone that may also enjoy it!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/35476855/Jason%20and%20the%20Draconauts%20-%20First%205.pdf

The Council of Ancients

I received a very nice review on Goodreads about the book, but the big feedback I got from that was that she didn't like the cliffhanger ending.  The fact is, there are readers who like closure and I really appreciate that.  I grew up reading comics and graphic novels, and they are replete with cliff hanger endings, so I guess it is something that never really bothered me.  I tried not to leave the characters of Jason and the Draconauts in complete peril by the book's end, but I definitely wanted to say that the story was not ending on the last page. 

I also am not posting the chapters to the new book is a serialized fashion like I did the last.  Some people may be disappointed in that, but I want the next book to be just that; a book.  My approach this time is definitely NOT a write-to-post point of view, and it is making me feel relaxed in my writing that I don't need to hurry up and get the next installment out there.

However, I do want to give you a status update on Jason and the Draconauts: The Council of Ancients.  Yes...I am writing it.  Yes...I have a dent in it.  I am about six and a half chapters in.  If you want a preview, you can scroll through the Facebook page and find the first chapter to download.  One of the big things that just happened was that our villain, Karura, finally acquired the 'artifact' he cryptically mentioned in the first book, and thinks it will turn the tide in his war with the dragons.  Also, another member of the Order of the Scale has been introduced (that means a new human character AND a new dragon character as well).  This new character will bring a resource to the story that will reveal what this 'Council of Ancients' actually is as well as answer the mysterious question, "What is the Fifth?"

Thanks for being fans and reading.  Stay tuned for more information!

April showers bring new blogposts

It has been a while since my last blog post.  It would seem that WHILE you are writing a book, there isn’t a whole lot of news to post.  “Hey, just finished a page!” or “Wow, that edit was a rough one!” doesn’t seem like the gripping reading into which you would want to invest your time.

The marketing/promotion front is slow right now.  This is the downside of self publishing.  I have managed to get the book in Wegmans, our local supermarket chain store, but trying to get a book signing there has not gone as quickly as I would like.  But, I need to trust in the process and hope that things will work out.

I do have a reading scheduled on the horizon, so that is a good thing!  I will be crossing the state line into Pennsylvania to read to 5^th through 9^th graders at the Blue Ridge School District in mid-April.  There are a couple of local gigs I am working on as well, but it is a little too early to reveal anything right now.

The big disappointment, however, was not making it to the next level of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel of 2014 contest.  I know it was my first attempt at anything like that, but it is still heart breaking, and it is hard not to take it as a personal blow.  I have also started dipping my literary big toe in the cold waters of finding a literary agent.  But, as with the contest, have only experienced rejection on that part as well.  And here is where I am seeing the conundrum of the traditional vs. self-publishing route.  The traditional arena seems like a very closed system; seemingly designed to inflict rejection after rejection, demoralization after demoralization until only those most stout of heart or numb of an sort to feelings survive.  I guess this is the way to weed out the stragglers and boil it down to the best of the best.  Still, it seems crushing and probably many a good author have fallen by the wayside as a result of the system.

Of course, that leaves the self-publishing route, which is much easier than it ever was, but as I am learning that without the backing of an agent or a publisher, the marketing of your book suffers greatly.  What good is a self-published book, good or bad, if you can’t get people to read it?  Sure, there is an initial thrill of seeing this finished work in your hands and selling a hundred copies or so, but once that tapers off you are at a loss of where to go next.

Yet, amidst my various marketing issues, I have made progress on Council of Ancients.  I’m about five chapters in, and am starting to set up the overall conflict of the book.  Two new and important characters have been introduced, both of which you met if you got the link to the first chapter on the Facebook page, and I think right around Chapter 6 I will be addressing the riddle of the “artifact” Karura was trying to obtain back in book 1.

So…thanks for reading my random musings and stay tuned; I will post more whenever news becomes available!

He IS still alive!

Hi everyone,

It has been quite some time since I posted any news.  The main reason is...well...there isn't a whole lot that is new.

1) Sales have slowed down some.  I'm not surprised since the holidays are over, but that leads me to...

2) Marketing.  That is one of the big weaknesses of self publishing is that you are kind of on your own to figure out ways to get the word out.  So that is really my BIG challenge right now.  I am trying to arrange gigs at a couple of more local schools and I am working on getting the book in a chain store that has branches all over the northeast (no, not Barnes and Noble.  I wish...)  The book would only be in my local branch, but if you have one of these places in your area, you could ask to have it there.  More on that as info becomes more firm.

3) Book 2.  Yes, I am working on it.  I have 4 chapters written so far and am plugging along.  I am not sure if I will be posting chapters as I finish them like I did the first book, but I will be sure to have stuff to whet your appetites every now and then.  Maybe a picture of a new dragon soon.

Anyway, stay tuned, and get the word out.  Anything YOU can do to help spread the word is GREATLY appreciated!

2013 in review

Well, the chaos of the holidays is finally over and the long winter doldrums have finally set in.  And here, in upstate New York, they may not end until late April (sigh).

BUT...2013 was an amazing year as well!  The book was finished, a successful Kickstarter campaign funded the self publishing, a cover was created, the book was professionally edited, and now it is in people's hands!  I can hardly believe it; it is pretty surreal.  I've been interviewed, covered in the paper, and had a couple of book signing events.  Three schools have welcomed me to read to over 100 students.  And I estimate probably around 100 books are out there in people's hands.  I am filled with a deep sense of gratitude, but humility at the same time.  It is very early in the process, and it is hard to find a healthy balance of hope and realism.  I have gotten some really great feedback, but at the same time I know it is probably just a fraction of one percent of authors that really "make it".

That being said, this book is the first of a series, and I am committed to that.  So even though I still need to wade through the confusing waters of promoting one's self, I am faced with one big reality in this beginning of 2014...

Time to start a NEW book :-)

Book Signing - Part 2

I have a second book signing schedules on January 4th at River Row Books in Owego, NY from 1 to 3 PM.  Follow the link below to the Facebook event page and get the details.  The invite is open to the public, so you anyone can accept it!  Hope to see you there!

https://www.facebook.com/events/564873746929197/?context=create&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

Busy busy busy!

What a great week last week!  I was privileged to read to the Harpursville, NY sixth grade class where I got to answer some really great questions, including "Do you like cheese?"  (I answered 'yes' for everyone that was curious)  Then, the next day, I read to not one, but two classes at Jenny F. Snapp middle school in Endicott.  I was met with a gasp from the students as I walked through the classroom door.  Apparently, they were excited to see me.  Usually if I get a gasp when I walk through a door, I have either done something wrong or I forgot to button or zip something, so this was a pleasant change.  I ended up on the school's web site, so if you want to read the article, you can go here... http://www.uek12.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=4Y022&dasi=2GI  It was so much fun and I had the pleasure of donating a copy of the book to the school library.

Then, my first book signing happened at River Read Books in Binghamton, NY.  First I need to mention how great of a store River Read is and if you are ever in the greater Binghamton area, stop by and visit them.  Unfortunately, the 6 to 8 inches of snow that day kept a lot of people away.  Still, I was able to sell quite a few books, and the people who did stop by were welcomed with smiles and open arms.

The holidays are quickly approaching, so perhaps Jason and the Draconauts would be a great gift for that reader in your life!  

And who knows, maybe we will get another book signing scheduled soon, like...I don't know...the first week of January?  (That was a spoiler...stay tuned)

Oh, and Chris Pousser...the guy who drew quite a few of the dragons from the story...yeah, I just contacted him for, well, that would be telling now, wouldn't it?