It’s been about six months since I published Republic, the last installment in my Emperor’s Edge series (technically, the series finished a year and a half ago with Forged in Blood II and Republic was dealing with a new story line). I’m not sure exactly how many books the series has sold (if anyone knows an easy way to calculate sales across years and platforms, I would love to hear about it), but somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000, I’m sure. (I counted up all of my Amazon book sales at some point back in 2012 and had risen over 100k).
When you consider there are eight books in the series, that’s not exactly blockbuster status, but I’m certainly not complaining. Most of the ebooks sell for $4.95 (the first is free, the second fluctuates from 2.99 to 4.95, and the monster Republic is 5.95), and I’ve been making a full-time living from my ebook income since early in 2012 (I’ve also met some awesome fans and really cool people as a result of this series). Even though I’ve published other books since then, the EE books still account for a good chunk of that income.
So in looking back, what did I do right with that series? And what could have been done better? It’s natural to wonder. Even if fantasy isn’t exactly romance, as far as popularity goes, I’ve seen other indie authors hanging out in the fantasy Top 100 categories on Amazon for months and even years. I’ll tend to appear there when I have a new release, but then drop down and maybe sell 200 or 300 books a month of titles in the series (again, definitely not complaining — just thinking about room for improvement in the future!).
After taking a break this last year and trying some other genres/sub-genres, I’m heading back to high fantasy for NaNoWriMo, and I’m wondering if I can do better for what I hope will be the start of my next big series. Thus this analysis of The Emperor’s Edge. Whether or not it helps me reach a new level with my next series, only time will tell. Either way, I hope some of it may be useful to other authors out there.
Keys to Success (AKA what I did right)
I’ll jump into the mistakes soon, but I want to mention some of the things I did right, the things that have helped the series get to where it is (I’ll pretend these were all premeditated rather than random chance):
- Starting out with a clear vision of a six book series (that turned into seven books) with a story arc that spanned the entire series and wasn’t resolved until the very end — When I wrote EE1, I had Amaranthe (main PoV) and the band of five guys she gathered together (Sicarius, Akstyr, Maldynado, Books, and Basilard), and it occurred to me that if I focused each novel on a different side character, while continuing to work toward the final showdown with the baddies in the end, I’d have a fairly solid path ahead of me for filling out a six-book series. Amaranthe would always be the hero, but each book would explore a side character as a secondary hero and PoV. (Frankly, the series I’ve started since EE haven’t been laid out nearly as well.)
- Having a romance that took 7 books to resolve — There’s not any romance in the first EE book, but if you look closely, there’s a hint that it could possibly develop at some future date. As much as I’d like to believe my world-building and the overreaching story were compelling, I think a lot of what got people to read on was the relationship between the two main characters, seeing them go from enemies, to friends, to maybe something more. It’s tougher to keep things interesting between two characters that hook up in the first book.
- Regular releases about 5-6 months apart — My daily word count has increased quite a bit over the years, and I wrote a rough draft in two weeks earlier this year, but I was still working the day job when I started on my self-publishing journey. I managed to get a new installment (each over 100,000 words) out about every five months, and I think that helped me gain momentum and keep the fans engaged (once I had some).
- Playing with permafree and eventually having Book 1 available everywhere — I started with EE1 at 2.99, then dropped it to .99 after Book 2 came out, then finally made it free after 3 came out. I also put it out there on Wattpad and had a free “podiobooks” version made. I was never willing to go exclusive with Amazon to try the various perks of KDP Select (and, like many other authors, I’ve seen the hit since Kindle Unlimited came out), but I tried just about everything else. I still plug the first book with an ad every now and then, though right now I’m waiting until the new year, because I’m going to revamp the covers and try to relaunch the series (more on that below).
- Fun stories — Not everyone will love my books, but many readers how told me how much they enjoy the humor and the characters. I’ve had a lot of of people tell me they’ve recommended them to friends, and that’s the best kind of marketing there is.
Okay, now for the fun part of the analysis (or the gut-clenching part… whatever).
What I wish I’d done better:
- The covers aren’t representative of the genre — I don’t have a good eye for design and I struggled to find a cover designer early on that I liked and that I could afford. I always envisioned custom illustrations (these are common for secondary world fantasy, though you’ll also see symbol-based designs with a sword or map or staff or some such too), but I had a limited budget early on and the photo manipulation stuff was less expensive. And of course, I had to stick with the theme as the series continued on (I will say that the covers are very distinctly branded and that you could probably recognize one on a shelf from across the store :D). I broke away from the photo manipulation with Republic and have gotten a lot of compliments on that cover. It’s going to cost a small fortune to redo the whole series with custom illustrations, but I’ve decided to give it a try this winter.
- Completely lame series title — I don’t know how much difference this makes in the grand scheme of things, but naming your series after the first book in the series… Let’s just say it’s one of those things publishers tell you not to do. I was never even that crazy about the name of the first book to start with!
- Series not anchored firmly in any one genre — When you’re a creative, you have to write the story you want to tell, and sometimes that isn’t one that follows a formula or that fits tidily into a certain category on Amazon. Unfortunately, that can hinder you when it comes to marketing. The EE books most often get tagged as steampunk, because there happen to be trains and steam-powered machines in them, but I think of them as more sword & sorcery in style (they’re magic-light, but they are fast-paced and character-driven with lots of action). The last couple of books in the series could more arguably be placed in epic fantasy, since we’re dealing with armies and ransacking the entire capital city. I think when I rebrand the covers, I’m going to see if I can go for more of an epic fantasy/sword & sorcery feel because, quite frankly, those are far more popular categories than steampunk on Amazon. Also, Akstyr is my only punky EE character (and he has the hair to prove it).
- Not a super compelling “hook” to take people from Book 1 to 2 — EE1 works as the start of a series and hints of more trouble to come, but it’s very much a complete novel. There are a couple of cliffhangers later in the series, but you could read the first book and walk away without a zillion questions left unanswered. As much as readers hate cliffhangers (and often leave one-star reviews to prove it!), I’ve talked to author after author who’s had a ton of success by having the first book end with a giant compelling hook (you have to read the next book to see if the hero, his mentor, or his faithful ferret lives!). Especially with a permafree Book 1, this can be what turns a serial-downloader-of-freebies into a buyer.
So based on all of this, what will I try with the new series?
I’m going to poll my existing readers (even if this is just casually asking on Facebook) to see which series title they like best. Right now, I’ve fairly certain “Redemption” will be in there somewhere (Redemption by Fire? The Redemption Saga?), since the journey is about the hero trying to redeem his family’s honor and place in society (shortly after he was born, his mother ran off to become a pirate… oops). But I want to see ahead of time what sounds cool to my target audience.
I’ve got the NaNoWriMo novel plotted out, but I want to sit down before November and sketch out the larger story arc. Right now, I have a vague notion of what happens in the end, but I’m not sure whether that’ll take three books or eight for the hero to get to that place. I want to have more of a handle on that before I get started.
Even though this series is set in the same world as the EE books, it’s on a continent where magic is more the norm than technology, so I think it’ll naturally fit more easily into the epic fantasy/swords & sorcery genre.
I don’t have a romance planned at this point (and I’m worried about this honestly, since it seems to be a big part of what my regular readers enjoyed about the first series), but there is (I hope) an interesting relationship (a bromance or father-son type of thing) that has all kinds of potential for fun and conflict. Why yes, I’d like you to be my mentor and help me on my quest, but wait, you’re a spy for the other nation? When did that happen?
The main character is an 18-year-old boy. This is a first for me. I didn’t mention this up above, because I don’t think a female heroine is any kind of flaw, but I do think the young-man-coming-of-age story has a huge traditional in high fantasy, and I’ll be curious if having a guy flinging magic on the cover will do a better job of attracting the male audience. (I’d say that right now my readership tends to be 80% female.) I wish I had the link to the study, because it’s stuck in my mind for years and years, but there was one done that found that female readers were far more willing to put themselves into the shoes of male leads than the other way around, so basically you had a better chance of appealing to both audiences with a male protagonist. (Ultimately, I write the heroes and heroines that I want to write about, age and sex regardless, but like I said, it’ll be interesting to see if this makes a difference this time around.)
Lastly, I’ve been watching the Top 100 epic fantasy for a while, and I’ve been taking note of the types of titles and blurbs that do well (dragons, magic, knights, mages, and wizards, yes, please). I haven’t written the blurb yet, but the title for Book 1 will be the rather blunt Warrior Mage. (Alas, dragons haven’t made an appearance in this world — the closest I could get would be a giant lizard…)
Anyway, as you can see I’m putting more thought into this than I have for the other books I’ve written in the last year (many of those have basically been pilots to try out new subgenres), and I’m hoping it’ll be the start of a series that will do as well as the EE books (if not a touch better).
If you would like to share your own experiences (or comment on mine), I’d love to hear from you below. Please leave a comment!
I don’t think you need to be worried about lack of romance in the upcoming series. I think Yanko and Dak’s relationship/bromance is compelling and interesting–and I think what draws readers is more about the interesting relationship than the purely romantic one. Amaranthe’s and Sicarius’ relationship is interesting because it was in flux and had room for a lot of growth and development back and forth. If it’d been a straightforward romance in book 1, I agree, that wouldn’t have been nearly so compelling. In some ways, Sardelle and Jaxi’s relationship is more compelling than Sardelle’s with Ridge, because there is more history and more about them to be uncovered book-by-book. And in the Rust & Ruin books, sure there’s romance potential in several places, but what’s interesting is how everyone interacts and pulls together, despite their extremely varied backgrounds.
Just some thoughts!
Thank you, Laura. I just have to see if I can make Dak as compelling as Sicarius was to the readers. The ladies still dig men with scars and eye patches, right? 😀
I totally already have a huge crush on Dak. So it stands to reason if I do, others do too. XD
MORE DAK PLEASE. 😀 😀
Oh, I hope so. He needs some lady love. Poor guy. 😛
I prefer the EE books significantly over your others, though the “brand identity” shows clearly in all of them.
Specifically, Sicarius has been the best version of your strong silent guy so far. The size of the team and the two key players let your strength for banter shine, and the disconnection of Amaranthe’s career from any family ties was a good choice — better than giving her a significant eccentric family background as you did for the heroine in the related Encrypted series, where they not only stole some of her thunder, but also impaired my belief in and fondness for a heroine who would put up with them.
I think the EE appeal comes down to several interrelated items: emotional appeal (good look into the characters’ heads, insecurities, romance, friendships), texture (humorous dialogue – very important / steampunk snark, too, even if you don’t want to so label the books), depth/richness (multiple cultures, multiple team members, generational interrelatedness), and worthwhile goal (overall plot arc).
One of the issues I have with your other work is length — they’re not rich enough for my tastes, not thick enough, in the emotional sense, esp. since I read the EE books first. I understand the professional temptation to write shorter (and more numerous) works very well, but so far I think your metier is for the longer stuff, based on the EE evidence. All the other works make me feel like we’ve barely gotten started before the story ends, like immersion into the kiddie pool instead of the deep end. I want to snuggle up to a 5-course meal, not a snackbar.
Please don’t get me wrong, though — I do quite like your work! Please, more thick stuff!
And do rebrand those covers — they kept me away from your work for the longest time since I couldn’t figure out what the heck it was. I think the steampunk snark is legit, though, as part of the genre you’re writing. Even Rust & Relics lends itself to a steampunk feel. I don’t see the EEs as pure S&S, really — too much interest in technology. That tinkering mentality is steampunk. I’m not a huge steampunk fan, but your version of it rocks.
Thanks for the thoughtful feedback, Karen. I actually don’t care much for long novels as a reader — they’re usually slow-paced with far too many PoV characters I don’t care about it, so it’s kind of funny if that’s what readers prefer from me. 😀
We’ll see how things play out with the Yanko story line. Right now, I’m only planning to have him as a PoV character, and novels naturally tend to be shorter when there’s just one person telling the story. I do have a sprawling adventure planned though, and maybe some of the secondary characters will have stories they want to tell in later installments.
Thanks for sharing your insights, I found it really helpful and applicable. It’s a post I’ll definitely bookmark and come back to for reference!
First I want to say that I LOVED the Emperor’s Edge series, and the related stories, and I recommend them every chance I get. (I also have your other books on my TBR list.) The characters are fantastic and I thought you did a really good job with the over-arching storyline as well as making each volume of the series a satisfying read in and of itself. The Amaranthe/Sicarius romance really kept me going; they’d get so close and then something would happen and I’d be OH NOOO MUST READ NEXT BOOK!!!
I agree on the covers; I’d love to see new covers with the characters on them. I love to see characters on the covers of books; well-done, it tells me a lot more what the books are about than a symbol or object. But yeah, budget. Custom art can be expensive, though not as expensive as some might think. Shop around, maybe check out artists on deviantArt who do commission work (that’s how I found mine) if you don’t have someone in mind already.
Also agree on steampunk; with the predominance of technology over magic in the series, I would definitely call it steampunk fantasy. The alien technology even gives it a bit of a sci-fi feel. Whatever you call it, you did an awesome job with it.
Applying your findings to the series I’ve been working on for a while now and finally about to start releasing (end of this month, hopefully; definitely by the first part of November):
The first book was going to be a standalone, but at the end the characters were in worse trouble than they started, so I decided to make it a series. I plotted out an over-arching storyline for the series, and planned each book as a self-contained story within the series, though with an increase in the level of trouble that the main characters – and the world – are in, to keep readers going to the next book.
The romance is resolved at the end of the first book, but just because characters sleep together and/or get married doesn’t mean everything’s bunnies and rainbows from then on! In the case of my series, the relationship is part of what gets them in worse trouble, since it’s illegal (unauthorized by the ruling body of mages). This outlaw status and the strong, committed connection between two very powerful people are a big part of what drives the rest of the plot.
Besides, the characters wouldn’t let me make them wait anyway!
As for covers – I wanted covers with the characters on them, so I found an artist whose style I thought would work well with the story and commissioned covers. A little expensive, but definitely worth it. I adore my covers (hope you don’t mind; here’s a link to the series page on my site with the covers: http://www.kyrahalland.com/daughter-of-the-wildings.html (I did the lettering myself).
Genre: the series is fantasy-western, high fantasy (which I define as being set in a different world with magic and a struggle between good and evil as essential elements) set in a world inspired by the American Old West. It differs from most high fantasy in the setting and the types of events that happen in the books (bounty hunters and gunslingers; feud between cattle ranchers and miners; cattle drive; stuff like that) but is still firmly in “magic and wizards in another world” territory.
Something I did that I’m glad I did that maybe not every author might want to do, especially ones who are more experienced in writing series, is I wrote the whole thing in first draft from start to finish, then did the first major revision on the whole thing as a single unit. This let me make adjustments to earlier books as things changed in the later books (like how the magic works, things that turned out to be important to the story that I didn’t think would be important and vice versa). My takeaway from that would be even if you don’t write the whole series first, get it thoroughly outlined so that you don’t end up with changes happening in a later book that don’t fit with the early books. Which is what it sounds like you did with Emperor’s Edge, and helps keep the series moving forward and stay coherent.
Sorry this is so long, but I loved the points you made and it’s interesting (to me, at least!) how they fit with what I’m doing. I don’t know if my series is going to have any success or not; I’ll just have to wait and see!
And good luck with your new series 🙂
Curious: Have you read David Farland’s “Million Dollar Outlines?” He spends a great deal of time talking about audience analysis, which emotions appeal most to which demographics, how to broaden the demographics of your audience, etc. It wasn’t quite what I was hoping to get from the book, but was interesting.
I haven’t, Alex. It sounds interesting. I probably know a lot of that in my mind already, but the challenge is when what you want to write in your heart doesn’t quite match up with what’s going to appeal to a broad demographic. 😀
I know exactly what you mean. I’m working on a epic fantasy / Western hybrid that started with the question, “What if Tolkein had been an American Protestant instead of a British Catholic?”
Yeah, that’s going to sell all of three copies. One to my wife, and maybe one to my mom…
I’ve had the opposite experience – I’ve had better luck with making a complete story permafree, followed by paid sequels. There is a subset of readers who get ticked (and vocally so!) about a free cliffhanger followed by a paid sequel.
That said, I’m currently writing the first book of a trilogy that will probably end in a cliffhanger, so perhaps I will discover that I’m wrong!
My other series is on book 6 of a planned 15, and outlining everything from the beginning definitely helps. Though there are surprises. Books 5 and 6 had several prominent characters and events that I didn’t plan in the beginning at all.
I can’t really complain about my read-through rate too much, as quite a few people do go on from Book 1 to the rest of the books in the series, but I can’t help but wonder if a little more of a hook might have captured a few more readers over the years. 🙂
Good luck with your series!
Thanks for this analysis. Interesting and helpful. I think the EE covers are striking and unique. Maybe a redo is the best course, but I’d keep the color palette you have now…
Thanks, Robert. I don’t dislike the covers — I actually think they do a good job establishing a brand. My main concern is that they don’t fit in with the genre that well. I had someone tell me they guessed historical fiction set in India baed on the covers. :O
I adore the current EE covers. I’ve always thought they were beautiful, and they caught my eye long before I finally clicked the buy button. Although it is true that I didn’t click that button solely because of the gorgeousness of the covers, it was a factor. However, I do see your point about communicating genre and agree that they don’t, alas.
Now……I am just a reader so there is no insightful advice or comments coming from me but it is starting to get cold damp & dark over here in good old England so could we maybe have some shorter chapters please..?
When you get to page 11 of 61 and the duvet is calling …
Haha, I do have some long ones in the EE series. I did short ones in Torrent, but for me, it has a lot to do with pacing, and unless it’s kind of a thriller (with monsters showing up and trying to eat you around each corner), my chapters tend to end up a little longer. We’ll see for the new series. 🙂
Hey Lindsay. Great round-up and insights. About tracking your book sales across platforms, I’ve looked into it and was shocked there isn’t anything out there. One that caught my eye was Tracker Box by storybox software that has some potential. I was thinking about trying it.
Someone could be poised to make $$ if they had mad program/hack skills. Keep us posted if you find a decent sales software.
BTW – great job on SelfPub Round Table podcast!!
Thanks for checking out the show, Myka! I did hear someone mention a site that will total your Amazon sales for you (maybe by stuffing in all your spreadsheets from the months and years?), and I wish I had written it down at the time.
Bookmarketingtools.com might be the one you’re thinking but if I read correctly it’s $50/mo for Amazon only. For that I’d want any and all platforms. But it looks pretty cool.
I can vouch for TrackerBox. You input all your royalty reports from Amazon, B&N, etc, and then you can run reports in various ways (narrow down by time, book, distributor). And definitely see the overall copies sold per book–and money made per book, which is super useful for me to get big picture. Frex, I’ll feel like one book did better than another, but overall sales numbers show a different, more accurate, picture.
Thanks, Skye. I’ll check it out!
That’s very exciting to hear that you’re going to be focusing more on Epic and High Fantasy. Personally that’s a genre that is always in the back of my mind as a writer (started a notebook of world-building, but haven’t had the time to really devote) and as a reader, I am always, *always* looking for new fantasy. Sure, my stack of to-read books is large in that genre, but that’s mainly because I collect all the books from a particular author’s series and then try to tackle them one at a time. The thing that really deters me with this genre is that a lot of indie books rely on plots that were created while the writer was a part of a board game. While this can be an organic way to generate a plot, it’s confusing most times because the writer doesn’t really introduce the reader to the world and magic systems – rather, they just plop you in the middle and expect you to just sprint. I personally like being introduced instead of sprinting.
As far as sticking to a particular genre, I can say that my first few books were big misfires because they weren’t easily sorted into a genre. My newer efforts are absolutely a part of the horror genre, and I’ve found some success there. Genre is one of those things that writers complain about, but there’s no getting away from it. Readers are just conditioned to lump similar stories together. I’m going to try using it as a strength instead of fighting against it as I move forward. Hopefully it works for you as well! And kudos on the cliffhanger tip. I’ve tested those out as well and they are really fun to write, and also great hooks for readers.
Thanks again for the tips! They were very valuable to read.
Hey Lindsay–so excited to hear about all your new plans! I’m really keen to see your new covers. I’ve been secretly thinking for a while you should try new ones (sorry!). I loved the one for ENIGMA especially.
Re: your series’ titles, I was actually a little surprised about your thoughts on this. I liked the title of the first book, and I’d never heard publishers not liking your naming the series after the first book. Honestly, I don’t see how it could have hurt your sales.
Anyway, like I said, can’t wait to see what you come up with next! 😀
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Very interesting! I don’t like a whole bunch of unanswered questions but more a teaser to push me to book 2, ya know?
This is great news! My 25 year old daughter introduced me to your EE series, which we both loved. (We’re also Flashgold and Encrypted fans.) As you experimented in the romance genre, we gave a collective sigh and looked around for new authors to read. You’re an awesome writer, and those aren’t easy to find. We hated losing you.
While I’m not at all a romance fan, I absolutely enjoy realistic relationships between characters. The development of love between Amaranthe and Sicarius was spot on. Lust may happen in five seconds flat, but love takes time and trust. Seven books and multiple years in story time worked. For me, Republic dragged because the story kept stopping while the romantic couples made cow-eyes at one another. The word count devoted to their trysts would have been better used to create a more complex, energetic plot, IMO.
Being older than dirt, Yanko is a little young for my taste in characters, but I assume he’ll do a bit of growing up over the course of the novels. I look forward to making that journey with him.
Hi Lindsay!
I find your posts informative, entertaining, and of value. I always learn something or come away with food for thought and this one was no different.
Next month, provided space aliens don’t take over the planet, I’ll be launching four novels. So I have been paying close attention to what you write and I thank you for the time you take to write these posts.
I found your analysis of the EE series of value. As a reader, what worked for me were your characters. Although I have to confess I never cared that much for Amaranthe. She was okay, but I think upstaged by her team. I also lost interest in Sicarius once he became the POV character. It took away from his mystery, IMO. But all were well drawn and “real”. Unique. Maldynado was my favorite. You outdid yourself with him. 🙂
Your covers are quite good and I think stand out from the crowd. I wouldn’t advise you to change them.
The series title is also very descriptive, IMO. The series revolves around Amaranthe and her group, The Emperor’s Edge. Quite fitting if you ask me.
You may have a point on genre, but you have to write what the Muse is giving you. I downloaded EE1 because of the steampunk tag and bought book 2 because of the characters. You call the series high fantasy in an age of steam. But I don’t think the series is high fantasy. I think of elves and dwarves and things like that with high fantasy. Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and The Lord of the Rings and The Worm Ouroborus. Your series strikes me as science fantasy because it has magic and science/technology. Perhaps you could market it with that tag, if there is one. I’d say it is not steampunk. I don’t see it as sword and sorcery either. That label, for me, conjures up Robert E Howard’s Conan, Red Sonja, and Solomon Kane.
The hook from EE1 to EE2 was enough for me to buy EE2. I wanted to find out more about the characters. For me, characters are the key. If the characters are interesting, I want more. And I don’t care about the genre.
I used to write poetry. Lots of poetry and was a mentor on a poetry forum. I used to hate it when poets, lacking self-confidence, shopped for answers for what was wrong with their poetry and then they would ruin a good poem by revising it to death. Personally, I think I’d leave EE alone and move on to something else. If you think placing the new series into a definite niche will help, then do it. If you think covers can be improved, go for it. But I’d leave EE alone. It is good as is and represents where you were when you wrote it.
Just my 2¢ worth. Keep those wonderful characters coming.
All the best,
Chris
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Interesting to see what an author thinks after completing a series! I adored the EE series, for pretty much all the reasons Karen mentioned. I picked it up as a E-Book hardly paid any attention to the cover ( I only just realised what an awesome cover R&R2 has – harder to see on a kindle). The Rust and Relic books are the new EE books for me 😀 I love the meaty story where the romance is more on the sidelines (of the pool 😉 ) and much joking is to be had 😀
I don’t want to admit it, but I’m sorry that you’re going for a male protagonist – while completely understanding your reasoning. There is so much of that already, and so little (respectively) of good heroines. For me, you’re up there with Pierce and Briggs for mastering this. The guys that can’t get on board with female protagonists can go jump! (In the perfect world where you didn’t need to make a living…sigh).
I didn’t think the series title was lame. So long as titles aren’t pretentious or cliché the story decides it for me. How many lame titles are awesome books anyway? Lord of the Rings? Who cares about the title? 😛 I thought Harry Potter was a dreadful name…. before I read book one… An interesting title is distinctive. (I have two Blood Song books to read by different authors.. or did I read one?…)
Personally I loathe cliff hangers and don’t think it’s particularly good form. I will often wait for a complete series if authors give themselves a rep for doing this. A couple, no worries. Every time? No thank you very muchly 😛 Just some things unresolved is a good way to go! A chapter of the next book a the back of the e-book was enough to rope me in, and I’m pretty sure the rope was not even needed. (In fact, I had international roaming data turned on, just to create a hot spot to connect to amazon while reading EE. That is one city I did not see as much of as I was intending. Pah!)
Anyway, very late comments!
Thank you for the comments. I grew up reading Eddings, Brooks, Jordan, etc., and I’ve just been wanting to do more of a classic coming-of-age story wrapped up in a quest with magic and epic fantasy elements for a while. I’m also a huge fan of those “bromance” kind of buddy movies and have been wanting to do a couple of guys for a while too. I’d like to think that my characters will make them stand out, even if there are a lots of male protagonists in epic fantasy already. I had fun doing the Yanko novellas last year and wanted to see what else I could do to him. 🙂
I also grew up reading a lot of fantasy where the trilogy, or whatever it was, was really one big story, so you’d naturally have cliffhangers, but it was less because it was contrived and more that it just happened to be the breaking point between one book and the next in a story that might be five books long. Forged in Blood 1 had a whopper of a cliffhanger, but it’s really just because it’s the middle of a story. Maybe that argument won’t sway you or change your preferences, but if all of the books are out or are coming out shortly, I don’t personally mind cliffhangers at all. Unless they’re poorly done and obviously money grabs. I’ll try not to fall prey to that!
Thanks for taking the time to reply, that makes sense. I read and re-read Eddings (and still do.. *cough*Sparhawk), he was my all time fav fantasy writer growing up and I never found the endings of his books problematic, more a natural break between volumes. They’re not cliffhangers to me. Same for many of the Star Wars trilogies. It is the 400-page-book-and-I-don’t-get-an-ending?! that inspires book throwing. (Or an entire trilogy and don’t get an ending, ahem, Cecelia Dart-Thornton!)
My fav cliffhangers are the ones where I have to wait the time it takes to download to see what happens. Terrible, I know! But I guess as long as an audience can trust the author not to continually delay, that’s the main thing (ahem, Legendsong Saga – Isobelle Carmody). And we know you’re a fast writer. 🙂
I loved Sparhawk. Those were my favorites too. 😀
I’m smiling as I read what you thought were the weak points of the EE series, because those are actually the very things that drew me in! Although I do prefer your new covers, something about that original Emperor’s Edge cover and title is what drew my eye and made me take a chance on a new author – I guess because it was so different from what you see anywhere else…And I also loved that it didn’t fit too neatly into any one genre. I’ll buy anything you write now regardless of genre because I really like your writing, but stuff that fits too neatly into a swords and sorcery category is much less appealing to me. I probably never would have read your books if the first one I came across was strongly placed in that swords and sorcery category. (But then, my tastes always seem to run contrary to the norm in almost every area of my life so I guess I’m not such great representative of a target audience for anyone! – still, I kind of hope you keep writing some of that cross-genre stuff.)
Thank you for the comments, Virgina! I’m sure I’ll still be all over the place with my writing (I mean that in a good way, I hope…). Despite my intent to go more classic S&S or epic fantasy with Yanko’s novels, I already have a pesky Turgonian submarine showing up in the first one. Darn those steampunk elements wanting to seep in… 😉
Oh yeah, one more thing – EE1 was enough to hook me, regardless of any lack of a cliffhanger – I didn’t hesitate to buy all of your books after that one, and frankly would have paid a lot more for them (although the pricing is very attractive).
Hi Lindsay,
My friend introduced me to the Emperor’s Edge series a little while ago, and I finally started reading it last week. And here I am, 4 days later, having finished the entire series (except for the Republic). Obviously I loved it, or I wouldn’t be here right now.
I was curious about whether your new covers would apply to your paperbacks as well. I am going to purchase your books in paperback form because I prefer physical copies but I would want to hold off on ordering them if you end up redesigning the covers.
Hi, Sierra! Thank you for checking out the EE series. I’m glad you enjoyed them! At this point, I still don’t have a designer to redo the series, so that’s a project that’s a ways out. I’m not sure if I’ll redo the paperbacks or not. If so, that will be a low priority project (I don’t sell many paperbacks), so that will be even farther out, heh. Sorry for the vagueness. Thanks for following along though!