Publishing Weekend Followed by Welcome to Wargaming Weekend

This weekend I finally published my children's book to Smashwords. It took a while to write, draw, paint and compile the thing. Still, it might have taken even longer to register for the international book numbers I needed to publish it how I wanted to. I'll post some details on my other blog, but for now I thought I'd share over here since my other audience has heard plenty through the facebook page. The kids that have read Bear with Me and those that have had it read to them have all loved it and asked it to be read a number of times in a row. The parents who have read it liked it too. I put a lot into making it appeal to both, because having become a dad this year I know what it's like to read kids' books that make me roll my eyes. Or that get boring to me quickly. Or that just kind of suck. It's pretty cheap at 3.99 and the first half is available as a free sample if you want to get a feel for the art. Really though, the story comes together at the end (as any story should). For now it is only available through Smashwords, but once it clears their vetter review it will be available through Apple, Sony, Kobo and Barnes & Noble. I'll be uploading to Amazon myself later this week. The Japanese version will be coming this week as well. Smashwords is best if you just want to show your support as the royalties rate is much better, but you do also get access to every available file format, so it's a win/win for us both.

On the 40k front, next weekend is the Welcome to Wargaming event! God I can't wait for it. There are going to be a lot of tables set up for a lot of different games. There will be representatives from a lot of the hobby shops in Japan and I heard that Steve Parker of Black Library fame will be around too! I'd love to get a chance to talk to him. I had no idea any of the BL authors live in Japan.

For gaming, I opted to play a little demo game of Necromunda and 3 games of 40k at 1500 points. I haven't played 40k in a while. The last games I did get in were with Seer Council/Dark Eldar mech list variants. I picked up a few new lessons with my favorite unit in the game. Allying in Dark Eldar and using Wave Serpents, War Walkers and GJBs lets me shoot pretty darn hard in addition to having a truly obscene beat stick.

Good lessons, but I'm not sure if they're one's I'll be leaning on next Saturday. I have three different lists in mind: two competitive ones and one that is experimental. The experimental one has lots of aspect warriors and a mix of vehicles. One competitive one is my Council DEldar list and the other is a mech list that is tough as nails. I forget how well I can pack everything up. I'm pretty sure I can bring all three and then play each once since there are three games (it's not a tourney).

I haven't been up to date on all the Space Marine rules, but from what I've heard they sound in line with the newer books. I'll have a look before the event, but I can't imagine a solid TAC Eldar list suddenly can't hang just because SMs got some price adjustments and new toys. It should be a great time!

Resources on Self-publishing Novels

I just read this interesting article from Salon about self-publishing novels. Wargamers are a creative bunch and I expect there are many with their own ambitions, so I thought I'd share resources like this as I come across them. Here's another from CNET that I read the other day which covers many different ways to approach self-publishing ebooks specifically.

What I take away from these (and the excellent comments on the Salon article) is a couple of interesting key points:

• When self-publishing, you retain the rights to your work. You can publish the traditional way any time afterward.
• Books never go off shelves if published as ebooks. There is no need for them to be successful right away. They can earn you money for a long period of time.
• If you pursue traditional publishing later on, already profiting from your work can help in negotiations.
• It's still hard to be the success story that people focus too much on, but with hard work it more possible than ever to supplement your income with the hobby you love.
• You don't have to spend a fortune promoting. Find free and cheap avenues of promotion and be patient while working on the next book.

It's nice to see something encouraging on the very daunting business side of writing. There is a lot more to it than making the product. Even with good work finished in your hands, much more needs to be done to get any readers, not to mention getting some compensation for the effort. As I come across any other good articles like these, I'll share them. 

I'd love to see any that you have seen if you have some to share. Heck, feel free to plug your work and share your experiences if you have a self-published title yourself.