Someone once said, “The only
thing better than a good book is a free good book.”
Starting
today, The Dragoneers eBook versions are joining the throng of free good books
in the universe. Currently, it's free at Smashwords in many formats. Soon,
Amazon will price match and everybody will be able to get it free there, too. For now, we've priced it at 99 cents, the lowest price Amazon will accept until it price-matches.
This price change follows a
major revision of the novel. As great as Susah’s first adventure is, my debut
novel suffered from myriad mechanical presentation errors. Many of my readers told me they hadn’t noticed the errors, but as my writing superpowers
grew stronger, the errors became increasingly obvious to me.
My earnest desire is for all
of my books to join the ranks of good literature. I knew that if Susah’s first great adventure book were to survive the test of time, then I had
to fix the presentation. Literature professors aren’t going to select books
with improper grammar and misspellings for their students, no matter how interesting
the story.
So here’s what I did.
After hunting down and isolating myriad grammar violations isolated, I mercilessly forced them to comply with standard and accepted practices. Two maps of the antediluvian world were added
to help everyone’s situational awareness, and as requested I have included four reference lists:
characters; kinds of people/races; places; and terms of measurements. To help with the books pacing, I morphed thirty-three chapters into thirty-nine.
Since two
sequels have been published since the first edition was released in 2011, both
of those books are mentioned favorably in the back matter. For
people who are new to the series, I have included the first chapter of The Lost Dragoneer to whet their appetites. Don't you know, passing up an opportunity to
I also revised the printed version to keep them congruent. Originally published in single spaced font on bright white page, the
book weighed in at 242 pages. The second edition has a wider, reader-friendly font
spacing on cream-colored paper that pushes the page count to 384, which is about right for a 110,000 word book. Experts say
this format is suppose to be less stressful on the eyes.
Of course, the printed book is not free. That would become quite expensive over time. The great news is that it is available at Amazon and other bookstores.
Because so many changes were
made, a new ISBN was required for the printed version. If you’re interested,
here’s the current number: 978-1-937366-11-7.
If you come upon a printed
copy of The Dragoneers and wonder if it is the new edition or not, you
don’t have to look inside to know. As you can see below, the cover has changed slightly to allow you to
quickly discern.
Here's the old version:
Now, all three books in the series have a consistent cover, and that just makes sense.
Available anywhere good books are sold.
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