Ravon Silvius's Blog
September 27, 2020
Thrall--re-released with Extasy Books!
Extasy has picked up and re-released Thrall: Book one of the Fallen Empire trilogy!
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Kaiden is different than other vampire thralls. He remembers bits and pieces of the human life he once had before his vampire master turned him. When he disobeys the order to kill a vampire hunter named Johann and allies with hi
m instead, he is given a chance at a new kind of life.
If Kaiden can kill his master, he can become a vampire lord in his own right, beholden to no one and free of a thrall’s overpowering bloodlust. Or at least Johann says so. To kill his master, Kaiden will have to learn how to fight against a powerful vampire lord who’s preyed on the countryside of Kaiden’s old home for centuries. The tools of the vampire hunters are weak, and the holy magic of the fallen empire has long faded. But the true problem is Kaiden’s own nature. If a thrall drinks human blood, they become mindless killers. Kaiden can survive on animal blood, but his hunger for humans is always there. And Johann, handsome and kind, is especially tempting.
If Kaiden can resist his own bloodlust, he can live as he chooses and be a beacon of hope for a civilization fallen to vampires. If he fails, he will fall to the fangs of his master or to the stake of the man he’s learning to love.
Pre-order on Amazon!
Or pick it up early now from Extasy Books!
March 24, 2020
Storm Lords re-release: March 31st!
The Storm Lords will be available once again via Amazon on March 31st! I will update this post once the pre-order link goes live!
The heat took everything from Rowen: his parents, his voice when the local cure for heatstroke poisoned him, and the trust of his fellow villagers, who branded him a water thief. It would have claimed his life when he was deemed unworthy of precious resources and left in the sun to die, had not a strange man named Kristoff ridden in on the wind and told Rowen he had power.
Rowen works hard to become a Storm Lord, one of a secret magical group that brings storms to break the heat waves overtaking their world. But Rowen is starting his training at a disadvantage since he cannot speak and is much older than the other novices. The desire to please Kristoff inspires him to persevere even more than the threat of being sent back to his village to die should he fail. Still, he cannot gather rain, and when his abilities manifest, they are unlike anything known to the Storm Lords. Unless Kristoff can help him control his deadly powers, the entire world will be in danger.
Kristoff might be among the mightiest of the Storm Lords, but he’s never been a mentor before. For a chance to be with Rowen, he’s willing to risk everything.
The heat took everything from Rowen: his parents, his voice when the local cure for heatstroke poisoned him, and the trust of his fellow villagers, who branded him a water thief. It would have claimed his life when he was deemed unworthy of precious resources and left in the sun to die, had not a strange man named Kristoff ridden in on the wind and told Rowen he had power.
Rowen works hard to become a Storm Lord, one of a secret magical group that brings storms to break the heat waves overtaking their world. But Rowen is starting his training at a disadvantage since he cannot speak and is much older than the other novices. The desire to please Kristoff inspires him to persevere even more than the threat of being sent back to his village to die should he fail. Still, he cannot gather rain, and when his abilities manifest, they are unlike anything known to the Storm Lords. Unless Kristoff can help him control his deadly powers, the entire world will be in danger.
Kristoff might be among the mightiest of the Storm Lords, but he’s never been a mentor before. For a chance to be with Rowen, he’s willing to risk everything.
December 9, 2019
The future of my DSP books
This post will outline what will happen to the books that were once published by Dreamspinner Press.
The Stormlords: This will be re-released via Amazon. It will have the same cover and be very similar to the DSP release.
Freshman Blues: This will be re-released via Amazon. It will have the same cover, and I will add a few chapters and epilogue to the end of the book.
Thrall: This will be on hold for a short time while I pursue other publishers. If that doesn't work out, it will be self-pubbed via Amazon similar to the previous two books.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and I will reveal release dates soon!
The Stormlords: This will be re-released via Amazon. It will have the same cover and be very similar to the DSP release.
Freshman Blues: This will be re-released via Amazon. It will have the same cover, and I will add a few chapters and epilogue to the end of the book.
Thrall: This will be on hold for a short time while I pursue other publishers. If that doesn't work out, it will be self-pubbed via Amazon similar to the previous two books.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and I will reveal release dates soon!
November 7, 2019
Dreamspinner--my experience
This post will briefly outline my experiences with Dreamspinner. A follow-up post will enumerate what will happen to my three DSP books.
This will be from the perspective of a small-time author. While I have dreams of hitting it big, and do my best to do that, I was never a big money-maker for DSP. This post will be fairly honest about that, but only to make it obvious that it should have been easy for DSP to pay me. Of course, given how opaque DSP's dealings were, I'm second-guessing everything now.
I published Freshman Blues with DSP in 2015. I got a $500 advance. I never saw money from that book directly--sales weren't good, and any royalties were eaten up by the advance.
I published The Stormlords with DSP in 2017, with an advance of $250--lower than before, but I assumed it was because my sales of my previous book weren't great. However, sales were fantastic for this one, as far as I could tell, and my amazon rankings looked great, routinely under 50k. However, my first paycheck after that was piddling, less than $100. I was pretty crushed and assumed I was misunderstanding Amazon's rankings. It was only the next quarter where I made almost 1k--a big deal for me! I assumed there was some delay and was happy for a while. The next quarterly payment was around $300. I was pretty pleased and began planning my next book with DSP.
It was around this time that I noticed sales being late. There were emails about problems sending payments and payment systems not working, but that it would be fixed soon. I would eventually get my money--not very much--a month or two after I expected it. Trickles from my other books with my other publisher, Extasy, were always right on time, so it became easy to compare their punctuality with DSP's lateness.
I didn't fully understand the danger signs yet, though. I submitted Thrall and planned the Lost Empire series with DSP, and awaited my October 2019 release. I got another $250 advance.
My advance came almost two months after I signed the contract, and I had to email to get it. Twice. I got concerned.
It was around this time I noticed the posts on twitter from other authors--late payments. I got emails from DSP about "not being worried," but naturally I got worried.
Around September the big names started pulling their books, reporting not being paid thousands for months. I got really worried, and I didn't know what to do. DSP promised nothing would happen, and that the situation "would be resolved." But I lost faith--I was owed money from my previous releases I wasn't seeing (and still have not seen). My blog tour and marketing for Thrall were nothing compared to what it had been for Stormlords. While Stormlords had 9 blog stops, Thrall had 4, one of which was a DSP blog post I wrote on request and submitted that never got posted. Not only was I not getting paid, it was clear DSP had no faith in my book. It's also possible that considering all the bad press, reviewers didn't want to work with them.
RWA dropped support for DSP, and my release date came and went. My book sold about 10 copies in three weeks, despite some very good reviews.
I decided to pull my books at that point. Even if I wanted to launch a marketing campaign of my own, the bad press with DSP had readers and reviewers avoiding them, for good reason. Instead of sales and comments on my marketing posts, I got DSP editors complaining they hadn't been paid for their work. I can't market effectively in that environment. I don't know what happened to DSP in between my release in 2017 and now, but it made a huge impact on my ability to sell books. Of course, even if I had gotten sales, I wouldn't have seen the money. So, silver lining?
I do wish DSP the best. I had one successful book with them, and I wish my latest had the same treatment. But it is what it is. I hope for the sake of the authors remaining with them that DSP pulls through, but the risk of bankruptcy and my three books being tied up in bankruptcy court was too high. I didn't write these books so no one could see them.
For now, I am still trying to decide what to do with my three books. In the meantime, if you want to support me, please check out my novella-sized M/M erotica from Extasy books:
If you like steampunky fantasy with a dom/sub twist:
The 10-book Enforcer's series at Extasy books or Amazon
If you like high fantasy in an ocean setting:
The Waterlord Trilogy at Extasy books or Amazon
If you like futuristic sci fi with war and cyborgs:
Remembrance and Perils of Forgotten Pain duology at Extasy books or Amazon
This will be from the perspective of a small-time author. While I have dreams of hitting it big, and do my best to do that, I was never a big money-maker for DSP. This post will be fairly honest about that, but only to make it obvious that it should have been easy for DSP to pay me. Of course, given how opaque DSP's dealings were, I'm second-guessing everything now.
I published Freshman Blues with DSP in 2015. I got a $500 advance. I never saw money from that book directly--sales weren't good, and any royalties were eaten up by the advance.
I published The Stormlords with DSP in 2017, with an advance of $250--lower than before, but I assumed it was because my sales of my previous book weren't great. However, sales were fantastic for this one, as far as I could tell, and my amazon rankings looked great, routinely under 50k. However, my first paycheck after that was piddling, less than $100. I was pretty crushed and assumed I was misunderstanding Amazon's rankings. It was only the next quarter where I made almost 1k--a big deal for me! I assumed there was some delay and was happy for a while. The next quarterly payment was around $300. I was pretty pleased and began planning my next book with DSP.
It was around this time that I noticed sales being late. There were emails about problems sending payments and payment systems not working, but that it would be fixed soon. I would eventually get my money--not very much--a month or two after I expected it. Trickles from my other books with my other publisher, Extasy, were always right on time, so it became easy to compare their punctuality with DSP's lateness.
I didn't fully understand the danger signs yet, though. I submitted Thrall and planned the Lost Empire series with DSP, and awaited my October 2019 release. I got another $250 advance.
My advance came almost two months after I signed the contract, and I had to email to get it. Twice. I got concerned.
It was around this time I noticed the posts on twitter from other authors--late payments. I got emails from DSP about "not being worried," but naturally I got worried.
Around September the big names started pulling their books, reporting not being paid thousands for months. I got really worried, and I didn't know what to do. DSP promised nothing would happen, and that the situation "would be resolved." But I lost faith--I was owed money from my previous releases I wasn't seeing (and still have not seen). My blog tour and marketing for Thrall were nothing compared to what it had been for Stormlords. While Stormlords had 9 blog stops, Thrall had 4, one of which was a DSP blog post I wrote on request and submitted that never got posted. Not only was I not getting paid, it was clear DSP had no faith in my book. It's also possible that considering all the bad press, reviewers didn't want to work with them.
RWA dropped support for DSP, and my release date came and went. My book sold about 10 copies in three weeks, despite some very good reviews.
I decided to pull my books at that point. Even if I wanted to launch a marketing campaign of my own, the bad press with DSP had readers and reviewers avoiding them, for good reason. Instead of sales and comments on my marketing posts, I got DSP editors complaining they hadn't been paid for their work. I can't market effectively in that environment. I don't know what happened to DSP in between my release in 2017 and now, but it made a huge impact on my ability to sell books. Of course, even if I had gotten sales, I wouldn't have seen the money. So, silver lining?
I do wish DSP the best. I had one successful book with them, and I wish my latest had the same treatment. But it is what it is. I hope for the sake of the authors remaining with them that DSP pulls through, but the risk of bankruptcy and my three books being tied up in bankruptcy court was too high. I didn't write these books so no one could see them.
For now, I am still trying to decide what to do with my three books. In the meantime, if you want to support me, please check out my novella-sized M/M erotica from Extasy books:
If you like steampunky fantasy with a dom/sub twist:
The 10-book Enforcer's series at Extasy books or Amazon
If you like high fantasy in an ocean setting:
The Waterlord Trilogy at Extasy books or Amazon
If you like futuristic sci fi with war and cyborgs:
Remembrance and Perils of Forgotten Pain duology at Extasy books or Amazon
October 22, 2019
Leaving Dreamspinner Press
It is with some sadness that I am leaving Dreamspinner Press. The Storm Lords, Freshman Blues, and Thrall will find new homes, but for now they will be removed from sale within 30 days.
Not all is lost, though. I intend to re-release them at some point, most likely with another publisher. I may add some bonus material! And Thrall is the beginning of a series--so with it's re-release may come the sequel....
I wish DSP and the other authors who remain all the best.
Not all is lost, though. I intend to re-release them at some point, most likely with another publisher. I may add some bonus material! And Thrall is the beginning of a series--so with it's re-release may come the sequel....
I wish DSP and the other authors who remain all the best.
October 1, 2019
Thrall released today!
The old Empire has fallen, and humanity is losing the war against powerful vampires. Kaiden, once the pathetic town drunk, is now a thrall, a mindless servant driven only by bloodlust and his master’s orders.But when his master orders Kaiden to kill a vampire hunter, Kaiden disobeys.
Hunter Johann has spent years studying old lore and killing thralls, but he’s never seen one like Kaiden, intelligent and capable of free will. If he can convince Kaiden to help him, he might reclaim something thought lost forever: a chance for humankind. But he isn’t sure if Kaiden can be trusted, much less become a tool to kill the vampire who created him.
Kaiden doesn’t know who he is or what he truly wants beyond blood. Most of his memories are shadows, and nothing will bring back the life he lost.
Not a vampire, not a mindless thrall, capable of using the old magics, Kaiden is something completely different.
And being different means being alone.
Available now at DSP Publications,
Amazon,
And wherever E-books are sold!
June 20, 2019
Cover reveal--Thrall!
Coming in October from DSP publications: Thrall, book one of the Fallen Empire trilogy.
The old Empire has fallen, and humanity is losing the war against powerful vampires. Kaiden, once the pathetic town drunk, is now a thrall, a mindless servant driven only by bloodlust and his master’s orders.
But when his master orders Kaiden to kill a vampire hunter, Kaiden disobeys.
Hunter Johann has spent years studying old lore and killing thralls, but he’s never seen one like Kaiden, intelligent and capable of free will. If he can convince Kaiden to help him, he might reclaim something thought lost forever: a chance for humankind. But he isn’t sure if Kaiden can be trusted, much less become a tool to kill the vampire who created him.
Kaiden doesn’t know who he is or what he truly wants beyond blood. Most of his memories are shadows, and nothing will bring back the life he lost.
Not a vampire, not a mindless thrall, capable of using the old magics, Kaiden is something completely different.
And being different means being alone.
You can pre-order at DSP Publications or at Amazon!
March 8, 2019
Thrall accepted at DSP!
Just a quick update--the first book in my dark fantasy series, Thrall, has been accepted for publication at DSP! I'll keep everyone informed about the fun things, like covers and release dates!
February 15, 2019
Editor's Choice!
Noble Magic, the first book in the Enforcer's series, is on sale! It is now an editor's choice title!
Good time to check it out!
Good time to check it out!
January 26, 2019
Some fun stats
I just put together all 10 books in the Enforcer's series (the 9 main ones and the side-story). It's a total of 360,000 words and almost 1200 pages. Impressive!
Perhaps one day I'll see it all in print...
Perhaps one day I'll see it all in print...
