Experiment in Publishing

Junak Silverhand has been out about a month, and the sales for the Kindle are good. I'm hoping readers might post reviews soon, and that I can get some publicity in time for Christmas. Junak Silverhand is the first volume in my Age of Magic / Age of Iron series. Although I've given away hundreds of promotional copies of Wobbling Star, I don't intend to run a similar promotion for Junak at this time.

I plan to release my young adult novel Mistress of Vision soon. Everything is set except the cover art, and I'm still struggling over how simple a simple cover should be. Mistress of Vision is the first book in my young adult Science-Fantasy trilogy New Vision. This first volume follows the adventures of a young girl named Kailin from ages eleven to thirteen. When she and her brother attempt to escape into the wilderness from their off-world captors, her brother is recaptured, and only Kailin's encounter with a shape-shifting alien named Henki saves her from a volcanic pyroclastic flow. (Yes, I know that pyroclastic is not in the proof-reading e-dictionary, but it is correct terminology, and I like the way it sounds.) Escaping the volcano forms a psychic bond between Henki and the girl. Henki's purpose in life is to learn all he can of alien species by assuming their form and living out a life span. He has more than thirty-thousand years of such alien life-time experiences in his memory. Because of the psychic bond to Kailin, those experiences seep into Kailin's mind as visions. Life isn't easy for a pre-pubescent girl with thirty-thousand years of alien experiences thumb-tacked to her brain, but if she is to survive in the mishmash alien world she now inhabits, those experiences may be her only hope.

I like Kailin and her story. I hope readers do too.

I'm also about half-way through writing The Tunnel at the End of the Dark, which is the sequel to The Princess, the Knight, & the Knave. Both books are in my young adult Possible Magic series. Matt Collins is a precocious fifteen -year-old who graduates high school early, but after his father's death leaves him as an orphan, he decides to take off a year to perform stage magic rather than immediately attend college. During a performance on live TV, Matt's soul is swapped into the body of an aged, wicked wizard in a medieval world of real magic. Pursued by the wizard's enemies, Matt's goal is to recover his youth and return to his home in his own body. Having no real magic of his own, his only defense are his stage magic illusions. Perhaps if he masters his presentation, those will be enough to keep him alive.

Unfortunately, The Princess, the Knight, & the Knave hasn't sold as well as I hoped. I have only one Kindle review for 4 stars). I would like to improve the story if possible, and I certainly want to make sure that The Tunnel at the End of the Dark is worth a reader's effort. So, I've decided to solicit some reader feedback for the novel in progress. Here's how I think it will work--I'm still sorting out details, so cut me some slack:

If someone would like to read, comment, and make suggestions on the first ten to fifteen chapters (or more) of The Tunnel at the End of the Dark after which I will list you (if you wish) as a reviewer in the preface acknowledgements of the novel, then here is what you need to do:

1. Write a thoughtful review for The Princess, the Knight, & the Knave and post it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and/or Kobo. Thoughtful review doesn't mean that you have to like the novel or give it five stars, just give your honest opinion of whether you enjoyed the characters and the story. However, thoughtful does mean that you have at least one reason for your like or dislike or at least one suggested change that might improve the story. I know this means you have to read the book first, but this is not simply a ploy to get you to buy the book--although that would be nice. I've given away copies of the book before, and I can do it again. If someone emails me directly indicating that they are seriously interested, I can lend them a copy through the Kindle lending program or I can email a copy. I would like to have this part of the process finished before Christmas. 
2. Once you have posted your review, send me an email through this blog. I will then send you a draft copy of the first half of The Tunnel at the End of the Dark. Hopefully all participants will receive a copy before the end of the year. Then I would like to get all reviews, comments and suggestions returned to me before the end of February 2013, because I want to finish The Tunnel at the End of the Dark and release it for publication in the spring. 
3. What do you get? Well, I hope that you enjoy The Princess, the Knight, & the Knave but I cannot guarantee that. If you review Tunnel, then I will acknowlege you (if you wish) with thanks as a pre-release reviewer in the preface of The Tunnel at the End of the Dark. And I will give you a free e-copy of Tunnel in either Kindle or EPUB form after its release.
4. What do I get? I get traffic and reviews for The Princess, the Knight, & the Knave. I get reader feedback to improve the quality of the second edition of Princess and to improve the to-be-released version of Tunnel. Your participation as a reviewer in this experiment gives me permission to use your pre-release review comments, in part or in whole, for publicity and in the description of The Tunnel at the End of the Dark. If quotes from your review are used, you may specify whether you want them attributed to you by name or anonymously.

As you can see, it's not very difficult to participate, and you might find the experience entertaining. If it works, I might repeat the experiment on my next novel, although I haven't decided whether to do the sequel to Junak or Mistress next, or perhaps a different novel altogether.