Website Updated

The main THG StarDragon Publishing website has been updated today by our webmaster Rowan Wookey.  Thank you Rowan.

Ayam Yogi Abraxas has been added to our authors list, the anthology page has the submission deadline on it now (July 31, 2013) and Samantha Buckley has been added as the other cover artist with us.

I have not had time yet to update properly the available works list and include all the places the books are available, that will be the next site update.

Victoria Davis' Artwork Feature

Victora Davis is one of the artists that does cover art for THG StarDragon Publishing for Teresa Garcia.  Book covers she has done so far are Dragon Shaman Book Two, and The Dragons' Beads: A Treasury, and she is doing the re-cover for Dragon Shaman Book One.

Her work is also an integral part of the British online browser based roleplaying game Dragon Hearts.  She does the seasonal images, the default profile pics, chat glyphs, and whatever else the game creator decides needs official imagery.  There are some Cafe Press stories that have her artwork for sale, though not all of the game art has gone in them.  If you play the game though and see something on the artwork page you like, you can ask and it can be added to a product for you.  Twenty five percent of all sales are split between the game and the artist, the rest goes toward the maufacture of items and the associated fees for the Cafe Press venue.

Dragon Hearts Art for sale:
Custom Items Store
Red Dragon Store
Blue Dragon Store
Purple Dragon Store
White Dragon Store
Bronze Dragon Store
Yellow Dragon Store
Green Dragon Store
Pewter Dragon Store
Obsidian's Favourites

She also has a presence on Deviant Art, as well as Imagekind.

Audio progress, manuscript progress

Other people that were also listening to the audio tracks to the first collection of the Adventures of Lightning the Cat have noted no problems.  So since all ears seem to be in agreement, the tracks have been approved, and it will be a few weeks before the audiobook process for that will be complete.  It is probably going to be the only audiobook that I personally narrate, due to how tricky it is here to find good recording time.

I'm still waiting for the first 15 minutes of Call of the Kami, which should be ready for me to check by the 16th.

Ayam Yogi Abraxas' contract returned in the mail today, all that needs doing is having another party verify they saw it as signed.  But I'm ill right now, so that will have to wait till I can get out of the house to do that.  I should be able to start editing and preparing AyaMayA as soon as he delivers me the version that he wants me to work on.

What is current in the Selkies' Skins manuscript is ready to go to Faith for editing (including final checks on section one of what is available on the website) in getting that part ready for ebook.  As I am sick though, it will have to wait another bit before I take her the binder for her magic and fresher eyes.  Hopefully tomorrow.

Class started again for me yesterday, and so I am embarking study in the real of International Organization, which looks interesting and brings me closer to the end of this degree.

Nomination rounds in the #ANA2012 contest have ended.  I did not secure a nomination or a wildcard, but I also do not feel that I placed badly when taking into account how many competitors there were, or that I was even selected to have my story compete at all.  I doubt that I will partake in #ANA2013 though.  The social networking ate too much productivity time.  If I had spent more time hawking it all over I might have placed better (or maybe not) but that was still time that could have been used elsewhere.

And after the Kickstarter... yep still busy here.

Tomorrow is the first day of my next class, International Organizations.  It looks to be an interesting eight weeks, looking at the book.  I see a section on copyright, which I'm definitely looking forward to, as I hope that will help me more for my international author and in the international publishing.  I'm very glad that a very special friend some few years ago told me about the American Public University so that I could go further in my education despite my family situation.  Not only will it help my writing, and help in the publishing world, it brings me closer to a childhood dream.

I'm waiting on a few more replies from my Kickstarter backers, and getting to work on the parts of the packages that are to be delivered early.  Marantha Dreamweaver Jenelle had given me many backgrounds to use for my stories and poetry.  The backers that get a poem and a story respectively will be getting their hardcopies using those backgrounds.  Depending what format they choose for their ecopies, they will also get that on those as well.

More information about how to get your own can be found here.  She has a HUGE library of suitable backgrounds and images that she has created, and you might even be able to get her to design custom stationery if you were to ask about it.  I mean huge.  She filled my inbox to overfull when giving me copies, so she's got to have something suitable to any project you have.  And she is very creative, so there's always more coming.

Work on the postcard drawings will be starting soon as well, I am just waiting on stock to arrive.  I'll be contacting my editor soon to have her go over section one so that I can get the ecopies of the available installments in the webnovel out to the backers in January.

A look at the coming year

So, this coming year is going to be busy:

1. Selkies' Skins Project:
Selkies' Skins will have the first section of the story (all the released serial episodes from start to Dec 1, 2012... plus perhaps a surprise) released in a mini volume to the Kickstarter backers in January 2013.  Other items to go out in January are icon sized and computer backgrounds of story related art and postcards with messages and custom art on the backs.
The Kickstarter also generated one story and one poem to be fulfilled
Selkies' Skins full book to be finished, edited, covered, and released in December 2013 to certain project backers.  After theirs are fulfilled, it opens up for everyone else to order.

There are just a few hours left, so if you're thinking about contributing and securing some rewards, now's the time.

2. AyaMayA
AyaMayA by Ayam Yogi Abraxas to be finished, edited, covered, and released in November 2013.

3. Dragon Shaman
Still waiting on cover art from Victoria "Salaiek" Davis for the second edition of Dragon Shaman Book One, which fixes some mistakes that were found in the first edition.  Once I receive the cover art for the second edition, I can release that.

4. Audiobooks
Still need narration for books one and two of Dragon Shaman.  Audiobook for The Adventures of Lightning the Cat is being worked on, and probably the only one I will voice myself, unless I adapt "The Little Blue Rosebud" for the children as well.  Considering having Steven Disney's two poetry books adapted for audio.

Any other projects accepted will be slated to see work start in 2014, as I need to keep time open for school and vetting audiobooks once I can get the audiobook projects a narrator.  This way I can ensure the projects will have enough time to receive proper attention.  This also gives time for people interested in making submissions plenty of time to do any preliminary revisions before showing me or submitting inquiries.

Selkies' Skins Kickstarter update, Call of the Kami, Dragon Shaman

Selkies:

Forty-nine hours as of now left on the Kickstarter for Selkies' Skins.  Currently a total of $251 has been pledged.  Not only will it fund on Dec 1st, but we reached one of the stretch goals.  The cover art for the print edition of the book will be covered (depending on the artist's work, the current cover for the ebook edition may wind up as an inside cover or an end page for continuity's sake).  I'm very pleased by this, as it means that I'm not having to dig in my personal slush fund as deeply to bring this project to the market.

Will we be able to hit the next stretch goal ($626 total) in time to afford paying a narrator up front for an audio version, instead of having to do a royalty share agreement?  Let's find out!  If we don't manage to get all the way to that stretch goal, there are other aspects of the project that the extra cash can help cover or reimburse, or we might even generate enough to still make a tidy up front payment to entice an excellent voice with (and if you've got a narrator suggestion in mind, or someone itching to do it, let me know and I'll look for them once Selkies' is in the ACX system).

Call of the Kami:

In a couple weeks, the poetry book "Call of the Kami" will have the first 15 minutes of audio ready for me to check and approve.  Andrea Missias and I are pretty excited about this.  Considering how old the poetry is now, and what a different frame of mind I was in when writing those poems, I'm very interested to hear her rendition of them.

Dragon Shaman:

I'm still looking for voice talent for recording the first and second book in the Dragon Shaman series.  My friend Travers Stevenson was going to see about doing it, but I've not heard from him or received any audition yet on the project.  So in the interim, I am still open to auditions on both projects.
Dragon Shaman: Taming the Blowing Wind
Dragon Shaman: The Smoky Mirror

Selkies' Skins update and update on ANA2012

The final installment for section one of Selkies' Skins has gone to both of the journal archives and the archive website for the webnovel.  There are five days left to take part in the Kickstarter to get final editing (once the full novel is ready for Faith), contribute toward paying the cover artist for the print version, a possible audiobook, and to get rewards for yourselves.

The sections of the story may or may not end up breaking the same in the novel.  For the webversion in the archive, this is being sectioned for navigation's sake so that readers will have an easier time picking up where they left off.  The story still has a way to go before we are finished with it.

Kickstarter
Selkies' Skins on Livejournal
Selkies' Skins on Dreamwidth
Selkies Skins on Teresa Garcia's Serial Stories

In other news, Kiss Cursed Princess has fallen from 111th to 132 place.  This is out of 415 though, there are many authors in the America's Next Author contest.  You still have time to go and vote for this week's nominee, and next week will seen another nominee voted into the finalist rounds.

I also look forward to seeing the revised manuscript of AyaMayA by Ayam Yogi Abraxas soon.