Our Epic Fantasy Novel The Unseen Hand is Published! Woohoo!
And one lucky winner will win a copy!
I wrote about the decision to self-publish in my last post— We Are On The Road To Self-Publishing. That update covered the reasons for our decision to print The Unseen Hand ourselves. Since then, we received videos from the printer showing the pallets of books ready for shipping.
They even sent us a single prototype copy! The video of Narcisse doing her happy dance when it arrived is not only a keeper but just gets better each time I watch it!
As I write this, The Unseen Hand has been printed, bound, and packed. One thousand cloth-bound, hardcover, slip-cased editions of our very first novel are currently sailing the high seas! The Unseen Hand is now a reality!
To celebrate, we are running a special contest exclusively for readers subscribed to Inksorcery.com prior to the launch of our Kickstarter campaign.
One lucky (US-Only) winner will receive a signed and numbered First Edition, hardcover copy of The Unseen Hand completely FREE. International entrants are eligible but will have to pay for shipping or (optionally) choose to receive the eBook on launch day instead.
We will select and announce the winner before we launch the Kickstarter campaign. So make sure you sign up for the Giveaway for a chance to win!
The Unseen Hand: Illumidar Book One
For years, the faceless terror known as the Hand of Fate has been secretly manipulating the port city of Reyza for her shadowy ends. Those she favors rise in status while those who betray her are never heard from again. When the opportunity to eliminate a powerful dynasty presents itself, the Hand of Fate conspires with a sadistic diplomat to assassinate their rivals.
Their plan is flawless, with every variable calculated—except for one.
On the night the Hand of Fate’s assassin makes his move, a notorious thief is also making his.
Jarle Jadien is sick of serving the ever-demanding, gray-haired harpy who rules the thieves guild. When an irresistible opportunity to free himself arises, he plans the burglary of his lifetime. The Ensther estate is home to the king’s betrothed and a fortune in jewels.
The risky heist takes a disastrous turn and Jarle finds himself in possession of a treasure he never expected nor intends to keep. Avaren Ensther is beauty and intrigue in one, and a keeper of secrets that reach far beyond Jarle’s world of whiskey and disrepute.
The Unseen Hand is an epic tale of what happens when the lives of six disparate people are entwined in a covert struggle to stay alive when an assassination goes terribly wrong, set in the strange new fantasy world of Laremlis. Who will escape the clutches of the Hand of Fate?
Next Step: Marketing Our Debut Novel!
Now that The Unseen Hand is printed, it is time for us to put on our new hats and become marketers!
There are several ways to sell physical books these days—Amazon, eBay, Etsy, direct sales through this website, indie bookstores, book fairs, conventions, and even selling them on the streets of New York City. Each avenue has its merits and flaws, advantages and disadvantages.
Amazon is a great example, for they have the greatest overall reach which is huge but the cost of that audience is the deep bite Amazon takes out of the revenue. A great big juicy bite. On the other extreme is selling our books on the street. There we keep 100% of the money, but the downside is selling a handful of copies per day. Everything else falls somewhere in between.
After looking into all the possibilities, we decided to use them all. But only after we do a big launch on what seems to be the best all-around option for self-publishers—Kickstarter!
Yes, dear readers, we are launching a Kickstarter campaign!
Kickstarter makes the most sense because it has a wide audience, and an equitable profit/fee model, and most important to us, a history of supporting independent artists and their works. On my personal Kickstarter account, I have funded over a dozen games and a dozen more projects beyond games. Narcisse has funded projects as well. There is something special about directly supporting creators with worthy projects.
This week we began formulating our campaign, working out all the details, pledge levels, and stretch goals. Last weekend, Narcisse, her husband, and I filmed our video presentation for the campaign. It was fun and stressful all at once. Narcisse just shared the edited version of the introductory video with me and I couldn’t be more excited. Once again she nailed it!
Going with Kickstarter also means we can sell The Unseen Hand at a very decent price. Plus we can also give you, our loyal readers, a pre-campaign heads-up so you can benefit from the Early Bird specials. One of the coolest, and least stressful aspects, for us, is that The Unseen Hand is already printed. This means we can start fulfilling pledges immediately when the campaign ends!
Hardcover, First Edition, Signed and Numbered, Limited to 1,000 copies
The pictures below show you what you can expect from the printed edition of The Unseen Hand. This edition is cloth-bound with an embossed full-color dust jacket. The inside is chock full of original art by Narcisse Navarre and Agata Fiszer. In addition, Narcisse added a special touch to the chapter headers—the moons change phases to coincide with the events in that particular chapter!
We thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for your continued support on this weird and wonderful adventure. We hope you are as excited as we are about finally seeing our book in print! Help support us by spreading the word.
