Look out for at least 3 new books coming in 2019
Posted on May 8, 2019 (Subscribe to Blog)
3 new books? Yup. That's pretty normal for me. But what's not normal is the extra 18 ebook novellas I'm putting out in 2019. And I haven't thought much beyond September yet.
It's been up and down a bit lately. No complaints, just a LOT to do, which has got in the way of writing. But I'm back at it, and I'm excited to share that I'm progressing nicely on the next Sleep Writer adventures.
Not a fan of Sleep Writer? That's okay, but stay tuned, because there's a bit of news about Island of Fog coming up in this post as well. :-)
A quick announcement: April 24th 2019 was the 10-year anniversary of Island of Fog being published. Ten years! In that time, it's been downloaded by 200,000 readers, sparked interest from TV and movie producers, and spawned nine sequels, a bunch of short stories, and a spin-off series. Not bad for a book I self-published just to scratch an itch!
I haven't taken such a long break from writing since... well, since I published my first book in 2009. I published my last book, Death Storm, on November 15. Then I stopped to deal with a huge website job, which actually turned into TWO huge website jobs, both due by December 31st. I got both done for the most part, and then I had to catch up, yada-yada-yada... The point is, I didn't start writing again until March 1st. A three-and-a-half-month hiatus!
I wrote a 20,000-word novella called Target Earth featuring our intrepid heroes Liam, Ant, and the Sleep Writer herself Madison. If you've been following the news about splitting the four current books into a serial (see this post), you'll know that this new novella is Part 13 of the Sleep Writer Journal. I wrote it in 2-3 weeks. I then planned to start Part 14 on April 1st... but I didn't. Because I was BUSY. (Sue me.)
Anyway, on May 1st, I finally got started on Part 14, Frozen Demons, and I'm already at 16,000 words, so only 4000 more to go. No sweat. Even allowing for a good edit, that'll be no more than 2-3 weeks total. I've finally got into the habit of writing in the morning and doing websites in the afternoon, and that's going to work nicely for me.
At this rate, and keeping the momentum going, I'll be starting Part 15, Stasis Error, around the end of May with a goal to finish it before June 9th (when I head to the UK on vacation).
Since the Sleep Writer Journal serial is currently being released every two weeks, the schedule looks like this:
- Feb 1st through July 5th -- the first 12 parts of the Journal
In other words, this is the existing four novels split into three parts each. They're remaining as novels, but I'm serializing them as well -- perfect for KU readers.
Then...
- July 19 -- #13 Target Earth
- August 2 -- #14 Frozen Demons
- August 16 -- #15 Stasis Error
And if I stick to the plan, there will also be...
- August 30 -- #16 Murder of a King
- September 13 -- #17 The Ghost Realm
- September 27 -- #18 Droid Flux
See more about this, and all the covers, in my post Sci-fi episodic serial fiction -- free for KU Kindle Unlimited readers and on the main Sleep Writer page.
As soon as Target Earth, Frozen Demons, and Stasis Error are published in serial format, the three novellas will be combined as a novel as well, for those who prefer novels. And the same again for Murder of a King, The Ghost Realm, and Droid Flux.
I then intend to take a break from the serial and resume in 2020 with a new "season" starting at #19.
A quick call-out to Sleep Writer fans, if I may? The serial episodes could do with some love in the review department. If you've read Sleep Writer, that means you've read the first three parts of the serial and could, in theory, add ratings and reviews on Amazon. Same with Robot Blood and so on. Someone did post a nice review of the first part but only gave it 3 stars. Anything you can do to help would be GREATLY appreciated!
I see these adventures as very Doctor Who-like in that our heroes travel about the universe dealing with all manner of menaces. This particular batch of six parts will see a change in that Liam, Ant, and Madison will find it hard to resume life as normal. Basically, stuff happens that is impossible to hide from their parents, so they're ready to face them and say, "Yes, okay, we travel through wormholes to other planets..." Only it doesn't work out that way, because they suddenly find it very difficult to get home.
These novellas are incredibly fun to write! But I'll tell you something else that's fun to write...
A new Island of Fog adventure on the horizon!
No pun intended, but -- well, actually, yes it is. In the newest Island of Fog book, which I'm hoping to have ready by the end of August, the shapeshifters will be traveling to the edge of the world. You've all heard of legendary stories about ships falling over the horizon? Well, those stories are true! In Fog #11, Journey of Magic, the shifters will find a world they never knew existed.
Book 10, Forest of Souls, has had very strong sales since its release in November. I had feared that it would languish far behind, but it seems old Fog fans have shown up in droves to buy it. In terms of read-through sales, it's doing way better than expected. This is because it's new, and there's a lot of catch-up to do, but when all settles down, read-through will end up right on par with the rest of the books.
This is why I'm happy to write Book 11. It would be different if sales had dropped off like... well, like a ship going over the horizon. But everything's looking good, so I'm green-lighting myself to go ahead. :-D
See more about read-through below where I talk about diminishing returns. But first...
Ridiculous writing schedule?
You may have noticed that I'm biting off a lot to chew. But if I finish the third Sleep Writer novella before June 9th (highly doable), and then start on Journey of Magic straight away and write while I'm in the UK, I might possibly get that done and published by the end of August. But I'd have to write hard.
Why the rush, though? Because Amazon offers a writing competition that says (to paraphrase): "Publish a book (or books) between May 1st and August 31st and enter it as part of the competition, and the winner will receive a grand prize of 20,000." So I'd like to push hard to get Journey of Magic out between those dates.
If I can do that, I can then get started on Sleep Writer #16, Ghost Realm, for its publication on August 30th, and so on.
Let's see, then...
- 1 brand new Island of Fog book
- 12 pre-written Sleep Writer Journal novellas
- 6 brand new Sleep Writer Journal novellas
- 2 Sleep Writer books (using 3 novellas in each)
So after a lazy start to the year, 2019 might just end up being one of my most prolific. Without counting the serial, 3 full novels is normal. But with the serial, it's... well, it's just plain silly. :-)
Diminishing returns
Thinking of horizons earlier reminds me of a fellow author who commented recently about "diminishing returns" in business, the point at which it's no longer good business sense to throw money at something. It got me thinking. In farming, you can spend money to fertilize a field and perhaps see a 20% increase in crop output. That's money well spent on fertilizer and labor! If you get all excited and pay the same money to fertilize it again in the hope of another 20% crop increase, you'll be disappointed when it only yields 3%. This is diminishing returns.
But does it apply to writing books? I'm not sure. I guess it does in a way, but it depends how you look at it. Book 1 of a series will always sell more than Book 2, and Book 2 will sell more than Book 3, and so on. This is true of all my series without any exceptions.
So, for the sake of argument, if someone had a trilogy and was wondering whether or not to write Book 4...
- Book 1 yields $2000 a year in sales
- Book 2 yields $1500 a year in sales
- Book 3 yields $1000 a year sales
- ...then Book 4 might only yield $500 in sales
So is it worth writing Book 4? Well, it might if you consider it's $500 every year. If everything remains consistent, that $500 a year for Book 4 over 20 years would be $10,000. That's quite a nice retirement supplement when you add it to the other books in the series. It could be $4500 a year, or $5000 a year. The more books, the better.
And if Book 1 suddenly spiked and started selling like hot cakes, it could earn $10,000 a year... and suddenly Book 4 would be worth a lot more, perhaps $2500 a year. And then it's worth writing Book 5, Book 6, and Book 7...
Since "diminishing returns" (to me) means throwing money or time into something that doesn't yield enough to make it worthwhile, I don't think it applies to books -- because books could theoretically keep earning forever, thus the profit over time would be enormous. It's all relative. If Book 1 does poorly, then so will Book 4. If Book 1 sells well, then so does Book 4. So if you're wondering if Book 4 is worth writing, the answer is probably more to do with how well you can sell Book 1.
This other author I was talking to suggested that, instead of writing another book in the same series and suffering from diminishing returns, it might be better to write Book 1 of a brand new series. This is all well and good, but consider this:
After number-crunching my own sales, it seems that writing Book 11 of my Fog series will still yield a little more than Book 1 of my Legacies series. The Fog series just sells so much better than all my other work. But the Legacies books are catching up, and so are Sleep Writer books.
So, Book 1 of a new series isn't necessarily going to sell better. In fact, you're starting over with a new fan base, which makes it harder. On the plus side, it's easier to promote a Book 1 than, say, a Book 4 or Book 11. If I advertised Book 11, readers would be like, "Huh? I ain't starting there! I'll give this other book a shot instead. It's the first of a new series..."
All this tells me I should mark Fog Book 11 as "An Island of Fog Adventure" instead of "Island of Fog Book 11." And make sure it's a completely standalone story. Then I could advertise it and maybe draw new readers in.
But look here. I can't get any writing done if I'm conjecturing and pontificating about stuff, can I?
Until next time...
Hi!
I'm a HUGE Island of Fog Fan!
And I was wondering when the 11th book is coming out?
Also!
Who is your favorite Island of Fog character out of the main shape shifters?
Mine are:
1. Thomas (he has a fierceness to him that I love!)
2. Abigail (I just love how she teases Hal!)
3. Hal (he's a great leader!)
Hello Abi! Thanks for writing, and for being a fan. :-)
Book 11 is way behind schedule. In fact, it's fair to say I just completely changed my schedule since I wrote this post. Journey of Magic is on its way, but it'll be early 2020 before it's ready. Sorry about that. A lot has happened this year.
My favorite shapeshifter? Honestly, I really enjoy writing about Hal and Abigail the most, although I shouldn't say that!! I'm not supposed to have favorites... :-)
Awwwwwwww, okay!
I waited this long! I can wait longer!
Also I have another question! In your book "Prison of Despair" Hal says that they will all be 13 in three weeks yet when in the book "Forest of Souls" at the beginning it states that it has been 3 months since "Prison of Despair" and Abigail and Darcy are still 12. So i'm a little confused.
Okay I lied! One more thing! (sorry)
You should make Fenton and Emily a pair! Because Fenton is always teasing her kinda the same way Abi use to tease Hal. And you make Thomas and Darcy a pair because in your book "Eye of the Manticore" Thomas said that he always enjoyed hanging out with Fenton and Darcy. He said that he thought Darcy was sweet (in a manticore kinda way). But I mean I don't mind either way!
Well thats all, sorry to disturb you, I know that you are really busy!
Oh! Abi, good catch with the ages! I absolutely hate errors like that. Now I'll have to correct it somehow. I don't like to go back and fix text when because people have already bought the books, so I usually like to try and work around it in a later book... but I'm not sure I can here. I might just have to change the text in Forest of Souls and make them all 13 already, as they should be.
Thanks so much for spotting that and telling me!
As for Fenton and Emily... It's funny, but I always saw Fenton and Darcy as a more likely pair. But regardless of that, if you read the Island of Fog Legacies books set 20 years later, you'll see that all the characters show up (or are mentioned), which might shed a little light on where they all end up. ;-) I won't spoil it here.
It's great to hear from you, Abi. If you happen to be local to my area (northwest Georgia), make sure to come out and see me whenever I do book talks or small conventions. There's one in November at the Catoosa Library in Dalton, GA. Then Connooga in February, Farley Con in April, etc... (I'm saying all this, but the chances are you're not local at all.)
Its no biggie!
I always catch little mistakes like that in a lot of books!
I did read the "Island of Fog legacies" books! I just thought it might be interesting if Fenton and Emily or Thomas and Darcy were together but broke up because it would enter some drama into the series. Because Hal would want the group to stay together but the couples who broke up wouldn't want to be near each other. But I like the books with whatever you choose!
I wish I was local but sadly I'm not. I live on the other side of the USA. If I was local I would visit all the time.
You know....
if Thomas and Darcy end up together I might be jealous of Darcy......
JK... but I do like Thomas for his personality and his fierceness, he is my favorite character!
But Oh Well....
Its Your Call!
Lol! Well, a 20-year gap between series is a long time. Who knows what happened? It would fun to explore. I'm working on Book 11, so I don't know, maybe there could be an air of romance...
Yessssssssssssssss
I can't wait!
I'll leave you to writing!
I don't want to distract you any more!!!!!!
so
Bye!
(Well I will post a comment when the 11th book comes out)
Hmm. Abi, if you're reading this, I went back to writing the next Fog book and scanned through the first few chapters which I'd written months ago. Well, I found this but where Hal and some of the others are swimming in the ocean...
He spotted Fenton and Emily racing one another again. Hal wondered if perhaps something was happening between the two—perhaps a spot of romance! They’d deny it, of course. Besides, they all suspected Fenton had a crush on Darcy, not Emily, so it seemed unlikely they were anything more than just two friends sharing a love of swimming.
So how about that? I swear that wasn't there before. I think these characters write themselves, you know.
OMM
(OH MY MANTICORES!!)
I am seriously screaming!!
(With happiness)
IT'S SOOOOO GOOD!!
OMM
I CANT WAIT!! ONCE THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE FOR ORDER! I WILL PRE-ORDER IT. MARK MY WORDS! I WILL BE ON THE FIRST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD TO READ IT!
(I've done that with another book once. I pre-ordered it and I got the book the moment is came out and finished it. So that's proof so you know that I'll do it!)
I know that you might change it, or edited it or take it out completely, but I honestly don't care!
I'm just SOOOOOO excited!!!!
LOL! The problem is, Emily likes Fenton, but Fenton likes Darcy. Not quite sure how this will work out... It's probably just a phase.
I honestly don't care!
I'm just so excited!!!!!
I can't wait!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I JUST READ THE LITTLE TEASER FOR "ISLAND OF FOG"!!!!!!!!!
IT WAS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND I SIGNED UP FOR ARC!!!!!!!!!!
I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃
island of fog series is a good book !
Humongous congrats Keith on Island of Fog's ten year anniversary. Seems like the blink of an eye when we were excitedly following its embryonic journey on the blog here, then IOFs first publishing. Your daughter was about 4 or 5 back then and web design work took up much of the day work.
From you and your mate's boyhood Enid Blyton readings all those years ago here in the UK, to your US move, to now being a published author, you certainly kept your dreams firmly in focus. Inspirational.
Thank you so much, Patricia! Wow, yes, the Enid Blyton days... And that enidblyton.net website is still going strong.
I had ideas about doing something special for the 10th anniversary, but time slipped by. That was April 2019, as you know. I wanted to build a raft just like in the first book and sail it, and make a short video... and I will one day. :-)
Until then, I'll keep on writing.
When will the Island of Fog Arc be released?
Abi, stay tuned — we're literally one week away. It's all done, but I was altering something today and will finish off right after Christmas. So you'll get a copy of the ARC before the New Year... if not sooner, lol.
Okay!
I'm so excited!
*Insert fan girl squeal here*
I can't wait! I was so worried that I missed it!!!!!
Hello Mr. Robinson!
It's me Abi! I hope that everything is going well for you with everything going on lately! I just had a quick question:
Those who signed up for the Arc, (like me) do we still help you with your future books or do we only help with the one book around the time we signed up? I'm just asking because I saw that the new Island of Fog book comes out on May 15 and I was just curious if us Arc Readers were going to help you still.
Again, I hope everything is going great with you and your family!
~Abi
Abi — can you email me please? (keith@unearthlytales.com) Thanks!
Hi, I have recently started reading the island of fog series. I was wondering how many books your are planning on writing after the the 12th book. I haven’t read that far yet, but l love to spoil myself, so I went to the end of book 12 to see what happened. And I saw that you were writing the 13th book.
Thanks, Sunny
Sunny, as many as I can!! :-)
Why are the shapeshifters back on Old Earth? I thought they were done visiting Old Earth after book 9, why come back for a portal in book 13?
Abi, you've got good taste and your favorite three characters are the same as mine, except in a different order. #1 Hal, #2 Abigail, #3 Thomas, and #4 Emily, #5 Robbie, #6 Lauren, #7 Darcy, #8 Dewey, #9 Fenton-the-person-who-used-to-dribble-on-his-shirt. (This was posted by a 10-year old.)
Peter, you'll have to wait and see. :-) It's a special portal though. The people of Old Earth ask for the shapeshifters' help, and it means heading into a portal that's not really a portal at all.
Nice! What are hellhounds and are there any other new monsters or villains in book 13?
How about a hupia? It's a south american vampire.
