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Saturday, January 9, 2016

King Henry and the Three Little Trips (FM5.5) Update

The first word back from the beta readers has been positive, in fact so positive and adamant that some changes are being made as concerns how this work is being categorized and where it is placed in the series.

Nothing of the story itself is changing, it's still three different interconnected stories (first novellas and now chapters) with T-Bone, Eva, and King Henry in 3rd Person POV.  But, it will no longer be called "King Henry Short Pack Two" and will instead be called "King Henry and the Three Little Trips" with FM5.5 plastered all over it so potential readers get the point.

It's not a full novel in the series (which are like 600 pages now but that's another discussion!), it's in a different style even, but beta readers pretty much commented, "they have to read this, if they don't read this, and they don't read this because they just think it's short stories, they'll be pissed and clueless once FM6 rolls around!"

I took this reaction as good news, since excitement is always good news, and have gone ahead and renamed it to better get the point across that yes, if you're a fan, you'll want to buy and check out this smaller, intermediate, more personal novel in our wider, epic story.  It was also pointed out to me that even at almost 200 pages, it's actually not that much shorter than FM2, and at a dollar cheaper than the full FM books, it's nothing anyone should complain about.  I'm sure I'll still get some complaints on that front, but I'll just roll my eyes at them.

So, not "The Foul Mouth" worthy, but very much worthy of more recognition than just "short pack".  I think calling it "King Henry and the Three Little Trips (The King Henry Tapes #5.5)" sets the stage for it well, marking it's place exactly where it belongs and that's how you'll need to search for it when it comes out on February 1st.

This all started because I figured if there was a Short Pack One there should be a Short Pack Two.  It'll be fun!  Easy!  No problem!  In the writing it became something a bit more, maybe more than I wanted when I started it, and I'm finally accepting that.  There's humor, there's diplomacy, there's danger, there's romance, and there's even death.  Those a novel makes.

I've always been very mindful of not overpricing my products and have always wanted to be a "bang for your buck" writer.  Perhaps this fear of being called out for abusing my fans wallets has led me to downplay this work up until now.  I know some found the 99 cent price tag for the first short stories to be steep and I always worried that I would be accused of double-dipping when I decided to release them again bundled together in Short Pack One.

I wasn't and now with this second ancillary work coming out, maybe I have been a bit too defensive.  I wrote a 200 page intermediate novel.  Hope you enjoy it.  There might even be another one after FM6, how about those apples?

King Henry and the Three Little Trips (The King Henry Tapes #5.5), Feb 1st, get hyped!

Look for the Eva sneak peek on Monday!

2 comments:

  1. Hyping has commenced! Can't wait!

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  2. Can't wait. Ever thought about dropping the ARC out there at a ridiculous price for the readers who just can't wait? :)

    ReplyDelete