Fantasy Book Club discussion

Please welcome the author of our October selection, The Crown Tower, Michael J. Sullivan, who graciously volunteered to answer all your questions about the book, the series, writing, etc. (within reason of course).

Thanks in advance, Michael. I'm looking forward to the discussion.

I read this when it came out and loved it.

Do you think it's better for people to read this after they've read your Riyria Revelations books or do you feel it matters?

Jute wrote: "Do you think it's better for people to read this after they've read your Riyria Revelations books or do you feel it matters? ?"

I do think the "best" read is obtained when you read them in publication order. That being said, there are some people who just hate, hate, hate reading out of chronological order, so I made it so that for those that do like that approach, they won't have spoilers that will ruin other books for them.

The thing is, the original order was how I planned to introduce the reader to the characters and the world so that is the "designed way" if you will. Also, I added some little "wink winks" to veteran readers in the prequels. These aren't big plot points, just little tip of the hat to "those in the know."

Thanks for asking ;-)

I read in publication order but I don't think there was anything that spoiled, just moments of 'oh wow' when something connected.

Nice Helen - I've done some beta testing to try to ensure it works. Even had some read The Rose and Thorn without reading The Crown Tower. I had to add some stuff that I wouldn't have thought of without the beta reader feedback.

When are you going to do a grimdark novel with Royce showing his sociopathic side?

I just discovered this series a few weeks ago through your story in the anthology Unfettered. I loved the characters of Royce and Hadrian and wanted more. I am listening to the audiobooks and just finished Rise of Empire (Books 3 and 4) today. The narrator, Tim Gerard Reynolds is wonderful and takes the experience of the books to another level.

My question is: Did you have input into who narrated the series or did you just get lucky? :)

Hi Michael, whats next?

@Wendell - I'm not sure you REALLY want to see that part of Royce - it's not very pretty. That being said...at the end of Wintertide Royce digresses to his "old ways" (with good reason) and in The Rose and the Thorn we get a glimpse into what he is capable of.

@Donna - I'm so glad that you read Unfettered (such a great project, that I was honored to be a part of) and I know Shawn will be glad to hear it got you to try out some books. Since none of us were paid for our contributions (for those that don't know - the author's donated stories and the proceeds of the book went to paying of Shawn's medical debt from battling cancer an winning (but without insurance because he had a pre-existing condition) his hope was that we would find some new readers - so SUCCESS!

I agree 1000% about the incredible contributions of Tim Gerard Reynold. He makes me come off much better than I am ;-) He (and the book Theft of Swords) was nominated for an Audie...unfortunately no win.

As to your question...no I had no say on narrator. In fact, I had no say on anything related to the audio other than the fact that it couldn't be abridged without me approving the changes. It is what is called a subsidiary right and the publisher can keep, sell, or do anything they want with it. To be honest, I didn't think the audio books would be made at all (because it can be very expensive and I'm still a small fry) but Recorded Books bought the rights and they did a fabulous job with it.

When the second series was signed, Orbit wanted to take over the audio rights through their publisher. This would have been better for me financially because I would get full royalties (subsidiary rights are shared 50% author / 50% publisher) but I couldn't even consider anyone else doing Royce and Hadrian. So I was able to keep the books where they were - and I'm SO GLAD I did.

For my next two projects, I've sold the audio rights first...and I will get 100% of the royalties AND have say over the narrator - so that is an improvement over the first two contracts. Probably TMI, but I thought some might want to know a bit about how these kinds of things work.

Michael wrote: "@Donna - I'm so glad that you read Unfettered (such a great project, that I was honored to be a part of) and I know Shawn will be glad to hear it got you to try out some books. Since none of us wer..."

Well, that is interesting about the audio rights, etc. Hmmm. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and am glad to know a little about that.

@Bill - thanks for asking! I have a few projects at the moment.

1. Hollow World - is a science fiction time travel novel that I completed last year. I "Kickstarted it" so there are a tad under 900 people who got the books early and their feedback has been very positive. The book will be released to the "general public" on April 15. I sold the print rights to Tachyon Publications, the audio rights to Recorded Books, and kept the ebook rights. This means I can do some pretty creative things. For instance, I'm giving away free ebook copies for anyone who buys the print book - no matter where they bought it. I'm also providing all fomats together so that people can switch devices without having to buy another copy. Also, I'm distributing them DRM free because I feel that DRM just harms legitimate buyers, without really deterring pirates who can easily remove it.

2. Rhune (working title) is the first book in a new trilogy (The First Empire) that I'm just about done with. I finished up the first draft in late July and the second draft in late September. I'm doing my last pass read-through (with edits) and hope to have that done in a week or so. Then that book will be out of my hands for a bit while my wife gives it her reads/input. Then it will go to the "wider audience" (beta readers, agents, writer friends, critique group). Then I just need to incorporate those changes and it will be pretty much at a stage where I can show it to my publishers.

3. Dherg (working title) is the second book that follows Rhune. My hope is that I can start writing it next week (while my "team" is reviewing the first book). And my hope is that I'll have a first draft done by the end of the year.

============================ Hollow World Blurb ==========================
The future is coming...for some, sooner than others.
Ellis Rogers is an ordinary man who is about to embark on an extraordinary journey. All his life he has played it safe and done the right thing but faced with a terminal illness he’s willing to take an insane gamble. He’s built a time machine in his garage, and if it works, he’ll face a world that challenges his understanding of what it means to be human, what it takes to love, and the cost of paradise. He could find more than a cure for his illness; he might find what everyone has been searching for since time began…but only if he can survive Hollow World.

======================== THE FIRST EMPIRE SERIES =====================
I don't have a "marketing blurb" for this one yet. The premise stems from how a myth grows from real events into a distorted (manipulated) version of what actually happened. In the world of Elan (where my first two series are based), mankind has long worshiped Maribor and his son Novron. They believe Novron defeated the elves and formed the original empire. By the end of that series, (view spoiler)[my characters learn that the actual events were quite different (hide spoiler)]. My plan is to show the actual events behind the forming of the First Empire. My intention is that people won't need to know anything about Riyria to read this new series, but those that have should find it interesting to comparing what I've told them and what the "real truth" is.

I'm looking forward to your new series!

How do you go about picking your beta readers? Do you use the same people for each project or do you pick different people based on what the book is about?

Michael, congratulations on the success of your Ryria series! What would you say has been the biggest contributor to the popularity of the series ... publisher promotion? Your own presence in social media? Word-of-mouth?

I do not have a question but just wanted to let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed your book. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful story. Theft of Swords has the complexity of other modern fantasies but with characters reminiscent of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. This is a book I am sure to re-read and recommend. Thanks again!

@Jute. Glad to hear that. As for beta readers it's a little of both. I need some people who haven't read any of my stuff before (or even heard of me for that matter). For the Chronicles I had...(a) people who hadn't read any of my stuff (b) some who had read the whole Revelations and (c) some who have read only the first book of Revlations. For the second book I even had some who hadn't read book #1.

I have some beta readers who I just really, really trust so I'll have them involved in any project that they are interested in doing. They just have exceptional perspectives and have really let me see things in a different light.

Bottom line...it's about picking a wide spectrum of people to get a lot of range of input. The best beta readers are't the ones that praise every chapter but rather those who mention aspects that 'didn't work for them.' In some cases, that will be an isolated statement. But when you hear 2 - 4 people mentioning the same thing then you know it's worth looking at pretty seriously.

@Steven - I'm a firm believer that no book gets any serious success without word-of-mouth. The publisher and author just can't hand sell in any kind of quantity. The trick is to get "enough" people that really love it that they become evangelists and start up the grass roots effort.

I have been fortunate in that reviewers (both professional and readers who post on sites like goodreads and Amazon) have been very positive and that helps a great deal. In general, you need to have people hear about the books, but it is going to be once they look at some of the reviews, or the sample chapter, that they will move off the fence.

Speaking of the sample chapter...I always tell authors that you need to really grab the readers right out the gate. I've heard many positive things about the opening scene of Theft of Swords and that has definitely played it's part. I also have a free short story which is fast, fun, and is a good way to entice people to at least give my work a "look-see."

I'm also fortunate in that my books have an actual marketing budget (due to a higher than average advance attached). This means I do get publisher promotion (most books don't) but it is short lived. What you have to remember is each month a new set of books is coming out and so you get some attention during your launch - but then the marketing department has moved on to the next set. Regardless of what the publisher does, a savvy writer is out there spreading the word or they will fade quickly into obscurity.

Thanks for the question - it was a good one!

@Darcy - thanks!! I'll take compliments, criticisms, or questions ;-)

Interesting thing about Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. I've not read any of Liber's works (and didn't even know they existed until after the books were published). I hear there are similarities and I'm avoiding them as to not influence my writing. The day people see me review his books is probably a good indication that I don't think there will be any future Royce and Hadrian novels.

The way I found out about them was in reading a review. In my second book I mention "The Grey Mouse Inn" and the person thought I was being very clever as my characters were very much influenced by his. I little google searching and I found his books. So that particular reader gave me more credit than they should. It just was a name I pulled out of my head and I wasn't trying to pay homage or have a little Easter Egg to that effect.

Michael, thanks for giving such a detailed answer about having the books turned into audiobooks. That's an interesting behind-the-scenes look at the process. I applaud you for keeping the same narrator to maintain the integrity of the experience. Audiobook listeners can be very proprietary when it comes to narrators and I've seen a lot of angry comments when narrators are changed mid-series. As a listener it almost feels like a betrayal.

Thanks Michael, waiting until I get the hard cover of Hollow World from the kickstarter before reading but very excited.

@Donna - I can certainly see why people would feel that way. You get used to a certain voice for you characters and then, "poof" it's gone.

@Bill - We are hoping to have them all out by Wednesday. We had to go back to the printer because some of the books had an issue - but the tracking information says they should be in on Monday. I'd love to hear what you think of it - so far the feedback has been very positive.

Will there be an audiobook/audio CD edition available soon for The Rose and the Thorn? I plan to listen to the Crown Tower (even though I've already read the ebook edition) as soon as I finish listening to The Thousand Names, but when I went looking for the audiobook edition for Rose and Thorn I came up blank.

@jon I was able to get it from audible

Jon wrote: "Will there be an audiobook/audio CD edition available soon for The Rose and the Thorn?"

Yeah, there will be. It's just that the book is so new and it takes a little bit longer for the physical version because slipcovers & CD's need to be printed and the CD's have to be duplicated. It came out 9/17 so I would suspect by 10/17 it should be live.

Darcy wrote: "@jon I was able to get it from audible"

Not much help to me. I boycott (i.e. refuse to spend my hard earned money at) all things Amazon (and Audible is 100% Amazon).

Thanks anyway.

It's quite...too quiet. There is just a few days left, and while I'll probably drop back from time to time to check on things - if you have any questions this would be a good time for them ;-)

Thanks, Michael, for being so responsive to our flood of questions. :)

Michael, How do you determine how long each of your series will be?

I've enjoyed reading this thread. Thanks for taking the time to chat to us Michael. Did you ever consider giving up and getting a job before you hit 'success'?

I would like to thank Michael soooo much for this awesome series. I read both series (revelations & chronicles)almost in one strike and they are totally 5-starish and one of my all time favourites.
I don`t quite have a question just wanted to express my gratitude for so much positive emotions.

@Bill - I'm not sure if you meant # of books or words per book so I'll answer both.

For number of books I break up the larger story arch and find the various timelines where major events occur. Then I come up with the climax that each would need and that determined how many books were required.

For words per book...I seem to always tell a tale in about 100,000 words - It something about how my brain is hardwired. When I try to write longer, I end up cutting out what looks like "fluff to me - and lo and behold - I'm at 100,000 words.

Percepliquis was longer than most - but being the last book I had a lot to tie up.

@Helen - I did give up. For more than ten years in fact. I had written twelve books and spent two solid years submitting and getting rejection letters. I finally quit thinking I just didn't have "the right stuff."

As for 'day job' I was a stay at home dad and wrote when the kids napped. As they grew up, and after I had given up writing I did get a "day job" as my own boss (I don't play well with others) by starting my own advertising agency.

@Ilze - Thanks so much! It's always great to hear someone enjoying the books. I'm in a holding patter while I wait for people to weigh in about whether they want me to stop here or write more. If you want to "officially weigh in here is a link to a short survey .

I weighed in on wanting more.

Thanks Helen. I'm getting close to finishing up my current work in progress. I'm hoping to be done in April 2014. At that time I'll decided what to write next, either a new Riyria or something completely different. So far the signs point to a desire on the part of the readers for more Riyria - which would please me to no end.