Netflix for Books

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Over the past few days Amazon has once again shaken up the world of ebook publishing by announcing its Kindle Unlimited (KU) program, a subscription service which allows members (currently in the US only) access to a more or less unlimited number of ebooks and audiobooks for the payment of a $9.99 monthly fee. This is being touted as a Netflix for Ebooks in some corners and it has caused controversy and much fevered discussion among indie authors. Lots of people have expressed opinions about the upsides, downsides and possible strategies for indie authors. For what it’s worth these are Read more…

Second Kormak Saga Omnibus Released

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The second Kormak omnibus has been released. It’s a three-for-the-price-of-two bargain available at all the major e-book retailers right now. Here’s the blurb. THE SECOND KORMAK SAGA OMNIBUS From the rat-infested streets of nightmare-haunted Vermstadt, to the ruins of the greatest of all Dwarvish nations and beyond, Kormak must battle demons and monsters and the worst evil of all, that which lies within the human heart. The Kormak Omnibus compiles three of Kormak’s greatest adventures into one massive volume packed with action, adventure and magic. CITY OF STRIFE A sinister conspiracy brings the great city-state of Vermstadt to the edge Read more…

Ocean of Fear Author’s Notes

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With my usual relentless lack of efficiency I have finally gotten round to writing up the author’s notes for Ocean of Fear only two months after the book was released. Here they are now. The tortured girl is dying, slowly and in agony. The brooding stranger who has come across her broken body by the side of the path listens to her tale of murder and rapine with mounting rage. As the girl passes, his wrath explodes. “Men shall die for this,” he says. And you, the reader, know they will. For the stranger is Solomon Kane, the puritan adventurer Read more…

Starting A Mailing List

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Every writer should have a mailing list. That’s one of those of those bits of advice that you will get sooner or later if you hang around writers’ boards on the internet long enough. It also happens to be true although it took me a long time to realise it. I started my mailing list a few years back. To be honest, for the first year or so, I made no effort to attract folk to my mailing list whatsoever. And, oddly enough, it never seemed very useful. Then I read Your First Thousand Copies which made a pretty convincing Read more…

A False Start

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I am on holiday in the very lovely Cesky Raj and I am looking for an easy subject for a blog post. Fortunately one is close at hand. Last week I announced the release of the second Kormak short story, A Cold and Lonely Place, and this provoked some interesting discussions in the comments and emails I received. Among the things that came up was my habit of writing first scenes of short stories that I don’t or can’t finish. The reasons for this are alluded to in the comments of the last post. What I thought I would do Read more…

A Cold and Lonely Place Released

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A Cold and Lonely Place, the latest Kormak short story, is now available.     Here’s the blurb. To the world at large, he is a mercenary and assassin, a brutal killer with a deadly blade. In reality Kormak is a Guardian, one of an ancient order sworn to protect humanity from the servants of the gathering darkness. Grimhaven holds a fatal secret as any visitor discovers too late. On a dark autumn evening, as the full moon glares down on the village, a stranger arrives, a man called Kormak, on a mission to uncover what happened to a friend Read more…