The Star Kingdom Series Rolls on with Book 3, Hero Code

Star Kingdom, Book 3, Hero Code is officially out!

I wrote the first three novels in my new sci-fi series before publishing Book 1. This was so I could release them back-to-back and give you guys lots of fun adventures in the first month.

If you’ve already started the series, I hope you’re enjoying them! If you’ve been waiting for more to be available, Book 3 ends in a pretty good spot (more adventures to come, but it’s not too cliffhangery — yes, that’s a word).

I’m working on getting the paperbacks out to go with the ebooks (the Book 1 paperback is available now), and Podium Publishing is going to produce the audiobooks. They also did my Dragon Blood and Fallen Empire Series, along with some other adventures. We’re going to bundle the first three novels into one big audiobook (we did this to great results with Dragon Blood), so Audible subscribers can get 30+ hours of listening fun for one credit. It will take a while to get that together, but I’ll share an update when the audiobook is out.

In the meantime, I’m sharing the links so you can pick up a copy of Hero Code, if you haven’t already. I won’t post a preview chapter since it would be hard not to include spoilers for the first two books, but I do have an interview with one of the characters coming up soon (Qin — she’s a point-of-view character for the first time in the new book), so stay tuned.

You can order Hero Code and the rest of the books at Amazon (Book 1, Shockwave, is still 99 cents there for a couple more weeks):

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2WrRVFs

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hero-Code-Star-Kingdom-Book-ebook/dp/B07S2FK5WP/

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Hero-Code-Star-Kingdom-Book-ebook/dp/B07S2FK5WP/

Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/Hero-Code-Star-Kingdom-Book-ebook/dp/B07S2FK5WP/

Amazon DE: https://www.amazon.de/Hero-Code-Star-Kingdom-English-ebook/dp/B07S2FK5WP/

This series is exclusive to Amazon this year, but for the non-Amazon folks, you can always get the books early (before they are published) in all formats as one of my Patreon subscribers:

https://patreon.com/lindsayburoker

And if you pre-ordered Hero Code and have already read it (because you’re awesome!), have no fear, I’ve just sent Book 4 off to my beta readers. It’ll be coming in July.

Thanks for reading!

 

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Star Kingdom Extras: Character Interview with Kim Sato

To go along with the launch of my new series (preview chapters for Shockwave here if you haven’t checked it out yet), I’m taking the role of helpful journalist and interviewing one of the unlikely heroes, Kim Sato, bacteriologist, kendo practitioner, and space adventurer. (The latter being more by accident than the former.)

Journalist: Hello, Scholar Sato. May I have a moment of your time? Our readers would like to know more about your recent activities.

Kim: Do you wish me to break down my work on radiation-consuming bacteria in laymen’s terms? I’ve published several peer-reviewed articles about our successful movement from the second to third stage of our human trials, but I’ve witnessed that newspaper journalists tend to cherry pick sentences out of context and give the public the wrong idea about advancements in science. It’s good that you’ve come to me.

Journalist: Actually, I meant your activities in space. When you and Professor Casmir Dabrowski left the planet to avoid robot assassins. That’s so exciting! Our readers want to hear all about it.

Kim: You’re… not here about my academic work?

Journalist: No, sorry. I understand that you and the professor barely escaped with your lives and had to hitch a ride with a dubious smuggler and an evil genetically engineered freak of a warrior woman. Is that true?

Kim: Technically, Captain Lopez is a bounty hunter down on her luck, and Qin is neither evil nor a freak. Please don’t call her that around Casmir. She was designed by pirates who wanted a super killer, but she has a surprisingly amenable soul. And she likes to read fairy tales and romances. While I have no data to back me up, I would hypothesize that such are not the typical entertainment preferences of an “evil” being.

Journalist: Is it true that you and Professor Dabrowski met the heinous, evil, and dastardly pirate Captain Rache? Surely he doesn’t read romances. What was he like?

Kim: You used three adjectives to describe him. What else could I add?

Journalist: Did you see under the mask he wears? They say his men don’t even know what he looks like.

Kim: I did not. Did you by chance see that I have a new article out in Microbiology Monthly? I would be quite pleased to speak about my work and help educate the public on scientific advancements.

Journalist: Do you think Captain Rache is horribly maimed or half cyborg? Maybe that’s why he wears a mask.

Kim: I believe he has cybernetic enhancements. I gather that’s not atypical for people who fight for a living. But I would prefer not to speak about Captain Rache.

Journalist: Oh, really? Let’s go back to Professor Dabrowski then, shall we? I understand he was able to thwart some troublemakers, despite his… He has a few medical issues, doesn’t he? Not the best genes, eh? You’d think in this modern world that we’d be able to fix seizures and the like.

Kim: He gets by. He’s relatively normal. Medically speaking, anyway. I don’t think his genes can explain his inability to use a coaster when he puts his condensation-dripping beverages on the coffee table.

Journalist: You’re kind of stiff, aren’t you, Scholar Sato?

Kim: I would rather discuss science than human beings.

Journalist: But our readers find it much more exciting to get the stories of real people!

Kim: That’s disheartening.

Journalist: I understand the professor’s knowledge of robotics came in handy against some mercenaries. Could you tell me about how that went?

Kim: If you’re interested in Casmir’s exploits, you should probably talk to Casmir. He likes talking. Even if nobody is around. I once caught him discussing the merits of loosely coupled particle robots with decentralized control algorithms… with the coat rack.

Journalist: Oh? That sounds impressively intellectual.

Kim: The next time I passed through, the discussion had shifted to how well balanced superhero powers are in modern comics. Like I said, he’s chatty. He’ll give you enough for a whole book, if you want it.

Journalist: A book?

Kim: Yes, those things with pages and bindings. Admittedly those features are usually virtual these days.

Journalist: I know what books are, thank you. I was just considering if anyone would read a book about a roboticist in space. The bestselling thrillers at the launch-loop book shop always feature strapping Fleet captains, warrior knights, and cunning police detectives. I don’t know if anyone would buy a book about a roboticist.

Kim: And a bacteriologist.

Journalist: Pardon?

Kim: I was there too.

Journalist: Yes… that should give it much more commercial appeal.

Kim: *flat cool stare*

Journalist: I’ll just see myself out.

Kim: Do.

~

If you’re ready to meet Casmir in person (and the ever warm and friendly Kim), check out the first book:

Shockwave (Star Kingdom, Book 1)

Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AUS | Amazon DE

Thanks for stopping by!

Posted in Cut Scenes and Fun Extras, Free Fiction | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Star Kingdom Launches! Read Preview Chapters from Book 1, Shockwave

Yes, it’s true. I’ve set the dragons aside (temporarily, mind you) and am back writing science fiction.

This week, my new Star Kingdom series kicks off with Book 1, Shockwave. If you’re excited about a geeky roboticist, a socially awkward microbiologist, a genetically engineered cat woman, a jaded 70-year-old bounty hunter, and a sentient spaceship starring in a book, you can head over to Amazon right now and check it out.

Shockwave (Star Kingdom, Book 1)

Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AUS | Amazon DE

If you’re on the fence, here’s the prologue and first chapter for you to try. Thanks for taking a look!

Prologue

“When can I eat normal food again?”

“Normal?” Dr. Yas Peshlakai looked toward the vat lamb and rice dish on the bedside table. It was bland, as he’d ordered, but ought to pass for normal on Tiamat Station.

“Yes.” President Sophia Bakas smiled and folded her hands atop the blanket, the silver light of a faux moon streaming in the window and highlighting a surprisingly girlish expression on her timeworn face. “Deep-fried, ice-creamed, and alcohol-filled.” Continue reading

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Reminder: Get My Books Early on Patreon

Just a reminder that I’ll be publishing my new sci-fi series (Star Kingdom) exclusively through Amazon this first year. If you are not an Amazon fan and/or want to get the books EARLY, you can get them through my Patreon campaign, where I release advanced reader copies before publishing them to Amazon.

It’s $5 per release (though anything that will be 99 cents I give to the Patreon folks for free, such as Star Kingdom, Book 1 — which is available over there until tomorrow), so you don’t end up paying more than if you bought it at the bookstore.

I share the books through a Bookfunnel link, and Bookfunnel has instructions to help you get it onto your preferred e-reader.

https://www.patreon.com/lindsayburoker

You’re very welcome to buy my books elsewhere. I just offer this for the non-Amazon readers or anyone who wants to get the books early and doesn’t mind downloading them from Bookfunnel.

Thanks, guys! I’m looking forward to sharing this new series with you. 

Posted in Writing | 5 Comments

The Amazon Conundrum (AKA Why Some of My Books Are in Kindle Unlimited and Most Are Not)

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, because I get these questions a lot:

  • Why isn’t X book available in Kindle Unlimited?
  • Why isn’t X book available on Kobo/Barnes & Noble/Apple/etc.?

I wanted a place to send folks where I can explain. It’s hard to get all the points across in a response to someone’s Facebook comment. Especially since I always forget how to do the darned hard returns (SHIFT + ENTER, in case you also didn’t know or keep forgetting) there.

So, here’s the scoop: 

Amazon requires authors to make their books EXCLUSIVE to their store in order for them to be enrolled in “KDP Select.”

Among other things, checking the KDP Select box puts your book into the Kindle Unlimited subscription program. For as long as it’s enrolled there, you are forbidden (yes, they enforce it) from selling the books on other stores or even your own website.

So, why do some authors go along with this?

As I write this in May of 2019, each borrow through Kindle Unlimited counts as a sale in regard to determining sales ranking and overall visibility in the Amazon Kindle store.

I’ll pause for a moment so you can debate whether that actually makes sense. When you’re a KU subscriber, you essentially get any books in the program for free with your subscription. Yes, you pay $10 a month for the service, but that money gets automatically sucked out of your account every month before you even notice. It feels like those books are free.

And yet Amazon weighs borrows the same as sales in determining sales rank.

And sales rank determines how visible your book is in the store, i.e. how many people (potential new readers) have a chance of seeing it when they’re browsing the Top 100 lists in their favorite genres.

Thus, it’s a clear benefit to authors to have their books in Kindle Unlimited. Putting aside how much they make from borrows of books (payment is on a per-page-read calculation and, for all but very long and very inexpensive books, is less than an author would make from a sale), the authors are more likely to have their books seen by readers in their target audience.

What may be less obvious is that it’s now a huge disadvantage on Amazon if you launch a new book and it’s NOT enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. You have to get let’s say 200 sales a day to rank in the Top 20 for your genre whereas the author who is enrolled can get 100 sales and 100 borrows, or no sales and all borrows, and achieve the same position–gain the same visibility.

If you’re curious, go take a look at those Top 100 lists and see how many books have that “Kindle Unlimited” tag on them. In the genres I write in, it’s almost all of them. All of the independent books. Sometimes there are some traditionally published juggernauts by authors we all know and buy. Those guys are big enough that they can overcome this disadvantage and still sell well on Amazon. Most indie authors struggle to do that.

It’s why you get situations like the one I find myself in.

I don’t WANT to be exclusive to Amazon, and I resisted that for a long time, but it became clear that I was releasing new books, and it was mostly only my regular readers picking them up. They promptly dropped off the genre lists because they couldn’t compete in sales with books that were being checked out (essentially) for free.

Yes, you can decide to just accept that you’ll only sell to your existing fans, but that’s tough for new authors without many fans yet. And even for those more established authors, there’s always attrition. Some readers won’t follow you into a new series or a new genre. Some readers just fade away with time. If you want to be a career author, you have to continuously work at getting new readers to try your books.

This is not to say that it’s hopeless and you can’t sell books if you’re “wide” in all the stores and not exclusive to Amazon. It’s to say that it’s easier to sell a lot more books on Amazon if you’re in Kindle Unlimited.

But, you may ask, don’t you lose out on a lot of sales by not being in the other stores?

In my case, I definitely lose some sales. Or at least delay them.

My current strategy is to launch new series into Amazon and then, once they’ve stopped selling as well, take them out of exclusivity and publish them in the other stores. To somewhat get around the fact that this means readers on other stores may not get the books for a year, I run a Patreon campaign where I release my books in mobi, epub, and pdf there first (before I launch on Amazon and click the exclusive box).

It’s not ideal, as most people would prefer to buy from their favorite store and have the books automatically appear on their devices, but it’s at least an option that sort of works for now. For those who are on my mailing list and know about it. The rest of the readers have to scratch their heads in puzzlement (or irritation) when they can’t find my new releases in their stores.

So, yes, even with workarounds, I lose out on some sales to readers on Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, etc., But I’ve always made at least 80% of my income from Amazon (sometimes that creeps closer to 90%). Amazon is the largest store by far and has the most potential book buyers by far. My numbers have been like that since the beginning (eight years now), even before Kindle Unlimited and KDP Select existed.

I don’t honestly know how long I’ll play the exclusivity game. As you can imagine, it’s tough seeing your income take a huge hit by opting out, but I may get fed up at some point and just make do. Even if that means making less money and getting my books into the hands of fewer readers.

My point with this post is not to bash Amazon (though I won’t try to hide my ongoing frustration with the exclusivity setup) but to explain the situation to readers.

If X book is not in Kindle Unlimited, it’s because the author wanted to sell their books in other stores, or because they wanted to be paid a 70% royalty rather than accepting a smaller cut from a subscription service. If X book is not available on your store, it’s because the author is staying exclusive to Amazon for now because they feel they have to for the sake of their career. Amazon moves more ebooks than all the other stores combined, and, for the most part, ebooks are how indie authors make money.

I hope you found the answer you were looking for here, even if it wasn’t a satisfying one. As always, thanks for stopping by!

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , | 23 Comments

Chains of Honor Wraps up with Book 4, Great Chief

The fourth and final installment in my Chains of Honor series (set in my Emperor’s Edge world) is now available everywhere. Follow Yanko, Lakeo, Dak, Aaryevo, Kei (the very important racist parrot!), and the rest of the gang as they do their best to bring peace to their people… or die trying.

You can pick up Great Chief in these stores:

Amazon | Smashwords | Kobo | Apple | Barnes & Noble

Haven’t checked out this series yet? The first novel, Warrior Mage, is also out everywhere:

https://books2read.com/CoH1

For those who have been waiting for my triumphant return (or at least a return) to science fiction, I’ll soon post a preview chapter of Shockwave, the first book in my new Star Kingdom series. Thanks for reading!

 

Posted in Ebook News, My Ebooks | Tagged | 4 Comments

Science Fiction by Women: Some Freebies to Check out

If you’ve been dying to give more independent science-fiction-writing female authors a try, I’ve got a few buddies with free offerings right now. And my own Junkyard novella is finally free everywhere and will be for the foreseeable future. The Fallen Empire Collection (first three books) is temporarily free. Most of these are temporary freebies, so grab them while you can!

(Books2Read links will take you to a page that directs you to your preferred store, i.e. Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble.)

Junkyard

McCall Richter works as a skip tracer, tracking down criminals, con men, and people who stop making payments on their fancy new spaceships. 

Her job description says nothing about locating vast quantities of stolen maple syrup, but thanks to her helpful new android employee, she finds herself tramping through a “sugar house” on a frosty moon full of suspicious characters. The only witness to the crime? The junkyard dog next door.

https://books2read.com/JunkyardNovella

The Fallen Empire Collection (Books 1-3 + prequel novella)

After the Alliance’s victorious last battle, Alisa is stranded on a planet far from home. Desperate to return to her daughter, her only hope is a broken old freighter. But a hostile cyborg has his own ideas for the ship…

https://books2read.com/FEBox

The Legacy Human (Singularity Book 1)

What would you give to live forever?

Seventeen-year-old Elijah Brighton wants to become an ascender—a post-Singularity human/machine hybrid—after all, they’re smarter, more enlightened, more compassionate, and above all, achingly beautiful. But Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code, just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics. If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to ascend, bringing everything he’s yearned for within reach… including his beautiful ascender patron.

But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel… until he’s running for his life and wondering who he truly is.

http://susankayequinn.com/book/the-legacy-human

Last Ship off Polaris-G

A bureaucrat and an interstellar trader must overcome treachery and their broken past to save the last inhabitants of a dying planet.

Frontier planet Polaris-Gamma is dying, afflicted by a suspiciously-timed blight that destroys all crops. Worse, the whole system is now under military quarantine by the Central Galactic Concordance to prevent the catastrophic blight from spreading. The settlers must escape—or perish.

Caught behind the blockade, independent trader Gavril Danilovich finds his interstellar trading ship commandeered in the desperate plan to escape. He tells himself that’s the only reason he stays, and not because he’s worried about the woman he walked out on two years ago—who still lives on Pol-G.

Supply depot manager Anitra Helden races to gather the last of Pol-G’s assets. Her plan to launch a mothballed freighter off Pol-G may be crazy—but it can work, if she can talk Gavril into helping. Their precious cargo? Four thousand stranded colonists.

Can Anitra and Gavril, and their ragtag crew get past the deadly military blockade?

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/icwi6me3s0

The Sky Used to Be Blue

This is a novella based on Hugh Howey’s WOOL books.

Karma lives in a Silo deep beneath the earth. She isn’t sure of much else… only that the wallscreen shows an outside view that is barren and swirling with toxic clouds. Most of the other residents seem content. Except for the ones who jump to their deaths from the hundred-level spiral staircase. And the ones who are pushed.

After the doctor prescribes a special medicine and tells her to avoid tap water, Karma begins to remember a very different world. Despite the fog in her mind, she is convinced that something came before. Such memories are dangerous to talk about, or even to think about.

She must figure out who can be trusted. The doctor… her husband… or no one at all.

https://books2read.com/u/mvv7X2

Ambassador 1: Seeing Red

Would you betray Earth to save it?

24 October 2114: the day that shocked the world.

Young diplomat Cory Wilson narrowly escapes death in the assassination of President Sirkonen. No one claims responsibility but there is no doubt that the attack is extraterrestrial.

Cory was meant to start work as a representative to gamra, the alien organisation that governs the FTL transport network, but now his new job may well be scrapped in anger.

Worse, as Earth uses military force to stop any extraterrestrials coming or leaving, as 200,000 extraterrestrial humans are trapped on Earth, as the largest army in the galaxy prepares to free them by force, only Cory has the experience, language skills and contacts to solve the crime.

But he’s broke, out of a job and a long way from Earth.

https://books2read.com/u/bW9R57

Archangel Down: Archangel Project. Book One

In the year 2432, humans think they are alone in the universe. They’re wrong.

Commander Noa Sato plans a peaceful leave on her home planet Luddeccea … but winds up interrogated and imprisoned for her involvement in the Archangel Project. A project she knows nothing about.

Professor James Sinclair wakes in the snow, not remembering the past twenty four hours, or knowing why he is being pursued. The only thing he knows is that he has to find Commander Sato, a woman he’s never met.

A military officer from the colonies and a civilian from Old Earth, they couldn’t have less in common. But they have to work together to save the lives of millions—and their own.

Every step of the way they are haunted by the final words of a secret transmission:

The archangel is down.

https://books2read.com/u/mVQN0Z

The Star Crossed boxed set — 7 novels by 7 authors

7 full-length novels that explore the future without forgetting that the most dangerous battles will always be within the human heart. Aliens, AI, cyborgs, galactic empires, space battles, and romance…you’ll find them all here, along with heroines and heroes you’ll cheer for.

This has my Star Nomad (Fallen Empire, Book 1) in it, which is also in the Fallen Empire bundle I linked above, but there are six other novels by other authors that you can check out:

books2read.com/u/3kG0l6

That’s it for now. Grab these while you can!

Posted in Free Fiction | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Science Fiction by Women: Some Freebies to Check out

What’s Coming from Me in 2019!

Hey, all!

As I’ve been reminded, not everybody follows me on Facebook or Twitter or through my newsletter (sign up for my sci-fi one here and my fantasy one here), so I should make an effort to update the website with news more often. So, here’s what you can look forward to from me this year.

SFWA Fantasy Bundle

First off, I’m part of a big kickass-fantasy-heroines boxed set over at StoryBundle (available until Feb 14th) with a lot of other fun authors. If you’ve enjoyed my stories, I think you’ll like the offerings in this bundle.

https://storybundle.com/fantasy

For $5, you get the basic bundle of five ebooks in any format, and for $15, you unlock all the bonus books, including my Dragon Blood boxed set (I’ll let you decide whether Sardelle or Jaxi is the kickass heroine in that series… Jaxi is positive it’s her.)

New Fantasy Coming Soon!

As you may know, I finished off my Agents of the Crown series last fall. If you missed it, Book 1 is Eye of Truth (exclusive to Amazon until summer 2019, and then it will be available everywhere).

I’ve been itching to start a new science fiction universe, but I have some dangling series I need to finish up, so I’m going to work on those in between launching new things. I’ve been hard at work on my Chains of Honor series this winter. I’ve finished Book 3 (Assassin’s Bond), and you can pre-order it in all the major stores. It comes out February 20th.

If you’re one of my Patreon subscribers, you’ll get it this weekend: https://patreon.com/lindsayburoker/

If you haven’t tried these books yet (it’s a spinoff series set in my Emperor’s Edge world, and Akstyr, Rias, Sicarius, and Amaranthe all have cameos), you can grab Book 1, Warrior Mage, everywhere.

As long as I was back with Yanko, Dak, and the crew, I decided to finish off the series and write Book 4 too. I just completed the first draft and am editing that now. I should have it ready to publish in March or April.

A New Space Adventure Series

Once Chains of Honor is wrapped up, I’m going to jump into the sci-fi series I’ve been wanting to start since last summer. It will be something all new, series title: Star Kingdom. I’m not sure how many books there will be yet, but it’s going to be my main project of 2019.

There will be pirates, robotics scientists, bacteriologists, genetically engineered badasses, archaeologists, and a ship’s snarky AI. In short, all the usual things you find in space opera. (Okay, okay, you don’t usually find many space adventure stories with bacteriologists for heroes, but I promise the usual humor, action, and adventure.) I hope to launch the first couple of novels by May.

And then…?

I’m not sure yet. If there’s something you’re dying to see, let me know in the comments. I may do a new installment in Rust & Relics or Sky Full of Stars, or I may write a sequel to Fractured Stars. That story is close to my heart, and I believe we need to find out where the dog Junkyard (who now has his own novella) really came from. I also haven’t forgotten that Basilard, in Diplomats & Fugitives, needs a follow-up.

Knowing me, I’ll be itching to start an all-new series by this fall (I was joking with my beta readers about “dragon cozy mysteries” not long ago), but I do want to get some of the older stuff wrapped up too.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Posted in Ebook News | Tagged , , , , | 52 Comments