Posted by SzieberthAdam on 2013-11-17 17:13:58

Good to know there are books to read there which were written by people I know at least a tiny bit. I'll prefer these works over strangers'. Rated 6!

Posted by harvestmouse on 2013-11-17 17:22:02

Congratulations, you've done something I couldn't do...finish a book. Well you've done 3 in fact.

Posted by viperstrike77 on 2013-11-17 17:23:24

Big congrats!!! Instantly downloaded :) Look forward to reading!

Posted by happygrue on 2013-11-17 17:25:21

Well done! I have been meaning to give this a try, but I don't have a Kindle. I do have a Nook, and I looked for it in the Nook store and on the Google Play store, but I guess it's not available there (yet...)?

But anyway, for those who don't know, you don't need a kindle to read it: as I've just discovered, Amazon provides "Kindle Cloud Reader" that you can use to read Kindle stuff on other devices. I'll send you some fanmail and then foul some of your menz when I'm done with it. ;)

Posted by Rabe on 2013-11-17 17:25:39

Congratulations!

I've actually been away from Facebook for a while (ever since my birthday *coughs*), so this is the first place to see the news. :-)

Posted by maysrill on 2013-11-17 17:37:39

Yeah happygrue, I'm just on Kindle at the moment. There are things I can only do with them if I'm exclusive. I use the Kindle app on my phone and like it. Anyone who really needs a nook/Mono/iPad, just PM me.

Posted by licker on 2013-11-17 18:56:12

Grabbed it for my daughter, I'll let you know what the 15 year olds think :)

Posted by PeteW on 2013-11-17 20:07:56

I finished reading Firehurler and Aethersmith back to back. And I panicked. I have been completely gripped by the stories of the twinborn and I have loved the twists and turns and intrigue. What would I do? How would I wait for the third book? I checked Amazon on a whim, maybe hoping for a publishing date. And there it was! Ready to be bought! I greedily clicked the "purchase" button, and smiled as I saw it was downloaded and ready to be devoured.

Thanks Maysrill! I love your books. I wonder if I was the first to download Sourcethief?

Posted by Cavetroll on 2013-11-17 20:08:16

Grats, I just downloaded Firehurler and War-Bringer for free. Looking forward to reading them.

Posted by Hitonagashi on 2013-11-17 21:33:48

PeteW, I dunno, I bought it pretty fast too!

Anyway, yeah, great books, been hooked since the first one, and really looking forward to the Mad Tinker stuff. Definitely get it if you like any fantasy, well worth it.

Posted by koadah on 2013-11-17 21:39:30

I don't suppose there is an audiobook for us lazy asses. :)

Get Stephen Pacey if you can!

Blake's 7 FTW!

Posted by PeteW on 2013-11-17 22:02:42

Hitonagashi - I bought it at 00:08 UKtime last night.

Were you earlier?

Posted by maysrill on 2013-11-17 22:02:47

PeteW, Hito, it was my wife who actually downloaded it first ;)

Posted by maysrill on 2013-11-17 22:05:40

Koadah, the audio book will come eventually. Very time consuming to produce, but I'll get to it one day.

Right now I'm working on a new series in the same universe. First book: The Mad Tinker's Daughter.

Posted by Naru1981 on 2013-11-17 22:24:36

downloaded onto kindle and already reading.

Posted by koadah on 2013-11-17 23:27:49

OK Maysrill, thanks to you I've joined the 21st century an got hold of one of those app thingys.

I'm actually going to have to use my dodgy old eyes.

If I get to the end that will put you up there with JRRT & GRRM and ahead of Stephen Erikson & Scott Bakker. :D

Posted by maysrill on 2013-11-18 03:10:41

Also, I know that some FUMBBLers aren't on during weekends and might not even see the free book promotion until it's over. Not to worry, just PM me and I get get you a copy (just let me know what format you read on and where to send it). Books are going back to regular price Monday, but I don't want you guys to miss out. Due dates are for the people I don't know ;)

Posted by cameronhawkins on 2013-11-18 06:50:23

I hate to be critical in your moment of triumph; as a published writer myself, I really do admire the tremendous about of work that has gone into your project. But, from one artist to another, I don't think you should be giving away your work for free. Charge something, even if it's small. Extra exposure is great, but setting a precedent of free work can be costly later, both to you and your fellow writers. You've done hard work, and you deserve to be compensated. Writing as a profession can only survive if–– as a society–– we agree to this dynamic.

So, I would be interested in knowing where I can pay to get a copy! (Especially if it has a physical form!)

Posted by pythrr on 2013-11-18 07:04:47

cameron, the rise of the internet writing culture (blogging, et al) has already moved us a long way downy he path that you suggest. Journalism has been eviscerated by the rise of news aggregating and blog-comment driven news sites (Slate, for example), who pay very little or rely on free written comment.

As you point out, this has also impacted the literature market too. It's a worrying trend, as my colleagues in publishing often point out.

Posted by maysrill on 2013-11-18 07:52:41

@Cameron - While I understand the sentiment, it's a new world out there. Even things from a year or two ago are outdated. I keep up to date on the self-publishing world somewhat obsessively, and this is the gist of how this sort of promotion works:

No one pays any attention to a new author. None. The world resists change, and you have to give it some sort of kick to get it going. I waited until I had a full trilogy on Amazon before running a free promotion with them. For 24 hours, my first book is free, and gets tons of exposure due to this (combined with an additional kick of some promotional services which have been frighteningly effective). What I haven't and won't give away on Amazon are the other two books in the series. The exposure I got today generated spillover into those books that exceeded my last month's sales. Just today.

Today my readership increased by roughly 4x. I have no qualms about losing out on revenue from Book 1 if 4x as many people are buying books 2 and 3. Not only that, but I am continuing to write more books. When those come out, readers of the Twinborn Trilogy will be more likely to read them.

Think of it like a band. When you're playing local clubs and high school parties, when someone invites you to play Central Park, you don't ask "how much."

I can understand not wanting to give away the farm, but promotion IS the bread and butter of a new author. Write all you want, but if no one reads it, you don't get to keep writing.

As for your question: By the time you read this, I imagine, the promotion will be over. The books will all be available on Amazon for money, in both Kindle and paperback form.

I don't mind giving them away to FUMBBLers even after the promotion, in large part due to the fact that many of you were my earliest readers, back when no one had heard of me, I was selling to mostly friends and family, and this is where several of my first reviews came from. You guys have had my back, so I plan to take care of your guys in return.

@pythrr - publishers are right to be worried, but that's not the reason. The rise of self-publishing is putting the screws to them, driving down prices as people circumvent the machinery they've put in place. Major talents are testing the waters of self-pub, and newer authors often skip out on them entirely. The big guys aren't in danger, per se, but they need to shake up their business models to keep pace.

I'll stop before I bore everyone (if it's not too late already) with the stuff I deal with on the business side of my writing.

For the record, my rankings in the Amazon Free Store:
#1 in Epic Fantasy
#2 in all Sci-fi/Fantasy
#13 in the whole damn site

Posted by koadah on 2013-11-18 09:14:03

@cameronhawkins: I agree with the free book.

Mrs K suggested buying me the book for my birthday. I declined on the grounds that I'd probably never find time to read it. Even a couple of pounds is sometimes too much hassle for people to click through a couple of screens of credit card purchasing.

It's like those free newspapers they give away at tube stations. People take them while they are free. But ask even 20p and people suddenly realise that they don't actually need it.

If I am honest, I only went to the trouble of finding and downloading a kindle app because I thought there might be other free stuff. ;)

Now I have the book on my phone. When I get stuck with no signal or wi-fi it's only real competition will be Treasure Island & dull professional text books. ;)

It's a loss leader. If I get hooked I'll buy the others. That is not bad as the only fiction I had considered buying (for myself) in the near future is GRRM's Winds of Winter.

There is too much other stuff to do, watch, listen to, read. I am currently listening to Sherlock Holmes. My son is on Moby Dick. That is all free. Competition is fierce.

Posted by paradocks on 2013-11-18 09:54:02

after spending about 30 minutes downloading then attempting to find it on my hard drive I've decided i wont ever touch anything Kindle again for the rest of my life. Though I'm still quite interested in reading it if I could get a pdf or something of it

Posted by Verminardo on 2013-11-18 10:09:11

Nice, congrats on the achievement! :) Started reading Aethersmith on my Kindle today.

Posted by koadah on 2013-11-18 10:42:40

@paradocks: You don't need to root around your hard drive. Run the kimdle app and the book will be in your library. It will probably be easier to read than a PDF.

Posted by maysrill on 2013-11-18 13:46:16

@paradocks - what koadah said. If that doesn't work for you, PM me and I can send you a pdf (easier to read on the app though, IMO).

@Verminardo - great to hear. Always nice when people read Firehurler. When they read Aethersmith afterward, I know I'm doing something right :)

Posted by Anzelak on 2013-11-19 04:46:25

I missed the free promotion, but best of luck with this. Freebie giveaways are the way to go these days. Hope you pick up plenty of sales for the rest of the trilogy.