Over the years my books have won a devoted following and that’s been so very gratifying. Still, they’ve never sold well. Not when I’ve put them out myself and not when they’ve been New York published. Of course, there has never been a real publicity campaign behind any of my work.

With my forthcoming novel, The Last Good Man, I’m doing the publicity myself and I’m doing what I can, but this time around I’ve decided to stop pretending. A friend of mine once said that even if a writer isn’t doing well in the market, it’s important to try to maintain “the illusion of momentum” — that is, to give the appearance that one’s career is steadily improving. I’ve tried to do this in the past, but I’m not going to anymore. I’m going to share facts instead.

To start, I’m going to chart preorders here on my blog. I’ll update weekly. Keep in mind that my net on each ebook is at most 70% of the list price (exact amount varies by vendor and country) and that I’ve spent more than a year working on this novel while paying out-of-pocket for the services of editors, a copyeditor, and a cover artist. I’m not complaining about the expenses. A business requires investment, after all. But a business also requires enough income to cover expenses with something left over for profit.

So here are the current statistics:

My goal is 500 preorders. The publication date for The Last Good Man is June 20, just a little over five weeks away.

Visit this page to learn more about the novel. You’ll find a link to the Publishers Weekly starred review, blurbs from early readers, and the opening chapter.

More discussion of the reason behind this do-or-die push is here.

**Around 350 subscribers have been long-time subscribers. The others are mostly new to my work, having signed on during recent promotional events. Only 39% of emails sent track as having been opened.

Coming in July from Tor.com, “The Martian Obelisk.”
Illustration by Victor Mosquera.
Acquiring editor is Ellen Datlow.

…and @victormosquerar is building monuments with @LindaNagata. pic.twitter.com/hSDv4DWoSI

— Tor·com Publishing (@TorDotComPub) May 9, 2017

Or should I say, “Read the opening chapter and preorder!”

Yes, yes, I’m pushing this book AND I’m pushing preorders. I’ll be blunt and say that I’ve come to see this as a do-or-die novel for me. (See my “On Promotion” post.) Either New York publishing was right in deciding that my work cannot earn a reasonable return on the investment, or they made a big mistake when they gave me the opportunity to publish The Last Good Man on my own. All of you, the readers (the potential readers), get to decide which it is.

Do you want to talk numbers? We can. So far — five days after preorder links went up — I’ve pre-sold thirty-one ebook copies. Thank you, THANK YOU, to everyone who has preordered.

Can I persuade more of you to do so?

Visit this page to see what early readers have said about the story and then scroll down to read the opening chapter.

Does The Last Good Man strike you as a story that would appeal to you? If so, please consider a preorder. And please mention The Last Good Man to your reading friends.

Thank you.

Artist Philippe McNally posted this photo showing some of the preliminary work preceding the final design for the cover of The Last Good Man. I repost it here with permission. (click the image to see a larger version)

Philippe was a pleasure to work with. Here’s a post on the cover design process.

Contact him if you’re looking for book-cover art.

Just a couple of reminders…

LAST DAY:
Only 9 hours left before the SFWA Storybundle is gone! Includes my novel TECH-HEAVEN along with work by Nancy Jane Moore, Paul Levinson, Robert J. Sawyer, and more.

Goodreads Giveaway:
This one is still ongoing. If you haven’t already, enter to win a signed copy of my forthcoming novel The Last Good Man!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Last Good Man

by Linda Nagata

Giveaway ends June 04, 2017.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

More soon!

I needed InDesign to layout the print edition of The Last Good Man, so I’m renting the use of it on a month-to-month basis. And since I’m paying for it anyway I decided to go ahead and create a print edition of my recent short story collection Light and Shadow.

So if you prefer print to ebook, go get it!

It’s a slim volume, just 156 pages, but I like to think it’s a solid group of stories. Find all the details here on my website.

A Goodreads Giveaway begins today. Enter to win a print edition of The Last Good Man. Open to readers in the US, CA, GB, and AU.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Last Good Man

by Linda Nagata

Giveaway ends June 04, 2017.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

The first official review (that I’m aware of) of The Last Good Man is out, and it’s a good one!

Publishers Weekly is an industry magazine that reviews massive numbers of books. According to PW, “A starred review indicates a book of outstanding quality.”

Of course any author would be thrilled about that, and I was very pleased to see that The Last Good Man had earned a star.

The reviewer describes it as “…a thrilling novel that lays bare the imminent future of warfare.”

Read the full review here.

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.