Author Michael J. Sullivan's Official Website

Getting Old

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 10:39:00 +0000

Not too long ago, I was out on my front lawn smelling an old fence post and thinking what an odd job I have. I wasn’t limiting my sniffing to the fence. I also went about the property putting my nose to the bark of trees, and even a bush. Luckily, this was when I was still in Shenandoah where my neighbors are too far away to see my odd behavior. The reason I was imitating the typical dog out on a walk, was entirely due to a scene I was writing. A character was scaling a wall, their face pressed to the surface. No chance the character wasn’t getting a nose full of old wood. Only, what does old dry wood smell like?

If you’ve ever seen the movie Stranger Than Fiction where the author Karen Eiffel (played by Emma Thompson) goes to great lengths to understand how her characters feel in order write about them, then what you just read might make more sense or merely increase your bewilderment. Most of the time I can imagine sights, sounds, and smells, but I was stumped on wood. This wasn’t old musty attic, nor mushroom laden decaying wood. The best description I had was “earthy.” This would have worked fine if such a word existed in Elan. Only it doesn’t.

One of the annoying drawbacks to writing invented world fantasy is how so many absolutely perfect words, phrases, and common references aren't allowed. Try describing an earthquake without the word earth, afternoon, without the word noon, or the midday meal which used to be called dinner. Some have even questioned the feasibility that people applauded or clapped their hands to show appreciation. What’s worse are words that are legitimate yet they are seen as inappropriate such as shoot, drive, or explode. Incidentally, it is amusing to me that explode comes from the Latin explodere to “drive out or off by clapping or making noise,” as in an audience’s reaction to a theater actor’s performance. I have long chaffed under these and other restraints that hamper my sense of free flowing expression, and force me to backspace over perfectly good sentences and ideas.

I never wanted to be a fantasy writer. I’d mostly walked away from that section of the bookstore the same time I left high school. I was lured by the vivid relatability of more contemporary stories, the sort where I could simply go to a place and write about what I saw. The hours I spent describing people in coffee shops, or transcribing their conversations into dialog, was thrilling and so much easier than trying to imagine what a princess’s bedroom might look, smell, or feel like. Writing Hollow World had been a blast despite most of it taking place in a distant future. At least the point of view character possessed the same frame of reference as the average American. I didn’t need to explain or omit anything. I could free associate to my heart’s content. And yet, in my grass-is-always-greener mentality I failed to see that despite these limitations and draw backs, the invented world fantasy offers one attribute that all other genre’s lack. It alone possesses the intrinsicly super power of timelessness that bestows at least the chance at on-going relevance for future generations.

Recently, I have been re-reading a few of my favorite Stephen King novels such as The Stand and It. They are still wonderful, filled with inspiring prose and stunningly crafted characters, but they’re getting old. Set in the real-world, and locked in time and place, these grand tales are becoming dated. References are lost, and contemporary terms—like the ones I wasn’t allowed to use in fantasy—are acting as lead weights tied to the legs of a world class swimmer. Given enough time, it is possible these novels will acquire a nostalgic allure, and then perhaps even a historic charm. I recently discovered I owned a first edition of Hemingway’s Farewell to Arms, and found it fascinating to read a book that was both written and printed nearly a hundred years ago. To me the slang, lifestyle, references, and customs were more compelling than the story itself. Hopefully, this, too, will be King’s legacy.

It was, in fact, Mr. King who first alerted me to this idea of fantasy’s timelessness. I read something he wrote about how mega bestsellers from years ago having been almost entirely forgotten and how only fantasy seems positioned to be resistant to this aging sickness. Nothing is immune.

Given my first book was published in 2008, my works are creeping up on their twentieth birthday and receiving their AARP invitations from readers who post reviews that speak of my stories as established and even enduring. I am forced to acknowledge my accidental good fortune. The world has, and continues to change at such breakneck speeds that not merely references and slang are victims but also fundamental beliefs, attitudes, and ethics. Had I been writing closer to the bone, wading in deeper cultural waters, perhaps I might have made a bigger splash. The cost would have been the ephemeral nature of such fame and the loss of the example my characters appear to have provided to a weary world looking for safe harbor. In another decade, my readers will likely have moved on to greater writers and my books would have been used to steady a table leg or be set out on the curb like a velveteen rabbit. But if I have any chance at all of securing that highly competitive space on the occasionally visited dust-covered top shelf it may well be due to having written fantasy rather than aiming for the great American novel. I think this is important because I suspect people will continue to suffer troubling times in the future, and the next generation may again find a need for refuge from dark skies and turbulent winds.

THE CYCLE: Preliminary Committee Results

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 11:34:00 +0000

On September 27th, 2024 I posted about the Cycle Project. As it has been a while, allow me to refresh your memory. I never intended to write anymore stories in the world of Elan except the original six novels of the Riyria Revelations. I felt the ending was satisfying for those who like complete endings—not everyone does I discovered. So, when my wife asked for more Royce and Hadrian stories, I created prequels to accommodate her, which I wrote while I worked on the science fiction thriller Hollow World.

Then everyone wanted another fantasy series. Some hoped I would create a new world entirely, but I didn’t see the point in building a new reality when Elan still held plenty of potential and untouched real estate. The hardest thing about building an invented world is that before you can present a story you first need to educate the reader. In the past, there was the tried and true info dump that graced the start of many fantasy novels. This unpleasant habit was something diehard fantasy fans learned to accept, and which I felt prevented potential converts from joining the fun. Few casual readers appreciate a required course on geopolitical history before even finding out if the story, characters, or even the genre is for them. As the fantasy genre matured, however, writers learned to integrate world building with the story. But making world building entertaining isn’t as easy as some authors make it look. I personally find having to explain too much gets in the way of a good story in the same way that having to explain a joke after the telling kills the humor. For this reason I stuck with Elan as I assumed most of my potential readers would be familiar with it.

In the creation of Legends of the First Empire, I was forced to flesh out more of the world and in doing so, I discovered the potential for a sequel to Revelations. For more on this read the afore mentioned Cycle Post.

It has now been four years since the Exploratory Committee of One began their deliberation on the feasibility of a post Revelations series. The Cycle will consist of five novels, and as I have already finished drafts for books 1 through 3 as well as the prerequisite novel Blythin Castle, the committee has finally determined that there is a reasonable chance such a series might work. So, if you think I’ve been sitting in a lawn chair with an umbrella drink for the last four years while Lorian does all the heavy lifting, consider that I now have four unpublished Elan novels (aside from this year's release of Out of the Ashes) waiting in the editing queue.

My intention at this moment, is to spend the summer editing Blythin Castle, working on the remaining necessary Cycle related short stories, and then prepping Cycle Four (C4), so I can start it in late summer/early fall. In addition, I will be working with Lorian on the second book of her series while fixing up the home we now have here on the island.

All that said, while I have a high level of confidence in C4, C5 remains the greatest threat to this series seeing the light of day as it still has problems I need to work out. As such, the Exploratory Committee of One (ECO) has officially moved the Likelihood of Release dial from zero to a fifty-one percent chance of sunshine.

Robin’s estimation may vary.

Literary Sidewalks

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 14:35:00 +0000

In case you were concerned by the cliffhanger ending of my last post…I’m still alive. I successfully reached the island, where Robin gave me a Hollywood reception under sun-bathed palms. Now that I am here, and have a rudimentary office, allow me to explain a bit about why we moved because I’m both optimistic and arrogant enough to assume you want to know.

There are many reasons we have semi-moved to Key West. The motive almost everyone who transplants here gives is the weather. Three hundred days of sunshine and a tropical climate that has never known frost or snow makes it highly desirable, but that's not number one on our list. For us it's because the people on this island are…well, different - and so are we.

The inhabitants of Key West have tried on several occasions throughout its history to secede from its mother country (and actually did so on April 23, 1982). The short story about that is they (a) officially seceded (b) declared war on the United States (c) surrendered one minute later, and (d) requested foreign aid. That said, they did not secede when Florida left the Union on January 10, 1861. So, yeah, the island has been known to be a magnet for mavericks, eccentrics, pirates, and those that are just plain "odd." But a common thread to all these groups is that they are fiercely independent and free-minded. Those who know me, or have seen the Indie Author movie, understand why I find this appealing.

And yet the instigating reason for choosing Key West was far less philosophical and more practical. It is the farthest south we can get to by car. I’m not a huge fan of air travel, not too keen on driving either, but there is also an auto train that cuts the trip down by more than half, which is quite nice. Just having three options makes me happy since we are keeping the cabin in "the Valley" and plan to migrate. Am I concerned that the island may be literally underwater in forty years? Not particularly because we won’t be alive to see it.

What I am embarrassed to admit is that there was another reason for me to move here that I only recently discovered—Key West is a literary Mecca. Unbeknownst to me, this is where writers go to work and live, and have for over a hundred years. I’ve long known that Ernest Hemingway had a home here—still does, only now it’s a museum. He, however, was only one of many. The list is ridiculously long, but notables include (in no particular order) the likes of Wallace Stevens, Robert Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, James Merrill, Richard Wilbur, Tennessee Williams, Thomas McGuane, John Hersey, Alison Lurie, Robert Stone, Judy Blume, Jimmy Buffet, Shel Silverstein, and Truman Capote.

How I came to learn this common bit of knowledge is odd, and therefore typically Key West. Just this last autumn, I was walking out near the lighthouse on the 900 Block of Whitehead Street. Robin and I were returning from a lovely dinner, when I saw something beneath my feet. Written into the concrete of the sidewalk were words. This wasn’t a child’s scrawl, these letters were carefully inscribed. So, I stopped, and in the light of a late night street lamp, I read a poem by David L. Sloan.

Who goes to the effort to inscribe literature into a nondescript sidewalk? I was impressed enough to snap the above photo and walked on. The following day on the way to brunch, Robin and I happened upon another bit of seemingly random etched graffiti, this one a distinctly appropriate poem by Eden Brown:

At this point I was more than impressed—I was intrigued. The next day, Robin and I swam at the Casa Marina pier where I found Tennessee Williams swam there every morning and was quoted as saying he wrote best in Key West. At this point I had to investigate, and learned the island was drowning in a legacy of writers.

I quickly discovered David L. Sloan was a local author by virtue of his many books featured at the city’s bookstores. I purchased Quit Your Job And Move To Key West by Christopher Shultz & David L Sloan just in case there were other things I ought to know about before buying a place on the island. Eden Brown is also a local poet. This led me to discover that the concrete verses were the result of The Key West Sidewalk Poetry Project conducted by the city’s Art in Public Places Board. More than 200 Florida Keys writers submitted poetry, prose, lyrics and haiku, in a contest that granted a cash award and a place in the city’s history.

It would seem this tiny island at the southernmost point of the continental United States, with it’s tropical climate, ocean breezes, roaming roosters, and creative, quirky, and artistically minded residents, attract writers like Reese's Pieces pull in lost and lonely aliens. And the island has embraced this tendency for writers to settle here, by establishing yearly seminars and other organizations and events. It would seem artists, musicians, and writers are the island’s more respectable mascots.

I suppose if I had the chance at put words to sidewalk, it would be a simple question posed to me by Robin. “What took us so long to get here?”

Fingers Crossed . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:24:00 +0000

My wife and I are moving to Tur Del Fur. Not entirely, and not exactly, but she’s already there and I’m leaving to join her today. Truth is we bought a house in Old Town Key West, and if my last novel, Drumindor were to be made into a movie, Key West is where they should film it. Truthfully, the architecture would be all wrong, and the time period completely off, but the essence, the spirit, and the feel are a perfect match. To a large degree, Key West was my inspiration for the setting of that novel: independent, artistic, freewheeling, and a culturally diverse city of Tur Del Fur where Ghazel, Dromeians, and Fhrey bumped elbows without a thought – a happy place, a unique watering hole where lions and antelope drink side-by-side in a tranquil paradise.

I said we aren’t moving entirely because we are keeping the cabin in Shenandoah, and will return to it in the summers. This will make us “snow birds” a term for lucky old people who have the means and the wisdom to understand why birds migrate.

You see, Robin — she’s my wife, and I feel silly explaining that because most know her by now, and she’s certainly more beloved—suffers from the winter blues. She becomes depressed when the leaves fall, spirals downward when we “close up the pool,” and it gets worse as days shorten and grow colder. We don’t know if it is a true case of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or not, but it happens each year and appears to grow more pronounced with age. Even I’ve started to feel it. Short, dark, cold days have a way of making a person focus on that unpleasant topic we all prefer to not think about—how few years you have left. Less years, more focus, greater morbidity in winter.

Over the years, we’ve traveled to the Keys for at least a week in various winters. I even did a blog post in March of 2019 about how we’d take the auto train down to Orlando, then jump in our Jeep and drive the rest of the way to the islands. The trips clearly helped, so this last November we tried an experiment. Sure, it’s fine for a week, for a vacation, but how would it be to live there? For a test we rented a house for six weeks in the Old Town section of Key West.

For those of you who don’t know, Key West is the last inhabited island at the end of the overseas highway. A 113-mile stretch of road that connects more than 40 small islands utilizing 42 bridges including one that is 7 miles long. The island itself is quite small just 4.2 square miles (approximately 4 miles long and 1 mile wide). In 1829 it was even smaller than that (just 2.5 square miles but it’s been “added onto” over the years the biggest project of which happened during the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Key west also has the distinction of being the southernmost point in the contiguous United States. It is closer to Havana than Miami, and it has a tropical climate. The surrounding water tends to mitigate huge temperature swings keeping it mild for most of the year, and it enjoys 300 days a year of sunshine. It really doesn’t get cold there; it’s record low was set in 1886 (41 degrees F), and I have been told it is the only place in the continental United States that you can drive to that has never known frost.

As you might imagine, the island is quite crowded there are about 3000 buildings many of which date back to the 1800’s; it looks like Main Street Disneyland if Walt had decided on a tropical garden theme.

After our six weeks, we discovered that we loved it. The bad news (as you might have already guessed) is that we loved it.

You see, Key West is not cheap.

A realtor showed us a house with a separate building that was being rented to a ship’s captain. It was one room with a low ceiling, no windows or running water, (there was an outdoor shower and toilet nearby). I think it must have been about 10 feet by 15 feet, and the captain paid $2000 a month in rent! But it’s not just the cost of housing that’s expensive there. Since so much is brought in by the Overseas Highway, or by boat, most things are pricey. Living is Key West these days was a crazy (and we thought) unobtainable dream.

But a funny thing happened over the last two decades. A lot of people bought my books. And because Robin and I grew up poor, we never spent very much of that money. And as the shorter, darker days keep reminding us, we don’t have that many years left. So we bought a little piece of paradise.

We closed on a little yellow shipwright cottage in “the Meadows” at the start of February. No not the one I described above. The “house hunt” was an adventure in its own right, and maybe Robin will post about it. The plan was for Robin to go down, get things “setup” and then I would follow soon after. Little did we know that Virginia (and a wide swath of the east) was inundated with snow and crippled by seriously cold temperature turned the “white stuff” surrounding our place into “snowcrete (a new Virginia term for really thick and immovable ice).

In early February, we were like borrowing field mice not peaking our heads out of the cabin at all, but we did have to get the closing papers notarized so we took a trip to do that. While I parked the car, Robin walked toward the cabin and went down hard. I rushed after to help, and fell as well. The result was an acute transverse fracture through the surgical neck of the proximal humerus extending into the greater tuberosity. In other word, she fractured her upper arm where the ball of the bone sits in the shoulder.

The prognosis of her arm wasn’t great, but the weather predictions were worse. Temperatures were going to be below freezing for weeks so none of the snow was going to melt. To make matters worse another huge storm just came through south of us so travel through that area was “dicey.” Now, anyone who knows Robin knows that she is not one to be daunted. If you put obsticles in her way she’s going to go around, over, or under them so she threaded a needle found a few days when setting out might be possible and so I loaded up the Jeep with essentials that had to go by car (including or cat Loki), and she and our daughter Sarah set out.

So, she’s been down there these last five weeks. Winged as she was, there wasn’t a lot that she could do, but Lorian (my co-author for After the Fall), and her husband came down to help. Sarah was able to stay for a few days, and one of our oldest and dearest friends, Cheryl, came to the rescue. So she’s not been alone for the entire time—thank Maribor.

This is the longest the two of us have been apart in forty-six years by a margin of four weeks. It hasn’t been pleasant. We honestly like each other’s company (something our daughter refers to as co-dependency).

I’ve stayed in the cabin working to finish the third book of the Cycle, because I didn’t have an office at the new place yet, and I didn’t want to stop while I was “on a roll.” Alone in the snowbound Shenandoah Valley, in the short, dark, cold days I thought I could get a lot done, and I have, but it has been miserable. Not nearly as nice as Stephen King made it out to be in The Shining. I didn’t have a helpful ghostly bartender to cheer me up.

I don’t watch much television, but I started to when night fell as that’s when I noticed Robin’s absence the most. The late lonely hours are especially nasty and get worse as you get older. So, I watched a Ken Burns special on Hemingway, about how he killed himself in a remote cabin. I followed this up with the new Michael Caine movie Bestseller about an aging writer at the end of his life who credits his wife with making his career by her wonderful editing, but who passed away and now everything is bullshiite (an actual word used in the film.) As you might imagine, neither of these helped. No, not at all.

The phone has been our lifeline. We talk almost every night (exceptions held for when people were visiting). Maybe that’s what denied me my rightful bartender, I don’t know. What made it bearable was how happy she sounded. In some weird way, it was like she was dead, and I was making phone calls to heaven. I was either still alive or in hell. I’m not sure which. These days it’s hard to tell the difference.

But the book is done. The snow is gone. I have a backpack filled with my notebooks, iPad, a portable hard drive, and a plane ticket. And in 15 minutes my plane will be boarding, so I’m going to see my wife in paradise.

If my plane crashes, this post is going to sound weirdly prophetic. But for now my fingers are crossed.

Time to Celebrate!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 10:28:00 +0000

Hey all, Robin here. I'm writing today because it's time to . . .

What do I have to be so happy about? Well a few things.

First and foremost, I have some important news about the third book in the Cycle series. When Michael started writing it, he put a "target date" of May 1st, and his computer gave him an estimate of how many words each day he had to write to finish by then. Some may know that we were in Key West from Late November until Early January, and while I thought that would slow him down a lot (and therefore push that date further back), it turns out he was able to keep to his normal writing routine while in paradise, and his required word count per day actually came down rather than going up.

When we got back to Luray, I started hinting that a REALLY nice birthday gift would be if Book #3 could be finished by April 8th. Since there were only a few months until then, I thought it was a lot to ask, but hey, if you don't tell the one you love what present you want more than anything else then there is no hope of getting it.

Well, Michael did a bit better than April 8th. As of March 10th, the book is officially finished!! I can't wait to get my hands on it - which leads me to the second reason why I'm here to celebrate.

You see, for the last 35 days, Michael and I have been apart from one another -- separated by about 1,200 miles. There has been times when I was in one place and him another, but in more than forty-six years, I can count on one hand the number of times we've not been "attached at the hip" -- and on those occasions it's rarely been more than a week in duration. Well, in about 34 1/2 hours that will be rectified, and we'll be together once more. And yeah, I'm counting the hours and grinning from ear to ear just thinking about our reunion.

What has caused this separation? Well, I'll leave that to Michael to explain. I asked him to write a blog post about "recent events," and he sent it to me last night. So, stay tuned. There's more on this tomorrow. But suffice to say I have a lot be happy about.

The Storm - The First Cycle Story now Available to all

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 14:33:00 +0000

As many may be aware I'm currently writing "The Cycle" - a five-book post-Riyria Revelations series which will pull characters and plot points from all 20 books written in Elan including:

6 books of the Riyria Revelations
5 books of the Riyria Chronicles
6 books of the Legends of the First Empire
3 books of the Rise and Fall

As part of The Cycle, there are a number of "foundational works" that I wrote to provide added context - and to leak clues as to what to expect in my current work in progress. The first of those is "The Storm" - a short story that takes place in the timeline of The Riyria Chronicles, but introduces a character and some "concepts" that will be expanded upon in The Cycle.

This short story was published in an anthology created by Grim Oak Press to spotlight Indie authors. As for availability:

The physical book is still being printed, but pre-order is available.
Backers of the Kickstarter received the tale on January 11th,
But the ebook is now available to everyone: Amazon | Grim Oak Press Site

So if you've been excited about getting into The Cycle - pick up a copy of Unavowed, and read The Storm!

Theft of Swords ebook on Sale - $1.99

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 14:42:00 +0000

From time to time Orbit, my publisher for the Riyria Revelations, puts the books on a deeply discounted sale. This is one of those times. The book is currently $1.99 (previously $6.99 originally $12.99) and the price change happened on February 1st. I'm not sure how long it will be at this price, probably for a month, but if you haven't started this series . . . or more importantly if you know someone who has expressed an interest but needed a good reason to start . . . now is the time.

Here are some links from some major retailers:

Robin down - expect some delays.

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 16:03:00 +0000

For anyone who has been watching the news latel,y you'll know that there was a massive storm that came to our neck of the woods a week ago. All in all it wasn't as bad here as other places - 5" of snow but some freezing rain on top of it which made all surfaces outside treacherous. Our approach to this was to "huddle inside" and not venture out. Well, there were some really important documents that needed a notary so Robin and I did set out to do that. Well, on the way back into the house she fell and when using her hand/arm to brace the fall the "snow" (which is really solid ice at this moment) didn't give an inch.

Those who know us, are aware that we never go to the doctor, but the day it happened she thought a trip to urgent care was warranted. Turns out the only urgent care in the area didn't have x-ray facilities, so we turned back. The next day, she got an appointment with our local "multi-disciplinary" clinic and the x-rays did, indeed, indicate that she fractured the ball of her arm that fits into the shoulder. They gave her a sling, which helps a lot with the pain and got her an appointment with an orthopedic specialist for the next day (yesterday).

The orthopedic specialist confirmed what the general practitioner said. And while there may be some "soft tissue" damage as well (like a torn rotator cuff) none of that can be addressed until after the bone has enough time to mend such that it won't "slide apart" and cause more series problems.

As for the warehouse - it's pretty much "snowed in" until we an get some melting - not even going to attempt accessing it as the effort would be too great based on it's location (very far back and divided from "civilzation" by crossing a bridge to get onto the property and a long distance and large parking lot that is 100% buried.

The good news, is most of the shipments were taken care of just prior to this. But for those that haven't (mainly overseas orders) you can expect some further delays.

Life just got harder for writers - New scams to avoid

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:35:00 +0000

Being an author has never been easy. It's difficult to write a book, and nearly impossible to create one that is "good" (defined as a story that after reading others will tell their friends about it). Then there are always a mountain of rejections, being taken advantage of by retailers and publishers who take the lion's share of the profits leaving them crumbs, and then there is the whole issue of how to "get the word out" so that people know your books exist.

But lately it's been even harder. Anyone reading my posts knows just how much Robin does for me. One of the most annoying jobs as of late is organizing the email. She goes through it every day and puts fan mail to my attention, and takes care of any "logistics" stuff like contracts, shipping issues, coordination with copyeditors and Tim (our narrator), and so forth.

With the advent of AI there has been an explosion of what I can only assume are AI generated emails. One category are people who "run bookclubs."

They are remarkably similar and always include some "generic praise" such as:

"The dynamic between Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater is so good. The contrast between cynicism and idealism, and the moral tension woven into such a concise Riyria tale, sparked great discussion among our members.

They bring up being "featured" but usually don't mention money - not yet. But Robin likes to "play along" and tells them I'd be happy to join the group for an Author Q&A. Then they do ask for cash (either to cover the logistics of setting up the feature or to pay for "snacks" for the group."

It's all a scam of course, and the simple thing would be to just ignore them, but Robin doesn't like the fact that they are besmirching the bookclub's name without them even knowing it's going on. So she's been going the next step which is:

Contacting the real bookclub to verify they didn't send the request (so far none of them have)
Filing a abuse report to Google because these people are impersonating others

It's a time consuming process, and it's no doubt "tilting at windmills" but she feels like she's making a difference in some small way, so who am I to stop her.

But there was a recent email that has been even more nefarious. This one is from a guy (Rob Cox) - with the email robcox.bookpublicist@gmail.com. He offers various "marketing services" that run from $550 - $6,750. Robin hopes there is a real person and not just an AI because she keeps asking for "more information" to burn his time. At one point, he offered up an reference: Mark Lawrence with an email address that is NOT Mark's. But Robin was like a cat with a mouse so she wrote to it with the subject "Hey Mark, is this really you."

And of course a response came back!

Hi Robin,
Yes, this is Mark.
First, congratulations on Michael’s works in progress! The Cycle, After the Fall, and Blythin Castle all sound like exciting projects, and it’s impressive to see such a strong lineup coming together.

I want to clarify upfront that I don’t work with multiple marketing people, I only work with Rob Cox and his team. They are the ones who have handled all of my marketing and consistently delivered results.
We first connected by email when I engaged them for marketing support for my books. Since then, Rob and his team have been my sole marketing partners, managing everything from strategy to execution.
Before we go further, could you let me know who provided you with my email for a reference? I want to make sure my contact information is only shared appropriately.
If you would like to verify their work or get more details on the results they’ve achieved, you can reach out to Rob directly. I’m confident he and his team can provide all the information you need.
Best regards,
Mark Lawrence

Oh the "balls" on this guy. Now Robin also sent an email to the real Mark Lawrence, and hopefully he can take action against these guys for using his name to defraud others. But I can't believe how much effort this guy has put into this. He's later sent Robin three other authors as references, and she, of course, hae told them how they are being used.

For many years critics of my writing say that my glasses are too rose-colored. And I'll admit, I try to think better of people than worse - but Dear Maribor, this kind of scum make something that is so hard to begin with so much worse that it's more than a little disheartening.

Okay, I'm off my rant and back to writing.

Cradle Animatic - Now on YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 14:21:00 +0000

Back in March of 2019 I made a post on our blog about Will Wight. This was the first time I saw an indie published book hit the top 5 on Amazon's overall list, so I wrote a little note of congratulations to Will, someone who I had never met. I should note that Will went on to hit #1 on Amazon - and multiple times!

It wasn't until I was watching Adam Grandy's Indie Author Documentary that I learned just how much that post meant to Will (and his family). Years later, I did some mentoring of Will and his team to get him to (a) run Kickstarters and (b) move from print-on-demand for his books to doing print runs and getting them into mainstream brick-and-mortar distribution.

I've been nothing but thrilled with Will's success, and just about exactly two years ago he surpassed my capabilities at "taking it to the next level" by launching an initiative to animate Will's Cradle series. His Kickstarter brought in more than 1.25M and a few months ago I flew out to Los Angeles for the animatic premier.

I WAS BLOWN AWAY!

Not only was it entertaining, but it as a testament to the quality and stewardship of an author's vision when they had full creative control. For those that didn't back the Kicksarter here is a bit about what was produced (text from Will's team):

This is the two-hour animatic movie adaptation of the first two books in the Cradle series funded by the Kickstarter campaign we ran in 2024! Enjoy this journey through Unsouled and Soulsmith.

This animatic was directed and hand-drawn by veteran animators Jay Oliva and David Hartman of Lex + Otis Studios. It includes an original score and a top-notch voice cast featuring Matt Mercer, Steve Blum, Travis Baldree, Kari Wahlgren, Phil LaMarr, Baraka May, Sumalee Montano, Matthew Yang King, Morla Gorrondona and Maxine Phoenix.

The script was written by Will Wight himself with the help of Cradle fanatic and writer/producer Cory Gustke. Original score composed by Frederik Wiedmann. Even though it is black and white and hand-drawn, we would rate this as PG-13. There is quite a bit of violence.

An “animatic” is the step before full animation. Since it is hand-drawn, the character designs aren’t perfectly consistent from scene to scene. If we were able to pair with a studio to fully animate this project, the characters would be “on model” and look consistent and the motion would be fluid.

Recently, Will's team posted the animatic on You Tube, so I'm here to share it with you. Yes you can watch all 2 hours and 10 minutes of it (be sure to stay through all the credits as there are some great bloopers)

But to truly appreciate the "vision" of what this could be - you MUST see the full-color fully animated trailer:

I'm sure you'll enjoy both.

The next logical step is for some big studio (like Netflix or HBO) to build on what Will and his team have started and produce an animated series or movie. I do hope that happens. But more than that, I have a dream that Will can continue to maintain "his vision and involvement," something that is definitely not an easy thing to do when "Hollywood" is involved. Will and his whole team have proved time and time again their abilities - if anyone can do it, I think they can.

J.A. Andrews says, "If you only back ONE Kickstarter this winter . . . this would be AN EXCELLENT choice

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 15:46:00 +0000

Hey all, Robin here. I'm reaching out to you today for two reasons.

I'm a big fan of J. A. Andrews (both personally and professionally) - and if you don't know her work, then I definitely think you should check it out.
When a fellow author is in need, I try to do what I can to help.

Over the years I've heard a lot of people say that they find similarities between J.A.'s writing style and Michael's. It's even a topic on one of our discord servers. Instead of trying to summarize the comparison myself, I used the dreaded AI (yes, it is good for some things - namely taking large amounts of data from the Internet and summarizing it) to help make a case as to why people who like Michael's writing might also like J.A's books.

So I asked chatgpt:

"Do people who like Michael J. Sullivan's writing also enjoy J.A. Andrew's books?"

And it replied with the following:

Yes — many readers who enjoy Michael J. Sullivan’s books also tend to like J.A. Andrews’ works, especially if they’re drawn to classic, character-driven epic fantasy with a generally optimistic tone. Here’s how they overlap and why fans often cross over:

🔹 Classic epic fantasy style

Both authors write in a traditional epic/high fantasy vein, with clear world-building, engaging quests, and a focus on adventure. J.A. Andrews’ The Keeper Chronicles and related series fit this mold well.

🔹 Character growth and camaraderie
Like Sullivan’s Riyria books (which balance witty dialogue, layered friendships, and engaging character arcs), Andrews’ books emphasize character relationships and growth over grimdark violence. Reviewers note that Andrews’ series is “meant for an adult audience, and have high stakes, but don’t need graphic gore or sex scenes” — a tone many Sullivan fans appreciate.

🔹 Light and hope balanced with real stakes
Andrews mixes hopeful, optimistic storytelling with real consequences — not a grimdark world, but one where characters are tested and changed by their journeys. That’s similar to the way Sullivan balances danger and humor in his work.

📌 Who might especially enjoy both

Readers who like:

Adventurous epic fantasy with clear stakes and structured world-building
Strong friendships and team dynamics
Balanced tone (not overly grimdark)
Accessible prose and satisfying quests

are likely to enjoy both Sullivan and Andrews.

I'm sorry to say that I've yet to read any of Janice's works, to be honest, I've not read much of anything except Michael's works for years), but I have backed every single one of her Kickstarter (sometimes during the project and other times as a late backer) and she's created some really great looking additions to our library.

I'm also in a writer's group with Janice and have met her personally on several occasions. Not only is she a talented writer, but she's also a wonderful person. When Janice reached out to ask me to help her friend and fellow writer Mellissa Wright, well, there was no question that I would do what I could.

As some of you may know, Michael and I helped Shawn Speakman through his Unfettered Anthology, and we are also helping Peter Orullian with the Unbroken Anthology (launching on Kickstarter April 21st) both projects were used to pay medical debt after cancer diagnoses.

Mellissa's problem isn't cancer but rather a long ordeal due to a spinal injury in 2019. If you want to read more about it, Janice does an excellent job here. But the long and the short of it is comes down to s surgery that could bring her back to 80% - 90% of being fully functional. So, she's launched a Kickstarter for A Necromancer's Guide to Grave Mistakes Deluxe LE Hardcover, and some of these proceeds will cover the travel and uncovered medical expenses.

Here's a bit about the book: It’s this cozy, hilarious story of Cinder Ella, a necromancer who can’t seem to put the dead back into their eternal rest once she’s raised them. Prince Charming, whose name is Silas, is the most charming prince ever put into print. He’s long-suffering and calm in the face of Ella’s increasingly unorthodox plans to find her father’s killer and keep her evil stepmother from sabotaging the royal family.

Michael and I have already backed the project, and it's doing well. (Over $25,000 raised to date). So please check it out, and if it looks like something that will scratch your reading itch, join us and pick up a copy.

As always, Michael and I thank you for your support and for supporting indie authorship.

Robin.

Indie Author Documentary - now available on YouTube!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 07:43:00 +0000

As some of you may know, Adam Grandy approached us about doing a documentary about our lives. We didn't think anyone would be interested in such a thing, but Adam persisted. We finally relented but only on the condition that he expand the scope to talk about Indie Authors across the board and add some insights from other Indie authors (many of whom are our friends).

This was Kickstarted, it "made the documentary circuit" but didn't get any awards - boo...but it is now available on YouTube, so if you didn't get the movie as part of the Kickstarter, you can now watch it FOR FREE. I hope you'll give it a look.

Who is in the movie? Well, myself and Robin (of course), but also Andy Wier, Travis Baldree, Will Wight, Bryce O'Conner, A.C. Cobble, Emilie Nikota (also known as delemhach), Lorian Ellis (co-author of Out of the Ashes), M.L. Wang, Lydia and David Sherrer and other!

Audiobooks: 4 Series, 8 bestsellers, 1 on sale, 2 ownership changes

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 19:51:00 +0000

Hey all, Robin here. Michael and I are fresh back from an extended vacation in Key West (more on that at some point in the future). But there have been some shuffling of audiobook titles recently, so I was taking a look at one of the fantasy bestsellers lists, and I was happy to see at least one book from each of Michael's 4 series hitting the list, and that there are currently 8 titles in total!

Another surprise is that Age of Myth is currently part of Audible's monthly deal sale so if you don't already have that title in your library - pick it up while it's discounted nearly 70%!!

Okay, so what do I mean about "shuffling of titles." Well, what I'm referring to is that in the past, we have licensed the audiobooks through one of two sources:

Recorded Books - the largest audiobook distributor
Audible Studios - the publishing arm of Audible and an Amazon subsidiary

And recently, we added a new distribution strategy to our mix

Self-publishing through Riyria Enterprises, LLC.

Unlike print and ebook rights (which are sold for the life of copyright (which means 70 years after Michael dies), audiobook contracts expire after a fixed term (usually 7 or 10 years). As such, these rights become "available" from time to time. This recently happened with two titles - which you may see in your audible library as "new releases" - even though they aren't new - they have just changed hands.

Age of War - previously licensed to Recorded Books is now released through Audible Studios
The Death of Dulgath - previously licensed to Audible Studios is now released through Riyria Enterprises.

In the case of Age of War, Recorded Books wouldn't sub-license the narration, but don't fret, as Tim Gerard Reynolds re-recorded it. Nothing in the book has changed, but the new version may be slightly longer (or shorter) based on how fast or slow he did the reading the second time around.

For The Death of Dulgath, Audible Studios sold us the sub-license to the narration, so that recording is exactly as it has always been. That said, at some future date we plan on making a "10th anniversary version" of this audiobook, and we'll offer a slightly enhanced version through a Kickstarter campaign including a new author's note, an updated afterword by myself, and we'll bundle some bonus material such as a few Royce and Hadrian short stories, and a "behind the scenes" making of the book that some might find interesting.

Michael and I want to thank you for your continued support of his writing. It's great seeing books from all four series making the bestseller list. This is especially encouraging as it's only people who have "read everything" who will truly appreciate The Cycle series (a post-Riyria Revelations set of books which he is writing now). The fact that all four series are selling well bodes well for a good number of people being eligible to read that when it comes out. More books coming soon!

Unbroken Update

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 13:36:00 +0000

Happy 2026 all! As you may have heard, Robin, I, and Shawn Speakman are helping Peter Orullian with the Unbroken Anthology. In the same spirit as Unfettered (which was created to relieve Shawn Speakman of medical debt from his second cancer diagnosis), this anthology will (hopefully) do the same for Peter and his wife, neither of which have medical insurance (and both of whom have incurred high debut from cancer). A big part of this situation is because earning a living wage and healthcare as an author isn't an easy feat.

We were planning on launching the Kickstarter in January, but for a number of reasons, it's been pushed to April 21st. More than 7,000 people have signed up to be notified about this pre-order and there is a free gift if you back it within the first 48 hours, so if you want to sign up for notification, then you can sign-up from this link.

Since the anthology was originally announced, some authors couldn't participate, and others have been added. Here is the full list:

As you can see, there are some "heavy hitters" on this project including Brandon Sanderson, Terry Brooks, Christopher Paolini, Brent Weeks, Kevin Hearne, Mark Lawrence, and R.A. Salvatore. Some of the most recent adds were a number of notable indie authors such as Matt Dinniman, Will Wight, and Ryan Cahill. This will be a must have anthology, and what's even better is it's for a good cause.

For my own contribution, it'll have a short story from The Cycle: the highly-anticipated post-Riyria Revelations series. If you are anxiously awaiting those 5 books, then you'll want to nab a copy.

A belated Christmas Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 22:27:00 +0000

Hey all, Robin here. Since the end of November, and continuing for another week or so, Michael and I have been in Key West Florida, soaking up the sun, biking, playing tennis, and really enjoying ourselves. Being away from the cold and "the kids" has made it an odd holiday - it was weird hearing Christmas songs while sipping on Margaritas and eating shrimp and oysters.

We didn't even exchange gifts! So I thought I'd give one to all of you instead (albeit a little late).

Unfortunately, I don't have a new story to send your way (although I did just take back control of The Jester audiobook and you can get it free from us from this link). WhatI have instead is an update on "The Cycle" (shh . . . don't tell Michel, I'm posting this while he's out for a walk).

If you don't know what that is, then you'll want to learn more about it from the link above. This will be Michael's magnum opus, and it is a love letter to his most ardent fans. In short, it's a 5-book sequel to the Riyria Revelations, and it will utilize characters and tie in plots from EVERY book (and short story) that is based in Elan.

If you are already familiar with The Cycle then you know it won't be released until it's 100% written and Michael has been working on the project for almost 4 years now. A lot of that time was spent just trying to figure out if such a feat was possible, and after a few filed attempts hit the vertical filing system, writing has been going pretty steady with 2.66 books completed - that's over half way!

Book 1: 33 chapters (152,667 words)
Book 2: 40 chapters (178,045 words)

As for the current book, Michael's at 89,608 words and he started it on 09/09/25. The plan is to get it completed before May 1st, and he's well on track for that.

Book #1 took about 9 months of writing
Book #2 took just a bit over 10 months
Book #3 is presently at 3.75 months and if the pace continues he should be done by March 1st which would make it the "fastest one yet" - just 5.7 months!

I've read the first two books and they are nothing short of amazing. I hope you are as excited about this project as I am, but I should warn you, it'll be best if experienced by people who have read all four series. So, if you've not done that yet, well you'll have some time to catch up.

Happy 2026 all!

Less than 6 days to get Nolyn Audibook at 68% off

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 14:13:00 +0000

New York Times Audio best seller | Amazon Editor's pick | Audible Editor's pick

December is almost over and Nolyn has been on sale on Audible for just $7.99. That's 68% off the list price and about half the price as a subscription based credit.

This is the first book in the Rise and Fall series, and if you've already read the Legends of the First Empire series, this is an excellent place to continue your journey through the adventures based in Elan. More than 110,000 audiobooks of this title have been sold since it's release and it's well loved:

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season, and here's hoping for a fabulous New Year!

Going Indie with audiobooks - The Jester (short story) #4 Bestseller

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 06:35:00 +0000

Hey all, Robin here. Most are probably aware that Michael is a hybrid author (meaning some of his titles are released with big-five publishers like Penguin Random House (Del Rey) and Hachette Book Group (Orbit) while others are 100% controlled by us). When it comes to audiobooks, we have never done any self-publishing. All our titles have been released by either Recorded Books Media (the largest non-big five audio book producer) or Audible Studios (the audio production arm of Audible.com). Until now . . .

And yes, of course, it's narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds - in fact, we purchased the original recordings from Audible Studios and reposted them using Amazon's ACX platform which is what is used for self-publishing. Considering we didn't "announce" this, we were quite surprised by it's reception. 342 copies have been purchased in the first few days which has driven it to #4 on the bestselling charts:

For more than 10 years this title was an "Audible Exclusive" meaning that it could only be obtained on that single platform, but now that we control the distribution, we are "going wide" which means it can be distributed by oher platforms. As such, we're using the amazing BookFunnel to distribute the audiobook for free for those who sign-up to my email list. You can, of course, opt-out of the email list after signing up, but typically we email infrequently - in fact, it's been more than a year since our last newsletter.

Cyber Monday Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 17:27:00 +0000

Because our warehouse is being used to ship out a huge number of books for a fellow author's Kickstarter, our store is presently closed. But we have moved a bunch of books to our secondary storage facility and we are running a Holiday sale. A few things to note:

All orders that come in before December 9th will be shipped by December 12th which should ensure delivery for the Christmas season.
All orders over $50 will have free US shipping.
All orders over $50 will have 50% subsidized non-US shipping
Selection is limited

The books involved in the sale include:

Savings includes:

$80 off Deluxe Riyria Chronicle boxset (5 books) - including Drumindor
$60 off Deluxe Riyria Chronicle boxset (4 books)
$30 off Regular Riyria Chronicle hardcover box set (5 books) - including Drumindor
$20 off Regular Riyria Chronicle hardcover box set (4 books)
Most out of print Legends Hardcovers just $10 each (N/A for Age of Myth and Age of War)

Shop the sale from this link

Drumindor 2025 Earphone Award Winner - and on sale this month only!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 13:17:00 +0000

Hey all, Robin here. Things have been more than incredibly busy at the Sullivan household, but I wanted to take a moment to announce that Drumindor won an earphone award! And if you don't yet have a copy of the audiobook, you can get it through the end of this month for just $6.99 that's 82% off the regular price, and remember . . . even if you leave Audible's membership any books purchased for credits or cash are yours to keep forever!

Here is what the exceptionally intelligent people at Audiofile Magazine had to say about the book:

Tim Gerard Reynolds gorgeously narrates this Elan world novel, the fifth in the Riyria Chronicles. In this prequel, a disgruntled dwarf has been fired and threatens to wreak havoc on the towers of Drumindor, thus destroying the lavish town of Tur Del Fur. Royce and Hadrian, friends who together form Riyria, are hired to find the dwarf and stop him. Reynolds brings depth that adds texture to the story: Dwarves have Scottish brogues and raspy voices; evil leaders have deep, slow voices; and the most evil character has a whispery, low voice that is sure to give listeners nightmares. Reynolds manages to make the heroes human as they experience fear and courage in equal measure. L.M.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2025

A big congratulations to Tim! And in other news, the next book in the Riyria Chronicle series (Blythin Castle) is already written! Unfortunately, we don't have a release date for it yet. Why? Well we are trying to "fill the void" between this year's Drumindor and the release of The first book in The Cycle series. For those who aren't familiar with this "post Revelation's sequel, you can learn more about it from here.

As for next release dates, Tim will be recording Out of the Ashes, the first book in the After of the Fall series in June of 2026 so we are hoping to have the release of that title soon after that.

Store is open once more!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 14:01:00 +0000

So, we're done shipping packages for the Indie Author Movie, the Riyria Chronicles, and Drumindor Kickstarter, so we've opened up the store once more. And because we purchased extra books (for hurts, damaged/lost in the mail etc. We're making them available on the store - and at discounting to help us clear out the warehouse before we start shipping our next big project - Will Wight's Cradle books #7 - #9 are arriving in port any day now!

We couldn't be happier with how these books turned out. Without question, these are our best deluxe sets yet. So if you missed the Kickstarter, be sure to pick up your set. We are offering them in both 4 and 5 book configurations (with and without Drumindor), and there are regular and deluxe hardcovers available.

4 Regular Boxset ~~$196~~ save $17 now just $179
5 Regular Boxset ~~$226~~ save $27 now just $199
4 Deluxe Boxset ~~$340~~ save $41 now just $299
5 Deluxe Boxset ~~$415~~ save $46 now just $369

As with all books in our store, these are signed (and the deluxe books are numbered). So get them while you can!

AMA (Ask Me Anything) - today on reddit /r/fantasy

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 11:45:00 +0000

Today was supposed to be the launch day for Unbroken - an anthology Robin and I are helping Peter Orullian with. But there are a few authors that Peter is trying to add to the project, and they need a bit more time. So the Kickstarter will actually launch on January 27, 2026. But, we had already arranged with the mods over at /r/fantasy to do an AMA - so if you have questions for myself, Peter, or Shawn Speakman (who is also helping with the Kickstarter), you can go here.

ABOUT UNBROKEN

Some people might remember an anthology called Unfettered which was edited by Shawn and published by Grim Oak Press. Unfettered’s purpose was to help Shawn tackle medical debt. Michael and Peter were among the contributors to this great volume. Unbroken has a similar purpose, this time in Peter’s interest. Shawn and Michael are among the contributors to this new book. And with Michael’s wife Robin’s experience, they are working together to bring it to life.

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS

This is going to be a massive anthology (more than 200,000 words and stories from some of the biggest names in the fantasy genre). The full list currently includes:

J.A. Andrews
Bradley P. Beaulieu
Carol Berg
Peter V. Brett
Terry Brooks
Jim Butcher
Delilah S. Dawson
Matt Dinniman
Kate Elliott
Jessica Day George
Lev Grossman
Kevin Hearne
Nancy Kress
Mark Lawrence
Scott Lynch
Jonathan Maberry
Seanan McQuire
Brandon Mull
Peter Orullian
Christopher Paolini
Kat Richardson
Christopher Ruocchio
Anthony RyanR.A. Salvatore
Brandon Sanderson
Scott Sigler
Shawn Speakman
Michael J. Sullivan
Carrie Vaughn
Brent Weeks
Tad Williams
Janny Wurts

That’s more than thirty of the top names in fantasy, all of whom we’ve invited to this AMA. We can’t guarantee who will stop by, but please consider joining us. We’re looking forward to chatting so ASK US ANYTHING!

A very late update

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 15:46:00 +0000

To say things are busy around the Sullivan household is an understatement of epic proportions. But I wanted to take just a minute to update you all on what's going on.

Yes, the Riyria Chronicle books have arrived, and they are safe and sound in our warehouse. Unfortunately, they arrived when Michael's sister and brother-in-law were out for a visit - their first one in 30 years or so!! So that put a hold on the Kickstarter shipping as once it begins, it's 18 hour days with little sleep or food.
Out of the Ashes - Book #1 of the After the Fall series is in beta. It's running from Aug 16 - Sep 16 and we have copy editors lined up to start working on it starting October 6th. The soonest we could get on Tim's schedule was June 8th. No official release date yet. A lot will depend on how many changes need to be made once the beta wraps up.
For those that don't know - I (Robin) have been deep in the middle of a brew-ha-ha with Audible - a company that provides the majority of not only our income, but the income for most authors. Period. Over a year ago, Audible announced the coming of a new royalty model, and I was excited by the headline announcing increases promised, but buried in the fine print is a change, one that hurts authors and circumvents listeners' intention. In short Audible is taking money from higher value "Premium" titles—that people pay for—to give to lower value "Plus" titles in their all-you-can listen catalog. Audible themselves describes those second-tier books as "free." But when consumed with a Premium title, they have a cost - and it's the authors who pay. I've been trying to do three things:

proposing possible "tweaks" to this system that would turn something bad into somethng great
doing what I can to alert people to the situation
analyzing royalty reports from authors on the new model to understand the full implications of the change.

To learn more about this situation, you can review the videos below.

If you want to add your voice to those who want to see adjustments made to the new royalty model you can use this link (or scan the QR code below), to sign my peition - 25,000 people have done so.

As some may know, the new royalty model started off when Brandon Sanderson took a stand and kept his "secret novels" off Audible until they raised royalty rates. He got a preview of the plan, and while he had some of the same concerns as I, he wanted to give it a try. Well, a year later, he's not pleased. See the video below which starts 3:05 minutes into it).

Brandon and I have been communicating via email, and Michael and I will be going out to Salt Lake City to meet with Brandon and his team to strategize and discuss "The Audible" situation and what can be done about it. That will be happening September 10 - 12. I'll be sure to let you know what comes out of that.

And last but not least. James has locked down the Kickstarter surveys and is starting to organize exactly how many packages need to be sent out. Because of our trip in a few days to SLC, we'll be starting the packaging and shipping on Sunday the 14th - that's about a month later than we had planned, but all that is above are the reasons why.

Next stop Baltimore!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 18:07:00 +0000

The ship with 646 cartons of Riyria Chronicle hardcovers (both deluxe and regular editions) has left New York and is on it's way to Baltimore. ETA 8/20. Then it will take a few days for it to (a) get unloaded (b) clear customs and (c) be shipped to our warehouse in Stanley.

For those who missed the Kickstarter to get copies of these amazing limited printings . . .

You can use our pre-order page to get your own set as we ordered extras. But once this printing is done, they'll be gone. The first two books of the series are controlled by Orbit and they only allowed a very limited print run of these.

A very good day

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 19:25:00 +0000

Hey all, Robin again. Like many people, I suffer from depression from time to time. But I must say I've been "riding high" for the past few days. What gets my endorphins running? Generally, it's when I help others (especially creative people). And I've had some "big wins" recently.

Unbroken Anthology pre-launch - In January, Michael and I learned of Peter Orullian's dire situation as the result of medical debt. Since March, Shawn Speakman, Peter, and myself have been working on launching a Kickstarter to produce an anthology - something Shawn did with Unfettered back in 2021. The hope is that this Kickstarter will be amazingly successful - and while it won't launch until September 23, the pre-launch page went live yesterday and it became the #1 most popular "coming soon" project across the entire Kickstarter platform. How many projects are "coming soon"? 8, 183! It's already had 3,000+ people sign up for notificaiton, and here's hoping for many more before launch.
Indie Movie documentary - When Adam Grady approached me to make a documentary related to Michael's and my journey, I was certain he was nuts. I also thought he would "go away" - after all we are approached with hair-brained projects all the time and they are short-lived. But Adam was persistent. I finally relented, but only if the documentary's focus would morph into the Independent Author movement. So we gathered up the likes of Andy Weir, Will Wight, Travis Baldree, ML Wang, and many others and after two years the movie premiered. It is AMAZING. Adam has a great deal to be proud of. And the movie has been submitted to several film festivals.
Out of the Ashes offer - While we've done what we can to help fellow authors earn from their craft, the scope of our assistance has pretty much been in the vein of advice, classes, and an occasional plug when they launch Kickstarters. But five years ago we ran across an author with such an incredible amount of talent, that we felt she "just had to get out there." So Michael helped her with the craft side of things, and I've been working on the business stuff. Well, about a month ago we got the notice that Lorian's debut: three books in the After the Fall series, received a seven-figure advance for the audio rights. Quite a better reception than Michael got for his debut. The audio advance for the six-books of The Riyria Revelations was a whopping $6,000. Now because this is a joint project, Lorian will only receive $500,000, but that doesn't take into account any income from Kickstarters, ebooks, or print copies. It couldn't have happened to a more talented author, and it was our extreme pleasure to help her break onto the literary scene.
Ether Witch books heading to the warehouse - Emilie Nikota (also known as delemhach) was originally published through Podium. Like many debut authors who are approached by publishers directly, the authors aren't given the best terms for their books. The good news, is those original contracts will expire in 7 years and Emilie will retrieve her rights and self-publish. For others (like us) those rights are gone for "life of copyright which means 70 years after the author's death). Anyway, for Emilie's next two series, The Ether Witch and Kraken Tales, I've done two things (a) negotiated an audio contract for just shy of half a million dollars and (b) provided a venue to get her books sold through the retail chain using our distribution account with Publishers Group West. A few days ago we got an announcement that The Casting Call, Book #1 in the Ether Witch series has finished printing and the paperbacks are on their way to the warehouse —just in time for the August 5th release date. Congratulations Emilie!

Please check out the links and support these amazing projects. For all but Out of the Ashes, I have no financial stake in them, but they all have one thing in common . . . they are incredibly creative and have produced amazing works that I'm hoping for huge successes.

Unbroken - Authors helping Authors

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Sullivan) — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 13:33:00 +0000

Hey all, Robin here with a very important announcement. If you are one of the few who have seen the recently released Indie Author Movie (you can get a copy of it here), you'll see that an overall theme is how much authors help authors. And there is a project coming up that epitomizes this "we help our own" mentality. But before I make the announcement, let me go back in time . . .

Back in late 2012 I heard about a story that touched my heart. Shawn Speakman (who at the time was primarily a website developer for Terry Brooks and Naomi Novik but who also sold high-end limited editions books through The Signed Page) had a terrible problem. You see he was diagnosed with cancer, and after extensive (and expensive) treatment he beat it! But he became uninsurable, yes remember when pre-existing conditions would prevent you from getting insurance), and then he got cancer again!

Faced with hundreds of thousands of medical debt, he was at a loss, but Terry Brooks said he would donate a short story to Shawn, and if others were approached, they would to. The result was an anthology called Unfettered, and it was a great success - and Shawn's medical debut disappeared.

Peter Orullian, the author most known for his debut release through Tor: The Unremembered (a David Gemmell Morningstar Award Winner), was the truest of friends , and he often sat by Shawn's side during chemotherapy treatments.

Okay, now let's roll ahead to earlier this year. In January, we received an email from Peter, probably because Michael had a story in Unfettered, as we don't know Peter well, or at least we didn't at that time. He explained that he was between a rock and a hard place. Like many authors, he earned enough such that he didn't qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to pay for insurance. Peter had his own bout with cancer (which took part of his tongue), but his wife, Cathy, also became inflicted and her situation is much, much worse.

Of course Michael jumped on board right away, but when he mentioned it to me, I stepped up as well. Together Shawn, Peter, and myself started working on the project. Peter and Shawn went about gathering the authors, I worked on calculating shipping costs and setting up the rudimentary aspects of the page, and together we discussed various aspects for production and shipping.

I also reached out to some other people I knew. Travis Baldree graciously agreed to donate his time to do the narration, and I got a nice advance from Audible Studios to produce the audiobook. I should note that at this time we aren't sure whether we will "sell the rights" (and get an advance but lower per unit cost income), or "keep the rights" and be able to sell the audiobook directly as part of the Kickstarter. but either way, an audiobook edition of the anthology will be coming.

As for artwork: Donato Giancola created the cover, Magali Villeneuve has created a bonus tarot card, and Todd Lockwood has donated a beautiful interior piece. There will also be black and white illustrations for each story, but I'm not sure if there will be one or mutliple artist doing those, so I'll announce that later.

Now, just wait until you hear the line up of authors who have donated stories to this project:

J.A. Andrews • Bradley P. Beaulieu • Carol Berg • Peter V. Brett • Terry Brooks • Jim Butcher • Delilah S. Dawson • Matt Dinniman • Kate Elliott • Jessica Day George • Lev Grossman • Kevin Hearne • Nancy Kress • Mark Lawrence • Scott Lynch • Jonathan Maberry •Seanan McQuire • Brandon Mull • Peter Orullian • Christopher Paolini • Kat Richardson • Christopher Ruocchio • Anthony Ryan • R.A. Salvatore • Brandon Sanderson • Scott Sigler • Shawn Speakman • Michael J. Sullivan • Carrie Vaughn • Brent Weeks • Tad Williams • Janny Wurts

Talk about a who's who in fantasy!

As for Michael's story, it will be a short from his much anticipated "The Cycle" series. Here is the "blurb for it."

It all started with a "new thing” called war that heralded the death of thousands. Famine and disease followed. Then the world of Elan was lost in an eternal winter, a dark and bitter cold that lasted years. Those struggling to survive walked upon the face of what they considered to be a corpse. All that remained was a glimmer of hope, and it, too, was waning. But for the one known as Muriel, the worst thing to happen was learning that the white wolf had found her. While this can be read without any prior knowledge of Michael's other works, it is first and foremost a foundational tale for those eagerly awaiting The Cycle series.

The pre-launch page is live now, so click on it to show Peter your support, and don't forget to back the project when it launches September 23rd - MARK YOUR CALENDARS!