Welcome, new folks!

Hi, there. If you've joined the mailing list recently, I want to make sure you get your free Frosthelm book, Traitors Unseen. If you haven't gotten it, you can get it free here (the site will ask you to sign up for this newsletter, which you're already getting) or here from Smashwords. It's also on Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. Please, enjoy with my compliments.

A million pages!

I hit a big milestone a week or so ago - one million pages of my novels read in Kindle Unlimited, which is Amazon's book subscription service where readers pay a flat fee for access to a big collection of books. All of my books are in the Kindle Unlimited program, and that program is responsible for about half of my book revenue since I released Flames Over Frosthelm back in 2019.

The graph here is from October 4.

As you can see, the trend is upward, although this year (2023) might be a bit of a fluke. I was helped by a single BookBub featured $0.99 deal for my Inquisitors' Guild box set of three novels - that's the teal color in the graph. That promotion hit in March and elevated my stats for about four months. The BookBub features are highly effective, quite expensive to run, and also strictly curated - you can't get one unless you're selected, so this was my first after four years of trying. No guarantee I'll get another in the future.

But, even if it's a fluke, it's still cool to hit a million pages. For comparison, a million pages is the equivalent of about 1700 full books (KU "pages" are a little smaller than actual book pages), and it represents earnings of about $4000 from KU over four years.

Of course, this milestone isn't that big a deal in the broader scheme of things, and it's just a number, but it's pretty neat for me. A big thank you to all my readers! It keeps going - as of today, October 15th, I'm at 1,021,590 pages.

Kenai progresses in the SPSFC

As I mentioned last time, Kenai is still in this year's SPSFC, the self-published science fiction competition. The group I'm in has 24 books, and they've now done a preliminary evaluation of eleven of them (based on the first 20% of each book). Eight of those eleven are cut from the competition, while three (including Kenai) are still going. If you'd like to see the judges' thoughts, you can find their comments on Kenai here and their home base for their judging (including links to reviews of other competition books) here.

Writing progress

I said last time that I'd decided to focus for now on my second thriller. This is a book I started back last November during national novel writing month, a story about a down-on-his-luck fired college professor who's slipping into decrepitude - living in his mom's house with no prospects, no ambition, no healthy food, and very little self-care. A bunch of unexpected developments and buried secrets embroil him (and his family and friends) in a confrontation with a gang of local criminals, a confrontation at which he mostly loses. Hard. With the help of his daughter, his sole car-share passenger, a gangster, and his lawyer (who once, long ago, kissed him), he tries to fight back against those who are intent on destroying his life. Well, even more than it's currently destroyed, which is pretty darned destroyed.

I've now finished my quick editing/refresher pass, and for the past ten days, I've been writing new pages, working to bring the first draft of the book to a close. I have one climactic scene to write, and then a few more scenes to finish up the story and resolve some of the various storylines, but I know what I'm doing with it now and have a plan. I'll probably get that first draft done this week. After that, I'll need to do another editing run, and then it will be off to my early-draft reading team (including Reader Number One, my wife) for feedback.

I do more in this book than in Got Trouble with law and lawyers and with the police system. I've been researching on my own and asking knowledgeable friends for help with key questions, but if any of you out there in reader land have skills in these areas and would be down to take a look at the first draft and consult on legal process and criminal procedure, I'd love to find some consultants. Or, if you know somebody who's a lawyer or law enforcement officer who might be willing to help, that would be great too.

I want to reach a point with this book where I can move it to my early readers by the end of October, which I think is achievable. That way, when I dive into the intense writing of another NaNoWriMo in November, I can focus on that new project alone.

Some stories to try

I'm part of several author collectives, and we share each other's work to try to help all of us reach more readers. In many cases, the books we share are are free or discounted. Sometimes, they ask that you sign up for a newsletter like this one. Here are some new books I have to share this month:

First up, I have Until the End: Victory of the Dracomancer, by Luna Fox and F. Lowberry. This highly-rated first book in their series is on sale for $0.99. A heroic tale of a woman trying to save her world and herself, complete with magic and politics and war and gods.

Next, I have Ranger of Kings by C.J.R. Isley, the first book in a popular series about a country boy brought to court to train as a knight. With over 400 reviews on Amazon and 200 on GoodReads, this is a very popular epic fantasy book that looks like hits solid and well-loved fantasy themes. Have a look and see if it's for you!

Finally, I have Last Frontier by Edita Petrick. This is the seventh book of her Rim Chronicles series, on sale now for only $0.99. It tells the story of a medical officer on a starship bound for a dangerous part of space, one threatened by humanity's alien neighbors. Sounds like the marriage of many of the greatest sci fi concepts, and as a bonus, one cannot help but appreciate a character who can figure out how to get into pants like that.

Thanks

Thanks so much for signing up for my newsletter. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for upcoming books! I love hearing from people. If you've read one of my books and wouldn't mind leaving a review anywhere (Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub, LibraryThing) I'd really appreciate it! Each review helps me reach more readers. 

I hope you and your friends and family are having a safe and rewarding year!

May the Bloodmother watch over you - 

Dave