news and updates – Page 6 – One Thousand And One Parsecs

Good things are happening!

It’s been a while since I posted a general update here on the blog, and while I’ve been sharing regular updates to my mailing list, enough has been happening that I suppose I should let all the rest of you know what’s going on.

First, I decided to pull out a bunch of investment money and put it into my writing, in order to go full-time for the next few months (and hopefully for the forseeable future). I shared more about this on my newsletter. Basically, I rewrote my business plan and decided that my best way forward is to go all-in for the next few months, writing more books and growing my business. I have a plan, and if it works, I’ll be able to go full-time indefinitely.

Second—and this may seem to contradict the first—I got a job at the local used bookstore, Pioneer Book! I’ve been going to this bookstore for years, befriending the manager and several employees, and several months ago (before I decided to reinvest in my writing business) I dropped off a resume in the hopes of getting a job there. When I got the call, I wasn’t going to turn it down.

It’s a part-time, 20 hours per week job that fits in perfectly with my writing. It’s also a job where I get to work with books, and be around bookish people, so I’m sure there will be lots of opportunities to learn interesting things that will help as I build my own writing and publishing career. Basically, it’s the perfect day job for a writer, and I’ve really been enjoying it so far.

Writing-wise, I just finished Gunslinger to Earth, the third book in the Gunslingers trilogy, and I’m finishing up the revisions to send it to my editor hopefully in the next few weeks. My next WIP is Edenfall, and I’m hard at work on it now. The goal is to finish it by March, and publish it over the summer.

Publishing-wise, I’ve revamped the backmatter in my books again, with a new map for how everything connects to everything else. The biggest change is in my short stories, which aren’t mapped out here, but basically I’m going to focus on putting them into bundles, and have the singles point there. Eventually, I want to have only one or two singles for every bundle, with five to six stories per bundle. I have enough stories written to fill out four bundles, but a bunch of them are still out on submission, so it could take a while.

I’ve also been doing a lot more to build my email list, not just through Prolific Works but also through Bookfunnel, Story Origin, and MyBookCave. There is a method to the madness, and all of this fits into the wider plan. I’ve also updated the pricing on some of my books, and experimenting with AMS ads, though there’s not much to report on that front at the moment.

In short, I’ve been pretty busy. Most of my time and effort is going toward writing. I’ve got a very aggressive writing schedule for the next year, and hope to finish all of my trilogies before 2020, including the Genesis Earth trilogy and the Twelfth Sword trilogy. The way I have it planned out, if I can average 1600 words a day, I’ll be able to do that no problem.

As far as my personal life is concerned, I’ve been dating a really fantastic girl for the last few months and things are going very, very well. I’m not sure how much of that I should share, but you’ll probably hear more about it in the future, if not here on the blog, then definitely in my author’s notes and newsletter.

As of right now, 2019 is looking to be a fantastic year! I’m really looking forward to seeing what the rest of the year will bring, and I expect I’ll have lots of good things to share with you in the future. Take care, and thanks for reading!

Finishing up Gunslinger to Earth

I’m finishing up right now with the third and final book in the Gunslingers Trilogy, Gunslinger to Earth. Just one more chapter to wrap everything up, then all the final revisions for the last few chapters. So far, so good.

At 40k words, this is turning out to be one of my shorter novels. I’m really happy with how it’s turned out so far, though. It wraps up a bunch of stuff from the previous books, with a surprisingly hopeful and optimistic look toward the future of the universe.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll post a few excerpts, being careful to avoid any spoilers for the previous books. If all goes well, it should be up for preorder sometime in February, with an April release date.

In case you’re curious, I wrote almost the whole thing while listening to the 2009 A State of Trance year mix. Such a great year for trance.

Next up, Edenfall!

Reconsidering my newsletter

One of my writer friends made an interesting comment the other day. We were talking about email newsletters, and he pointed out that Jordan Peterson’s 5th rule, “don’t let your children do anything that makes you dislike them,” also applies to newsletter subscribers.

Obviously, I don’t think that my newsletter subscribers are my children. But the principle is the same. We tend to care more about people that we like, and are more willing to spend time and energy on them. When we dislike people, we either try to avoid them or we end up harboring resentment in some fashion.

My goal for my author newsletter is to attract casual readers who have read, at most, only one or two of my books, and convert them into loyal fans who eagerly await my next book. Until now, one of the things I’ve advertised is that I have a free and a 99¢ book with every newsletter. I have enough books out that I’ve been able to keep that up for the last two years or so, although most of the freebies have been short stories.

But I worry that I’ve been training my newsletter subscribers to only pick up the free books, or to wait until the book goes free. That’s a problem. I don’t mind giving away free books from time to time, but I’m not going to give away the store, and if readers come to expect that then I run the risk of breaking Jordan Peterson’s 5th rule.

So I’ve decided to make a change to my email newsletter, or at least to how I advertise it. Instead of giving away a free and 99¢ book in every newsletter, I’m going to look into other ways to provide value and convert casual readers into fans. Don’t get me wrong—I still intend to share free books from time to time. Just not with every newsletter, or not a different selection with each one.

I do want to share more book recommendations, especially since one of my new year’s resolutions is to read a novel every week. What I’ll probably do is set up another blog using MyBookTable with all of the book links, so as not to mix my own books with the ones I’m recommending, and include those in a newsletter every one or two months.

In the last few months, I’ve also been sharing updates on my writing with each newsletter. That may be a better place to share that stuff than here on my blog. What do you think? Blogs are better for public discussions, since they’re indexed by search engines and usually have a comment section with each post.

Either way, I definitely need to update my newsletter templates. I cranked those out way back in 2015, and they’re not too pretty. My girlfriend is a programmer, so maybe I could persuade her to help me out with that. But first, I should probably figure out all what I want to put in them.

What do you think? Are there things you’ve seen in other author newsletters that you’d like to see in mine? Any other interesting ideas or approaches? I’m open to anything that adds value without giving away the store.

Unpublishing the Star Wanderers omnibus editions

After some deliberation, I’ve decided to unpublish the two omnibus bundles for my Star Wanderers series: The Jeremiah Chronicles and Tales of the Far Outworlds.

In place of the omnibus editions, I plan to release Star Wanderers: The Complete Series on all platforms. Currently, it’s only available on Kobo. Eventually, I’ll put it out in print as well, but until then the omnibus print editions will still be up. All of the singles are still available in print and ebook, and will be for the foreseeable future.

When I wrote the Star Wanderers series back in 2011–2014, it was, in many ways, an experiment. Instead of writing one long book with four or five viewpoint characters, I decided to write eight shorter books, where each one focused on one character’s story and told it in greater depth. The first four books were all from Jeremiah’s point of view, hence The Jeremiah Chronicles. The other four were each from a different character’s viewpoint, with two viewpoint characters in the last one. Since I already had one bundle, I decided to put them all into a second one. Hence, Tales of the Far Outworlds.

Going forward, though, I don’t think it makes much sense to break up the series this way. Better to have one series bundle with all the books (and the short story “Starchild”), so that they’re all in one place. I don’t have plans to add anything new to this series in the near future, though that may change. If it does, though, it will be its own new thing.

The other advantage to combining all the books into one complete series bundle is that it makes it easier to put the whole thing out in audio. One of the things I want to do this year is produce an audiobook, and I think that Star Wanderers will do better as a single, longer audiobook that costs one or two credits than as eight short books that cost one credit each. But that’s still somewhere in the mid-future.

It’s the end of an era for me, but I think it’s for the best. Star Wanderers: The Complete Series will be available on all ebookstores later this month.

Trying out a new blog theme

I just switched blog themes from WordPress 2016 to WordPress 2017. If it isn’t working or you have strong feelings or opinions about the change, please let me know.

I know I’ve been sparse about posting on this blog, but that’s hopefully going to change soon. I’m gradually putting things in order to allow me to post more frequently, and not just whenever I have a new release or some group promotions or something. It helps that I have a more permanent living situation now, that isn’t so ridiculously stressful.

Some of you have asked me to blog about my outlining process, so I will be posting that within the next week. Until then, take care!

My life is CRAZY right now

Oh my heck. How can I count the ways?

My writing computer crashed yesterday. Upgraded to Ubuntu 16.04, and it crashed again this morning. I think I have a fix, but only time will tell.
I started a new job on Monday. Carpentry crew. Nine to five. It’s exhausting, but the pay is good, and that’s what I need right now.
The brakes on my truck need work. Pads for sure, and probably rotors too.
I’m months overdue for a dentist appointment.
I need to find a new place before the end of the month, or the first week of July at the very (very!) latest. Unfortunately, everything is overpriced.

When I make progress in one area, things seem to fall back in another. And of course, everything’s time sensitive. Still making writing progress, though—that is, when I have a machine to write on!

If this blog goes silent for a while, here are the reasons why. Don’t worry about me, though. I’ll figure it out.

In the meantime, here’s something I’ve been listening to:

June Update

Greetings, humans! I am alive. I’m actually doing quite well right now. Lots of stuff going on behind the scenes, and it all seems to be coming together quite nicely.

First, Victors in Liberty is now up for preorder, with a release date of July 22nd. This means that the Sons of the Starfarers series is now officially complete! The books have all been written, the plot threads have all been wrapped up (except for one or two, in case I ever decide to write another story), the edits are in, and the final versions have all been uploaded. Four and a half years went into this, and now it’s DONE!

I wrote a lengthy author’s note where I talked about the ups and downs I went through while writing this series. Basically, Sons of the Starfarers was the series that really disciplined me, turning me from a write-when-you-can, publish-when-you-feel-like-it kind of writer to one who makes and keeps deadlines and holds to a consistent release schedule.

Midway through writing this series, I really didn’t know if it was worth it to continue, but I decided to keep with it because I’d made a promise to my readers and I was going to keep it, even if there were only a few dozen of you. As it turns out, there’s quite a few more, for which I am very grateful. If you’ve been waiting since 2014 to read this series, I’m happy to report that your wait will soon be over.

As for my next WIP, I’m about a third of the way through Gunslinger to the Galaxy with a deadline of June 30th. It’s going to be tough to keep that deadline, because I’m moving before the end of the month and don’t yet know where my next place is going to be. Nothing too serious, it’s just that my contract is coming up so it’s time to move on. I’m toying with the idea of buying a National Parks pass and living out of a tent for the next two months, but in all reality I’ll probably just get a summer contract here in the Provo/Orem area. After that, who knows?

My plans are to write Gunslinger to the Galaxy and Gunslinger to Earth over the summer, and publish them both before the end of the year. A couple of years ago, this would have been a tall order, but I’ve reworked my writing process since then to the point where I don’t need multiple drafts to write clean copy. That’s partly the reason why I haven’t been blogging much recently. I’ll do a post on it sometime, if you guys are interested.

Once the Gunslingers trilogy is complete, I plan to finish Edenfall and The Stars of Redemption next. That’s another promise I need to keep to my readers. I don’t feel quite so bad, since Genesis Earth works well as a standalone, but I do need to finish the trilogy and I plan to do that before the end of next year.

On the publishing front, I’m doing a whole bunch of things behind the scenes, but the most visible thing you’ll probably see next is paperback releases for most of my books. It’s been a long time coming, and it will probably be a few months before it happens, but I plan to get those out before the end of the summer.

That’s pretty much it for now. Thanks for reading, and here’s where you can get Victors of Liberty:

Victors in Liberty

$9.99eBook: $2.99Audiobook: $8.99

Author: Joe Vasicek
Series: Sons of the Starfarers, Book 9
Genres: Action & Adventure, Military, Science Fiction, Space Opera
Tag: 2018 Release

As Gulchina's forces bombard Edenia II from orbit, Mara Soladze and the Deltana brothers rush to the planet's aid. Trapped on the surface, Reva finds an unlikely ally—one who proves to be a game changer for them all.

More info →

$1 off the ebook with coupon code: BUY DIRECT

FREE ebook when you buy the audiobook direct!

Mid-May update

Holy cow, it’s been forever since I’ve written a proper update. For a while there, it seemed to be nothing but more of the same. Then I got caught up with all the other things that come along with writing and publishing, and the blog sort of fell by the wayside.

Don’t worry, I’m still writing. In fact, I’m only a couple of scenes away from finishing Victors in Liberty, the last book in the Sons of the Starfarers series. A couple of days ago, I wrote a scene that I’ve been waiting to write for the last four years. Good times.

I was hoping to have this book up for preorder right now, but I think it will be better for the delay. Still aiming for a release date in July. My editor says he’s got an open slot, so I should be sending it out to him before the end of the week.

The more pressing stuff has all been on the marketing end. The GDPR has half the indie writing community in a tailspin, and I had to do a bit of research and make a few changes, like uploading my email list software. The GDPR, in case you haven’t heard, is the EU’s latest attempt to shoot sparrows with howitzers. It’s a series of data regulations aimed at big corporations like Facebook and Google, but it’s really the small businesses who are feeling the crunch. Let’s just say that my first-generation Czech immigrant ancestors made the right choice when they told the rest of Europe “y’all can go to hell—we’re going to Texas!”

Fortunately, everything is more or less in order as far as GDPR goes, or at least clost enough. The truth is, nobody knows. It’s stuff like this that made me want to write about the Outworld frontier in the first place, where there are no laws or government bureaucrats to control you. But I digress.

On a much lighter note, I’ve taken advantage of this opportunity to reorganize my email list. Specifically, I’ve split it into three lists of approximately 2,000 subscribers each, which I hope to eventually grow into five. The idea is to spread out my email campaigns over the course of four or five days, so that instead of getting a huge sales spike (which the Amazon algorithms tend to push back against), sales will be a bit more even, hopefully leading to better alsobots and other favorable treatment from the algorithms.

Being the eclectic nerd that I am, I have given these lists the following names:

LEGIO I PIA FIDELIS
LEGIO II VICTRIX
LEGIO III FELIX
LEGIO IV FIRMA
LEGIO V FULMINATA

And now I’m going through all my titles, updating the backmatter to add a signup page for my list along with the teaser chapters and other links.

So that’s what I’ve been up to, mostly. I’m also reading a lot more, and will have some book reviews real soon. Also, there’s the secret project, which I anticipate will take the next several months, possibly even years, to come to fruition.

Next WIP: Gunslinger to the Galaxy!

Coming right along

I’m making good progress on The Sword Keeper, but I keep having to push it back to help a friend remodel his basement. His wife is having a baby in a couple of weeks, and he needs to get things finished before his mother-in-law comes over. There have been a ton of setbacks and delays, mostly having to do with the shoddy construction work done by the guys who built the place, but we seem to have passed the biggest hurdle which is to install the bathtub. Now, it’s mostly a matter of installing insulation and putting up drywall.

There’s this really fantastic game that I’ve been looking at called Stellaris. It seems like a combination of Masters of Orion and Europa Universalis. Really really tempted to play it, but as of right now, I’m holding back. When I finish this WIP, though, I may just treat myself.

Also, I recently signed up for a 30 day trial of Instafreebie, a site that (among other things) lets authors do ebook giveaways in exchange for readers’ email addresses. I’m running a giveaway for Genesis Earth, which you can pick up here if you haven’t already gotten a copy. Depending on how things go, I may sign up and run a few more campaigns in the future.

I’m really, really itching to get back to work on Gunslinger to the Stars. That will probably be the next full-length novel that I publish. In the meantime, I’ve got a bunch of short stories that should be coming out soon, starting with a Sad Puppies related piece that is sure to make a lot of people smile. Look for that one in June.

That’s pretty much it for now. Thanks for reading!

Okay, back to work

Well, the Blogging from A to Z challenge was fun, but now that it’s May it’s time to switch gears and focus on other things. I’ve got about a bazillion projects going on, so it’s definitely going to be a full month! Here’s what I hope to accomplish:

Writing

Finish the first draft of Strangers in Flight (Sons of the Starfarers Book III).
Revise Comrades in Hope (Sons of the Starfarers Book II) and get it ready for publication.
Start writing Star Wanderers: Wanderlust (Part IX).

Publishing

Finish redoing the covers for the Star Wanderers ebooks.
Put all the Star Wanderers books on Google Play, All Romance eBooks, and DriveThru Fiction.
Typeset The Jeremiah Chronicles and Tales of the Far Outworlds for print.
Publish Brothers in Exile (Sons of the Starfarers Book I).
Finalize all the print editions for Star Wanderers I-VIII.

That’s pretty much it. Some of it, like redoing the Star Wanderers covers and putting those books up on Google Play and ARe shouldn’t take more than an afternoon. Others are going to take a lot more work to fully realize.

The thing I’m most excited (and nervous!) about is getting Sons of the Starfarers ready for publication. I’ve had an awesome time writing these books so far, and I think you’re really going to love them. Brothers in Exile is with my editor right now, and I’m working with a new cover designer to come up with some awesome cover art. If all goes well, it should be out by May 15th.

In the next few days, I’m going to post some short 250 word excerpts from Brothers in Exile to give you a taste. I’ve never tried something like this before, so let me know what you think! I’ll probably post the first one tonight.

Here’s the book description:

TO WAKE A LOST GIRL FROM THE ICE, TWO BROTHERS MUST FACE AN EMPIRE.

Deep in the Far Outworlds, a derelict space station holds the bones of a long-dead people—and a beautiful young woman locked in cryofreeze. When the star-wandering brothers Isaac and Aaron find the sleeping girl, they soon realize that they are her only hope for rescue. If they don’t take her, then slavers certainly will.

With no way to revive her, they set a course for the New Pleiades in the hopes of finding someone who can help. But a storm is brewing over that region of space. After a series of brutal civil wars, the Gaian Empire has turned its sights outward. A frontier war is on the verge of breaking out, and the brothers are about to be caught in the middle of it.

They both harbor a secret, though. Somewhere else in the Outworlds is another derelict station—one that they used to call home. That secret will either bind them together or draw them apart in

SONS OF THE STARFARERS
BOOK I: BROTHERS IN EXILE

Pretty cool, huh? Keep an eye on this space over the next few days for more!