The Great Way

Baby’s First Audio Book

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Today I finished listening to my first audio book.

It was the unabridged Fellowship of the Ring, read by Rob Inglis, and I enjoyed it. A lot.

I didn’t expect to. When the audio book for Child of Fire came out, I found it impossible to listen to it. The narrator’s voice was fine–excellent, even–but it was completely different from the voice I heard in my head when I was writing it, and the dissonance was unbearable.

And the format itself seemed utterly wrong for me. I love to drive but I don’t have a car so I never do. I don’t have a phone to carry with me when I walk. My apartment is tiny, so when would I be able to listen at home? Besides, no skimming? No reading quickly through the exciting stuff?

Hmf, I said.

Then I heard a piece on NPR where a woman said she listened to Rob Inglis’s reading of LOTR every year, and I found it at the library. The first book was 19.25 hours long on 16 CDs! [1] And I just happened to get my copy of Obduction from Kickstarter.

A quiet, Myst-style game and an audio book through the headphones seemed like a perfect combination.

And I loved it.

The game was done before the audio book and I’ve been having trouble squeezing time to listen, but all the things I thought would be bugs turned out to be features. As annoyed as I was when I read Tolkien’s description of hiking through rough terrain (was this really the sort of challenge you want to devote page space to?) being forced to listen to it had the opposite effect. I could visualize the scene. I didn’t feel impatient because I couldn’t skim ahead to the next plot point. Taking away that small measure of control was surprisingly relaxing.

Anyway, I have never enjoyed Fellowship of the Ring quite so much before (although I still say Fuck Tom Bombadil) and I’m wondering how I can find 17-odd hours for the next book. I can’t. It just won’t fit into my life, but I wish it did.

Until I get a car, maybe.

[Update] I forgot to mention that the third book in my Great Way series comes out today in audio book. If you subscribe to Audible, you can listen free. If you bought the Kindle version from Amazon, the audio version is startlingly affordable. The series begins here.

[1] Don’t laugh. I’ve just had to order a new CD player online, because our old one is going wonky and my wife doesn’t want to have to fuck with a computer to play her music while she paints.

The Way into Audio

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Back in 2013, when I was looking at stretch goals for for my Kickstarter project, a number of people asked for audio books. I didn’t go that route, mainly because I don’t know much about them. I don’t listen to them and I don’t know much about how they’re made except that it’s expensive and it sounds terrible if it’s done badly. Frankly, on top of everything else, it was too much.

At the time I said I hoped that an actual audio book publisher would step forward. And they did:

In case that iframe doesn’t show: The audio book is up for pre-order through Amazon. And also on Audible.com / Audible UK.

The release date is August 9. Book 2 releases later in August and Book 3 in September.

Also! The books will have “Whispersync”, which means that, if you also buy the Kindle edition from Amazon, you can switch back and forth between ebook/audio book without losing your place. Which is a pretty cool thing that I knew nothing about before now. Also, owning the Kindle edition lets you buy the audio book at a reduced price. Check it out.

If you’re one of the folks who was hoping for an audio book, here you go.

Want to see the cover for the German edition of The Way into Chaos? (train trip wrapup)

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I should have written this post last week I guess, but I returned from vacation and landed with both feet on the run. I’m working hard on One Man again, and making good progress. Homeschooling is on again. My wife has a computer station I need to set up. My niece, who has been housesitting for us so kindly while we’ve been taking trips, is having a birthday.

So I haven’t really had time to write an in-depth report on the 30-day train vacation I just took. Here’s the short version: It was great to see family. It was great to see friends. I was lucky enough to eat a bunch of regional foods: jambalaya in New Orleans, pepper steaks in Philly, Italian beef sandwiches in Chicago. Splashing around in the ocean in Miami was fantastic, and so was seeing the monuments on the National Mall in Washington DC.

And then there were the long, quiet moments with my family on the train. Sometimes we played games, or read, or talked with other passengers. Sometimes we just stared out the window.

Sleeping was a bigger challenge than I’d expected and those east coast trains carry more people than this Seattleite is used to, but it was a beautiful trip with a lot of family time, and that’s what I wanted.

We also stopped in at every bookstore we could find, but none of my books were on the shelves. It’s just been too long, and I need to finish this one asap.

Speaking of which, the German edition of The Way into Chaos has come out, and I like the cover. Check it out.

Eyes or No Eyes: An Advertising Conundrum

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Among all the good folks checking out my ads for The Great Way and leaving feedback, one of the most consistent is that they don’t like that ad #2 does not show Tejohn’s eyes.

I felt the same way about them, until my son showed me how it looks with the eyes. Check it out:

Original:

"banner" layout

With eyes showing:

ADTGWBANNER w eyes

It seems pretty clear to me that the ad that shows his eyes is weaker than the original, which is not what I would have expected.

I dunno. I find it interesting.

Ads for The Great Way (asking a favor)

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Sales of The Great Way trilogy have lagged pretty significantly, and while I’m working on my new project, I thought it would make sense to do some advertising.

Buying book ads isn’t the usual thing, but I keep hearing that it does well for other self-publishers, and I’m not averse to spend a little money as long as I make back more than I spent. However, before I put anything online, I thought I’d ask for feedback on the ads themselves as well as the landing page.

My son made these ads as part of a homeschool project. He’s fourteen. Please be gentle.

"leaderboard" layout

Ad number one

"banner" layout

Ad number two

"Skyscraper" layout

Ad number three

I know there’s not a lot of data there, just images and a little text, but it’s supposed to be intriguing enough to entice a click. Readers who go for the ad will arrive at this landing page. Input on that page would also be most welcome.

I’m planning to run them through Project Wonderful, probably at the forums for OOTS. I’m not sure where else. It depends on how things go. I’m told Facebook is a useful ad space, but I’m not in a hurry to go there.

Comments on this blog are usually turned off, but I’ve tried to turn them on for this post. WordPress can be cranky about this stuff, though, so if you find you can’t (or don’t want to) offer your comments below, you can tweet them at me @byharryconnolly or post them to my LiveJournal, Facebook, or Google plus pages. If you’re old school (or prefer privacy) you can email me at harryconnolly at sff dot net.

Thanks for your help.

The Way into Chaos is currently 99 cents

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[UPDATE: The sale’s over, but I’ve permanently lowered the price since. Grab yourself a copy, or read a sample.]

Tomorrow, the second of January, The Way into Chaos is going to be included in a Bookbub promotion, and I’ve already lowered the price to 99 cents in anticipation.

With luck, this will give me a worthwhile sales boost, not only of book one but the whole trilogy. I’ll post about that later. In the meantime, if you’re an ebook reader and you haven’t tried this series–or you know someone who might like an epic fantasy merged with an apocalyptic thriller, you can pick up a discounted copy from one of these vendors:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iBooks
Kobo

But only for a limited time.

The paper edition is still available, too, naturally, but without a discount. However, the Amazon “Matchbook” program has changes so that if you buy the paper edition from them, you get a free version for your Kindle.

The Way into Chaos makes the PW/Booklife “Self-Pub Stars of 2015”

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Self-Publishing Stars of 2015 is the list of self-published books that received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly’s Booklife service, which allows self-publishers to submit work for review in that venerable institution.

And I’m on it.

Apparently, only 18 books in the fiction category received stars this year. That’s a pretty small list, and I’m pleased to be on it.

Also, next time I should seriously consider how my titles turn out in alphabetized lists.

You can buy the book here

Get Limited Edition Omnibuses of The Great Way from Worldbuilders

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This year I sent four copies of the limited edition hardback omnibus version of The Great Way to Worldbuilders. Fewer than 200 were printed and they aren’t designed to be sold in stores; there’s no ISBN, no listed price, no bar code. I created them for Kickstarter backers who pledged at $100 or more, and while I shipped out a whole bunch, I ended up with a significant number in my back hallway, still in their boxes.

I’m not planning to sell them, but I have sent one of those boxes to Pat Rothfuss for his Worldbuilders. The picture of the three books included in the book lottery is here. (Remember, that’s not the three books of the trilogy, that’s three separate copies of the entire trilogy).

However, if you really want that particular limited edition, there’s an ebay auction going on right now. And it benefits charity. If you’re interested in learning more about Worldbuilders and its charity work, you can.

To sum up: If you’re a fan and you missed out on the Kickstarter, you may think you also missed out on your chance to pick up a limited edition hardback. You didn’t! Just click on that ebay link above and do your part for charity.