A Book Announcement
As noted on this blog before, I’ve released my debut novel Paper Crowns sometime early last November. What you might not be aware of is the fact that said release was littered with formatting issues I had not been aware of when it came to releasing a paperback book through Amazon’s publishing imprint.
That being said, I’ve released a second edition of my book, in a more compact, better formatted second edition. Available through Createspace and Amazon for now, it will be available on Amazon as a Kindle book and through Barnes and Noble in the coming weeks. (please note there are higher royalty percentages through purchases made on Creatspace.)
Amy Green is more than sure that her mother’s bedtime stories were based in fact. Despite the protests from family and friends worried for her mental health, Amy knows she’s destined for adventure in the fantasy world of her childhood. So it comes to a surprise to everyone when the mythical world of Ezrantia is real. Very real. After falling through a mirror and into the lap of Prince Kadesh, Amy and her friends find themselves at the heart of a mess started decades prior by Amy’s own mother, a famed Oracle in the land of Ezrantia, who wove magic and attempted to make peace among the talking animals known as Ezrantians. This mess is now Amy and company’s responsibility. A nation is crumbling. A shadowy presence is threatening the natural balance of the world’s magic. All the while Amy and her friends must face their own inner demons. It’s not a matter if Amy can survive a magical land and a magical war, but if she can survive herself in the face of her mother’s legacy.
This novel has been my life for six years, starting as a school project and spiraling into my foray into my attempts at becoming a professional author. There have been ups and downs, revisions left and right, rejections from so many literary agents, and a tumultuous living situation.
I personally don’t want to make this post about my trials and tribulations, but rather focus on the book and the heart I put into it. And yet, I feel it’s imperative on tumblr to disclose the personal story behind why I’m trying to get you to spend your money to buy my work.
In the lat six years I have had to turn down admission to my dream school because of finances. Before January of this year, I lived in a household where I was not allowed a cellphone or driver’s license, two necessary things to get a job in this area, have been unemployed, and in a living situation detrimental to my health.
I have not been allowed access to food, to clothing, to medical attention. I’ve been in physical and emotional duress due to my parents’ threats against me for being unemployed. My mother has taken her anger out on me since she began the long and seemingly unending process of losing both of her legs due to complication relating to vascular disease, smoking, and diabetes. There is a tooth in my mouth rotting away slowly despite my unrelenting use of that really painful mouthwash that kills a l l.
I’ve been surviving solely on the generosity of my commissioners, but because of a series of unfortunate technological events, I have been unable to actually work on commissions or art for this book. My tablet died two weeks ago. I am at a professional standstill until I can find the funds for a better quality tablet that allows for me to produce the content I need to. I am aiming to get myself a Cintiq after several years of under-performing nonsense that are Chinese knockoffs and Amazon deals. If I’m going to develop as a professional, this is a must at this point. I owe my commissioners and their saintly patience that much.
I haven’t had a concrete, stable living situation since the end of January, jumping between four households in two different states for no more than three weeks at a time, and oftentimes even less than that. My health has varied from depressed to hungry to at wit’s end. If it weren’t for being unemployed in this garbage economy, I would be looking for a place of my own. But alas… I have no credit to speak of. Considering I’m being forced out of houses left and right, I really need some sort of stable income.
I know this post is long. I know it’s not likely you’ve read it to this point and that it’s stretched your dashboard out. But please bear with me for a little longer.
This story has been my life and blood for six years, developed as the publishing industry came down on me with a big resounding no. Who wants to deal with a Young Adult fantasy novel with no romantic supblot for the main character? Who wants to deal with the character referred to only by ‘they’ pronouns? Who wants to deal with a narrative around a bisexual boy? Who wants to deal with negative character development and a not-so-happy ending? Apparently not nearly 300 literary agents.
The industry doesn’t want this book. Not yet at least. I self published last fall to find out I am in no position to be formatting and revising my own work. So I’m coming to you now with a new and improved edition of Paper Crowns. Smaller, more compact, and with less typos, this is something I am proud to offer to the public. This is something I am putting my name and professional reputation behind one hundred percent.
I know not everyone has disposable income for a paperback book, especially one self published and with no major backing from a snazzy publishing house with their fancy fonts and ~*hard covers*~ but nonetheless… This book is a hail mary, an act of desperation, and still something I love despite it’s flaws and it’s history. I want to carry on with a sequel to Paper Crowns, but I need to know it’s something people want to see and make a part of their lives. Hell, I would even love to see a fandom bloom from this, potential trainwreck or not.
Even if you can’t afford this book, a sign of support and a signal boost would be more than appreciated; you would have my eternal gratitude.
Thank you.
(( Heads up! I know my personal blog has nowhere near the reach as this one, so I’m reblogging this here where most people know and interact with me. I know some of you went and bought my first edition, and I cannot thank you enough. But here is a new option that doesn’t make my work look like the textbook byproduct of a hippie-centric community college lesson.
Any and all support i appreciated y’all.))
Thank you all for your time))
