Surprise! Magelord Is Up On Kindle

As promised, more details.

Magelord is up on Kindle now.  It's not the final version, which will be ready in about a fortnight, but it is complete and more-or-less edited . . . just not the final form.  So I'm knocking a bit off the cover until the final edition is complete.  Those who wish a pristine Spellmonger experience can wait and pay the extra little bit for the polish; those who can't wait (and apparently that's a LOT of you) can indulge in the almost-finished product at a discount.

Some might argue that this is an unprofessional way to proceed.  I would argue that the dictates of the Kindle market reward this kind of tiered-release in ways you just can't get away with in the paper market.  There are also timing considerations to figure, and the fact that no matter how polished you feel a book is, when you re-read it you realize how you should have done things differently.  The Kindle market encourages a writer to back over their book every now and then.  In my case, the recent re-edit of Spellmonger fixed a lot of issues and filed off some of the rough edges folks were complaining about (justifiably).  I also took the opportunity to bring the book in line with the sequels in certain minor but important ways.

So here is Magelord.  317,000 words.  Yes, I raised the cover-price, but considering the research, the time investment, and the fact that this is the 20th book I've written (although not necessarily published) I feel that my craft is worth that much and y'all can take the hit.  That's an awful lot of words for your money.  I guess ultimately y'all will let me know if you think it's worth the price.

The re-edit, due in a couple of weeks, will bump the price up a little, but you'll get a little more for your money, too, in terms of maps and such.  And if the reviews start coming in (hint hint) strongly enough, there may be another trick or two up my sleeve before the end of the year.

So spread the word.  Come put some medieval in your Medieval Fantasy. 



http://www.amazon.com/Magelord-The-Spellmonger-Series-ebook/dp/B00F7V28VG/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1379321107&sr=1-4&keywords=magelord


Comments

  1. Great news!

    I'm guessing you're planning to release the final edit as an update to this earlier version.

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  2. Wait, so 6.50 is the -discounted- price? O.o And yes, please confirm that the final edit will come as an update rather than a new edition...

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    1. Yes, I went up in price. On a book that big, I felt compelled to. And yeah, I can do the final edit as an update. It will be a "new" edition in the sense that it will be re-edited (or completely edited, depending upon how you want to look at it).

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  3. Whoo. Thank you so much. Really looking forward to reading it. Price for me doesn't matter too much. I believe in supporting authors if I like them.

    Having a cheaper first book I think gets more people interested in the series to the point that they are more willing to pay more for it.

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    1. The way I look at it, Spellmonger was 17 chapters. Magelord is 52. In a "literature by the pound" universe, that's a useful metric. If sales aren't great, I can adjust the price. In fact, I'm probably going to have a special Spellmonger-for-$.99 sale at the beginning of the month to hook more folks.

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  4. "Some might argue that this is an unprofessional way to proceed" -- And some may agree with that.

    Producing a well-written, well-edited book -- months after it had been promised -- would be professional.

    Sadly, this does not appear to be the case.

    And the "edited" version will be a "new" edition?

    Funny.

    mako

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  5. Yeah, okay, I bought it. I know the quality of your writing, and I'll grudgingly agree that it's worth what your asking for it, but please keep in mind that some best selling authors like Brandon Sanderson are selling digital versions of new books like Steelheart for only a buck and a half more. These writers are at least as good as you are, and their books are professionally edited, the covers are very professional (Your covers are atrocious, and the Photoshop job done on this one was substandard to say the least.)and they have a bit more reputation to base their pricing on.

    Traditionally published authors share far more of the take than you do, and if I weren't already a fan, I wouldn't even look twice at your books. Why take a chance on an indie author for close to the same price as an author vetted by a publishing house? Yes, I know that publishing houses have put out crap, but at least it was crap that was vetted. Additionally, I should note that I always go to an authors page and see how pricing fluctuates between books within a series, which is why I haven't bought the Riyria Revelations. First book is reasonable, then the price jumps for consecutive books in the series. I generally place a cut off at $4.99.

    Lets face it. You'll make more money selling more books than you will from a higher price. You're making about half of what a Traditionally published author makes off of Hard Cover sales per book, and way more than they make off of paperbacks, and you'll make that same money as long as people buy your book. Revamp you covers, shop for a real artist, stop having your kid mess around in photoshop, or at least send him to design school before having him make your covers for you. Your writing is good, your presentation is horrible. You're past your price point, and I think you'll see that soon.

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    1. Fine. You make some valid points. I've dropped the price point to $5.99, and may even consider dropping it further.

      I guess y'all will have to decide if it's worth the price or not in your reviews. I've spent over 1000 hours on it, so I might be a bit biased. But it is my 20th book. . .

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  6. Done bought it... thank you Terry!!

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  7. I don't know what everyone is complaining about on the price. Sheesh... first it's complaining It's taken so long for Magelord to be published, now it's the price. What's next? Not long enough? no map?

    Speaking of maps, are there more maps available ?

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  8. Price? That shouldn't be problem for anyone who enjoys reading Mr Mancour's work.

    This is what we have waited for a loooong time, right?

    "I've spent over 1000 hours on it." A working week is say, 40 hours. That means 25 weeks, or a bit under six months. Solid.

    If you take into account "The River Mists Of Talry" and "The Spellmonger's Wedding" -- not to mention "I've used some of my ''free time' (when real people are sleeping) to publish a Second Kindle Edition of Spellmonger, along with a new map of Boval Vale and a revamp of the Ugly Cover"

    And "Between all of my pseudonyms and my day job I churn out about a million words every year. The Spellmonger stuff is usually about 10% of that, and while it is one of my favorite parts, it is far from the only thing on my schedule. As much as I'd like to make it more than that, the reality is that if I ignore the fan bases my pseudonyms have generated over the years, it's unfair to them."

    So, last Spellmonger book took 1000 hours or so -- five+ months of regular work...

    But is "usually about 10%."

    That means Terry's been working 50+ months a year! On top of a day job.

    Who could possibly call that "an unprofessional way to proceed"?

    mako


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  9. you guys are assholes.
    i thank Terry for Magelord,bought and alredy read.
    I do not care for the price after a year and half i didn't even saw the price, just clicked "buy it now".
    The price is right, it's a loooong book and i'm happy to pay for substance.
    Mates you're wining over a very good book, a very long book and for 6 bucks...stop.
    Really the only reason i've ever had to bitch was for the waiting (and soonest i'll start again for the next book lol) but i'm firmly convinced that the book is worth the money,i really am.

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  10. Excellent map!!! and the book is EXCELLENT!!! Well worth the price.

    It's a keeper and I'll be reading it a second time.

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  11. First off this book is over 1000 pages, 18,000 sectors. For comparison my books of 6000 sectors are in the 400+ range. So you're essentially getting three books for one. I can see why its in one big book but it really should have been subdivided. I don't see exactly where, maybe a two book.

    I also agree with the 'you guys are A-holes' comment. There are better and/or nicer ways to make the same points.

    That said, the points the A-holes brought up actually are valid. Warning signals on books that cause readers to bail either during or after entering the series. Are: constantly increasing prices from book to book. A price that goes over 4.99 (a lot of people say I read kindle books because they're less than a published book) and the Cover wasn't professional grade.

    I see the author's point about the volume being worth the price. But the problem with the kindle market as it's currently constituted is that you've got to be a top flight kindle guy to make it at the above 4.99 price range.

    All of that said maybe I'm the A-hole and who knew it? I did enjoy the book and thought it was well worth the price, normally I can hammer a book in a day and this one took me 2.5 days of constant reading to pound through.

    I would recommend it to others.



    The Deposed King

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    1. Thanks for your support. I like writing big books. I like to make sure they're worth the money.

      That being said, I appreciate the points made, and I'm more than willing to experiment. If the 4.99 price point is a better one, I'm willing to try it. So for this weekend I will experiment with it at $4.99. I'm not promising to keep it there, but I'll see how it affects sales.

      The next novel won't be nearly as large. The thing with world building is you have an entire world to get through. But I'm glad people are enjoying it. And I'm going to be announcing the release date of the next book shortly.

      Not the next novel. The next book.

      Again, thanks for your support, and thank you for commenting.

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  12. I loved the book Terry, just wondering how much different/improved the "authors version" will be compared to this one...

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    1. Hopefully it will be smoother, with some of the rough edges and most of the typos corrected. Glad you enjoyed it! Be sure to share that with other folks on Kindle by writing a review, if you're so inclined. (hint, hint)

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    2. IC, for the most part it seemed fairly smooth for a unfinished copy of the book. There were 2 instances where editor comments were still in the copy, one that said [not sure of spelling here] and another that had a comment about "minalin needs to have an internal monologue about why pentandra is right about this". But I imagine this will be caught in the polished version.

      There is one thing you might miss. At some point in the book one of the warmages mentions to Minalin that some people in the penumbra see 2 dragons flying towards the front and yet in the final battle of this book we only see one dragon. Might want to resolve that last hanging dragon ;p

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    3. Thanks, I'll add those to the list.

      Oh, and there were two dragons that left. One went to Cambrian Castle. The other . . . will be the subject of a short story in the next six months.

      Thanks for reading, and feel free to pass along any other issues with the text!

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  13. First off, let me say I love these books. I have reread the whole series and I can't wait for another story to come out. I have noticed a few other items of note, beyond the typos, etc. These inconsistencies stand out when you read it through. Also, if you ever need another set of eyes reading it over before release for some of these, I'd be happy to help.

    Minalan says he's met two dwarfs before, then says he had never met one when he talks to the one who will build his castle.

    It is referred to that the tree folk gave him advice as to where to settle, though there was no mention of that at all in any of the stories.

    The events noted of Tyndal's escape from Talry don't match up with what is portrayed in the the different stories.

    In Warmage, it is stated that Minalan is having a daughter, not a son, and no where would that have changed in his mind. He then starts referring to having a son in the short stories.

    He only shows up with the gold given by the Duke and the Emeralds in Magelord. What about his personal fortune he had amassed, as well and the Jewels and such given to him before he escapes Boval.

    There is no mention of those items that he was given of the Goblins.

    Minalan is told of the Forsaken by Hartarian, but his inner monologue never mentions having heard of it before when it is brought up by the Order of the Secret Tower.

    Why should his son have a magical accident before being born? What would cause that to happen. If that is not addressed as being a by product of something else, like a early pregnant Alya taking in the shards of irionite in Spellmonger after the one stone is destroyed making Minlayan more powerful than a normal baby would be, it will make it seem like an item just put in to make snowstone. Or maybe the charm that Minalan was supposed to give to Alya from the tree folk, though we never hear of that again. But it needs to be something. Something like that would also explain Cei getting magical talent now as well, if irionite is the cause of all magical Talent anyway. Or else his dragon killing talent looks contrived as well.

    I know those are all little things, but if you are reworking things anyway, that may be an update to make to make the world flow better.

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    1. Thanks for writing, Tim.

      In some cases you have, indeed, picked up on some minor continuity errors that will be fixed in the re-release. In other cases, you've found places where I've deliberately left things murky or confusing - guns on the mantelpiece, so to speak. And in some cases the differences are due to a difference in character perspectives, as different people hear or experience different aspects of the story differently.

      For instance, the goblin items that he took from the cave in Boval? Very important. Eventually. But now they're just some junk in the background. When they become important, they become really important, but for now, they're just junk.

      And Min has had expenditures and even made money that hasn't been talked about yet. I'm having fun with the character, and there's a lot to him we haven't seen yet. Even a few encounters I needed to keep separate and spin off into short stories, to keep them from detracting from the plots of larger works.

      But thanks for keeping a close and careful eye on such things. It helps, it really does. And to let everyone know, my editor has delivered the last of the chapters, and I'm putting the final version of the book into shape.

      And I'm 40k words into the next one . . .

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    2. And the whole subject of Minalyan's birth is far more complex than anyone thinks, at this point. I have a twisted mind. Snowstone happened for a reason, one which had its start in how and where he was conceived, to begin with.

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    3. Thanks for the reply Terry. I figured many of those things are left the way they were on purpose. You are the author and it is your story. I look forward to seeing where you take it. When you eventually go into building the castle and domain, I hope we get the same level of detail. It really helps in creating the story in your mind.

      You had mentioned a second version of the older works being done, has that actually been updated through amazon for downloading? Like Spellmonger?

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    4. One last one. I think Delman dies twice. Once at Timberwatch and once against the Dragon at the end of Magelord.

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    5. I had only thought of the circumstances of the conception, not the location. I get where you are going with that. It should make for some interesting reading later on.

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    6. One last one. At the end on the barges. Kendal and Tyndal leave before Minalan on different barges. Therefore if it is the first afternoon, all the apprentices can't be on the same barge. Maybe later in the trip, but not the first day.

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  14. And the baggage train should be Castal if the warmage was working for Alshar. Also, Planus never explicitly gets given a stone.

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  15. Hi,

    First off, I'd like to thank you for writing such an enjoyable series. You may not be up there with the greats yet, but I think that is probably just down to the spellchecking, and the occasional inconsistencies and continuity errors, because the storytelling is just brilliant; I very eagerly awaited the release of Magelord.

    I'm not going to bitch about the editing of Magelord, you made it very clear in the description that it was not the final edited version and I made to the choice to buy it anyway, and I really enjoyed it (the ones who are whining, should just not buy the book if they don’t like what’s on offer). You mentioned in response to an earlier poster that you will issue the new-fully-edited version as an update, will that automatically include the UK site of Amazon, because it would be nice to have a polished copy. Any idea of a release date for the new edition?

    What did annoy me was you saying that the not-fully-edited version would be cheaper than the final version, and yet it has gone down in price in the month and a half that I bought it. Not by a lot, but it is annoying. I wouldn't have minded the price drop if you had not first stated that the price was going to go up (instead of down). I know/hope it wasn't intentional, but it just looks like you were lying to get people to spend their money now instead of later. Like I said I don't mind what you do with the prices, I was perfectly happy to pay the original price for the book, I got a lot of enjoyment out of reading and re-reading the story, just don't promise one thing and then do the complete opposite when it comes to money. Just don't mention it in the first place. (To Be Continued…)

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  16. (…Continued) As some other people have pointed out there quite a few typos and continuity errors, I am bearing in mind that I have only read the not-fully-edited version, so if these have been corrected, then that's good. But two specific errors that have stuck with me are:

    1) ImmInent - not ImmAnent: This one sticks in my mind, it is only used 2 times in Magelord (though I think it is also the same in the other books when the word is used), but it jars each time I read it. Please, do a simple find and replace, and correct this. Imminent is spelt with an “I” in the middle not an “A”. ImmInent means "about to happen", whereas ImmAnent means "existing or operating within".

    2) Please, can you do something about number continuity? By this I mean when you talk about armies or populations please try and make them consistent and have them make sense. The example that stands out in my mind is found just a couple of pages from the end of Magelord, where Minalan returns to Sevendor Village and you mention that it wouldn't be recognisable because it has tripled in size from a dozen hovels to three dozen stout well-built structures of brick and wood - however barely two paragraphs later, Banamor, the Mayor, says that it is now called the Town of Sevendor, because "there are almost three thousand souls within our limits", how do 3000 people fit in three dozen houses?

    That example is just the most recent, hence why I recall it so well, but there were plenty (it seemed) of times when I was reading this book (and the others) that numbers don't add up.

    Now I don't want this to come across to critical, as I've said I really enjoy reading the books, and I have bought every single one of the series, generally as soon as I realise they're available, so please, please, keep writing the stories, I can't wait for my next fix.

    I know you're a busy guy, and editing takes time, but I enjoy these books so much that I would like to offer my services to help. I'm not pretending to be a proper editor or anything like that, and I'm not asking to be paid, but I can spot typos and some jarring continuity errors. All I'm really offering is to highlight them as I read through the book, but for that I would need the book in a word document rather than azw or mobi (whatever you use on amazon), I'd also still be buying your finished books. I realise that you probably don't want to hand out unfinished versions to random strangers, and I accept that, I'm talking more about helping catch typos and problems for future editions of an already published book. Let me know.

    Anyway, even if that doesn't happen, I thank you again for writing the books, and I can't wait for the next installment.

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  17. Hi Terry,

    Happy New Year! You have mentioned a couple times having edited versions of the books around. Now that the holidays are over and some of the usual craziness is over, I was wondering if you were planning on releasing them?

    Thanks,
    Tim

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