Allowing the Night Audiobook Is Out

Allowing the Night, A Dark Fantasy Romance, by T. S. Winterway is now available as an audiobook! I am both proud and saddened to say it's available exclusively on Aspenn Fantasy Payhip store for $4.99 plus tax according to the regional regulations. 

We are also offering a package deal to people visiting this blog: $5.99 for both the E-Book ($3.49 bought alone) and audiobook ($4.99 bought alone), so CLICK-CLICK .

Allowing the Night has been reviewed by several LibraryThing users if you'd like to find out how others deem the story before purchasing. If you want my opinion, it's a lovely little book, an enchanting bedtime story for adults.

When it comes to the audio version of my book, I've buried the project. The Heirs of Duty is such a long book that converting it to audio, even with AI software, would be too expensive and time-consuming. If I could expect sales, I would take the gamble, but I've long since ceased to hope that I'd get back even a fraction of the resources I've invested in Braenduir Chronicles. 

Even though Smashwords' Read an E-Book Week was a success -a year ago, I would've been over the moon, imagining so many downloads must lead to a handful of reviews at least- I no longer nurture a silly hope that anything more would come out of it. I am still working on the series -a part of me just can't ditch the project, though I know it's nothing if not a waste of time- but whether Rues of the Heroes will ever be published remains to be seen. 

So much for whining, however. It's as useless in marketing a book as the feigned positivity. I hope from the heart that my friend's book gets more attention than mine.

 

Ways to Reach Readers...

...that actually work

In my experience, reaching readers, not to mention getting reviews, is nigh impossible for a self-published author whose budget for advertising is non-existent, especially if their book doesn't appeal to Booktok and Bookstagram users. However, there are a couple of ways I've found effective. What's more, they don't cost a copper.

First, there is LibraryThing's Early Reviewer Program. 

You'll find out how it works by clicking the link (Worry not, I don't get any compensation for sharing it).

Submitting your book is completely free and as easy as breathing, and it is practically guaranteed to lead to at least a couple of reviews. So far, ER is the only channel through which I've received any feedback on my book.

If you are like me and don't have a vast circle of friends and relatives to read and review your book or are struggling to find reviewers for some other reason, this is a valid option.

Another way is to make your book free on Smashwords.

(Again, I gain nothing from this except the joy of helping a fellow writer who might find this post useful.)

I've done it a couple of times, and the number of downloads has surprised me. I made the book free on Amazon as well in the past, but regardless of advertising it on various platforms, I gained only a handful of downloads there. Instead, to reach dozens of readers on Smashwords, I haven't needed to market my book practically at all. 

It's not fair, of course, that we must give away countless hours of work for nothing except the possibility of getting it reviewed. Self-published E-Books aren't expensive, and the author gets only a thin slice of the price. Still, securing a sale is almost as likely as winning the lottery.

Be that as it may, in my case, there's nothing to lose. My book was never written for the masses, but finding the right audience has turned out even more difficult than I imagined. I can only hope that at least a few readers who download The Heirs of Duty during the Read an E-Book Week would belong to my target group. 

The campaign is valid until March 8th, so if you'd like to read The Heirs of Duty for free, click here.

As the theme of this post is to help fellow writers in whatever tiny way I can, I'll end it by giving a shout-out to a friend whose internet presence is even lesser than mine.

T. S. Winterway's Allowing the Night (a refreshed edition) is also available for free on Smashwords. If you enjoy romantic dark fantasy, this novella should be right up your alley. It is a lovely little standalone (Although the little birds have been chirping that the author is working on an independent sequel) that I would recommend for readers older than 16 years. 

Click here for your free copy, or read the blurb

Fear the dark. Don't go out at night. Keep to yourself.

Jaq lives by the rules until he meets Briar, and his life changes for good.

Jaq is a loner. He is completely happy with sharing his home with no one but his adopted dog and having as little to do as possible with the neighbors. Or so he thinks until he bumps into a grimling in the pouring rain. Whether he wanted it or not, the encounter in the murky woods changes his life forever.

When Briar sets out hunting with his clan mates on a rainy day, little does he know of how revolutionary consequences a simple act of goodwill can have. The nocturnal fays avoid contact with humans far as they can, but when it comes to choosing between saving a life or closing his eyes to evil, to Briar, the choice is clear.

But will anything good come out of the collision of the opposites? Is allowing the night to step over his threshold the biggest mistake Jaq has ever made, or could it result in something positive?

Allowing the Night is a character-based fae fantasy romance with a touch of darkness.

and then click for your free copy.

Happy readings!

P.S. Allowing the Night is coming out as an audiobook soon! I don't know yet on which other platforms it'll come available except Aspenn Fantasy Payhip Store, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out.

A Quick Reminder

that The Heirs of Duty E-Book is FREE for Valentine's Day! The offer expires tomorrow (2/15), so seize your opportunity now.

Also, the audio version of the first part of the book is available on YouTube. It's free and doesn't require subscribing.

EDIT // I have good news for Smashwords users: I'm participating in their Read an E-Book Week from March 2 to March 8 when The Heirs of Duty will be FREE!

The Ending of Braenduir Chronicles

I finally know how the story ends. According to the rules of writing, I should've decided on the ending before I began to write, but at that point, I didn't know even how the first book would end. I still have millions of words to write and haven't decided on every plot twist on the way, but the road feels a little less rocky now that I know where it ends. 

I've also decided to convert The Heirs of Duty to an audiobook. I must do it a few chapters at a time and use AI-based software (unfortunately) due to my economic situation. I would love to hire a professional but I don't have thousands to spend on the book. The only resources I have to spare are time and enthusiasm. 

I don't know yet when the first audio files will come out, but I'll keep all you bots (Based on the stats, I suspect no human ever visits this blog.) informed. 

Short Book Reviews: The Kingkiller Chronicle Books 1 and 2 by Patrick Rothfuss

The Kingkiller Chronicle is a planned trilogy by an American author Patrick Rothfuss whose independent work The Slow Regard of Silent Things is one of my favourite fantasy books. As the third book is still pending, I suppose I should review the two existing ones individually but as it's also likely the trilogy will never be completed, and I don't really have that much to say about The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear, I decided to bundle them together.

The Kingkiller Chronicle is about Kvothe, a famous musician and adventurer who has retired to a desolate village where no one knows him to work as an innkeeper. The perspective shifts between the third and the first person. The "present-day" parts are told in the third person whereas Kvothe's legend which he rehearses to the Chronicler, is in the first person.

I listened to The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear as audiobooks, and a good thing that I did for I don't think I could've finished even the first book had I chosen to read it. I'm not saying TNOTW and TWMF are bad books -well, The Wise Man's Fear is partially, if not bad, at least highly frustrating- but they are slow-paced to the point of tediousness. Also, the MC has too many similarities with Harry Potter (loses his family, enters a school of magic, makes an enemy of a well-off fellow student and so on) to make me take him seriously.

Yet, I kind of enjoyed The Name of the Wind. It hooked me with its deep insight into humanity. I might've loved it if the set-up was different and the story-telling a little faster-paced. The Wise Man's Fear, however... I still can't figure out why I finished listening to it. Mainly because I had paid for it and didn't have anything more intriguing on my TBR list at the moment, I suppose. 

In the second book, Kvothe becomes even more burdensome a character than he is in TNOTW, making me suspect his fame is largely a soap bubble. His stubborn devotion to his flimsy school-time sweetheart Denna made me want to hit something, and the elongated description of his visit to the fairyland would work better an an independent publication. In the end, Bast, Kvothe's non-human servant/friend became my favourite character of whom I would've loved to learn more.

The Kingkiller Chronicle is one of the fantasy series whose popularity and high overall rating remain a mystery to me. I would give The Name of the Wind three stars out of five, and The Wise Man's Fear not even that many. However, you don't need to take my word for it. Read or listen to the books for yourself and form your opinion based on them.

(Also, I am willing to admit that my opinion might change if the third book was published. It could yet salvage the series.)

Giving a Much-Hyped Book a Go

Everyone was rambling about ACOTAR, so I decided to determine whether it's worth the fuss.  Turned out, it isn't. Had I chosen to read the book instead of listening to it, I would've given up on it after the first couple of chapters. Even listening to it until the end was a challenge.

Why? Because the plot is tedious and predictable. And that's all I've got to say about it.

The development of the main character made me want to tear my hair off. In the first chapters, she seems like my type of female character, strong, independent... All in all a girl who goes her own way. Soon enough she shrinks into a typical female lead of a romantic story, becoming but a groupie for the male lead. The book doesn't offer an explanation for why she loses herself like that. Is it because of sheer love, or does Tamlin put her under a spell? If it's the latter, her trajectory would be acceptable.

I could rant on and on about how disappointed I was in this book, but I believe, I've made my point already. It's not for me, and wasting time reading the sequels hasn't even crossed my mind. However, this is only my personal opinion, and I do encourage everyone to form their own by reading the book themselves, instead of taking my word for that one could figure out many a less frustrating way to spend their time.

Short Book Reviews: The Slow Regard of Silent Things

I listened to this little book by Patrick Rothfuss as an audiobook (read by the author) a couple of years ago and was blown away by its loveliness. Even though the book has no plot in the traditional sense of the word, it's definitely worth your time.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is about Auri, one of the characters in The Kingkiller Chronicle. She lives below the University, in a world no one else knows about, dedicating her time to taking care of abandoned things.

The book is sort of sad, yet I smiled all the while listening to it. It is beautifully written, heartfelt, an all-around comforting story. A perfect book to read/listen to in bed before going to sleep.

A word of warning is required here though: if you've read The Kingkiller Chronicle and expect The Slow Regard of Silent Things to be something similar, you'll be disappointed. This book is as different from the series as a nightingale from an oriole. However, if you're looking for something simply sweet and undemanding, The Slow Regard of Silent Things should be your next read.