Hey. Hey guys. That book I’ve been working on for two years now?

Yeah. I think it’s done. FINALLY. I’ve passed it along to my dear boy, Mister Adequate, to give the whole thing a final proofread and then I’m going to e-publish it. And link to it here (and everywhere, I’m sure), of course! So, consider this your official heads-up!

Yay!

And now to answer some FAQs:

What Is It?: The title of the book is Windshifter. Although I’ve had a couple of the characters and concepts knocking around inside my head for years, 98% of this thing was something I made up on the spot for NaNoWriMo 2009. I surprised myself by turning it into a halfway decent draft, and I’d like to think I’ve carved a nice little story out of it since then. At least, I think it’s nice for a first effort!

What Is It About?: It doesn’t really fall nicely into any set genre. I tend to tell people that it’s a “steampunk-inspired alternate universe” story. I think it also skews a bit “young adult”, although ultimately I wanted to make a story for all ages to enjoy– think Redwall or something. Speaking of Redwall, this is kind of similar. There are a lot of fuzzy creatures, and a race of people descended from dragons. But they have guns and airships and things. So basically, think steampunk Redwall and you’ll be in the right ballpark.

What Else is it Similar To, Besides Redwall?: I had test readers compare it to everything from Final Fantasy to The Golden Compass/His Dark Materials to various Disney movies (The Great Mouse Detective, for example), and honestly that’s a good selection of the sort of thing that inspired me. I was going for a fun romp through an unusual new world. I’m glad my beta readers seemed to pick up on that!

When Will It Be Available?: I’m shooting for “by the end of October” but that’s closing in rather fast. Still, I’m really hoping this will be ready within a few weeks.

How/Where Will It Be Available?: I’m thinking I’ll start with Amazon (Kindle), B&N PubIt (Nook), and also through myself as a pure PDF file. If there is enough interest in other outlets or in a physical copy (via Lulu or something) then it’s something I’ll definitely look into right away.

How Much Will It Cost?: Probably $0.99.

That’s It? Don’t You Think Your Writing is Worth More?: Trust me when I say that this is something I’ve been looking into for months, and I’ve read all sorts of very long and thorough arguments both for and against the 99-cent price point, and after studying all of that I find myself leaning “for” it. I might change my mind if I see something very convincing in the next week or two but it’s still going to be very cheap. Less than a few bucks. I want everyone to be able to afford my story. If there’s enough demand for it I might set up my PayPal so that you can pay-what-you-want for the PDF. And obviously a physical copy, if I offer one, will cost more.

Why Aren’t You Traditionally Publishing?: Partially because I want to get the story out there faster instead of waiting around for years– I know a lot of you have been really waiting patiently for this. Partially because I like the idea of eBooks and e-publishing. I’ve always had a lot of admiration for, say, indie game devs and I see this as being similar. And partially because I sort of consider this story to be a big warm-up exercise more than anything, so I figure I’ll go ahead and use this as an experiment to see what sort of bites I get.

Okay, I think that about covers it. Any more questions? Just ask! And wish me luck!

As you may know if you’ve been following me for a while– for months I’ve been sitting on a book, wondering how to go about publishing it. I’ve had a lot of people telling me I should e-publish for various reasons, and then I’ve also had a lot of people telling me that I shouldn’t and that doing so would be shooting myself in the foot. And so, for at least six months now, I’ve been sitting here trying to weigh the pros and cons and decide which option would be the best for me.

Then, two things happened. First, I saw this, and second, I realized that if I continue to sit around trying to decide how to publish it, it’s never going to get published. So, I’ve decided to commit to e-publishing. Here are just a few reasons for my decision:

• I Really Do Think This is the Future. I predict a future when books are akin to, say, CDs.  They still make them, and people still buy them, but most people just download the mp3 and stick it right on their iPod or whatever.  It’s just so convenient to have everything there in one spot, and owning a Sony Reader these past few months has made me acutely aware of how nice it is with books as well.  There are other reasons for thinking this is The Future, but that will turn into a huge essay, I’m sure, so I’ll refrain from going into much detail.
• It’s What My Characters Would Do. That sounds cheesy, but it’s true.  Why shouldn’t I create my book the way my book’s characters would want it to be created?
• I Learn From My Own Mistakes. If I’ve calculated wrong and e-publishing becomes the worst decision I ever made, at least it’s my fault and not the fault of a publisher or agent or bookstore or whatever.  If there’s one thing I know for sure about myself, it’s that I don’t ever learn my lesson unless I’ve been through the fire and thoroughly embarrassed myself through my own actions.


And now, a bouncing Scootaloo to break up the wall of text.

• I Don’t Care About the Darn Ribbon. There’s a saying I’ve heard somewhere– I’d cite the source but I can’t remember where it was– anyways, the saying is that being traditionally published is like running in a big race, winning, and getting an official ribbon for it, whereas self-publishing or e-publishing is running a race alone and then printing out a ribbon for yourself.  The connotation is that it’s silly and embarrassing and no one will take you seriously.  Truthfully, though, I really don’t care about the darn ribbon.  I’d rather ten people read and enjoy something I wrote than no one read it because it gets stuck at a gatekeeper somewhere.  I do realize that the gatekeepers are there for a reason, and that if I keep trying and pushing and I believe in what I wrote, then it’s bound to get through the gate eventually.  But how long might it take, simply because I’ve got the wrong word count or genre or something?  And even then, how would a new and untested author be marketed?  How much shelf space would a bookseller be willing to spend on me?  Would there really be any more people who saw my book wedged between others on a shelf than wedged between others on a website?  There are just too many variables.

Rainbow Dash talks almost as much as I do.

Now, I know there are a lot of downsides.  Believe me, I know, because I’ve been agonizing over this decision for months. I realize this is a risk I’m taking, a big leap of faith that requires me to be a little brave, a little hopeful, and just a little bit conceited– and that last one there is probably the hardest for me. But if I don’t try, then I’ll never know!

So, that is that. Once I do actually have the thing online, I’ll link to it pretty much everywhere, so I’m sure you’ll see it. It may not be for a few months, because I want to give the manuscript some final edits, but I’m pretty committed to all of this actually happening. We’ll see how it goes, eh?