Update: Now available for pre-order at iBooks and Kobo.

The release date for The Last Good Man is June 20, but preorder links are going up — so far only for the ebook and only at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but expect to see it at Kobo and iBooks before long.

There will also be a print edition. I’m hoping that will be available to order through bookstores within a week. I’ll post more information here when I have it, and I’ll also update links on my website.

By preordering, you’ll get your copy of The Last Good Man automatically — so there’s no way you’ll forget — and that’s good for you AND me.

Pre-order the ebook at:
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
iBooks/Apple
Amazon – USA
Amazon – UK
Amazon – AUS
Amazon – CA
(Also available at other Amazon stores.)

It’s starting to feel like all I’ve done this year is promotion.

You’ve seen a lot of promotion here on the blog. There’s been more behind the scenes. Partly this is because I’ve got a new novel coming out in June, and if I don’t promote it, no one will. But it’s also because I feel like I’ve reached a do-or-die point in my career.

I returned to writing at the end of 2010/early 2011. My plan was to reissue my backlist and start producing new work. I gave myself two years to make something happen. After two years I thought I detected signs of progress and I extended my deadline to five years. Then six. Now I’m on year seven, but sales on most of my books are still bumping along the bottom of the graph. I’m not exaggerating this. It’s a good month for Limit of Vision if I sell five copies.

I’ve tried to follow the standard advice — “The best promotion you can do is to write the next book” — and yes, I’ve had brief spurts of success, but never sustained success. I think it’s partly because I don’t write fast enough — successful indie writers are able to write and publish several novels a year — and also because I don’t write in the popular subgenres. A look at Amazon shows that classic sci-fi space adventure and sci-fi romance are both HUGELY popular, but my interests are elsewhere.

I do think there are more readers out there who would enjoy my work if they knew about it — so I’m trying to connect with them.

I know all the promotion has to be annoying to my long-time readers and for that I apologize. But I’d like to make this work. I’d like to keep writing. And realistically, I need more readers for that. I need to see decent sales on my forthcoming novel — or what is the point?

So I hope you’ll put up with me through these promotional ventures.

If you’d like to help out, consider posting reviews of the books you’ve enjoyed at Amazon or Goodreads or both. Or suggest them to friends. Many of you already do this. Thank you! Word-of-mouth really does matter.

These days, a lot of writers are trying out Patreon and some are having success with it. I’d really prefer that you just buy my books if you haven’t done so already. That’s the heart of it. And thank you for sticking with me.

…the Sci-Fi Bridge Round 3 Book Giveaway.

Signup to receive four free ebooks, plus:

“The pursuit of perfection is a cover for massive insecurities.”

I jotted this down in my journal this morning after loading my latest round of corrections into both the print and ebook editions of The Last Good Man. There were three corrections.

One was a spelling issue: “Acknowledgement” vs “Acknowledgment.” Both are acceptable, though supposedly the second is more commonly used in America. I’d used both versions, which is not acceptable, so I settled on the more-popular-in-America spelling.

Throughout the manuscript I’ve set text messages and emails in an alternate font. The second correction was to remove the use of that alternate font in one instance where it didn’t belong.

In the third correction I’d mistakenly typed “NGC” when I meant “NGO” (nongovernmental organization) so I fixed that. This one bugs me, though, because I failed to catch the mistake in all my read-throughs, none of my beta readers noticed, and neither did my line editor or copyeditor. Oops! Ron gets credit for discovering it.

“What’s an NGC?” he asked while reading through what I thought would be the final print version.

NGC?

In my mind I scrambled for an answer. NGC, NGC…that’s from astronomy. New General Catalog. Wait. THAT CAN’T BE RIGHT!

I took a look at the passage and finally worked it out. Oh.

I know I get way too worked up over these tiny issues. Refer back to the first line of this post.

On a more positive note, I’ve gotten some really kind blurbs in support of The Last Good Man, so all is not lost, even if the odd spelling error still awaits discovery.

I’m very grateful to Greg Bear for recently taking the time to read the book. He says: “The Last Good Man pulls us into next month’s headlines with a conviction and energy that makes for an extraordinary tale.”

Steven Gould and Vonda N. McIntyre have also provided advance praise which you can read here. I’m especially grateful for this support, given that I’m putting this novel out on my own.

Preorders Coming Soon
I’m hoping to be able to set up preorders in the next couple of weeks, but bear with me — I’ve never done preorders before and I’m sure there will be snags. The publication date remains June 20.

“…there is nothing for me to do as we circle the world except to admire the overwhelming beauty of this place that we have threatened and corrupted with our wars and our poisons. Lotus passes from daylight into a night lit by electric lights that outline the continents and surround the oceans, and in time it is day again, and we are bathed in the bright-blue reflected glow of the Pacific, and I can’t stop looking at it all, taking it all in. Astronomers speak of finding Earthlike worlds around other stars, but they are speaking in hyperbole, in meaningless generalities. There is only one Earthlike world. There will only ever be one and it is fragile, and if it takes the cold manipulations of a fathomless AI to bring balance and to protect this precious place from the madness of those who would set it on fire, so be it. I, for one, am proud to serve as a soldier in that war.”

–excerpt from The Trials, Book 2 of the Red trilogy

CLICK TO SEE A LARGER VERSION OF THIS IMAGE

Image courtesy of NASA.
Image caption: “NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a unique view of Earth from the spacecraft’s vantage point in orbit around the moon.”
Follow this link for more information on this image.

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ve heard me talk before about Sci-Fi Bridge.

To review, Sci-Fi Bridge is a writer-run organization dedicated to getting the word out on new releases and great book deals in the science fiction world. Getting the word out is a HUGE challenge in this crowded field, so I’m really happy to be part of this effort. Round 3 is MY round. It’s my chance to connect with new newsletter subscribers and it’s your chance to connect with new-to-you writers.

So I encourage you to visit the Bridge and enter to win a massive book giveaway. Just by entering, you get access to four free ebooks. One is an anthology of stories by writers participating in Sci-Fi Bridge including my own “Codename: Delphi.” And you’ll be able to opt-in to the Sci-Fi Bridge newsletter, and to author newsletters if you choose. You’ll also have a chance to win 30+ ebooks, or the Grand Prize of 30+ signed books. I’m contributing ebooks and a signed book (Tech-Heaven) during this round.

Follow this link for the official info.

The contest runs April 20 – 27. See you on the Bridge!

Signup to receive four free ebooks

Enter to win 30+ ebooks!

* * REMINDER * *

Just thirty hours left to get the
Artificial Intelligence Storybundle!

This bundle of ebooks includes two of my novels, along with novels by Walter Jon Williams, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Laura Mixon, Lisa Mason, and Ryan Schneider. It also includes two short story anthologies with work by both classic and up-and-coming writers.

Find details, excerpts, and other persuasive material at
THE STORYBUNDLE WEBSITE.

My dad had a lot of health challenges in his last years which mostly defeated his love of tinkering and technology. Still, he knew how to make the best of things and he was comfortable in an assisted-living apartment here on Maui where I was able to visit him frequently.

I stopped in to see him one afternoon. He would have been around eighty at the time, an “old white guy” by any definition. I found his TV on, as usual, though I was a bit annoyed to see that it was on the Fox “News” station, with Bill O’Reilly engaged in some rant.

I paused to watch.

My dad paused to watch. After about thirty seconds he said, “I can’t stand that Bill O’Reilly.”

I grinned and said, “I can’t stand him either.”

We headed out and had a nice afternoon.

I have a story in editor John Joseph Adams’ newest science fiction anthology, COSMIC POWERS.

Here’s the anthology’s description:

A collection of original, epic science fiction stories by some of today’s best writers — for fans who want a little less science and a lot more action — and edited by two-time Hugo Award winner John Joseph Adams.

Inspired by movies like The Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars, this anthology features brand-new stories from some of science fiction’s best authors including Dan Abnett, Jack Campbell, Linda Nagata, Seanan McGuire, Alan Dean Foster, Charlie Jane Anders, Kameron Hurley, and many others.

“A little less science” isn’t my usual sort of story, but when John asked me to contribute something I thought, Why not? It’s good to do try my hand at different things. Right? I mean, in the past John had asked me to write a military fantasy story — something I’d never tried before — and the result, “The Way Home,” turned out to be, in my opinion, one of my best short stories ever. So I agreed.

Oh, did I come to regret it! 😉

I had such a hard time writing this story. Quite obviously I had a mental block. I’d never before written a story with hyperspace/ FTL/ wormholes/ etc. and my muse made it clear I wasn’t going to start now. So after considerable soul-searching, I set about creating a whole new story world set in our solar system. It was a lot of work just for a short story, but I finally sent the result to John and he accepted it. He also gave it a new title: “Diamond and the World Breaker.” (I don’t remember what my original title was…)

Here’s the table of contents:

Introduction by John Joseph Adams
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime—Charlie Jane Anders
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance—Tobias S. Buckell
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts—Becky Chambers
The Sighted Watchmaker—Vylar Kaftan
Infinite Love Engine—Joseph Allen Hill
Unfamiliar Gods—Adam-Troy Castro, with Judi B. Castro
Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World—Caroline M. Yoachim
Our Specialty is Xenogeology—Alan Dean Foster
Golden Ring—Karl Schroeder
Tomorrow When We See the Sun—A. Merc Rustad
Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair!—Seanan McGuire
The Dragon that Flew Out of the Sun—Aliette De Bodard
Diamond and the World Breaker—Linda Nagata
The Chameleon’s Gloves—Yoon Ha Lee
The Universe, Sung in Stars—Kat Howard
Wakening Ouroboros—Jack Campbell
Warped Passages—Kameron Hurley
The Frost Giant’s Data—Dan Abnett
Cover Art by Chris Foss

Cosmic Powers is out today. Visit the FREE READS page to read selected stories.

An email has gone out to those early-reviewer volunteers who sent me their email address.

If you volunteered as an early reviewer of my forthcoming novel The Last Good Man but you haven’t heard from me, check your spam folder!

Otherwise, shoot me your email address again or let me know in the comments.