Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Books, Update, Stuff...


Well the book sale went well. I’ve been packaging up books for the last couple of days and clearing a bit of space in my loft. The problem of course is that few people want the older cover Macmillan paperbacks that come later in the Cormac series. I’ve got plenty of copies of Brass Man, Polity Agent and Line War. I also have paperback editions of the Tor US releases. But then I guess the problem here is no one knows what is available. I guess I’ll have to go up into my loft again *sigh*.

Another thing I always forget to do is mention the translations. I’ve got a bookcase up there full of them. So, if you read German (plenty of those), Czech, Romanian, Russian, French, Japanese (just a few copies of Cowl) or Portuguese (and I’m sure there are others) and fancy buying a copy in those languages, then get in touch.


I was thinking back today about my first few books for Macmillan and how I was forever checking my Amazon ratings (well, that hasn’t changed) to check on my ‘success’. But of course a little thought about how people actually buy books and you realise that these things cannot be judged by those initial sales; that initial adrenalin rush when you are the new bright young writer (ho ho). People very infrequently walk into a book shop and pick up a hardback from a new writer; they tend to wander in a year later, perhaps five or ten years later and try a paperback. Hell, I’m only just starting to read Eric Brown and he’s done about 30 books since I read his short story Time Lapsed Man in Interzone back in 1988. It’s a long haul. Still, now, I get contact from people who have just discovered me, who have picked up a discounted paperback (or Kindle edition) and are going on to buy the rest.  

Moving on to other things: I was aiming to have done 80,000 words of Penny Royal III before we headed back to Crete. Since I’ve now done 77,000 it seems I’ll be hitting that target. Now I’m wondering if I can get it completed to first draft by then, which gives me plenty of time to iron out the kinks, and ensure all the plot threads are nicely woven together. However, another thought is now occurring … am I going to be able to complete this story in this third book? Could it be that this will be a trilogy (as per Douglas Adams) of four or five books?  

11 comments:

Martin P said...

I'm sure no one will mind a five book trilogy. :)

Bsport said...

I like the longer reads, "The Saga of Seven Suns" i think got to be the long single story i've read.

Jebel Krong said...

The more the merrier!

Jezcentral said...

Yes, that Cormac Pentalogy (mentally high-fives self :) ) seemed to work out quite well.

Tim said...

Five would be fine, but I don't think I could cope with another 'Malazan book of the fallen'. By the tenth one I was loosing the will to live!! Keep up the good work though, I'm looking forward to 'Pennyroyal'.

beak said...

less blogging, more writing please.. i'm getting asher-withdrawal symptoms..

Neal Asher said...

It might grow larger ... not sure yet. I have the endgame in sight but it seems to be taking me an appalling amount of words to get there.

Beak, come on, I'll have finished three books before I have to deliver the first of them to Macmillan.

beak said...

Neal - just joshing, its been a while since i finished your last book, so am just eager for more..

Simon Collier said...

Please I don't care how many Pennyroyal volumes there are I just want to get the first to read. Am now getting withdrawal symptoms as 'Zero Point' was released so long ago.
Like the photo of Sniper, can he have a new novel please
Simon C

Simon Collier said...

Starting something new, I found a new author on kindle, Jim Chaseley, who has published 'Z41' a fun killer cyborg novel with an evil alien race trying to extract human brains to fulfil their insane religious imperatives. No other novel to my knowledge uses self destructing cyborg heads as hand grenades.

Andrew said...

As you are so far ahead of the publisher will you take time off?

Otherwise there is going to be a lot of finished manuscripts sitting around if you keep releasing just the 1 book a year!

You have got us all thinking of the Penny Royal books and we won't see the first one until August 2014!

Anyway, the books are great so it gives me something to look forward to. I normally read them on my summer holiday.