The Blackthorn Key is out!

My fellow F:ATties,

I'm incredibly pleased to announce that my debut novel, The Blackthorn Key , has been released! It's an adventure full of mystery, intrigue, friendship, danger, codes, puzzles, potions, and pigeons--with a fair number of explosions along the way.

It's currently out in North America in hardcover , ebook , and audiobook , and will be released in the UK this Thursday, September 3 in trade paperback , ebook , and audiobook as well. There are also twelve foreign translations currently in the works (French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Catalan, Bulgarian, Romanian, Turkish, and Hebrew) with hopefully others to come, so anyone who'd prefer a different language may be able to find that option soon. (No idea when they'll be out, though.)

I'm really proud of this novel. It's listed for ages 10+, but strong readers who are 8 or 9 could easily read it, too. As for older readers, I think the 'plus' is entirely appropriate. I've tried to write it in the tradition of the kind of stories I loved when I was younger--and still love today. I hope you'll all enjoy it just the same.

Looks like something my son would be into. We've got a trip coming up here soon, and this may be just thing he'll be reading.

Congrats and good luck with it!

Kindle costs more than the Hardcover. Fuck Amazon!

Which way gets you the most money? Can't be Amazon, right?

jeb wrote: Which way gets you the most money? Can't be Amazon, right?

Actually, on hardcover I earn royalties off the "suggested catalog retail price", which means (at least I think it means) that the price Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or any other bookstore sets doesn't affect my royalty; I get paid a fixed percentage of the $17.99 figure off the back of the book. By discounting, retailers are basically cutting their own margins (and possibly those of the publisher, but I don't think so). So from my perspective, feel free to buy from whichever retailer you prefer.

In terms of format, I earn highest royalties on hardcover, then ebook, then softcover.

reads very much like a 12-year-old-friendly version of an Umberto Eco book.

Bullwinkle Eco.

Get on board people. This book is ranked 71st in the Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Europe category already.

Text to Speech? I'm listening to The Great Courses lectures on the Stuart Royal line but will set it aside on my commute this evening if I can listen to this.

Update -- #37 now. You extensive promotions are paying off.

Looks like I need to get the audible version for car listening. No text to speech.

Sagrilarus wrote: Bullwinkle Eco.

I wish I'd thought of that for a pen name.

I've never used Text-to-Speech, so I'm not sure how that would work with this, but there's an unabridged audiobook available.

Bullwinkle wrote:

Sagrilarus wrote: Bullwinkle Eco.

I wish I'd thought of that for a pen name.

I've never used Text-to-Speech, so I'm not sure how that would work with this, but there's an unabridged audiobook available.

Yeah, since Amazon bought Audible a lot of books are not being offered Text-to-Speech. And their new Kindles don't offer the feature, which is crazy. I listen to things like the History of the Siege Warfare which will never be done in Audible, so the idea of a Kindle that can't read to me while I'm driving seems absurd.

I have the Audible option on this one, and from some actor with a thick English accent to add to the mix. Ups the price though, hopefully you get a slice of that too.

In.

I remember you discussing this before, thanks for reminding us. I have a couple of boys right in the age range here.

Just picked it up hardcover.

So, so happy for you!!!

Yeah, since you said you get paid the same on hardcovers, I ordered one from Amazon. I'll see it in a couple of days, and those ungrateful monsters better appreciate it.

Hopefully I didn't contribute to anyone crying at their desk. Except maybe Bullwinkle. But that's his problem.

That is fantastic! Really awesome!

Congrats again Bullwinkle. Let me know if you have a promo tour out to Vancouver. It would be great to see you again.

My copy showed up, but my kids are frantically trying to finish the later Harry Potter novels before we go to Universal and Disneyworld in October.

So I read it myself. Nice work, man. Very well put together. I hope it sells well, because it deserves to.

Saw a standee for it at the local Barnes & Noble! Very cool, Bullwinkle! Got my copy yesterday. BROKE THAT FIRST CODE LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER, APOTHECARIES AIN'T SHIT