Bloggish Stuff

Tag Archives: self

Souls of Astraeus has been submitted to SPFBO 3

Posted on by

Souls of Astraeus is in SPFBO 3!

The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO), started and hosted by Mark Lawrence, has been an absolute blast to watch unfold during its first two years. The effort and enthusiasm exhibited by Mark, authors, and all involved bloggers, is more than appreciated by the entire reader and self-published author community.

It’s no secret to independent authors, and fans of independent authors, that exposure and opportunity are some of the hardest things to come by when going it alone. This graciously sponsored and executed competition not only helps bridge the gap between legacy publishing and independent publishing, but also allows readers the chance to read quality work. Work from people who haven’t hit the lottery, (yet), with landing a connected agent and publisher. Sometimes, that’s part of an independent author’s plan, sometimes not, but there is no denying that here is still a stigma and exposure vacuum for self publishers. The SPFBO has helped to erase those stigmas, however, by allowing a standard to evolve with realistic expectations from the independent community.

With that said, I luckily caught the announcement of SPFBO 3 in time, and was able to get my first book, Souls of Astraeus, submitted, and included in the initial round of competition. I of course have no expectations. I’m looking forward to the process, getting in touch with some new friends and their books, and that’s it. If I actually had any expectations, it would be that it won’t make it all that far, because Souls of Astraeus and the rest of the Akallian Tales Trilogy, isn’t traditional high, epic, or dark fantasy, but more of a space fantasy. But even then, the main protagonists in the book have access to their millions of past lives via “active reincarnation,” and the magic system essentially consists of thousands of different skills that are simply the inherent abilities of a particular race. So, who knows? We’ll see! Regardless, SPFBO 3 is already fun!

If at any point any blogger, reader, fan of the competition, whoever, reads anything of mine, drop me a line! I’d love to know what you think!

Souls of Astraeus is in SPFBO 3

– Jeramy

Main website: http://www.jeramygoble.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JeramyGoble

Twitter: @JeramyGoble

The Akallian Tales trilogy is complete!

Posted on by

The Akallian Tales trilogy is complete!

Well, the final Akallian Tales book launched about 6 months ago. This blog post never made it out of the draft stage until today. I started it and got distracted, and didn’t get back to it until now. Such is life, I guess. Anyway, I’ll share a bit about wrapping this series up, talk a bit about what’s coming, and hopefully get back to a more regular cycle of posting, similar to the first few years of the blog. This post is my only one of 2016, so far! Gah!

Quick recap: I started writing the first book of the Akallian Tales trilogy, Souls of Astraeus, around 2006 or so, having no idea if/when other books would follow. I wrote most of it within a few months, but then sat on it until 2013 when I bucked up, added another 20k or so words, revised, and finished it. I then threw myself into months of research on self-publishing, and the remarkably complex other facets of an industry of which actual publishing is only a small part. So, in 2014, Souls of Astraeus launched, and then in 2015 came Games of Astraeus, and then earlier this year, Fates of Astraeus. It’s crazy. Just two and a half years ago, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get a book out, and now, I’m working on my fourth.

Continue reading →

A year after publishing my first book

Posted on by

Well, it’s been a little more than a year. About a year and two months, actually. I would have written about this on the true year anniversary of self-publishing Souls of Astraeus, but the past few months have been nuts, for a multitude of reasons. The blog has been neglected for those same reasons, but I’m really going to get back into the swing of things. The good thing is that while the blog has been neglected, my next book, (Akallian Tales #2, Games of Astraeus), hasn’t been, and I’ve gotten a few other important things taken care of. I’ve also improved upon my methods for getting my book(s) and me, out there in 2015.

All in all, I’m extremely proud that a year after publishing, Souls of Astraeus is available in paperback, hard cover, e-book, and audiobook. I’m beholden to no one, which is how I think it should be for every writer, to any degree.

14 months after publishing my first book

A year after publishing my first book

I’ve learned a few great lessons in the 14 months since I’ve published. Within the context of being completely autonomous as a writer, publisher, editor, etc., here they are, in no particular order:

  • Read what you think is a final draft as much as you can, (multiple times). Have it read by as many other people as possible. Read what you end up with after all that, out loud, multiple times. You can obviously save yourself some time, money and stress by cutting down on the amount of revisions you need to do.
  • Review your formatting with the same unapologetic, and unforgiving eye that Ebenezer Scrooge has of his financial ledgers. Have others review your formatting.
  • Learn as much about everything that will help you with your writing as you have the capacity for, (time & resources permitting), to help improve your writing and its presentation.
  • The excitement over having a book out there, and any kind of expectations, (though you may deny having any), fades quickly. Plan on that, and know what to replace that energy with. Work on your next WIP, market, promote, contact, network, etc.
  • In addition to eliminating expectations and focusing on marketing and future work, enjoy the process and try to remove any self-imposed deadlines out of all equations involving your writing. Your health and your writing will be better for it.

What about you, folks? Any thoughts?

– Jeramy

Main website: http://www.jeramygoble.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JeramyGoble

Twitter: @JeramyGoble

The Publishing Gatekeepers

Posted on by

When it comes to the publishing gatekeepers, there’s an increasingly public airing of dirty laundry and of grievances between indie authors/self-publishers, the big traditional publishers, and everyone in between.  Here’s a good example of the silly paranoia that’s broken out recently over this topic, having to do with Amazon and Hachette.  JA Konrath addresses this, and once again, pretty much destroys how silly the legacy folks’ attempts at saving their futures are.

What does it come down to?

Many of the big name writers, who have been big-time for a while, are staunchly defending what they know to be the only and best way to be a writer:

  • Plead to literary agents for years, for someone’s affirmation and approval
  • Be forced to do edits you may or may not agree to
  • Wait until your agent gatekeeper gets your book published by gatekeepers
  • Give up the majority of your rights to the gatekeepers
  • Agree to terms made up by gatekeepers
  • Lose a great hunk of control over your work to the gatekeepers

So, because these traditionally represented and published authors have made a good living, in spite of the ludicrous terms they had to begin their careers with, they’re stubbornly and ignorantly protecting the legacy methods of publishing.  They’re defensive and paranoid.  They are understandably trying to look out for the only methods they’ve ever known.

But it’s a futile struggle.  With print on demand publishing, and information sharing on such topics as formatting, editing and all manners of help on writing technique, the gatekeepers are losing more and more of their grip on the throats of creativity, passion and ambition.  And you know what?  We, the self-publishing indie authors, don’t care what the legacy authors and publishers threaten, say, or melodramatically warn against.  There’s nothing to warn against.  People having complete control over their ability to express themselves will always triumph and win out.  Through free instruction, tools, utilities and marketing abilities, people have everything they need to do what so few previously had control over.

Sorry legacy folks!

– Jeramy

Main website: http://www.soulsofastraeus.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JeramyGoble

Twitter: @JeramyGoble