My son threw up at school Tuesday.
My wife threw up yesterday.
My daughter started throwing up last night...on her birthday.
Happy Friday!
(help me I need a nap)
Today, I received 63 books that I have to pay for out of pocket because a bookstore ordered and returned them. Why did they buy so many copies? I have no way of knowing. I just have to pay ~$750.
Please if you own a bookstore, don't do this. It could literally destroy an author.
Warning! ⚠️
Do not purchase the audiobook for Stones of Light from Audible or Amazon. It was not created with my permission, and will hopefully be removed soon.
The real audiobook will be available next month.
Announcing the Indie Fantasy Fund 💰
The IFF aims to support indie authors by covering some of the cost of essential publishing services like cover art, editors, narrators, etc.
To start, we will grant $1,000 to five authors.
Learn more at
📚 HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!
A new YouTube channel with FREE fantasy audiobooks, including a series narrated by
@TravisBaldree
!
Subscribe for weekly uploads...and to help us pass the 1000 subscriber monetization requirement ❤️
Thank you
@PetrikReads
for helping announce!
Writers! For “Follow Friday”:
Type “Follow “ and let predictive text tell us what to do!
Mine:
Follow me and I’ll let you live
😳
#ff
#writingcommmunity
YouTube milestone!
We hit 1 MILLION HOURS of people listening to the 30 audiobooks we have up, which is the equivalent of 83,000 full audiobooks 😱
Help us get to 2 million? (link below)
Can someone please write a YA story about a kid who goes to an Easter Egg Hunt and finds a dragon egg?
“Found the golden egg!”
As the young boy lifted it off the ground, the earth shook and the egg grew warm to the touch. It cracked. The shell split and two red eyes stared back
So excited to reveal the cover for Stones of Light!
This book has scenes that I’ve been thinking about since before I started writing the series, and y’all are truly going to love it!
The Threadlight series is officially complete!
A huge thank you to the early readers (4.92 on Goodreads!?) and the many authors who have inspired and supported me along the way.
To celebrate, you can pick up the whole series for less than $5!
📣 The Indie Fantasy Fund 2023 is now live!
Authors: check out our website where you can learn about the fund and apply for a grant to help with self-publishing expenses.
The Deluxe Omnibus Kickstarter is live!
🔥 $85 for 3 award-winning books
"I truly believe that, as the years progress, in terms of Indie fantasy books, Argyle's trilogy will go down as one of the most popular, accessible, and well-respected series of all-time."
— Author, P.L.
24 hours of holding onto this was too much!
Say hello to the first full color illustration for the Deluxe Threadlight Omnibus!
"My son is mine" by
@VargasNi
Just 3 days left to back the Kickstarter.
One writing rule I hear often is to “never use adverbs”.
I’m smirking as I read The Shadow of What was Lost (Licanius
#1
), adverbs littered across every paragraph, and still the book has 4.15 stars on Goodreads.
Story is more important than Rules
#WritingCommunity
#fantasy
I have 5 pieces of concept art for my new epic fantasy series. Going to share them in my next newsletter! But I can't help myself, so here's one...
Sacheron was a city of unparalleled beauty and commerce before the Ascension. Centuries later, ruined and inhabited by the Terroth.
2023 — Year in Review + Financial Transparency
(Link below)
Particularly proud that I was able to generate $25k for other authors last year between YouTube and the non-profit!
The Epic Fantasy Audiobooks channel gained ~1000 new subscribers out of nowhere last week, and I couldn't figure out why. Well, this morning I figured it out:
@DanielBGreene
!
Thanks for sharing in last week's fantasy news! Your voice makes a difference!
My visual representation of the
#SPFBO
8 contestants is live! Stop by and take a look at all of the beautiful covers this year. I'll keep the page updated as books are cut, selected as semi-finalists/finalists, etc.
Hope it's useful!
Don't use AI art.
Do your research, and you can get a great cover for a reasonable rate. You have many options.
Fun fact: I paid $80 for the cover illustration for Voice of War...
Authors using AI art on your covers, you're cutting off your own leg.
I'm not even talking about the accusations of "thief" that you're going to get. Let's set that aside.
I'm talking about the price you're paying in reputation and marketability to save maybe $1000.
(1/10)
Two exciting announcements!
1) Rob J Hayes is joining the Epic Fantasy Audiobooks YouTube channel with his The Ties That Bind series. Hype!
2) Daniel Greene just announced that his audiobooks are going up on his channel as well! More audio for everyone!
If you love a book/series, DM the author and tell them!
I got the nicest message last night on Instagram from someone who finished the Threadlight series, and I keep thinking about it. Helping me get through a chaotic mess of a day job.
Bonds of Chaos (Threadlight
#3
) came out 1 month ago today! While it's no best-seller, quite happy with the stats so far. Next steps: audio release + box set.
~500 ebook copies sold
~200 print copies sold
~50,000 KU page reads
88 Goodreads ratings (4.56 ★)
The Legend (and latte) himself.
Great meeting
@TravisBaldree
today at his signing, and then spending too much money on beautiful books.
(I brought him a cinnamon roll 😆)
📣 Shoutout to The Broken Binding!
They are having a beautiful influence on the industry in normalizing indie and trad books side by-side. It’s really, really cool.
Go buy their books!
@binding_broken
📣 2023 Indie Fantasy Fund Grant Winners!
• 15 Indie Authors
• $10,000 of cash grants
• Service grants for editing and cover design
More details below 👇
I have officially arrived back in Seattle.
#DragonCon
was absolutely wonderful. Genuinely loved every person I met. The fantasy book community is really something special.
Now…a nap.
My mom (60) has convinced her bookclub to read my epic fantasy book, Voice of War.
Thing is...they have never read a fantasy book in their 21 years together as a bookclub. And they want me to come discuss it with them afterward.
This cannot end well 😂
Feeling especially grateful these days as more and more people send pics of their omnibus arriving.
From all authors, thank you for supporting us and allowing us to bring these stories to life.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
1M Views!
SO INCREDIBLY PROUD of my wife for hitting such an exciting milestone. If you don't already follow her for bookish content and adult fantasy deep dives, highly recommend!
Obsessed, actually!
We have the second full color illustration for the faux-leather Deluxe Threadlight Omnibus!
Art by
@solana18031
The Kickstarter may be over, but there will be one last opportunity to back the campaign in ~10 days!
24 hours of holding onto this was too much!
Say hello to the first full color illustration for the Deluxe Threadlight Omnibus!
"My son is mine" by
@VargasNi
Just 3 days left to back the Kickstarter.
Feast your eyes on the new cover for Voice of War!
As much as I loved the previous illustration, this new cover much better portrays the story. I absolutely love how Chrys and Iriel turned out, and just wait until you see the cover for book 2!
#SPFBO
📣 Announcing the 2024 IFF Grant Winners!
We had $12,000 in donations this year, which will make a huge difference toward financing narration of audiobooks for these authors—one of the books is 1054 pages—none of which have any previous audio of their work.
Congratulations!
🎧 FREE FANTASY AUDIOBOOK!
Two years ago today, my debut novel was published. It won the Indies Today Best Fantasy award and was a finalist in both
#SPFBO
and
#BBNYA
.
Now, I'm giving away the audiobook for FREE.
Join my newsletter and download.
When I entered SPFBO, no one knew who I was. No one was rooting for me. No one had read my book. And honestly, that made every moment that much more sweet. I celebrated when I became a semi-finalist. I was in shock when I became a finalist. And I still can't believe I came in 4th
Wow! 🥳
Voice of War won the Independent Sci-fi Fantasy Author Battle! First place out of 100!
It’s days like today, including some nice reviews, that remind me that I’m not too shabby at this! Even if I’m hard on myself…
My favorite Cosmere book in years.
Mistborn era 1 is my favorite trilogy. Words of Radiance is my favorite fantasy book. Mistborn era 2 was fine, as was Rhythm of War. I did enjoy Tress quite a bit. But Yumi and the Nightmare Painter was wonderful.
Have you read it!?
I, hereby, grant permission to any reader who has a theory for what might happen in the book/series they are reading to tweet that theory at the author directly, thereby making their life.
Seriously, authors love hearing your theories!
Two years ago,
@Mark__Lawrence
and I joked about my name.
Today, I was informed that "Zackar Gyle" makes an appearance in The Book That Wouldn't Burn 😂
Mark, my friend, you are a legend.
Heading to the airport for
#DragonCon2023
!
My schedule is simply: "Meet friends IRL"
Find me. Hug me. Nerd out with me. Happy to sign any books you bring! See you tomorrow!
Epic Fantasy Audiobooks YouTube channel update:
- 16 audiobooks across 6 series
- 4000+ subscribers
- 215K hours of audio watched
- Revenue: ~$1,000+ / month
- No decrease in sales on other platforms
What questions do you have?
When I released Voice of War, I had 10 Kindle preorders (friends and family). Stones of Light jumped to 50.
Bonds of Chaos is far exceeding both and I just...you all are the best!
"One of my favourite series of all time." — Indie Accords
Today, it is my pleasure to REVEAL the luxurious Deluxe Omnibus Edition of the THREADLIGHT trilogy by
@SFFAuthor
! Faux-leather, sprayed edges, full-color artworks by
@VargasNi
and
@omerburakonal
, etc! This will be GORGEOUS😍
The Kickstarter page is here!
The Deluxe Omnibus Kickstarter is live!
🔥 $85 for 3 award-winning books
"I truly believe that, as the years progress, in terms of Indie fantasy books, Argyle's trilogy will go down as one of the most popular, accessible, and well-respected series of all-time."
— Author, P.L.
Finished The Will of the Many!
Ended up enjoying this a lot more than I expected. And that epilogue really does have fascinating implications!
Anyone else read this?
🗓️ Mark your calendar!
* Secondary sale of the Deluxe Threadlight Omnibus *
March 1st @ 9AM
- Limited copies, with and without slipcase
- Purchase link will be shared in my newsletter first
I...loved this?
No one told me The Book That Wouldn't Burn is epic fantasy disguised in a faux-leather cover.
A unique wonder, filled with action and philosophy, and brimming with mystery. Highly recommend!
Popular Author defense mechanisms:
Indie, "I am more wealthy than trad!"
Trad, "I am more legitimate than indie!"
Look, we're all just a bunch of nerds. Let's celebrate each other's successes instead of feeling attacked by them.
In the wake of AI art drama, we have internal illustration
#5
for the Threadlight omnibus! Love how this one turned out!
“Necrolyte Racer” by
@andrew_maleski_
Internal illustration
#4
!
I've had several reviewers over the years mention that the Threadlight magic system would make a cool anime or graphic novel. After seeing this art by Ömer Burak Önal for a scene from Bonds of Chaos, I agree!
Say hello to the Heralds by
@omerburakonal
I just had an amazing idea for a YA Fantasy stand-alone novel, but I need to finish editing my WIP.
How often does this happen to you
#WritingCommunity
? 😅
Touched down back in Seattle!
FanX was my first time selling books at a con, and it was a ton of fun. I’m also SO TIRED. Ended up selling ~150 books over the three days (sold out of books 2 & 3), and a new reader DM’ed me to say they’re loving book 1!
Being an author is fun!
Say hello to the original cover illustration for Bonds of Chaos!
This was commissioned before Stones of Light was written, and didn’t quite working with the changes I made, but it’s still pretty awesome!
Today is our 10th wedding anniversary, and my wife just keeps getting cooler (if you have checked out her BookTube channel, you’re missing out!)
To many more years!!! ❤️