Tag Archives: review

Publishing by Popular Vote

A few months ago, I wrote about the new publishing model and shared that I have entered Kingfisher: Slave to Honor, my latest novel into the mix.

Kingfisher Cover

Briefly, Inkitt is a publisher who, through a range of analytics, bases their decision whether to publish by judging people’s responses to a novel. They define themselves as “the first reader-powered book publisher.” One hundred people downloaded the novel in an amazingly short period and some have read and left reviews. If you are one of these: THANK YOU!

Whether you have read it or not, in less than five minutes, you can help me secure a book contract:

If you downloaded the book:

  1. Please read (or skim through if you are pushed for time), answer their questions, and leave an honest review.
  2. There is a button to vote. Please vote!

If you have not downloaded the book but follow my work, please click here and vote for the book.

Kingfisher: Slave to Honor is not a Young Adult novel. It is medieval fantasy and has an edgy sliver of grimdark running through it. If you purchased the Wycaan Master series for your children, this one’s for you.

Thank you for taking a few minutes to help me realize my dream of getting Kingfisher a publishing deal. It means a lot.

Warmly,

Alon / elfwriter

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Alon Shalev is the author of the 2013 Eric Hoffer YA Book Award winner, At The Walls of Galbrieth, and five other Wycaan Master books all released by Tourmaline Books. The link above takes you to the Kindle versions. For all other eReaders, please click here.

More at http://www.alonshalev.com and on Twitter (@elfwriter).

Trilogy - 1

Happy Hobbit Day 2017

I’m sure you had this one in your calendar, right? According to wise scholars and the blissfully lost, both Bilbo Baggins and his nephew, Frodo, celebrate their birthdays on this very day. So, we should too!

I’m not too big on birthdays now that I am a grown up and somewhat jaded middle-aged adult. The conversation is so often forced as are the smiles. We try to put aside our personal stress and the terrible things happening in the world, but they hover there in the empty plastic wine glass and  the ominous pin on your mobile with a news update.

Still, we turn up and play the game. We do it because we love the people in the room, we share a common history and know these people have stepped into the breach to help us and would again without the slightest hesitation. 

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My relationship to Bilbo and Frodo is not quite like this, but I do feel a strong loyalty to a certain, pipe-smoking, tweed-wearing professor, who gave me hours of fun and anxiety as I plowed through his amazing tomes and, after he passed away, the visual creations on the big screens.

J.R.R. Tolkien was a big influence on my writing. His work encouraged me to take my time and allow the reader to get close to the character of the Wycaan Master series. I know from the emotional reaction of readers, when key figures die or do stupid things, that I have succeeded in this, and I doff my hat to the old professor.

He allows me to spend time building a world that is both magical and vivid, to set out on long journeys, to feel overawed by the evil in the world, but to keep moving forward, nonetheless. 

But he has shown me other values that extend beyond the written page. The value of struggling against evil is apparent and more important than ever. We believe that Tolkien was inspired to write The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings from his horrendous experiences in World War One. Here is a lovely interview with his grandson, Simon Tolkien. 

While this is an important trait, I would prefer to focus on another theme: that of friendship. It permeates throughout the Fellowship and these characters are tested beyond anything most of us will ever experience. I have known the camaraderie of soldiers on a combat unit. Though three decades have passed since we served, the group have got together via WhatsApp. There is something profoundly comforting in seeing the threads and conversations.

Frodo and Sam

 

 

 

 

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As we celebrate friendship and this special day for our favorite hobbits, I would like to thank you for your friendship and loyalty. While we have never ventured near Mordor together, I do appreciate those who downloaded a free copy of Kingfisher: Slave to Honor. Please read or flip through the novel and leave a review. This is how the publisher decides whether to pick up the novel and publish it. 

In case you were too busy on your own quest, here is a blog post I wrote about the fascinating process – The New Publishing Model.
Thank you for being a part of my own author’s quest. Happy Hobbit Day,

Alon

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Alon Shalev is the author of the 2013 Eric Hoffer YA Book Award winner, At The Walls of Galbrieth and five other novels in the Wycaan Master series, all released by Tourmaline Books. More information about Alon and his novels can be found here.

Download a free copy of Alon’s new medieval fantasy novel as a publisher gauges interest and reader feedback.

 

Summer Reading Binge – August Only!

It’s that time of year again: Tourmaline Books has reduced the entire Wycaan Master series to just $0.99 for each book throughout August.

This a great time to introduce a young person to Seanchai and his friends. I wrote these books for my sons who were 11 and 8 when the first came out. They were 16 and 13 when the final book was published.

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This is how it all began – deep in a redwood forest in 2011.

Summer 2015 Reading Book 6

Reading Book 6 in the summer of 2015. End of an era.

While At The Walls Of Galbrieth won the Young Adult category of the Eric Hoffer Book Award, I am not sure what proportion of readers are in the 11-18 age range. Perhaps they are less likely to interact with an author on social media. Still, I am delighted every time I hear of a teen who has enjoyed the series.

Please click on the book cover to buy your 99c copy of each book and, if I might request, please leave a review on Amazon when you finish. It’s a huge help for me.

Thank you for your support. Enjoy the summer.
Alon

Wycaan Master 1 Just Front CoverThe First Decree-hi resolutionAshbar front cover

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The Journey Just Gets Better

It has been quite a week with the release of Ashbar – Wycaan Master Book 3. I am feeling slightly stunned by the closure of the first trilogy. Like At The Walls Of Galbrieth and The First Decree, Ashbar is a self contained story as well as the third in a series.

Ashbar front cover

There is a lot of closure, though not enough to stop the next trilogy from beginning, and I feel a certain sense of forlorn, perhaps as a parent feels when their children leave the nest.  I know the remedy to this – plunge into writing the next book. As the wise saying goes: “One trilogy closes, another opens.”

Thank you to everyone who bought Ashbar over the weekend and enabled it to pick up a credible ranking. Please let me know what you thought of it, once read, and leave a review on Amazon. I am surprised at how important these reviews are in terms of trackable purchasing actions and sales ranks. If you have not yet bought it, please invest the $2.99 this week, to help move it to a higher ranking.

I just want to take a moment and thank the incredible support team behind me.

Monica Buntin is my editor. I send her a jumble of about 100,000 words and she makes sense of them. I once had the audacity to tell her that I was sending a pretty clean manuscript. She had the good manners not to respond to that comment, but that didn’t deter her from cutting about 10% of the book and offering (correct) critique on every page.

Oh well. I learned my lesson. Editors are an eclectic breed and I have written about them before. They need authors or they will have nothing to edit and yet have to, I am sure, tolerate an awful lot of ego. When an author finds a good editor and one who clicks with them, they have a rare asset and would do well to keep them.

William J. Kenny, a fantasy author in his own right, designed the covers for all three of the Wycaan Master books. One day, I would like him to reveal the creative process in depth. For now, I am content to consider it magical. I send him a couple of paragraphs with my ideas and he sends me a crude image. He takes my response and produces such a complete picture. I am really in awe of him. If I could draw anything better than deformed stick people, I would love to give the process a go.

Then there is Jeny Reulo from FastFingers Book Formatting Services,  who designs and formats the interior of the books. Her willingness to make changes and attention to detail is amazing. The interior design of a book, if done well, does not garner any attention, but it is a crucial element in the reader’s experience. The interior designers are often the unsung heroes of the expedition into producing a book.

Finally, a big appreciation for my wife Ariela. I am sure she releases a big sigh of relief on the day that I finish writing a manuscript and probably an even bigger sigh of exasperation when, the following week, I begin writing the next book! My absences, both physical and mental, create a void she needs to fill, and she does it with grace and understanding.

This series began as a fun, family project, deep in a redwood forest. My sons were a part of this strange journey, from the prologue in Chapter 1 of At The Walls Of Galbrieth, to the final climax in Ashbar. Earlier this summer I read them a rough first draft of Book 4, and, four years on, it remains an integral part of what I hope and believe is a powerful journey we will share in our memories forever.

This is how it all began - deep in a redwood forest.

Where it all began – deep in a redwood forest.

It really doesn’t get any better than that. Once again, thank you to all who buy, read and review the Wycaan Master series. Your time is precious, the options of good books to read vast, and I am honored that you choose to open and read my books.

Thank you for sharing in the journey of the Wycaan Masters.

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Alon Shalev is the author of the 2013 Eric Hoffer YA Book Award winner, At The Walls of Galbrieth, Wycaan Master Book 1 and the sequel The First Decree, both released by Tourmaline Books. Ashbar – Book 3 is the third in the series, released in October 2013. Shalev is also the author of three social justice-themed novels including Unwanted Heroes. He swears there is a connection. More at http://www.alonshalev.com and on Twitter (@elfwriter).