2014 Updates

 

 

Okay, so a few things have happened since December. All pretty positive… well, except one.

 

I’ll get that one out of the way first.

 

MM4 is currently sitting at 42K words and counting, which is waaaaay behind. I had originally hoped to have this one finished by Christmas. Well. Nope. Didn’t happen. Life happened and the holidays. It’s shaping up nicely now–in my mind anyway, (and I’m biased (shrugs))–and the words are still hitting the screen. I think and *hope* the first draft will be done by the end of Feb., barring any unforeseen bumps. So that’s the bad news.

 

Now, I do have a cover here, done by Karri Klawiter of artbykarri.com

 

WellFed_ebook_Final_small

Whattaya think? Karri also did the cover for “Breeds” and I’m very happy with her work. I’ll be asking her to do a few more covers for me in the future.

 

Okay, next, an announcement: Mountain Man and the sequels are going to become an audiobook series.

 

Just at the end of December, Podium Publishing contacted me and asked about the audio rights to the material. Now, I’ve been waiting to get into audio for a while, but the main player who produces audiobooks is a company in the states called ACX.com. ACX is an affiliate of Audible.com, which is a huge vendor of audiobooks online and a subsidiary of Amazon,  which makes them one big family, I guess. Anyway, the big problem is that ACX is reluctant to work with non-US writers, and Audible.com won’t carry anyone who doesn’t have their audiobook produced by ACX or another US based producer. It’s a situation that smacks of regulations and one I’m sure the aforementioned companies are working on to resolve. Trouble is, they’re taking a looooong time resolving, and not giving straight answers. Emails sent to ACX instructed me to contact Audible, and emails sent to those guys got replies of “go talk to ACX,” and round and round I went, until I gave up.

 

But Podium reached out around Christmas and asked about the rights. After a little investigation on my part and chatting other writers who’ve already signed on with Podium, I decided to at least hear what they had to say. Turns out, they *have* access to Audible.com, and are taking on selected projects they feel will do well in the market. They thought the MM series would be a good fit for them. After an interesting conversation about sales and marketing, a few questions, a few Podium audio samples of their books, and a look at the contract, I signed on with the company.

 

Still waiting on word of who will narrate the book and when a finished project will be available, but when it happens, I’ll let you know. Audio books aren’t my thing really, but I know several people who love them and who’ve been asking about them. So, looks like that’s going to happen and I feel pretty good about it.

 

“Breeds” is with beta readers now, and I’ll be tweaking the story as their notes come in. Betas are an important phase of the process as they are the first readers of a the book, and provide critical feedback, thoughts and opinions where I might be too close to the work to identify issues.

 

Finally, I’ve asked Diane–who manages the site–to look into adding a couple of email sign-up lists. One for Horror, and one for Heroic Fantasy, so if you’re interested, you can sign up for whichever genre interests you and you’ll get notices when new books are released. Nothing else. I don’t spam, in fact, I sorta, kinda feel sign-up lists are kinda spammy, but other folks tell me I should have one (or in this case, two), so I’ll provide, and you can decide. Choice is good.

 

And that’s it. The new year is almost a month old, so I hope it’s working out well for you thus far. All the best for the remainder.

 

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10 Responses

  1. Thank you, been waiting some time for Mountain Man’s return.

    Just finished the 2nd 131. Pig Knot has some get evens coming.

  2. That cover looks great. Maybe they can get Dick Hill or Scott Brick or William Dufris to narrate the MM series for you. Cant wait to see. Looking forward to Breeds. Keep up the good work, great to see an update from you, was wondering if you ran off to the Caribbean for the winter or something.

  3. Keith,
    Just wanted to say thanks for the great reads… all the MM were superb and am looking forward to #4.
    Just picked up Breeds and really looking forward to reading it soon.
    BTW – Love amazon & audible… they have “whispersync” so I can have my cake and eat it too. LOL!
    Keep up the great work. :j

  4. I listened to the mm audio book and loved it. The narrator R. D. Bray was incredible, please keep him.
    And i can’t wait for the rest of the mm audio books.

    thank you much!!!!

  5. Hi – just found you after following RC Bray on the heels of his performance for “The Martian” – “the Hospital” sold me – great work and great philosophy on the whole publishing industry. Looking forward to the next book!

  6. MM is incredible! Got the first one on audible, and freaked out, when I saw the next two aren’t on there. Reading the issue with audible answered my questions on that! No way i can wait! Im going to eread them. Thanks!!!

  7. Absolutely love the audio book versions of “The Hospital” & “Mountain Man (book1)!” I must have books 2 & 3 on audio ASAP! PLEASE!

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