Parsec Award Winner “The Black”
I’ve put this out there on other media, but it still seems as though some folks haven’t heard about it yet. With that in mind, I’ll drop the bomb for the TL;dr crowd:
The Black: Evolution will not be “published” anytime soon.
Neither will additional installments of The Derelict Saga.
Shit. I see a lot of pissed off people. Okay, step back and let me talk. Okay? Okay.
Due to reasons I’d rather not get into, I’ve decided I won’t be publishing any more titles with Severed. Since I don’t get my publishing rights back for a couple of years, I have to put those series out in an audio only format. Right now, in fact, The Black: Evolution is running in the podcast feed on Patreon.com/paulecooley. When I finish Derelict: Trident, it will be available there too.
However, the books will STILL be in the Shadowpublications.com podcast feed. More importantly, the full length audiobooks will be available from my site. So if you want to purchase the next few installments, that’s where they will be available.
Now. The big question. What does this mean for The Derelict Saga?
Derelict is not dead. It is very much alive. However, my productivity on finishing up the second two installments is going to be radically impeded. I have to focus on some new titles I can actually publish and sell and I’m also working software contracts to make up for last year’s royalty shortfalls. In other words, I’m not exactly sitting on my laurels.The “final” book in The Black series, Extinction, stands at 15k words. Derelict: Trident stands at around 30k. I have various other works in progress waiting for my time and attention and I have to carefully pick and choose what I work on. For now.
The bottom line is that this is a business decision pure and simple. I put my heart and soul into The Derelict Saga and I’ve been rewarded by a rabid fanbase as well as my second Parsec Award. It’s brought in new readers, listeners, and stoked numerous conversations about the future. Or possible futures.
I have at least another ten books in the Sol and Beyond series and two or three of them are in various states of outline. I’m not ceasing work on that universe in any way shape or form. It’s just going to have to wait for a while.
This wasn’t an easy decision. I have to start from zero. It’s a difficult place to start, but barring a negative axis, it can only go up from here.
In addition, let me be clear. I don’t blame anyone else for the lack of financial success with the latest titles. I blame myself. If I’d put the books out faster, this wouldn’t ever have been an issue. But it is what it is and now I have to live with the consequences.
So there it is and that’s that.
Now the big question: where do I go from here? Do I go for another publisher? Indie publish? Or maybe go after another business model entirely?
I don’t have an answer. I only know I’ll keep talking to you every week and the stories will continue broadcasting at Shadowpublications.com. Apart from that? It’s a blank slate. Let’s see what I write.
As always, I thank you for your interest in my work, listenership, readership, and years of support. We’ll move on together.
Like Mechs? Like deep ocean horror? My new story “Jury-rigged” combines both. It’s available in the new Four Horsemen Anthology