My notice was delivered to Ridan’s offices yesterday at 10:59am according to the post office. Accordingly my obligation under the terms of my contract are now satisfied. My publication rights for all the Share books will revert to me on or before November 6th.
That means Captain’s Share and Owner’s Share are going to be delayed again. I need to re-publish the first four before I can publish the next two. I’m already working with cover artists to streamline that process and I’ll be giving each book a bit of a scrub up before releasing. I already have an editor working on them to try to keep the delays to a minimum.
I wish I could say “They’ll be out by Christmas” but right now, without covers and without a clean edit on what amounts to about a million words? Yeah. Not something I’ll commit to.
Have patience. I’ll get these out as soon as possible. I just don’t know what’s possible yet.
I feel your frustrations. But at least now you can get back on track. Best of luck.
Thanks very much for keeping your readers informed. Much apperciated. Looking forward to the last two books whenever they come out.
Sorry for hearing all the problems Ridan gave you, but I’m happy to know everything is going to work out. I will also miss the old covers design for books 5 & 6. It would be nice to have a ‘complete set’ and I was curious about how they would be (but ok, now I’m curious about how the new ones will be).
I have just one sugestion/wish…
Please, make the new books the same height as the Ridan ones, so whoever want to buy just the last two, can have them elegantly aligned on the shelf. (I’m brazilian and the shipping costs are very demotivating. But I’d always rather haver paper versions than ebooks) (I’ll probably buying everything again… but anyway, same heights would be very nice)
I just finished Owners Share. I loved every book and I can’t wait for more of Ishmael Wang and the adventures that he will have. You do plan on continuing with him, right?
Thanks, Alan! These are stories I wanted to read – and I’m just lucky that other people wanted to read along
Brito: The new paperbacks will be in the same 9×6 format so they’ll blend into your bookshelf.
Matt: Thank you so much and yes. One of the reasons the series ends the way it does is to leave the door open for more Ishmael Wang stories. I’ve got a lot of Solar Clipper stories to tell, and some of them will feature Ishmael.
Hello Nathan,
I’m saddened and delighted to hear that Ridan has been dropped. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all your books and pod casts. I look forward to reading many in the future.
Clear skies Kurt
I came to your site today to let you know that I have still not received my copy of Double Share from Ridan, three months after paying for it, and with extremely poor communication (which included being told that my order had been lost). I was going to suggest that if my experience was typical (on top of all sorts of other delays I know you’ve experienced as a writer) you should get yourself a new publisher. I’m glad you’ve made that step to free yourself and I hope it goes more smoothly from here.
I wonder if I’ll ever see that book?
Email now, Steph. In theory, they’re paying attention now.
Was it for ebook or paperback?
I sincerely hope this complexity of the business side of things does not hold you up as an artist. I followed you since I first found you online deep in the bowels of iTunes podcasts. I was absolutely delighted with your twists and turns of every day life while in the most fantastic of settings. It was such a stand out from the usual shoot em up and how type of sci fi stories that usually come out. *I* could relate to the story!
Anyhow I just wanted to say how much all the stories meant to me and to encourage more writing and more inspiration. And THANK YOU!
I’ve tried to contact Robin several times since then, the latest to cancel the order and request a refund because I no longer believe I’ll ever see the (paperback) book. No response still, so my next move is to talk to my credit card people.
I only discovered “Quarter Share” yesterday evening and downloaded the Kindle – finished it in two sittings. What a breath of fresh air! It’s such a pleasure to read a real Bildungsroman in this genre, and I’ll definitely be downloading more.
Sorry to hear that you have had publisher difficulties – see it as an opportunity
Oh, and as a couple of other people have said – please release hardcover editions.
Fair winds
Nathan,
Not to push you but any word yet on how things are coming along? I hope all is progressing smoothly for ye…
I just noticed that Zypheria’s Call is available at Amazon in the Kindle store. I don’t remember seeing any news about it being published. The book description says is was published on October 7, 2012.
Was it published by Ridan or is it self published?
It’s self published.
I sent an email to my mailing list when I published it.
There’s also a post on Lammas Wood – the home site for my fantasy work.
Yes, I have two sites — three, actually — because some SF people just cannot stomach fantasy and some fantasy people don’t give a mildewed backpack for SF.
I’ve been haunting the web, watching for Captain’s Share and Owner’s Share. Hope you are able to get them out and available soon!
Just as an FYI Ridan still has you listed as an author and continues to sell your books … unless of course they are linking off to your new sales process!!
I’ve purchased Zypheria’s Call and look forward to ANY of your future books.
Loved your Ishmael books and have been waiting to purchase the next two. But see you have been having some problems getting them published. I might add only read the ebook versions.
Hope things sort out soon.