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Fractured Skies is here! :-D

It’s here! Today is the release day for Fractured Skies! 😀

Fractured Skies

A Dystopian Thriller

Fractured Skies - Book Cover

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | BN.com | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

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Not sure if this is the book for you? Try answering these questions…

  • Do you love a good dystopia, and want even more vivid world-building and believable factions?
  • Do you crave lots of fast-paced action, thrilling adventure, and cool, unique ways to use familiar superpowers?
  • Do you prefer character romances to be a slow-burn, and not always end in a happy-ever-after?
  • Do you want your cast filled with heroes who face antagonists where it isn’t always clear who is really the “good” guy and who is really “bad” guy… despite what they may believe?
  • Do you love little Easter Eggs referencing various movies and games, interwoven into the story so that even if you don’t recognize the reference, you’ll still “get” the joke?
  • Do you like strong protagonists who make tough choices and aren’t afraid to state their mind… even when no one else agrees with them?

If you answered “yes” to the above (or even most of the above), then Fractured Skies may be the book for you to dive into.

So grab your copy today, sit back, and enjoy the adventure. 🙂

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | BN.com | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

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Come see us at Black Ice Comics! – Author Meet & Greet

Good news!

Isaac and I are going to be at Black Ice Comics with our books in Houghton, Michigan this Friday from 5:30 pm to 7:30 PM! 😀

If you’re near the Houghton/Hancock area of the Upper Peninsula, come check us out! There will be snacks, and we’ll have our books available for purchase and signing!

Author Meet & Greet at Black Ice Comics

We hope to see you there! 😀

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Infinitas Publishing Status Report – December 2017

It’s that time again! I think November might have been the more productive month for me, but I had anticipated that this month would be a little slower with the holidays coming up. Still, some progress and future plans have been made. 🙂

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Glitch: I’ve finished preparing the book cover for the first book in the Glitch mini-series, and I hope to be sharing that soon. Also, now that Isaac’s on break from school, we should be able to find some time to do the read-aloud to check for inconsistencies, and then all that’s left is formatting and proofreading. 😀

Fractured Skies: I finished reading through the revisions from the major overhaul, and now Fractured Skies is in the process of going through beta-reader feedback. This will probably take a little while, as I want to make edits between readers, but it’s moving along, and I’m excited to see what the beta-readers think of it.

Distant Horizon: The new cover is complete! Those who are subscribers to the Infinitas Publishing newsletter have now seen it, so I’ll be revealing the new cover on this blog soon. I’m making a few tweaks to the manuscript (uploading a smaller file size, switching back matter, and changing the title font… but no changes to the story, everything’s aesthetics), so I’m going to wait to upload the new cover onto sites until everything’s done. But that’s the next step. No date set yet for changing the paperback’s cover, though I’ll likely need to switch that once Fractured Skies is ready to release (since it should have a cover from the updated version).

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold.

Little One: I haven’t said much about this project yet, but I’m happy to say that I’ve finally done the first round of revisions to it, and it’s ready for Isaac to read. Yay! I’ve been wanting to revise this one for a while now. It’s set in 2012, several decades before the events of Distant Horizon, back in the heyday of heroes and villains. This is one of the novels where we get to see the beginnings of their world and learn more about characters who have previously only been mentioned in passing.

Book Three of The Wishing Blade Series: As of yet, still untitled. Isaac is now reading through it, so I’m starting to get his developmental feedback (and I expect that I’ll be making some major changes). Once I’ve made those edits, it’ll go out to beta-readers. It may be a while before we reach that stage, though, since Glitch is on the forefront of our projects.

Stone and String 2: I think I have a name for it! Hopefully I’ll be able to announce it soon, once I’m sure that’s the title I want. Anyway, I finished the last half of the story. It still needs revising, but the rough draft is finally complete!

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: This month, I have mostly focused on preparing for the holidays and finalizing two covers for my own projects, so not much new here. (Though next month I’ll have to step back into gear with other covers).

Game Development: On hold while Isaac is busy with his classes. That being said, I’ve recently learned of a genre known as LitRPG/GameLit… and I’m fascinated by the game mechanics playing a noticeable role as a major part of the story. (Probably doesn’t help that some of the fourthwaller characters in a few of my stories believe they’re characters inside a game). I’m hoping to read more books in this genre as time allows.

Marketing: Isaac and I have chosen a website name for the Distant Horizon book world, and we created a mockup for the main cover image on that page. Long story short, we’re working on getting that website up, and we’ll be launching a new newsletter to go with it. Hopefully we’ll have more on that in the coming month. (In the meantime, if you want to stay up-to-date with our latest book releases and promotions, we still have our overarching Infinitas Publishing Newsletter).

Cyberpunk/Dystopian Snow White Story: I started doing a few revisions to the first couple chapters, but got side-tracked with getting stuff ready for the holidays and beta-reading. Still, this is on my to-do list.

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That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post! 😀

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Don’t forget, if you want to stay up-to-date with our latest book releases and promotions, sign up for our Infinitas Publishing Newsletter!

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Infinitas Publishing Status Report – November 2017

All right, this time I’m actually going to get the status report done early in the month…

Does mid-month count?

Anyway, October was busy, and the beginning of November was even busier, so I’ve got a lot to cover. Either way, it’s that time again–time for a status report! 😀

The Wishing Blade - Section Break - Magic Swirl

Pre-Writing Workshop at the CCCAC: I mentioned in the last status report that I was teaching a set of classes at the Copper Country Community Arts Center. I think it went well. My students all had great ideas they were fleshing out. I just wanted to give a shout-out to them and say, “Good luck with your novels!” 🙂

Glitch: I’ve gotten feedback from my second beta-reader, and today I start the process of incorporating that feedback into the final version of the mini-series. Once those tweaks are complete, it’ll be time to do the read-aloud (where Isaac and I try to catch awkward sounding sentences and anything we might have missed in the previous read-throughs).

After that, all that’s left is to prepare Glitch for publication. Formatting, finalizing book covers and blurbs… It’s just about done. Yay!

Fractured Skies: The huge overhaul of this manuscript has a been completed, adding in a whopping 40,000 words. The novel was 114,000 words before, and now sits around 155,000 words. That’s not including the scenes that we outright cut because they weren’t adding what we wanted. I think this version sounds a whole lot better. It fleshes out characters and goes a bit more in-depth as to what’s going on, and it connects the various plot pieces better.

Once I finish edits to Glitch, I’ll be re-reading through the revisions I made to Fractured Skies to make sure I like the changes and to see if there’s anything I can cut before I send it to beta-readers.

Distant Horizon: Like I mentioned last time, there’s a new cover in the works. Not much to update here, since I’ve been focusing on revisions of other books. I intend to have the new cover up before publishing Glitch.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold. I’m hoping to edit the various episodes during breaks between projects. Progress is slow, but hasn’t come to a complete halt.

Book Three of The Wishing Blade Series: I still haven’t come up with a name for this one. However, I’ve finished tightening the manuscript, so it’s ready for Isaac to read  once he has a break from his classwork.

I still need to outline book four, but I’ve got a pretty good idea of where it’s going. I just need to work out the details of how it’s going to get there.

Stone and String 2: I haven’t named this short story yet, but a little while back I started writing a rough draft for the sequel of “Stone and String.” I had to put it aside to work on other projects, but I’m now in the process of making revisions to what I’d already written. Once that’s complete, I intend to outline the rest of the story and complete the rest of the rough draft by the end of the month.

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: A book cover here… a book cover there…

Game Development: On hold while Isaac is busy with his classes.

Marketing: This is a new category for my reports, but I thought it warranted a mention. I’ve been reading up various marketing strategies that are intended to help authors promote their books, and I’m hoping to develop a different newsletter for each of the different genres I write in (I’m currently thinking of having one newsletter for fantasy works, such as The Wishing Blade Series, and one for dystopian science fiction, which would encompass the Distant Horizon series and Glitch, and possibly the latest project I’ve been working on). That’s a development that’s still in progress, though, and I haven’t solidified these plans yet. (Though if you want to stay up-to-date with our latest book releases and promotions, we still have our overarching Infinitas Publishing Newsletter.)

NaNoWriMo Project: I mentioned in my most recent blog post about the Magic’s Stealing promotion that I had an all-new project I was working on for NaNoWriMo. My goal was to achieve 50,000-65,000 words in 12 days, writing in a world I hadn’t written before. Well, that’s been completed! (I’m hoping to have a more detailed post on that challenge soon).

General info… the novel (50,300 words) is a cyberpunk/dystopian retelling of Snow White from the point of view of the huntress (instead of the huntsman). The accompanying short story (11,600 words) is a cyberpunk retelling of Red Riding Hood.

I had fun writing it, and I’m hoping to start edits in December (after I finish editing these other projects). I’m hoping to write at least one more novel-length story in that series before releasing them.

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Don’t forget, if you want to stay up-to-date with our latest book releases and promotions, sign up for our Infinitas Publishing Newsletter!

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That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post! 😀

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Infinitas Publishing Status Report

Time for a status report! Now that the move to Michigan is mostly complete (and I’ve finally gotten my car back after a run-in with the local wildlife), we’re slowly getting back into the groove of things. Still got a few things to take care of before we’re all settled in, but things are finally getting back to normal. 🙂

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Glitch: I’ve completed the major edits, handed the manuscript to Isaac to check over, and have been working on his changes. Due to the structure of the story, we’re actually considering breaking it into three individual stories, each around 35,000 to 45,000 words long. They’ll rely heavily on being read in order, but should each have their own beginning, middle, and end. I’ve sent the first part to a beta-reader to see what she thinks. If we do split the story into three parts, we’ll most likely release each part around two-three weeks apart, so readers won’t have to wait long to read each book. With luck, we’ll be moving forward with this project sooner rather than later.

Fractured Skies: I’ve made the second round of major edits based on Isaac’s feedback from a year or two ago, and now I’ve handed it back to him to look through. It needs a bit of work in order to match it to the style and tone of Distant Horizon. But this one is certainly in progress.

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold.

Book 3 of The Wishing Blade Series: Working on plotting. Once Fractured Skies is out to beta-readers, I plan to start editing what I already have written of this manuscript, then write the other half of the book.

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Finished one formatting project, now working on book covers. Not much new here.

Game Development: Trying to work out the kinks in a fantasy-based civilization building game. We have a few ideas, but we’ll need to test-play them.

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Don’t forget, if you want to stay up-to-date with our latest book releases and promotions, sign up for our Infinitas Publishing Newsletter!

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 I hope you enjoyed this post! 🙂

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Infinitas Publishing Status Report

Time for another status report! Also, Isaac and I have a bit of news–we’re moving to Michigan! Not the lower part of Michigan, either: the Upper Peninsula. Long story short, Isaac got accepted into a PhD program. 🙂

So… if there are periods of time where things are a bit slow for Infinitas Publishing, it’s probably because we’re in the middle of the long, slow process of packing. We expect to be moving in mid-to-late June.

However, that doesn’t mean you won’t still see new projects and updates. 🙂

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Glitch: I finally finished the latest round of edits meant to put Glitch in continuity with Distant Horizon, and now I’ve got to go back and insert chapter breaks, fix minor errors, tighten the story (I already cut one character’s appearance), and make sure each scene is pulling its weight. Still a little ways to go before it’s complete, but progress has been made.

The Wishing Blade series Book 3 (Title To Be Determined): On hold until Glitch is complete. Parts of it have been written, but I have a big chunk of Shevanlagiy’s point of view to write, along with Siklana’s point of view. Yes… Siklana is intended to be a major character in this one. 🙂

The Multiverse Chronicles: On hold. The problem with having two writers telling a story–especially a serialized story where you might not catch issues until later–is that both writers may have different ideas of how they want to tell that story, and what story they want to tell. It’s a learning point that we’ve discovered in the process of writing The Multiverse Chronicles. However, we’ve gotten a better sense of what we want this story to be (and where we should compromise on plot points), but we may need to do some revamping of the first part of the story to really make everything cohesive so The Multiverse Chronicles can be the best story it can be. We’ll likely need to review the story and make adjustments from beginning to end before we release any new episodes.

Webb City Library Summer Reading Kick-Off: Isaac and I went to the Webb City Public Library (Missouri) to help with their summer reading program kick-off. We set up a table with our books and games, as well as a lot of the “in progress” pieces to show how we go about making them. I had an early proof copy of Distant Horizon on display, and we had sketch art and concept pieces from all the games. We enjoyed talking about the process, and even sold a couple of books (Distant Horizon and The Shadow War), which was a bonus, since we weren’t specifically trying to sell anything. 🙂

Isaac at the Webb City Public Library Summer Reading Kick-Off

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: I now offer formatting services in addition to book cover design. And I’ve finally gotten the Facebook, DeviantArt, and Flickr pages updated with the book covers I’ve posted on this blog. 🙂

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Don’t forget, if you want to stay up-to-date with our latest book releases and promotions, sign up for our Infinitas Publishing Newsletter!

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 I hope you enjoyed this post! 🙂

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Behind the Scenes – Sojourn: Enclave

A cover for Melange Books. For this cover, we wanted to match the style of the previous books, The Wildlands, The Deadlands, and The Beastlands. We considered adding the other companions from this book onto the cover, but the cover looked crowded and lost the consistency of the previous covers, so we chose to stick with the two primary characters. This one used several stock images in order to achieve the effect of the dilapidated, overgrown city. Masking was super-useful for this one, as I removed parts of the skyscrapers to make them look broken, and then cloned in bits of the sky on a separate layer to make it look more natural.

SBibb - Book Cover - Sojourn: Enclave

Back Cover:

SBibb - Back of Book Cover - Sojourn: Enclave
Stock images from Dreamstime:

https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-long-span-concrete-beam-image11695956 – concrete wall
https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-asleep-image21589475 – vine overgrowth
https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-atlanta-downtown-skyline-scenes-january-cloudy-day-image66709798 – cityscape
https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-beautiful-inspirational-sun-beams-over-ocean-image30676892 – sky

Deposit Photo Stock
http://depositphotos.com/106813230/stock-photo-cheering-successful-woman.html – cliff/grass
http://depositphotos.com/116621478/stock-photo-tourists-walking-in-the-mountains.html – male hiker
http://depositphotos.com/75580811/stock-photo-friends-group-playing-guitar-in.html – male head
http://depositphotos.com/27318771/stock-photo-little-child-carrying-a-suitcase.html – girl hat
http://depositphotos.com/106813710/stock-photo-woman-over-mountain-view.html – girl head
http://depositphotos.com/116999012/stock-photo-young-woman-backpacker-hiking.html – girl body

Destruction in Background:
https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-old-building-image18217109
https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-old-building-image18216992
https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-demolished-building-grungy-detail-partly-image49371768

Weapons:
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-quiver-made-leather-isolated-white-image34543777
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-archery-equipment-bow-quiver-arrows-target-image29842224
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-hunting-rifle-image12746386

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Thoughts on Publishing – Infinitas Publishing Status Report

Wheee! Time flies when you’re having fun… and frantically running around trying to get everything done by a deadline. Either way, February’s almost over, and it’s time for the Infinitas Publishing Status Report!

Book Signing at Reader’s World: On Februrary 25th, Isaac and I went to a book signing with other local authors affiliated with the Writers of Warrensburg. We sold 3 copies of Magic’s Stealing and 5 copies of Distant Horizon, so the signing went well for us. A lot of people stopped by the store to speak with the various authors. I think we all had an enjoyable time. In the meantime, I’d like to give a shout-out to G.A. Edwards for arranging the signing and Reader’s World of Warrensburg for hosting the event. 🙂

Isaac and Stephanie Flint at Reader's World Book Signing (Photo by G.A. Edwards)

Isaac and Stephanie Flint at Reader’s World Book Signing (Photo by G.A. Edwards)

The Shadow War: This is the second book of The Wishing Blade series, and the ebook will be released on March 16th. I’m currently finishing making edits per my proofreading before formatting the print edition.

 

Glitch: Once everything is done with The Shadow War and Isaac and I have finished making preparations for Stealth Con, this is my next big project. The manuscript has been written, but it’s now undergoing edits and revisions.

Battle Decks: Trials of Blood and Steel: Isaac and I just placed an order for Battle Decks cards, so we’ll be able to offer the game for sale at conventions and event for the first time since releasing the game. Woot! (Now we just have to finish making the boxes for the games).

Not only that, but we also have expansion cards to start allowing for a deck building mechanic. There will be two expansions… one Prussian (Cogs of War) and one Britannian (Queen’s Pride), which primarily include extra cards from the original set to allow for a range of choices as to which cards to include in your deck, as well as a few all new expansion cards that weren’t in the original deck.

WIP Game: We’ve got the prototype of the game ordered! We’re not ready to release all the details about it yet, but I can say this… it’s a sort of mini RP/board game where you explore and reveal the map as you complete quests and collect treasure. The themes are based on the lore from the world of The Wishing Blade series and “Stone and String,” which is why the game is called: *Drumroll, please…* The Legends of Cirena!

Look for more information about The Legends of Cirena game once I finish formatting The Shadow War. 🙂

SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: I’m working on completing one formatting/cover design project and beginning another. Basically, the same routine as usual.

The Wishing Blade - Section Break - Magic Swirl

Don’t forget, if you want to stay up-to-date with our latest book releases and promotions, sign up for our Infinitas Publishing Newsletter!

The Wishing Blade - Section Break - Magic Swirl

I hope you enjoyed this post. 🙂

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Thoughts On Publishing – Infinitas Publishing Annual Report

Now that a full year has passed since officially starting Infinitas Publishing, it’s time to compile the annual report. So, for those of you who want to see numbers, here you go. 🙂

Since starting the business, we’ve released 1 book, 2 games, and 15 episodes of a serialized novel. (Plus, we pulled in one short story and a collection of short stories that I had published previously)

We had 4 appearances. A book Signing at the Readers World in Sedalia (January 29th, 2016), Game Room at Stealth Con (February 13-14th), Vendor’s Booth at Old Drum Days (April 9th), and the Book Signing at Hastings in Warrensburg (June 4th).

 

Now for the sales stats:

 

Magic’s Stealing

Ebook (Released September 17th, 2015) ($2.99)

September:

  • Smashwords: 1 Sale (Kobo)
  • Kindle US: 3
  • Kindle US (Pre-order): 5
  • Kindle UK: 1

October:

  • Kindle (US): 1

November:

  • Kindle (UK): (1 Sold and Returned)

December:

  • Smashwords: 1 Sale (Kobo)
  • Kindle (US): 1 Sale

January:

  • Kindle (UK): 1 Sale

February:

  • No sales

March:

  • Kindle (US): (3 Sold, 1 Returned)

April:

  • Smashwords: 1 Sale (Barnes & Noble)
  • Kindle (US): 1 Sale

May:

  • No Sales

June:

  • No Sales

 

Total Ebooks Sold: 18

 

Print Edition (Released December 1st, 2015) ($7.99)

December:

  • No Sales

January:

  • Amazon (US): 2 Sales
  • Readers World (Sedalia) Book Signing: 5 Sales
  • Readers World Sedalia (1 Prior to Signing, 4 bought by store after signing): 5 Sales

February:

  • No Sales

March:

  • No Sales

April:

  • No Sales

May:

  • No Sales

June:

  • Hastings Book Signing: 6 Sales
  • Hastings (Later Date): 2 Sales

 

Total Paperbacks Sold: 20

Total Copies of Magic’s Stealing Sold: 38

 

Ashes ($0.99)

Online Only (Short Story – Released prior to creation of Infinitas Publishing)

June:

  • No Sales

July:

  • No Sales

August:

  • No Sales

September:

  • No Sales

October:

  • No Sales

November:

  • No Sales

December:

  • No Sales

January:

  • No Sales

February:

  • Kindle (US): 1 Sale

March:

  • No Sales

April:

  • No Sales

May:

  • No Sales

June:

  • No Sales

 

Total Copies of Ashes Sold: 1

 

1000 Words – A Collection of Short Stories

(Released prior to creation of Infinitas Publishing)

(Note: All but one of these short stories are available for free online through Smashwords)

Ebook ($0.99)

June:

  • No Sales

July:

  • No Sales

August:

  • No Sales

September:

  • No Sales

October:

  • No Sales

November:

  • No Sales

December:

  • No Sales

January:

  • No Sales

February:

  • No Sales

March:

  • No Sales

April:

  • Amazon (AU): 1 Sale

May:

  • No Sales

June:

  • No Sales

 

Total Ebooks Sold: 1

(Note: I did not track sales of the individual free stories. If you’re interested in those, let me know)

 

Print ($11.99 – full color paperback)

June:

  • No Sales

July:

  • No Sales

August:

  • No Sales

September:

  • No Sales

October:

  • No Sales

November:

  • No Sales

December:

  • No Sales

January:

  • Amazon (US): 1 Sale

February:

  • No Sales

March:

  • No Sales

April:

  • No Sales

May:

  • No Sales

June:

  • No Sales

 

Total Paperbacks Sold: 1

Total Copies of 1000 Words Sold: 2

 

 

The Multiverse Chronicles

(Prologue and 1st 3 episodes released February 5, 2016)

(Online Only – Free Blog Series)

6 Followers

 

Battle Decks: Trials of Blood and Steel

(Released February 12-13th, 2016)

Deluxe Edition: ($37.99 – Online Only) No sales

Basic Edition: ($24.99 – Online Only) No sales

Total: 0 sold

 

Phalanx

(Released April 9th, 2016)

Cloth Edition: ($25.00 – Local Only) 4 sales (3 sold in April, 1 sold in June)

Wooden Edition: ($75.00 – Local Only) 1 sale (April)

Board Game Edition: ($28.99 – Online Only) No sales

Total: 5 sold

 

 

I suspect that having the games be primarily online only is hurting chances of impulse buys, especially given that it is direct from The Game Crafter website, rather than a site people are familiar with (such as Amazon). For Ashes and 1000 Words, these are older works, so I rarely advertise them.

 

Marketing

Twitter – Every so often, I tweet for Magic’s Stealing on my writer’s account. Also, Isaac and I created a Steampunk-themed curator Twitter account, The Dapper Pigeon, from which we occasionally tweet about Battle Decks and The Multiverse Chronicles.

Facebook – We created the Infinitas Publishing Facebook page, and I tried running a short campaign ($10.00, from Feb 19th-20th, 2016) but didn’t see any sales.

Word-of-Mouth – We have poker card-shaped business cards and fliers with the first episode of Multiverse that we hand out at events.

Newsletter – We created the Infinitas Publishing Newsletter on June 3rd, 2016. At the moment, we have 0 followers.

Goodreads Giveaway – I gave away 1 copy of Magic’s Stealing in January, 2016. 893 people entered the giveaway, but there were no noticeable sales based on the giveaway (I can attribute the print sales that did happen to people I know personally).

Rafflecopter Giveaway – I offered up 1 ebook of Magic’s Stealing during the first giveaway and 2 ebook copies during the second giveaway. The first had 3-5 people entering, and the second had one.

 

Let me know if you have any questions. 🙂

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Cogling Blog Tour for Fellow Author – Jordan Elizabeth

Today I’m participating in a blog tour for a fellow author, Jordan Elizabeth!

I’ve been looking forward to this for a while, since I had the privileged of beta reading one of her earlier drafts of this book. I’ll soon be reading the new version, so I’m super excited to see how the book turned out. 😀

In the meantime…

COGLING

Young Adult Steampunk-Fantasy

Jordan Elizabeth - Cogling Cover

The beautiful cover is thanks to Mandie Manzano.

When fifteen-year-old Edna Mather tears an expensive and unfamiliar pocket watch off her little brother’s neck, he crumbles into a pile of cogs right before her eyes. Horrified, Edna flees for help, but encounters Ike, a thief who attempts to steal the watch before he realizes what it is: a device to power Coglings—clockwork changelings left in place of stolen children who have been forced to work in factories.

Desperate to rescue her brother, Edna sets off across the kingdom to the hags’ swamp, with Ike in tow. There, they learn Coglings are also replacing nobility so the hags can stage a rebellion and rule over humanity. Edna and Ike must stop the revolt, but the populace believes hags are helpful godmothers and healers. No one wants to believe a lowly servant and a thief, especially when Ike has secrets that label them both as traitors. 

Together, Edna and Ike must make the kingdom trust them or stop the hags themselves, even if Ike is forced to embrace his dark heritage and Edna must surrender her family.

 

Jordan Elizabeth - Cogling Cover Wrap

 

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Excerpt:

Green smoke snaked up the side of the tenement and drifted over the sill of an open window. A breeze blew the vapor into a column before it solidified into the shape of a stout, young hag. She shook her crimson curls away from her face and straightened the hood of her cloak to keep her kohl-lined, silver eyes shadowed.

The scent of lavender clung to her robes, washing over the small room. Two brass-framed beds crowded the floor. Blankets covered sleeping children. A little boy wheezed against the head of his stuffed bear, drool dripping onto the wool.

The hag squinted to see the goldenrod dream cloud above his head—a dream about seeing his father again. She frowned at the other bed, where a sleeping teenager lay with a threadbare blanket tugged around her chin. Even squinting, the hag couldn’t make out a dream cloud. The girl was too old to be of any use.

The hag slithered to the boy’s bed and, from the folds of her cloak, drew out a rectangular box four inches long, with a circular indentation on one side. She set it on the floor to remove a vial and rag from her skirt pocket, the rough wool of the rag irritating her fingertips.

“Do it, Simone,” the hag muttered to herself as she willed her hands not to tremble. “Make the Dark Mother happy.” She couldn’t fail at her first mission.

Holding her breath, Simone dribbled three drops onto the rag, yanked the teddy bear away, and shoved the drugged cloth against the boy’s mouth. His eyes opened, his gasp muffled, and his body jerked. Simone stiffened.

The girl moaned. Her mattress rustled as she rolled over to face the wall, brown curls shifting over her pillow.

Simone’s heart thudded. By the seven Saints, she should’ve cast a sleeping spell over the girl. The Dark Mother preferred humans to think hags were harmless healers, not thieves who kidnapped children.

The boy writhed, squeaks emerging from behind the rag. Simone pressed harder. She needed his breath in the wool to disguise and fuel the machine.

The potion took hold and the boy collapsed. Simone’s thick lips curved over her broken teeth. She lifted a pocket watch from around her neck and positioned it into the crevice in the metal box. As the two pieces connected, a chime rang out. She set the box beside the limp little boy and draped the rag over it. Even though she should wait to make sure his breath stuck in the machine, she couldn’t risk waking the girl.

The metal stretched to become his replica as if it were made of putty. With a second chime, the metal shimmered and dulled into the pale peach of his flesh, becoming an exact duplicate of the child.

“Mine.” Simone hefted the little boy into her arms, leaving the duplication on the bed, and transformed to smoke before the chimes awoke the girl.

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About the Author

Author - Jordan Elizabeth

Jordan Elizabeth, formally Jordan Elizabeth Mierek, writes down her nightmares in order to live her dreams. She is the author of ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW, TREASURE DARKLY, and BORN OF TREASURE. Check out her website, JordanElizabethMierek.com, for more information on her books, contests, and bonus short stories.

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