Home of the Pump Wizards
News September 26 Book Three news. The third and last Pump Wizards book, Save the Duke, came out this summer and I debuted it on Amazon as usual. I also indulged in some advertising which worked but it cost a lot of money relative to the number of sales. This did not surprise, as it was consistent with the other two books. It's also available at most bookstores, both online and off. The ebook is late but it shouldn't be more than a pair of weeks. I've switch to a different print-on-demand distributor who is slightly faster.
Book Two news. I joined the StoryGraph platform. A place for book readers and sort of social place. There seems to be a lot of involvement from the users. More important to me as an author is the book giveaway program. I'm using Wizards vs Sorcers as my first free book ever. My theory is that it's an easy entry into the series, and a fun read. I could also say that about Save the Duke, but I didn't want to give away the last book in the series. I mean, if you know how it ends, there's less incentive to buy the others.
The third pump wizards book is finished and in pre-publishing. There's improvement in the style, characters and plot. It's still a fun read as far as I can judge. In the new book, Slick is on a quest to get a healing spell. In the process of trying to steal the magicians spell, she crashes the Duke's limousine. He disappears and his mom takes over the Duchy as Regent. She repalces the ministers with incompetents who have a dislike of both the wizards and the magicians. Slick's plan is to rescue the Duke and get him back on the throne She's also in an existential crisis because she is the new band's leader and she hates the idea. The confusion extends into he relationship with Twister. Joolz has an alternative idea for wrecking the Regent and is in a competition with Slick to get there first.
News January 26 Book Three news: It's in the hands of the editor and the cover artist. Book Two news: Nothing. None at all. Copies of Wizards vs Sorcerers paperbacks continue to be available at Bethany Beach Books in Delaware. If you want a signed copy, run on over and get one. Short Story news: nothing yet. Book Four news: There are no plans for another book in the Pump Wizards series, at this time. What's Next news: I previously wrote a couple of outlines with spellcasters that destroying the source of magic. The working title was The Unmaking. Maybe later. Empires and magic from an unreliable source are what I'm currently playing with. I wrote a short story as a trial piece and I'll see if I can get it published.
This is the cover of the second book in the Pump Wizards series. The back cover copy really sucks dead fish. I apologize. In the new book, Twister is trying to do his aunt a favor and ends up attacked by the sorcerers. They are also known as the shamans of pain and come from the country just north of the Duchy. Slick (a new wizard!) goes with Twister to battle them on their home ground. On the way, they burn down a distillery. I'm fully published on the new book: it's now available in both formats on Amazon as well as most other places you might buy or borrow books. The reason for the staggered publication came from a marketing strategy of having the paperback not availble on Amazon, only the e-book. This failed. The wide POD distributor, Draft2Digital, put the paperback up on Amazon because I did not have the e-book listed with them. I was given no other options. I've had a few other issues with this place, but see no point in putting in the effort to go elsewhere. If the books take off, I'll find the energy.
News September 25 Revisions of the third (and final) book in the series are plodding along. And picking up the pace lately. It looks like it'll hit the book production process by the end of the year. Book Two news: My marketing efforts haven't been a complete failure. Copies of the paperback are on sale at Bethany Beach Books in Delaware. If you want a signed copy, run on over and get one. The other piece of book two news is that I'm writing short stories to get my name and book titles out in front of the public. As with anything in publishing, this will take time. I'll be using this space to display story titles and locations. In the past, I got frustrated with short stories, so I stopped writing them completely. I don't think this was a mistake. Sure, I could have begun building up a fan base, but it would have slowed my development of novel writing skills.
This is my first published book, released in September 2024. I think it's a fun read. It's inspired by the punk attitudes of do it yourself, social commentary, and individual expression. "Pump Wizards" didn't sell at all. It's entirely on me. I didn't do any marketing other than running some ads. I plan on more with the second book.
About the author I'm not enthusiastic about putting in this section, but apparently it's obligatory. That tells you something about me. I wrote a bio for my author's site on Amazon. It stressed how uncomfortable I am around people. It's true. It's also what I am. I know a lot of people think that this is a problem, something not right, but I don't. Oct 2024