Physical self-publishing?

To date, my plans on self-publishing have been entirely electronic. I never considered getting a physical version of Bane of Souls (available at all good e-book retailers), and won't for Journey to Altmortis.

However, I am thinking of doing it in the more distant future. Not for a short comedy I'm planning to slot in between Altmortis and the subsequent trilogy (unlike Bane of Souls, Altmortis and the trilogy the comedy will be set in an entirely separate world), but perhaps for the trilogy. If I like the results there's an off-chance I'll release a combined version of Bane of Souls and Journey to Altmortis in a single physical volume.

As a reader, I never really saw the point of physical versions of self-published books. My free space is now almost zero and the convenience and speed of an e-book is hard to beat. For fantasy, whether self- or traditionally published, I almost always buy electronic versions.

However, not everybody thinks the same way, and if I had more room I might consider buying the odd (especially good) fantasy in physical format.

On the Goodreads Indie Book Club, of which I'm a member, I found a useful link to a chap's blog post, which has some handy numbers on self-publishing:

http://rschiver.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/is-amazon-ripping-off-writer.html

Anyway, I thought I'd make this post in case anyone was wondering about the prospect of a print version. Possibly, but not for Journey to Altmortis. Yet.

Thaddeus

Review: Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe, by Norman Davies

This is a history of countries that have ceased to be, going back about one and a half thousand years. It looks at around 15 examples of European nations that have joined the choir invisible.

Each 'kingdom' gets a chapter divided into three parts: a brief introduction, a larger discussion of the birth, life and death of the state, and then an epilogue. There are also several sections of plates (photos and the like), which is common to this sort of history.

Being into history, but mostly classical rather than modern, the majority of states were either entirely new to me or were ones about which I knew very little. It was particularly interesting to read of Prussia and Poland-Lithuania, and rather disheartening to hear how Montenegro (now independent once more) was abandoned by her victorious allies to the predation of Serbia following the end of the Great War.

As might be expected, some chapters entertained me more than others. Generally, I found them to enjoyable and enlightening.

I do have some gripes, however. Eire was included. I have nothing against the Republic of Ireland, but, as the more astute my readers will already know, it's, er, still here. It is the antithesis of a Vanished Kingdom, being neither vanished nor a kingdom.

There is also an occasional tendency to wander on tangential paths rather than sticking to the highway of each chapter's central theme.

The inclusion of Byzantium (under the slight alternative Byzantion) also irked me. Not because it's unworthy of inclusion, indeed, it's probably the single worthiest example of a Vanished Kingdom. The problem is that it has more than a thousand years of history yet gets the  second shortest chapter in the book (after a 'state' that lasted a single day), which contains very little of its actual history. Its inclusion is pointless due to the lack of information. (For those after a Byzantine history I very strongly recommend John Julius Norwich'sfantastic three-part work).

On the whole, I did enjoy it. Most of the history was entirely new to me and it was interesting and fairly easy to read. However, I'm baffled by the miniscule chapter on Byzantium and the inclusion of a country which was (in its present form) founded very recently and is in rude health.

Thaddeus

Review: The Hero of Ages (Mistborn book 3), by Brandon Sanderson

I fairly raced through this book. As the last part of a trilogy [although there are some other books set in the same world] there are necessarily spoilers for the earlier instalments.

The storyline is nice and fast-paced, and has a few main strands. As might be expected, there's a focus on Elend and Vin, but also upon Spook, who gets a bit more of an active role this time.

Ash is falling thick and fast, volcanoes are exploding and the world looks doomed. By tracking down information the Lord Ruler left behind Elend and Vin hope to defeat Ruin.  

Throughout the series I've liked the kandra, and the scenes with TenSoon are amongst my favourites. More backstory about what the Lord Ruler did when he was all-powerful and his relationship with Ruin are revealed, and there are a few especially cunning twists that I never saw coming but which made perfect sense (as well as one or two which are a bit easier to anticipate).

Yomen is a new character who is quite intriguing. He's set himself up as King of Fadrex, but appears to be a pretty decent sort. However, he comes into conflict with Elend, who wants the city (for good reasons) and Mr. Sanderson does an excellent job of portraying how, in crisis or war, it's entirely possible for two opposing sides to be led by reasonable men.

Unlike the first two books, which were almost entirely focused on the capital, Luthadel, most of The Hero of Ages takes place in numerous other locations. This helps the author to flesh out the dying world of what was The Final Empire, which he does to good effect.

I liked The Hero of Ages a lot, and if you enjoyed The Well of Ascension I think you'll like this too. I'm sorely tempted to buy some more Mistborn books (and will be getting the second part of The Stormlight Archive when it comes out), but I'm going to focus on Vanished Kingdoms for now.

Thaddeus

New Reviews Page

As well as Interviews, I've decided to add a Reviews page (found at the tab above). This will be dedicated to reviews of Bane of Souls by blogs/sites, and won't include retailer-specific reviews (Amazon ones, for example) or reviews I do of other books.

The first review is by Boom Baby, the delightful lady reviewer of books, and has given Bane of Souls 4 flaming fireballs out of a possible 5.

The full review can be found here: http://boombabyreviews.miadarien.com/2013/01/review-bane-of-souls-by-thaddeus-white/

It's always interesting to hear what people think of Bane of Souls, both the good and the bad, and hopefully I'll be able to use the reviews I get to help improve Journey to Altmortis (although it's a significantly different book in terms of plot so certain issues won't recur).

Thaddeus