The Publishing Update

I think I let this one get away from me again. I can't believe that it has been almost a year since i last posted about a new book. I actually updated one on the NOVELS page in the meantime, but totally forgot to write a post about it. Let's put that right now and bring things up-to-date.

Emerald of the East

The Emerald of the East is the third novel in what will eventually be a quadrilogy. It continues the story of Jamie and Alex as they battle against the erratic powers of the four compass jewels. At almost 140,000 words, it's the longest novel I have written so far and I'm afraid that it rambles a bit at times. It also took quite a while to write and, apparently, even longer to write about.

Faster Than Light

Faster than Light is a very different proposition. Firstly, it is a stand-alone romance novel set in the here and now. Secondly, it's only just been completed and published on Amazon.

When I'm ready to release it, episodic publishing will be on my new platform of choice - Wattpad - and published in full at one time, a model I intend to use going forward. It sparked into existence only a month ago and at 64,000 words it's the fastest I've ever written. It was a story that, as soon as I started to write, I wanted to see it to the end and I'm fairly happy with it now.

In Other News

I'm working on another project, something that's a little more mainstream than the X-rated content of my normal work. It's intended to be a series of novels that should be read in sequence and tell a science fiction story of conflict and redemption across a swath of the galaxy. Tentatively titled The Pikun Wars, I've written three volumes so far and am working on the fourth. There will probably be a fifth and I hope to have it ready by the end of the year. Already at 240,000 words, it's going to be epic.

Here's a teaser of the cover for volume one.

Publishing Platforms

 

I first found Tapas and decided to use it as a publishing location in June of 2023. In the time since, I've published 12 works there - along with publishing them on Amazon - and had almost forty thousand chapters read by hundreds of readers.

I've never been a big enough author to make anything out of it, but I'm honestly not int he business of writing to make any money. It keeps me sane and gives me something to do to keep my brain active between work calls. There is a pleasure in declaring an income from my writing on my Tax return, but we're hardly ever going to get too excited over a sum that's barely into double digits.

Almost more than writing, I love to read on Tapas. I check for new stories every day and keep up with all my favourite long-term comics and series. It's not the only such site and that's probably a good thing.

Now, however, Tapas seems to be closing for good. Their Korean parent company have decided to cut their losses and the site will almost certainly be shuttered before the end of the year. If it is losing as much money as they suggest int he online reporting about the matter, I can't say that I blame them.

It does, however, leave me needing to change the home of my online works. I read almost as much on Wattpad as I do on Tapas and that's the one I've settled upon. Over the next week or two, I'll migrate all my published titles to Wattpad and see how it goes. Indeed, I've already migrated two titles, as much to test the system as to make an honest start. Pages on this blog will have the links added as they are moved and I'll delete the Tapas links when they die.

You'll find the index to these titles HERE.