Posted By Jason on October 6, 2009
And so it is time for another update.
September has come and gone, with little publicly new I am afraid. Behind the scenes work has been done though, mostly in the area of print layout and networking. I’ve learned how to use a new layout program, which will debut with Demons: A Clash of Steel. Honestly, though, I am excited about it, I hope readers don’t notice any difference.
I met and networked with numerous people at Dragon*Con and have continued doing so via LinkedIn and Facebook. New reviews should be appearing, both of Return of the Sword and Rage of the Behemoth, over the next few weeks. While some who promised reviews have disappeared with nary a reply, others have stepped up and happily replaced them. I’m looking forward to seeing a few in particular.
Financially RBE could be better, but in this economy and this industry, who couldn’t? I am very glad that RBE has always been able to be current with all of its authors and artists. This does not mean that RBE is even remotely near to being in the black. I’ve miscalculated a time or two, and stretched in places where perhaps I should not have. As a small business owner I am aware that the average time it takes to get into the black is five years, and this economy certainly has something to say about that.
Time- and labor- wise, I am close to returning attention 100% (or as much of that as I can possibly ever give as a full time dad and employee) to RBE. The house that has consumed much of my time and resources since June is almost completed. I certainly aim for my parts of it to be done by the end of the month. As for the many hats of RBE I wear, the webmaster has much webmastering to do, the editor has editing to do, the bookkeeper has contracts to draft and submit, the marketer has loads of promotion and sales and advertising to do, and the publisher has a book to layout and get published. Ironically, the editor seems to have the least amount of work to do.
Where are things at?
- Demons: A Clash of Steel Anthology ~ hasn’t changed I am afraid. There are 28 stories beside me that have been hand-edited. 26 of them need to be entered into the computer yet. The forward and transition art is in house, and the contract has been drafted. All I need is an uninterrupted day or two to type in all the edits, fill in all the contracts, and email the lot out. That time is almost impossible to come by.
- Roar of the Crowd: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure ~ The cover is in (and open to feedback from all by the way), and it’s another stunning Johnney Perkins’ piece. Speaking of Johnney’s covers, those he did for Return of the Sword and Rage of the Behemoth are for sale if anyone is interested. We ran a special price earlier in the year, which I’m sure just might be available again someday. Submissions are very, very slowly arriving. In fact, if I were to accept all the stories received thus far, there is not enough to publish the anthology yet. Either that means there will be a lot of tales arriving in November, or I’ll be extending the open submission period come 2010.
- Rage of the Behemoth: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure ~ We’re just halfway through the contributor interviews, so watch for several more exciting replies to the RBE 7-Question Interview. There are numerous copies of the limited cover editions of RotB remaining. It would help RBE greatly if these were to be purchased, so please recommend or consider purchasing them as gifts for those extra-special readers in your lives.
- There are a few other projects I’ve been working on, like a handful of single author collections that can’t be openly discussed just yet. I hope and plan for one to be out yet this year, but there may be other (perhaps better) things ahead for the collection. One special new project I’ve been working on that I’d like to announce is
‘Rogue Blades Presents’ is excited to unveil the latest in RBE anthologies:
Heroicologies
where YOU can build
your own anthology of heroic tales
Heroicologies are a lot like those anthologies from AnthologyBuilder where readers can assemble their own personal anthology. The primary difference is that Heroicologies will consist of nothing but heroic adventure fiction and cover art. Readers will select their own stories and covers from a wide selection of previously published and new works by RBE-approved authors and artists of heroic material.
Always wanted that perfect set of stories
or a collection of your favorite author’s works?
Readers will have 250 pages to fill with up to 12 stories.
Always wanted to choose your own cover
or add that favorite piece of art to your collection?
Readers will have several options for cover art size and location.
Heroicologies will make the perfect gift for family and friends looking for that special book collecting old favorites and new discoveries. Putting together that just-right anthology has suddenly become much easier. Watch for RBE’s Heroicologies coming soon!
*Heroicologies are not yet available. Authors and artists who have worked with RBE in the past are welcome to submit material at any time. Other authors and artists interested in providing material for Heroicologies should use the RBE Heroicology form. Material submitted must be considered heroic adventure in nature and RBE will be the sole judge of each piece. While RBE is predominantly a publisher of heroic adventure fantasy, Heroicologies will not be restricted to just works of speculative fiction. Initial material available for Heroicologies will predominately be that of a speculative nature, but RBE plans to provide all genres of heroic literature (such as Westerns, hardboiled crime, mysteries, war, and espionage) as soon as possible.
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Category: News, RBE, RBE Presents |
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Tags: Anthologies, Covers, Demons, Heroicology, Perkins, RotB, RotC, RotS, State of RBE, Updates
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