The Arcanist - Finally Published

[psychotick]

Hi Guys,

It's been a long hard struggle but my new steampunk fantasy has finally hit the shelves of Amazon - only as an ebook so far, the paperback will come next week.

Here's the link:

Amazon.com: The Arcanist eBook: Greg Curtis: Books

Hopefully if I've worked out how to cut and paste linked images this should be the cover:

And here's the blurb:


Edouard Severin was useless. Happily useless.

The third son of Count Argus Severin he would not inherit the title of count nor the reins of House Barris. He was free to do what he liked with his life provided he didn't embarrass his family. And what he liked was to live in his ancient fort in the town of Breakwater, tinker with his machines and play with his magic. Life was good.

Then the city of Theria was attacked by a herd of stampeding mammoths, his older brother Marcus turned up on his doorstep in the middle of the night demanding his help, and he suddenly had to put his skills to use in investigating the crime.

Little did he know that the attack was merely the first step in a plan to seize control of the Kingdom of Therion, or that the one responsible would be a member of his own family.

Let me know what you think about any of it.

I'm off to take a rest.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[BWFoster78]

Greg,

Dani does good work, doesn't she?

Just out of curiosity, the sample has line spaces between the paragraphs. Does the actual book have them as well?

Thanks.

Brian

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Yes. She's a brilliant artist. And yes again. My eyes maybe aren't so good any more and a wall of text is tough for me. So my standard format is a line between paragraphs and a small indent. Plus I use a twelve point font in my books.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[BWFoster78]

My eyes maybe aren't so good any more and a wall of text is tough for me. So my standard format is a line between paragraphs and a small indent. Plus I use a twelve point font in my books.

Hmmm. I'm not super techno literate, but it took me about five seconds to change the font size and line spacing on my Kindle App. So were I suffering from eye problems like you, I'd be able to space the lines farther apart and make the font as big as I wanted with absolutely no issues at all.

One thing I can't do, though, is get rid of extra line spaces. Since I read on a phone (even though it's the biggest phone I could find - the Samsung Galaxy Mega), the extra line spaces mean that I would have to swipe to change pages all the more often, something that I find really annoying. Basically, when I see that a novel is formatted with extra spaces, I automatically move on to the next book regardless of any other factor.

That's probably just me, though, so I doubt you're losing many sales over it.

The advice all the pros over at KBoards give, however, is to format as standard as possible, including no extra line spaces.

Just wanted to make sure you were aware of the "work around" if the text is too close for you and that people who read on phones, an increasing segment of the customer base, tend to hate extra line spaces.

Thanks.

Brian

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I've thought about it and others have said the same. Personally I don't use phones for reading - it's like texting - one of the most stupid ideas ever invented in my view. And yes it may lose me a few sales. But I'm comfortable with that for the clarity of the read. Also, it probably comes more naturally to me since my background is in the sciences and block formatting is fairly standard in journals.

However, there's one other thing to consider in this age of ebooks and indies. There is no right and wrong any more. I use my own format, and while it may not be usual, it's not wrong. There's no cost to having a little extra blank space on a computer screen. So why not do what you want? Write plots that no agent would ever publish. Change the language to suit what you as the author think is right not what some editor likes. Format as you see fit.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[BWFoster78]

Greg,

Personally I don't use phones for reading - it's like texting - one of the most stupid ideas ever invented in my view.

I think of it this way: Literally everywhere I go every minute of the day, I have my entire library of books with me. Standing in line at the DMV? Read a chapter. Waiting at the Dr's office? Read a chapter. In a really boring meeting where my project only takes up 1/20 of the total meeting? Read a chapter.

It's not my preferred reading environment, but the convenience of being able to read anytime I want makes it worth it.

However, there's one other thing to consider in this age of ebooks and indies. There is no right and wrong any more. I use my own format, and while it may not be usual, it's not wrong.

That's one attitude, and if you're happy with what you're doing, there's nothing wrong with it. I'm taking a different approach - trying to use the experience and wisdom of those who have gone before me. I read a lot of advice from actual indie writers who are selling in today's market. There are a lot of them out there saying, "This works for me. Doing this improved my sales. This is what readers react to."

My goal is to be as "successful" as possible, and I think I'm better off listening to those authors than I am choosing to do it how I want.

Again, though, that's just me. You're absolutely right that the fantastic thing about being indie is that you truly are independent. Sounds like you're happy with your choices, so that's completely cool.

I just thought I'd let you know my perspective just in case you found it useful.

Thanks.

Brian

 

[psychotick]

Hi Brian,

Glad of your input. Should just point out that I am one of the actual indie writers selling in todays market and the Arcanist is selling reasonably well for a new release. As I say I may lose a few sales with my unusual format, but I don't think it's critical.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[BWFoster78]

Greg,

Good deal. Perhaps your audience isn't particularly impacted by formatting. Other voices are saying that having their stuff professionally formatted made a significant difference in their sales. Though perhaps their increase in numbers was due to many factors working together.

I have no experience either way.

I just see numbers like 500,000 pages read in a month at 5.7 cent/page, and I'm like, "Wow." Another lady had 1.5 million pages read over 13 books. Again, "Wow!"

Best of luck to you with the book!

Brian