Category: Altmortis - Thaddeus White

Updated the Books tab, and rambling about bookstores

7/10/2014

It's been quite some time (far too long, really) since I amended the Books tab above. Possessing the technical aptitude of a cucumber sandwich it took me perhaps longer than it should've, but it looks rather better now.

I did, however, make an unpleasant discovery. Diesel, the e-book store, has closed. It seems to have happened around March this year.

I can't say I used it, usually preferring Amazon and sometimes Smashwords, but it's depressing when a bookstore goes under. More competition in the marketplace is a good a thing.

As well as the other retailers listed on my Books tab (Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Versent Books and Inktera) it's also well worth checking Abebooks. It's not so much a store as a marketplace for new and second hand books. I've used it a few times, and got a second hand copy of Philippe Contamine's War in the Middle Ages for less than half the cost of a new version.

Speaking of competitive pricing, Malevolence: Tales from Beyond the Veil, is likely to come out within the next couple of weeks. If you pre-order via the publisher's website you can not only enjoy the devastatingly delightful writing (including my short story, Saxon & Khan) that much sooner, you can enjoy getting it for less than the standard retail price as well.

Thaddeus

Reviews and Artwork

1/9/2014

At any one time I'm forgetting something I should be doing. Anyway, I finally put up the cover to Sir Edric's Temple under the Artwork tab. Covers are always tricky, because they're the only part of the work someone else does (well, apart from beta-readers) and I have the artistic insight of a drunken mongoose.

Anyway, I was, and am, delighted with the cover, which really captures Sir Edric's character.

On that note, I've decided to simplify the reviews in the Links tab. Instead of having a looong list I've just put in one that links to the list on my blog, and another to interviews (which reminds me, I should see about interviewing some more people this year).

There are a few 'new' reviews out. Kyra Halland and Duane Vore were both nice and positive about Journey to Altmortis, and Sir Edric's Temple got 4/5 and 5/5 respectively from Boom Baby and Jo Michaels.

Thaddeus

New interview, with comedy excerpt

6/27/2013

Just a quick one. There's a new interview with me up on Indie Author Land, which can be read here.

It mostly covers Journey to Altmortis, and the interviewer also has a cunning F1 suggestion when it comes to betting. At the end there's a link to the initial draft of the start of my short comedy. Although I've amended it slightly since then the start is very, very similar, and it gives a good indication of the central character and the general style of comedy used.

[For those wondering the comeyd's coming along pretty well. I've almost finished the full first draft, but there will, of course, but a couple of redrafts to come].

So, I hope you peruse the interview and enjoy the excerpt.

Thaddeus

Journey to Altmortis update and quiz

6/4/2013

Good news!
Journey to Altmortis, my latest book, released in May, is now out at some more online retailers.

You can now buy it at Kobo, the iTunes store, or Barnes & Noble.

I've also created a small quiz on Goodreads (no spoilers), which can be found here.

Right now I'm working on the chapter-by-chapter plot outline of Kingdom Asunder, which is the working title of my next full novel. I'm also writing my first ever comedy, which will be a short book and hopefully out in time for Christmas.

Perhaps surprisingly running the two projects alongside one another is mostly working well. The variety of serious and funny, as well as world-building and writing a first draft, helps keep both sides of things fresh.

Anyway, I'll keep posting updates on both books (the comedy's tagged as Hornska for now, I don't have a title as yet) regularly.

Thaddeus

A word on pricing

5/15/2013

Just wanted to clear something up ahead of time. Hopefully this post will be entirely redundant, however.

I chose the $2.99 price tag for a couple of reasons, but near the top of the list was the 70% royalty rate at Amazon. Prices below this are not eligible and therefore have the 35% royalty rate.

However, sometimes (as happened fairly recently with Bane of Souls) Amazon can itself lower the price (probably matching a lower price elsewhere). If this happened and the price got dropped to, say $2.89 that would save the customer $0.10 but more than halve my income per book.

In that situation I'd have to increase the price by the minimum unit (on Smashwords and Amazon) in order to re-enter, hopefully, the 70% bracket.

After the comedy I imagine that the trilogy will be priced a bit higher (probably looking at $4.99 per book, but that's not set in stone) and this shouldn't be an issue. I really dislike fiddling with prices, but because I selected the Journey to Altmortis price in order to fall within the higher royalty range that's something I would have to do, if the situation outlined above arose.

As for the comedy, pencilled in at 20-40,000 words, I'm also thinking of a $2.99 price tag. The aim is a Christmas release.

Thaddeus

Journey into the Amazon!

5/7/2013

Yes, as the title rather obviously suggests Journey to Altmortis is now up on Amazon, I'm delighted to say.

It's available for the modest consideration of £1.98 ($2.99 in the US), although I'd remind readers that if you go to Smashwords and use code XK87G you can get it for the low price of $1.02 (the code lasts until 14 May, so don't delay).

So, please do buy the book, rate, review and tell your friends about it. Word of mouth can really help an author, and reviews are always both interesting and useful to read.

A larger version (two, actually) of the map can be found on this site, under the Artwork tab. Just click on the one you prefer and an enormous version will appear.

My plans for the future, apart from awkwardly promoting Journey to Altmortis, are to try and get a short comedy (20-40,000 words) done by Christmas, and then I'll crack on with my most ambitious endeavour to date: a trilogy about the civil war in Denland. Right now I'm pretty confident that I've got the bones of a great plot and characters for book one but I still want to sort out the basic storylines for books 2 and 3.

The first book of the trilogy has the working title Kingdom Asunder, but the comedy is unnamed, as yet.

Thaddeus

Journey to Altmortis is out now

5/6/2013

I had planned to release it at the end of the month, but the technical woe I've been suffering prompted me to (annoyingly) ditch my plans and hasten its release.

Journey to Altmortis is out at Smashwords for a mere $2.99, but this trifling sum can be reduced even more, to just $1.02 if you use the code XK87G. The code expires in 14 May, so don't dally and buy today!

Smashwords offers a wide variety of formats, and the Amazon version is in the pipeline (verification takes a while, unfortunately).

The book takes place in the same world as Bane of Souls, and there's a substantial overlap of characters from that book to this (excepting Falchester, though, the major characters of Bane of Souls either have minor roles or do not make an appearance).

Here's the description:
Never steal from a thief.

Years ago the Brothers Whitworth stole priceless heirlooms from Thaddeus and Lynette Falchester, but when the siblings learn of their whereabouts the hunt is on. The Whitworths have broken into the dead city of Altmortis, rumoured to hold the ancient treasures of the Kuhrland.

Accompanied by assorted ne'er-do-wells, they brave the harsh Kuhrisch winter, a forest dripping with blood and a village of monstrous demons to reach the remote city.

But when Thaddeus and Lynette delve into the depths of Altmortis they find more than robbers lurking in the shadows…

Thaddeus

Well, that was unpleasant

5/5/2013

My computer just threw a wobbly and decided it wasn't going to work anymore.

Happily (obviously) it's returned to normal service, for now at least. I'm hoping it's plain sailing until (and beyond) the release of Journey to Altmortis, but in case the problem recurs or even worsens I thought I'd post a heads up so that if I appear to disappear off the face of the internet people know it's probably just a case of computeritis rather than anything more sinister.

That said, I'd really rather not be forced to delay the release of Journey to Altmortis because of technical issues.

So, let's hope it does come out in the final week of this month.

Thaddeus

Journey to Altmortis - expected in May

4/22/2013

I'm hoping to get Journey to Altmortis released in the final week of May. This is pencilled-in, rather than carved in stone.

There's a lot of work still to do, on the text itself but also regarding making banners and formatting the text. I'm also going to try and be quite active on Twitter banging on about it relentlessly, ahem, promoting it vigorously. Still feels rather awkward and uncomfortable to try and promote my own stuff, frankly.

As far as pricing goes, I still plan to have a Smashwords voucher thingummyjig for $0.99 for the first week, so readers who check this site or my Twitter can get a lower price. Otherwise, the price will be $2.99 (thinking of increasing this to $3.99 after the first year, but we'll see).

I'm also hoping for the as-yet-untitled short comedy to come out before the year's end.

As far as world-building for the trilogy goes, I've made some more progress, but it's when Altmortis is out that I'll crack on with this. I plan to split my time between the comedy, world-building and promoting Journey to Altmortis, immediately after its publication. As time goes by I'll focus more on writing and world-building.

Thaddeus

Retract the periscope and dive!

3/20/2013

One of the things I love the most about writing is the creativity involved. Correspondingly, one of the things I like least about writing is the final check. I may not find every mistake, but I'll certainly try.

However, the process is a rather boring one, and a lengthy one too. In addition, when it's all done formatting the book may take a little while. This is partly because it does take a few hours, but also because I absolutely cannot stand interruptions during the process.

I'm still hopeful Journey to Altmortis will be out in the first half of this year, but there probably won't be a running commentary up to that point.

After it's out I'll divide my time between the ghastly business of marketing it, plotting the trilogy and writing the short comedy.

So, do check this site every 5-7 days or so, because when it comes out there'll be a voucher/code thingummyjig to get it for the bargain price of $0.99, but only for the first week.

Thaddeus