Peter Koevari's Blog

For all fans of Peter Koevari’s various works, please head to GP2 Entertainment’s Facebook Page and Instagram feed for regular updates, and GP2 Entertinment’s Youtube channel and SUBSCRIBE.

http://facebook.com/gp2entertainment

https://www.instagram.com/peterkoevari

https://www.youtube.com/user/pkoevari

See you all there. For all that is pure!

Greetings to all Legends of Marithia fans! So, it’s been forever a while since I updated you all on here, right?

I totally agree, but I’m going to try to make up for that with some really cool updates, and some general going-ons for me as an author, and the books that bring you all here. Apologies for my tardiness, and expect updates to be faster moving forward.

To summarise, I’m working on my new scifi novel, Mind Jacked, as well as ramping up for the next Legends of Marithia. Yes, you heard it right… Legends of Marithia IV *is* coming… I just can’t give you all an exact timeframe. I’m terrible, aren’t I? Well, I’m going to try to deliver them both by end of 2016, or early 2017.

Legends of Marithia is now available in Audiobooks! Well, the first one is, and the rest are coming.

The comic is definitely coming, and I’ve received many pages, so expect to see that in 2016.

I’m part of a game design team for the amazing fantasy deck-building game, Draconis Invasion, which I am proud to have worked on the story and character blurbs on, is about to hit production. Pre-Order a copy as soon as you can!

I’ve met lots of great fans, and you all make it worthwhile. So, enough of me blabbering about… here’s the cool stuff!

New Covers!

What a time to showcase some incredible art! Legends 1, 2, and 3 are all due to receive new covers, and so far, the third and first have been given the best treatment. Also, you may have seen the new anthology that my story, Dusted Dreams, features in. Well, that also has a brand new cover. Without further ado, here they are, in all their beauty. They are being updated on all channels as we speak.

Legends 1 Cover depicts Kassina as a contrast between her young self and who she later becomes, and above her is the one who saves her, Shindar, the Lord of Darkness

Legends 3 Cover shows Vartan holding the Sword of Tahlie, and behind him is Greenhaven, and the King of Dragons: Karven

Even the trilogy box set got updated

Stay tuned for Legends 2’s new cover, TBD

Audiobooks!

Oh yes, Legends of Marithia 1 is available right now as an audiobook, and the rest are coming. Check out the first, and experience it in the most immersive way possible:

Mind Jacked

There will be many details coming up on this, and progress is being made. I’m diving into Science Fiction novels, and if you want to know what the story is about, read the prequel story in Endless Worlds Anthology.

Fans and signings

There’s been a few of these lately, and more will come. Congratulations to Ethan for winning a copy of Legends 1 and 2 Second Editions. Those books will become collectors, so enjoy the story, and treat them well. Was great to meet everyone, and I look forward to meeting more fans at events in the future. Want to know when those are coming up? Connect with me on Facebook

A huge shoutout to Little Gnome Bookshop. If you haven’t been there yet, they are a fantastic place to go to for a coffee or to grab some books, and you’ll find Legends of Marithia stocked there.

Comic book

This is something that’s been spoken of for a long time, and without much to see, but it is *definitely* coming, and Frank Percy is working very hard behind the scenes on this one. I like Frank’s dark and classic Marvel style he applies to his vision of the story, and I hope you will all enjoy it when it is released. A few advanced cells for your previewing pleasure. I shy away from too many previews before the final

Thank to everyone’s private messages and comments of late. They all mean a lot, and I read them all! If you enjoy my books, please review them on Amazon or Goodreads (You can click the above links, or use the Books page to find the pages.

Keep contacting me, and expect to see more updates soon!

Peter

Greetings Legends of Marithia fans!

I’ve been a busy bee, which is why you haven’t seen many blogs from me. I can tell you though, that much has happened.

I did launch a Kickstarter for the Marvel DC comic, which failed to be funded. I figured, it’s most likely as the work is not done. So, the good news is, that the comic book is proceeding, without crowdfunding! Oh yes, expect to hear more soon, and be ready to get yourselves a copy.

Today, I had the pleasure to be interviewed by Kelly Higgins-Devine, at ABC Radio. It was a pleasure to be a part of the panel, and Kelly was a fantastic host.

We had a great chat, and I really enjoyed the discussion.

The full interview and details are here:

Guests:

Dean Rankine  from  Melbourne, has worked on countless Simpsons comics as well as creating his very own comic ‘Itty Bitty Bunnies in Rainbow Pixie Land’.

Panel discussion;

Peter Koevari, Author of The Legends of Marithia, he is currently turning his trilogy of books into a comic series.

Kate Lambley, studying an honours thesis, with an emphasis on comic books and present franchises.

Pol Rou Brisbane comic collector, for the past 20 years, who has been the manager of Ace Comics and Games.

ABC Community Correspondent, David McGovern reports from a sunshine coast comic store with a difference.

Long awaited news! Legends of Marithia: Talonsphere has been released! Oh yes, this completes the Legends of Marithia: War of Prophecies Trilogy, and you can get a hold of it online, and selected  bookstores (others can order it in for you). There is also a special Trilogy Edition book that can be purchased (paperback + eBook)

All books and their buying links are on my BOOKS page

Feel free to share your comments on the interview, and for all the fans, I look forward to your reviews and thoughts on Legends III. There is much for you to discover.

And for all the comic fans, here’s a taste of things to come! (Censored)

Peter Koevari

Greetings everyone,

This blog post has been a long time coming. Heck, any blogs from me have been a long time coming, but *cough* I digress. This is something that I have been commenting on in various Facebook groups, and quite passionately so.

Let’s discuss publishing, and in this case, indie publishing. Although, truth be told, I’ll be touching on both. I will hold no punches in what I am about to say, so brace yourself… reality is coming.

I’m sure you have all heard of indie publishing. Heck, it’s probably why you’re here right now, right? Because you’re an indie author, an aspiring author, or maybe you’re a traditionally published author, and you’re just curious as to what this post is about. Or maybe you just stumbled here, or like funny animated GIFs. In any case, welcome

As a side note, there is a really good blog about the ugly truths about book sales, and it follows a traditionally published author. But again, I digress.

Back on topic. Indie publishing is essentially self-publishing, but with less stigma.

We live in a wonderful world of technology, where you can surpass the traditional publishing world to publish your amazing novels that should be best-sellers in the NY Times and take over the world! I mean, it’s the stuff of dreams, right?

Yes, it sure is the stuff made of dreams. So, you can now publish your own book! That manuscript that you slaved over, finished so proudly, and are ready to share with readers world-wide, can now be released!

Sadly, so can the rest of the writing planet. And as you will discover, the indie publishing world is filled with manuscripts that are rushed, jam-packed full of errors, have terrible book covers, have been proof-read by a writer’s friends, family, and co-workers… so it’s sure to be a hit, and BAM! They are a published author.

Problem: You’re now competing with a sea of published works that should never see the light of day.

You see, the big issue with indie publishing is that there are NO QUALITY CONTROLS.

Yes, you heard me. You can, in theory, publish a steaming pile of excrement, with a cover of actual excrement. And NOBODY WILL STOP YOU. After that, you are competing in the same sea of crap, against the minority of authors who actually publish commercially viable work.

Because the majority of indie authors I have seen do NOT take the steps necessary to do this. I have a solid group of authors that do, mind you, and god bless the fact that many of us care about quality. However, they are a minority number compared to the masses that self publish every day.

In fact, I will challenge you. Sign up to some of the many free ebook aggregator sites, then you will notice that most free ebooks are indie, and they are running promotions. Go ahead and grab a heap of them. Open and read the first few pages. Now, as a writer who appreciates quality work, I will be SERIOUSLY surprised if most of them don’t make you look like this:

Shit Indie books EVERYWHERE

This is why I posted a long time ago, about making your manuscript publishable. It is an older version of my methods, but most principals still apply.

Let me make this very clear to every indie author out there, who is going to publish books, or already has. And no, I will NOT bullshit you.

If you are going to publish a book:

1) Make sure it is of actual commercial quality. Yes, this means editing it. Yes, this means getting DECENT proofreaders/beta readers. Yes, this means you should get a professional editor. However, if you cannot afford a professional editor, then you can do your best to better your work with a bigger team of proofreaders. It will not be the same, but that does not mean you shouldn’t do it. Yes, this means having the patience to get it right BEFORE publishing

2) Do the work required to make it publishable, from the results of step 1. Do NOT just publish it to “update it later”

3) Get a professional book cover. Yes, really. It matters. People DO judge books by their covers. If it looks like it was slapped together in paint, then the likelihood is that the internals will be too. If you cannot afford a professional book cover, then download a free image editor like Photoshop CS2, GIMP, etc, and start googling tutorials. Then spend a long amount of time googling commercial covers to give you ideas. Hard work, remember?

4) Spend the time to build relationships online. They matter. How you talk to other writers, readers, and groups…. matters. These people are your market, your possible readers, and are there for you to engage

5) Make a marketing plan. Yes, you are going to have to market your own book. This is going to take HARD WORK. There is no other way around this. This means talking to people, this means getting involved with groups, and this means genuinely caring about other people

6) Listen to feedback. Ideally, you have already done this during steps 1-2. But if you have gotten this far, and have started to get reviews, and they are critical… then open your ears to what is being said. Not everyone is a “hater”, and generally speaking, you need to embrace criticism. If you can’t, then you are in the wrong business. As writers, we need to hear what we need to hear, not what we want to hear.

7) More than anything, be prepared to WORK YOUR ASS OFF on everything that you do.

When you publish a book, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. The market is harder now than it has ever been, because we are swamped with crap, but we also have a higher number of decent authors who compete for the same market!

You need to differentiate yourself. Be the great author with a social media platform that engages with their market / peers. You’re not going to magically attract readers, and when you do, you don’t want them to find a manuscript that gets destroyed in critical reviews.

Indie publishing is NOT an excuse to be lazy and publish sub-standard books. Apply strong quality guidelines to your work and aim to make your books comparable to those by some of the best authors out there, like Stephen King, J K Rowling, Robin Hobb, George R R Martin, and endless others. They all work their asses off on their books, and if you want to call yourself an author, in the same light as the big names, then start acting like them.

Just doing this until you’re done writing, and then doing some basic editing doth NOT an author make, even if indie publishing channels won’t stop you.

Because if you can’t work hard enough to make your work of a commercial quality and worthy of publishing, then why should any agent/publisher be interested in you or your work? And why should readers want to read your stories?

If you already do all of these best principles, and are doing your best… Then welcome to the club of decent indie authors. We need as many of you in the market as we can get.

All thoughts and comments are welcome.

Greetings to all backers and fans of Legends of Marithia, and the comic series that I attempted to kick start months ago. There have been some major changes, and a new reboot of the comic is coming.

There has been a ton of work going on in the background, and I would like to make some major announcements.

The amazing Frank Percy has stepped in as the new illustrator. Frank has worked on comics such as Iron Man and Punisher (Yes, Marvel DC!). Coloured by the Davi Correia you already know (who has worked on many comics, including Battlestar Galactica).

Comic page lettering has been handed over to HdE, who works at Big Dog Inc comics, and has his own rap sheets of great comics he has lettered. I will be posting news of a new Kickstarter *very* soon, and there is going to be some great stuff on offer.

The first three pages are illustrated (page 2 is penciled) and are having lettering added to show you, the awesome backers, what to expect from the new artwork.

For now, the internals are going to be black and white, but the cover will be colour, for the 100% target. There will be stretch goals for colouring the internals.

To whet your appetite, here is the Legends of Marithia: Comic Series poster, showcasing the illustration of Frank Percy, and the colouring work of Davi.

Expect more updates, and the new Kickstarter very soon, and thank you all for the great support!

Teaming up with world-class illustration house, Killustration Studios, world class colourist and letterers, Davi Correia and Deyvison Manes, we’re going to bring you comic books based on the fantasy series, Legends of Marithia, starting with Issue 1 of Book 1: Prophecies Awakening

We need the help of graphic novel / art / comic fans to help make it happen, and to work our way toward getting Issue 1 on Amazon.

All backers are greatly appreciated, and spreading the word is also appreciated. All raised funds go to the artists on the project.

Check it out, and see the preview of comic pages here (You can also click the graphic)

Greetings to all Legends of Marithia fans!

It’s been quite some time, and as I’m getting my head above water of dealing with various things, I figured it’s time for an update.

Believe me when I say that things have been busy, and the best news of all is that I’ve kicked off the Graphic Novel project! Details are below, but it’s crowd-funded (to pay for the artists’ work only), and there are some great rewards on offer. As I have largely neglected this blog, I will try to post updates and blog entries more often.

So, what’s been going on, and where are things at?

Legends of Marithia: Prophecies Awakening (2014 edition)

The rewrite for this has finished a while ago, and the book is available on Amazon, online stores, and all bookstores (you may need to order in the latest edition, and stockists may vary). This is going to be the final edition of the book, save any editorial fixes.

Legends of Marithia: Darkness Rising (2014 edition)

2014 Edition Coming soon!

As part of bringing all of my books into line for the final rewrite, completion, and release of Legends of Marithia III, I’ve rewritten Legends of Marithia II, and have a very talented editor who’s helping me shape it into the best possible version that it can be. Expect this, ideally, in the next month or so.

Legends of Marithia: Graphic Novel

Legends of Marithia: Graphic Novel (Page 1)

Teaming up with world-class illustration house, Killustration Studios, world class colourist and letterers, Davi Correia and Deyvison Manes, we’re going to bring you graphic novels based on the fantasy series, Legends of Marithia, starting with book 1: Prophecies Awakening.

Oh yes, you heard this right! The epic fantasy series will be heading to eBook readers, Amazon, and bookstores near you, as graphic novels / comic books. How soon can this be done? As long as it takes, but it can be done faster with your help!

What is this, and how does it work? (In a nutshell)

Patreon is like Kickstarter, only instead of pledging a large sum of money for one huge project, you would donate smaller amounts monthly for continuous updates from me, and completed issues to be delivered.

This way, you can subscribe, and start helping the project and in turn, start seeing the graphic novel. The more people that subscribe, and the more funds there are, the faster it all gets done.

I’m not collecting any crowdfunding money for myself, and they are all going solely to the amazing artists on the project.

Legends Graphic Novel Sketch – Kassina – by Tyler Sowles

Legends Graphic Novel Sketch – Vartan – by Tyler Sowles

Legends Graphic Novel Sketch – Karven – by Tyler Sowles

Legends Graphic Novel Sketch – Helenia – by Tyler Sowles

(All details, and a free preview of page 1 is here: www.patreon.com/legends)

Legends of Marithia III and other news

Legends III is, in my and my beta readers’ opinions, the best in the series so far. I’ve wanted to finish the initial trilogy for a long time now, and believe me when I say that it *is* coming. Once I’ve settled the dust on Legends I and II 2014 editions, then Legends III will be my focus, along with writing the scripts for the graphic novel pages. Project Mind Jacked (working title) is still on hold and waiting for me to finish it and hand it over to my fans.

I’ve had a lot going on, but I’m very much still around and working hard to get you all updated and new content. I look forward to hearing more from my fans, and getting to know you all better. You can find me on many social media networks, and I try to respond to all my messages.

Stay tuned, because so many exciting things are coming!

Greetings to all of my existing readers, and newcomers who are interested in getting a hold of Legends of Marithia: Prophecies Awakening (2014 Edition)

To celebrate the release of the 2014 edition, I’m going to run a massive competition with different entries. You can get your hands on some sweet prizes.

So, what’s going on? Look below and enter one or many of the competitions available.

Good luck, and I look forward to the many entries.

Enter using the “Rafflecopter” below

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SPECIAL NOTE: In the event of a Brisbane, Queensland winner, this will be handed to the winner IN PERSON

To enter for either a signed copy of Legends of Marithia (Australian entries only), or a Non-Signed copy for international entrants, you need to do one of the following for your entry:

A) Put your art skills to the test: Read the first two chapters of Legends 1 2014 edition here,

B) With any of the material you read in those two chapters, you can draw, paint, or sketch any character/scene/location and then scan and send, or for those of you working in digital, simply send your artwork in high resolution.

C) EMAIL ART ENTRY - Make sure to mention where you’re from and include your full name / artist name

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1) By submitting your artwork, you grant Peter Koevari the right to post it on this website, Facebook, and Twitter. In that event, full credits will be given to you as the artist.

2) By submitting your artwork, you grant Peter Koevari the rights to include your artwork within his novels, with full credit to you as the contributing artist. In the event that this happens, he will contact you and discuss what details you would like promoted within any book it would be put into, on an artist’s page. In no way will your artwork be sold separately as prints or used for any other commercial purpose, or used to create other artwork.

3) You cannot use any copyrighted images in your creation (unless you purchased stock images which grant you the rights to do so), or submit artwork that was not created by you

4) The artwork must be specific to the material in the first two chapters of Legends of Marithia: Prophecies Awakening

5) Winners will be selected by the author, Peter Koevari. If there are simply too many entries, then a contest voting page will be created.

To enter for this prize, this is a creative writing entry.

A) Choose either a character or creature. Name it

B) Write at least 300 words on who or what it/he/she is. There is no maximum or limitation on how you decide to present your idea

C) Email your entry

D) EMAIL WRITTEN ENTRY

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1) By submitting your creative entry, you grant Peter Koevari the right to choose whether or not it, and if so, how your entry will be written into Legends of Marithia 3.

2) You cannot use any copyrighted characters from any other material

3) Winners will be selected by the author, Peter Koevari. If there are simply too many entries or it can’t be decided, then a contest voting page will be created.

4) In the event that it is written into the book, you will receive a special mention in the acknowledgement page

A quick note. I have some good news and some bad news in the world of Marithia.

Unfortunately, the graphic novel is not going ahead for Legends of Marithia. This is partly due to the artist being unavailable, and also due to not having funds to get this done. If/when this changes, I will let you all know.

The good news is that I finished the rewrite of Legends of Marithia: Book 1, and just like all of my books, it has been updated and published through Amazon Createspace, and is available now, on both paperback and kindle.

You can read a preview of the new edition here, and the novel is already available. I do not have an online store on this website, or a way to directly purchase the novel from me, but you can easily find copies online.

My next target is to rewrite Legends of Marithia : Book 2, into a 2014 edition.

Great things are to come, and as always, I appreciate the support of my fans and trust you enjoy the journey to Marithia

Greetings to all my fans/readers/followers,

I’ve been trying to keep updating you all on things that are happening and I have plenty of news. Let’s get stuck straight into it, right?

How about we start with the biggest news, the graphic novel adaptation of Legends of Marithia: Prophecies Awakening. Yes, you heard right, a graphic novel. As an advanced fan preview of Legends of Marithia : Prophecies Awakening – the graphic novel, this is a partly inked, *unfinished* sketch of the first, full-page cell: (Feel free to share your thoughts in comments)

Legends of Marithia: Book 1 – The graphic novel (preview) by Nathalia Harold

The text to accompany it will be from the quote at the beginning of the novel:

“There are those who say that time can heal all wounds, but what would it take to cut someone so deep that you sever their very soul? There have been many in history who foolishly committed heinous acts within a mask of fear.”

The next cell is of a wounded knight plunging a sword into the vampire’s heart, with a silhouette of dragons flying past overhead clouds, and the quote will finish with “Even now, we remain in hiding, awaiting the time to face the sorceress of the demon’s prophecy. The one who those of darkness believe will destroy all who live and breathe.”

This will be a B&W full length graphic novel for the entire book, reflecting the new changes in the current revision for the 2013 edition. The graphic novel is being drawn by the talented Nathalia Harold, and you can expect big things from both Nathalia and the Legends of Marithia books.

This will be a major project and you can expect more previews and updates. If you haven’t already, then follow the Facebook button on the right of the site, and like my fan page.

So, what else is happening?

I haven’t neglected my writing, and in actual fact I am listening to critics who have pointed out a few areas that need improving in my first book, and I will be updating the Uncut and Extended edition of Prophecies Awakening with a revision, and it will be marked as the “2013 edition”. For those of you who have bought it, you will get a free update, and for any of my existing readers, you can contact me for a free eBook when it’s done.

I’ve learned that there comes a time when a revision needs to be done, and even twice, and we cannot be too proud to go back and fix something or make it better if there is a need. In the end, it will help my books find new readers.

This brings it in line with Darkness Rising, and the soon to be finished and published Legends of Marithia 3. It also gives better material for the graphic novel adaptation and any future film adaptation (yes, the movie teaser is still going ahead too.)

I have added some interesting features on the website in the last week, and you can now see progress bars on the site for my current projects, with exception for the Hollywood movie teaser, as I can’t gauge that progress yet.

Until next time,

Peter Koevari