Hello readers! Max here with a quick update/news post. First and foremost, if you’d like a preview of my weekend …
That’s right, the paperback proof for Shadow of an Empire arrived this week! And it’s a hefty chonk! With no remorse I placed it on a kitchen scale to bring you the exact weight: two pounds, one ounce!
That is a big novel. And that’s about a hundred pages less than Colony would be. Jungle would, by the same scale, be almost four pounds. Assuming it could even be bound.
Anyway, I’ll be spending the next little bit working on getting that finalized and ready for shipping! Just in time for … Halloween, I guess? Who doesn’t love a good Western in the fall?
Hit the jump for a few other updates on things, including Starforge news!
Okay, so what else is new? Well, at long last I’m finishing that fanfic project, Stranded, that’s been an on again, off again project for quite some time. Again, I use these projects to experiment with stuff, and this one is no exception. Those of you that follow the fanfic side of things, now is the time to ask about being an Alpha Reader.
But I’ve also got at least one or two more short stories coming (which is a heads-up to Patreon Supporters). Finish Stranded, pump out a few more shorts, get the Shadow of an Empire paperback out, and then …
Then, it will be time for the Starforge pre-Alpha. That’s right. Which means Starforge editing will probably take a good chunk of the rest of the year, if not more. On the plus side, it’ll be ready for Alpha Readers right about the time holiday vacations kick off for people, so hey! Free time to read!
This one is a monster folks. 500,000 draft. The end of the UNSEC Trilogy that started in Colony and continued in Jungle. Every question answered. Every plot thread wrapped up.
And a whole lot of action. Those of you wondering how much, recall the finale’s of my prior books, such as Shadow and Colony. This is the finale to a whole trilogy.
It’s a lot of action. Peril, too. Can’t forget danger.
But that is all going to start soon.
Now, as to plans past that? Well, once Starforge gets a digital release, I’ll be able to take a look at getting the whole trilogy out in paperback (or even hardcover), which I’m certain some of you would be thrilled to see. I can’t promise anything, because bindings only get so large, but … I’m going to give it a look.
As well after that? A new Jacob Rocke book (I know some old-school fans have been waiting for this for a while) and then the sequel to Axtara – Banking and Finance!
Here’s to a bright holiday season. Have a good weekend everyone!
Unusual Things 
Will we be able to order signed copies of Shadow?
Is practical to split Starforge into two parts/packages for ease of binding? Thinner books are easier to hold while reading (I managed to read War And Peace paperback without breaking the spine of the paperback, but I had to be extra careful)
LikeLike
As of now, the only way to get a signed copy would be to purchase or have a copy in a location where I am physically (always happy to sign a book!), as PoD does mean there are no piles of copies being set up or signed before they head out. So no, it will not be possible to order a signed copy.
As far as splitting Starforge goes, it would be very much preferable to avoid that. Short of selling it in a slipcover of some kind, it’d simply be far too easy for a prospective customer to buy the wrong one first and then be inordinately unhappy at “someone else’s” mistake. Splitting the book into two separate books would just make a mess of the plot of both, and lead to either squished or stretched out plot elements, like what happened when The Hobbit became a trilogy.
LikeLike