The Laurel Emperor is Crowned!

Laurel Emperor is released! Get your copy today!


His Royal Highness has gratefully declared today to be a national holiday to commemorate the release of Laurel Emperor, Book 5 of the Steam Empire Chronicles.

LaurelEmperor_1877x3000-AmazonOrder Laurel Emperor today on Nook or Kindle! or Smashwords (Soon to make the novel available on Kobo & Apple iBooks.)

(Short Synopsis) Fans of Harry Turtledove & S.M. Stirling alike will love the fast-paced action and colorful world building of the Steam Empire Chronicles. In a timeline where Rome never fell & the Dark Ages never came to be, new challenges appear to fracture the still-mighty empire. Laurel Emperor is the heart-pounding, airship shaking, sword-breaking finale to this alternate history & steampunk series.

(Long Synopsis) Civil war rages across the fractured Roman Empire in the 1850s. Rightful heir to the throne Constantine Tiberius Appius has successfully repelled the Mongolian invasions, but at a cost. The usurper Sabinus, Constantine’s uncle, rules in Rome, and his forces press through the shattered loyalist defenses, stripped to support Constantine’s campaign in the east. Loyalist and rebel forces converge in Thrace, and as casualties mount, new weapons of war are unleashed upon friend and foe alike. Constantine and his closest allies, the men of the XIII Germania, find themselves once again thrust into the spotlight. As the loyalists march towards the inevitable final battle, they face the true question of war – how much are they willing to sacrifice for victory? The fate of the Empire rests with a handful of common legionnaires, led by the last true scion of a dynasty stretching over a thousand years, in the final novel of the Steam Empire Chronicles – Laurel Emperor.

Laurel Emperor – T Minus 1 Day!


Oh my gosh! It’s so close we can taste it! (if one could taste digital ebooks)

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Pre-order Laurel Emperor today on Nook or Kindle! Help my book make it onto the best sellers list for Steampunk and Roman & Greek Mythology listings! Even Corbus wants a copy (because he doesn’t yet know how the book ends!)

If you aren’t sure where to start, grab the first book – Brass Legionnaire – for only 99 cents on Nook or Kindle or Smashwords!

Excited to share this novel with you tomorrow!

  • Daniel

What is NaNoWriMo?

Learn about NaNoWriMo inside! Part 1 of a 2-part series discussion NaNoWriMo and the writing process!


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Hi everyone,

As many of you may know, this last year (time wise, not 2016 wise) I participated in both NaNoWriMo 2015 (November) and Camp NaNoWriMo2016 (July). I’ve compiled my thoughts on the experience so you can see if NaNoWriMo is right for you! This is the first post, detailing how the programs are similar and how they differ. The second one will focus on what I like and what I think could be improved

Continue reading “What is NaNoWriMo?”

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

Antioch Burns sent to publisher!


Hi all,

Antioch Burns has been sent to the publisher after several rounds of revisions and checks and what seems like an inordinate amount of time checking for everything. Woo! Now to move on to Iron Tribune. Just wanted to let everyone know :-).

As always, look me up on Facebook and follow me on Twitter for the latest information on the Steam Empire Chronicles. I’ve more active there than here!

– Daniel

Exciting moments and an announcement!

Copper Centurion reaches high up on the Kindle Steampunk Charts, plus an announcement about a new novella!


Carpe Diem to new and old readers alike! Thanks so much for your continued support! Today’s post will be brief, I just wanted to let people know that Copper Centurion already has two five-star rankings! Woot woot! Both of my novels reached up into the low 40s on the Amazon steampunk rankings chart the other day, but I want them up into the first tier!

In announcements, I will reveal that I am going to be working with a small publisher to publish Antioch Burns, the next novella in the Steam Empire Chronicles. Working with a small publisher will help me defray editing and formatting costs, which are becoming a bigger expense now that I’ve bought a house. This is was originally a bonus reward for kickstarter backers, who will get it a week to two weeks ahead of time, but it is also going to be available for sale, hopefully by November or December – long term planning and all, but I still have Roma Aeronautica to publish, which will be coming sometime in July or August, methinks.

So lots to do! But Centurion Julius Caesar has a message for you.

Go forth, Roman Citizen, and claim your book. Read it, love it, and leave a review so we may share our ideas with others. For the Empire!

Copper Centurion is available for download on Kindle, Barnes & Noble, as well as Smashwords.

Boo-yah 🙂 Ciao!

To sign or not to sign with a small publishing house

I share a situation that may be happening in the future with a small publishing house, and my thoughts on whether to sign or not should an offer be forthcoming.


Hi everyone,

As many of you may know, Brass Legionnaire recently won the EPIC eBook Award for Best Action Adventure Novel. And I get an awesome new little award thingie to put on my blog and my book website! Yay! 2013_EBook_WINNER-smWhat I didn’t add earlier is that while at the conference, I was approached by an editor at a small independent publisher. She was very interested in my book, and the award made the series more attractive. She asked me to email her when I got home, so I did. She recently got back to me, and was very interested to read more, so I sent her the entirely finished first and second books of the Steam Empire Chronicles, plus Roma Aeronautica, the short story that I’ve been working on.

I’ll admit, I’m feeling a tad bit nervous. One of the best things that self-published authors have is control. Control over editing, cover art, interior illustrations, when to publish, even deadlines. With a publisher, any publisher, you lose that. I was also worried because of my Kickstarter. Companies don’t like it when you give their stuff away for free (although in this case, the people have ‘technically’ paid for it, and saved the publishing house money as they won’t need to spend as much time editing or revising the novel – theoretically). I’ve also been looking at some of their writer’s work on the computer, and while it has some good reviews, they don’t seem to have a ton of downloads, which worries me to another degree.

The end result is what to do? I’m not sure. I’m going to hold off posting this until I hear some feedback from her. Here’s what I’d love to ‘get’ out of this situation.

  1. I want to keep my cover artist and interior artist because I believe consistency is CRITICAL with a series.
  2. I want flexible deadlines because I’m a teacher and can’t crank sh…er… stuff… out at a ridiculously fast pace.
  3. Money! (duh, but really, a healthy percentage cut or something…)
  4. Marketing assistance – I can do some, more in the summer, but not a lot due to my day job. I’d love some help.

What I don’t want

  1. Going back into edits on both novels
  2. Arguments over illustrations or cover (MY BOOK = MY COVER)
  3. For someone to get me to sign it over then sit on it.
  4. Changing the character/nature of the novel
  5. Being hung out to dry
  6. Watching my sales stagnate.

Let me add some caveats – I’m not a control freak, not am I a crazy person to work with. Just ask my editor, cover artist, formatter, etc. I’ve very low maintenance, but I do want to be listened to and included in the conversation. I don’t want to be talked down to, but I am willing to listen to constructive criticism. I know that Self-Published authors get a lot of flak for being difficult to work with or unprofessional, but I think that publishers often think that their work is superior in all ways, and that they don’t have to listen to people. I’ve found plenty of typos in major publishing house’s work before, so that’s not an issue with just one publisher. I also don’t think the stereotypes about either side are true, as I met absolutely wonderful people at EPICon who would fit either of those categories. I’ve also been looking up and doing my research, and I noticed that this particular publisher was relatively low on the Alexa score rankings, (type in Alexa Rankings and you can type in any website and see their traffic information). So I’m still torn.

Of course, nothing has been offered and therefore this could all be moot!

Lots to think about I suppose.

 

Brass Legionnaire is an Ebook Award Finalist!

Brass Legionnaire has been nominated for an eBook Award from the Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition. Read the post to find out more!


Happy Thanksgiving! I have a lot to be thankful for! First and foremost, I just learned that my debut novel, Brass Legionnaire, is a finalist in the Action & Adventure Category for the 2013 eBook Awards. The eBook Awards are done by the Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition, and is one of the very first awards for e-publishing. You can learn more about them here.

It’s a great honor to even be considered for the award. Honestly, when I submitted my novel, I truly never even thought it was going to make it. And at first, I wondered if it was going to be one of those ‘you applied and paid a small entrance fee, and guess what? Everyone’s a winner!’

But it isn’t. I’m one of the top three in an entire category, going up against two other more veteran authors with many books and novels out, including last year’s winner of the same category. Oof!

But like I said, I’m so overwhelmingly excited just to be mentioned. And I’ve decided I’ll be going to EPICon (The annual conference/awards gala) this year just to see what it’s like to be a published author at an event where everyone is involved with publishing in one way or another. The even is in March, so I’ll be able to update you then on what happened!
Plus, I can still hold out hope for an award! And I already know I’ll be submitting Copper Centurion this upcoming year. As always, it never hurts to have a second string in your bow.

Happy Thanksgiving! Be sure to eat well and help the cook clean up!

Brass Legionnaire out Today!

Brass Legionnaire is fully published. Check out amazon, barnes & noble, and smashwords for more details.
Only one day left on the free signed copy giveaway!


Happy Brass Legionnaire Day!

As of this moment, folks, the first novel of the Steam Empire Chronicles, Brass Legionnaire, is published in all formats and available for purchase!

I’ve made a new page at the top of the blog that features all of the easiest ways to purchase my novel. You can also use the links in this post to purchase them as well.

What about signed copies, you say? Well, I’ve got TWO give-aways running. Each one has three signed paperback copies of the novel available for you to win! You can even enter both. (If you win both, I reserve the right to only send you one signed copy!)

So either comment on this post of mine from earlier,

Or check out my Goodreads Giveaway and sign up there as well!

You have just ONE day left to enter and win for both contests!

Here are the links below to each book.

Nook

Brass Legionnaire (Print edition and Kindle Edition)

Smashwords (all other formats)

If you aren’t sure about purchasing yet, download the first chapter for free here, or you can sample the first 20% of the book (For more Roman-Steampunky goodness) for free also at the Smashwords link above!

Thanks again for all of my readers and fans out there. The journey started because of me, but it really finished because of your encouragement and positive attitudes. I love you all, and I’ll continue to blog about my adventures in life and self publishing. And yes, there will be more Brass Legionnaire novels to come. Copper Centurion (Due out sometime next Spring) will be even longer and more chock full of airship flying roman legionnaires.

Thanks again! Be sure to subscribe to the blog, Like me on Facebook or follow me on twitter! I keep it pretty interesting, and don’t spam you with a million for sale ads. Hurray!

– Daniel

Thoughts on the Formatting Process

What to expect when you are formatting! Plus a call for Beta Readers


Greetings all!

I’m trying to get into the habit of posting twice a week – Saturdays and Tuesdays. During the summer I’ll be able to post a lot more! I’ve got an update on Brass Legionnaire for everyone and I’ll talk a bit about my experience with the formatting process.

Just as a side note, I know that many people do their own formatting. For me, it was a simple look at the payoff versus work balance. As a full-time teacher, I don’t have much weekday time to pump out a solid amount of formatting, nor do I have time to check and double check. As everyone knows – you only make a first impression once – so when I was looking at cover art, I was fortunate enough to find a team that did my cover, illustrations, and formatting. Simplifies my list of outside consultants immensely. And I’m paying a flat rate, not an hourly fee.

As many people may know, Brass Legionnaire has been finished edit-wise for sometime. The illustrations/maps have just been completed as well, and now all that is needed is for the book to be properly formatted into ebook/smashwords/amazon style and print style. I’ve seen the first proofs for each one, and because they required minimal changes (More just a ‘what goes where’ type thing), and they are almost finished. So what have I learned from the process already?

1. If you’ve got acknowledgements, terminology, illustrations, etc, state exactly where you want them to go in the beginning. The Print and Ebook version will be a bit different, so think about how you want them to be. Here’s a checklist (not in any specific order)

  • Cover (You should already have this, silly!)
  • Table of contents
  • Maps/Prologue?
  • Copyright
  • Acknowledgements (Optional, but surely there is someone you’d like to thank for their efforts?)
  • Illustrations (optional!)
  • How you want your chapter breaks to be – new page? Paragraph break?
  • Terminology or epilogue? Sneak peak of your next book? What will you put at the end?
  • A ‘the end’ page
  • Don’t forget for a print book you’ll need a back cover blurb and perhaps a review or two to place on it!

2. Expect things to go a bit slowly. You want your work to be done well, correct? Which is why you didn’t pay for someone to do it in an hour. If you can do it in an hour, awesome! If you’re not quite so skilled, you can outsource it, but look around for the best deal.

3. Be confident in asking for something to be done. After all, it is your book. I myself accidentally sent my formatter (verb? noun?) off on a wild goose chase after mistakenly sending him two completely different instruction sets.

Whether finding a professional or doing it yourself, formatting your book takes time and effort, and is critical. People don’t want to have to fight your book in order to read it. You’ll lose readers and get negative reviews. Do it right the first time and you won’t have to worry about it again.

UPDATE #2 – I’m looking for a few beta readers for Copper Centurion, book two in the Brass Legionnaire series. If you are interested, shoot me a message here or on my twitter account. All I need is your email and a promise you will be honest with your criticism and not share my hard work with anyone (Need I say that?) I’d send you chapters as I finish them for your input on them, you’ll get mentioned in the acknowledgements of book two, and there might even be some cool swag in the deal for you. I’m looking for three to five people. Let me know if you are interested!

 

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