A Kickstarter for Riyria fans - and some other cool stuff
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Mar 08, 2023 at 12:57:37 PM
Hey all, Robin here. I have to post this update with Michael's account because for some reason I'm not a "manager" on this project. Weird. I know there are a lot of Riyria fans here, and as such, you are all anxiously waiting for Drumindor (the 5th Chronicle). Michael is almost done with writing that (he reports just 2 more chapters left). And no, this update isn't about that, but I have something else that is cool to report.
Kickstarter with a Royce Melborn Short Story
If you've regularly read our updates, you know I'm a huge fan of Wraitemarked Creative. They are doing some really high-quality books and running some great Kickstarter projects. Well, there is a new one that just launched, and if you are interested in Royce's time before Riyria, you can read a short story in a new anthology that Wraithemarked is producing.
Michael's story for this anthology is "May Luck Be With You," and among other things, you'll learn how Royce got his name! You can back the Kickstarter from this link.
There are also some other amazing authors contributing to this anthology, including Andrew Rowe, Jonathan French, and David Dalglish. There are more than a dozen short stories about assassins in this book, and the Kickstarter is for both paperback and hardcover editions.
I should also mention that all the proceeds from the ebook and physical copies will go to St. Jude's Hospital. So not only are you supporting some great authors, but also giving to a great charity. The ebook is available now as is the audiobook (and yes it is narrated by the Amazing Tim Gerard Reynolds!
Even though I'll get a copy of the book as a contributor, I backed the project. Why? Two reasons. One, I have a lot of followers, and I hope that seeing me pledge will bring some eyes to the project. And the other reason is that I missed one of Wraitemarked's Kickstarters, the one for M.L. Wang's The Sword of Kaigen which is available as an add-on. I've heard nothing but high praise for TSoK and having the "Wraithemarked Treatment" made it a no-brainer to pick up.
Andrew Rowe's Sufficiently Advanced Magic
If you are into LitRPG, or just want to give it a try, then Book #1 of Andrew Rowe's Arcane Ascension, is a must-read! It's also getting the Wraithemarked Creative treatment, and I'm sure it will be as beautiful as all of the projects they have done. Plus, I currently only have SAM in ebook, so I'm thrilled to have it grace my shelf. You can back this project here.
J.A. Andrews' A Threat of Shadows
Janice has been out to our house for one or more of "the writer's weekends" we have hosted in the past. And I think I "may" have helped to convince her to dip her toes in the Kickstarter waters. She's a lovely woman and a talented writer. This project is also being managed by A.C. Cobble (who you may remember from the Wahrheit Conspiracy project), and we are thrilled that there are more "helping hands" to aid authors in launching and running Kickstarters.
If the cover design looks familiar, that's because her artist has used the same "stock artwork" that we have used in the past...so, no, she didn't "steal" anything from us. We were both just attracted to the same amazing artwork.
I snatched this one up as well. Janice is a talented author and having her work in an "upgraded" format is a go-ahead-and-take-my-money decision. You can back her project from this link.
And now for something completely different
As you might imagine, Michael has people requesting a post about their projects ALL THE TIME. Generally, we try to limit our recommendations to authors we know or books we love. But we also know what it's like to be "the little guy" just trying to get some attention. A backer of one of our projects sent us a message asking to please mention this book, and even though it's not in our "wheelhouse" - not fantasy and a children's story, I thought, "why not lend a hand." So here is a like to The Adventures of Checkers the Cat. If you are a cat lover, or have children looking for a story and coloring book combination, then you might want to check out its Kickstarter. Here is the link.
The Esrahaddon Kickstarter is Running - and so is our Winter Sale!
almost 2 years ago
– Mon, Feb 13, 2023 at 06:15:29 AM
Hey all, Robin here. Just wanted to drop you a quick note and let you know about two important happenings.
Esrahaddon Kickstarter is Live!
First, we launched Kickstarter for Michael's latest bok: Esrahaddon! This is the final book in the Rise and Fall Trilogy, chronicling the life of one of Riyria's most interesting characters. We are offering the standard fare:
- ebooks
- regular hardcovers
- limited edition hardcovers
You can even purchase book #1 (Nolyn) and #2 (Farilane) if you missed them.
The project was funded in the first five minutes, hit six figures in less than an hour, broke our last funding record within two days, and is currently the 9th most-funded fiction Kickstarter of all time. We are 94% of the way to its first stretch goal, and if reached, the book's matching bookmarks will be signed.
Winter Sale is live!
Second, we are having a huge sale on all of our backlist books, including:
- Legends of the First Empire slipcase hardcover sets - Save $52
- Death of Dulgath & Disappearance of Winter's Daughter hardcovers only $10 (new) & $5 (hurt)
-
1st Edition Age of Myth Remainders
- Save more than $22 on a Nolyn/Farilane limited edition hardcover set.
- Save 10% - 82% on over 50 different offers
So if you were looking to get Michael J. Sullivan books for either yourself or loved ones, now is the perfect time to do so.
Quick links for both:
As always, Michael and I thank you for your support!
A project I'm backing and I hope you'll check it out as well
about 5 years ago
– Tue, Nov 12, 2019 at 06:58:37 AM
Hey all, Michael here. Yeah, I know it's weird, huh. Robin has been doing so many updates as of late, but I just had to come in to tell you about a Kickstarter that a good friend of mine is running right now. My hope is you'll take a look, and if you like what you see, you'll support the project. Something that I think will be good for both you and him.
I've known Dyrk for around two and a half years and he's stayed over at our cabin a few times. Also, every time I go to a convention that the two of us are at, I try to spend as much time with him as I can. Why? Dryk has a keen mind, a great sense of humor, and amazing writing acumen that makes any conversation with him worth savoring. And he's a really kind and helpful guy to fellow authors, so how can you not love that?
But enough about Dyrk, let me tell you about his books because they are well worth crowing about. The trilogy is called Paternus and these are their titles:
- Paternus: Rise of Gods
- Paternus: Wrath of Gods
- Paternus: War of Gods
They are urban fantasy tales that can best be described as American Gods meets the Avengers. Dryk is running the Kickstarter to produce hardcover copies of the first book in his series (something I've been wanting for a long time, so you know I backed the project right away).
So, when I started reading Dyrk's debut novel, my first thoughts were. "Wow this guy really knows how to draw you into a story, and his prose is smooth as silk and well polished." But I'm not the only author that sings Dyrk's praises. Here are some quotes from other authors I respect, and what they say about Paternus:
"Epic, innovative urban fantasy. A great read" -- Mark Lawrence, bestselling author of Prince of Thorns and Red Sister.
"Paternus is an imaginative, exhilarating ride. A refreshing take on contemporary fantasy." -- Anthony Ryan, New York Times Bestselling Author of Blood Song and The Legion of Flame
"Terrific! Paternus is intelligent, intricate, suspenseful, and epic." -- Nicholas Eames, Gemmell Award-winning author of Kings of the Wyld and Bloody Rose.
If you don't want to wait for the hardcover to get started, the first two books are out now, and they are enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited program so you can read them for free (or pick up a copy of each for under $5 -- such a deal!) And if you do, you can even get an early copy of the final book which will be released to the retail chain on May 19, 2020.
As you already know, I'm a huge proponent of Kickstarter, and I've been trying to nudge more authors to use this great platform. Robin has done some coaching with Dyrk, and I'm glad to see him diving in. The project is already funded (did so in just over 24 hours). Currently, he is just $790 away from five-figures, and I'm sure with your help he'll blow through that milestone. So, take a look, and if you like what you see, please join me in making this project an even bigger success.
Age of Death Kickstarter still going strong.
about 5 years ago
– Thu, Aug 29, 2019 at 01:42:31 PM
I'm sure most of you already know about this (because I sent an email before the launch, and also had a project update) but not everyone sees everything, so I'm posting again. So, we launched the Age of Death Kickstarter a 7 days ago.And it' already surpassed this Kickstarter and may even past my previously most successful one (Age of Legend).
So far, we've raised $90,199 from 2,493 backers. and we are only 61 backers from our 3rd stretch goal.
Oh, and a special note for our international backers. We listened to your shipping concerns and if we have a high enough volume, we will be shipping in Europe from a local fulfillment company. But even if we don't have enough orders, we have greatly reduced our profit margins for non-US orders and applied those savings to bring down the cost of getting books into the hands of people outside the United States. So, if you live outside the US and want signed books, for the Legends of the First Empire you could save $20 to $46.
I hope you'll join us!
Age of Legend Kickstarter starts tomorrow
over 5 years ago
– Wed, Feb 27, 2019 at 01:48:12 AM
Hey all,
Tomorrow at noon EST I'll be launching the Kickstarter for Age of Legend, the next book in my Legends of the First Empire series. If you want to take a look at the project (currently in preview state) You can find it here.
For those that don't know, The Legends of the first Empire are a six book series and Del Rey (a fantasy imprint of Penguin Random House) released the first three of these books. Previously, I had sold the audio rights for all the books books, and while Del Rey was disappointed they couldn't have the audio, they took the print and ebook and "called it good." Well, time passed and when it came time to sign the next three, I reminded them that the audiobook rights were gone and that put up a roadblock. Apparently PRH changed their corporate policy such that no new contracts could be signed unless they contained audio.
We went searching for other publishers but it was the same with all of the big-five. So we went to the largest non-big-five and while they were willing to do a deal without audio...in fact we were going to do print-only with them...there were other contract terms that were a problem (not to mention they wanted to keep the spacing between books at 1 year, and I wanted the last three to come out more quickly. Anyway...we eventually determined we weren't on the same page about many things publishing related, so now we're going to do the print books ourselves.
We want to make sure that they exactly match the previously released books so we are using the same printer, paper, cover stock, and even font. This Kickstarter will help raise funds for that printing.
If you've not started that series yet, now would be a great time as I have a reward level that gets you signed hardcovers for all four books at a savings of $22. That's about 20% off the cover price, and that includes Book #2 which is now out of print, but I purchased a bunch of the left over hardcovers.
In any case, I hope you check it out, and if it looks interesting, please consider backing it. There are a number of Early-bird specials which will get you 20% off of the ebooks or single hardcover reward levels.
Michael.
