Big News: Fallen Desire is coming out with Terran Empire Publishing!

Hello faithful readers!

I am announcing my new publishing contract with Terran Empire Publishing, a small press based in California (though my relationship with them started well before the publication of this book). I have recently signed a publishing contract with them for the rights to Fallen Desire, Book 2 in the Fallen series. I already announced this on my mailing list and social media, so I might as well do it on the Magical Realm. I will use this as an opportunity to briefly delve into some additional detail.

What does publishing a book actually mean?

In legal terms, a publishing contract is an agreement whereby the Author sells the rights for a written work to the publisher, in exchange for royalties and possibly an advance. (That’s a test good contracts must meet: there should be a quid pro quo.) But what does that actually entail? Why would I do this instead of just publishing it on my own like I did the Necromancer and Fallen Love?

Well, it boils down to a few different important advantages and one major disadvantage. The disadvantage is that my royalties per book are about half what they would be if I self-published. The advantages are numerous:

1. I get free editing! Which is great, because editing—particularly developmental or story editing—costs a lot of money otherwise. It’s probably the single biggest added value service in addition to a cover.
2. I get a book cover! And I don’t have to pay for it out of my own pocket.
3. The publisher has a physical presence in California, which is important for selling to bookshops. They also make my book known at local conventions that, for obvious reasons, are very difficult for me to attend (I live halfway across the world).
4. Translation into Spanish is a possibility.
5. And finally, I get someone to market for me! This is such a pain in the ass to do on my own.

Why Terran?

Why not any other publisher? We were already working together as I was doing some data analysis work for them. They pitched me an offer for the 2nd book; I decided it looked good. They were also open to negotiation; that meant I got a very solid contract with clear expectations, and no nasty loopholes.

So how is Book II coming along?

Pretty well, for the most part. I have written more than 50,000 words, and I’ve almost finished the first round of edits. I do my first round of editing once I reach the halfway point (more or less) in order to fix problems as they crop up: I mop up everything from typos and worldbuilding inconsistencies, to characterisation issues and plot holes.

I could in principle wait until I finish writing the story and have my publisher do all this, but I prefer to resolve issues as they come up, because that makes writing the end much easier for me. As it is, I probably will send the manuscript to the publisher in a few weeks.

I am cautiously optimistic that the book will be ready in a couple of months; I expect it will be around 90,000–100,000 words. It will definitely be bigger than Book 1, but I’m just not sure how much bigger.

Any other news?

I’m preparing for my MSc in Data Science and Business, which is going to be a lot of work. Arranging housing is next on the list.

I was supposed to get my driving licence this year, but will I? I’m not sure. The whole coronavirus pandemic has delayed an already slow, bureaucratic process. Since my MSc is non-negotiable, I have to leave in August.

But hey, I’m staying positive! I’ve been working out for the past 2 months. (What else was I supposed to do? Go crazy in quarantine?) I am now the proud owner of a six-pack, which feels pretty statuesque—a feat I attribute to low body fat and smart exercise. Now I’m working on my biceps, triceps, deltoids, and pectoralis major. Plus my transverse abdominis—a tricky muscle to work.

(Alex, as you might have noticed, is obsessive. When he strives to complete a task, he does it, and he does it well. Even if it means metamorphosing from a book nerd into a fitness freak.)

Finally, one more piece of good news: my hair is growing back! In particular, my forehead and temple hair is thickening—hair that I lost in the past two years due to AGA, aka male pattern baldness. How long will I maintain a full head of hair? That I do not know, so I’m going to relish my hair while it lasts.

Now I must return to my writing. Until next time!

A Quick Update

Hello readers!

It has been awhile since my last post, and I would like to update you all on what’s been going on. To begin with, I have been busy with my driving lessons: I am slowly getting the hang of steering, clutching (a very complicated process), brakes, acceleration, and intersections. Oh, and parking. Alas, thanks to this pandemic, driving tests have been postponed for over a month.

The other important thing has, of course, been master’s degrees. I will be sending another application soon, and I am expecting scholarship results quite imminently. Then there is Kickstarter—I sent all the remaining signed paperbacks on Monday, and I’m hoping everyone will get their copy soon.

In my personal life, I’ve started exercising more: I’m doing some basic resistance exercises (pushups, squats, planks) with medium-intensity cardio. I figured I might as well do something useful while I wait for my medicines to work—it’s going to take months to fix the remaining skin and hair problems I suffer from. Incidentally, if you suffer from dry hair (which I hate) I recommend biotin supplements; they really do work.

I have some really cool plans for my writing in the future. The second book in the Fallen series has been picked up by a California-based publisher (yay) and I am excited to work with them. On top of that, I’m interviewing my Great Demon and Arch Demon backers; I’ve already started writing the first character based on my backers’ personality. It’s turned out very interesting so far.

That’s not the only new writing! To take one example: I’m hoping to write a piece of flash-fiction that will be published in a Queer Science Fiction anthology. Obviously, there’s the sequel. And there’s more I’m keeping under wraps (secret alert!)

Lastly, I’ve been following the Democratic primary election—or, well, not following. I can really sympathise with the people who voted for Bernie Sanders: the DNC has pretty much turned this into a Biden coronation, and I don’t blame Bernie supporters if they decide not to cast their vote for Biden in the election. Heck, I wouldn’t blame them if they abandoned the Democratic party altogether.

Biden may or may not win against Trump; it will depend on how this pandemic evolves. At this point, though, I don’t really care. It’s business-as-usual in America, and that means crazy-as-usual.

If you haven’t done so already, you can keep following me by signing up to the subscribe form on the right. This way, you’ll be the first to know when I release something new, be it a new book, short story, or exclusive.

I’m finally getting published

Hello readers!

I have been busy these past few weeks, which is why I have not posted any updates here on the Magical Realm. Partly, it’s been because of the new book, Fallen Love. I’ve been advertising on Facebook, fulfilling backer rewards for Kickstarter (lots of paperbacks to send out!) and I’m negotiating the rights to the sequel with a small press.

Yes, you read that right: a small fantasy publisher wants to publish the next book! The talks are only at the beginning stage so far, and there is much to think about. Editing, design and marketing are the big ticket items; there are a million other things that go into a publishing contract.

There is a trade-off involved, naturally: the royalties aren’t as good as in self-publishing, which means I have to sell more books to earn the same. In exchange, I get editing, which is seriously expensive business (think $2000+ for a full-length novel). The publisher has a physical presence in California, which offers many opportunities—conventions, bookstores, Kickstarter rewards—that wouldn’t be open to me otherwise. Finally, I want someone to do the work for me. Self-publishing is too complicated and too exhausting.

The Curse of the Automobile

I’ve started taking driving lessons. Getting my licence will prove a time-consuming and tedious process, mostly because of bureaucracy. I can’t say I’m massively excited about it, because it’s not like I can afford a car at this stage in my life. Moreover, car transport is the cause of many negative externalities—pollution, climate change, congestion, and obesity among them.

Sadly, the reality is that we are hopelessly dependent on cars. You need to drive a car in order to be an independent adult. Even employers require it as a condition for getting a job—or the market forces you to drive a car because living in the city is too expensive.

Plans for the future

But enough about that! I have exciting plans for my writing. Getting a publisher for Fallen Desire is just the beginning; there are other promising opportunities I’m exploring. You’ll hear more about it in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned!

Quality vs Quantity

Hello readers!

Previously, I updated you all on my progress getting reviews for Fallen Love, releasing the cover, and modernising my marketing platform and author brand. I am making steady progress on that, with a new review going up on Goodreads this weekend (more are coming!) I even have a cover for the Vampire Eirik, which I am polishing with my designer.

The purpose of this post, however, is slightly different. I want to talk about strategy in self-publishing, and specifically, I want to answer questions like: How many books should an author be releasing? How much time and money should be spent on editing? What about covers and blurbs?

The lay reader’s response to these questions tends to be simple: a book should be as good as possible. It should be typo-free and well-edited; the cover should be the wow. These attitudes are often shared by big publishers as well. This approach is well-intentioned... but it is not always the correct approach. Or at least, the reality is more complex, and certain trade-offs have to be made.

The self-publishing business model is very, very different from that of the traditional model—and neither readers nor trade publishers really understand it. Some differences are obvious: self-published authors rely hugely on ebook sales, and for most, the profits from print books constitute only a small part of their income. Trade publishers, on the other hand, overprice their ebooks—they want ebooks to be a cash-cow in the way hardbacks are, instead of being mass-market products like paperbacks.

I can recall, with mirth, that time five years ago when I released my first book, the Necromancer. One of my readers at school came up and told me that I must surely make more money on the print books I was selling in school, rather than the ebooks on Amazon. I corrected her, informing her that my profit on the paperback was half what I made on the ebook, thanks to high printing costs and delivery.

Anyway, I am digressing. I would like to return my original point: that the self-publishing business model, unlike trade publishing, requires authors to publish more books in order to be successful. Put simply, self-published authors generate exposure for their books—a marketing term for how “out there” your work is—by having cheap ebooks on sale.

This is how Amanda Hocking succeeded on KDP. At first, her ebooks were 99 cents; this made readers keen to take a chance on her (especially since they wanted lots of cheap books to go on their Kindles). Later on, lending became possible through Kindle Unlimited, and that helped boost her exposure.

But of course, selling ebooks for 99 cents gives authors very little profit (the royalty rate is only 35%) and devalues books—at least if you’re selling full-length books for 99 cents. I doubt 99 cent short stories change the value proposition of full-length ebooks at $4.99 though. So what do you do? Simples: you sell some of your work at 99 cents or for free, and sell some your other work for meaty, profitable prices like $3, $4, or $5 (I don’t think most self-published authors will manage to sell at $5.99).

This is basically the “reader magnet” strategy outlined by Nick Stephenson. Still, there are some tricky questions you have to ask with the reader magnet strategy, especially if you’re a first time author. My main problem is that my free/$0.99 story, the Sandman, is hardly my best work; and while it does entice some readers, it’s not the greatest reader magnet in the world. The Necromancer is a book that probably would get readers interested in me—I could in principle lower the price to 99 cents once I publish Fallen Love.

Of course that’s not going to happen; I won’t sell a 105,000~ word epic for quite that little money. (I am selling it for $3 though, so go grab a copy!) This is where the Vampire Eirik comes in—it’s just long enough to be interesting (I hope!) without threatening my full-size novels.

Taking this strategy even further requires writing series. You sell your first book in the series for cheap, then gradually make your sequels more expensive. You can bet I’ll be doing this with the Fallen Series—the first book, Fallen Love, will be price-dropped once Fallen Desire is released, while the latter book will command a reasonably high asking price.

The Dilemma

I’m sure the reader has probably released the conflict now, and the reason for the titling of this post. The Reader Magnet strategy is great, but you need to have some books in your catalogue. That’s a lot of books to edit—which costs a lot of money. It’s also a lot of proof-reading, design, marketing copy and keyword optimisation.

Nonetheless, self-published authors can rarely rely on one book. There are unicorns like Fifty Shades, but unicorns are more often than not just that—a myth. In the trade publishing world, your first novel has to swim, or your trade publishing career sinks with it. On the other hand, a trade publisher will at least do something to get your book out there; they will put you in mass-market brick-and-mortar stores; and their covers are usually good.

In a way, though, self-publishing is good for authors and leads to better books. This might sound paradoxical, but think about it. Is an author’s first book likely to be their best? Probably not—it isn’t true for a lot of authors, especially young ones like me. In which case, should an author and publisher waste a lot of time and money editing a book that’s never going to be amazing? Probably not. It’s better to concentrate on writing the next one.

A balance does have to be struck, of course. Typos have to be squashed—but you don’t need a proofreader to do this. Beta readers can also do the job. Even reading the book in a different format (in terms of font, leading, justification etc.) can expose previously invisible typos. Full-length novels need more editing than short stories, and so on.

Likewise, cover design is hugely important to selling a book. Still, a good cover doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. When I put an ad for a book cover designer, I received a wide variety of quotes for Fallen Love—one professional wanted €1200. Now, I should add that this man was offering illustration and 3D work for this price, which requires more time and more skill. But there are young, upstart designers charging good prices for their work. The only thing I might avoid is pre-designed covers, if only because they are too generic and probably won’t fit your book.

Very well! I have gone on long enough. I am hoping to feature a review next on the Magical Realm. Until then!

The Long Interlude

Hail readers!

You may have observed that I have not blogged for quite a while. Unfortunately, this has been all but inevitable: for as I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve moved house. And sadly, I won’t have Internet until sometime around the 20th (eek!).

Nevertheless, a number of developments have arose since I last blogged.

The first of these concerns the Ark, and specifically, I’ve been looking to get an editorial assessment for the first two parts of the manuscript (the second part being very nearly finished). My reasons are simple: my beta reader, and my personal suspicions, agree that some work needs to be done on it. In particular, it is in places overwritten; Casey needs a stronger voice; and there are no doubt numerous other small but important flaws.

The initial feedback I received from an editor called Matrice largely agrees with that, and has flagged up problems none of us were able to spot.

I contacted this editor using the help of Reedsy, a website aimed at writers, editors and other publishing professionals. Due to the somewhat unusual nature of the Ark, and the rather busy schedules of some of the editors, I’ve decided to extend the deadline for quotes by a week; and so I am effectively in a kind of limbo, waiting for more editors to reply with quotes.

In truth, such is the nature of the business. You can’t get a book published on your own—and when you have to rely on other people, well; unexpected things can happen.

But it’s not all limbo: I still have a good two chapters to get written. So, to conclude this, I guess I’ll just say: take it up your chest, and keep going.

Concerning Reviews

In other literary matters, I have recently come up across Cassandra Clare’s latest novel—the Lady Midnight. Now, those of you who follow my reviews might know that I’m a fan of the author; her books are wonderfully suffused with a magic, in an original and compelling world, and to add to that there are the multidimensional characters and dark, unexpected plot lines.

Well, Lady Midnight is no exception. In fact, if anything, it might actually be better than the Mortal Instruments series.

Anyway: expect my review soon.

To Finish Off

Due to present circumstances, I am unfortunately unable to blog a great deal: there won’t be any essays or new posts until past the 20th, the only exception being short updates regarding my progress. That said, stick with me. After the 20th we should be mostly moved in—and I will have another school holiday.

Although most of that will be occupied with revision for my A2 exams, I can squeeze in a few musings on political philosophy. I’ve written a great deal on Socialism, and a fair amount about Conservatism and even Social Democracy; but I’ve not written much about Liberalism. So, I shall rectify that.

Until then, wish me luck. The Ark, after all, will not write itself.