SkyWarriorBooks

Today Only -- Valentine's Day Special! Free copy of Firedancer!

2012-02-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

Forgot to get something for your sweetie this Valentine's Day? At Sky Warrior Books, we love books and love our readers. So, today only, we're giving away Firedancerby S.A. Bolich. Check it out an get your own Kindle copy!

Don't have a Kindle? There are Kindle apps for your phone, iPad, Android tablets, and your computer.

Volunteer to Give Away Books on World Book Night!

2012-02-04T22:47:00.000-08:00

I just read about World Book Night 2012, and it's an awesome idea. WBN is looking for people to give away 1 million books to light readers and non-readers on April 23, 2012. You'll need to register to become a book giver, and if chosen, you will be given 20 books to hand out to people. The books are supplied through donations and are given to you free. You do not pay for anything.

Make a difference. Get people to read. I've signed up. I hope you sign up too.

The Feathered Edge: Tales of Magic, Love, and Daring

2012-01-31T00:18:00.000-08:00

Finally, I can talk about our newest release! We have just released the e-book version of The Feathered Edge: Tales of Magic, Love, and Daring edited by Deborah J. Ross with new, never before published works by Tanith Lee, Sherwood Smith, Kari Sperring, Madeleine E. Robins, Judith Tarr, Sheila Finch, Jay Lake, and other equally talented fantasy authors. This is a fabulous collection of fantasy swashbuckling short stories.

Magic, Swords, and Romance...

Want a taste of romance in your swashbuckling adventure? Sparkling verbal repartee in your heroic quest? A lover swain spun of dreams and moonlight? A rescue from an Algerian brothel? Swords that would rather make love than fight duels? A woodland god in the guise of a wounded stag? A stowaway on a pirate ship? Between waking and dreams, 'twixt mortal lands and Faerie, the old world and the new, lies an enchanted realm. Here lovers duel with wits as well as swords, swords have souls, and swordsmen rouse from their garden graves. Master storytellers offer a sumptuous feast of lovers and rivals, ghosts and paladins, danger and daring, wit and wizardry, for your reading delight.

It's a fun romp. You can buy it from Amazon.com, BN.com or Smashwords for just $3.99. It's a great book that you'll enjoy reading again and again.

Nice Review of Firedancer

2012-01-28T17:53:00.000-08:00

Nice review of Firedancer:
Science Fiction and Other ODDysseys: Firedancer - and SA Bolich on weaving a rich tale

Book Giveaways a GREAT Success!

2012-01-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

Hey, folks! Thanks for making our giveaways a huge success! We hit #3 on the Kindle Bestsellers List for Genre Anthologies on Zombiefied and Michael J. Parry's The Spiral Tattoo hit number #77 on the Hard-boiled bestseller lists for The Spiral Tattoo.Wow! Thank you so much! Enjoy the books--I know you will. If you like these books, check out our other books at www.skywarriorbooks.com Many of the authors featured in Zombiefied are published in our line.

If you missed our giveaways, which some of you did, you can still purchase Zombiefied! An Anthology of All Things Zombieand The Spiral Tattoo through Amazon for the low price of $2.99.

That being said, keep an eye out. Sky Warrior Books will be giving away ANOTHER novel next month! Follow me on Twitter (user name MH_Bonham and SkyWarriorBooks, or Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/skywarrior or follow the Sky Warrior Book's blog at either http://www.networkedblogs.com/blog/sky_warrior_books or http://skywarriorbooks.blogspot.com/

One more thing: if you enjoyed the books, feel free to "like" it on the Amazon homepage, add your own tags, and even write a review.

Again, thanks so much. You guys are the best!

Today is Z-Day at Sky Warrior Books!

2012-01-27T12:04:00.000-08:00

Just when you thought you couldn't get another free book on us, we're giving away a book that groans, shambles and eats brains! Get ZOMBIEFIED at Amazon for the low price of FREE. That's right, FREE. But today only, Pacific Standard Time.

You'll get some of the funniest, scariest, and just plain weirdest stories about zombies that you can't read just anywhere. We've got stories by Dayton Ward, Gary Jonas, John Lance, M.H. Bonham, David Lee Summers, Carol Hightshoe, and other exceedingly warp individuals that are sure to make you groan and shamble.

We've got stories about zombie politicians, zombie rescuers, zombie soldiers, zombie call center workers, zombie bowlers and zombie prom dates. Heck, if you don't get this book, your brain will rot!

Get ZOMBIEFIED, FREE at AMAZON.COM, January 27th only!

Friday the 13th is Lucky at Sky Warrior Books!

2012-01-11T19:04:00.000-08:00

Friday the 13th is considered bad luck, but you're unbelievably lucky this Friday, January 13th. For one day, Sky Warrior Books is giving away Michael Parry's novel, The Spiral Tattoo, on Amazon! This is a great opportunity to read some of Michael J. Parry's amazing work and get acquainted with one of our books.

"Law comes in two sizes: six inches and eight feet.

Elanore, the eight-foot tall troll, and Gurt, the six-inch tall (don't you dare call me a fairy) Eleinu, both guardsmen in the city of Delvenport, tackle their most baffling case yet. When they find a dead waitress, naked except for an intricate tattoo in a spiral across her body, they're launched into an adventure in the seedier side of Delvenport, filled with rogue mages, prostitution, and narcotics.

But can they solve the case before madness and riots take over the city?"

Get your FREE copy on Amazon.com this Friday, January 13th!

Happy New Year and Books to Look Forward to in 2012

2012-01-01T17:16:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone has had a good holidays and a safe and happy new year. Tonight I figured I should tell you what new releases are coming up for Sky Warrior Books.

Sky Warrior Books welcomes John Dalmas to our list of authors! We'll be reprinting John's amazing work, The Second Coming. We're planning on other books by him, so check out our blog for more news.

The Feathered Edge, edited by Deborah J. Ross, is an anthology of swashbuckling and romance, guaranteed to delight fans with new works by Kari Sperring, Tanith Lee, Sherwood Smith, Diane E. Paxton, Judith Tarr, K.D. Wentworth, David Smeds, among other very amazing authors. Should be out early this year!

World bestselling author, Alma Alexander's book, 2012: Midnight at Spanish Gardens, is now available in print on Amazon for $16.95!

Speaking of Alma, I'm editing Embers of Heaven, the sequel to the international bestseller, The Secrets of Jin-Shei. It should be out early this year.

S.A. Bolich has done it again with her sequel to her popular Firedancer. Windrider will be coming out this Spring.

Gary Jonas follows up his bestselling novel, Modern Sorcery, with Acheron Highway, another Jonathan Shade novel. He and Brand Whitlock are working on a Graphic Novel of the Hitman, so keep an eye out for that.

I'll toot my own horn and mention that my own book, Prophecy of Swords, hit the Amazon bestseller lists again for fantasy, selling more than 500 copies in one day. By the time I noticed it, it was down to the top 20th book in fantasy. Pays for me to look at my own books, eh?

We've got some interesting books by Pat MacEwen coming out. One, Rough Magic, is an urban fantasy and mystery where the realm of Faerie and our own world collided to make a difficult world for those who cannot abide cold iron. The Dragon's Kiss is a YA book about a handicap child who wishes to become a dragon rider. Great stuff!

We've also signed on Deby Fredricks with her fantasy, The Seven Exalted Orders. Look for it this summer. Michael Parry's Gurt and Eleanor, will return with the mystery, The Oak Grove. We'll be having two more anthologies out in the Spring, Gears and Levers, a Steampunk Anthology edited by Phyllis Irene Radford, and The Mystical Cat, edited by Dusty Rainbolt.

That's all I can talk about at present, but I'll continue to make announcements as they come up!

Holidays and Publishing Biz

2011-12-28T21:02:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's the holidays, so what am I doing? Working on the next books coming out. That was, of course, after getting Q3 royalties out to the authors, editors and artists, and looking in despair at my own writing. My managing editor and I have taken to sending each other emails even though we sit less than 5 feet from each other in our great room about the current books. Not that we aren't talking; we just have to have things in writing so no one goes nuts over something misinterpreted.

I've been finishing the final print format for 2012: Midnight at Spanish Gardens. The print formats for Modern Sorcery and Spanish Gardens required a crash course in Adobe InDesign and there have been some long nights into the wee hours of the morning where I was pretty sure that pounding my head into the monitor would've been a good thing. Modern Sorcery had some format goofs we caught, so it is in the final proof. But they're both off at the printers and almost ready for purchase. Yay!

On the new book side, we have two books in January! One, the Anthology, The Feather's Edge, edited by Deborah Ross, is a collection of new swashbuckling stories by Kari Sperring, Tanith Lee, Sherwood Smith, among other notable fantasy authors. The other is Embers of Heaven, by Alma Alexander, the sequel to her bestselling novel, The Secrets of Jin-shei. I'll let you know when those come out.

In the meantime, I hope you had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Solstice, Happy Kwanza, or whatever you celebrate, or don't. Be sure to have a safe and happy new year.

Prophecy of Swords #free on #Amazon #Kindle!

2011-12-26T21:02:00.000-08:00

Great news! From December 27 through 29th, get Prophecy of Swords (Swords of Destiny) free on Amazon! That's right, I'm giving away the book to Amazon customers for three days. So, check it out, and download your very own copy. Get your own and let others know about this great deal! Normally, $2.99, but now free for the next three days!

Eating Elephants and Portion Control

2011-12-05T21:39:00.000-08:00

There's an old joke that goes "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer is "One bite at a time." While it may seem a silly notion, if you substitute "novel" for "elephant," "write" for "eat," and "word" for "bite," you pretty much get the answer for how to write a novel.

When you think about it, writing novels are a daunting task, but the reality is that sometimes you really do "bite off more than you can chew." That has been happening to me lately with my book, Web of Wyrd. You see, at some point, I was trying to put too much in, the proverbial stuffing 50 lbs of crap in a 5 lb sack.

Web of Wyrd has languished at about 80,000 words since sometime around 2003. It sat unfinished and unloved mainly because every time I looked at it, I despaired. I had other books to write and other things to do, but I knew I had to go back to it someday.

The problem was one of success, however. Namely, Prophecy of Swords became a Kindle bestseller. Then, Runestone of Teiwas started doing well. I realized I had to get my next book out. Being a publisher, I know the need for timing. The time is somewhat past, but the book should still get out there. But the mess remained.

Going through the book, I realized what was causing problems was portion control. Basically, like Runestone, its predecessor, I was trying to fit too much into a 115,000 word book. Oh sure, I could come up with one of those ungainly tomes that we see fantasy novels fill, but I really didn't want that. So, I had to scale back, and I had to start cutting subplots.

So, what does all this mean and how does that apply to your fiction? As a writer, your should first think in terms of small steps. That means writing something every day, even if it's daunting. Even if it's not much. Some days I write very little. Nowadays it's harder to write. But I figure I have to take it a step at a time. Anne Lamott, who wrote the book Bird by Bird recommends this.

Some books are naturally behemoths, but for this publisher, I really prefer a nice size of 100K give or take. That means you've got to make some hard decisions. If your book is going upwards of 200K, maybe you have too many subplots, you're too wordy, or (koff) your book is too convoluted. If it makes sense to keep it at that size, see if you can split it up at a logical point. From a marketing standpoint, you'll make more money from small press with three books than one big one. Plus you'll have three books out. What a concept.

So, I'm looking at Web of Wyrd and realizing that I'm cramming in too much and need to push some more off to later books. Some subplots can keep until later. Clean up what is already there. Define the plot and resolution. And be glad when I finish the book.

Got Contacted by the Tiptree Awards Folks

2011-12-01T21:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I got an email from the Tiptree Awards folks asking for me to send copies of Alma Alexander's book, 2012: Midnight at Spanish Gardens for consideration of the award. It appears that it was recommended for the Tiptree Award, which is simply amazing because we're a new press and while Alma certainly isn't a new author, it is still an awesome achievement. Congrats, Alma!

You Gotta Read Reviews: Review – The Spiral Tattoo By Michael J. Parry

2011-11-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

Congrats, Michael! Nice Review of The Spiral Tattoo:

You Gotta Read Reviews: Review – The Spiral Tattoo By Michael J. Parry

Dragon's Tongue is NOW AVAILABLE!

2011-11-06T20:58:00.000-08:00

Dragon's Tongue by Laura J. Underwood is now up and available on Smashwords for a mere 99 cents in our November promotion, now through CyberMonday. This is an awesome book, so good that I blurbed the original book when it came out through Meisha Merlin some time ago. This is truly the case of I liked the book so much I bought it! It now sports the most awesome cover done by our own Mitch Bentley! You can purchase it for all e-book platforms HERE.

November SALE!!!!

2011-11-03T23:56:00.000-07:00

Yep, we've got our books on sale now! Until CyberMonday, all our books will be on sale for a mere 99 cents! That means you can fill your ereaders with the very best books by Sky Warrior Book authors and not break the bank. Check us out at our Smashwords website and you'll be able to buy books in all formats. If you're giving a Kindle or Nook this holiday season, give one filled with good books that won't break the bank.

Extension for Gears and Levers Steampunk Antho!

2011-11-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

If you haven't gotten your steampunk story in for Gears and Levers, the deadline has been extended to January 1, 2012. Check out our guidelines HERE. Good luck!

Modern Sorcery is Now Available in Trade Paperback!

2011-10-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

Sky Warrior Books is pleased to announce that Gary Jonas' book, Modern Sorcery, is now available in trade paperback! It's available for orders on Sky Warrior Books for $12.95 + shipping. It should soon be available on Amazon and in other venues, so keep an eye out for that.

Some Lovely Reviews about Modern Sorcery

2011-10-11T23:13:00.000-07:00

Gary Jonas' book, Modern Sorcery has been getting some pretty spectacular reviews. Check out the one on Debbie's Inkspectations where she has this to say about the book:

"I loved Modern Sorcery by Gary Jonas! I couldn't put it down once I started. I read all night long and then I borrowed my friend's kindle to finish it the next day since I didn't want to lug my lap top with me everywhere I needed to go. But I would have if necessary. I didn't want to stop reading, I had to find out what happened next!"

Way too cool! Thanks Debbie!

Then we have this little quote from Gail of Chasing After The Stars:

"I started reading it yesterday at about 4 pm and finished it at 9 pm. This also included a break for dinner and bathroom breaks because I was about to explode.(I know way too much information) But I couldn't stop reading. I had to find out what happened with Jonathan and Kelly, who, by the way, is now my ultimate feminist hero."

What cool reviews! What are you waiting for? Purchase Modern Sorcery for a mere $3.99.

Radiation and Howard the Shelter Cat

2011-10-05T22:46:00.000-07:00

In my last Fencon report, I failed to mention the odd stuff, which included my sister's cat, Howard, who is affectionately known as Howard the Shelter Cat, and like Sid the Llama, seems to have his own fan club. Thursday night before Fencon, I was staying at my sister's house. I brushed my teeth and went to bed, leaving the bathroom door open.

In the morning, I found my paper cup was tossed on the floor, the mats were skidded against the bathtub, the toilet paper was now in a nice little pile by the toilet, and my toothbrush was gone. Now, I suspected that Howard had stole the toothbrush, probably concerned about dental hygiene (and who wouldn't be?). But I was concerned that he might have given it to my sister's dogs to chew.

Thankfully, my sister had provided an unopened toothbrush in the bathroom for just such emergencies as "A cat ran off with my toothbrush..." so I could continue to brush my teeth. My sister later found the toothbrush stashed in Howard's closet. I told my sister that he could keep it.

On the way home, I had to go through security, and sure enough, TSA was kind enough to pick me out for that machine that hits you with a bunch of radiation and undresses you. I told them I would opt out, because of the radiation.

Well, well, well. First they tried to tell me that the machine didn't use radiation (WTF?), but I was well aware of the terminology and said that I was "opting out." The screener was professional and even changed her gloves before frisking me -- she asked if I wanted it private, I said no. At the end, the woman tried to explain that the machine didn't show pictures of people naked.

I told her that wasn't my objection. I said I was familiar with the concentration of radiation that machine used. She asked me what radiation was.

No, I'm not kidding. She had no clue what radiation was. My explanation was dumbed-down, to say the least. She looked concerned when I told her that it could cause cancer.

Yep, these are the people who are handling airport security. Thought you'd want to know.

Two New Anthologies Out!

2011-10-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

Zombiefied and Healing Waves are now available!

Buy them on Amazon!

My MileHiCon Schedule

2011-10-03T22:38:00.000-07:00

Here is my MileHiCon Schedule:

Friday, Oct 21

5:15-6:30 Speed Meet an Author
8:00 pm Autograph Alley

Saturday, Oct 22

10:00-11:00 Starting and Running a Small Press
12:00-1:00 Podcast Workshop Q&A
3:00-4:00 Author Reading
4:00-5:00 Author Signing

Fencon -- Or where is my brain?

2011-10-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

I managed somehow to get to Fencon last week, despite my crazy life and tons of work. Despite having to take two very full planes each way, I ended up sleeping through the flights. Lately, I've been dealing with stress through sleep, so sleeping on planes was pretty easy.

Fencon is in Dallas/Ft. Worth, which usually means ridiculously hot weather in September. This year, it wasn't too bad -- it was actually cooler than Montana, which is odd, but we've had a really late summer and very odd weather. I stayed with my sister and drove back and forth to the con hotel.

I think going to cons means meeting up with a gazillion people you haven't seen. That meant a fair number of YDP (yard dog press) folks, which proved awesome. I think I sold some books (good) and promoted the publishing house (great). My sister took some time to show me InDesign, so I don't feel so out of place with it.

If I missed you at Fencon, please forgive me. I was stretched pretty thin with all the convention stuff. Lots of good panels and good people. It was great seeing Selina Rosen get the Phoenix award. Very cool.

Healing Waves: A Charity Anthology for Japan

2011-09-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

Healing Waves' Cover:

Cover Art by Laura Givens

Zombiefied! An Anthology of All Things Zombie

2011-09-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

We haz cover!!! Check it out!

Cover Art By Peter Bradley

Life in Interesting Times

2011-09-14T00:06:00.000-07:00

There's an interesting blog written by author Kiana Davenport about her experience with a NYC publisher. Obviously, we're getting one author's experience with a certain NYC publisher and not the publisher's story, but the story is oddly familiar to me. I've heard quite a bit of these kind of stories.

I'm not against the big publishers per se, but I do wonder about whether it's appropriate that they have been the gatekeepers. A free press is what makes us free. So, I'm all for people having access to publishing.

Now, I do have caveats, and that is that good publishers do weed through the submissions, edit the manuscript, and professionally publish it. If an author is willing to jump through the hoops on their own, self publishing might be the way to go for them. But for a publishing house to bully an author because he or she decided to self publish his or her works is...well...ridiculous.

As a publisher, I read the story with amazement. Not that I disbelieved the story, but I found it disconcerting that some publishers may have stooped so low as to threaten an author because she needed to make a living. The book under contract should have been the book in question and not the other works. I can see a right of first refusal with the publisher, but if the publisher had already said no, then the author should be able to publish her work herself.

I think the whole ebook thing has caught some publishers napping and they're scrambling for control. With bookstores such as Borders going under, more people are turning to alternate forms of writing, such as ebooks. POD used to be a dirty word, but is now considered a way to put trade paperbacks out. The truth is that the paradigm for publishing is shifting, and those who will not change, who insist on selling books for the hardback or trade paper prices, or who demand people use the gatekeepers are going to be left in the dust, wondering what happened.

Firedancer

2011-09-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Cover art by Mitch Bentley

Wind and Fire: A Deadly Combination

Since the Beginning of all, the Fire Clans have fought the Ancient, the elemental fire at the heart of the world, with the binding power of the Firedance.
Suddenly, the Ancient has grown clever and bold, and the Dance has begun to fail. Now fire is running rampant in the village of Annam, where the Delvers mine the precious containment stone that is the only other safeguard against fire. Only Jetta ak'Kal, a failed master, and her partner, the most inept journeyman in all of the Fire Clans, stand in its way.

To Jetta's horror, fire isn't the only danger in Annam. Windriders live there, masters of air, the Ancient's most deadly fuel. With danger riding on every breath of wind, if Jetta fails, no place will be safe from the deadly firestorm...

Modern Sorcery by Gary Jonas

2011-09-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

Magic can be deadly...

When Private Investigator Jonathan Shade's ex-lover walks into his Denver office asking him to prove her father didn't commit the murder that dozens of witnesses saw and security cameras captured, Shade finds himself in the thick of magical intrigue. In a world where evil warlocks refuse to die, magically engineered assassins deal merciless death and ancient myths aren't quite so mythical, only Shade and his sexy partner, Kelly, can stop a power-hungry sorcerer from taking over the world.

Too bad Shade doesn't have any magic.

Cover art by Mitch Bentley

A New Series by Gary Jonas: The Jonathan Shade Chronicles.

The Hounds of Ardagh by Laura J. Underwood

2011-09-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

Ginny Ni Cooley never desired more than the simple life she had. Living in Tamhasg Wood, she used her magic to occasionally assist the folk of Conorscroft while putting up with the machinations of the ghost of her former mentor, Manus MacGreeley. But her peace is shattered one night with the arrival of a lad fleeing a pack of red-gold hounds led by a hound-shaped demon known as Nidubh.

So much for peace and solitude. By rescuing Fafne MacArdagh, Ginny becomes wrapped in the fabric of an intrigue involving a family feud, a traitorous son and a bloodmage named Edain who is determined to keep her soul. It was she who cast the spell on Fafne's family and household, and transformed the MacArdaghs into hounds. Ginny gives Fafne her word to take him to Caer Keltora so they can report the matter to the Council of Mageborn. But Edain is determined to keep her secret and her soul intact, and moves to thwart Ginny at every turn.

For Ginny Ni Cooley, who has faced many bogies, dealing with a demon, a bloodmage and the Dark Lord of Annwn, will be no easy task. But she will do what she must to undo Edain's spells. If not, Manus' soul will become part of the Arawn's Cauldron of Doom. Ginny will become a feast for a demon, and poor Fafne will join the Hounds of Ardagh for all eternity.

Buy Hounds of Ardagh at Smashwords.

Cover Art by Mitch Bentley

Does This E-book Make Me Look Fat? #kindle #ebooks

2011-09-01T12:58:00.000-07:00

At Sky Warrior Books, we take America's obesity problem very seriously. At less than $5, we know that there are plenty of fattening things out there that give us pleasure. You know, the double shot mocha lattes? The ice cream cones? That really wonderful, Belgian chocolate?

Yep, we've been there. More than once. In fact, some of us, ahem...

Anyway, enough about our lack of willpower. Let's talk about yours. You know that frozen coffee drink is adding pounds, but for the same or less money, suppose I could tell you about just as much pleasure for hours at a time? Food for your brain, as it were.

As far as I know, no one has said "Does this E-book make me look fat?" Our books at Sky Warrior Books are heavy on taste, and light on calories and your pocketbook. In fact, our e-books are zero fat, zero calories and all taste. For less than $4 a book (and in some cases, less than $1), you can get awesome books by our award-winning and bestselling authors. Check out our books at www.skywarriorbooks.com.

And if you have a double shot mocha latte while reading them, that's okay by us, too.

Quick Shots by Gary Jonas

2011-09-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

THE GUN IS LOADED

Get ready to read an outstanding collection of 29 stories including some that appear here for the first time!

THE TARGET IS SET

If you love horror, suspense, fantasy or just plain fun, you’ve come to the right place.

TAKE AIM

“The Blood on Satan’s Harley” - a headless biker roams the highways of Oklahoma searching for victims.

“By Death Abused” - a paranormal investigator helps a boy deal with his dead, but still abusive father.

“In League” - a rock band’s music opens gateways to Hell.

“Single White Vampire” a lonely vampire seeks romance while trying to avoid her master’s goons, including an Elvis impersonator vampire.

“Maternal Instinct” - a young woman hears a voice whispering to her baby over her nursery monitor.

“Broken Spirits” - two damaged people track down the man who stole their souls.

“Since I Had a Gun to My Head” - a man deals with the intense after-effects of an armed robbery.

“So You Wanna Be a Hitman” - one hitman tale alone would be worth the price of admission, but you get five (count ‘em) tales about this politically incorrect killer. He has virtually no redeeming qualities, but you’re going to love him.

PULL THE TRIGGER

Why are you still reading this? Buy the book already. You know you want it. You know you need it. You know it will help you earn millions of dollars, make you look like a movie star and win the heart of your one true love. Some say it will also cure cancer and bring about world peace.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

But you’ll definitely find some Quick Shots of entertainment and that’s the next best thing.

QUICK SHOTS - a killer collection. Bet you can’t read just one.

Promoting Your Book

2011-08-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Most new authors, once they get published, think that their work is done. After all, they got published, didn't they? The problem is that could be no further from the truth. They need to get on their running shoes and they need to promote. I've written a slew of articles about what doesn't work and what does (part 2, part 3 part 4, and part 5).

The reality is small press publishers aren't rich and we can only do so much. We need authors to step up and take over the areas where we just don't have the time and resources to promote. It isn't necessarily money (although, we don't object to authors paying for promotions), but it is energy and time.

I recommend Guerrilla Marketing for Writers to all published writers. If you haven't checked this out of the library or bought it, do so now. Seriously. Read it from cover to cover. Yes, the version I have is now antiquated, but it still has good ideas. If authors employed only one quarter of those ideas, their publishers would be very happy.

Most of these things can be done anywhere with a computer and an internet connection. Most require nothing more than effort and time. Some, you actually make money with. (Make money promoting? Why yes!)

So, if your publisher tells you to promote, or you aren't happy with your Amazon rank, read my articles and follow the instructions. It's easy, really. And it's your career as a writer.

Call for Submissions: The Mystical Cat

2011-08-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

Announcing our first cat-stories anthology! Edited by Dusty Rainbolt.

Let's face it, those of us who write science fiction and fantasy own cats -- or should own cats. Because our critters are extraordinarily wonderful and sources of inspiration, we at Sky Warrior Books feel that having a cat anthology is a good thing.

We want The Mystical Cat. That means fantasy, magical realism, paranormal, mystery, and science fiction. No "My Pet Cat" stories. No horror. No violence against cats or animal abuse. We want clever stories with a beginning, middle and end with interesting characters.

Payment

Payment is author share divided equally among the authors. We pay quarterly.

Deadline

Our deadline is January 1st, 2012. We’re planning on the e-book coming out in May. Hopefully a print version to follow.

How to Submit or The Nitty-Gritty

We accept RTF files via e-mail only to the publisher at skywarrior3@gmail.com. Put the words: THE MYSTICAL CAT SUBMISSION in the subject line with the title of your piece. Send us a virus and we will never accept anything from you again. Double spaced manuscript in Times New Roman or some other pretty font (not Courier!). Use italics, not underlines. Have your contact information on the manuscript including your email address. Let us know if this is a reprint and from where. Again, be sure you have the rights to reprint – we won’t chase down permissions. MUST HAVE A DOMESTICATED CAT IN IT IN A MEANINGFUL WAY. No more than 6000 words (actual). Query for longer pieces. Be sure to send us a manuscript free from spelling/grammar errors. Visit our website at www.skywarriorbooks.com. Send to skywarrior3 AT gmail dot com.

Call for Submissions: Steampunk Stories!

2011-07-29T22:52:00.000-07:00

Announcing Our First Steampunk Anthology: Gears and Levers, An Anthology of Steampunk

Edited by Phyllis Irene Radford

At Sky Warrior Books, we know you love Steampunk, and we love it too. So send us your best Steampunk original or reprint (must have the rights), stories 500 to 6000 words in length. The theme is open, but the editor would prefer a more worldly Steampunk story. African Steampunk, Asian Steampunk, Arctic Steampunk, Western steampunk -- you get the idea. Sure, we'll take standard Steampunk, but we'd love branching out.

Payment

Payment is author share divided equally among the authors. We pay quarterly.

Deadline UPDATED -- Extended to January 1, 2012

Our deadline is January 1st, 2012. We’re planning on the e-book coming out in March. Hopefully a print version to follow.

How to Submit or The Nitty-Gritty

We accept RTF files via e-mail only to the publisher at skywarrior3@gmail.com. Put the words: STEAMPUNK SUBMISSION in the subject line with the title of your piece. Send us a virus and we will never accept anything from you again. Double spaced manuscript in Times New Roman or some other pretty font (not Courier!). Use italics, not underlines. Have your contact information on the manuscript including your email address. Let us know if this is a reprint and from where. Again, be sure you have the rights to reprint – we won’t chase down permissions. MUST BE STEAMPUNK. 500 to 6000 words (actual). Query for long pieces. Be sure to send us a manuscript free from spelling/grammar errors. Visit our website at www.skywarriorbooks.com.

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Why Steampunk?

Phyllis Irene Radford

Two years ago I immersed myself in all things Steampunk when I first agreed to help edit “The Shadow Conspiracy, Tales from the Age of Steam,” for the Book View Café http://www.bookviewcafe.com. Little did I know that that anthology was only Volume I. Volume II was released early in 2011 and a third is in the works. And now I will also be developing a new Steampunk anthology for Sky Warrior Books http://www.skywarriorbooks.com.

I grew excited about the project in ways that hadn’t sparked my interest in a long time. With Steampunk I had access to adventure, to Romance (in the classic literary sense), I could invent marvelous toys and gadgets, I had real history to tweak in ways that made sense and thumbed a nose at prejudices and haughty scholars.

The more I worked with the stories the more I realized that Steampunk is not just about the things you can do with steam. It is a sensibility, an approach to life, and a new way of looking at issues--through goggles if you will.

I have found Steampunk all around me. Not just in books, movies, and TV shows that shouted steam at every turn, but in subtle ways. In interior of the Tardis on Dr. Who looks and sounds as if it belongs in a Jules Verne tale. In watching the DVDs of the TV series Farscape, I find some of the same flowing elegance in the living ship Moya as I do in many a luxurious upscale steam train.

The huge “What if” factor in both of those shows is similar to the Steampunk movement.

At PDX Gearcon 2011, my first Steampunk convention, one of the topics tossed around frequently is that Steampunk allows us to explore the human relationship with technology. In our current reality we seem addicted to technology without the knowledge or ability to understand the microscopic layers of silicon and circuitry. With steam, the gadgets are large enough that we can follow the hoses and coils, the pipes and the fuel, visually discover the logic of the design and fix it if need be with “found” tools and material.

Steampunk may have grown huge through the costume movement. It lingers for other reasons than just lace, velvet, goggles, and grease.

Steam engines are not just practical; they are elegant, as elegant as an artfully draped skirt or embroidered cuff. They come from an era when craftsmen designed beauty into their creations and took the time to make every seam align and flow into decoration. The gilding and flounces were as much a part of the function as the hoses and coils, the heat and the hiss.

As we romp through the stories and adventures, marveling at the possibilities of science and magic entwining, the mysterious flux and flow of the ephemeral steam, we also get a chance to tweak with the laws and morality of the Victorian Age that have come to dominate modern life. In Steampunk, women can stand beside the men as equals; they can tromp through jungles, climb mountains, and fix the bloody engine. All the while they will do it with grace and aplomb with an eye toward sensible fashion. After all, a corset is not just a symbol of sexual bondage; it contains useful raw materials and tools within the stays. It can become a woman’s barrier against unwanted advances. And when she chooses to take it off? Oh, the slow and wonderful possibilities that can follow.

I invite you to explore the age of steam, the sensibilities, the marvelous “what if” factor, and the optimistic energy of Steampunk. I think the movement is here to stay.

Indie Publisher, Agent, or DIY?

2011-07-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine, who is married to a bestselling author, chatted with me about this very question. We even shared a panel where we had differing views of opinion, and he honestly thought I was angry. No, not hardly. I thought his view to be myopic, but I certainly wasn't angry about his opinion. Everyone is entitled to his or her beliefs.

So, with that entrance, I figured I'd give you mine. Surprised?

One very well-known author has recommended that people simply self-publish their work. While I am not against self-publishing, per se, I wonder about the quality of the work if his readership decides to take him up on it. An author who has sold a remarkable number of books as this author has can "go it alone." He's got the connections, fan-base, and the professionalism to come up with a quality product.

Most authors, sadly, don't. Even if they do, they need a professional book cover, editing, proofreading, and the like. This isn't just a slap-dash thing. It costs money and time. A friend of mine said, "yeah, I could publish this myself, but I figure it'll cost me more than a thousand dollars to do it right."

Yep.

When you get accepted by a publisher, you have someone who vetted your work, meaning, the person read it and thought it was good enough for the publishing company's lineup. You have someone creating a (hopefully) professional book cover. And you have someone who edited and proofed the manuscript.

With self-publishing, you have a chance to make a lot of money, or look like a fool. You can let the market decide that your book is worthwhile or not. But you may have only one chance at it.

I don't accept everyone's books for that reason. I will tell people point-blank that they're not up to my standards. It doesn't mean that they are bad authors, but somewhere along the way, they need to clean up their books, learn the basics of the craft, and work towards writing a good book.

What about the agent route of having the agent help you DIY publish? Quite frankly, I find that a serious conflict of interest. I mean, the original role of agents was to find you a publisher. Now, they've become a book packager. That is a perilous road to travel fraught with ugly contracts that give your agent partial rights, or worse -- take all your rights.

I don't work with agents in my capacity as publisher for those reasons. I also offer the best percentage possible at 50% net profits (given the work we're doing, that's infinitely fair).

So, there you go, my take on the publisher/agent/DIY discussion. If you decide to DIY, be aware that you've got work ahead of you plus costs to produce a professional product; otherwise, look for a publisher with a good reputation.

5 Stars for One-Way Ticket to Midnight

2011-06-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

Published by Good Book Alert. Visit their website for excellent reviews. Reprinted with permission.

One-Way Ticket to Midnight
By Gary Jonas
Genre: Dark Urban Fantasy

Roy Porter lives on the streets of Tulsa, his music all but forgotten. When his friends start dying in horrible ways, Roy realizes he's seen the pattern of death before. The cops are searching for a regular killer, but Roy knows there's more going on and if he doesn't act, he might be next on the death list.

He teams up with Jim Hartford, a tough biker with a haunted past, to hunt down the killer. But how can this unlikely pair hope to face up to a killer with powers born from the depths of evil? They're on a train bound for hell and it's a one-way trip.

Review:

When I began to read this story, the main character Roy Porter captured my interest. He’s not the typical main character. At some point he gave up on life and became homeless. This doesn’t sound like a hero. His life gets even worse when he becomes a suspect in a string of unusual murders because he knew all of the victims. Of course, he didn’t do it and he tries to get help from his friend Jim who is a psychic, into the mystical and uses his power for good. As the story progressed, I wanted to know how Roy got to the point where he gave up on life. These details are dished out in a way that kept me wanting to turn the pages to find out more. Jim also made me curious. There is comic relief between these two, and they make for an entertaining pair as they try to stop the real killer who, of course, uses his magic for evil.

Roy has many obstacles to face if he’s going to clear his name and the problems become bigger than that as the real killer grows in power. He is up against both dark external forces and his own internal conflict. Roy has to solve both if he’s going to survive, and I found the way the author weaved these two elements together masterfully done. This is what makes "One Way Ticket to Midnight" a 5 star read.

Purchase it here:

E-BOOKS - RIDING THE WAVE by Gary Jonas

2011-06-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Gary Jonas, author of One-Way Ticket to Midnight, and the upcoming books, Quick Shots and Modern Sorcery, is our guest blogger for this week.

A few days ago, a friend and I were discussing e-books. He’d noticed that my novel, One-Way Ticket to Midnight was available but that the rank wasn’t particularly impressive on Amazon. He asked if I’d hopped onto the surfboard to ride the wave too late.

Some authors who never went the traditional publishing route have become self-published sensations - people always point to John Locke (author of the Donovan Creed series) and Amanda Hocking (author of the My Blood Approves series). Amanda made a big splash earlier this year by signing with St. Martins Press for a two million dollar advance that had people raving that she’d made a bad decision. Sorry, if someone offers you two million dollars to publish four books and it’s your first foray into traditional publishing, you are not crazy for accepting that deal. This came the same week that Barry Eisler turned down five hundred grand to go self-publish his next John Rain novel (though that will now be published by Amazon’s Thomas & Mercer imprint - more on that in a moment).

Amanda is clearly a smart woman because she knows she can get the best of both worlds. The big New York publishers are outstanding at pushing print books when they get behind them (and with a two million dollar investment they will get behind them). This will increase her visibility to the general public who will then find her self-published e-books (or the print versions from CreateSpace) and buy those. It’s a no-lose scenario for her.

With John Locke, he’s priced all of his e-books at 99 cents. The Creed novels are very short, which works quite well for e-books. Someone pays a buck and they enjoy a ride for an evening. Locke knew he needed to have a bunch of books out before he’d get noticed, but that when people found him they’d want more books. He was right. While Locke is certainly not going to win any awards for his writing or his plotting so far (I read Saving Rachel, which had believability problems out the wazoo and was uneven at best, but one thing Locke has going for him is that he keeps you turning the pages … or pressing the button to get to the next page). While I’m unlikely to buy the rest of his e-books, I can see the appeal. They’re quick reads and he has some clever bits in them. Give him a year or two and his writing will improve and his plotting will improve and I predict that before too long he’s going to be firing on all cylinders and will grow into a terrific novelist. He hears the music - he just has to get tuned in the rest of the way. I will sample him again next year to see how far he’s come.

Barry Eisler time. When he announced that he’d signed with Thomas & Mercer a lot of people cried out that he was a hypocrite. That was not my impression. My feeling was that they must have made him a great deal and allowed him to keep a lot of creative control or he wouldn’t have signed with them. When Eisler did part three of his ongoing blog-chats with Joe Konrath he went into great detail about why he chose to go with them. Long story short, I was right. Eisler is not only a terrific writer (if you haven’t read the John Rain books, you need to add them to your To-Read stack - you can thank me later), but he’s a smart businessman and he’s not afraid to go where he’s going to get the best deal regardless of what other people think. For the record, he is still doing self-publishing as is Joe Konrath, they’ve both signed deals with Thomas & Mercer, but they can still do other projects on their own, too.

Those of us who’ve signed with Sky Warrior Books have our own reasons and goals when it comes to e-books. Some people think we’re crazy for giving away what amounts to fifty percent of the royalties to a publisher for things we could get done for paying a flat fee once and then the rest of the money that comes in would be ours. To some degree, those people are right. Dean Wesley Smith is someone who talks about this quite a bit on his blog.

Using myself as an example here, by this time next year, I should have five e-books published by Sky Warrior Books. That’s five books where I’m splitting the royalties down the middle with my publisher. I could have taken One-Way Ticket to Midnight, Quick Shots, Modern Sorcery, Acheron Highway and Razor Dreams and done the self-publishing thing. I could have paid a cover artist a flat fee to do the art and paid someone else to format the books for Kindle & Nook & SmashWords and the rest or learned to do all that myself, which is time spent away from writing. I could have paid an editor to go over each book. Then I could have uploaded them and done my own promotion, which as an author you have to do anyway, and the money that came in would be all mine.

Why didn’t I go that route?

For the same reason many authors aren’t putting their extensive backlists up as e-books right now.

It costs too much money. To do things properly, you’re looking at spending a thousand bucks or so to launch an e-book. You can do it cheaper, but your cover will suck and the formatting will be off and that’s all she wrote. You can spend a lot more to get well-known cover artists or well-known content editors with plenty of experience. So a thousand is going in on the cheap.

There is another viable method, but it requires a certain amount of trust. That method is to cut the cover artist in for a percentage. Obviously, if you’re just starting out and have no track record, that’s not going to work for you unless the artist is a friend probably just starting out, too. The benefits here are many because with the artist getting a royalty, if the cover isn’t working, it’s in the artist’s best interest to do a new cover. For authors with backlists, this could be an effective way to get going faster because you save so much on the up-front costs. In many cases, the original cover artist might allow their original cover to be used (if they own the rights) - after all, what else can they do with it? Might as well make a few extra bucks. Regardless, there are still other options. You may have a better idea (in which case you should share it with everyone—paying forward is a good thing).

My view is that Sky Warrior Books has top-notch editors, artists, formatters, etc. All of that is done for me and I don’t have to pay for it. I still have an incredible amount of input into cover art and every suggestion from my editors has been something that improved the book in question. I get to talk to the artists about my cover concepts and they listen and work with me and improve on what I had in mind. It’s awesome.

From what I’ve been able to tell, in order to have a real shot at making it and catching the e-book wave, you need to have at least six or seven books out there. Ideally, they should be part of a series. Readers love reading series books. For me to get there, I’d need to invest $7000 before I could even begin to hope to have a decent return. Some folks get lucky and make it faster and that’s great. Most people put their books out and they don’t even make a splash. They quietly slip into the water and sink to the bottom never to be heard from again.

This includes some good books, folks.

I chose to sign on with Sky Warrior Books because I respect Maggie Bonham and she’s already making money on her e-books. Plus she has ideas about how to get noticed by the readers a lot faster than I could on my own. It won’t happen overnight. I fully expect that I won’t get where I want to be on the e-book front for a couple of years. I have some promotion and marketing ideas that may set me apart faster once we get things rolling, but that remains to be seen. For now I’m hopping on that surfboard and working to catch the wave.

Will I go the self-publishing route later? Yes. I already have a few projects simmering. Will I still release books through Sky Warrior Books, too? Probably. For example, if the Jonathan Shade books take off and Maggie is the one who believed in them to help launch them, shouldn’t she and her company be able to reap some of the rewards? I know for a fact that I would not have anything out as an e-book right now if not for Sky Warrior Books. If she can make a few bucks and use that money to help other writers launch their e-book careers, too, I’m all for it.

Your mileage may vary.

I’ve talked before in various places about how any writer who owns the e-rights to their backlist needs to be getting those books up so they can catch the e-book wave, too. If they can afford to launch them by themselves, great. If not, then perhaps they should approach a company like Sky Warrior Books. If you were writing a series that got canceled because your numbers dropped, but you know you still have fans out there who want more books, e-books may be your answer. And if you can’t afford to do it yourself yet, perhaps it’s a good idea to hitch your wagon to a company like Sky Warrior Books so you can get a running head start. Yes, you’ll have five years where your e-rights are tied to a publisher other than yourself (which until a year ago was not seen as a bad thing at all) but you’ll also have the opportunity to build your readership and get back to doing what you love - writing fun books.

And that’s what catching the wave is all about.

Call for Submissions: Zombie Stories!

2011-06-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

Zombiefied – An Anthology of All Things Zombie

At Sky Warrior Books, we’re not above…well, anything. Hence, we love zombies. We’re betting you love zombies too. So, send us your best work on zombies, original or reprint (must have the rights), of stories 500 to 7000 words in length. Can be fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Sure, we’ll take standard horror and dark fantasy, but you can be creative. Zombies in space, zombiefied critters, zombie love stories (uh, no erotica), fantasy zombies, steampunk zombies, zombie humor, zombies on toast…well, you get the idea.

Payment

Payment is author share divided equally among the authors. We pay quarterly.

Deadline

Our deadline is August 15^th, 2011. We’re planning on the e-book coming out in October, just in time for Zombiecon, MileHiCon, Halloween, and Christmas/Yule/Solstice/Kwanza/Hanukah/Winter Holidays/Did we miss anything?

How to Submit or The Nitty-Gritty

We accept RTF files via e-mail only to the publisher at skywarrior3@gmail.com. Put the words: ZOMBIEFIED SUBMISSION in the subject line with the title of your piece. Send us a virus and we will never accept anything from you again. Double spaced manuscript in Times New Roman or some other pretty font (not Courier!). Use italics, not underlines. Have your contact information on the manuscript including your email address. Let us know if this is a reprint and from where. Again, be sure you have the rights to reprint – we won’t chase down permissions. Fiction, nonfiction, humor, science fiction, fantasy, horror, dark fantasy, urban fantasy, etc. MUST HAVE ZOMBIES IN IT. 500 to 7000 words (actual). Poetry may be less, but must be high quality. Be sure to send us a manuscript free from spelling/grammar errors. Visit our website at www.skywarriorbooks.com.

Veil Between Worlds #6: England, My England.

2011-06-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

Our Guest Blogger today is Alma Alexander, author of the upcoming 2012: Midnight at Spanish Gardens. Alma talks about the Veil Between Worlds in her blog. Reprinted with permission.

There is just… SOMETHING… about England.

I’ve been in love with the place, with its pageantry and its history and its myth, since a very young age, and if you’re already half tipped in that direction it’s fatally easy to slide into it completely, watch it close over your head, and find yourself wandering through a countryside that never was but should have been and which will live on in your dreams for as long as you have breath to dream with.

That this isn’t a new thing is witnessed by a travelogue I wrote way way wayyyyy back in the late 1980’s. I think, when I went travelling the highways and byways of England with a then-beau whom (in the travelogue) I have named Henry. Here, below, a sample – which will also give you an inkling about what I mean about that thin, thin, thin veil between the worlds which covers England like a bridal veil does a shy bride:

The weather was kind to us, and a low golden sunshine wrapped us in its warm cocoon. We only had a very hazy idea of what to look for in Glastonbury; we somehow managed to miss the approach road to Glastonbury Tor, whose famous, strange, brooding shape we immediately recognosed as we drew nearer, and found ourselves in the central district of the town. A little bit at a loss, we drove on until we could find a reasonable place to turn when I suddenly pointed at a signpost.

“Glastonbury Abbey!” I crowed in delight. “Let’s find it!”

Henry obligingly turned right, in accordance with the signpost. As it happed, the Abbey ruins would have been very hard to miss, and we did not. The old Abbey, in many instances, was nothing more than hills and hummocks and ancient precincts outlined in broken white lines by stones embedded in the lush turf. But the Lady Chapel stood, open to the forces of nature and the inquisitive eye of man. The small field grasses, a cross between proper grass and lichen, grew on top of the ruined walls, giving them an unreal tasselled silhouette against the sky. The ruins of another place of worship reared in a graceful, symmetrical sweep a little further on, resembling a misplaced pair of some heavenly gates. Here, small chapels, now sometimes consisting of a single half-ruinous wall, clustered around the skirts of the vanished edifice. One of them, evoocatively, purported to be dedicated to Thomas a Beckett. Between these two ruined sets of hallowed walls was a small, paved rectangle that looked not only insignificant, when compared to its surroundings, but also intrusively modern and woefully out of place. But a plaque nearby proclaimed this piece of ground to be the treasure of the Abbey, and the contain something far older than the venerable old walls themselves – this was where a body had been discovered, long long ago, of a tall man at whose feet were the bones of a small, slight female. A cross found on the top of the grave asserted in the inscription it bore that this was the tomb of King Arthur and of his wife, Queen Guenevere. The small, paved rectangle seemed to be an incongruous place for a legend to be buried; but, granted, the majestic old ruins did form some sort of a suitable monument. So, rest in peace, old warrior, and you too, fair Queen, for in truth I do not believe that your bones do indeed lie here. But let the Abbey keep your memory.

Also inextricably twined in the Arthurian story is the mysterious Joseph of Arimathea, who may or may not have visited England in the dawn of history and brought the Holy Grail thither from the Holy Land. His memory is also enshrined in the Abbey, for here grows a small thorn tree which bears a peremptory sign orderning that it not be touched. Perhaps some believe that the touch brings some kind of Divine healing, for this thorn tree is said to have sprung from one of the thorns which was sanctified by Christ’s blood in the Crown of Thorns, and which that same Joseph of Arimathea brought to England when he came bringing the Grail. This, I know, is how religions are born – except that the one which gave birth to this small legend first flew two thousand years ago.

We had a small lunch and went out to explore the town of Glastonbury. As ill luck would have it, we had chanced here on a Bank Holiday. All was closed and shuttered – except this one incredible shop which sold arcana of every description. Books there were about everything from Stone Age religious cults to witchcraft to Arthuriana (obviously!) to shelves and shelves of science fiction and fantasy to Irish folk tales. They had tapes of esoteric music, and sticks of incense, and Roger Dean-type posters, and… Entranced, we went in and were swallowed whole. I bought about five books, which were to be sent home after me to save my luggage allowance, and a small pewter unicorn rearing delicately over a tiny crystal ball – an eminently suitable object to acquire in Glastonbury which, whether of the still golden day which pervaded it or because of the emptiness of its streets because of the Bank Holiday, was beginning to assume a distinctly unreal air, as though it would fold up into itself and disappear once we had left it and all the roads leading into it collide in a puzzled crossroads in the middle of where theis strange settlement used to be.

In the shop we also asked about how to get to the Tor, which dominated the place although it could not be physically observed from within Glastonbury. Armed with directions from this source, which seemed just as likely to lead us to some faery hill where the Sidhe dwelled as to the Tor, we repossessed the car and drove back the way we had come.

The road we were supposed to take proved to be one of those English one-way lanes where, if two cars ever meet, both vehicles can be said to be in deep trouble. Here the situation was aggravated by the cars parked in every conceivable space by the side of the road from the very entrance to it. Somehow we managed to crawl up the steep, narrow goat’s-track lane without major mishaps, and even to find an adequate parking place. Then it was on foot, over a stile, and into a field where a few groups were pickinicking in the mellow sunlight and one crowd of semi-drunken yobboes chased one of their number around and around with the obvious intention of removing his jeans to reveal presumably very interesting underwear – the victim, although himself a little in his cups, was sober enough to think ill of this idea and was trying valiantly to avoid his fate. We skirted this rowdy bunch in as wide an arc as possible but not before they lobbed a few remarks in our direction which made me blush violently and attack the next stile and the uphill path into which it gave with considerably more vigour than it merited and than I was capable of. We lost the yobs, but both Henry and I stopped beyond the first tree and panted for five minutes before we could breathe well enough to climb on.

The path leading up to the top was a switchback, twisting back and forth on itself like a demented snake or a particularly meandering stretch of the Amazon. The slopes of the hill, furthermore, were of the order of about 50 degrees to the horizontal, and I watched with increasing puzzlement the flocks of sheep which grazed there, and whose presence was all too evident on the path that we were treading – short of being a woolly variant of the Mountain Haggis, I could not see how the animals could keep their balance on the Tor. The angle at which they were standing made my middle ear ache. But it was much too far south for Haggises (if that’s the correct plural), and anyway it wasn’t too long before I needed all my concentration just to keep my lungs at their job and my heart from finding an exit either through my throat or through some as yet unexplored crevice in my ribcage. Glastonbury Tor is not for the unfit.

We made it, at length, to the top, and sat down on the crown of the hill, trying to avoid the places where the sheep had left calling cards. We watched the rolling vistas of Somerset fields while trying to forget that we still had to climb back down off this monster. After a while my heart calmed down and allowed my brain to return to other thoughts, and I wondered idly whether the tiled rectangle at Glastonbury Abbey was more symbolic than originally thought. In another legend of Arthur’s passing – and there are legion – the Tor plays an important part.

The story has it that soemwhere in the unidentified middle ages or so a shepherd on the Tor, minding his doubtless even then athletic sheep, one day came upon an opening in the hillside which he did not remember having been there before. Curious, he entered, and found himself in a cave which had all kinds of riches piled along its walls. On the walls themselves hung sumptuously decorated coats of mail and other knightly paraphernalia – swords, spurs, and such. In the middle of the cave was a large table and around it, their heads sunk on their arms on top of the table itself, sat or half-lay a company of goodly cavaliers dressed in silks and furs. Among them, in a high throne-like chair at the head of the table, slept or lay dead their chief, his head circled with a crown of gold.

Crossing himself superstitiously, the shepherd began backing out of the cave, but in his hurry he jostled a hanging suit of armour and the sword hanging by it gave a clear, bell-like sound as it hit the metal of the armour. The shepherd stood frozen in fear as, at this sound, the king in the throne slowly opened his eyes.

“Is it time?” the crowned apparition asked in a deep and gruff yet kindly voice.

“No!” called the shepherd, his voice suddenly possessed by something other than himself. “Therefore sleep ye on, until ye are awoken by the need of England!”

“It is well for thee,” said the King, “that thou knowest those words, for else my companions were sure to rise and slay thee. But thou hast spoken well, and we will slumber on till we are needed. Take thou a few of the gold pieces in this cavern for thy good offices, and bear thou witness to thy folk that King Arthur will lead his companions forth when summoned by the troubles of his people.”

With this the King composed himself to sleep again and the shepherd, grabbing a handful of gold as he was bidden, fled the presence of the royal legend. He told his tale, and many a traveller sought for the cavern with its sleeping knights and its riches – but never was it found again, and there were those who would have accused the shepherd of lying had it not been for the ancient gold which he had brought out.

And so, the legend has it, King Arthur never died at all and could therefore not have been buried, at Glastonbury Abbey or anywhere else. Presumably he recovered from his “grievous wounds” in Avalon, and was then set here inside the Tor to guard England’s future while dreaming away the centuries.

Speaking of dreaming, Henry and I still had to find a place to sleep that night, and it was now getting on for six o’clock. I raised this point, and we began, accordingly, to descend the Tor’s steep slopes.

Our policy, inasmuch as we had one, was to drive and/or sightsee until an hour reasonably approaching supper at which point we would begin looking around for a Bed and Breakfast place. It was still early enough in the season to get away with this approach, it being the last week of May; but our situation was complicated by the fact that we required two SINGLE, or at least separate, rooms. By virtue of this we preferred outlying buildings, farms and suchlike, since they obviously had more chance of having extra rooms than a city semi-detached – and there was also the fact that, in settlements, a stranger had no means of knowing which were the more unsavoury areas while farms were by and large more wholesome. But we hadn’t seen any such farmhouses on the approach to Glastonbury. We had a small brochure, picked up at that fabulous Glastonbury bookshop, with names and phone numbers of B&B places surrounding the town so we decided to try these first. We drove back into town to find a phone booth; having found one, the only way to get to it was to park so as to cause an obstruction, and therefore I had to stay with the vehicle in case anyone complained while Henry did the phoning – although I would probably have been of dubious use in any emergency requiring the removal of the car.

In any event, it didn’t take long. Barely minutes later the lanky frame of my travelling companion folded itself into the car beside me.

“The first two I called didn’t have room,” he explained, “the second one just having let her last room. But I booked us space on a farm.”

”Where is this farm?”

“Well, we have to go back past the Tor road and then turn right. Then we take the next road right, the second after that to the left, go past a pub called the ‘Rose and Trellis’, go past a hospital, and the place is immediately off to the right of that.”

“I don’t like it,” I muttered, “it sounds like a lot of half-baked directions to me.”

“She’ll hold the rooms for us,” said Henry, implying that she would do so even if we arrived at midnight. The thought did little to cheer me up.

We missed even that first turnoff, and had to go inside a nearby cluster of farm buildings to ask all over again. Things did not look promising.

They got worse. The directions Henry so blithely accepted did not mention that we would suddenly find ourselves in a gloomy, claustrophobic close of narrow lanes flanked by large dark-leaved trees whose trunks were concealed from us by walls that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the old city ruins of Zimbabwe. Just as I was ready to begin praying for deliverance to whichever pagan Gods inhabited this place the Zimbabwe replica vanished and we found ourselves at a T junction which nobody had mentioned at all.

“Go left,” I said hopefully.

“Why left?” asked Henry, tapping the steering wheel nervously.

“A hunch.”

Henry rolled his eyes eloquently to Heaven and turned left.

We were soon into a reasonably buiilt-up area, with low bungalows festooned with blooming lilac flanking us on either side. One or two of these had B&B signs out, so we were heartened that there was possible shelter around even if we were lost. But it soon transpired that we were not as lost as we thought we were, for out of the pleasant suburbia rose an equally pleasant-looking pub sporting a full-blown rose on a kind of criss-cross pattern as its emblem. The ‘Rose and Trellis’, obviously. At least we were on the right track. Shortly after the pub we passed, off to our left, a deserted-looking building which looked like at least one of its wings had been an architectural afterthought and which purported to be the abovementioned hospital. But here the road branched, and we stopped, again perplexed. There was a house off to our right, but there was no B&B sign on anywhere and our would be hostess had said that the place was clearly marked. We decided, after a short consultation, to go down the left-hand fork. We soon saw that we were going deeper and deeper into farmland. We passed a memorial to something or other in the form of a cross hewn of some dark stone, which NOBODY had mentioned at all, and then a large industrial-looking set of buildings that made Henry stop and look at them sceptically.

“She would have mentioned those if they had been anywhere near, they’re too good a landmark to pass up. We must be on the wrong road.”

So we turned around and went back. We went up the other road when we got to the hospital fork, but short of that solitary, unmarked house we saw nothing that resembled the description that we had been given.

“Let’s go back and ask at the pub,” I said.

Back we went again, past the hospital. The pub looked singularly closed when we reached it, but there was a woman walking her dog by the side of the road, and, in desperation, we flagged her down. When informed of our search, she indicated that the house we had been bypassing had been our objective all along. “But,” she added, “if you don’t find it or you don’t have your place, I run a B&B just down the road there…”

“We’ll remember that,” said Henry. “Thanks.”

We turned in a precariously narrow driveway and headed upstream again. This time we turned into the hitherto scorned lane leading up to the house on the right and were there greeted by three large yellow dogs, crosses between a Golden Retriever and… something else… and the welcome sight of our landlady opening the front door. That is, the dogs all swarmed around me, and the landlady addressed Henry.

“We got a bit lost,” said Henry apologetically in response to her greeting. “We missed the road.”

“Twice,” I added, from where I crouched in a tangle of yellow dog.

“You said it was clearly marked and we didn’t see a sign.”

“It must have gotten overgrown again,” said the landlady laconically. “Mind your head when you come in, it’s a fourteenth-century house, the doors are a mite low.”

We followed her in silence, awed by the fact that we were to sleep in a house of such antiquity. Our hostess led us to a landing on the upper floor. The doors to the left and the right off this landing gave into the two rooms we were to occupy. The middle door led to an interesting-looking study which, when Henry and I looked inside after our hostess had left, appeared to point to our host being a lay preacher or something like that because of the large quantity and variety of religious books and tracts that littered every available surface. Both the rooms were equipped with duvets at this time and I even had a double bed to loll around in.

We were informed that breakfast would be served at nien tomorrow morning, where the bathrooms were to be found, and that the hostess didn’t serve supper but that one could be had at the ‘Rose and Trellis’ which was within walking distance. This was all delivered as she stood at the top of the stairs, while Henry and I stood in the doorways of our respective rooms and listened politely.

“And one more thing,” she said, turning to leave. “Mind your head on that low beam on the landing.”

Her warning coincided with Henry’s collision with that self-same beam as he attempted to follow the landlady on his way to the bathroom, thus rendering the warning redundant. He gave both the beam and our erstwhile Cassandra a black look and went on his way, his head tucked between his shoulders in the manner of an irate tortoise.. By the time he had returned, however, his habitual humour had restored itself, and we decided to try for that supper at the pub and perhaps a glass of beer. Pausing only to retrieve our jerseys, for it was getting chilly again, we duly strolled off. We passed a field where about six black and white cows watched us walk by wih large, liquid eyes, mouths moving mechanically as they chewed the cud. By the so-called main road, which we had gone up and down so many times, hedges lush with May marched on either side, and we now discovered that it was this militant greenery that had been a partial cause to our confusion as it grew in a green stranglehold over a sign indicating that the house we had so oft bypassed to indeed be a Bed and Breakfast establishment. However, it was doubtful that the sign would have been of that much use even had we seen it – it was so weathered and worn as to be almost unintelligible.

A little before the fork in the road where we had gone astray, I suddenly stopped and, touching Henry’s arm for silence, pointed to where one of those small English hedge rabbits sat on its haunches, ears moving like antennae, regarding us gravely. Then all of a sudden it made a small sharp motion with one of its front paws as if it wanted to wave at us, and then promptly vanished into the hedge grasses. When I looked up at Henry I saw that he wore a silly grin on his face that was probably a mate to the one on mine.

“I have to be careful driving here tomorrow,” he said at length. “Come on, I’m hungry.”

We had a supper of sandwiches and beer, both of which left us feeling pleasantly sated and dreamy, and then decided to stretch our legs a little further along the road. Somewhere amongst the bungalows I espied a rampant lilac bush, its flowers like heavy violet grapes against its green leaves. Sneaking up like a thief in the night, I looked up and down the deserted road twice before I reached out for one of the blooms. It finally broke off with a soft but sharp crack and I scuttled off, flower in hand, much like that rabbit had done earlier. I approached Henry wearing a face of bliss, nose buried in a scent I hadn’t been near in years and which I adored, but the suppressed mirth in his expression made me look around in apprehension.

“What’s the matter?”

“The chap whose bush you broke that off, he was standing right behind the bush when attacked it. His face….!”

“Did he see me?”

“I don’t think so,” said Henry, finally laughing out loud. “He was somewhat thwarted by the size of his own lilac bush…”

Laughing, stolen lilac in hand, we made our way back to our lodgings. We did not see the rabbit again.

I woke the next morning and peered through the curtains into a scene of magic. My window gave onto a patch of forest and an open field adjoining the back garden of the house we were in. The woods were ablaze with bluebells, but this morning the mists were low and ragged, allowing barest glimpses of blue, like a fine lady on the run trying to cover her expensive gown by drawing on a beggar’s cloak full of holes. The mist hung from the branches in damp veils and swathed the field in grey blankets which, insubstantial as they were, looked like they had the feel and texture of lambswool. And in an enclosure dividing garden from field, two real lambs poked about on stiff unsteady legs. Their occasional plaintive bleats reached me as if from another world through my closed window.

You’ll have to forgive me the writing of this – remember, it was two decades ago, and while I was already an inverterate scribbler (this account comes to 176 typewritten pages, in the folder that I have, and it’s INCOMPLETE…) and from the excerpt I picked you can already see several things.

One was that there was a magic to everything here, and that magical things were only a reach and a touch away. That legend of Arthur sleeping inside the Tor – that just slipped in there, almost seamlessly, a bridge from here to the Middle Ages and from there all the way back into the Age of Myth and then back again into the present day. And the way it appears in this travelogue was almost exactly the way I thought about it back then on top of the Tor looking out over contemporary Somerset, the forsoothly language and all. It might have been history and legend but it was close enough – there, then – to push aside all the contemporannea around me and look at directly, with my own soul, with my own inner vision. The Veil Between the Worlds, pushed aside with an ease that was almost scary, and there’s me standing with one foot on both sides of the divide and, you know, in England it is easy.

The other is the more bucolic pastoral side of things. The way you can stay in a fourteenth-century farmhouse. The fairy woods at the back of the garden. The rabbits in the hedges. The lambs in the fold. The mist on the bluebells. It felt as though I might have looked on all these things, listened to all these sounds, smelled all these smells, if I had been in the fourteenth-century farmhouse just as easily as I had done from my twentieth-century window. The divide between the different eras was THAT thin, that fragile. For a moment, I fully breathed the air of an era when Plantagenet kings might have ridden the roads of England… and I could not have told you the difference between Then and Now.

There are places where this is just part of the way that things are. England, my England of ancient kings and hedge-row rabbits, is one of the places where I breathe the air of dream, and peer with less difficulty than almost anywhere else behind that Veil… and smile at what I see there.

For The Love Of A Good Story

2011-05-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

From our guest blogger, Michael J. Parry, author of the upcoming novel, The Spiral Tattoo, published by Sky Warrior Books:

Apparently, or so I found out recently, there is some antagonism between authors publishing in e-print format and those in hard copy. I never knew.

Where did I discover this you ask? When an author with a traditional paper contract blasted other authors for referring to hard copy editions as “dead tree” or “legacy” formats. Evidently those authors using this terminology are disparaging and demeaning the hardcopy editions.

For myself, I thought this was all rather silly. I don’t really like the term “legacy format” but am quite happy to use “dead tree format.” I see it as a term of endearment. To be honest, I'm not sure I will be truly comfortable calling myself an author until I have a paper copy in my hot hands.

Yet I am really excited about the possibilities that the digital age is reaching new readers. I have a friend who was skeptical about eBooks. She acquired a Kindle and is now buying cheap eBooks from authors she otherwise would never have tried. Indeed she's finding it difficult to read her paperbacks.

I also love the way the digital world is re-entrenching the audio tradition of storytelling. No longer are audiobooks overly expensive after thoughts provided only for the visually impaired.

In the end though arguing over format is unimportant and misses the best point. What is important is that our stories, our imaginings are making their way out into the world. Isn’t it in the end, all for the love of a good story?

Veil Between Worlds #7: On the Battlefield

2011-05-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

From our author, Alma Alexander, reprinted with permission from her blog. She is the author of the upcoming novel, 2012: Midnight at Spanish Gardens.

I don't generally enjoy those "let's-all-go-in-a-clump" group excursions to anywhere. I tend to be a private person who doesn't do well with enforced gregariousness for very long. But hey, there you have a situation - I had an opportunity to go to Scotland, which was a place I'd always wanted to visit, and there was a tour which would take me around the highlights of the place without me having to meticulously plan out or nail down an itinerary myself, and I didn't have a lot of time anyway, so yea, verily, there I was, sitting on a tour bus trundling through the Highlands, together with (amongst others) a bunch of loud American tourists who wore awful clothes (I kid you not, a pair of red and white checked trousers at one point, I think the guy thought that he was either on a gigantic golf course and just dreaming the rest of us or thought he was wearing TARTAN and honouring his hosts...) and had obnoxious spoiled children called things like Chuck and Mary Lou with whom communications always seemed to be at full volume and for whom we were ALWAYS waiting because they just HAD to go back and use the restrooms in a place or else lingered in a gift shop fifteen minutes after everybody else was ready to leave.

In other words, picture this: tour bus, full of squabbling kids and adults talking about vastly irrelevant things or squealing wildly when the guide, chattering patiently into a microphone up front, pointed out something that sounded Scottish, like "Loch to your left".

Hardly the situation or the place or the time to get all new-agey and mystical about things.

One of the spots the bus stopped to disgorge us was a place named Culloden.

If you know anything about your Scottish history at all, this name will ring a dolorous bell. It was the site of a battle between the Highlanders and the British army - no, hardly a battle, make it a slaughter. If you read accounts of it you will find grisly facts like the tidbit that there were so many dead bodies strewn on the field, after, that there was no way that they could all be buried individually - so they were sorted according to Clan, by the tartan that they wore, and buried in mass graves over which a stone was raised with their clan name on it. So you have grave markers that say simply Clan Cameron, or Clan MacDonald, with who knows how many souls laid beneath the ground at their feet.

When we heaved into the gravelled parking lot of the visitors' centre at Culloden, the place seemed suited in some respects to the loud and "where's-the-souvenir-shop" crowd from the back of the bus. To be perfectly honest, it was unprepossessing - a low modern building crafted for utility rather than beauty or atmosphere, it had an audio-visual theatre inside where you could take in a presentation about the place and its history, a display area with gory woodcuts depicting death and destruction beside data cards detailing times and dates and the course of the battle as it unfolded, and, yes, the inevitable souvenir shop at the exit, selling trinkets to remember Culloden by.

None of these things held any interest for me, really. What I was drawn to, getting off the bus, was the edge of the parking lot. It was divided from an open field by a low wooden barrier, a single bar at maybe shin- or knee-height which marked the border between the crass and the modern and the workaday and that which lay beyond, that field, so innocent, so green... and all that it meant. I walked across the parking lot with gravel crunching at my feet and distant birdsong somewhere above me in the blue sky. A gap in the fence marked the beginning of a path across the field, over to a hillock where I could see the grave markers standing.

I came to the fence. I crossed the gap, and took a step into the field.

The light changed. The birdsong vanished. All I could hear was whispers, whispers, whispers - all around me - and beyond them all was silence, in that strange flat yellow light. My feet carried me through this, more by the mechanics of simply putting one foot in front of the other and keeping on moving forward, until they brought me to the hillock where a rock stood, surrounded by granite headstones carved with fading names. Clan Cameron. Clan Macdonald. Clan MacGregor.

I stood there, in the silence, in the whispers, in the presence of ghosts, and wept.

They wanted to know, afterwards, at the bus, if I was okay, with the streaks of tears evident on my cheeks. I said I was fine, and wished they would all go away.

That night we stayed at a cheerful inn with tartan carpets and stag heads on the wall, and were treated to a full Highland Ceilidh - which I actually thoroughly enjoyed - but during a pause in the music presentation another woman from the bus and I got to talking to one of the pipers, and she began to tittup about how she had really enjoyed the visit to Culloden, and how it had all been so brought to life for her, and how she could "just see" all those tartan-clad young men with their claymores waiting for the redcoats to come.

The piper looked at her with an indulgent and somewhat world-weary smile - he had probably heard this story before.

"You, madam, are a romantic," he told her.

She took it as a compliment, and flushed prettily.

"And what about me, then?" I said. "I couldn't see them, but I could hear them, whispering all around me - them, and no birds and no wind in the trees, just the voices of those who are still there, who never went away, who never can..."

The way he looked at me, as I said this, was very different than the way he had looked at the "romantic" lady, who had ceased to giggle and flirt and just stared at me with blank incomprehension.

"You," said the piper, "are a mystic."

He didn't say any more. He seemed embarrassed, in a way, that he had said that much. But I kind of got the message that it was easy enough to lull yourself into seeing the brave batallions squaring off against one another - but that few people had been given the privilege of hearing them speak (in whatever manner it was left for them to do so) or to sense their REAL presence in that haunted field.

I honestly don't remember how I got out of the field, and back to the bus. It might have been well-meaning fellow tourists who led me back across the sward onto the gravel, where I could re-join the hustle and bustle of our own world. Or maybe it was the ghosts from beyond the Veil, who took me by the elbow and guided me back from the edge of the Blessed Realm whispering all the while, "Go back. Go back. It is not yet your time."

I wonder, sometimes, if that much death weighs heavily enough on the Veil to make it porous, to make it eaier to reach through and touch and sense and hear and understand. Culloden remains the only battlefield of its level of historical fame and repute that I have ever been near; I do wonder sometimes if I would have the same experience if I walked on the fields of Gettysburg, or the ground where they filled in the once-trenches of the Somme and of Passchendaele.

There is something in me that is deeply afraid of finding that out.

One-Way Ticket to Midnight Cover!

2011-04-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

Our awesome cover by L.W. Perkins:

About Our Author, Laura J. Underwood

2011-04-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Laura J. Underwood blames Mighty Mouse for her career as an author. When she was a child, Mighty Mouse went everywhere she went, and she even made a bus driver stop and open the doors because poor Mighty Mouse got left outside the bus. As she got older, her parents told her that only crazy people talked to imaginary friends, so she started writing down her adventures with her invisible friends (because they were much more fun to play with than her whiny little siblings). She also wanted to be a rancher, a spy, a veterinarian, a scientist, a world explorer, a ballerina and an acrobat--all at the same time. But eventually, she fell into becoming a librarian instead because it meant she had lots of books for research materials so she could write. She currently lives in East Tennessee where she cannot swing a possum without hitting a Bubba. Laura shares her domicile with elderly parents and a cat with very few brain cells.

Laura is the author of the upcoming novels, Ard Magister, Hounds of Ardagh and Dragon's Tongue, all set in her Celtic fantasy world.

Ard Magister's Cover!

2011-04-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Ain't it purdy?

Art by the author, Laura J. Underwood and layout by Mitch Bentley!

Oh, Brave New World!

2011-04-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know the book, Brave New World, you probably know the quote actually comes from Shakespeare:

"Oh brave new world that has such people in it!"

We're hitting the dawn of an era where authors can literally go out and publish their own work by themselves. No longer are they truly constrained by the gatekeepers that once dominated the industry. They can hold forth and self-publish, market and put into the hands of eager readers their own words.

~~And the~~ ~~Evil Overlord saw that it was good.~~

Leveling the Playing Field

Okay, maybe not. But I think it is good because now there are more choices to read than ever before. Works are being published and distributed at a fantastic rate. The ultimate in free speech is occurring -- namely anyone can say anything. We have true freedom of the press. Without the gatekeepers.

The playing field isn't completely level, but it's close enough. An independent author can self-publish a book and make millions -- provided there's a market for his or her work. So, where does the publisher come into play here? Is the publisher even needed?

The Need for Publishers

A friend of mine told me he was going with my publishing company because it would take him at least $1000 to self-publish his work and do it right. Actually, it would cost more than that because he needs an editor, a typesetter, a cover artist and a publisher. And he's a pro and an awesome author.

Another friend of mine was skeptical when I told him I wanted to publish him.

"I already have our self-published books up on a website," he said.
"Cool," I said. "How many books are you selling?"
"About 15 books a month."
"That few?" I let slip out. "Dude, I'm selling hundreds to thousands of my books a month."

Now, you can say I'm a better writer, or more popular (arguably, probably not), or you can say that the formula for my success has something to do with the way I market, publish and even have my books edited. And some folks still complain about them.

But sales numbers don't lie.

The Jungle of Self-Publishing

There's a lot of crap out there when it comes to self-published stuff. Anyone and his dog can put out a book through any one of the PODs and have a book. The problem is that most of these books are, well, garbage. They're not ready for publication.

The author who publishes crap has decided to stick the book out there before he or she has learned the craft. They haven't "paid their dues," as it were, and have put out a story that doesn't hang together, is full of typos and misspellings, and grammatical errors. If the author is somewhat smart, he or she might hire an editor and get it cleaned up enough to print. Maybe. There are crap editors just like there are crap authors.

So, what happens is that the author gets a few hits and then word gets around that he or she is no good and they get no more sales. Sad, but true. This is how the marketplace works.

The Difference between Self-Publishing and Going with a Publisher, or Money Flows to the Author

First, as the publisher of Sky Warrior Books, I have to think your story is interesting. Engaging. Not boring. It has to be of a certain professional level before I'll even consider publishing it. If I reject you, it's not because you're a crap author, but it's because you're not ready to be published yet or it's not the kind of work I publish.

Once I get you as an author, you get teamed up with an editor. The editor does what he or she does best, and that is edit. I have a professional cover artist do the covers. And we check the book over for problems.

Although I publish only e-books, my imprint publishes trade paperbacks and I have a line on RPGs and audiobooks I may license out. You never pay a cent to me; I pay you money. Money flows to the author.

Can Cream Rise to the Top?

With all the self-published books out there, can cream rise to the top? Of course. And it doesn't matter if you're published by a NY Publisher, me or self-published. If it's really good, it'll succeed. But interestingly enough, all the authors I have signed up are pro enough to publish their own work. If they had the time. And the money. And the promotions and skill level to market it.

I know enough writers who have tried it. Some with good results; some with not so good results. Like anything, it's a crap shoot, but at least I have enough knowledge to understand the game.

Sky Warrior Books Forums and Call for Submissions

2011-04-04T00:40:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, I come up with a good idea. The first one has to do with Sky Warrior Books' forums -- a place for the authors and fans to get together. I'm going to encourage you to hop on and join up at Sky Warrior Forums. Here, you'll get the latest information about our latest projects and be able to chat with our very talented authors.

The other idea I had is to have a charity anthology for the Japanese people who have suffered because of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. This anthology, called Healing Waves, a takeoff of "harbor waves," which is what tsunami means, will feature Japanese-inspired fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photos, and artwork. You can read the guidelines HERE.

I will donate all profits to a legitimate charity which will help the Japanese. I'm planning on publishing this anthology October 1st as an e-book only. I am not paying for any submissions, but it will give you a chance to showcase your work, if selected. And, of course, you will be doing something very good.

About Our Author, Gary Jonas

2011-03-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

Gary Jonas, pre-zombie apocalypse

They say that truth is stranger than fiction.

Some of the following is true. For example, Gary Jonas writes fantasy novels such as Modern Sorcery and One-Way Ticket to Midnight. Well, that’s sort of true. The truth is that he’s already written those, but he will write more unless he gets too bored. But we’ll call that an example of true. Gary’s wife is Jessica Alba. Sadly, this is false. Jessica Alba won’t return his calls, but that’s the way it goes, and no, the restraining order doesn’t prevent him from going to California.

Gary is an author for Sky Warrior Books. This is also true. In our quest for world domination, we know that having someone like Gary at our side during a zombie apocalypse is pretty useful. We can at least throw him in front of the zombie hordes while we run away screaming.

It's not that we don't appreciate our authors. We just know our limitations.

Gary, however, has added a number of true and false questions for us to puzzle over. Here are three, can you pick out the false one?

1. Gary’s stepmother hired a stranger to shoot off her foot with a shotgun.

2. Gary dreams of creating a religion so he won’t have to pay taxes and, in spite of the fact that he writes fantasy, people will believe him and pay him lots of money.

3. Gary dressed in drag and appeared on stage in front of a large audience telling a popular fantasy author that he wanted the author to lick his beaver, and raised his skirt to reveal a stuffed beaver hanging there ready for action.

Which is false? None of them. Which is why Gary is part of the Evil Overlord plan and a valued minion. We'll be republishing Gary's dark fantasy, One-Way Ticket to Midnight and publishing his Modern Sorcery, urban fantasy series. Check out his website HERE.

Oh, and don't tell him about the zombie hordes.

The Quest for World Domination -- One Book at a Time

2011-03-21T01:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Peter Anspach and EvilOverlord.com

I'll admit, I really want to be an Evil Overlord.

Failing that, having evil minions would be pretty damn cool. At least, I could say "Bwahahahaha!" in a very loud and sinister voice. And nobody would think twice about me wanting "sharks with frickin laser beams."

A Sky Warrior Author Says "No Pictures!"

But, failing that, I'm going to have to settle for publishing some really cool books by some really cool authors. I will be posting the Evil Minion bios on this blog and hopefully you'll think their books are pretty cool too. Right now, until I get the contracts back, they're understandably a little camera-shy.

Not surprisingly, some of the names you'll recognize. Most of these authors are published in one way or another and have decided to bring their talents to my little empire. I also have a group of very talented artists and editors who are simply amazing.

All this talent is hand-picked by me. Which means you probably will think I have warped tastes. And, you'd be right.

The Sad Truth of Publishing or, Why I Only Look at a Chapter

2011-03-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

Dirty Secrets

I'm going to tell you the sad truth of publishing -- and that is most editors don't bother reading past the first few lines. Fewer still read past the first paragraphs, and fewer still read past the first page or even the first chapter.

There are several reasons for this, many of them understandable. Editors don't have time and if the book doesn't catch them right away, isn't what they're looking for, or the writing isn't at the level required for publication, it's a form rejection and off it goes. A huge number of unpublished novels are that way -- like 90%.

Guardians of the Gateway

This is why publishers have looked for agents to be the guardians of the gateway. That's why it's so damn hard to get an agent. Even those authors who are well-known in the field have trouble. Until you get picked up by a major house, it's unlikely you'll get an agent. Not impossible; just unlikely. Many excellent writers I know do not have agents; many also have had agents and parted. Some in disagreements; some when the numbers dropped. It happens. It happens a lot.

How I Roll

I don't really care about an agent. In fact, your agent is unlikely to even consider selling your work to me because 1. the royalties I offer are higher than the majors offer at 50% and 2. I don't offer an advance. Agents love advances, and I, as a writer love advances, but advances aren't the entire story of how the book makes money (more about this in a later blog) -- it's royalties.

No Slush Allowed

I don't do slush. Seriously. Instead, I look for authors that I know and people who I have heard about. People who have gotten published and are working up the writing ladder; paying their dues, so to speak. When I talk to folks who are interested in having me publish them, I warn them up front I want three books, preferably in a series.

I ask for a full chapter -- not because I will read the entire thing, but because if it's that interesting, I'll keep reading. Most people lose me with their writing quality. Not a catchy enough beginning, passive voice and narrative description are all ways to make me say, "uh, no thanks..." If you don't know the basics of writing, start reading books on how to write a novel. One excellent book is How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey.

How to Get Noticed

If you really think you have something I'd like, the best way is to meet me at cons and give me a quick elevator pitch. If I'm interested, I'll have you send me your creds and the first chapter. I read until you make me stop, or until the chapter stops. If I want more, you send me the entire manuscript by email. And yeah, at that point I make a decision.

Yes, you can send me a quick note via email with your name, accomplishments, books and rights for sale. If I know you or you have met me, say so. At 3 am things get bleary.

What I'm Looking For Currently

I am actually looking for people who will work with me on a contractor royalty-basis. This includes cover artists, graphic novel artists, and editors. If you fit this description and you're familiar with Science Fiction and Fantasy, contact me via Sky Warrior Books.

Welcome to Sky Warrior Books Blog

2011-03-07T00:24:00.000-08:00

Some days, you wonder if you're truly insane. And what is crazy is that there are enough people following you around to convince you either that you're right, or there are enough lunatics in the world and you're certifiable.

I don't know which it is, but I'm here to have a good time in any case.

And if that hasn't put you off by now, keep reading.

On February 14, 2011, I decided it was time to announce I would start my own publishing company. After months of self-publishing success with my own e-books, I figured, "what the heck? Time to expand..."

And so, I announced the company. I expected people to look askance and wonder what I've been putting in my tea. Instead, I received enthusiastic and positive responses. Now, before you groan and say, "not another publishing company...", here are my thoughts and approaches.

I feel pretty confident about this company at this time because 1. I've worked for the big houses in New York as a freelance editor and an author, and 2. I'm getting ridiculous numbers of sales for an indy/self published author just with my own experiments. You can say it's because my books rock, (and I wouldn't disagree), but I'm thinking that maybe I've stumbled onto something that will work.

The thing is that Sky Warrior Book Publishing isn't your normal book publisher. For one thing, I believe that the only way for me to make money is for you to make money as the author. That your work is worth something and you should be treated fairly and with respect.

My value added as Sky Warrior Books is as follows:

1. Professional edits. Yep, really. Got that sewn up with a number of professional editors in the field.

2. Professional formatting and covers. Yes, I have some top artists signed on, including some award-winning artists.

3. Limited contracts. I only take rights I think or know I can sell or use. Rights are optioned for 18 months and revert back to the author if I can't use them. Books published for 5 years with the option to renew. Hey, if I don't do a decent job, you need to reconsider.

4. 50% royalties on net profits on everything. You wrote it, you deserve to make money on it.

5. Distribution through all the major E-book channels. Worldwide distribution of trade paperbacks through our imprint, Sky Dragon Publishing.

6. Potential sales to an RPG house. Yes, I'm working with gamers to get more ways for authors to make money.

7. Targeted social media promotions. I've got a PR guy who is working for me. Yes, the author is going to have to promote, but we need to make it even easier for authors to do it.

8. Contacts: I have contacts in this industry due to being an author of more than 30 books and hundreds of short pieces. I can bring more than 15 years of experience as a professional writer and editor to this gig.

9. Quarterly payments. I plan on paying my authors quarterly because I don't want to hang onto the money any more than I have to, but at the same time, I really don't have the ability to cut checks to you monthly.

Basically, I'm working as a one-stop shop for the author. My desire is to not just publish, but to build a platform for the author to succeed. And yes, while the author can do any of that by himself and pay folks to edit his book, spend hours formatting the book, look for deals to leverage the book to make money, promote the hell out of his book, he's got to think about what it costs in terms of time and monetary investment. If he'd rather sit and write his books and have a publisher act in his best interest (because, by god, if he makes money, I make money), then he should probably look at my publishing company. If he thinks he can do a better job, well, god bless him -- I'm not going to convince him otherwise. I'm hand picking pro authors as we speak (some having been published by major houses) and a number of them are very happy to come on board with me. Basically every author will have my phone number, my email and my attention. They are my authors and I will do whatever I need to do to make it right with them. (Oh, and I am NOT excluding woman authors here; I am simply avoiding having to use the he/she, or worse, they construct).

What I am looking for: well written science fiction, fantasy and horror, and authors who have enough books to do a three book deal. I am not reading slush -- can't stand it; don't have time for it. I'm honest to a point of fault (just ask anyone who knows me) and I'm a straight shooter. I'll screw up occasionally, but I'll admit it and I'll try to make it right.

So, there you go -- my basis for a publishing company. No doubt you've heard the song and dance before. This company will be different.