The Final Calling: Progress Report One

I’ve written about a third of Tom Derringer and the Aluminum Airship. When I finish it, The Final Calling moves to the top of my priority list, unless some well-paying job crops up.

Meanwhile, I’ve written most of Chapter Two of The Final Calling. (I’m on page 24.) Once I’ve started Chapter Five, I’ll have enough to launch the serial.

I do not know how long this will take, and can’t give a definite launch date, but it will be this year and probably no later than August. Could be much sooner.

If anyone wants to get an early start on sending me money, donations to “The Warlock’s Refuge” do count toward The Final Calling. I did mention this somewhere, but it hasn’t been widely publicized, and so far I have less than half a chapter paid or.

Each chapter of The Final Calling will cost $250. $25 will definitely guarantee anyone with a U.S. address a copy of the finished book, if and when there is one — Wildside Press has expressed interest in publishing it, if and when it’s written, but of course there’s no contract yet. It’s possible, though not particularly likely, that I might cut that to $20 or offer an e-book option, so if you want to wait and see, you can. Shipping costs being what they are these days, though, a cut to $20 is unlikely, especially since this may (or may not) turn out to be a significantly longer book than my previous serials.

Changing shipping costs and exchange rates mean I don’t yet know what the minimum for Canadian or overseas donors will be to guarantee a copy.

Of course, you’re welcome to send less than the minimum, to help get the thing online; you just won’t be guaranteed a bound copy until your donations total $25 or more.

Please note that when I say “guarantee,” that’s a conditional thing; it only applies if the novel is completed and published. If I don’t finish the book for any reason, then no one gets a copy, whether it’s because it didn’t bring in enough money, or because I got hit by a bus. This is why I call people who send money “donors,” rather than “subscribers” — you’re donating money, not buying something. You’ll get a book if there is a book, but I’m not promising one.

It’s much too early to be thinking about what extras might be included to donors.

Incidentally, if I were doing this properly, rather than yielding to fan pressure, I should have written Dumery of the Dragon before The Final Calling. Alas, I didn’t realize that until after I was committed to the present course. Ah, well. It’s not a perfect world.

6 thoughts on “The Final Calling: Progress Report One

  1. Did you have any books in the works/planned which require the events in The Final Calling to not have happened yet? If so, how would you handle that? Would you rewrite the warlock parts or would you set it in a time before The Final Calling takes place?

  2. Well, Aldagon is probably going to appear in both Dumery of the Dragon and The Final Calling, and it would have been easier to do that in chronological order. Some of the other planned novels involve warlocks and must therefore be set earlier.

    I’ve written stuff out of chronological order before; Night of Madness was the seventh Ethshar novel I wrote, but is set before five of the first six. It’s not impossible, just a little more difficult.

  3. I seem to be having trouble with paypal wanting my bank account information before they are willing to do a credit card transaction. I’ve mailed a check.

  4. Huh. I don’t know what’s up with that; you’re the second person to have trouble with PayPal recently. I hope it won’t be an ongoing problem.

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