Emergency, Loyal Readers! A Sword Into Darkness has escaped the confines of the Amazon Kindle and has been seen getting some Nook-ie over at Barnes and Noble, but no one over there knows ASID like you or I do. To them, ASID is just this mysterious stranger, perhaps there to increase the quality of their catalog, perhaps there to punch out the literary fiction bestseller, have its way with the romance blockbuster, and steal the children’s books’ lunch money. They just don’t know how awesome and deserving a time ASID is, and I need your help to tell them!
So, if you’ve been waiting to get A Sword Into Darkness when it became available on epub, or you’re a die-hard Barnes and Noble supporter, or you love the Nook devices or apps, NOW is the time to buy and read and enjoy some hard SF, military sci-fi, space opera, technothriller adventure goodness! (And then leave a review to let all the more timid readers know.)
Or if you’ve already read ASID when it was exclusive to Kindle (there’s about 15,000 of you, tee-hee!), and you want to share your experience with the purveyors of that Other Big Book-seller, then by all means, log into Barnes and Noble and leave a new review, Or, for those 171 reviewers who have given me an average 4.5 stars on Amazon, if you are an uber-fan, you can re-review me all over again for the competition (a forlorn hope, I realize). Honest reviews are appreciated, effusive praise is adored.
ASID is also available on Smashwords now as well, but the file transfer and formatting over there is just NASTY. I don’t recommend that one yet. The use a file converter they call the Meatgrinder to turn your manuscript into an ebook, and it is notoriously un-user friendly. I would pull it completely, but they offer dire warnings against doing that. I’m trying to get the file fixed and replaced, but work/life has intervened, so I’ll get to it when able. Soon, though. I promise.
In other news, REMO has enjoyed modest sales over on Amazon Kindle Direct. It’s been up for about a week, sold about a 100 copies, and until late last night, had not gotten any reviews. Mr. Tom Walsh so loved “Dogcatcher Blues” that he left a little 5-star care package for me on that story alone! Thank you, sir. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. But I do need more reviews there. It is harder, I think, to sell people on an unknown author’s short story collection or anthology than it is to just sell ’em a full novel. So: buy REMO, read REMO, review REMO. Purty please.
Aaaand, lastly, Baen Books has announced a new Fantasy Adventure Short Story contest to coincide with GENCON, so I’m a-gonna enter! This will be my first try at fantasy in YEARS, but I think I have a good and unique story idea. We’ll see if they agree!
Until later, Happy Reading, y’all.
* Yes, I am fully aware that this is posting on May 2, and not on May Day as originally intended. Life — in the form of a 16 hour work day and a signing appointment at the car dealership THAT WOULD NOT END — conspired to upset my plans. I am, however, committed to the bit, so please, just roll with it.
The Improbable Author 
Tom, “log into Barnes and Noble and leave a new review or transcribe one of the 171 (4.5 star average) reviews already available on Amazon” has me befuddled. It sounds like you’re saying we could steal someone else’s review and transcribe it at the other site. You must be speaking to the 171 reviewers, asking them to copy and paste their Amazon review over to other sites? I rarely bother (B&N forever accuses me of not knowing my own password), and copying over to goodreads, too, is just one more time-consuming thing for a reviewer to do. Knowing how hard it is to get even one out of every thousand book buyers to leave a review, I can only wish you luck with this one. 🙂
Oooohhh, no no no. PLEASE DON’T take that as encouragement to plagiarize a review. I really did mean that for the 171 folks that have already reviewed, only if they are ardent-enough ASID supporters and would like to (which is likely a foolish, fruitless hope, but eh, never hurts to ask, says the naive writer). Some reviewers have duplicated from one site to another, mostly Amazon to Goodreads and vice versa. Barnes and Noble always seems to lag Amazon significantly in reviews, but I’ve seen duplication there too (if rarely). I heard that B&N’s suggestion algorithms are also not as kind to indie publishers either (with the implication that their bread and butter is in serving the Big 5 in their brick and mortar stores), but they do pay attention to positive reviews. This is most likely a forlorn crusade, but no, I’m DEFINITELY NOT advocating anyone to do anything unethical. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to clarify, Carol.
There, I’ve updated my verbage, so my plea is somewhat more clear. Thanks again, Carol!
Alright Sir. Get off your gold braid, gold bricking duff and get busy. We have not seen or heard anything about a sequel to Sword!
Do not make me come out of retirement and kick your duff to get you busy!
“The REAL”
DAVID EDWARDS
USN. CPO. RET
Aye aye, Chief! (Damn it, I am so screwed. Caught by my leading Chief Petty Officer goofin’ off . . . .)
As far as seeing or hearing of sequel plans, they are there, but I haven’t shared much. I’ve written an outline for Book 2 of the Patron Saga, Lancers Into (the) Light (I’m not sure about the final form of the title) and I have a general concept of Book 3, A Shield Before Shadows. I’m trying to address the valid criticisms ASID has received regarding insufficient characterization, not selling the Patrons’ objectives well enough, better balancing my science geekery exposition and the actual plot. I’m also trying to learn a lot about Chinese culture, as China features heavily in Book 2. Also trying to figure out exactly how the Patron tech and the other races will fit in down on Earth.
I don’t want to use my fans as my own personal ATM, blasting out sequels all for the sake of tricking you into buying an installment moving the story forward only slightly. The sequel for ASID needs to be just as well thought out as ASID itself was, while still ramping up the spectacle to 11. So, Chief, I’ll have to ask for your patience, but know I am a-workin’!