Now that the second book in L.Jagi Lamplighter’s excellent Rachel Griffin series (a refreshing and highly entertaining take on the Journey through Magic School) is available in the Kindle store, the first in the series is being reduced to 99 cents for the next few days.
Take a chance, take a look, you might just find your new favourite book 🙂
Calling all budding philosophers with a hankering for expanding your literary boundaries!
The American Philosophical Association is running a short story competition in collaboration with Sci Phi Journal, with a first prize of $500 Â from the APA and publication in Sci Phi Journal. It is open to everyone with a submission deadline of February 2017.
For details, see the announcement over on Eric Schwitzgebel’s blog.
Another reviewer has nice things to say about the paperback version of Selected Verse – Heroes and Wonders, though this time from a much more down-to-earth angle. J.D. Cowan has this to say over at amazon:
Thoughtful and Wondrous
I don’t know much about poetry, being an uncultured rube, but I know what I like. Reading Ben Zwycky’s “Heroes and Wonders” was a reminder into what I do like from poetry. This is inspirational in the best way. Each poem is an ode to beauty, love, God, and all the great things this world offers. It’s a shock to the system to read something so pure and straightforward without cynicism and bleakness attached. It was a joy to read.
Highly recommended for those who want to be inspired, and those who tend to forget that life offers many great things. It’s a cure for the rainy day.
This kind of response to my work really makes my day, especially when it’s the type of literature they wouldn’t normally look at.
Take a chance on Heroes and Wonders, you might just like it more than you expect 🙂
Speaking of paperbacks, the second edition paperback of Nobility Among Us is now only $9.99 at amazon!
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Or rather, read for yourself for free my picks for the best story and article from each of last year’s issues of Sci Phi Journal. Some choices were very hard to make, so people who have read the issues may disagree with my selections, but I hope you’ll all agree that all of these offerings are worth a read, and it’s hard to argue with the price, isn’t it?.
Kate Paulk, organizer of this year’s Sad Puppies campaign, thought Sci Phi Journal’s Hugo packet stood out from the rest when it came to the semiprozine category.
Take a look and see if you agree…
As this is a free ebook, please distribute and share it as widely as possible, even hosting it yourself, as long as the files themselves are not modified. If you like what you read, please consider becoming a subscriber to the journal at the journal’s patreon page. (As a member of the journal’s editing staff, I receive a portion of reader’s subscriptions, so subscribing to the journal will also indirectly support me).
(My apologies for the lack of activity at this blog, I have been hard at work on some projects that are not yet ready to be announced, but I am very excited about.)
Just last week, Mr Superversive himself Tom Simon released a new collection of short stories. His work is always a pleasure to read, so take a look and try it for yourself!
Checking my post-countdown sales figures to see if the final day’s momentum was being continued, I noticed an unusual (and very welcome) upturn in sales of Nobility Among Us yesterday and today. A quick google search revealed the source, Nobility Among Us has the honour of being being featured at Instapundit, thanks to the ever-awesome Sarah A. Hoyt. People in the comments have been saying some nice things about my writing, making me literally jump for joy (causing my middle son to come running into the room to find the source of the loud thumping noise) 🙂
http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/234415/
Click the image below to take a look at the book itself.
EDIT: The Amazon ranking for the book has beaten its previous best record:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,144 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
Less than 24 hours left on the Kindle countdown deals for both Nobility Among Us and Selected Verse: Heroes and Wonders (the deal for Beyond the Mist will continue for an extra two days, the price for Selected Verse – Faith and Family is permanent). Grab them while you can!
The book bomb on Nethereal I mentioned last time is now on. To quote Larry Correia:
It is BOOK BOMB time!
Today’s pick is Nethereal by Brian Niemeier.  I read this a couple of months ago and the best way to describe it is Space Pirates Go To Hell, only it is way cooler than that description makes it sound.
For those of you new to Book Bombs, the goal is to get as many people as possible to buy an author’s book on the same day. The more books sell, the higher it gets in the rankings, the more new people see it. If it is something that you would be interested in reading anyway, getting it the same time as a bunch of other folks pushes it up in the ratings, which means more publicity, exposure, and new fans. Success breeds success, and a good Book Bomb can get an author hundreds of new fans. We steer people toward Amazon for this because it is big, has lots of eyes on it, and has an constantly updating sales rank, but if you prefer to purchase somewhere else go for it, because the most important thing is that the author GETS PAID.
So please spread the word and tell your friends. Brian is a relatively new writer, so let’s give his career a boost.
Being an appreciative sort of guy, Brian had this to say:
Thanks Larry, and thanks to the Monster Hunter Nation. You guys have always made me feel welcome in the comments. I’m especially grateful for your hospitality today.I first came to this blog as a reader, like all of you. I wanted the fun, exciting stories that seem to be in short supply these days.Larry stands among a new generation of authors who write for a vastly underserved audience. These writers know that the reader is king. They put entertainment first. By their example–and with guidance from stellar authors like John C. Wright and Jeff Duntemann, and my awesome editors L. Jagi Lamplighter and Jason Rennie–I learned that I work for you, the readers.How’s it working out? My first anniversary as a pro novelist is next month, and for my performance review, my bosses nominated me for a Campbell Award.You did that. Words are the tools of my trade, but I can’t find any that fully express my gratitude.So I’ll just say thanks and point you toward my first book, Nethereal. It’s been described as what you’d get if A. Merritt wrote a Dune novel after binge-watching 90s anime. Nevertheless, people dig it.Already read Nethereal? I haven’t forgotten about you. The thrilling and even better-received sequel, Souldancer, is available now. And in honor of the occasion, it’s on sale.Thanks again to my esteemed host the International Lord of Hate, and to the readers who support us authors. Buy my books so I can GET PAID and bring you more stories about space pirates in space hell. ÂAbout NetherealA woman like no other who longs for acceptance.
A precision killer inspired by the dream of his captain.
The last member of a murdered race, fighting to avenge his people against the might of the Guild…and the dark powers behind it.The Sublime Brotherhood of Steersmen holds the Middle Stratum in its iron grip. Jaren Peregrine, last of the Gen, raids across fringe space with Nakvin—her captain’s best pilot and only friend, apprentice steersman Deim, and mercenary Teg Cross.Hunted by the ruthless Master Malachi, Jaren and his crew join a conspiracy to break the Guild’s monopoly with an experimental ship. But when its maiden voyage goes awry, the Exodus flies farther off course than its crew could have imagined.
The progress of the book bomb (in terms of the amazon ranking reached) can be followed over at Larry’s blog here
Larry Correia is organizing one of his famous book bombs for my friend Brian Niemeier, specifically for his first novel Nethereal, a horror/action tale of space pirates on a literal journey through the circles of hell. It is a very well-written book, though I personally think the sequel Souldancer, is even better. A book bomb takes advantage of Amazon’s ranking algorithms by asking lots of people to buy a book on the same day, pushing the book well up the rankings and making it much more visible to regular amazon customers, leading to even more sales, and most importantly, the author getting paid for his work. The date for this book bomb is the 18th of this month, i.e. two days from now. For more details, see here:
Beyond the Mist has started its second Kindle Countdown deal, so now all four of my books are on sale for 99 cents until midnight PST at the end of the 19th. Grab them while you can!
The Zwyckyverse 