Books!

“Dog Save the King” – Submission Call From Hemelein!

Max Books! , , , , , , ,

Heads up, writers! Hemelein has posted their call for new short story submissions to the latest LTUE Benefit Anthology, titled Dog Save the King!

The LTUE Benefit Anthologies, if this is the first you’re hearing of them, are a feature of Life, The Universe, and Everything, a Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writing Convention/Symposium that’s nearing its 42nd year. The anthology collections, in addition to being fun short story collections full of all sorts of neat shorts, are actually a charity benefit, the proceeds from their sales used to support the cost of running the convention so that students—from elementary school to college—can get in at a steep discount.

Sop basically, buy one of these books, and you’re helping cover the costs of students attending the conference at a student rate, which for a con that’s all about writing and learning to write, is a major boon to all those students.

Alternatively, you can also submit a story to be in one of these books, and help keep the anthology tradition going! Plus, you get to see your name in print (some for the first time) and can attend the con and sign copies for readers! It’s great fun!

In any case, whether or not you can make it, it’s also a blast to submit to, because the LTUE Benefit Anthologies always have some fun prompts, often reflected in the title. Which is why we’ve had prompts like A Dragon and Her Girl, A Parliament of Wizards, or Troubadours and Space Princesses.

Which, naturally, leads us to this year’s prompt and title: Dog Save the King, a collection of Sci-Fi and Fantasy stories that all revolve around canine heroes saving the day for royalty.

If that sounds like a short story you’d want to write, then be aware that submissions close Friday, May 19th, at midnight. You can check out a larger list of requirements below the jump, then head over to Hemelein’s submission post to gather any other details you may need.

Hit the jump for details on Dog Save the King!

Continue reading →

An Alert for Starforge Readers – If You’re Seeing Odd Formatting Or the Like …

Max Books!, Misc , ,

Hey folks. Max here with a heads-up about Starforge. That big finale for the UNSEC Space Trilogy.

Well, it appears that it might be a bit … large. And this has led to some issues for some readers.

Okay, let me lay it out to you. Ereaders are not complicated programs. In fact, they’re quite simple. But this can mean that as you progress through a very large book, your reader of choice may start experiencing … oddities.

For example, I first discovered this when reading through The Wheel of Time back in the day on my old Kindle. Sometimes the formatting would get a little … funky. I’d close the book, reopen it, and voila! The issue would be gone.

Well, while doing the copy edit for Starforge, I did find that on one reader, for one format, after a good ten or so chapters, the formatting would have a chance to go … sideways on me. But it wasn’t because the file with the actual formatting was incorrect. It was because the reader itself was just having a bit of trouble after so many consecutive page turns. It happened largely with one format, but today I heard reports that someone else had seen something similar going on and was worried the book had broken formatting or other issues.

Well, it only appears that way, but the file itself is clean. What’s happening here is an ereader program that’s just kind of starting to let little errors pile up, built for 300 page books, not 2000 page ones. And as Starforge is DRM-free, this could especially be the case if you purchased it but converted it to another format.

So, if you’re reading Starforge, and see something funny, maybe broken formatting like odd page breaks, paragraph splits, or justification (text being centered instead of on the left) issues, don’t panic. The book isn’t broken. Here’s what you do.

  1. Back out of the story. Sorry for the interruption.
  2. Open another book with your reader. This loads it into the program’s memory.
  3. Back out of that book.
  4. Reopen Starforge. This loads it back in, right where you were, but without any accrued reader issues.

Voila! Your formatting issues should be fixed. If they are not, then take the more extreme tactic of restarting your ereader program or device. And if that does not fix the issue, try either A) redownloading the file or B) reconverting it to the format you’ve chosen, though if the error appears again, it may be a problem with your converter.

I do apologize for the inconvenience, but ereaders can in some cases be very simply programs or devices, which means errors are generally ignored under the rule of “How long could the book be?” meaning they aren’t usually an issue. And myself being fairly tech-literate, when I encountered the issue during the copy-edit, after confirming that it was the reader and not the file in each case (a fairly simply check), simply fixed it with the aforenoted process and called it good.

However, it did not occur to me that there would be plenty of people who had never encountered an ereader issue like this before and would be befuddled when faced with this.

So, if this has happened to you (especially if you converted the file into a different format), here are the ways to get it taken care of. I hope it hasn’t soured your Starforge experience, and if it helps look at it this way: It’s a limitation of the technology, the same way it would be if I’d printed it bound and your arms had gotten tired all 20+ pounds of it aloft, and you’d dropped it and broken a few toes.

Anyway, I’ll be tagging this on the Starforge blurb on the books page, but if you have seen these issues, hopefully this resolves them for you. Enjoy!

Colony, Jungle, and Starforge – My Look Back at the UNSEC Space Trilogy

Max Books! , , , , ,

Six years.

That’s how long the UNSEC Space Trilogy took. Not for me to write and edit, mind. That time period was even longer—though I do note that I had other, smaller projects in between each book in the series. But even so, six years.

Colony, the first book in the trilogy, released in November of 2016, and I’m sure at the time few expected anything from it, even my readers. Prior to Colony, I’d only released a few books, each of them much smaller and far less grand that what Colony promised within its pages. One Drink and Dead Silver, while respectable, were both regular a novella and novel, respectably. Unusual Events, a collection of “short” stories I’d worked on while editing Colony that made it to print first, had sold a few copies, but not lit any fires (in fact, it remains my lowest-selling work to date by a large margin).

Then, with some fanfare but little attention from the world at large, I dropped Colony. An epic Sci-Fi adventure, first book of three in an at-that-time unnamed trilogy. from an author who had only published Urban Fantasy and shorts? There were definitely a few raised eyebrows. I recall that Christmas, when I returned to my hometown to visit my parents, garnering confused questions from people as to my reasons for jumping genres, or whether or not I thought people would buy it.

By then however, I’d already seen the numbers. November was over, and with it came more money than I’d ever seen in my time as an author. Reviews were rolling in too, readers gushing with praise and urging others to “Buy it, now!” Colony had struck, for my tine authorial imprint at the time, gold. Those readers that had trusted me and picked up the book found themselves “immersed” (that’s a deliberate pun) into the underwater colony world of Pisces, wrapped up in far-reaching mysteries as a search for a missing computer programmer by three complete strangers slowly but steadily expanded into an earth-shattering and action-packed conclusion full of big Sci-Fi ideas and tantalizing hints of what was to come.

Not everyone enjoyed it. A few people left one or two star reviews, citing complaints of one form or another. My personal favorites were two reviewers who each left Colony two stars, one angerly citing that there was ‘too much worldbuilding and not enough action,’ the other citing ‘too much action and not enough worldbuilding.’ But those reviews largely slipped to the bottom, mud for those who fed at that level to sling while above them the rest of the world purchased copy after copy, rapidly outselling every other book I’d released at that time and still maintaining a strong lead today despite stiff competition from one of my other books.

Colony was a hit. By my standards, at least. And now, six years later, by indie book standards as well, its sales numbers well above the average for indie titles.

Oh, and did I mention it was huge? It didn’t shy away from the “Epic” part of its genre. The finale alone ended up being more pages in length than my first published book.

And readers loved it. They loved the characters, with fans evenly split over which of the three protagonists was their favorite character (to this day one my favorite questions when someone starts talking to me about Colony is “Who’s your favorite of the trio and why?” because never has one of the three won out, and everyone always has a wide range of reasons why they prefer Sweets, Anna, or Jake as their favorite protag). They loved the setting, the dark future of Earth, the underwater environs and cities of Pisces, that Colony painted. They loved the mystery, even if some questions went unanswered by the end of the book. They just loved it.

Speaking of those unanswered mysteries, one of the most common questions I’ve been asked about the series as a whole is “When you released Colony, was all this planned? Or were you just making it up as you went along?”

Continue reading →

One Drink Celebrates Its Tenth Anniversary, Plus a Topic Call and Other News!

Max Books!, Weekly Updates , , , , , , , ,

Well, it’s been a long road, hasn’t it? As of this week, One Drink, the first title I ever published, is ten years old. It released ten years ago, on February 20th, 2013. The first step in what would become a much wider, larger writing career.

Where it all began ...

So to celebrate this fact, I’ve made it free this week! Yup, all you have to do is click that cover there on the right, and you can grab a copy of your very own to keep and enjoy.

Sure, most of you probably have it already. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point. After all, it’s been ten years. And in my own personal opinion, it’s not that spectacular a book. Though that’s a point where I’ll be happy to disagree with my fans, many of whom consider it much better written than I do.

But hey, you can’t argue with free!

Better yet, its sequel, Dead Silver, while not ten years old, is on a 75% off sale too. It’s a safe bet that if you enjoyed One Drink in any capacity, you’ll find the sequel an even more entertaining read.

Again, as before, if you click the cover there, you’ll go right to it.

Though I’ll warn you, Dead Silver is a sequel. So I advise reading One Drink beforehand if you haven’t. You don’t have to, of course, but since one is free, if you’re grabbing Dead Silver to complete the set, you might as well read them in order.

Or not. I don’t have any control over that. And I’m well aware that some people like to read things backwards.

Anyway, it’s been TEN YEARS. It’s amazing to think that it’s been so long since I published my first book. Since those days, I’ve seen the world of writing shift and change. I’ve seen publishers people believed were unstoppable titans topple and fall. I’ve seen the authorial view of trad vs indie shift and slide away from the former and toward the latter, right up to the point where we’ve got authors at their peak doing forty-million dollar kickstarters and breaking from their old publishers.

And I’ve watched my books steadily climb in readership. I’ve watched the progression of new readers, new fans, and the slow but steady climb upward, my sales in one month now topping what I used to manage in a year.

And it’s still going. I won’t wax on this for much longer, but I hope most of you can excuse me a little bit of bittersweet satisfaction at how far things have come. It’s been a long ten years. At LTUE’s closing event, a particular speaker who I shall not name-drop spoke of writing and selling books as trying to climb a mountain, only to reach the top and realize you built that mountain, stone by stone. Or perhaps book by book.

They’re right. And while I don’t consider myself near the peak of this journey yet, right now taking a glance back and seeing the mountain of words I’ve assembled so far, with characters like Anna and Axtara, Jake and Jacob, Sweets and Salitore … Well, it’s been a long, steady climb.

But there’s a lot more to come.

Thank you. Readers, reviewers, folks that shared their favorite titles with friends. Patreon Supporters. Without all of you, the last ten years … Well, it couldn’t have happened. A man can build Rome, but if no one shows up, what good is it?

Thanks for reading, folks. And I hope you stick around for the next ten years. Because I’m not done yet. Not by a long shot. There’s more to come, more Axtara, more Indrim, more Jacob Rocke, and even a bunch of new worlds you’ve yet to set foot in.

Thanks for reading, sharing, and reviewing. I’ll build the mountain. You guys mine it.

Now, before we hit the jump for some other news, there’s one more thing I want to address: A Topic Call!

Yep, that’s right! It’s time again. Topic List #21 has reached its end. It’s time for Topic List #22.

Now, those of you that have been around for a while? You know what that means. Hit the comments below and post your topic requests!

Those of you that are new? This is a primary manner with which to request topics for future Being a Better Writer topics!

That’s right! Got something you want covered by Being a Better Writer? Post it! And Topic List #22 will take shape with your questions on it! Then watch each Monday, and your Being a Better Writer request will show up!

That’s all there is to it. So get to the comments and post the writing topics you want to hear about!

Now, on with the other news. Which isn’t much, but it’s news. Hit the jump for it!

Continue reading →

The Price We Pay – Ten Year Edition!

Max Books!, Weekly Updates , , , , , , , ,

You know, now that I’ve reached this point I almost don’t know what to say.

Technically I’m not at my ten year anniversary of publication just yet. But I’m long past it in writing. Even if one only counts my career as “starting” when I first wrote One Drink all those years ago, I’d be past the point of a ten-year anniversary there, and I was writing long before One Drink came along.

But … we’re close. February 20th, 2023, to be exact, will mark the ten-year anniversary of the publication of my first book, and my foray into making a living as an author.

It’s been a long road. But I’m not hear to talk about that today. Instead I’m here to talk about something else, actually. My pricing. See, here’s the thing … I sort of haven’t updated most of my prices since I started ten years ago.

Axtara reflects a more modern price point. As does Starforge. But the rest of my library? Well, if you remember the classic (and still quite popular) post on book prices, The Price We Pay – Are Book Prices Too Much? from a few years back, I broke down the pricing points of my books and showed how they were chosen to reflect a price point below that of a 1994 paperback book.

It’s a pretty popular post for a reason, since it not only discusses my prices, but also those of the book industry in general, showing how people’s memories of prices—especially with regards to how inflation and the changing value of the dollar fluctuate over time and impact the price of goods.

But here’s the thing: That post? It’s out of date. Especially in the wake of the last several years, which has seen the US economy—and the value of the dollar—fluctuate wildly as the economy did its best to represent a Six Flags roller coaster. Combined with the fact that I’d not bothered to modify my price points since One Drink came out ten years ago, plus the drop in price as the “long tail” goes into effect … and my books have been rapidly dropping below market value.

Which brings us to today. Starforge has just released, at a newer price point, and the time has finally come. Starting today, as of this post going up, I will be updating book prices for (hopefully) the next ten years alongside updating the usual manuscript updates and whatnot to the latest editions. The prices will then go live over the next day or so.

I’ve been talking about it for weeks, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to any of you. And if it is … well, I really can’t be blamed for that.

The big gist of it is that book prices are being updated today. But … if you want a more detailed breakdown of what the new prices are, what the values look like compared to their prior price, and how that is modeled compared to the prices from 1994 … then hit the jump.

Continue reading →

One Week of Starforge!

Max Books! , , ,

Well, it’s been a week. How are you folks finding Starforge?

This is, I think, the challenge with writing books of a truly staggering size. The book might release on a certain day, but when it contains nearly four-times the adventure of what would already be considered a fairly large book, one has to account for the fact that no matter how gripping it winds up being, it’s still going to take even the quickest, most efficient reader four times as long to get through it. It’s a basic function of the math. If a three-hundred page book takes a reader a week to get through, than something that weighs in at six times that is going to take, well, six times as long. There’s just an upper limit on how quickly someone can process words, and adding more words means it’s going to take more time.

That said, if we go off of sales alone, Starforge looks like it’s a colossal success, already having blown past first-month sales for most of my books in just a week and continuing to sell. And drawn in quite a few new readers as well, with sales of the entire trilogy topping my sales charts for the last week.

But with all that going on, now that we’re a week in … how are most of you finding it? Where’s everyone at? Have you made it to the end of part two? Part three? Are some of you already closing in on the final chapters? Who’s been your favorite viewpoint character this time around?

I hope it’s been everything you were waiting for.

Oh, and if you haven’t given the finale of the UNSEC Space Trilogy a look yet, you can find it by clicking the massive image above, get a free preview over at the books tab, or check out the whole trilogy at once at this link.

As for me? I’ve got some … unusual … writing to do. I’ll see you Friday!

Starforge Is Here!

Max Books! , , , ,

What more is there to say? The finale of the UNSEC Space Trilogy has arrived at last. Those of you who pre-ordered should be getting your copies as midnight ticks over, and those of you who didn’t pre-order … you can just go purchase it now! Click the cover below and experience the end of the journey! You can also click here to read the first five chapters for free before you make up your mind!

The end arrives in this epic conclusion to the UNSEC Space Trilogy!

Mankind stands on the edge of a precipice. The All sweep across colony worlds, consuming everything in their path. Earth has recalled her fleets to Sol, abandoning its charges. Pisces, her independence won, now stands alone as a foe unlike any other threatens from the dark. It is not a question of if the All will attack, but when.

Reunited at last, Jake, Anna, and Sweets again find their skills called upon, this time by the new leadership of Pisces. A desperate plan has been conceived, an all-or-nothing long shot out into the darkness of unexplored space to find a means of reactivating the artificial world beneath their feet. If Pisces’ weapons can be brought online there remains a chance that the relentless force of the All can be stopped before it extinguishes the light of mankind forever.

If. Threats move against them from all sides. The All has set its own plans in motion, determined to finish the work it began so long ago. UNSEC and Earth plot from the shadows, uncompromising under Eidre’s vision of a unified empire with Sol at the center, and willing to do anything to bring Pisces back into the fold—even burn it to ashes.

The Trio’s final journey has begun … and it’s an adventure unlike anything you’ve ever read before.

Thanksgiving Sale!

Max Books! , , , , , , ,

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you’ve got great plans and make the most of it!

As for me? Well, I just clicked the button to upload the final manuscript for Starforge. Which, in case you weren’t aware, comes out next Tuesday. The 29th of November. We made that release window after all.

Of course, some of you have been waiting for the series to be complete, and for those of you who have—or are just discovering this epic Sci-Fi series for the first time—I’ve got good news! The first two books in the trilogy are on a steep discount this weekend to celebrate the conclusion of the trilogy! You can pick up all three books—over a million words of Sci-Fi adventure—for only $14.97. Click those covers and grab the whole series now.

That’s right. Less than fifteen bucks. This is a fantastic deal. Plus, it’s over the perfect weekend to curl up with a book.

And yes, this is now a complete trilogy. No hidden “fourth book.” No “surprise, we’re going to have another ending.” This. Is. It.

So happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Enjoy, and I’ll see you all Monday for the Reddit AMA.

Starforge: A Literary Trailer

Max Books! , , , ,

With a sudden bang the weakened airlock door burst outward, slamming into the cutter and knocking the tech over on the tarmac. Someone screamed as something large and armored shot out of the opening, slamming into the other exosuit and driving it into the ground, claws digging deep through the metal.

“You think we’ll make it?”

“Break course!” Anna shouted, her hand snapping to the side of her helmet. “Now!”

“All of us?”

Jake pushed himself back an instant before another tendril slammed point-first into the metal in front of him, the spike at its end punching cleanly through whatever the path was made of.

“I don’t know.”

Anna crashed into the water behind the creatures, spinning and lashing out with her hard-light blades to cut two of them in half. The remaining two, caught between them, died moments later, just before Ngata slammed into the water, tumbling before righting herself and shooting along after them.

“We’ve lost six colony worlds.”

Tentacles, so large that even at a distance Sweets could see them slamming down atop the pathway and wrapping it, utterly annihilating the Sha’o drones.

“Any ideas?”

Micro-missiles swarmed out of the thinning haze, close enough that Jake could make out the individual fins on a few of them as they shot just past and detonated further back. Sand and gravel sprayed over him, sliding down his visor.

Towering walls of water rose miles into the air. Free-floating orbs of ocean the size of mountains, their surfaces sculpted into geometric shapes and lines, linked to the seas below sometimes by thin passageways of water, sometimes not at all.

The marine pounded on ahead, throwing himself into a slide that shrieked of metal-on-metal to pass under the small opening in the door. He kicked himself back up with a single movement, rising to his feet—

And something slammed into the marine from the side, bowling him over and out of sight with a yell.

“Contacts! All vessels!” Comms said, a tone of panic in their voice. “Appear to be fighting unknowns. Total count over one thousand!”

The sky was alight with flames now, some of them, Anna noted, almost uncomfortably near the team’s position. Some of the earlier flames had burned out, leaving long trails of smoke instead that made the horizon look like a painter had slapped a brush covered in charcoal across it.

The tail was whipping back, the razor-edged scythes at the end sweeping through the air. Roen ducked beneath the attack, as did Ngata—only she fired a shot straight up with her phoenix cannon as she did so, the shot slamming into the tail and almost severing it.

“We end this.”

A sickening, metallic squeal rent the air, new alarms flashing across his controls, vying for Sweets’ attention as the Sparrowhawk shot past overhead.

The force of the explosion hit Jake like a wall, blasting him from his feet even as he felt sharp twinges of pain erupt across his front.

Something bit into Anna’s back, slicing through muscle and for a moment feeling as though it touched bone.

“And those who refuse?”

Syrah Eidre stared down at Earth, the planet twisting in the black.

“They made their choice, and will suffer the consequences.”

THE END ARRIVES

NOVEMBER 29TH

PRE-ORDER NOW

Two Weeks …

Max Books! , , , , ,

Starforge releases in two weeks, people. Fourteen days. At this point you could put a countdown app on your phone to when Starforge will be available to read in your country if you wanted to. And I wouldn’t blame you one bit.

If you haven’t pre-ordered yet for some reason, then click that cover there. Do it! Do it now! The finale of the UNSEC Space Trilogy is only a few clicks away from being delivered to your device on November 29th.

Maybe you’re waiting for the reviews. Maybe you’re hesitant that Starforge can deliver what it’s promised, to both tie up all the lose ends from Colony and Jungle while still being an epic, satisfying ending.

I get that. But you’re in luck. One reviewer has already received their copy and posted their thoughts on it, which you can read at this link. It’s got some small spoilers, but the biggest of all I’ll drop in your laps is the rating. 5 out of 5.

And the word “stellar” is used, which is quite appropriate given the subject matter.

We’re fourteen days away from this six-year journey (for the readers, anyway) concluding at last. I hope you’re pumped for it. Because you should be!

All right, what about other news? This is technically a news post, so yes, there is a little more to talk about. Yes, Starforge comes out in two weeks. Yes, that is grand. Oh, and yes, it has now passed its predecessor, Jungle, for pre-order numbers and is tied for third place. Yes, it has several preview chapters you can read and cool lore bits filling in some details of the setting at this tag. But surely there’s other news, isn’t there?

Well yes, there is. For starters, I’m looking forward to being able to work on other projects again. Like a new Jacob Rocke book. Or that Axtara sequel that everyone’s really excited for. I’m excited for it too. It’s going to be great fun to both write her once more.

Speaking of Axtara, did you know that on Amazon she’s almost eclipsed Colony for reviews? It’s true. As of writing this, she’s only two reviews away. She remains a bit further behind on Goodreads, but she’s still the sitting with the third-highest number of reviews there. And over 80% of them are 5-Star. Everyone just loves Axtara.

Colony and Jungle continue to get some attention as well, but I think right now there are just a few readers who are catching up, while most are waiting for the big finale to drop.

Let me see … Other news. Oh yes! November 29th is the release date for Starforge, so November 28th, which is a Monday and would normally be a Being a Better Writer post will instead be a Reddit AMA! That’s right! The last time I did an AMA on reddit was for Jungle, and so it’s only fitting that the finale to the trilogy comes with one more AMA.

Oh, and one last thing before I wrap this post up. Yes, there is a price increase coming for my library. More on that before it happens. But … if you were hoping to pick up the entire UNSEC Space Trilogy (that’s Colony, Jungle, and Starforge all at once when Starforge drops) now that it’s a complete, finished set, you might just want to wait until, oh, November 23rd or so. Just for … reasons.

Max out! I’ve got more copy-editing to do!