CSS Appomattox 4th Anniversary

I just checked and it has been 4 years since I first published CSS Appomattox. It doesn't seem to be that long ago. In honor of the anniversary, I did a bit of polishing on the book (minor edits and some layout changes). This is the 3rd real edition of the book since I first released it. The most significant change is moving the world description to the back of the book and letting it start with the story. In several of the reviews, I had received complaints about that. Hopefully, this will help.

I am also doing some work on the third book in that series (Black Sea Peril). I think I will commit to a February 2019 release date. At this point I have 1/4th of it written. The story is progressing nicely but it is fighting for space on the writing desk with the New Glasgow War series which just may turn into a 9 part instead of 6 part series.

Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate the anniversary of the book. October is just one of those months that I seen to release books in. With The Phoenix Gambit being released this month and a year ago, I released Out of the Ashes.

Happy reading everyone.

Stellar Service Recognized - Rukia

I have done a number of book launches with Rukia publishing. I added their logo on the right hand side of the page. Every time I work with them, they tirelessly promote my book, build my mailing list and look for new ways to get the word out. I am terrible at the advertising side of things. But they are really good. Has my book hit in the top 100 rankings of Amazon with their help - no, but I don't think they every will. But they sure do try to make that happen.

I have grown my mailing list by nearly 200% since starting to work with them and it is still growing. The books always get a good bump in sales and I now have all sorts of followers on BookBub that I didn't know I could have. All in all, it is always money well spent. Of all of the services that I have tried, I always have a positive return on investment with Rukia. Give them a try, you will be glad you did.

DriveThruFiction

I have been using one of their sister sites for years. DriveThruFiction is something I tried a few years ago and am giving it another go again. All five books of the New Glasgow War series are live there now. https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse.php?author=CN%20Stoesen

I am a fan of the site and will be looking into porting a few more items there over time. Swing on by and take a look at their site.

Online Retailers for E-Books

I was just curious as to which online retailers that you use for books. I am conducting my second experiment with putting some books wide. Thus far I am concentrating on my science fiction series - The New Glasgow War.

Besides Amazon, I have also put books up on:
Drive Thru Fiction
Google Play - Which their search engine is not returning anything on the books they claim are live today.... hmmmm.
Barnes & Noble
Apple
Kobo
Scribd
Tolino
24Symbols
Playster
OverDrive
Bibliotheca
Baker & Taylor

Most of the above I am doing through the Draft 2 Digital service. It is pretty handy as I would not be able to upload to Apple without them. Are there other services that you use? Do you use any of the above? I'd love to hear back from you as to your favorites.

Personally, I use Amazon, Google Play and Playster.

Phoenix Gambit is Live

Phoenix Gambit went live on the 22nd of October. It is off and running.

Book 6 of the series is well on its way. I am 1/5th of the way through the first draft and look to have it released by the end of November. The working title is Phoenix Triumphant. That's right, I actually have a title well before the release. Next up is a cover. I have some ideas on that front as well.

For the Thomas Devareaux fans out there, fear not, I haven't forgotten about the series. The next book, Black Sea Peril is in progress. I am making steady progress daily on it and look to have a release by first quarter next year (2019). No cover ideas yet. I am thinking of something involving the Ottoman Navy circa 1890. We will see what I can find.

Anyway, back to the keyboard. Until next time, take care.

Help Wanted - There are Free Books Involved.

I love that iconic image. Uncle Sam pointing his finger out at you asking for help. Well, I could use a bit of help. Most importantly, I really could use some reviews on my books. If you have done a review on one of my books and are interested in doing another, please think about enrolling in my Advanced Review Copy group. I created a sign up form for it here: https://goo.gl/forms/GYp2OjK0NiTpbZbJ2

Please consider it. I would really appreciate it.