New Covers for Slave Empire and The Broken World

Below are the new covers for these two series, either completely new or totally revamped with some previous elements. Some of these went through several versions before I settled on a final cover design that I like. As I got better at using the software, I was able to improve the quality and be more adventurous. I love art, and enjoyed making these, although there’s always room for improvement. I think these are much better than the old ones.

iBooks Free Series-starter E-books Promotion!

 

iBooks has done it yet again! Just as I recovered from reeling in amazement at their last promo of indie authors – in which I had a taste of the action – they’ve started another multi-genre free series-starter feature and included The Broken World Book One – Children of Another God! I can’t begin to express how much it means to an indie author to see his or her books featured at iBooks, which, in my humble opinion, is the best indie e-book promotor in the world! Go iBooks! We love you! iBooks rocks!

For all of you looking for a great holiday read, you’ll find a wide selection of the best free series-starters at iBooks, so don’t miss out! Grab your free e-books today and discover super series to read in 2015! Thank you iBooks for all the great promotions in 2014, and all those still to come. Thank you Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords.com, for all the support and encouragement. You rock! If you’re an indie author looking for the best place to publish your books, I highly recommend Smashwords.com. Congratulations to all the Smashwords authors who made it into the iBooks feature!

On another note, Demon Lord 9, tentatively titled The Forgotten Lands, is now available on pre-order, and the proposed publication date is June 7, 2015. It might happen sooner, depending on how the writing goes, and I’m hoping it will. This title may also change, subject to what happens in the book, which isn’t finished yet. I have two other books in the works – The Cyber Chronicles 10 and Slave Empire 4, both as yet untitled. I’ll put those on pre-order as well, as soon as I’m comfortable that I’m within striking distance of finishing them. I intend to try to make up for my lack of writing last year – due to illness – and publish at least three new titles in 2015. Lots of adventures still to come!

The Broken World trailer

Today I’m pleased to share another book trailer with you, for The Broken World series. Comments welcome!

For those who haven’t read the series yet, you can find all the books at the following distributors:

Smashwords
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Sony
Kobo
iTunes

Book 1 is free, so grab your copy today!

Apple's iBooks Store Does It Again!

I’m delighted to announce that four of my free series-starter books, The Queen's Blade, Children of Another God – The Broken World, Demon Lord, and Queen of Arlin – The Cyber Chronicles, are featured on the 'First in a Series: Free' feature that the Australian/New Zealand iBooks Store launched this morning. I love Apple! The iBooks Store is constantly coming up with new ways to promote indie authors. It’s such a rush for a relatively unknown indie author like me to see my books touted at a huge worldwide retailer like Apple.

It’s the type of publicity all new, unknown and up and coming authors need to gain a foothold in this tough and competitive market, and I encourage new authors to choose Apple as one of their targeted retailers. It’s the best decision you'll make when it comes to marketing your books! Apple gives credit where it’s due, and for readers, that means it’s one of the best places to find exciting books by new and original authors who break the mould with their writing and therefore don’t fit into a niche mainstream publishers are prepared to publish. Here's the link, if you want to check it out: http://bit.ly/1hlzFRW

Virtual Book Tour Itinerary

1 – 14 August 2013

For all of you who would like to visit the various blogs partaking in my virtual book tour and read the interviews and articles being posted, below is a complete list of the dates and blogs taking part. I hope you all enjoy the tour!

Thursday, 1 August
Tour kick-off: author showcase, hosted by Glynis Smy and Fireblade Publishers

Friday, 2 August
How to Create Good Characters, hosted by Rebekah Grow

Saturday, 3 August
Author & character interview, hosted by Nicole Hill

Sunday, 4 August
Showcasing The Queen’s Blade fantasy series, hosted by Chris Graham

Monday, 5 August
World Building, hosted by Pippa Jay, and showcasing The Queen’s Blade on Glynis Smy’s Virtual Bookcase

Tuesday, 6 August
Familiar’s Relationships with Humans in The Queen’s Blade, hosted by James L. Wilber, and author showcases, hosted by Mathew Reuther and Louise Blankenship

Wednesday, 7 August
Creating Original Fantasy Creatures, hosted by Michelle Louring

Thursday, 8 August
How to Write a Good Fight Scene, hosted by Fireblade Publishers

Friday, 9 August
Why Reading is Important, hosted by Cinta Garcia de la Rosa

Saturday, 10 August
Inside the Mind of an Author, hosted by Tracy Falbe

Sunday, 11 August
How to Deal with Book Pirates & author interview, hosted by the Indie Author Network

Monday, 12 August
Literary Characters TC Southwell would Date, Dump or Marry, hosted by Nicole Hill

Tuesday, 13 August
Tips for New Writers, hosted by The Independent Bookworm

Wednesday, 14 August
Extract from The Broken World fantasy series, hosted by the Indie Author Network, and The Magic Systems in Southwell’s Books, hosted by Marsha A. Moore

For daily tour updates and a tour overview on Thursday, 15 August, visit this blog.

New Promotion On Apple iBookstore

More fantastic news! Apple Australia and New Zealand iBookstores have done it again. I love Apple! It is presently featuring three of my free series-starter books in a campaign for free bestsellers and series starters, and the titles are The Queen’s Blade, The Broken World Book One: Children of Another God, and The Cyber Chronicles Book One: Queen of Arlin. They could even be featured in both segments.

The campaign started two days ago, and was advertised today in a huge email blast by Apple to all of its customers in Australia and New Zealand. The promotion will probably continue through June 11. I’m over the moon! Australia is Apple's second largest store after the US! Thank you, Apple iBookstore, for promoting the books to such an extent – far beyond my wildest hopes and dreams!

Also, thank you so much to Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords.com, for recommending my books to Apple for its promotions, and to all my fans who gave them great reviews and wonderful comments! You made this happen. Apple iBookstore is, in my humble opinion, the greatest promoter of indie authors in the world, along with Smashwords.com, and its help in spreading the word about indie books is greatly appreciated! The free books can be downloaded on the following links:

Final Edit Of All The Series

Editing seems to be a never-ending task, but it has to end sometime, or I'll never write anything new. When The Queen’s Blade was selected as ‘Book of the Week’ by Apple iBookstore at the end of March, I decided to go through it again and try to improve it further, since its popularity has grown so much. Of course, I found plenty to fix, and tried to make it more concise, editing out some overly flowery prose that bugged me, and some repetition, too. My trusty editor also went through the books, and found plenty of typos and mistakes. So, those are all re-edited and uploaded again, and then I had to do the other series. I’m currently working on Demon Lord, and still have the last two books of The Broken World to do. Then I’m finished at last, and this is definitely the final edit, which is why it’s also the most thorough and, I hope, will eliminate 99% of the errors.

After this, I’m going to write some new books. I almost continued Slave Empire, but then I edited Demon Lord and got sucked into that, so I’ll probably continue that one next instead. I find that whichever series I read gains me a ‘hook’ into that particular channel. To all those readers who ask whether or not I’ll be continuing a series, the answer is a resounding yes, most definitely; all of them. It’s so encouraging that readers want more of all the series, and the emails I receive are amazing! Thank you to everyone who’s written to me, and keep them coming! I always reply.

Many people have expressed a wish for The Queen’s Blade to be made into a series of films or a TV series, and I echo it. If there are any producers or directors out there who are looking for a fantasy series to make into a series of films, I hope they contact me. I would love to see the story brought to life, and solve the riddle of who would play the role of Blade, which will be hard to do well; a challenge for any actor.