I am indeed across the pond. I’ve been to Vegas a few times, but now I’m retired I do less travelling.
Love me a good fantasy…ordered, and following you on Amazon.
Thanks! I hope you still think it’s a good fantasy after you’ve read it. 
Just picked it up on Kindle. Looking forward to it.
BTW, Infovore, I love the series so far! When is the next one available, if you don’t mind?
My copy has just been delivered. 
Thanks, picker!
Nice work. I really enjoyed it. Now hurry up with the next one! 
I’m enjoying it (it’s a real page-turner.)
Gazing into the future, I can see a favourable Amazon review coming your way.
However as this is the Dope, I have a couple of questions!
Firstly a point of grammar. :eek:
You write:
“The first thing Ernie Roundhill did the next morning was sit at his desk and write a letter because he really ought to.”
I understand this fine (it’s even written in the style of Ernie’s thought processes, if you see what I mean.)
However what came to my mind was (differences in bold):
“The next morning the first thing Ernie Roundhill did was to sit at his desk and write a letter because he should.”
Secondly, is there going to be a map of Spira?
(I realise you may have chosen not to, as it’s somewhat of a cliche…)
So glad you’re enjoying it! And Amazon reviews are just about the greatest gift a reader can give to a new author.
There’s nothing wrong wither either version, I think, and as you surmise, I chose my phrasing in part to fit the slightly simpler way that Ernie looks at the world.
(Though on reflection, I think my omission of “to” was correct. I know there are all sorts of grammatical divergences between the U.S. and England; perhaps this is one?)
I would have liked to include maps, but they would have added too much expense to the production of the book. If things go well, Book 2 will have maps, and I may even get around to putting some on the book’s web page before then… assuming my artist can make the time. (Trust me: you would not want the author of the book to draw *anything *meant for public consumption!)
I hope you enjoy the rest of the book!
So happy to hear it. And I’m plugging away on Book 2 as fast as I’m able.
If you have the time, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Doesn’t have to be long.
Many thanks!
On Chapter 4…
Just wanted to mention:
If you’re reading (or have finished) the book and want to be on my mailing list with updates on the series, you can sign up here. (I will never share your address, and my updates are infrequent, so no worries on those scores.)
Also, if you’ve read the book, please consider leaving an honest review on Amazon – even if you didn’t think it was great. (Amazon uses number of reviews as part of their mysterious algorithms that determine how often a book gets mentioned on their site.)
Thanks!
I’ve just left a review on Amazon.co.uk - 5 stars (well deserved 
)
Thanks, glee! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
If you have a spare minute, consider copying your review over to the U.S. Amazon site; that’s where the BookBub people will look when I apply for a promotional spot in a couple of weeks.
As for maps, I would have liked to include them, but as a first-time self-published author, I discovered they were too expensive to include. My hope is to include them with Book 2, the first draft of which is about 60% complete.
OK, I’ve copied my review over to the main Amazon site.
I realise maps in the book would be expensive.
How about sending your subscribers an e-mail attachment which they could print out?
Also for the future, I’m keen to get autographed copies. Maybe when the next book comes out I could send you cash and you reply with an autographed book?
Thanks!
Right now the problem is that I don’t have maps worthy of publication. I am NOT an artist, and the artist I used for my cover is both busy and expensive. But when I do have maps made, I’ll immediately post them to my website and mail the link to my subscribers.
I’m sure we can work something out. Do you use PayPal? I could buy myself a copy, sign it, and mail it to you, and you could PayPal me the cost of the book and maybe half the shipping.
Excellent - I look forward to that.
I use PayPal.
I’ll pay for all the shipping (I want you happily writing! )
Oh, and I’d want a copy of Ventifact Colussus signed too…
Does Amazon still count it as a “sale” if I get it free through Kindle Unlimited? Would hate to think I’ve been cheating authors out of royalties by getting books for free. Think I’ve downloaded 20-30 books through Kindle Ulimited. Most of which I intended on buying and only didn’t because of the free option.
Great question!
Authors get paid for each page you read of a Kindle Unlimited book, and (at least for full length novels) it tends to work out that if you read the whole thing, they get paid about as much as if you had just bought it outright for your Kindle.
More specifically, Amazon computes a giant fund that all KU authors split up each month. For March, that was 14.9 million, which translated to .0047 per page. In my case, Amazon has set The Ventifact Colossus at 624 normalized Kindle pages, so I get paid $2.93 for each full-read of the book. That’s slightly more than I get for a straight-up Kindle sale! So download away, and feel no guilt
Good to know. Book has been downloaded. I’ll write a review on amazon once it makes its way up to the top of my to read list.