Signal Boost: "Ice & Monsters" By Peter Nealen

Nick Cole wrangled together some of the Galaxy's Edge regulars to do a launch stream for a new military fantasy adventure series yesterday.

This new venture of Nick and Jason to open an imprint and use the following and structure they erected in the creation of first Galaxy's Edge and now Forgotten Ruin is a welcome one, as this is exactly the "Fork and Replace" strategy playing out in real time.

I concur with Nick that "Contemporary Military Goes Into Fantasy World" works far better when actual combat veterans who know how to write do so, as they are far more likely to address the premise honestly and with a high degree of verisimilitude, something that is lacking in the most well-known example in this genre: GATE, by a JSDF veteran.

I look forward to seeing where this goes, but as Nick and Jason are taking up something of a Big Brother role I can be confident of another success like Forgotten Ruin.

See for yourself by clicking on the image link below that takes you to the Amazon Page:

The Business: Cole & Anspach Address Adapting To A Meaner Environment

Authors Nick Cole and Jason Anspach uploaded a video to the Galaxy's Edge channel on YouTube last night to talk about the recent Amazon hiccup.

Nick and Jason wisely concluded that--while this incident was not deliberate malice--it could be at any time and Amazon holding a dominant position means they can pull Mean Girl nonsense and expect servile compliance as if you were a pathetic simp.

They decided to do something about it, and this video gets into that, but you can already see where this is going: deleveraging off Amazon and offering alternative avenues to sell GE books--ebook, audio, print--and this is expanding to new projects like Forgotten Ruin now that this series is a thing.

I urge all of you indie authors to, once again, pay attention to what Nick and Jason are doing. Learn from their mistakes. Learn what works for then (and, of course, why) so you can see what you can copy, and what it would take to do so, versus alternatives that don't work for them but do work for you. Then, when you find what's working for you, return the favor and share with the class; we're all in this together, and crowd-sourcing solutions spreads good solutions faster.

And if you want to see the core of GE's disentanglement, start with their site landing page here.

The Business: The SF Writer's Association Is Irrelevant Trash

The Leading Hispanic Voice in Science Fiction, Jon del Arroz, cut a video exposing another paper tiger of OldPub.

The big tell is how they manipulate their own rules to execute Friend/Enemy distinctions and act accordingly. They confess to Jon that they gladly let in people who don't meet the criteria, and expell those that do, purely on being faithful Death Cultists or enemies. That means that this organization has been converged for a long time, because this was the state of SWFA when it violated its own bi-laws to punt Vox Day- an expulsion that Vox rejects as illegitimate to this day accordingly.

This means that the organization is wholly about the Death Cult, and not at all about Muh Fandom or Muh Sci-Fi, and the performance of its members in the marketplace shows this to be true--I've sold more than them--so what this is really about is using the organization to exercise Narrative Warfare campaigns against enemies of the Cult.

What does this tell you?

That you don't need this organization. Furthermore, that this group is your enemy; if you are not One of Them, you are their enemy and they will be hostile to you- their writers, their agents, their editors, their publishers, their press whores, etc. are all going to roll out and array against you on command.

And if they weren't pathetic, they'd be more powerful than they really are--and far closer to what they want you to believe they are--but as it stands you can (and should) shrug them off and focus instead on a bigger issue: the need to diverse from Amazon (which I need to do too).

Signal Boost: "A High School Girl In The Crusades Graphic Novel" Now Available On IndieGoGo

The Leading Hispanic Voice in Science Fiction, Conqueror of WorldCon, and Future King of California Jon del Arroz has released a new Indiegogo campaign for his parody of his own Deus Vult graphic novel: "A High School Girl In The Crusades" (a.k.a. "Desu Vult").

This is a two-for-one campaign, as people who missed Deus Vult can acquire a copy now--complete with new cover--as part of a package deal with the manga-style parody. This is a smart move, as you'll get both the original work and what is being parodied in one go. Jon explains:

We are offering two different comics:

1. A High School Girl In The Crusadesis a 22-page manga-style isekai parody about a high school girl transported to the crusades (duh!). Art is 100% by The Quaff (Shotgun Samurai, Nuclear Warhead Samurai).
2. Deus Vult is a 66 page epic fantasy graphic novel about a crusader transported to a magical and evil realm. Art is by Jesse White and Matt Crotts. This is the 2nd chance for this book, and we are offering a brand new cover featuring art by famed fantasy artist, Lolo Guzman.

You'll find the campaign page here, and you'll find the covers for both books there along with other sample artwork for your consideration and the reminder of the original T-shirt that has now proven to be the inspiration for this project is a bonus- get one.

This is a good deal, so take a look at the campaign page and see what you'll find worth your money to put towards it.