Who is Emma?
Emma is from Emma's Story "The Fearless Zombie Killer." That story, the only untold tale after the trilogy, appeared in the Untold Tales Volume 3 (and you can get the entire omnibus here ). She was in the original epilogue of the online version of As The World Dies, but I declared it non-cannon. It was pretty much fan service except for Emma's role. I took the nuggets of her story and expanded them for an untold tale. I have always loved her and I'm happy to bring her to the forefront.
I would like to publish the book early next year, but to do so I need your help funding the writing, editing, publication and marketing of After Siege. I'd like to reach a monthly goal $1,000 (I have lowered it due to changes in our living situation). Once I reach that goal, I'll start to exclusively write After Siege. I'll put all other projects aside until it's done.
Now to answer some of your questions:
Q: Why do you need patrons on Patreon?
A: After 3 years of illness, my finances took a hard hit. I’m trying to rebuild my career and need your help to get there. I’m increasing my output now that I’m well enough to do so, and hope to regain the ground that was lost when I was unable to write. Patrons play a vital role in my publishing life. Honestly, they keep me writing.
Q: If you don’t raise the monthly sum, won’t you just write the book anyway?
A: Yes and no. I am writing it, but very, very slowly. If I can raise the full amount I can dedicate all my time to writing After Siege. Otherwise, I have to split my time among multiple projects that will bring in a monthly income. In other words, it will be a lot slower process to publication.
After Siege will take much longer to write than my other novels. After ten years away from the world, I’ll have to reeducate myself on all the ins and outs of the books, take copious notes, reacquaint myself with the characters, and make sure I’m not repeating old storylines. I anticipate a long writing period. And this will impact my monthly income because I won’t have other books coming out. So I’m asking for fans to support me while I write and also help me pay for the publication costs.
Q: Why would the publication costs be different from your other books?
A: I want hire my old editor to edit this book, and I can’t afford her at this time. I trust her knowledge of the world and her skill set. I also want to hire a publicist to help promote the book as wide as possible. I want to advertise the book in as many ways as possible. As The World Dies is my biggest trilogy and I feel a fourth book needs a wide push, especially because it won’t be in bookstores.
Q: What if you don’t raise your monthly goal?
A: I’ll keep writing the books on my schedule and continue to put out exclusive content to my Patrons. I've added After Siege to the rotation, but those chapters take more work. I have to look a lot of stuff up to make sure I don't break continuity with the first trilogy.
Q:Why don't you just have a big publisher publish this book, too? Aren't they banging down your door?
A: I'm self-publishing because my publisher only bought the first three books in the series. My editor is no longer interested in zombies and wants me to write a different type of horror novel. I can't sell additional books in the series to another publisher because it wouldn't make financial sense for them to do so. They'd rather have something new and original from me. If I want to continue the series, I have to do it on my own, so that's why I'm self-publishing After Siege.
I'm a Hybrid writer. I do both traditional and self-publishing. The reason for this is that publishers don't always buy good books. They buy what they feel they can sell. A writer can write a wonderful book, but can be turned down because it doesn't fit the market. By doing both kinds of publishing, I can get all my books in front of my readers.
If you know others who loved As The World Dies, please spread the word! Even $1 is a big help!
Revised 10/12/2018