Available now:

https://www.createspace.com/3454678

http://www.amazon.com/Exercise-Futility ... 105&sr=8-7



A mighty empire expands throughout the world, devouring every culture in its wake. A precocious youth of humble origins learns that his homeland is next to be conquered, and he has been chosen by destiny to defend it. He gathers a band of brave adventurers and seeks out the only magical artifact with the power to save the world and defeat the empire forever.

But you've already read that story.

In An Exercise in Futility, magic has limits, "unstoppable army" isn't a figure of speech, and "good" and "evil" can only found in propoganda. Actions, not relics, determine the fate of the world, and the cavalry won't be here any time soon.

Change is coming. Is that so bad?

_____________

So I'm self-publishing a particular novel that I started working on quite some time ago. A few of you have even read it.

I plan on releasing it in the lat May/early June timeframe. But then, Ditto just mentioned something about someone knowing about a self-publisher that I may not have considered.

That is to say:

An Exercise in Futility

Buy it.

With money.

Any idea what kinds of stores would carry it yet? I'll get it if I see it.

It'll be on Amazon. That's all I can promise.

Amazon works best for me, actually. I hope it does well.

Will you have a hardcover edition?

Awesome! Definitely let us know when it releases.

I would recommend making a proof copy of the book and going through it with a fine tooth comb, because any typos or formatting errors that are left are there for eternity, and it only gets at your gut once you know they're there and dispersed to the masses.

What service are you using? CreateSpace? Lulu? If you're using CreateSpace, I'd definitely like to pick your brain about the process afterwards, because I've been thinking about using it for the version of my Brief Conceits book that I'm actually wanting to push.

Sorry, nintenfreak, no hardcover because...

To Vorpal's question, I'm going with Createspace. It was between them and Lulu. It looks like Lulu would be slightly more helpful, but much more expensive. With Createspace, all the work is on you, but an order of magnitude cheaper.

I'm currently in the proofreading stage prior to passing it off to Createspace. I went through it myself a couple weeks ago, and have since handed it off to an English major friend to hopefully catch whatever I missed. I'll definitely take a careful look at the proof copy (and not just push a bad copy through for the sake of an arbitrary schedule). I have no doubt that a few typos will slip through to embarrass me.

Yeah, I think you're right on CreateSpace vs. Lulu. I can't tell you how many times I went over things and I still missed a couple typos. Good luck with that.

Thank you. Proofreading is such an insufferable process. Then on top of just typos, I can't read a page without tweaking every other sentence (often adding new typos). I need to just draw the line and get on with my life.

Anyway, are you saying that I shouldn't buy the lulu version of Brief Conceits?

I'll be honest, there's a reason I'm not advertising it too much. There isn't anything in it that's not on the website. I made it because my mother wanted something to give as gifts last Christmas while at the same time bragging on her son. But, it's good if you haven't read the first year or so of my site, or (I've found) as a good gateway drug to my site. I have it priced as low as Lulu offers, so I don't make any money on it.

I'm actually wanting to do a version of the book with more original content: illustrations, a few stories unique to the book. Then maybe I'll push for people to buy it more (and I think I'll do CreateSpace the next time around, too).

Update: I sent CreateSpace the first release candidate. They need to approve the formatting,then they order me the proof. I'm still hopeful about the end of May estimate, but we'll see.

An Exercise in Futility is now available.

https://www.createspace.com/3454678

Also, Vorpal, I'm glad I took your advice on the proof. I found a lot of problems when I went through it. I can only hope there aren't any left.

Sweet! I have ordered it.

Oh, and Vorpal, you'd be interested to know that my experience with Createspace was pretty painless. The only real problem is that the shipping is slow and expensive (the prices get way better for large orders). I had more trouble making Word get the formatting right, but that's my own fault for using word.

At the same time, total investment including two proofs and 15 copies of my own: $85. That definitely beats lulu's pricing.

Anyway, enjoy the read. Any feedback would be nice.

My copy came just NOW! Which is odd because I got the cheap, thirty-day shipping. Anyway, I shall open it with all due fervor.