Sin Is Beautiful

The blog of Malcolm F. Cross
  • Dog Country
  • War Dog and Marginalized Populations
  • Pavlov’s House
  • Dangerous Jade
  • Jane, Jill and Jasie
  • Orbital Decay
  • Heat #8
  • Heat #6
  • New Fables 2010
  • The Fortune Teller’s Poem
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Two weeks on: Dog Country & Copyright Infringement

by foozzzball on April 11, 2016 at 7:30 pm
Posted In: News and Updates

Wow, so. Here we are, two weeks on from the launch of Dog Country, my debut novel. (See here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DJYMQQO/ ) Independently publishing it has been a heck of an experience.

And, y’know what? It’s done great. With 60-65~ish sales (counting people using Kindle Unlimited’s read it free on a subscription thing) it’s succeeded well beyond my initial expectations. And if that doesn’t sound like a lot to you? For a debut author (it is, technically, my first and only novel) with no track record, it’s impressive. A very worthy chip in the wall, and one I couldn’t have made without all my fans.

When you talk about my books, give me a signal-boost on twitter with a retweet, link a friend, sign up for my mailing list, or even buy the book itself, you help me out. A lot. Reaching an audience is no easy thing, so, thank you for being part of mine.

There is one other thing I’d ask you to do, though — leave a review on Amazon.

Reviews on Amazon are a big deal for a book’s long term success. Yeah, there’s Amazon’s mysterious algorithms, but more importantly, each review helps a reader casually browsing for books decide on whether or not to take Dog Country seriously. The more reviews they see in the listing, the closer they’ll look. Plus, there are a number of advertising sites for indie books that just won’t look at me until I have 10, or 20, or 50 reviews. I would love to explore these things and see how well they work for me, so, if you have the time and you’ve finished the book, please do consider going back to the Amazon page to leave a review.

So. Other news as of late? Let’s start with the good.

Operation Caspian Tiger, the third part of Extinction Biome, a work-for-hire I’m co-author on, is coming out this week. (Parts one and two, Operations Honshu Wolf and Wild Tarpan, are already available, and you can check that out here: http://www.abaddonbooks.com/post/986 )

And the bad?

My short story, Pavlov’s House, which was both my first pro-sale and something I wrote as part of the early work on figuring out Dog Country, was ripped off by Galaktika.

What is Galaktika? It’s a Hungarian SFF magazine, which has over the past few years apparently ripped off a lot of authors. (There are some articles by A.G. Carpenter on the issue here: http://agcarpenter.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Galaktika ) They went ahead and translated it into Magyar/Hungarian, then sold it in print, without asking me for translation rights, without notifying me, without offering me a contract or payment. They stole my story.

Getting my head around that has been kind of traumatic for me. My writing career is one of the most important things I have in my life, and part of that career is having a say in where and how my work appears. Stories are part of a conversation, by submitting my fiction for publication, by trying to sell it, by getting involved in where and how it appears, I am adding to that conversation. But when I get ripped off…? I’m not sure I’m part of that conversation anymore, and that’s been bugging me immensely.

For now I’m in touch with SFWA (I’m a member, if you did not know!) and figuring out what I can/should do about it.

In the meanwhile, though, if you haven’t already, go enjoy Pavlov’s House where it was originally published, at Strange Horizons, over here: http://www.strangehorizons.com/2014/20140421/pavlovshouse-f.shtml

So.

What’s next? I’m not entirely sure, yet. If you have requests, feel free to get in touch, otherwise I’ll let you all know when I’ve figured out what my next project will be!

└ Tags: Dog Country, Ranting, San Iadras

Dog Country, my debut novel, is now available!

by foozzzball on March 29, 2016 at 4:45 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

It’s finally out there in the world! My baby, my novel! <3

I hope you all love it, and if you can do anything to help spread the word, it’s always hugely appreciated. Reviews are kind and amazing.

You can get it from Amazon on Kindle here -> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DJYMQQO/

And read the back-cover blurb below!

—

Dog Country coverA crowdfunded civil war is Azerbaijan’s only hope against its murderous dictatorship. The war is Edane Estian’s only chance to find out if he’s more than what he was designed to be.

He’s a clone soldier, gengineered from a dog’s DNA and hardened by a brutal training regime. He’d be perfect for the job if an outraged society hadn’t intervened, freed him at age seven, and placed him in an adopted family.

Is he Edane? Cathy and Beth’s son, Janine’s boyfriend, valued member of his MilSim sports team? Or is he still White-Six, serial number CNR5-4853-W6, the untroubled killing machine?

By joining a war to protect the powerless, he hopes to become more than the sum of his parts.

Without White-Six, he’ll never survive this war. If that’s all he can be, he’ll never leave it.

—

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DJYMQQO/

Price Drops + Dog Country preview!

by foozzzball on March 10, 2016 at 3:49 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

So. I’ve gone ahead and dropped the prices on all of my self-published efforts so far, War Dog & Marginalized Populations, Jane, Jill and Jasie, and Dangerous Jade, which are at $0.99, $0.99, and $2.99 respectively.

Why am I doing this?

Well, as I get more into self publishing stuff, it’s pretty clear that $2.99 was kinda steep for some short stories.

Also, since I intend to have a novel out at the end of the month, I figured it was about time that I get my pricing levelled out.

Oh. Novel? Yeah, it’s called Dog Country, and I’ll start posts with news about that when it’s actually out — for now, Dog Country - 3DPromohere’s a peek at the cover:

Nice, yes?

If you’d like a preview, as a new customer, you can find one in the back of War Dog and Marginalized Populations. Unfortunately I can’t get Amazon to push updates to previous customers just for this, but I can give you a free copy of the preview if you join my mailing list here. You’ll be able to pick the preview up through the confirmation e-mail, plus get immediate notification when Dog Country’s actually released.

When exactly will it be released? End of the month, but that’s not quite set in stone — I am still making final edits and I may wind up deciding to make a few more — so for news on that keep an eye on my twitter feed (@foozzzball) and mailing list and all that stuff!

Pneumonic November

by foozzzball on November 23, 2015 at 5:25 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized

So. I’ve been laid up with pneumonia for most of the month, including a six day stay in hospital to receive treatment with IV antibiotics and ventilators after my lungs more or less decided to stop working.

Thank heavens for the NHS and fie on any politician trying to pull it apart.

Other than that, not much has been happening, but I hope to change that once my ability to metabolize oxygen returns to something like normal. Still rather poorly, unfortunately, but well on the way to normalcy.

 Comment 

My ounce of bile: Yarn is cowardly.

by foozzzball on July 3, 2015 at 8:21 am
Posted In: Personal

TL;DR: I have an opinion on the Hugos/Sad Puppies thing, people who cry out ‘we just wanna write good old fashioned entertainin’ yarns!’, and the state of Science Fiction as a genre.

↓ Read the rest of this entry…

└ Tags: Furry Fandom, Hugo Awards, Ira, Mad, Ranting
 Comment 
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My Publications

  • Dog Country
  • War Dog and Marginalized Populations
  • Pavlov’s House
  • Dangerous Jade
  • Jane, Jill and Jasie
  • Orbital Decay
  • Heat #8
  • Heat #6
  • New Fables 2010
  • The Fortune Teller’s Poem

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  • Three quick reviews for #FurryBookMonth October 14, 2016
  • Extinction Biome: Invasion, now released! June 9, 2016
  • Success! June 6, 2016
  • Celebrating one hundred sales: Dog Country on special for a short time! June 2, 2016

About Malcolm

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Find me elsewhere!

  • Askazi Myths
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Other stuff to look at!

  • FurPlanet
  • Kyell Gold
  • Sofawolf Press
  • Weasel Wordsmith

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