Topics

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Fantasy Book & Author Discussion / I want hammers

« on: August 08, 2015, 02:58:01 PM »

Well, that's a bit uncomfortable. But I've been around for long enough so I can start spilling my dirty little secrets to you guys. I'm looking for novels with main characters wielding ... warhammers.

I mean Robert Baratheon and Perrin Aybara as protagonists instead of side/supporting characters. I mean ... well, you get what I mean. My girlfriend jokes that I have a "hammer fetish" but I swear I just ... just like them.

So ... yeah. I'm looking for fantasy novels with hammer-wielding protagonists. Big, almost unwieldy, close to impractical warhammers. I don't care about the sub-genre, I read all kinds of fantasy. I'd prefer if said protagonist is a human tho. A side reason I'm looking for such novels is because of an idea I have for a future book so I have to start educating myself on the subject of ... hammers.

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Small Press & Self-Published / When They Shine Brightest

« on: July 15, 2015, 06:43:32 AM »

Hi fellas! After a long wait “When They Shine Brightest” is finally ready for the world! Well, not really… but it is ready for pre-order: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011JD9VEC !

“When They Shine Brightest” is a bit short (~250 pages) standalone fantasy novel set in a fictional reality and explores the lives of an ex-soldier and a couple of kids who are thrown in a somewhat impossible militaristic/political/religious nightmare. It’s mainly a character-based novel and explores the theme of loss and how we deal with it (or don’t) but it also sets the stage for future world-wide events that are going to give the start of new books, trilogies, stories etc. In short, it’s a very quick and (hopefully) pleasant read that doesn’t require further books to be read but will also get a follow-up pretty soon (I’m 150 pages into the next book).

As for the project itself – since I’m actually a Bulgarian, the book was originally written in Bulgarian and is getting ready for publication by one of the biggest and most prominent publishing houses here – “Enthusiast”. One of the greatest modern sf/f Bulgarian authors worked with me on the edits (Luben Dilov-junior) but I also got the bright idea to get the book translated into English and self-publish it online. You know – for the lolz. The translation was done by a professional translator with native American-English and two decades of experience (Alexander Gurovski) and at the moment the final edits are being done before I give the book for proofreading (at http://www.ibgw.net/).

All that commotion was funded through a successful crowdfunding campaign in IndieGoGo (that’s actually still open: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/when-they-shine-brightest-a-fantasy-novel). What else, what else … ah, yes – “When They Shine Brightest” was also among the finalists in a big competition for a Bulgarian fantasy publisher but I had to leave the competition before the final round because I got a contract from the even bigger and cooler “Enthusiast”. Aaand I think that’s enough bragging for now.

More on the book and the project you can find on my website: http://yzfantasy.com/. I haven’t put a sample on Amazon because the final edits and proofreading aren’t ready yet but you can see a couple unedited chapters on my website (venture there on your own risk) along with a synopsis, a bio, a blog, maps of the world and more. Thanks!

-YZ

3

Fantasy Book & Author Discussion / How do you feel about stand-alone books?

« on: July 09, 2015, 06:00:42 AM »

Hi fellas. I was thinking about something so I thought I should ask - how do you feel about stand-alone books? Most of us don't like starting unfinished trilogies and series because who knows when they'll be finished and whether we won't have to just leave them. But how about stand-alone books, even if they are still a part of a larger (possibly unfinished) world?

Do you view them as a chance to quickly read something new and refreshing without the obligation to read 1000 more pages to find out what happens, or do you view them as a waste of time if they are not part of a bigger storyline?

4

Small Press & Self-Published / Foreign fantasy novel with a CF campaign

« on: May 06, 2015, 10:09:54 AM »

He fellas! I couldn't find any "forum rules" so to speak of, so I hope that's ok - I just wanted to share a project I'm working on.

My name is Yordan and I'm a fantasy writer from Bulgaria. My first book is a fantasy novel called "When they Shine Brightest" (website: http://yzfantasy.com/). At the moment the book is being published in my country by a big publishing house but I also decided to get it translated into English and try self-publishing online. I know it's something very common in the west, but here everyone's still looking at me as if I've just lost my mind.

At the moment the translation is almost done and by a professional translator with native English too. I'm also in the midst of a crowdfunding campaign for the costs of the translation, which you can find here:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/when-they-shine-brightest-a-fantasy-novel

I've talked with a lot of English-speaking people in various forums in Goodreads, G+ and LinkedIn and everyone says that the whole "English-speakers (and Americans in particular) don't like reading foreign lit" is a myth and they're actually looking for it but not much foreign lit is being adequately published. So I decided to not only translate and self-publish it but to also make the crowdfunding campaign bilingual and in an international CF platform. So far it's going pretty great with close to $1700 gathered, which - I think - is pretty good for a young, foreign author with basically zero following behind him.

Anyway, I think I should probably wrap this up. Hope you check the website and the campaign and like them at least a bit. Since the campaign is meant for two markets its perks are quite cheap compared to other book campaigns focused on the western market only. If you're curious, you can also find me on some other places like:
https://www.facebook.com/Yordan.Zhelyazkov.Author
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23595400-when-they-shine-brightest
and others through my website.

Cheers!
YZ