Tag: novels

THE END IS NIGH…For Series Novels

I’m going to preface this post by pointing out that I’m giving you all full disclosure about what’s happening and why (as I did with my 2016 health scares). I have a unique relationship with my amazing fans and I don’t like leaving people hanging. What follows will seem like bad news for some, but there is a silver lining, so read to the end for that!

Because I’m the proprietor of Breakneck Media, the small press that publishes most Jeremy Robinson, Jeremy Bishop and Jeremiah Knight novels, which I write, I have to wear multiple hats. I’m an author, first and foremost, but I also create most of the covers, art-direct the rest, design and maintain the website, create all the video trailers, create the marketing materials, and…run the business. That means, on occasion, I have to mentally sit down with myself, look at the numbers, and make some hard calls.

In that past, that’s meant leaving a publisher. Now it means shifting my focus from writing series titles to standalone novels. While a good number of fans will no doubt disagree with the outcome (I don’t like it, either) the numbers don’t lie. I’m also going to lay out a few reasons for each series’ decline, but then propose a larger, theoretical reason at the end. So if you’re interested in saving any of these series, read to the end.

THE NUMBERS

While I’m not going to reveal sales figures or revenue numbers, I am going to talk in percentages, and reveal which series are being affected, all of which have a core group of fans who are going to be disappointed. I wish it could be avoided, but continuing with these series is unsustainable for me. There are a few series for which I plan on publishing a series finale, and with those books I expect to either break even, or take a loss.

JACK SIGLER THRILLERS

Falling under this banner is the Jack Sigler Thrillers themselves, the Continuum series, and the Cerberus Group books. Does that mean you shouldn’t read Helios, the next Cerberus Group novel? Not at all. The finale for all these books will be linked together in grand fashion, bringing together characters that have been separated for many books now.

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Behind the Curtain – Ambition, Anxiety, Panic and God

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I want you to imagine something with me. Big surprise, right?

There is a happy ball of ice and stone on the outskirts of the solar system. He’s orbiting a few million miles beyond Pluto, his back to the sun. Then one day, a small asteroid bumps into him, spinning the ten-mile-across ball around for the first time in his existence.

It isn’t long before the ball of ice and stone sees the sparkling sun. He’s seen stars before, but never so close, or so warmly inviting. Though he’d been content up to this point, he now can’t think of anything but the sun. He wants to be closer to it. To make it his own. Ambition fuels him, and somehow, through some cosmic miracle, his orbit shrinks. With each revolution, he draws closer to the sun.

And the closer he gets, the larger his ambition grows. His speed increases. His journey is without cease. And with each pass closer to the sun, he loses a little bit more of himself. If he looked back, he’d see two long trails of ice and stone, peeling away from him, reducing him. But his eyes remain fixed on the sun, on the goal, and despite every planet, moon and asteroid he passes telling him to slow down, to pace himself, to take a break, he continues building momentum, racing toward his own goal.

Never once does he consider that the pace, or the goal itself, might undo him. The pain of losing himself to the sun’s power builds, but he ignores it, writes it off, and finds scapegoats for it.

And then, passing closer to the sun than ever before, the ice holding his form together cracks.

He breaks.

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Tell Me What to Write Next!

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Have you every thought one of my novels was horrible, but didn’t know how to tell me? Do you have opinions about what you’d like to see me write next? By answering the survey, you will not only help me improve my stories and products, but you will help determine the course of what I write in the coming years. Which books deserve sequels? Which series deserve continuing? What genres should I focus on, or give up? The survey covers just about every aspect of writing and publishing and all of your answers will be sent to me for assimilation and will play a serious part in what I write and publish next. And it’s totally anonymous, so you can be honest without fear of being blocked on Facebook (I wouldn’t do that either way) or killed horribly in one of my novels (chances are, I’ll still do this).

To take the survey (should only take about 5 minutes) just follow this link.

Thank you to all who take part. Looking forward to seeing what the future holds!

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