Happy Birthday, Ishmael Wang!

Three years ago this month — on January 12, 2007 — I sat down at my keyboard and started to write a novel. At the time, I had no idea if I could. I’d started often enough before in my life and never finished. I didn’t really know if I would finish that one, but I had a goal — Podiobooks.com.

In January, 2007, this podcasting thing was only a couple of years old. Most people had never heard of it, and the idea of a serialized audiobook — the podcast novel — was even more unknown. I found Podiobooks in 2006 and started listening to Earthcore, 7th Son: Descent, and Brave Men Run. I think I went through the whole catalog in a few weeks, and when I finished Nina Kimberly the Merciless, I knew I had to try it. These people were having just way too much fun and I wanted to have fun, too. When I sat down to write the book that you all know as Quarter Share, the goal was to finish the story, record it, and publish it on Podiobooks.

Ten days later, I had my first draft. By the end of January I started recording. Yes, I recorded it in a very poor format on a $20 headset mic in the front seat of my car. Evo helped me get it into the correct form and in February 18th, 2007, the first six episodes of Quarter Share went into the stream.

Since that time, you’ve been with me through 5 ‘Share books, a Shaman’s Tale, and, now, a full on fantasy novel with Ravenwood. You’ve pestered me for the next release, you’ve badgered me about paper copies, you’ve written to publishers on my behalf to get them to print my books. You’ve donated, and rated, and reviewed, and followed me on twitter. There’s a discussion group in a knitter’s community for me. (Hi, Ravelry!) You’ve humbled me with your support and with your enthusiastic embrace of my work.

Normally, I keep a pretty low profile, but this month marks more than one milestone, and I’d like to share them with you.

3 years.
7 Books.
800,000 words.
1,000,000 downloads.

and one book contract.

Earlier this month I signed with Ridan Publishing to produce Quarter Share in a trade paper edition that will be available soon – at least by the time BaltiCon rolls around at the end of May.

Thank you, all, for your inspiration, your reviews, your comments, and your heartfelt support of the stories over the last three years.

Happy birthday, Ishmael! And many happy returns.

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67 Responses to Happy Birthday, Ishmael Wang!

  1. Evelyn Wolke says:

    Congratulations! Can’t think of anyone more deserving of a book contract, Nathan! This is GREAT news, and we’ll be looking forward to seeing the book at BaltiCon!

  2. That is fantastic news! Happy Birthday, and many more!

  3. kmsqrd says:

    Yea! I can get the book in paperback soon! Congrats!

  4. Keith Hughes says:

    I cannot wait for this to come out in print! Any chance they will do the others too? Congratulations, Nathan! You are an inspiration to us all.

  5. Awesome… Where do I preorder my copies?

  6. Nate says:

    Keith: We’re planning on the whole series.

    Brad: There’s a link on the title page at Ridan where you can be notified when the book is available for preorder.

  7. This is so great!!! I can’t wait to buy Quarter Share and read it, I’ve listened to it 3 times via podiobook, it will be so fun to get a hard copy and then see it on my bookshelf. Congrats Nate!

  8. Congratulations, Nathan! That is so awesome! I look forward to purchasing Quarter Share when it’s published by Ridan.

    You deserve all the success — thank you for your hard work and the amazing stories.

  9. BTW, cool new artwork for the QS cover! :-)

  10. Angus Mears says:

    Congratulations Nathan. Will we get to see copies here in the UK?

  11. Garl Grigsby says:

    FINALLY I can give you the money you so deserve. I’ve already emailed the publisher requesting to be notified when this is available for order. I’ll have to send a few copies with @gutshot to have them signed at Balticon.

  12. FANTASTIC News, Nathan! Congratulations. I’ll pick my copy up at Balticon later this year.

  13. Nate says:

    I’m not sure what Amazon UK will do, but I’m pretty sure Ridan will ship them anywhere you’re willing to pay the freight on.

    :)

  14. Nate says:

    I may have to buy new pens. My hand has a cramp just thinking about all the autographin’ I’m gonna be doing. :)

    Thanks, Garl.

  15. Lance says:

    This is spectacular, Mr. Lowell. Many, many congratulations. And we can haz autographs!

  16. Amy says:

    Congrats! And Happy Birthday Ishmael!

  17. GlitchChaos says:

    Congrat’s on the book deal!!! I can’t wait to have a copy in my hands! :-)

  18. matthew says:

    love the cover art

  19. Nate says:

    I squee’d myself when I saw it, too. :)

  20. James says:

    This is the best news I have heard all week. I cannot wait until these are released. Also, since I have seen him pop into this comment thread I want to thank @Chess Griffin for introducing me to these books.

  21. Excellent! Way to go, Nathan! (And thanks to Scott Sigler for introducing me to Quarter Share.

  22. libbilu says:

    Congrats, Nathan from your fans at Ravelry! We are so proud for you.

  23. Rachel says:

    Brilliant news. Huge congratulations. I can’t wait to have your fabulous novel in print.

  24. Anita Lewis says:

    Congratulations on those stats, the new book, and the upcoming publication in print! 1 million downloads must feel great! I realize there are several episodes per book, but still, that is a lot of downloads! I looked at Ridan and am glad to see they will publish in ebook as well. I’m looking forward to reading Quarter Share in print (and hoping for the rest as well.) Like James, I came to know your work through Chess Griffin.

  25. Awesome, Nathan. Good on ya! And congrats on the Founder’s Choice Award, which you didn’t even mention, you bashful fellow.

  26. Jsn_chrch says:

    Congrats Nathan! Absolutly loved the share books and look forward to owning my copy of Quater Share. Happy birthday Ish!

  27. Ari B. says:

    Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.

  28. Jean-Francois says:

    Congratulations, Mr Lowel. I look forward to have a complete Nathan Lowel section in my book collection.

  29. Joe says:

    :O)

    Wlee done!!!!

    Please send ordering info. It is the least I can do for all the joy your work has given me.

    Joe

  30. yosarian says:

    Outstanding, Nate, and long overdue! Congratulations on reaching “the next step”! I look forward to purchasing “Quarter Share” in print form in the near future. If I drive up to your neck of the woods and bring a nice bottle of single malt and some cigars, do you think I could get you to sign a copy for me? All the best, as always, and safe travels! – Mike

  31. R Mingus says:

    This is wonderful!! Congratulations.
    How extensive was the rewrite/editing, if any? Will they sell a full length audio version? If so will you rerecord?

    And I see Ravenwood is next in the queue. Excellent.

  32. Darren Kelk says:

    Fantastic, I can’t wait to buy it.

    Darren

  33. Ignatz says:

    Heartfelt congratulations, Mr. Lowell. This is tangible recognition of your very fine work.

  34. Nate says:

    R: So far the edits are really minor. In many cases they are only issues of formating and style for consistency. The deal is *only* for print so, no, Ridan will not be putting out a full length audio. I have been considering a re-recording on my own, tho. The original sounds so rough to me, that I’d like to re-do it just because I think I could make it sound better. The other obstacle to selling a full length book version is the music. It’s licensed non-commercial so I can’t, legitimately, sell an audiobook that uses it. I need permission (and James Curran hasn’t responded to emails) or new music.

    And thank you all for your kind words!

  35. Jason Pitre says:

    I am not surprised, simply relieved that you are finally going to be recognized in a tangible (and financially rewarding) fashion. I look forward to buying pretty much every book your publish, in triplicate to permit gifting and loaning.

  36. osmia says:

    Way to go Nathan! Congratulations! It’s going to be so cool seeing your books nestled in my bookshelves! I still want to make a Group for the Co-Ed Crochet Team on Ravelry. Then we could do a crochet-a-long on the shawl :)

  37. Victoria says:

    Yay, hooray !!

    I am so happy ! For you, for me, for everyone ! Excellent news :D

    V.

  38. arvo says:

    Brilliant news for a brilliant, if modest writer. Your stripped back style is a joy to read and we look forward to each and every podio-books release. And obviously we’ll be sat in the queue for a copy of Quarter share when it rolls off the press (if they’ll send them to us foreign types across the pond!)

    Hard work that’s paid off, thats a great story too. Well done.

  39. joshua tryon says:

    This is great news. I can’t wait to pick up a few copies. Now those friends of mine that won’t listen to audiobooks and say they can’t look at a computer screen that long can finally enjoy your works also.
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISHMAEL

  40. Susan Parker says:

    Hey all,

    I thought I would chime in here. I’m an intern working with Ridan and will be helping to bring his books to print/ebook. It’s great to see so much enthusiasm. I’m a big fan too so was very excited that Nathan put the trust of his books in Ridan.

    For those that can’t get to Balticon…Ridan always offers signed copies. We basically ship boxes to the author and a big case of padded envelopes . When you buy a book from our site you can specify:
    a) No signature – in which case Ridan will process order
    b) Author Signature Only
    c) Author Signature and Dedication

    For b & c we…well I ;-) generate a mailing label and email it to the author. They sign, use the label (and provided envelopes) and off they go.

    We will of course be doing a kindle version and Sony e-reader book version. We’ve done a whole bunch of other formats in the past: mobi, epub, pdf, .html, etc . But since doing so, we’ve found bootlegged copies of our other author’s works on the torrent downloads. On one hand it is “exposure”, on the other hand it provides no compensation to the author or Ridan. So…whether we produce versions in those formats will be a discussion between Nathan and my boss. I’ll keep you posted.

    For those who who want to be notified. Go to: http://www.ridanpublishing.com/quarter_share.html and click on “notify me” button – this will send us an email and when the book is ready for pre-order we’ll send you a link.

    And last but not least. We absolutely want to do the whole series and everything else Nathan writes ;-) We are hoping he’s pleased with our treatment of Quarter Share and make the others available once he has a chance to do minor clean-up that he is doing before submitting “final copies”.

  41. Susan Parker says:

    Grrr..Forgot one thing…As to “overseas” We use a number of outlets but one of the easiest for those not familiar is http://www.bookdepository.com. This site ships books anywhere in the world for free…and offers discounted pricing. For instance, Avempartha (a book by another Ridan author) lists for $12.99 and is sold for 28% off at Book Depository for $9.99 – The only problem is books through that venue are, of course, not signed or dedicated. If you live overseas and want signed copies we accomodate that but it does require about $12 in shipping – so buy multiple copies or buy several Ridan titles at once to make the shipping “hit” more reasonable ;-)

    Susan.

  42. Phillip Nunemacher says:

    I’ve got my notification request in also. I foresee both a “dead tree” and eBook version are in my future for each of the books. Congrats.

  43. Chris Rose says:

    Congratulations Nathan, stunning news and even better the books are to be released as trade paperbacks (look far better on the bookshelves). Do you have any idea on the release schedule as I would like to know how long it is going to take me to collect them all…

    Once again congratulations..

  44. Mike McFarland says:

    Congrats! Am so glad for you (and all of us who love all of your stories). I hope this deal will help you continue to write new stores and not distract you too much rehashing the old ones. Do like the new cover that you & Ridan Publishing have chosen for Quarter Share – does a good job of showing the deep-dark while keeping with your general cover style of book name and author. Can’t wait to get my copy. PS. Ravenwood is great. I was afraid that I would miss Ish too much, but your wise and kind style of story telling continues to impress.

  45. Nate says:

    Chris:

    We’re doing one at a time. The folks at Ridan are working with me and we’re going to see if we can get them all going “soon.” If you look at their line up you’ll see they have several books coming that will be in the works as well. ASAP is as much as I can tell you. And one book at a time. As we get each one prepared and ready, it’ll be released.

    But not before :)

  46. Linda says:

    Oh, my gosh! You’ll have to publish the Balticon information so we can all go and get our own autographed editions!! Dibs on first in line!

  47. scott pond says:

    “And to think I knew you when…”

    Fantastic news Nate… sorry for the late congratulations… been out of touch with the digital world for a few days. You’ve done such fantastic work on all three of your outlets (Traders Tales, Shaman’s Tales, and the new Ravenwood)… it’s about time that you can see even more reward and recognition for your amazing works. I can honestly say that I cannot wait and will be ordering a couple copies as soon as they are available!

    Others have said it, but I have to say it as well: please let us know of your plans for BaltiCon and any other similar event that you will be at once they re available. I may actually have to attend my first Con just to get a copy or two signed: then they can go on my library shelf in a place of honor right next to my other signed books.

    You do us all proud, sir, and congratulations!

  48. James says:

    I really hope that Riden makes an epub version available. That format has really good support on FBreader which I use to read books on my phone and on my handheld gaming device (GP2X). I know that there was a Riden rep here saying that they were having some problems with piracy, but to be blunt, using a proprietary DRMed format will not really help. That fact of the matter is that if there is a pirate that really wants to put an ebook on a torrent site all they need to do is run a utility to strip off the DRM. Even if there is not an ebook available a really determined pirate will just OCR the hard copy. The only thing that DRMed formats accomplish is to prevent legitimate customers like me from putting the book on devices that do not support Amazon’s or Sony’s formats, like my GP2X. I technically could run one of those programs that strips off the DRM and then just convert the file, but that is actually illegal in the US (thanks to the anti-circumvention clause in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act), which is were I live. Let me just say that I am not only planning to get the ebook version but also multiple copies of the hard copy. I prefer reading the actual book, but the ebook is useful when you don’t have a hard copy with you or if you want to quickly find a particular passage.

  49. Nate says:

    We’re going with Smashwords for now. The first three books will be available in whatever formats they provide. That’s as far as we’ve gotten to even thinking about yet, so we’ll undoubtedly re-visit this in a couple of months.

    I’m with you on the DRM issue. I didn’t allow the audiobooks to be put onto Audible for that very reason. Well, that and I’d have to remix them with new music because of the licensing on the James Curran pieces. The perception is that when the ebooks hit bittorrent that sales suffer. Dunno. One step at a time for me.

  50. Guy Wade says:

    Nathan that’s awesome news…and about time! Congratulations!

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