Category: The Vondish Ambassador

Gauging the Market

So if I were to offer for sale an 18″ x 24″ poster of the simplified map of Ethshar of the Spices (the map area itself would be roughly 16″ x 12″) and additional material, would anyone be interested in buying a copy?

If so, how much would you be willing to pay? What other material would you want on it? Book covers? Explanatory text? My old drawing of Wizard Street (though I think that’s Wizard Street in Ethshar of the Sands, not Ethshar of the Spices)?

Are there other Ethshar-related posters you’d prefer? Other maps, perhaps?

If there’s serious interest, I’ll go ahead with this — I found a supplier who looks reasonable. The price, though, will be very dependent upon how many I’m sure I can sell.

So if you always wanted a map, speak up now!

Realms of Light: Progress Report Twenty-One

Chapter Ten is posted; I’m actually still a few dollars short, but it’s close enough.

Chapter Thirteen is written, and has been sent to donors who signed up to receive chapters as they’re written.

Chapter Fourteen is only about two paragraphs along, as yet.

In case anyone hasn’t already seen me say this, I have every intention of finishing this novel whether any more money comes in or not, but (a) money will make it go faster, and (b) there may not be a publicly-available edition if I don’t get enough to finish the serial; I may instead do it as a privately-printed limited edition exclusively for the donors. This would royally tick off the publisher at FoxAcre Press, who would really like to publish it, so keep Roger happy — send me money!

In other news, I regret to say that the mass-market paperback of The Vondish Ambassador is not happening any time in the foreseeable future; due to cash-flow problems at the distributor’s end, the Cosmos paperback line has been suspended indefinitely. I believe all the existing titles will stay available, but they aren’t adding new ones.

If that changes, I’ll let you know.

Oh, and if Realms of Light flops as a serial, this will not mean no further serials.

One donor asked me some interesting questions about the mechanics of picking up a story after a twenty-year hiatus, and I think that’s something I do want to write about, but I’m not sure when I’ll get to it, and whether it’ll be here or in one of my other blogs.

I think that’s everything.

The Vondish Ambassador: You Have Options

The Vondish Ambassador is now available in multiple forms.

There’s an e-book available from Fictionwise.

Wildside has now released two print-on-demand editions, a trade paperback and a hardcover.

I still have maybe a dozen copies left of the first edition, from Misenchanted Press. This was a trade paperback, limited to 400 copies.

The mass-market edition from Cosmos is not out yet, but it’s scheduled for June.

So there you go.

The Vondish Ambassador: Follow-up

The contracts with Wildside are finally signed and executed. If all goes well, a mass market paperback of The Vondish Ambassador will be published under the Cosmos imprint in June 2009.

Meanwhile, the e-book edition should be available very soon from Fictionwise. Possibly as soon as Tuesday.

I’ll be taking down the first draft this weekend, at the publisher’s request.

The Books Have Been Ordered

I placed the print order for 400 copies of The Vondish Ambassador this morning. Got the proof copy yesterday, and found it good.

This book is about the same format as the six Wildside Press reprints in the Ethshar series; I’m afraid it doesn’t match The Spriggan Mirror.

Anyway, the books should be here in mid-January. Sorry it couldn’t be in time for Christmas.

Latest Word…

The Vondish Ambassador goes to the printer tomorrow.

I don’t know when I’ll have finished copies in hand, but it shouldn’t be all that long.

This is the Misenchanted Press trade paperback edition, with cover art by Kiri Evans. It’s a limited edition — there will only ever be the one printing. I don’t know yet about any future mass-market edition; I’ll be talking to the publisher from Wildside on Friday, and may have news after that.

Once I have a delivery date I’ll be e-mailing all donors to (a) verify that they want a copy of this edition, (b) make sure I have a current shipping address, and (c) ask whether they want it signed.

There exists a short Ethshar story, “The God in Red,” that could accompany this edition in chapbook form, the way “Sirinita’s Dragon” accompanied The Spriggan Mirror, but frankly, producing the chapbooks is a pain in the butt, so I’m not sure whether I’ll be doing that. I’ll see how the finances look, and the time constraints.

Sorry this has taken so long. Happy holidays!

Chapter Twenty-Three has been posted

Chapter Twenty-Three is up.

I have ten bucks toward Chapter Twenty-Four.

Chapters Twenty-Four through Twenty-Six are written. I’m a couple of pages into Chapter Twenty-Seven.

My best estimate at present is that the first draft will run twenty-eight chapters and an epilogue, but that could still be off by a chapter or so either way. The epilogue will be included with the final chapter at no additional charge.

I’m likely to be away from my computer on March 14th, so there will probably be no post that week, and two chapters will probably be posted either the week before or the week after.

And incidentally, I’m getting about half a dozen bounces on the weekly updates to donors.  If you donated money and aren’t getting them, it’s because there’s a problem with the e-mail address you provided.

Chapter Twenty-Two has been posted

Chapter Twenty-Two is up.

I have a few dollars toward Chapter Twenty-Three, but it’s got a long way to go.

Chapters Twenty-Three and Twenty-Four are written; most of Chapter Twenty-Five is.

There will be at least twenty-seven chapters, though the last one may be so short I won’t charge for it; that’s the minimum. There could also be more than that, but I’d say there’s no way it’ll run more than thirty-two in all. At present I have no plans for an epilogue or endnotes, but I may eventually see about drawing up a couple of rough maps.

If there is a full-length Chapter Twenty-Seven, it may be delayed; that would be due on March 14th, assuming no missed dates, and I’m probably going to be away from my computer for much of that week.