Gathering (Chronicles of Empire 1) is now available

[Jo Zebedee]

Many, many thanks for that, Parson.

My one fear was Erin's struggle with her faith might come across to you as Christian-bashing - hopefully it didn't seem like that to you.



There are 18 reviews on Amazon.co.uk, which is good, but I'm still waiting on reviews for Amazon.com to come. Patience is required both during writing, and after when publishing.

That's good for early reviews - Sunset and Legacy still only have a handful either side of the Atlantic. This all takes time...

 

[Brian G Turner]

Finished. I really enjoyed that. I'll write GoodReads review in the next few days.

Many thanks for the review, Idoru - and I'm so pleased to see the issue of female characters brought up:

It’s pleasing that three of the main ‘gang’ are female, as are a number of the peripheral characters. And they’re not just Victim or Decoration or (just as cliched as the first two) Strong Female Character. They have strengths and weaknesses, flaws, motivations, emotions - in short, they’re, you know, people.

IMO Gathering stands or falls on how well the women have been portrayed.

 

[elvet]

I went to purchase the paperback from Amazon Canada, and it is now unavailable. I suppose that is good news for you, Brian. It probably means you are sold out. Bad news for me, though.

 

[Alexa]

You are right. I checked also on Amazon US and there are only used one left. You really don't want to see the price on them though!

Try kindle version, US.

 

[HareBrain]

You really don't want to see the price on them though!

How are those prices arrived at? I know it must be some kind of algorithm, and that the people who run "Perth Shopping Mall" probably don't even know they've got Brian's book in "stock", but it's just crazy.

Was the paperback ever in stock on Amazon US? If so, and it's createspace, why isn't it always?

 

[Alexa]

I bought mine through Amazon Canada at a reasonable price. I have no idea what's going on with US stock. Maybe my neighbours from the south can help us with this information.

I saw this phenomenon once on Amazon US when I was looking for some music.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I went to purchase the paperback from Amazon Canada, and it is now unavailable. I suppose that is good news for you, Brian. It probably means you are sold out. Bad news for me, though.

My sincere apologies for that - it looks like this is an issue caused by my migrating the paperbacks from Createspace (owned by Amazon) to the Kindle Print interface direct at Amazon.

This means that its now propagating through their system and will take a few days to re-appear on Amazon.ca. I've no idea why Canada especially sees the delay with paperback listings. Hopefully this will be sorted out very, very soon.

 

[2DaveWixon]

I think this is something I could try to arrange in future, but am not in a position to organise as yet. One day.

Put me on the list for that, please!

 

[The Great Snook]

I'm afraid not for the moment. The book is enrolled in Kindle Select, which means it's exclusive to Amazon for at least 3 months.

Just following up, any chances of the book being ported to non-Amazon sites. I keep checking Barnes and Nobles.

 

[elvet]

Still looking for the elusive paperback.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Just following up, any chances of the book being ported to non-Amazon sites. I keep checking Barnes and Nobles.

Yes, the good news is that I'll be withdrawing from the Kindle Select Unlimited program at Amazon - which demands exclusivity - as soon as the current contract expires.

The bad news is that I won't be able to publish outside of Amazon until the current agreement expires on May 5th.

My plan is to set everything up ready to publish across other platforms as soon as possible, not least via B&N, Apple, and Google Books.

I'm just hoping that having different British English and American English editions doesn't prove problematic.

Still looking for the elusive paperback.

The US paperback was finally published a few weeks back, after technical problems at Amazon: US paperback of Gathering *finally* available

I'm told that it can take 30 days afterwards for it to appear on Amazon.ca - so hopefully it'll be listed there within the next week or so.

 

[bedlamite]

Just through a haul, and purchased! Looking forward to starting tonight. Taking Mrs B to the flicks, and going to dig in later.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

IMO Gathering stands or falls on how well the women have been portrayed.

I remember when you told me that you had solved the problem of not enough female characters in the story by changing the gender of several of your existing characters. I was extremely skeptical. But then I read the manuscript and I was amazed by how well it worked. It changed the dynamics of your group of protagonists in so many unexpected ways. Characters and their relationships suddenly came to life in a way they had not quite managed to do before.

 

[Gary Compton]

You cant beat having a few ladies on your team of characters - just saying

 

[pambaddeley]

Yes, the good news is that I'll be withdrawing from the Kindle Select Unlimited program at Amazon - which demands exclusivity - as soon as the current contract expires.

The bad news is that I won't be able to publish outside of Amazon until the current agreement expires on May 5th.

My plan is to set everything up ready to publish across other platforms as soon as possible, not least via B&N, Apple, and Google Books.

I'm just hoping that having different British English and American English editions doesn't prove problematic.



The US paperback was finally published a few weeks back, after technical problems at Amazon: US paperback of Gathering *finally* available

I'm told that it can take 30 days afterwards for it to appear on Amazon.ca - so hopefully it'll be listed there within the next week or so.

Have you written elsewhere about why you're leaving Select Brian? I'm still pondering whether or not to go into it when I publish my book.

 

[Mark Robson]

I've just ordered Gathering in paperback from Amazon. Looking forward very much to reading it. Of course, I will expect you to sign it for me if you're ever down this way, Brian.

 

[Mark Robson]

And it's here. Very smart-looking book, Brian. All I have to do now is drop everything and get reading.

 

[Brian G Turner]

And it's here. Very smart-looking book, Brian. All I have to do now is drop everything and get reading.

Cheers, Mark.

Have you written elsewhere about why you're leaving Select Brian? I'm still pondering whether or not to go into it when I publish my book.

Apologies for not answering this before - I'm trying not to bump my own promo threads too much, and I thought that discussion deserved it's own thread, which is now here: Pros and cons of KDP Select

The simple answer is that I no longer see any advantage of being in Kindle Unlimited, and that it would be better to have wider distribution for the simple fact that there are people who prefer not to buy Kindle format, or even from Amazon. However, as a debut novel, Kindle Unlimited does give people who might otherwise not buy that book a chance to read it for no financial risk.

Just following up, any chances of the book being ported to non-Amazon sites. I keep checking Barnes and Nobles.

The good news is that it's now available for the Nook and Kobo:
Gathering (Chronicles of Empire 1) now available for Kobo and Nook

My next job is to do a B&N paperback...

 

[Mark Robson]

Cheers, Mark.



Apologies for not answering this before - I'm trying not to bump my own promo threads too much, and I thought that discussion deserved it's own thread, which is now here: Pros and cons of KDP Select

The simple answer is that I no longer see any advantage of being in Kindle Unlimited, and that it would be better to have wider distribution for the simple fact that there are people who prefer not to buy Kindle format, or even from Amazon. However, as a debut novel, Kindle Unlimited does give people who might otherwise not buy that book a chance to read it for no financial risk.



The good news is that it's now available for the Nook and Kobo:
Gathering (Chronicles of Empire 1) now available for Kobo and Nook

My next job is to do a B&N paperback...

I've finally got round to finishing reading Gathering, Brian. (Currently on holiday in Crete ) I very much enjoyed it and will be looking for the subsequent books. I will give you a bit of private feedback, but overall I think it was a better debut novel than I offered - great stuff. Back to the sun for now. Heading out to dinner on the beach front - more calories to work off when I get home!

 

[kythe]

I finally finished reading "Gathering", having been working on it for a few months now. Overall I found it a bit slow paced, but with diverse and complex characters and rich atmosphere.

However, I found a couple of points of confusion that were not wrapped up. One is Jerine - why is she so focused on keeping this particular group together? Erin's spiritual beliefs and doubts are explored in depth, but Jerine (and Tilirine) seem guided by a "goddess" with no real substance or presence.

Another point is the ending. For all the adventures and catastrophes the main characters endure, it seems a cheat when we find out in the end that Molric was undone - not through all their effort - but through actions of an unseen powerful person who had been orchestrating a larger coup. The main characters seem to lack purpose, from this perspective.