Author Archives: Thomas A. Mays

One Month of Awesome – ASID for Only $0.99!

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Thank You, Readers!  Today, in honor of the one-month anniversary of A Sword Into Darkness‘s launch and 2600 sales, ASID can be yours for only $0.99!!!  99 cents for the #1 Alien Invasion novel on Amazon.com, which is also in the top 5 for Space Fleet and First Contact sub-genres.  For less than the price of a donut (or coffee, or almost anything really) you can lose yourself in hard-science, military sci-fi, technothriller, space opera adventure fun!  But act soon!  The adventures of Kris, Nathan, and Gordon are only gonna be less than a buck from 0800 Pacific Friday Morning to 0800 Monday.

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You’re Gonna Break Your Arm Doin’ That

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Patting myself on the back, that is.  Yes, I am grotesquely pleased with myself, racking up 1600 sales, Top 5-10 Bestseller in three different sub-genres, 21 reviews and 4.5 stars in three glorious weeks.  But all I did was write the damned thing!  The people I want to thank are YOU, THE READERS, the folks that gave a no-name a chance and (for the most part) liked what you saw.  And the question repeatedly comes up on Twitter, Facebook, via e-mail and blog comments, and over and over again in the reviews, “What happens next?  When is the next one coming out?”

I’d love to say “Next week!”, but that just ain’t happening.  Unlike many folks out there, I don’t have a ready supply of sequels waiting in the wings.  I have to write one.  Hell, I have to THINK of one, but I’m not too far off.  Now that I know there is a demand, I can think about dipping back into that well.  So, there WILL BE a sequel (and perhaps more) to A Sword Into Darkness!

In the meantime, though, I have GOT to stop being overly pleased with numbers, stop continually refreshing my Amazon, Goodreads, and KDP pages, and GET BACK TO ACTUAL WRITING.  First, I invite you all to follow me as I continue to plot out the apocalyptic adventures of poor Josh Montgomery on The Ends of the World.  Pull for me as I wait to hear back on my short stories making the rejection cycles:  “The Rememberists”, “Bumped”, and “ILYAMY”.  Then, bear with me as I tackle my ever-shifting works-in-progress list, which includes Echomancer, two movie scripts, a short story or seven, and the ASID sequel. 

But I do what to fill out my bench a bit, so be on the lookout for an e-book collection of my military science fiction tales (gotta prove I’m not a one-trick pony!), as well as the ASID audiobook, and the ASID app/game. 

And check back here often!

My Seat at the Kids’ Table

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Please enjoy my little gift above!  “Rocket Ship” by Kathy McCarty, which ALWAYS buzzes through my head when I read Chapter 11 of my book A Sword Into Darkness:  with the USS Sword of Liberty taking off for the first time from the ocean’s surface.

Why am I introducing you to the awesomeness of Kathy McCarty?  Because, just a few minutes ago, I passed what — for me — is a major milestone I was hesitant to guess I would ever reach.  I’ve now sold 1000 copies of my book, and they sold in its first 16 days on the market.  I’m new to all this indie / self-publishing business.  I don’t know if this is a good achievement, if this is commonplace, or if I’m way behind the power curve, but I know it feels pretty good to me.  I also know another thing:  that it’s approximately 1000 copies more than I ever would have sold if my friends Jeff and Nathaniel had not been insistent that I not just stop when the traditional Big 6 (5) publishing houses and every literary agent of note turned me down.

Am I a total indie / self-publishing convert?  No.  There’s been a LOT of debate about this lately, from the dismissive traditional agent actively pissing everyone off:  Donald Maass’s semi-infamous post defending the establishment, J. A. Konrath’s epic fisking of said post (and loads of other great stuff on the superiority of the open, self-publishing marketplace), plus some middle of the road analysis from Jim Hines, a traditionally published SFWA author (though I think he mis-understands and mis-states Konrath’s position).  Ask an indie or self-publisher, and going it alone is the only sane position: greater share of the royalties, total control over your product, and no bowing down to the Gatekeepers.  Ask those in the industry and the vast majority will frown slightly in disappointment that you’re actually trying to equate the two.  They say the Gatekeepers (agents, slush readers, and first-line editors) are there for a reason, ensuring that new product is of the highest possible quality, that they’ve ensured that booksellers aren’t loaded down with crap (and said brick and mortar booksellers are in complete agreement, only accepting books from major, established publishing houses), and that they and their staffs produce a truly professional final product, handling editing, design, and marketing so the author only has to worry about the words.

And they’re both probably somewhat right.

As I’ve said before, my focus was on legacy/traditional publishing.  That’s what “being published” meant to me, and it still does in many ways.  I did not make it past the gatekeepers.  Whether because it simply didn’t meet their standards, or it was just the wrong manuscript for that particular moment, no agent or editor picked my story out of the slush.  I got really, really close with Baen, but it was not to be.  So on that level, I’m an abject failure.  I’m not likely to ever be in a single bookstore that you can walk into.  That was a big hit on my aspirations, because I’m proud of my book.  I think it’s a great, fun, well-written, thinking-person’s adventure.  This used to be the end of any real opportunities, but because of POD publishing and the e-book revolution, I am now out in the marketplace.

This is not the self-publishing of old, where vanity presses convince you to buy boxes of books that sit in your garage which you end up giving away at garage sales.  In my sub-genres, I’m on the same bestseller lists as traditionally published authors I’ve idolized (depending on the day, I’m either in the top 5 or top 10 for Alien Invasions, Space Fleets, or First Contact novels).  Folks genuinely seem to like ASID.  My 15 reviews and 4.4 stars on Amazon (similar on Goodreads) have been posted by people I don’t even know and have not influenced.  And 1000 people have bought my book.  That’s a GREAT consolation prize, and maybe someday I’ll consider it the gold ring that many of my compatriots do.  I am coming around.

Would I take a traditional publishing contract now?  Almost absolutely and definitely.  I WANT to see that book in Barnes and Noble.  But will I EVER dismiss the indie-publishing industry as many in the legacy seem to.  Hell no.  That’s my table now.  It may be the kids’ table still, but we’re some cool kids, and one day we’ll be sitting up there with the big guys.

Whups!

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Apparently, every day being some sort of “BLANK” Day is a thing. Today, the 11th of February, is Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day, and no, I am not making this up.  Therefore, I am not going to cry over spilled milk, in that I am going to rally and soldier on after one of my plans failed to work out completely.

What plan failed?  A problem with the book launch perhaps?  Nope, that’s going swimmingly.  Reviews and sales are both rosy and I’m pleased as could be.  In fact, A Sword Into Darkness is CURRENTLY IN THE TOP 10 ON KINDLE FOR EACH OF MY SUB-GENRES:  Military Sci-Fi/Space Fleet, Alien Invasion, and First Contact!  I’m quite proud to be in the same Top 20 as one of my favorite books, Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, as well as a number of other worthies, all deserving a read (but me first).

No, the plan which (partially) failed was the distribution of my extra Advanced Reader Copies for the winners of the Zinger! contest.  Two Proofs and an ARC were indeed mailed out, and I’ve heard that the recipients are quite pleased with them, but the other two winners never sent me their mailing addresses.  So, here I am, with ARCs on hand and no one to give them to.  I KNOW:  LET’S HAVE ANOTHER CONTEST!

Nathan Kelley, Kris Muñoz, and Gordon Lee, the main characters from A Sword Into Darkness are intimately familiar with failure.  I won’t give away the specifics, but fate (otherwise known as me) kicks them in the ass on a regular basis.  They screw up, but then they always say, “Fuck it,” and soldier on.  So you tell me:

What was your biggest/funniest/craziest screw-up and how did you shrug it off to come out on top?

Answers can be anything from twitter length epics of perseverance or extended tales of incredulous/incredible whoa/woe followed by magnificent victory.  Drop me your answer here in the comments, Tweet me at @improbablauthor, or drop me a line in the Facebook or Google+ comments.  You have from 0000R (midnight Eastern) to 2359R on Feb. 11th, Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day.  I’ll pick my favorite two entries and you’ll each win an ARC of my kick-ass military sci-fi novel.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some milk to mop up.

A Diary of Apocalypses

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Happy Saturday, all! First, a shout out to my eldest daughter as it is her BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday, Isabelly. We all love you and hope you have a great 12th year!

Secondly, sales continue briskly, with quite a large number of you buying A Sword Into Darkness to give it a try.  I, for one, am keen to see how you like it.  By all means, e-mail me, post your thoughts here on The Improbable Author, or best of all (especially if you liked it) put up a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads.  I am your humble word-slave, requiring only your words of praise or thoughtful criticism to sustain me.

Thirdly, launching a new project today!  You are all invited to check out The Ends of the World, the tragi-comic blog of one Joshua Montgomery, a young man who has seen more than his fair number of hells.  You see, poor Josh is unique in that nightly, every night in fact, he experiences the literal end of the world, the apocalypse, Armageddon (not the movie).  And then he wakes up.  Why is this happening to him?  What can he do to stop it?  How many zany ways can one author make some poor sap go through?

I dunno, but neither will you unless you check it out!

Purple Post!

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No hard or soft sell on the book today, y’all.  If’n you wanna buy it (and you should), the button is over there on the right, or below this post if you’re on a mobile device.

Today is World Cancer Day, and I urge everyone to get out there and do something either against this disease or for the victims and their families.  Even if it’s just learning about what cancer is and isn’t and educating your friends and family, that’s at least something.  And if you can do more, do it! 

If you have cash to do so, donate to a credible cancer charity to help fund research into prevention and treatment.  Donate to a hospital or treatment facility.  Even if you are cash-strapped, however, you can still do something.  Give of your time.  Visit a ward Got a neighbor, co-worker, friend, or family member facing treatment or in recovery?  Make them a meal, bring them a coffee, give them some flowers, or a card, or a letter, whatever, but let them know that they are in your thoughts in some tangible way.  I’ve got absolutely zero scientific, double-blind-with-control-group-and-multiple-corroborating-runs evidence, but I’m firmly of the opinion that mental and emotional health are key to beating this scourge down.

I admit I never really gave cancer much thought before.  It was out there and it was terrible, but it didn’t register on me high enough to warrant much more than a Like on a post opposing its devastation.  My family didn’t really have any victims, so all my REAL empathy and focus was on things like diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease.  My wife’s family, on the other hand, had a long and tragic history with various forms of cancer.  Bringing her into my life expanded the degree to which I cared, but it still didn’t TRULY register.  Then Jen was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Suddenly, it loomed large and I felt no small amount of guilt that I had never done anything myself to oppose it in the past or to help those struck down. 

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My wife is brave and beautiful.  Today she’s also bald and in the midst of reconstruction, chemotherapy, and radiation.  Today is, in fact, her second chemo appointment and I’m stuck at work rather than at her side as I should be.  I’ll be trying to figure out how to make that up later.  My darling Jen is doing something now.  She’s very openly blogging about it on her Facebook page Jen’s Journey of Hope.  She’s also been making little decorative dry-rice bags, for microwaving or heating, to use as heating pads and cold compresses for relieving muscle pain associated with surgery and treatment.  At her second appointment today, she’ll be giving them away to the other patients, and she plans to do more. 

What am I doing?  Well, I try to help Jen as much as I can (without making her feel wrapped in cotton or like an invalid — that woman is PROUD), and I’ll also be donating part of my pay each month to a group of research charities.  Is it enough?  No.  I NEED to donate some of my time and services as well (I’m a fair carpenter), so I’ll see what I can fit in along with the honey-do list I’m perpetually behind in.

What can you do?  What WILL you do?  Don’t let the question lie fallow.  Answer it today!

 

The Day After

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How about that game last night, huh?  I pretty much think the only things preventing riots in Colorado were A) abject depression at your NFL AFC champions playing like an office flag football team, and B) the clouds of sweet, sweet, fully legal ganja you could use to damp your disappointment.  Also, it’s quite cold there.  You just don’t burn the world down when you’re chilly, bummed, and baked.

Let’s say, however, that your preferred methods of misery masking do not or cannot include toke-able diversions.  Perhaps you have an unspecified job within the military-industrial complex, or you’re not a huge Taco Bell fan.  Whatever.  Might I suggest you distract yourself with the fun little world of A Sword Into Darkness, available for sale NOW in trade paperback and Kindle.  A couple of chapters in and — I promise — Manning’s depth perception will be the last thing on your mind.

How are things looking the day after Launch Weekend?  Pretty good, I’d say.  Sales have been steady, considering I have a very limited reach thus far, and the comments and reviews that have been posted have been (for the most part) very satisfying.  Now, I’m new at this, so as one reviewer noted/warned, I probably do look at reviews.  I admit it.  I do.  I’ve put out a product that I’m proud of, and that I’ve been told by third parties is a damn fine adventure, but I still want to know if folks are happy with it.  So, yes, I do look at reviews, but less because of vanity than as a matter of conscience.

Have all the reviews been great?  No.  One guy was kind of “meh” about the whole thing, and another guy ABSOLUTELY LOATHED it.  There’s an immediate reflex response to disregard them, to say that the second guy might be trolling, or that his extreme, dismissive dislike was because of personal hangups rather than my writing, but that’s an unworthy attitude.  Their opinion is just as valid as the majority opinions of the folks who loved it, and I just have to accept that not everyone is going to be a fan.

To that pair of less-than-satisfied customers, I’m sorry my book wasn’t what you wanted it to be.  As a consolation — and as a treat for all the rest of you who either loved my book or haven’t read it yet — I’ve got a bunch of free goodies right here on the blog!  Check over in the Pages section and you can read two rip-roaring rocketpunk/steampunk/aetherpunk tales, The Improbable Adventures of Dylan Darby (where this blog gets its name) Episode I:  “Gambler’s Cruise” and Episode II:  “Waking the Rock”.  Those stories are just the beginning of a long planned series, a series which has goals far beyond just a collection or episodic novel.  My friend Nathaniel has already made a fantastic radio play out of “Gambler’s Cruise”, available here, but we’d love it if we could sell Dylan Darby as a TV series.  And there’s more!  You can read my two pro-published short stories:  “Strategic Deployment”, a much-different military sci-fi tale (which actually has a spec-script version for production), and “Dreams For Sale — Two Bits!”, a soft sci-fi tale about infinite possibilities and the baggage you carry with you.

And what can you expect from The Improbable Author as we move past launch?  I’ll continue to cover news about ASID, concerning deals and sales, the up-coming audiobook launch and expansion of the e-book to Nook, Kobo, Sony, and iPad/iPhone, as well as the planned app and table-top game.  I’ll also begin tackling Echomancer again, continue working on short stories, and also launch something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.  What is it?  🙂  You’ll just have to click one of those Follow buttons to check back and see!  🙂

LAUNCH DAY!!! “A Sword Into Darkness” Is Here!

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After a long lead-up, the BIG DAY has finally arrived!  A Sword Into Darkness, the hard-science, military science fiction / space opera is up for sale, worldwide.  Is it a good read?  Well, I think it’s a damn good read (it certainly was a helluva lotta fun to write).  But don’t just take my word for it — listen to the blurbs and reviews already in:

“Solid adventure, intrigue and speculative space-tech, from a rising star in military science fiction.”— DAVID BRIN, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of ‘EXISTENCE,’ ‘THE POSTMAN,’ and ‘STARTIDE RISING’

Yes, that’s right . . . David Brin.  His Uplift novels were THE BEST when I was growing up.  I am beyond honored that he’s even read my pulpy science adventure.  Getting a blurb from him was completely unbelievable.

“There are brilliant first contact stories, great space combat stories, and amazing stories of technological discovery. Rarely do you find all three in the same novel. Remember the name Thomas A. Mays. You’re going to be seeing it on the bestseller list.”— JEFF EDWARDS, Award-winning author of ‘SEA OF SHADOWS,’ and ‘THE SEVENTH ANGEL’

Jeff is a buddy, but he’s practically been a bigger believer in this book than I was.  Without Jeff and Stealth Books, I’m not sure I’d ever have made it available through self/indie publishing.  And now?  Soooo glad I did.  He’s the one who got my book to David Brin and this next fine fellow:

“Sharply written, suspenseful and tightly plotted, A SWORD INTO DARKNESS reads like the best Tom Clancy novels, with a science fiction heart provided by Arthur C. Clark. Can’t wait to read more from Thomas Mays!”— GRAHAM BROWN, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of ‘ZERO HOUR,’ ‘BLACK RAIN,’ and ‘THE EDEN PROPHECY’

But, wait!  There’s more!

“A Sword Into Darkness is Thomas Mays’ debut novel, and it is a blockbuster! Kept me on the edge of my seat up til the end. And unlike so many other novels, when it promised a revelation of a dread secret at the end, it actually delivered. Puzzling occurrences make perfect logical sense as the reader learns more.  The action starts when astronomers notice something odd in-line with the star Delta Pavonis. Hilarity rapidly ensues.  But unlike so many other science fiction novels, Mr. Mays actually gets the science correct. This might have something to do with the fact that he has two degrees in physics and is an 18 year veteran of the US Navy, and has assisted with research into ballistic missile defense.  Recommended.” — WINCHELL CHUNG, guru of the Atomic Rockets site and writer’s resource.

Winchell/Nyrath is a great guy, whom (unfortunately) I’ve never met in real life.  We first became acquainted when I was on the SciFi-Meshes 3D art forums, and he critiqued my art from a very hard-science perspective.  I then followed him over to his masterful website Atomic Rockets, which is a FANTASTIC resource for any SF author or filmmaker who wants to move beyond Star Wars and Star Trek and actually get the science part of science fiction RIGHT.  He was gracious enough to read ASID, promote it on his site as a Seal-of-Approval winning story, aaaand gave me my very first Amazon.com review.  I can’t thank you enough, Winchell!

So, if you like techno-thrillers, adventure tales, sci-fi, hard science fiction, military sci-fi, alien invasions, space navies, or space operas, A Sword Into Darkness is the tale for you.  And to get you to buy it TODAY (so you can be cooler than all your buddies), we’ve got a bunch of Launch Day deals:

Buy the trade paperback on CREATESPACE, and use the coupon code AGS4XF9L and you’ll get 20% off the list price!  Valid Launch Day only — coupon expires Saturday, Feb 1st, at 0800 Eastern.

Buy the trade paperback on AMAZON,  and get the KINDLE E-book version for half-price.  Or if you just want the Kindle version, and you’re an Amazon Prime member with a Kindle device, you can borrow ASID for FREE from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

Whatcha waitin’ ’round heah fo’?  Go!

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