Technically it was a Top 50 list, but since I came in at #9, I’m allowing myself a definitional indulgence. It seemed relevant to the Café Society, and I’m still in that “psyched so I want to tell everyone” state of mind.
My fantasy novel, The Ventifact Colossus, was ranked #9 in ReadFree.ly’s “50 self-published books worth reading 2015-16,” and was the highest ranked book in their Fantasy category. There’s no prize or anything, but it’s nice to know I’ve written something “worth reading.”
Thank you, nightshadea and Eliahna. And to you, AHunter3; the book is only available on Amazon, in both photon and tree formats. I feel as though providing a link would go beyond some invisible boundary of Cafe Society decorum, but you can Google the title – The Ventifact Colossus – easily enough.
Congratulations! That’s awesome. I really enjoyed the book when I read it several months ago. So how’s that sequel coming along? Lol. Some of us are getting antsy.
Thanks, everyone! We’ll see if being on this list translates into more readers down the road, but I figure it can’t hurt.
picker, the next book is coming along well. The first draft is about 85-90% finished, and is already longer than the first book. It will get pared down during the editing-and-revision passes I’m sure. I expect to be finished with the draft by the end of August, and unless my editor is particularly appalled by it, I could imagine publishing early in 2017.
And then all I’ll need to do is write the final three books in the series.
Congratulations! I looked it up on Amazon, and note that it is “Book 1.” Is it self-contained? I’d hate to get to the end and find, “To be continued.” If it is part of a series, but also comes to a logical end, that’d be fine, but if things are all unresolved and hang in the middle, um…not so good.
(One of my very favorite writers is the 1920’s adventure writer Talbot Mundy, who had a positive genius for “series” of books, each book of which was complete unto itself. You could read them all in proper order, but you didn’t need to.)
Tell me your book is a complete book, and I promise to buy it! (And read it! And comment!)
Well, yes, it is Book One of a series that’s going to be five books long. As such, there are plenty of questions and mysteries that get raised that are not answered or solved by the end of the book. It doesn’t end on a cliffhanger in the true sense of the word, but neither is everything wrapped up nice and tidily.
A couple of reviewers have specifically mentioned that they found it satisfying in its own right, though it’s obviously only the start of a larger story:
“It is a solid fantasy tale, with a satisfying and self-contained ending, while also clearly being the entry point to greater saga whose next volume I eagerly await.”
“This is clearly intended as the first in a series, but is satisfactory to read as a standalone story.”
