Category: Steam Empire Chronicles

Book 3 Approaches! Iron Tribune Kickstarter Launch this Friday

The official announcement of the Iron Tribune Kickstarter! Coming this Friday!


Salve! I bring glorious news in the name of the Emperor!

Iron Tribune’s Kickstarter stands prepared! The rewards have been created and our artificers are hard at work! You’ll see the first look at the cover for Iron Tribune. It’s my favorite one so far!

Now down for the nitty-gritty details. Our goal, fellow champions of the Empire, is $750 to allay the cost of illustrations and formatting. Any additional money shall go to adding yet more glorious illustrations and perhaps even an exciting poster! Reward levels shall be at $1, $10, $25, $30, $50, and $125. I’ve had to add on shipping for the books, but I believe it’s reasonable (Having learned that lesson the hard way last time.)

Current shipping charges are $15 for the rest of the world, and $3 for the US, which will increase a bit if you get all the print books (heavier!)

Are you ready!?

The Border, Part 5

Part 5 of the Border is now ready for your enjoyment! Also, read to the end to learn about the next step for Iron Tribune! Don’t miss this update!


Salve! Part 5 of the Border is here for your reading enjoyment. With the Quadi close to escaping, Perula leads his men on a series of desperate charges. But can they stall the barbarians long enough for their allies to reach them? Not sure where to start? Read Part 1 and Part 2 now to get the low-down.

Be sure to read to the end of this part, as I’ve some extra information on Iron Tribune You’ll be interested in hearing!

Continue reading “The Border, Part 5”

Iron Tribune Update – End of April

April’s update for Iron Tribune.


Hi everyone, just figured I’d send out a quick update on Iron Tribune.

1.) Cover art is under way! (Yay!)

2.) The manuscript is at the editor’s, and thus is under way as well.

3.) Kickstarter plans are in the works. Nothing will happen until I have cover art to show people.

4.) Outlining on Steel Praetorian is going well! I’m seven chapters in already (outlining).

That’s it! Enjoy the rest of your April!

Beta Reader Updates and Final Revisions Pre-Editing

Just another brief update on Iron Tribune!


Hi all,

Just wanted to let everyone know that Iron Tribune is in the last Pre-editing stages. I’m revising it as we speak, and the good news is you’re getting a much improve project! I’m also excited to announce that, once Iron Tribune is done, I have found someone who will be going through both Brass Legionnaire and Copper Centurion with me to make a few minor tweaks, cleaning out some old errors and mistakes that get by the best authors and editors.

Other than that, many other things are in the works! I’ll have another update for you by this Friday!

Salve!

Daniel

Iron Tribune Finished!

Iron Tribune is finally ready for the beta readers!


Just a heads up for everyone – Iron Tribune is finished! Well, I’m finished with it. I’m making a few last tweaks, then sending it out to the beta readers over the weekend. Yippie! Then it’s right to work on Steel Praetorian. No stopping for novellas this time around!

My Hour a Day Project

My first post of 2015, plus I share some news about Iron Tribune and the novel progress!


Greetings! Happy 2015 (Said exactly one month late!

No excuses this go around: Life got in the way. Now onto the point of this article!

The Hour a Day Project

Typing
My hands are not this neatly manicured. Nor should they be.

This is an idea I’ve heard before/thought of before. Everyone knows that, if you do something for long enough, it becomes a habit. One thing that I’ve taken the time to start this year is my “Hour a Day” Project. Each day (night really, since I have school during the day) I take a full hour to write. It doesn’t matter what, it doesn’t matter how, but I take a full hour to write. And lo and behold, it works. I’ve written nearly 6,000 words in the last week, reached 50,000 words in the novel, and established (finally) a date for book editing. All that, in one week. This is big for me.

In about an hour, I can reach about 1,200 words. That isn’t my absolute best pace, and it certainly isn’t always my best writing. But I am writing. And the more I write, the better I get, and the better the story flows.

But simply, I’m happier now that I have a focused time to get it done. No distractions. I even use my old laptop (that has incredibly slow internet) to help eliminate distractions. Whatever works, right?

But wait, there’s more! The hour a day project works well for ANYTHING. Another one of my hobbies, building models and painting them (and yes, some are Roman – hahah), works perfectly with this plan. Eventually, I plan on adding working out to my list. Then that’s three hours a night, plus dinner, watching some TV, and planning for school for the next day. A way to keep myself busy, but change things often enough to not get bored. So far, I can handle doing two pretty well. What about three? I’ll let you know!

Input Needed: To mix chapters or not to mix chapters…

Input needed! Help decide how I format Iron Tribune!


I’m looking for some input on Iron Tribune. Currently, I have the story written in two parts. The first one is almost done, and consists of events in the eastern part of the empire and focuses around Constantine, Julius, and Alexandros. The second part focuses on events in Rome and focuses on Octavia, Corbus, and Marciena, plus one more surprise character. The events happen concurrently in the story, but I wanted to split them up. But right now I’m unsure about continuing this. The events in Rome do impact the events in the east, but mostly at the end. I’d love to hear the community’s thoughts on this matter. Would you rather have the story lines written together, or finish one before starting the other in the same book?

If he had a watch, he'd be making sure to stay on schedule
If he had a watch, he’d be making sure to stay on schedule

SteamLit Extravaganza #2 – Copper Centurion 75% off Today Only


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Readers Rejoice!

All the Amazing Steampunk Novels Below are Only $0.99 Today, and Today Only!

I Mean seriously, really, truly, 99 cents on sale!

Are you looking for your next read? Why not try a steampunk adventure, thriller, mystery or romance? We have them all here and all on sale today only. Buy one or buy them all for months worth of reading material! Throughout the day you can drop by and chat with the authors about everything from your most pressing steampunk questions to author influences and tips on writing.

Featured Writers and Novels –

>>S.C. Barrus – “Discovering Aberration” and “The Gin Thief: Episode 1”
>>Jonathon Burgess – “Chasing the Lantern”
>>Wendy Calahan – Aetheric Artifacts bundle (which includes “The Gilded Gun”, “The Chronos Clock”, “The Daemon Device“, and “The Enigma Engine”)
>>James Calbraith – “The Year of the Dragon, 1-4”
>>Pauline Creeden – “Chronicles of Steele: Raven”
>>Ren Cummins – “Steel & Sky”
>>Rebecca Diem – “The Stowaway Debutante (Tales of the Captain Duke #1)”
>>Karen Kincy – “Shadows of Asphodel” and “Storms of Lazarus”
>>Mark Lingane – “Tesla Evolution” series including “Tesla”, “Decay”, and “Faraday”
>>Ava Morgan – “The Armored Doctor”
>>Daniel Ottalini – “Copper Centurion”
>>Travis Sivart – “Aetheric Elements: The Rise of a Steampunk Reality”
>>Ichabod Temperance – 5 books including “A Matter of Temperance”, “A World of InTemperance”, “For the Love of Temperance”, “A Study in Temperance”, “In a Latitude of Temperance”
>>Steve Turnbull – “Murder Out of the Blue”
>>Jack Wallen – “Klockwerk Kabaret”

We’re also having a day long author chat, featuring authors from a wide variety of steampunk genres. There’s something for everyone. Click here to join and chat away!

(I’ll be on this evening from about 7 to 9, but I’ll try to drop by earlier to a2014_EBook_finalist-smsk and answer any really cool questions! I’m even willing to answer questions about Iron Tribunei, ncluding questions about the release date and possible Kickstarter)

Copper Centurion is only on sale on Amazon for Kindle and on Nook from Barnes and Noble (It takes too long to percolate through Smashwords to change up the iStores’ cost for a one day sale). Grab my EPIC eBook 2014 Finalist Novel today!

PLUS EVERYONE WHO COMMENTS ON THIS POST, OR ON FACEBOOK, IS ENTERED INTO A DRAWING FOR ONE OF TWO LIMITED EDITION POSTERS FROM MY SERIES.

So, what are you waiting for!? Get up and get going, this sale won’t last forever!

Novellas and the Self Published Author: Remix Part 2

A final look at Novellas, and my opinion on how Self-Publishing Authors should use them.


[This is a continuation of this article from earlier this year, where I examine the idea of creating novellas to supplement author income.]Legionnaire

In the last post, I discussed more the ‘self-publishing’ component of novellas. To summarize that post.

Pros: Can be done quickly, requires less editing, allows you to expand different parts of a story without having to create a fully fleshed out novel, builds out your world and provides other small, continuous income streams.

Cons: Takes you away from your primary goal of finishing novels, too many or the wrong idea can slow you down, still requires effort and money to self publish, can be a low return on investment.

Continue reading “Novellas and the Self Published Author: Remix Part 2”

Steam Lit Giveaway! Going on NOW!

An exciting Steamlit Giveaway worth over $50 is yours to win! Learn more inside!


Quick, easy question:

Do you like steampunk novels of all types? Yes? Well then why haven’t you entered the SteamLit Giveaway?!

Win 16 books valued at over $50 in total value! Three winners will get all the loot, the prizes, the… err… ebooks! Woo!

Go here!

Wait, did you go there? Did you sign up? You should! 🙂 Because….

…in the next few days there will be a spat of blog posts about awesome events connected to our second Steam Lit Extravaganza! I’m super pumped and this is getting me back into the writing mood! Yippee!