Catching up with Chains of Fate

Wow. Hard to believe I passed an entire month without a word. In June, I showed off the awesome cover for "Chains of Fate" I received. It really is beautiful and while it doesn't tell you exactly what is behind the cover, it does hint strongly at the romance aspect. "Chains" has been out for a month now and what have I learned? I learned you can sell a book through one on one contact. Actually, my favorite review comes from a young lady I met on the Nerd Fitness Rebellion forums. (Hi, Gaming_Jeweler!) While I won't go through her entire review, I'll look at my favorite part:

~The ending to this book took me by surprise. I was half-right about how it was going to end. It was the half that I had guessed wrong that took me by surprise. Throughout the book, I saw several ways the book could have ended. I kept guessing how the story would end. I am normally able to guess how a book is going to end by the final chapters. However, when I was at the last three chapters I was guessing the book would end one of two possible ways. I wasn't even remotely close. I was partially right, but the ending took me by surprise. The question of who will win is answered towards the end of the book, but I won't answer it here. That answer is best answered by the book. If you like medieval fantasy stories, go ahead pick up a copy. It's definitely worth reading.~

The ending of the book has always been something I've been a little worried about. Was it too obvious? Or too obscure? Did I set it up correctly? With all those things floating around in my head, it is good to see that for at least some of my readers, the ending hit exactly like it was supposed to. Enough of a surprise to keep you guessing, but still set up enough that it was satisfying.

Another reader was much more terse in their praise of the book. They gave it five stars but fit the entire review on a single line.

~Great Story... Well written and engaging throughout. Would definitely recommend.~

I was very pleased to get that review.

All in all, "Chains" is being well-received. I look forward to getting more reviews now that the Goodreads Giveaway has closed. Oh, dear, that was something I never talked about. Through Goodreads, I offered ten signed copies of "Chains" to those who would enter the drawing. 935 people entered. I was almost sad I could only give out ten. As a result of that, "Chains" is now on over 400 bookshelves on the website, which will undoubtedly lead to more sales. That was both surprising and gratifying.

I also uploaded the first five chapters of "Chains" to a website called Noisetrade. It allows people to download the information in exchange for their email address. I look forward to possibly building an email list through this website, once I get better versed in how it works.

So what's the next step? The next step is to get "Chains" out to more readers while I work on writing the next book. (Another side effect of people reading the book is that there has been some clamor for a sequel. I have as yet no solid plans to write one, but there are a few things nibbling at the back of my mind which might turn into one at some point. You'll just have to wait and see.) What am I going to do to get "Chains" in front of more readers? I am going to set up with both Smashwords and ACX, one for more e-reader formats and the other for audio books. Both offer their own benefits, plus I just think it would be cool to be able to hear my book through headphones.

In case you haven't yet, here's the LINK to pick up "Chains of Fate" on Amazon as either an ebook or a print book