I find myself posting less and less on Twitter, and I haven’t really had the motivation to invest in a new social media platform. Most of my writer thoughts are now shared on Discord, which is nice because I like the people on there, but limiting as it’s only a select group of folks.

But I still have stuff I want to share. And hey, I have this handy platform. It certainly doesn’t have the reach of Twitter, but then, most people there probably didn’t want to hear what I had to say anyway. So I’m going to commit to posting more on the blog, and those who want can come.

What are you going to get? Hard to say. But probably a mix of what I’m working on, what I’m loving from books other media, and what’s going on in publishing that’s interesting to me.

Let’s start with me. Because if I don’t, I’ll gush about other stuff for 2000 words and run out of time. I finished editing GENERATION SHIP and have turned it in (again) to my editor. He accepted it, and it’s off to copy-edits, after which I’ll go through it again for (hopefully) minor changes. In this last edit, I added about 10,000 words, bringing the total to 162K, with most of those words coming in the third act. This was based on great notes from my editor, David Pomerico, who thought the ending felt rushed. Which…if you’ve read my previous books, isn’t really a new problem for me. But I’m learning. I think these changes really made the book better.

Real talk. GENERATION SHIP is my dream book. I’ve been wanting to write it for years, but hadn’t achieved the skill level it required. I think I have now. I am really happy with it. Of course, I’m still terrified for anybody else to read it–that never goes away for me. Right now, it’s Schrodinger’s Book. It’s either good or it’s bad, and until people read it, it remains that way.

So when does that happen? My publisher decided to delay the book from its planned date in August until October 17, 2023. Normally, I’d be perturbed by this, but in this case, I’m happy with the decision. It makes sense. August always seemed too fast to me given where we were in the process. This isn’t my first book, and I kind of have a feel for how long things take. By delaying two months, we’ve got time to get ARCs out, solicit blurbs from other authors, and get reviews before the book comes out, which gives the book it’s best chance to find its readers.

And real talk: I kind of need it to find its readers. On that note, I should probably give you a link to pre-order it.

Let me get a bit into the business side of things. My last book with Voyager, THE MISFIT SOLDIER hasn’t sold well. It’s doing okay. But we’re about a year in since its publication and it hasn’t earned out. Will it? Maybe. Sales are still trickling in, and over time, there’s a chance it might make back the modest $15K advance I got for it. But ‘It might make back 15K’ isn’t exactly setting off fireworks with the publisher. I’m not mad. It’s a business. It’s a business that doesn’t particularly value authors, which is another issue for another day…but it’s a business that I understand. If your books don’t sell, you don’t get new contracts.

Except I did. Voyager paid me $25K for GENERATION SHIP. If you’re being generous, you could say that they bought it because they saw the potential in the book. If you’re being realistic, you probably know that they bought it before they saw the numbers for TMS. They bought it expecting TMS to perform like the PLANETSIDE series and continue an upward trend for my career. It didn’t. Which…good for my agent for getting the GENERATION SHIP deal done. But it definitely puts a lot of weight on the book doing well.

And that’s where a lot of midlist authors find themselves right now. Publishers are looking for hits. That’s how they make their money. Nobody’s excited about the slow but steady earner when they can try something new that might make it big. It’s tough…but I’m not sad. I got to write the book of my dreams and get paid for it, and it’s Schrodinger’s Book. At the end of the day, I believe I have written the best book I can write at this point in my life. It’s either going to be a success or it’s not, and honestly, there’s not a whole lot more I can do about that.

The publisher is either going to push it or they’re not. Reviewers are either going to read it or they’re not, and if they do, they’re either going to like it or they’re not. Readers are going to either buy it or they’re not and tell their friends about it or not. I control none of that. Sure, I’ll promote and do interviews and all that, but that, at most, will move the needle by a few hundred copies in a business measured in thousands. I did my part. I wrote the book and I’m happy with it.

Now…all is not lost. At least not for me. For the midlist in general? The jury is out, but it’s not looking great. But for me, I have another contract, so I go on for at least one more book. You see, as my editor and I were discussing potential projects and he was politely passing on everything and we were agreeably preparing to part ways, I sent him one more note, just to clarify. I had an outline for Planetside 4, and did he want to see it? And he did. And whoever does the math at the publisher decided that there was value in it, and so we signed a contract and plan to bring that book out in late 2024.

What happens after that? I don’t know. I’ve got ideas for books. Wow do I have ideas. Two of them are at the forefront, and I’m outlining those now as I wait to get copy-edits back on GS. Will they become a thing? Yeah. Probably. I don’t know which one will come first, or if something else will wedge its way in before them. It’s a business, and business people get a vote. And I don’t know if they’ll be with Voyager. But I’m going to write them, and they’re going to get into the world somewhere, even if I end up publishing them myself.

A quick update on what else I’m doing: My next appearance is in March at the Saga Writer’s Conference in Winston Salem, where I’ll be on faculty and doing a seminar on pace and structure in novels. I am so excited for the opportunity to teach and to collaborate with some great instructors. In April, I’ll be at Jordancon in Atlanta where I’ll be on panels and doing other con stuff. Looking forward to hanging out with Wesley Chu, R.R. Virdi and Jason Denzel as well. There are still tickets left. They will sell out at some point (at least they did last year.)

What I’m reading: I’ve committed to reading more books this year, and I’ve made a good start in January, though I’m stalled at the moment because I’m reading some un-published books for author friends who desire my opinion on some things.

I enjoyed ASCENSION by Nicholas Binge, which I ripped through in like 3 days. That’s out in April, and it’s an enjoyable SF thriller with some wild twists. I guarantee you’ll keep reading until the end.

Next up for me are ARCs (early copies) of THE COMBAT CODES by Alexander Darwin, which I’ve heard good things about, and THE GHOSTS OF TRAPPIST by K. B. Wagers, which is a stand-alone story set in their Neo G universe. It’s going to be a minute before I get to them with the beta reading that I’m doing, but they’re not out until June and I’ll certainly get there before then.

But the book I’m most excited about in the near future comes out in six days on February 14th, and for that one, I won’t be waiting long as I’m getting it on audio. I listened to the first book in the series, THE JUSTICE OF KINGS, by Richard Swan, on audio last year and it was one of my absolute favorite books of the year. Now comes the sequel: THE TYRANNY OF FAITH. Lucy Patterson is the perfect narrator for this. She’s one of those narrators that takes a great book and somehow makes the experience even better. Plus look at that cover.

In other media, we just dropped Netflix due to their shenanigans and picked up HBO to catch up on content there. Lately we’ve had a bunch of stuff that we liked but nothing we’ve really loved, and now we’re one episode in to Succession.

But the TV I’m most looking forward to is Friday Night Smackdown and the story of Sami Zayn and The Bloodline, which is just some of the best storytelling I’ve seen in years. I bet you didn’t know that I watched wrestling. What can I say? I’m multifaceted. And while I know it’s going to miss most of my audience here, this is flat out good TV.

And I think that’s all I want to say. I’m going to try to do more (and shorter) updates along with some other posts about things on my mind. The next thing will be some thoughts about being on submission as a debut novelist.

See you then.

Tags: Michael Mammay, Richard Swan, Tyranny of Faith