Saturday, August 1, 2020

August 2020

It's August already, year is flying by while simultaneously taking forever. Time's funny that way.

What do we have to talk about this month? Well firstly Binding Words 5: Flame of War went live last month on the 8th. It's been a mixed bag in the way of reviews. Overall people seem to have enjoyed the book, but a very vocal crowd has come out with hatred for the ending of it. Frankly, I thought it was equal to the ending of book 3, but many don't agree. If you need the link, here it is:

I know you're wondering what is next now that BW5 is out in the wild. Well next up will be Aether's Revival 2: Aether's Guard. It's looking like a September 15th release due to the length of the book. The raw text was close to 150,000 words, though my edits will trim that down. Patreon has been seeing the preview chapters of it, and people seem to be enjoying it.

Speaking of Aether's Revival, I'm audio proofing AR1. I'll finish today and flip it back to Andie for corrections. Which she'll get done quickly and than it'll get handed off to ACX. With any luck we'll be looking at a September release for that as well. I'd hope for August but honestly ACX isn't known for their speed.

Now some of you are wondering if AR2 is next, and with the editors, what is he working on right now. The answer to that is AG7. I had considered skipping it this go around and starting the once a year release for it, but my primary editor suggested since I'm planning two more books before reaching a place for it to pause, that I should keep it in rotation until I finish those two books. So that is what I'm doing, AG will be in the rotation as normal for 2 books. After that...we'll see how those two books go, but honestly it'll likely mean the series is put aside for awhile.

What will come after AG7? Well it's going to be Luck's Voice 2. Been really looking forward to getting back to that series and exploring that world some more. The first book was well received which helped ease my mind on if my books had lost their luster for you all.

Now a quick word about audio other than AR1 which is close-ish. Audio for BW5 and LV1 are both going to be done by Andie. Andie is swamped with stuff, if you have heard you you know why, because she is awesome sauce incarnate. That means the books will be coming but at a pause. I ask you to not bother Andie, she is doing the best she can. I will always give Andie the first right of refusal for a series as I know the hard work, dedication, and love she puts into ever single thing she does, and that is worth a wait in my book. Just know that when the audio comes out it'll shine the a gem, thanks to her breathing more life into them.

Is there anything else?
Not that I can really think of. The next Facebook live chat is going to be on August 15th at 10am PDT. That's a Saturday, for everyone who isn't near a calander right now. I hope to see you all there.

Until next time, stay safe out there, as 2020 has been a fucking rollercoaster of shyte.
Daniel Schinhofen

29 comments:

  1. Dude, your books are all great. As long as you stay true to yourself, we’ll keep buying them. Last Horizon is still my favorite but I think it’s because I cried a bit. BW is amazing and I can’t wait to see how powerful Sean can become. AG is a guilty pleasure of Sex, Guns and Monsters. Alpha world was my intro to your writing and I hooked immediately.
    Thanks for the many distractions from bills, news and reality!

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  2. Daniel your books are a bright spot in this bleak fucked up year, ag getting less popular is probably because people are fickle and drop off easily i will stick with it and your other series as long as i can get the monies for them, the ending for bw5 is kind of a staple for books in my opinion i see them more often than i like because most authors want the drama, love the multiverse set up though can't wait for more delving into it, also it might help to explain the experiment alvin is in at least a little to give people more speculations that gives it more hype

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  3. August just became a bit bleaker now that we know the next book isn't out until september. oh well, can't rush quality. will be eagerly awaiting AR2.

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  4. Not gonna lie, I'm a bit selfishly excited that AG in in the main rotation for the next couple books. Hope things pick back up for it, but I like your other books too, so I definitely support you focusing on what makes the most sense.

    Been following Andrea's discord, and on the one hand, a part of me is disappointed at how many new projects pop up that push the books I'm following further down the line. But the more successful she is, the better, and the more reasonable part of me is happy that her work is in demand. Definitely worth waiting for.

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    1. Milksteak, something to note its not new projects that are pushing things back, but publisher books that are doing so.

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    2. Good point, I suppose it would be more accurate to say projects I wasn't aware of instead of new projects. Besides, I tried a few new books that I probably wouldn't have if she didn't record them, so there other perks to being patient.

      Anyway, thanks again for your books!

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  5. Really enjoyed BW5. The ending was good white-knuckle suspense for me. I enjoyed it and can't wait for the next installment.

    I'm curious though: you didn't give an update to RQ? Is that one still on the back burner? I know you said alot of people didn't rate it highly but I liked it and was looking forward to book 2 fleashing things out some more.

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    1. RQ2 is something I do eventually want to write, but it'll be a net loss to me if I do as the amount of people who supported it are infinitesimal

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  6. The hate for the end of book 5 of the binding words series is probably just due to the fact that the cliffhanger is so abrupt. But not in a bad way, it just leaves us wanting more and I for one cannot wait till book 6 gets here

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  7. I loved book five of bw5, but that ending was straight up stupid, I am against cliff hangers in books, and if your going to put a book out that uses such a stupid ending then say so, not everyone likes cliff hangers and in a world with such rollercoaster of crap going on, why add to it with a crap ending, and ofcourse people are going to be vocal, they read these stories to escape that rollercoaster and you just added to it, in anycase I look forword to ar2 and bw6, and if I get another cliffhanger ending, ill be done completely, not going to wait 6 months to a year to get that last bit of a story arc again

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    1. MB,
      Cliffhangers happen. I don't plan them out cacklign with glee or anything. They just become a breakpoint. The only other real place to end book 5 would have been before the party, and if I did that people would have been upset over the lack of conflict in the book.
      Long story short, too late, cliffhangers might happen again. I don't go out of my way for them, but I won't be purposely avoiding them either. If cliffhangers really break things for you that badly, you might want to consider not reading more.

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    2. believe that is what I just put, cliff hangers ruin it for me, hence I will stop reading all together, Id rather have a small spoiler at the start of the book saying cliff hanger and wait another year to read the current book along with the next instead of be stuck wondering how it ends, as someone else put they dont mind waiting 6 months to a year for the next book, Id rather wait that long for a complete story then get a cliffhanger

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    3. PS. ive really have considered stop reading your books altogether but decided against it as I do enjoy the overall story, im just going to wait now and read the reviews and if i see people crying over a cliffhanger Ill just pass till the next one to avoid the foul mood that ending inspired in me

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  8. 6 months to a year is a sort time for me to have to wait for a cliffhanger, the authors that I read with hard copy books tend to have a 2-3 YEAR delay between books - I'm looking at YOU SANDERSON!!!! - BW5 was awesome highly looking forward to seeing how it plays out! Bring on the next one for AR! Keep fighting the good fight boss!

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    1. lol, that's a good point. It's easy to forget how good we have it to have authors that put in a ton of work to release good stories multiple times a year. I'm mostly hoping I'll get to finish the Kingkiller Chronicles before I die of old age.

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  9. I have read BW5 and yes the cliffhanger killed me... I am not going to lie, yet I eagerly await BW6 type faster... Ok this is a idea for your Bw series how about having Sean enchant gems so he can store energy in them so in case of another cliffhanger grinz.

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  10. I really like AG, I hope it picks back up in popularity and you can continue it. I'm very much looking forward to LV also, you make some great books

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  11. I will admit that the night I finished BW5 I was a little upset by the cliffhanger, but over all I really like your books, and eagerly await the next installment. I am sad to hear that AG is going to be going on the back burner soon. It and BW are probably my favorite of your work.

    Good writing, and stay positive!

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  12. Really enjoyed Luck's Voice. Keep 'em coming!
    Roger.

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  13. There is some rough feedback in these comments. We live in a time of binge watching TV shows, cliff hangers are not being well received as a whole. Its not just BW5, Will Wights Underlord got slammed hard for its cliffhanger ending. I'm trying hard to work my day job, be husband and father and get my own book finished, believe me writing a full length book is hard and their is an organic life to the story where the author can feel the chapters and the ending. But with that said it seems cliffhangers are detrimental to fan base

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  14. The only real problem I have with BW5 is that there is a cliffhanger that could mean serious possible problems/deaths/etc. Any/all previous endings that had any cliffhanger(s) weren't so potentially bad. Also, not sure if this happens with other people, but I tend to read a LOT and don't really remember the last book(s) clearly. So I'll have to re-read at least the last one if not more shortly before another is released, but if the last memory I have of the previous books is really bad cliffhanger I find it harder to get back into the story. Even when I know that the new book will explain it away.

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  15. I really enjoyed Flame of War and Luck's Voice. Looking forward the next books in the series. And absolutely wait for Andie to have the time to do the Audio Books. Her Voice and narration is fantastic!

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  16. Wanted to let you know that I enjoyed BW5 and the whole series. Really looking forward to AR2 in September though.

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  17. I'm new to your books, but I just wanted to say that I discovered Binding Words only last month, and (unusually for me) I bought and read all 5 books in 5 days (they're not short, but I spent practically every waking hour outside work on them - I'm lucky that my wife is also an avid reader, and understood!). I then did the same for Alpha World (about 12 days) and I've just bought the first Apocalypse Gates. All I can say is that I'm glad you're a fast writer (judging by your publication dates) because I am eagerly waiting for BW6.

    I found the cliffhanger ending rather sudden, as did some others, but it's a perfectly respectable to end a section of a story on a cliffhanger. If reading a physical book, you always know how near the end you are, so you can sense a cliffhanger coming. But if you're using an e-reader (Kindle) then unless you turn on the 'time left in book' line, and keep looking at it, you could easily not know, and I found that I turned the page only to find that was unexpectedly and jarringly the end - I hadn't felt the end approaching in the feel and flow of the story. But I'm an alleged adult, and I can wait. A bit, anyway. Consider me a guaranteed purchaser of BW6!

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    1. Wait - not last month. Earlier /this/ month. It's a weird year.

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    2. Glad you're enjoying the stories. I write a 4 book rotation aiming for 6-8 months between books in a series.

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