sierralee
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March 8 Update: TBS Release
🕑 Added 2020-03-08 21:58:19 +0000 UTCUnusual post this week! I hope I can ask your attention for something a little outside the ordinary.
Normally I try not to ask you guys for much extra, because your support already forms the bedrock of my career. I'm grateful to all of you who go the extra mile writing reviews or recommending my work, but just the fact that you're playing means a lot to me. Requesting more on top of that doesn't usually feel right.
I'm going to ask this time, however. Please consider taking a look at my newest venture: an epic fantasy series titled The Brightest Shadow. If you can afford the book (it's $2.99 for over a thousand pages), it would mean a lot to me if you grabbed a copy. If you think it's worth a review on Amazon or Goodreads, that would be fantastic. Amazon actually shows international reviews now, so your country is no longer as important a factor.
I expected TBS to have as slow a start as TLS, but it's actually done much better than I expected over the first few days. I'm fighting to stay at the top of lists, however, so your help would be much appreciated. This is something I've poured an immense amount of love into. The first book is obviously just one book, but as a whole the story is one of the few I'd say will equal to TLS in size and complexity.
I'm in a position where I can do pure passion projects, but recently I've been reminded how important it is to find the right audience. I've immensely enjoyed having all of you interested in my work on TLS, and I'm hoping TBS can also finds its audience.
Anyway, the synopsis and other stuff are at the main link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0856ZMG9Z/
If you want to support me for free, you could also check out these lore posts I've made on a couple of subreddits in the hope of getting a bit more attention:
Okay, that's enough begging. As always, I'm very grateful for everyone supporting me and I'm eagerly anticipating moving forward with TLS and everything else!
Comments
Sierra Lee
Glad you're enjoying it! If you ever notice a typo or other error, feel free to mention it. They may be intentional, but they could also be errors I very much want to fix! Creating things is really my passion. When I'm feeling tired from one project, I often work on another, or I fiddle with side projects in my spare time. ^-^ I hope this can be one of my core long term projects, though.
Gotta say I'm only about 30% through the book right now but its pretty good. I noticed a few errors in punctuation but nothing major. I just want to know how the hell you found time to do this and work on your other stuff.
Sierra Lee
The paperback is approved, though right now it can only be accessed via this direct link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085RPXGRG Sorry about the price, and the fact that I can't actually check this one myself.
onepot
Oh wow, thanks Sierra! :o I didn't mean to pressure you into anything, just expressed my disappointment, sorry. Dark Art's suggestion isn't bad at all either. But I guess now the ball is rolling, and if Amazon approves, I'll definitely buy it there of course. Again, sorry for causing you trouble, and I really appreciate your effort! :) EDIT: And once again I fail to add to the existing comment chain. Sorry. ^^
Sierra Lee
I did what I could for 90 minutes, but Amazon is being difficult. It turns out there's a maximum page number for their paperbacks but that isn't made at all clear by their error messages. I'm sorry, man, I really tried. The best I could do is the paperback with oddly small text, but I'm afraid that would be a bad experience.
onepot
Oh, okay. Not sure anymore, but I'd thought you'd said there would definitely be a print version. ;( I was really hyped for the story, not sure though if I'll put up with reading something of that length on the screen though.
Sierra Lee
Your support is very much appreciated! I'm not sure about a print version, to be honest. A book this long would be prohibitively expensive by Amazon's POD option.
onepot
There, bought one though I'll never read it in that format. When will the print version be available?
Sierra Lee
Thanks for your support! This one is more epic fantasy than my previous books, but I hope you enjoy it!
Cannali
Just picked it up the other day so i'm going to try to make some time to read through it. I've read a few of your other books so i'm excited to see what this one has in store.
Sierra Lee
Haha, I hope it keeps you safe inside! Your support is very much appreciated. ^-^
Jeffrey Lebowski
Just bought a copy! I meant to read it back when you released it for $10 patrons a while ago, but life has been super busy. However, as a Washingtonian I now have a bunch of free time for *some* reason (cough cough). Will leave a review when I finish it.
Sierra Lee
Thanks! I'm most happy that you enjoyed the book, of course, but I hope the review situation gets worked out, because the book is in need of them...
Darthjake
Read it, loved it, reviewed it. Sadly I messed up on the header of the review and my amazon account refuses to acknowledge that I have any reviews at all, so I can't edit it. :( Anyway, I went and have got and finished Changing Faces, and will probably tear through Raising Allies tomorrow.
Sierra Lee
Thank you! I hope you enjoy the book when you have time, but I really appreciate your support meanwhile. ^-^
Badger66
Alright, got the book. I will add it to my ever increasing list of books I want to read.
Sierra Lee
It certainly wouldn't hurt!
Decanter
A simple Reddit search for "The Brightest Shadow" (with quotes) returns mostly other threads discussing or reviewing the book; upvoting or engaging with these might also be a way to support?
Sierra Lee
More so than most other industries, I believe. The commercial success of movies is decided in a few opening weekends and the first month of game sales dwarfs later years, but publishing works much slower. I've heard that some epic fantasy publishers only start judging overall profitability a year after release (some subgenres, like YA, move faster). There's also a strong series effect. Most of the series that consistently hit the NYT bestseller list didn't do so at first, only after several books came out. Books are also more prone to late surges, such as the Witcher suddenly becoming one of the bestselling series due to the adapation, decades after publication. That said, the first month is the only period of time in which I get additional promotion from Amazon. Organizations like audiobook publishers will use that to judge offers, it will establish the early reviews, and it is often a test of viability. TBS made a pretty good splash over the first weekend, but right now it doesn't look like it will keep selling based on nothing but the algorithm the way Street Cultivation did.
Decanter
>I expected TBS to have as slow a start as TLS, but it's actually done much better than I expected over the first few days. This makes me a bit curious about the industry - do books become "sleeper hits" or "cult classics" the way movies or games sometimes do, such that it would be realistic to expect TBS to slowly gain notice and profitability over months or years?
Sierra Lee
The description at my book link is the best long description, but a shorter one: it's a wuxia-based epic fantasy novel. It's not safe for kids, but not NSFW.
Sierra Lee
Thanks, hope you enjoy!
Even
what's the book about? and is it NSFW?
VC
Just bought the book. Look forward to reading it.
Sierra Lee
I really appreciate it. ^-^
Sierra Lee
Thank you very much!
Darthjake
LOL there is a length TLS thread there too.
WaxerRed
I'll pray for your success in this with all my heart! And would you be comfortable in me mentioning this book to places like f95 zone? It's a pirating site (though don't worry it's not me giving the links) but despite that some of them do seem like good people interested in your works. They might not be able to afford monthly patron but if left a link they might be likely to give a book a try. Though I understand if you want to say no to keep your NSFW and SFW separated.
LOLtohru
Congrats Sierra! I tried to do my part by posting a review earlier: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/fff1hp/spoilerfree_review_the_brightest_shadow_isnt/ It didn't get much attention. T_T Please upvote if you think it's any good!
Darthjake
Got it, will leave a review once I've gotten into it.
