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Why I Went Indie

October 17, 2016 by Ryan Leave a Comment

So, last week I wrote a short post expressing some gratitude to Amazon for creating a place where independent fiction can thrive. Today I figured I’d talk a little bit about why I went independent in the first place.

A little bit of history to start:
I’ve been writing for as long as I’ve known how to. Someday, I’ll share with you some of the first stories I wrote in second grade. They are of course, beyond horrible, but they’re pretty funny.
But even though I’ve always written, I’d never, ever considered a career as an author. In hindsight, maybe I should have, but I focused on education and youth work, and worked in those fields for over a decade. Through it all though, I kept writing, just for myself.

I’d have to go back and check my files, but Nightblade was either the second or third full-length novel I wrote. However, it was the first one I liked. But even after writing it (in 2012), I didn’t even consider publishing it. It was just a good story. I wrote another novel afterwords, which was also horrible.
To make a long story of discovery short, I came upon the Self-publishing podcast. I read their first non-fiction work, Write, Publish, Repeat, and for the first time I thought to myself that perhaps there was something to this idea of independent publishing.

After a substantial amount of debate with myself, I made the decision to go independent. There were a few reasons for this.

First, I hadn’t really expected to make a career out of it. I was dissatisfied with my other work in life and was looking to figure out how to work from home, but I was focused much more on consulting and freelance writing. I figured if I could make an extra $50-$100 a month through Amazon, why not? Being as I wasn’t looking at making a career out of it, I figured there was no point going through the traditional publishing cycle of rejection. I’d just make something as nice as I could and put it out there.

Second, I liked the idea of control over your work and your success. With independent publishing, there’s no one else to blame but yourself. I got to pick the cover and decide how the story ended. Anything good or bad about the book is entirely in my hands – and I liked that idea.

Finally, I liked the idea of connecting with fans directly. With independent publishing, there’s no one between me and readers, and I thought that was great.
To say the story took some twists and turns is an understatement, but I’m glad I went independent!

Cheers,

Ryan

Filed Under: Behind the Scenes, Essays Tagged With: #poweredbyindie, amazon, indie publishing, Nightblade, Nightblade Trilogy, publishing, self publishing podcast, self-publishing, Waterstone

Release date set for The Wind and the Void!

March 23, 2016 by Ryan 11 Comments

It’s been a very busy month over here at Waterstone Media, and I continue to be really excited about what 2016 holds.  But I’ll get right to the point today:  I can finally commit to a release date for The Wind and the Void!
The Wind and the Void should be live on Amazon on Saturday, March 26th.  Like World’s Edge, it will debut at $2.99.  On Tuesday I will raise the price to its regular price of $3.99.
I think that’s all for now.  I’ll let everyone know once the title is live, but for today I’ll leave you with this – the cover for The Wind and the Void.
audio book cover - The Wind And The Void - Ryan Kirk
With gratitude,
Ryan

Filed Under: News & Announcements Tagged With: Nightblade, Nightblade Trilogy, The Wind and the Void, World's Edge

Inspiration

December 14, 2015 by Ryan 8 Comments

Not long ago on Twitter, I received an awesome question from a reader who really enjoyed both Nightblade and World’s Edge.  They were asking where the inspiration for the stories came from.  I did my best to answer in 140 characters or less, but felt like it was worth saying a little more.

The first fact to realize is that I’m very much a fan of science fiction and fantasy.  Historically, I’ve actually read much, much more science fiction.  It’s only in the past few years that I’ve really started to dive deeper into fantasy.  Not only do I read a lot, but I’m also interested in movies and television series.  It’s probably safe to say that everything I’ve read and watched has had some effect on my writing.  The strongest influences directly related to Nightblade are probably Lian Hearn and Takashi Matsuoka.  Both are authors that have written stunning books taking place in Japan or a Japan-like culture.  I was probably watching too much Rurouni Kenshin at the time too (I wrote the story several years ago, so it’s hard to remember).

When I first started writing the story, Ryuu was the only Point-of-View character.  I was interested in writing a story about what happens to a person when they discover they have a great power.  I’ve always been fascinated by how people react to being powerful, and I wanted to see how a character would react if they discovered this power at a relatively young age.

From those beginnings a story about the sense was born.  As I was writing Ryuu’s encounters with Moriko the monk and Takako the prostitute, I realized I wanted to know them more, and went back and found their stories as well.

I hope that more thoroughly answers the question.  If there’s anything else you’d like to know, just let me know in the comments below!

With Gratitude,

Ryan

Filed Under: Essays Tagged With: Nightblade, Nightblade Trilogy, World's Edge

News, News, News!

November 18, 2015 by Ryan 6 Comments

Good Day y’all,

I’m sorry that I’ve been so silent lately.  Life here at Waterstone has been crazy busy, and I’m looking forward to a short break here.  That being said, I’ve got a ton of announcements to make.  In the coming days I’ll maybe do a longer post on some of these, but here goes!

  1. World’s Edge is currently out for presale.  It will be on presale until the 20th, when it is actually released.  I’ve been blown away by the response so far, and I hope you all enjoy it!  I should mention that if you want World’s Edge, now is the best time to get it, because it’s on sale.  I will let it stay on sale for a few more days, and then I’ll be bringing it up to its regular price, probably on the 22nd.
  2. My other big news – Nightblade is now an audiobook!  This is something that I’ve been really, really excited by.  It has been narrated and produced by Andrew Tell, who is a wonderful gentleman who did an amazing job bringing the world to life.  I’m incredibly grateful for his work, and I hope that those of you who are fans of audiobooks will enjoy it.
  3. I’m in the process of finishing the paperback version of World’s Edge.  Look for it to be up on Amazon in the next week or two.

Other than that, in a week or so here I will be starting edits on The Wind and the Void, the conclusion to the Nightblade Trilogy.  I expect that the process is going to take me quite a while, but I’m very excited to get to work on it.

Thanks again to everyone for reading, and I hope that November is treating you all well!

Ryan

Filed Under: News & Announcements Tagged With: Nightblade, Nightblade Trilogy, The Wind and the Void, World's Edge

World’s Edge Update

October 4, 2015 by Ryan 2 Comments

Happy Sunday Everyone!

I’ve been receiving a lot of questions about World’s Edge, and I’d like to take a moment to update everyone on what’s happening here behind the scenes.

First – we have a book cover!  I’m really excited about this cover, and while there still may be a few small changes to the design, this is more or less what it’s going to look like.  The homepage has been updated with the image as well.

World Edge

Second – as far as a release date goes, I want to be as honest as possible.  Right now I’m expecting to have the book out by the end of October.   Right now we are in the middle of the fourth round of edits.  The editing process has been harder than anticipated, but I’m excited to have the book out soon.  I’ve thought about putting the book up for pre-order on Amazon, but I’ve elected not to.  I want to make sure the book is in the best possible shape before it gets put up.

As always, thanks to all of you for all of your support the last few months – it’s been an incredible journey, and I hope to continue it with you all!

Keep Reading,

Ryan

Filed Under: Behind the Scenes, News & Announcements Tagged With: Nightblade, Nightblade Trilogy, World's Edge

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