LitRPG & Progression Fantasy w/Matt Dinniman, Shirtaloon, & Abby

January 21, 2024 /

COLOSSUS RISING has risen!

January 2, 2024 /

Colossus Rising

Colossus Rising

 

Available now on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited, Audible, and as a print paperback, this is a sci-fi odyssey you won’t want to miss. In the gripping second volume of this electrifying sci-fi fantasy series, the battle for survival reaches new heights in the unforgiving depths of space.

A ragtag group of escapees hurtles through the vastness of space, pursued by armadas, saboteurs, and kamikaze armies. The Earth they once knew is blocked by the relentless Torth Majority who now threaten all of humanity.

Among the escapees is Ariock, a powerhouse of a gladiator with illegal superpowers, a legacy from his legendary great-grandfather who defied the Torth. Ariock is determined to follow in his footsteps. Then there’s Thomas, a brilliant supergenius, physically challenged but gifted with a mind that’s both awe-inspiring and enigmatic. His resilience is shrouded in mystery, even to his foster sister Vy.

Their common thread is fear of the unknown. Crash-landing on a distant, toxic planet, they discover it’s the ancestral home of the Torth, their galactic enemies. The remnants of the Torth era of origin still haunt this poisoned wasteland.

As they face mutant horrors and relentless galactic foes, Thomas envisions only doom and despair. But for Ariock and the streamship exiles, it’s a do-or-die struggle for survival—a quest to uncover light in a city trapped in eternal night.

With over 750,000 views as a web serial, the Torth series begins with Majority. Superpowered mavericks and supergeniuses vie for galactic dominance against a collective armada composed of 38 trillion personalities. Higher stakes than Red Rising or The Expanse. One of the 100 Best Indie Books of 2023 by Kirkus Reviews.

If you read these books, please rate them or leave a review!

Goodreads: Majority | Colossus Rising

Amazon: Majority | Colossus Rising | World of Wreckage

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Majority by Abby Goldsmith

abbygoldsmith.com/majority

Publication day for MAJORITY

September 5, 2023 /

Today is the day!  I am now a published novelist.

What a journey it has been! I will have more books published, including the sequels to this one, which are already written. But this one is special. It’s the one I spent the most time on. It’s my first novel on Amazon. It’s the one with all the pressure on it, as a series starter. And it’s the start of a series that I stand proudly behind.

Reviews and sales are immensely important to authors. I really appreciate everyone who bought a copy, and those who are planning to write a review, or who already wrote one on Goodreads or Amazon.

If sci-fi isn’t your thing, I would appreciate it if you tell a friend, or perhaps gift it to someone who loves thoughtful sci-fi! For freebies and peeks into my life, you can subscribe to my newsletter.

Thanks for being part of my life!

Majority by Abby Goldsmith

abbygoldsmith.com/majority

Also, I gave a bunch of interviews for this one!  If you’d like to see what I’ve been up to, check out John Scalzi’s blog, Rune S Nielsen’s blog, Jendia Gammon’s substack, Bookishly Jewish, Queen’s Asylum, Bryan Aiello’s YouTube channel, Hinterspace podcast, NFS podcast and a Reddit AMA!

★★★★★ “Engaging from the start, this complex space opera features relatable, believable characters; highly original, meticulous world building; and difficult moral and ethical dilemmas.”

Booklist review

★★★★★ “Thoughtful explorations of morality, altruism, justice and mercy, and the idea that godlike powers come with godlike responsibilities add depth and breadth to this auspicious entry in SF literature’s mutant-superman genre.”

Kirkus review

Signed a 6 book deal with Podium!!!

February 18, 2023 /

I have very incredible and awesome news to share. I’ve signed a 6 book series contract with Podium Audio!!!

My epic 1+ million word Torth series will be coming out in print, ebook, and audiobook editions, probably starting late this year or in 2024.  This is super thrilling for me.  My magnum opus dark sci-fi series is going to hit Amazon & Audible in a big way!  (Books 1 & 2 will be combined.)

I owe it to taking a chance on serialization.  I’m having a blast on RoyalRoad + Patreon.  Feel free to ask me anything.  Now I’m diving into edits! ❤️

If you’re unfamiliar with my Torth series, here’s a brief blurb:

In a galaxy-spanning utopia where societal leaders are networked together for instant communication, nothing goes unnoticed.

There’s no crime. No secrets. No privacy. And no way to escape.

Until Thomas unintentionally captivates the top super-genius influencer.  If he’s going to help his enslaved friends, he’ll need to trick her… plus her audience of thirty trillion mind readers.

And so Thomas’s galactic conquest begins.

A.I. Artwork And Writing: a writer-artist’s perspective.

September 17, 2022 /

From what I’ve seen, A.I. generated artwork has a certain aesthetic to it. Faces are rarely defined. Imagery may be riotously detailed, which gives a superficial impression that it was lovingly worked on by hand for many days, but it lacks a coherent theme. That gives the impression that it is dreamlike imagery, or slap-dabbed together by someone in a creative frenzy. It is a certain look.

Perhaps that aesthetic will always be appealing. But I wonder if it will wear out its welcome? I’m already getting worn out on it. I feel as if I can recognize it when I see it, and it’s not what I want for my finalized novel covers. (Short stories, maybe.)

And I think the same applies to Jasper A.I. and other A.I. writing tools. People who read a lot of blogs and articles are learning to recognize overly emotional language that is incongruously used for conveying generic or low-value content.

I’ve seen A.I. performers, where people pay a service that simulates an actor to read lines. There is an uncanny valley effect with those. The “actor” looks quite human, but they blink a bit too often, and their smiles are quick and small and weirdly constrained.

I don’t know how the arts will adapt to these things. But speaking as a writer-artist, I’m not thrilled about it. I think this is all part of the race-to-the-bottom in the arts. Companies don’t want to pay artists and writers. Now they don’t have to.

The question is: Will the public accept A.I. art and writing as equal to the real thing? Or will they tune it out eventually? Will they tend to gravitate towards art and writing created by real people? Or will enough people fail to see the difference, or fail to care, so that the money flows towards A.I. tools more than it flows to human writers and artists?

Epic Series Writers group

March 24, 2021 /

A lot professional advice aimed at novelists doesn’t quite apply to writers of epic series. Everything about a major series is different from stand-alone novels. The approach, plotting, and methodology are different. The pitching, audience building strategies, and marketing are different.

I want a place where we can find on-target advice and support, without needing to dig through a morass of posts aimed at other types of novelists. So I made a focus group.

Epic Series Writers on Discord

Epic Series Writers on Facebook

Come join if you write epic series! Lurkers are welcome, but I want this group to stay very focused on the unique challenges and concerns of writing a series with 3+ books, totaling more than 150,000+ words collectively, that has to be read in the correct order.

Written Serialization Hubs

September 22, 2020 /

Where can you reach readers with your written serialized fiction? Here’s a list.

NON-EXCLUSIVE SERIALIZATION PLATFORMS with MONETIZATION OPTIONS

 

NOT MONETIZED SERIALIZATION and CRITIQUE FORUMS

 

MONETIZED ONLY / ROYALTY-PAYING SERIALIZATION

 

And what if you want to self-host?

PAYWALL HELP FOR WEB SERIALS / SELL ADVANCE CHAPTERS

 

FANFIC FOCUSED SERIALIZATION

    • Ao3 / Archive Of Our Own (popular fanfic site with a section for original fiction, apply to join)
    • Quotev (old community)
    • FictionPress (pre-dates Wattpad, may want exclusivity)
    • Mibba (section for original fiction, young writers)

 

NON-ENGLISH / FOREIGN SERIALIZATION MARKETS

    • Belletristica (mostly German)
    • Pratilipi (Indian)
    • Novello (Hong Kong)
    • Joara / Full Novels (Japanese)
    • Honeyfeed (Japanese)
    • KakaoPage (Korean)
    • Snack Book (Korean)
    • Bagle (Korean)
    • BookWalker
    • Livory (German, owned by Tapster)
    • MoboReader (Changdu’s English outreach, requires application)
    • CreativeNovels.com (webnovel translation site, requires application)
    • WuxiaWorld.com (China webnovels translation)
    • Gravity Tales (China/Korea translation)
    • Scribay (French)

 

EXCLUSIVE / INVITE-ONLY / TOWARDS TRADITIONAL DEAL

    • Galatea (an Inkitt venture)
    • Realm / SerialBox (SFF audio, hard to get in)
    • FierceReads (rebranded Swoon Reads, Macmillan YA sourcing site)
    • ThePigeonHole (sources from trad publishers)
    • Boke Technology (romance only)
    • Episodic Reading (2yr exclusive)
    • Alexi Books (sources from trad publishers, looks defunct)

 

CHAT / TEXTING STORIES

    • Hooked.co (texting style stories)
    • Tap by Wattpad (texting style stories)
    • Lure Fiction
    • Viber
    • MessageInk
    • Peep.jp (was Taskey.me; Japanese; crowd-sourced translation if you serialize for free, texting style stories)

 

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE / BRANCHING STORIES

    • Episode (primarily romance)
    • Scripts: romance episode
    • Sana Stories
    • Dorian ($2m funded, Lionsgate Films)
    • Tales (learning curve)
    • Choice of Games / Heart’s Choice
    • 4thewords.com (Costa Rica based, international)

 

SKETCHY / SCAMMY / POSSIBLY ABANDONED

    • Webnovel (China, Qidian’s English site) and Boxnovel
    • Tencent / Qidian.com (huge serialization platform in China; they may take all rights)
    • EMP Entertainment and A&D Entertainment (3rd party distributor, Singapore partner for Webnovel)
    • GoodNovel
    • CreativeNovel (foreign, iffy on rights)
    • NovelHD (steals stories from Wattpad) owned by contabo.de
    • Foxteller (ghost town, may be iffy on rights)
    • HiNovel (rights grabby, contact [email protected])
    • iReader, Fictum, Bytedance Group (reports of selling work without permission, Writer Beware)
    • NovelFull
    • EStory (grabby contract)
    • authorbitz (founder: Lucinda Hawks Moebius, looks abandoned)
    • www.orton.io (sketchy w mispellings)
    • Movellas (looks sketchy, possible plagiarism?)
    • taylz.com (short fiction critique site, free, UK-based)
    • 2Tale (may be abandoned)
    • EGlobal Creative Publishing
    • Tapfun PTE
    • BabelNovel
    • Libri (will take all your rights)
    • BravoNovel (theft)
    • Friver group
    • NovelBee (plagiarism)
    • BeeNovel (red flag, they steal)
    • NovelCat
    • LITeReader (nonpayment)

 

CLOSED / DEFUNCT

    • Curious Fictions
    • LitHive.com (fanfic)
    • Describli (seeking backers on IndieGoGo)
    • ReaderCoin (audio focus)
    • Sweek
    • JukePop Serials (crowd-funded)
    • SparkaTale
    • WriteOn (Amazon; more like a critique group)
    • Book Country (Penguin Random House; more like a critique group)
    • Authonomy (HarperCollins)
    • CloudyPen
    • Figment
    • Story Pony
    • Readitt.com

It’s 2018? Holy Crap, Life Got in the Way.

January 1, 2018 /

Happy New Year! It’s 2018, and I’ll turn forty in a few weeks.

Some of my peers have enjoyed major leaps forward in their career, or their family, during the past year or two. I don’t feel as if much has changed for me. That’s a frustrating feeling. When I look back at what I accomplished in a year, it doesn’t seem like enough. I finished the final draft of Book 1, and I’m halfway through finalizing Book 2. I also began writing Book 6. I’m on track to finish my enormous epic series this year or next.

But where’s my audience? Shouldn’t I be building my readership? How do I expect to compete with the millions of other SFF authors who are busy promoting and cross-promoting?

Yeah. That’s what I need to work on.

If you are one of my readers, please understand how grateful I am. My blog posts sometimes veer into naked angst, as I’m on the journey to becoming an “authorpreneur,” or self-made author. My heroes are Scott Sigler, Hugh Howey, Andy Weir, Drew Hayes, Michael J. Sullivan, and a bunch of other self-made authors who built an underground following and made it into the mainstream. I want a career like theirs. I write epic sci-fi and fantasy, and I’m confident that I’ve got something original and unique, and, well, exceptionally good. But proving that is different from doing it. There’s writing books, and then there’s selling books, and those two endeavors are not the same.

Before I publish Book 1, I need to send out ARCs (advanced reader copies), and ask for reviews and endorsements. I need to firm up my launch plan and set a date. I need a good cover artist, and I need to find a good audiobook narrator. I want to hire a virtual assistant to help me with ads and promo and newsletter activities. I’m afraid of blowing a lot of money on the launch, only to have the whole series fizzle and die along with my author career. This launch will be the culmination of decades of hard work, for me. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime risk. I’ll publish other series, but I doubt I’ll ever put this much effort and stress into one again.

You can help by asking for a copy of the first book of my series. It has an ending, so even if you’re not a series reader, you’ll still get a kick out of it, especially if you have any interest in exploring crowd psychology through a SFF lens. I’ll be happy to send you a free e-book version, in exchange for an honest review when I hit the “publish” button.

Here’s a few highlights from my past year:

  • I enjoyed a vacation in South Korea, right when all those nuclear threats were flying around.
  • I visited New Orleans for the first time, during the French Quarter Festival.
  • I made a few dollars worth of passive income, through RedBubble, 3DExport, and TurboSquid. I only have a few illustrations and 3D art assets for sale, so it’s cool whenever someone buys one, because I know they’re a random browser who doesn’t know who I am.
  • I’m very proud of the short story I have published in the Futuristica sci-fi anthology. This is one of my best.
  • I got into trading cryptocurrencies, and it looks like I may make a few extra hundred or thousand dollars, although nothing is guaranteed in the crypto underworld. It’s a lot more exciting than investing in stocks, since it’s so volatile, with so much mystique.

And a few things upcoming in 2018:

  • I’ll have an article published by Writer’s Digest.
  • I’m going to get a Lasik consultation. Since my eyesight is -10, I probably won’t be eligible for the surgery, but I’m curious about new alternatives, such as lens implants.
  • My travel plans include the Cayman Islands, thanks to the awesome company where I work.
  • And I’m likely going to take a trip Europe later this year, possibly to Scotland, or to Austria.
  • I’m still co-hosting the Stories for Nerds podcast, but I’m considering attempting something strange and new on Twitch.tv.
  • I will try my best not to let being forty years old and single get me down. Treasure what you have.

Interview by Brian Donald Wright

September 23, 2017 /

Thanks to Brian Donald Wright for the interview. There are some tidbits in here that I don’t usually share on social media.

Direct Link

Torth Series
© 2024 Abby Goldsmith DBA Fiery Press