Preorder gifts all sent out!

Three months ago, I announced that I’ll send signed characters cards to everyone who preorders Throne of Blood. I’m happy to say that yesterday I finally finished mailing all the cards and small gifts. And, as usual, I always send chocolate with my cards/books!

It’s been a challenge. Throughout the years, I’ve been sending so many signed paperbacks around the world, but the current lockdowns have apparently brought restrictions on what can be mailed where. I faced many obstacles on my quest to send postcards to everyone…

Post office guy: You should send this small package as a letter, it will be cheaper.

Me: Great, let’s do that!

Post office guy: Wait… since it’s to Brazil, and Brazil is a high risk zone, you can’t send it as a letter. You have to send it as a parcel.

Me: (wondering how this makes any sense) Sure, parcel is fine.

Post office guy: But it’s more expensive.

Me: Okay, if it’s the only way, that’s fine.

Post office guy: Wait, but it’s for Brazil, and Brazil is a high risk zone on my list.

Me: Yes, that’s why we are sending it as a parcel.

Post office guy: But we are not allowed to send parcels to high risk zones.

Me: (blinking and still wondering how this makes any sense… I mean, I get some restrictions on receiving parcels from high risk zones, but sending?) So we can’t send it as a parcel?

Post office guy: No.

Me: Should we then send it as a letter?

Post office guy: No, letters to high risk zones must be sent as parcels.

Me: But we can’t send parcels either?

Post office guy: Nope.

Me: So what can we send it as?

Post office guy: Nothing. Sorry. Bye.

Me: (🤨😣🤬) I need to send this. What would you recommend? Should I go to another post office?

Post office guy: They’ll tell you the same.

Me: I sincerely doubt that. Thanks anyway!

Long story short, I did manage to send out everything, but it took much more time and effort than anticipated. But now your postcards are on the way and you should get them soon.

Also, one lucky reader won a sighed paperback. The winner is: Marina. Congratulations! I have already mailed your paperback together with your chosen character cards.

Two of you who have preordered the book and requested cards live at the same address. I have sent your package all together, with individual envelopes for each of you inside, hopefully that’s fine!

To those of you who didn’t win: don’t be sad! There will be at least one more paperback giveaway this year, possibly more!

Throne of Blood: Chapters Six and Seven

Throne of Blood comes out tomorrow! Those of you who have preordered will receive it directly to your ebook reader. In case you want to start reading a day early, I’ve already uploaded the first five chapters, and here are two more.

I will do the raffle draw for the Throne of Book sighed paperback on Thursday, July 24th to give everyone preordering last minute a chance to enter. I will start mailing your character cards and the book to the winner the following Friday, July 25th. There will be more fun gifts and surprises for those of you who have preordered; you’ll see them soon 🌻

Important: I have responded to everyone who has forwarded me their preorder confirmation and requested postcards. If you have done so but haven’t received a response from me, it means I haven’t received and registered your details. If that’s the case, please contact me, so that I can add you to the raffle and the list for character cards. Good luck to everyone participating!

Okay, time to stop talking and start posting chapters…

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Dear Amazon, if you wish to dominate indie publishing, please do it right

I got into indie publishing about 5 years ago with my debut novel, Kingdom of Ashes. Back then, Amazon was already trying to dominate the industry, offering small presses and indie publishers all sorts of benefits if they published exclusively through Amazon and didn’t make their book available on any other platform.

I never used this option because I wanted to give readers a choice where to buy my books. I know many people are boycotting Amazon for ethical reasons, and I didn’t want to exclude them. Amazon’s exclusivity policies were mildly annoying, but I could live with them. But then, Amazon’s reach grew longer, and so did its ability to mess up indie authors’ publishing plans.

When I first started publishing, Amazon already owned the print-on-demand service CreateSpace and the book cataloging space Goodreads. In the following years, Amazon absorbed them completely and tried to take over every aspect of book publishing, marketing, and distribution.

My issue is that Amazon is taking over indie publishing without putting in the effort to become good at this. They are very bad at printing and distribution, and they are destroying other platforms that did a better job.

Throne of Blood will be the first of my books published entirely through Amazon. It will also be the first time I will have no author copy before publication and will have no option to see and approve the paperback before it hits the markets.

But let’s start at the beginning…

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Throne of Blood: Chapters Four and Five

Throne of Blood comes out on June 21st! Why am I releasing such a wintry book at the peak of summer? Let’s not forget that about 12% of all people live in the Southern Hemisphere where June 21st is the winter solstice ā„ ā„ ā„ I myself spent a semester in New Zealand and have nice wintry memories from June.

Okay, I initially wanted to release the book on Dec 21st last year but got delayed, and now I’m trying to come up with a deep and profound explanation. 😳

The book is almost here, but while we wait, here are the next two chapters:

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Throne of Blood: Chapter One

Just two months left until Throne of Blood‘s release! And since I don’t want to make you wait that long, I thought I could already start sharing the first chapters. Here is Chapter One, and Chapter Two will follow soon.

Please note:

  • This is the third book in the Nightfall series. If you’ve missed the previous books, it makes more sense to start with the Kingdom of Ashes free sample
  • The chapter hasn’t gone through final proofreading. Please forgive any typos
  • Photos are mine. They are not a part of the book, just a little bonus for people reading here 😊

Happy reading!

Continue reading

Throne of Blood: preorder now to receive signed character cards!

The Throne of Blood eBook is now available for preorder on Amazon!

Preorder here

Why preorder?

  • Discount: 2.99 instead of the regular price of 6.99 USD/EUR/GBP
  • EVERYONE who preorders gets two signed character cards – one main character and one new Throne of Blood character
  • Everyone who preorders enters a lottery to win a signed Throne of Blood paperback

Shipping is Worldwide: you will receive your cards no matter where you live!

The lottery winner will be drawn on June 21st when the book comes out. Character cards and the paperback go in the mail shortly after.

How to claim your prize?

  1. Preorder Throne of Blood on Amazon
  2. Forward your confirmation email to preorders@kingdomofashes.net

Include the following:

  • Mailing address where you would like to receive your cards (and, hopefully, the paperback!)
  • Preferred main character card (Armida or Prince Vladimir)
  • Preferred new character card (Mizuki, Rada, Almaz, Alfa, or Carmina)

You haven’t met the new Throne of Blood characters yet. Explore them below!

Out of the three Nightfall books, Throne of Blood has been my favorite to write! Can’t wait to share it with you! šŸ’–

Throne of Blood Character Reveal: Alfa

It’s time for the lastĀ Throne of Blood character I wanted to show you before theĀ cover reveal on Tuesday. MeetĀ Alfa!

Alfa - JPEG

Alfa is the most ancient vampire in the first threeĀ Nightfall books. InĀ Men and Monsters, we met Nimah, an ancient Mayan vampire born during the Preclassic period. We’ve also met Indira and Callisto, who come from around the same time. Alfa is older than any of them.

He’s also related to some of the main characters from previous books. In what way? You’ll find out soon enough, but you’re welcome to take a guess!

As always, character art created byĀ TheSwanMaideN fromĀ DeviantArt.

Character Reveal Schedule:

  • July 20th: Mizuki
  • July 23rd: Rada
  • July: 26th: Almaz
  • July 29th: Carmina
  • August 1st: Alfa
  • August 4th:Ā Throne of BloodĀ cover reveal!

Happy reading! šŸ’–