I wasn't sure if I'd get this blog out today or not, but things are happening on the Abendau front.
Firstly, I now have the rights to the full trilogy reverted to myself. This is, I will stress, very amicable and very much what I wanted, and I'm very grateful to Gary and all the Tickety boo team for their support over the last few years. This was something I requested to happen.
So why did I want to take this step?
Inish Carraig is under my self-publishing arm, as will its sequel be, and I see that as the more viable option for my science fiction work. (My fantasy is still with Inspired Quill and I plan to trad publish my fantasy in future, too)
When I decided to run a course in the writing business I did some fancy number crunching and the stats for Science fiction were undeniable. The market is predominantly online. The only thing I will lose is Lightning Source's distribution (I use CreateSpace for Inish Carraig and like them, so will put Abendau up with them, too), which perhaps accounts for 3 sales a year. At best.
All of which adds up to a science fiction self publishing arm making a lot of sense.
But it's not enough to just transfer ownership. I've been learning about the market and marketing and what not over the last few years, and I felt that the covers of the original Abendau were not hitting the market that seemed to like it most. In fact, if anything, they might be hitting the wrong market. Spaceships are great on a sf cover. They scream SF. But they also indicate a story that's about the SF aspects of space. They don't announce a story that is character bound and led.
I did, however, love the strong colours of the original books, and I loved the cover that Tickety boo produced for combined trilogy. With that in mind, I negotiated three shiny new covers that focus on what Abendau does: the characters. The first has the nice shade of darkness that I think is also needed - I'm not looking for the Fluffy Bunny loving market. I think I'd scare them all of around about chapter 6....
Anyhow, to that end, these are the new covers for the trilogy:
Firstly, I now have the rights to the full trilogy reverted to myself. This is, I will stress, very amicable and very much what I wanted, and I'm very grateful to Gary and all the Tickety boo team for their support over the last few years. This was something I requested to happen.
So why did I want to take this step?
Inish Carraig is under my self-publishing arm, as will its sequel be, and I see that as the more viable option for my science fiction work. (My fantasy is still with Inspired Quill and I plan to trad publish my fantasy in future, too)
When I decided to run a course in the writing business I did some fancy number crunching and the stats for Science fiction were undeniable. The market is predominantly online. The only thing I will lose is Lightning Source's distribution (I use CreateSpace for Inish Carraig and like them, so will put Abendau up with them, too), which perhaps accounts for 3 sales a year. At best.
All of which adds up to a science fiction self publishing arm making a lot of sense.
But it's not enough to just transfer ownership. I've been learning about the market and marketing and what not over the last few years, and I felt that the covers of the original Abendau were not hitting the market that seemed to like it most. In fact, if anything, they might be hitting the wrong market. Spaceships are great on a sf cover. They scream SF. But they also indicate a story that's about the SF aspects of space. They don't announce a story that is character bound and led.
I did, however, love the strong colours of the original books, and I loved the cover that Tickety boo produced for combined trilogy. With that in mind, I negotiated three shiny new covers that focus on what Abendau does: the characters. The first has the nice shade of darkness that I think is also needed - I'm not looking for the Fluffy Bunny loving market. I think I'd scare them all of around about chapter 6....
Anyhow, to that end, these are the new covers for the trilogy:
So, what next. Well, first I need to let Tickety Boo unpublish the original files, and then I need to republish the new files and covers. I have something in the region of 70-80 reviews that I really want to keep, obviously, so I need to arrange that with Amazon who hopefully will port those over. (And, yes, just in case I've taken copies of them all).
I hope to get this done this weekend, all ready for a relaunch next week, but if the best-laid plans don't happen it might run on a day or two. That's okay.
Because the other thing I've learned since bringing out my first book is that there is absolutely no need to rush things. A writing career is just that - a career, a pathway, not something that happens overnight. This is just the next stage on the road for me, becoming a truly hybrid author with a planned, organised approach to my portfolio.
Let's hope it all goes well! And in the meantime, a huge thanks to everyone who has supported me this far. This game would be nothing without support!
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