BookShop.org got its start during the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s a book-selling business designed to help small, independent bookstores compete with Amazon and profit from online book buyers. From their website’s about-page:

Bookshop.org began as an idea to help support bookstores and their communities as more and more people are buying their books online. We saw an opportunity to create an alternative to Amazon for socially-conscious online shoppers. Amazon sells over 60% of all books in the US and is growing. That shift threatens the future of bookstores and will hurt readers, authors, and publishers who rely on a diverse, healthy ecosystem for books. We had a better idea—give readers the convenience of online shopping while supporting independent bookstores at the same time.

That sounds terrific! But for a long time it didn’t have anything to do with me, because BookShop.org only dealt in traditionally published books—or so I thought. As it turns out, they’ve been carrying the print versions of my books that are in the Ingram catalog. And now, at last, they are able to sell ebooks by indie writers like me.

I think this is primarily a USA market, though that may change with time.

I know a lot of people are looking to move away from Amazon. So—if you’re in the USA—this is one more option, and it will also help community bookstores. And of course my books are still available through Apple, Kobo, and Amazon too.

Follow this link to see all my titles at BookShop.org.

This is re-posted in modified form from the newsletter I sent out.

Aloha,

This newsletter is about the publishing lifecycle and a title some of you know well, and others may never have heard of. Let me explain…

The Red: First Light is the book that marked my return to writing science fiction after a very long-hiatus. I published it on my own and it did shockingly well—not in sales numbers, but with the critics. It was nominated for the Nebula Award, was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and appeared on the Locus Recommended Reading List. Saga Press—at the time a newly minted imprint at Simon & Schuster—picked up the title along with two sequels (though I held onto the right to publish in the United Kingdom and Australia). Me, my agent, and my editor, all thought this was going to be my breakout novel. But no. Despite the mostly good reviews, sales never amounted to much. So it goes.

In the early days I did what I could to promote what we called the Red trilogy. But when it became obvious the books would never “earn out” I stopped all promotion on my side.

What does “earn out” mean? When a book is sold to a traditional publisher, the publisher pays a non-refundable “advance against royalties” to the writer. For each copy sold, a small amount of the cover price goes to the writer’s account, incrementally paying off the advance. Only when enough copies are sold to cover the advance, does the writer begin earning more money. That wasn’t going to happen for me.

Back in the nineties, prior to the advent of ebooks, a book would be published and then sell in print version for a few weeks to a few months. If it didn’t take off immediately, it would be removed from bookstore shelves, never, generally speaking, to be seen again. And because it cost money to store unsold copies, publishers tended to quickly put books out of print (ask me how I know) and it was easy to get the rights back.

But after ebooks became popular, publishers realized they could hold onto titles without paying any storage costs and it became really hard for authors to get the rights reverted despite nearly non-existent sales.

Why would I want the rights back? Because when I re-publish on my own, it becomes economically feasible to promote the title and maybe earn a little more for all those days of angst and effort spent writing the thing.

I did not think I could get back the rights to the Red trilogy, but I decided to try it anyway. The first time I asked, two or three years ago, the answer was no. But early this year I asked again, and to my shock and surprise and delight, this time the answer was a generous yes.

I received the official rights-reversion letter, updated my Mythic Island Press United Kingdom ebook editions, made sure the Saga Press copies* had been taken down, and then made my versions available worldwide at the five vendors I use: Kobo, Apple, Tolino, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

I didn’t make an immediate announcement because I was hoping to set up a big promotion to kick things off—and that actually happened. I managed to get a spot in a newsletter with huge circulation, advertising the first book in the trilogy at a discounted price.

I know many of you have already read this book (thank you!!), but for those who haven’t, I hope you’ll decide to give it a try.

So what’s it about?

Well, obviously from the cover this is a military novel. It’s very near-future, very political, fast-paced, and cynical. I’ve been reviewing it, and honestly, I think it’s held up almost too well over the years. Even if you never read military fiction, I hope you’ll take a chance on this one.

Here’s the cover copy:

“There Needs To Be A War Going On Somewhere”

Lieutenant James Shelley commands a high-tech squad of soldiers in a rural district within the African Sahel. They hunt insurgents each night on a harrowing patrol, guided by three simple goals: protect civilians, kill the enemy, and stay alive—because in a for-profit war manufactured by the defense industry there can be no cause worth dying for. To keep his soldiers safe, Shelley uses every high-tech asset available to him—but his best weapon is a flawless sense of imminent danger…as if God is with him, whispering warnings in his ear. (Hazard Notice: contains military grade profanity.)

Oh right…I should probably leave you with some vendor links:

Kobo — Apple — Barnes & Noble

Amazon US — Amazon UK — Amazon AU

Take Care, and Happy Reading!

— Linda

* Saga Press has retained the right to sell off whatever print copies they may have left, so you might still see those around.

Today is release day for Blade, the fourth volume in my far-future series Inverted Frontier.

I know many of you preordered Blade. Thank you so much for that!

But if you haven’t secured your copy yet, you can purchase the ebook edition today, or order the print version. 

Blade is available at:
Amazon
Kobo
Apple
Barnes & Noble

A note on the print edition:
Right now, the print edition is only available via Amazon. I generally use a secondary printer to offer my books through other venues and I’m attempting to do that with Blade, but due to issues at the printing company, my account was thrown into limbo for a while. That put me behind schedule, but assuming no more fiascos, Blade should soon be available to order from other booksellers. My apologies for the delay!

If you enjoy Blade…

(And I hope you do!)

If you do — or if you enjoy any book by any author — do consider leaving a brief review or even just a star rating at your favorite online book vendor. Those ratings really do help with future sales, and sales are what keep writers in business.

That’s all for this time, except…

Thank you for your interest in my work, for your patience with my slow writing process, and for the encouragement so many of you have offered. You’re the reason I’m still writing.

For more information on Blade or to check out the opening pages, visit my website.

First, thank you! to everyone who preordered the ebook edition of my newest novel, Blade. I truly appreciate it.

For those who get their ebooks from Kobo: Thank you for your patience! Blade is now available for preorder. Here’s a link to the USA store:

(I would include links to other countries, but Kobo hides all that from me!)

For more information on Blade, check out my January 13 announcement.

It’s been a long time coming, I know. But the fourth and penultimate Inverted Frontier novel is almost here. Its publication date is:

It’ll be available on that date in both print and ebook editions. (There may ultimately be an audiobook, though I don’t know yet.)

So without further ado, please allow me to introduce you to…

The starship Dragon, accompanied by its fleet of outriders, is faring ever deeper into that region known as the Hallowed Vasties. Here, at the shattered heart of ancient human civilization, once-living worlds were ripped apart by the dimensional intrusions of a Blade. Yet despite the apocalyptic-scale destruction, the fleet’s telescopes have picked out signs of life among the ruins and the ship’s company is eager to go on—but should they?

From his post on Dragon’s high bridge, Urban looks ahead to the smaller starship, Griffin, now far, far in front of the fleet. The mind that pilots that ship—a stern and colder version of his lover, Clemantine—has gone silent. The implication chills him. Like Dragon, Griffin was an alien warship, designed to destroy without mercy all living worlds, and it still has a mind of its own. The question that haunts Urban: Has that alien mind somehow reclaimed control of Griffin?

It’s a question he must answer, and soon. Every wonder that lies ahead—and every ambition hidden within his heart—is at risk while Griffin’s true nature remains unknown.

Are you a Kobo reader? If so, I want to let you know that the ebook will be available at Kobo, though I won’t be able to set up the preorder there until I have a final version of the manuscript, probably in late February. I’ll let you know!

Do you prefer the print edition? Once the manuscript has been proofread and corrected, I’ll be able to set up a preorder for the print edition. I’ll let you know as soon as that’s ready.

About the Art
Sarah Anne Langton did a knock-out job with the first two book covers in the Inverted Frontier series. It was only after I finished those first two books that I decided to continue the series. At that point, I put together ideas for three more books, and I commissioned Sarah to create the covers for them long before they were written, and even before I had more than a seed of an idea for the last two. Sarah did an amazing job, and I’m so happy to finally be able to reveal her beautiful artwork for Blade. There’s only one more cover left to reveal—and I’m eager to write the book for it.

You can check out more of Sarah’s work at her website: SecretArcticBase.com.(Sarah has the coolest domain name.)

Yes, there is a book 4! 🙂

This has been a challenging one to write, I’m not sure why. Progress was slow for most of the first draft. I learned to be happy with 500 words per day. But I did finish a first draft. That was back on September 4. Very soon after that I started revising and yesterday I finished a very solid second draft.

At this point I’ve had zero feedback on it, because no one else has seen a word of it yet. But I’m pleased with it, and that’s always a good sign.

Today I sent a copy to a writer friend for an early beta read (alpha read?), and the manuscript is due to go to my beloved freelance editor, Judith Tarr, in mid-November. Once I get Judy’s comments, I’ll undertake a third and hopefully final draft. I can’t predict how long that will take, and no publishing date has been set. But unless something goes very wrong, I think it’s reasonable to expect #4 to see publication in the spring — maybe even early spring.

If you haven’t already, please sign up for my newsletter. That way you’ll get to see the cover reveal, when that happens, and of course I’ll let you know when #4 is available for pre-order. My sign-up page says you’ll get a newsletter every four weeks, but actually, over this past year, my newsletters have become few and far between. So if you’re not signing up because you’re worried about getting spammed — no worries! 😎

Just to add a little color to this post, here are books 1, 2, and 3…

NEEDLE (Inverted Frontier #3) has been out for almost a year. Throughout that time, many people have asked me if there would be an audiobook. My answers ranged from “maybe” to “I don’t think so” to “no.”

Well, now the answer is YES!

It’s been a long strange process, but it’s definitely happening. The posted release date for the audiobook is August 22, and according to Tantor’s website, the narrator is Nicole Poole, the same as for the first two in the series. People have told me she did a great job, so I’m thrilled to know she’s continuing the series.

All I know about the release is what I’ve read on Tantor’s website. Click here to check it out for yourself.

The United States Air Force Academy has an annual program known as “One Book, One USAFA.” The idea is that the entire freshman class is assigned a book to read together. Much to my astonishment I was asked to provide this year’s title.

Attitude and Other Stories is a special compilation of some of my military-themed short stories, along with an excerpt from my novel, The Last Good Man.

Attitude and Other Stories is available to buy in print and ebook editions, but since it’s meant for a limited market, it’s presently only available from Amazon. If you’re interested in a copy, follow this link. Be aware that four of the included stories also appear in my earlier collection, Light and Shadow.

Did you know that long before Inverted Frontier, I wrote another series of novels in the same story world? That series is the Nanotech Succession. It’s a collection of four stand-alone novels exploring the rise of nanotechnology — beginning tomorrow and reaching far into time.

All four novels are available separately in ebook and print editions, with Bruce Jensen’s lovely cover art.

But you can also get all four novels in an omnibus ebook edition — with cover art by yours-truly 🙂 — at less than the cost of purchasing the ebooks separately.

The included novels are Tech-Heaven, a near-future thriller based on the science of cryonics, The Bohr Maker, winner of the Locus Award for Best First Novel, Deception Well, a far-future adventure set on an alien world, and Vast, a far-future, space-faring epic.

Unfortunately, the omnibus is not available at Amazon because of their pricing policies. But you can find it at:

Follow this link to my website to learn more about the four Nanotech Succession novels.

My newest novel, Needle (Inverted Frontier #3), is out today.

I know many of you preordered Needle. Thank you so much for that!!

But if you haven’t gotten your copy yet, you can now purchase the ebook edition, or order the print version.

Wait, what? What is this new book?

If you’re not subscribed to my email newsletter and if your visits to this blog are rare you might be surprised to learn I have a new novel just out. But yes, it’s true!

Follow this link to my website to learn more about Needle and to read the opening chapter.

I like to describe the Inverted Frontier series as “sense-of-wonder” fiction — far-future, space-faring adventures unfolding in a very big galaxy (no faster-than-light travel here).

If you haven’t tried the series yet, I hope you will. Edges is the first book. Click here to learn more about it and to read the opening.

Thank you for stopping by, and thank you for your interest in my work!