In 2012, I was broke, homeless and without any leads for a job. In desperation, I decided to self-publish a book I had been working on for a few years. I wasn’t sure where it was going, or how it would do, but I knew I needed every cent I could earn if I was going to keep eating.
To my surprise and with little to no marketing, it sold. Not anything special, I think I made $30 in my first month (which as I later learned, isn’t bad for a first-time self-published novel).
Over the next few months, the money continued to trickle in, allowing me a brief respite from searching for coins in my mom and dad’s couch. Eventually, I was able to find a job and get some more stability in my life.
However, I felt an obligation to my story and its characters. The first book had helped me through the worst period of my life and I felt I owed them and my readers the full complete story.
Unfortunately, I was a young writer, who made plenty of mistakes along the way. Lots of errors, mostly in my editing, but people really seemed to respond to the story. That was the most thrilling thing to me.
I finished the series and set it aside, thinking they were a good learning experience and I began to concentrate on my other science fiction series, Jim Meade: Martian P.I.
The Twelve Stones series continued to do well, with readers praising the overall story, but docking me for my editing.
I’m pleased to announced that after nearly ten years, The Twelve Stones will be republished and re-edited and available everywhere beginning in August (a more specific release date should be announced in the next few weeks when I get a better idea of my timeline).
The series will be re-titled The ‘Dreamslinger’. That means the original Twelve Stones novels will be unpublished from Amazon.com. That does not mean you’ll lose the book from your Kindle device, however, it will no longer be available for download if you lose your copy.
If you’d like to get an advance copy of The Dreamslinger and help me rebuild my 5 star reviews, please don’t hesitate to contact me and let me know. I’ll send you a review copy (for free of course!).
For everyone who has joined me over the last decade on my journey as a self-published author, I thank you and I hope you’ll continue reading my books as I try to make them the very best they possibly can be.
R.J.