EBooks, Suspense, Romance, New Paranormal suspence Series, New Mystery Series, Readers Blog.
Publishing News
Coming in May a new Raymond Hunter Pyle Novel. The Gunny is Historical Fiction set in the Vietnam Era. 1967 and 1968 were seminal years for what would come later in the Vietnam conflict. The Gunny follows the fictional experiences of a Marine NCO through several key actions in the northern provinces. 1967 saw the battle for hill 558 at Con Thien, the hill fights around Khe Sanh, the build up of North Vietnamese troops in the northern provinces and set the stage for the 1968 Tet offensive and the virtual destruction of the Viet Cong as a fighting force in the south. 1968 saw the Tet offensive, the seige of Khe Sanh, and the anhililation of the Special Forces camp at Lang Vei. After a helicopter crash with a group of Marines in the Cental Highlands near Dak To, Frank Evans, a Gunnersmate First Class (E6) in the Navy, decides to join the Marine Corps. But joining the Corps isn't as easy as just requesting an inter-service transfer, regardless of your skill or rank. You are not a Marine until you complete Marine Corps Recruit Training even if your previous rank was E6, equivilant to a Staff Sergeant, and your military specialty is weapons repair, a critical skill in the Corps. Undaunted by the challenges ahead, Frank submits his request. The story is fictional, and certain liberties were taken for the sake of the story, but the USMC and Army units involved, places, environment, timeline, battles, and even events within the battles are as accurate as research could make them. A good read for those who were there and for those who just like a good military adventure story.
With the publication of JOSHUA by Raymond Hunter Pyle at the end of October 2011, the Boone's Branch Landing story (MAYBE[1], CYRIL[2], and now JOSHUA[3]) becomes a series. Set in the east Tennessee mountains, book one, MAYBE, is a romantic suspense story with lots of thrills and just a hint of the spiritual paranormal. Book two, CYRIL, takes the paranormal to a new level when Cyril, a young man who meditates and sees what others can't, arrives in the mountains and meets the Maybe family. Book three, JOSHUA, with a clueless, south Texas cowboy arriving in the Landing, a wayward spirit already there, a black Jaguar that shouldn't be there, and the strange mental powers of Cyril's first child, opens up the paranormal potential of the series. You won't find vampires, werewolves, or the like here. Just lots of action and ordinary people discovering the extraordinary power of the mind.
Welcome to Raymond Hunter Pyle books. Look around, check out free samples of my books if you are so inclined, or comment on blog posts. Got a pet peeve about publishing in general or my books in particular? Here's your chance to vent, praise, or just wax poetic if that's what floats your boat.
So, what is an independent writer? Glad you asked. We write, edit, publish, market, and deliver our work independent of the established commercial publishing industry (and usually at 1/4 the price). I like to think of it as capitalism at its best. We take all the risks and are rewarded only if the market finds value in our work - or if they find our work at all. Freedom's just another word for - well you get the idea. Getting exposure for independent work is difficult.
Until recently, publishing was limited to the high volume print media. And that held true for traditional and Indie publishers alike. The costs were enormous and kept most Indie writers out of the market. Then print-on-demand technology came along and the start up costs for Indies came down. But POD had and still has its own economic disadvantage: single book and small volume printing and shipping is expensive. So, the cost to the reader went up, so much so that POD books are usually priced completely out of the market (my opinion). That's why the POD self publishing industry is called the Vanity Press. Your only customers are likely to be you, your friends, your relatives, or a committed interest group. Nothing wrong with that for certain kinds of books. POD self publishing is a good choice for writers who want a printed copy and who expect narrow or specialized interest. POD publishers are very supportive, helpful, and offer a variety of services that can almost guarantee you will produce a quality book. And the cost to the writer is reasonable. But in my opinion, it's not a viable model for success in the commercial market.
But a new industry is being born as we speak. The popularity of Ebook readers such as Nook and Kindle (and new ones being announced almost monthly), and Ebook retailers and publishers such as Barnes and Noble Pubit, Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader Store, and ibookstore for iPad have stripped off all the non-essential costs and made Indie publishing a viable and potentially profitable market for new authors and an economical choice for readers. Why pay for the cost of material, printing, binding, storage, shipping, shelf space, labor, and a whole host of other production costs? That's what makes up seventy per cent or more of the cost of a printed book. It's the content you want. Think about it. How many paperbacks, or $23 hardbacks for that matter, do you actually keep? Or even want to keep? The classics, a few blockbusters, and some reference books, sure. But if you're like me, very few or none of the rest. Once they are read they end up in a corner or on a shelf for a few weeks until your spouse puts them in a box and takes them to the Hospice Thrift Store. Oh the shame of it. All those dead trees.
Are you like me? Do you read fifty to sixty books a year or would if you could find fifty books being published that are worth reading? But you've already read all the classics, exhusted the supply of books in print by your favorite authors, and your new favorites only produce ten or twelve books a year between them. Welcome to the world of Ebooks and Indie publishing. Buy that Nook, Kindle, or Sony. It will pay for itself quickly. Download a sample chapter and if it interests you, go ahead and click that buy button, the prices are great, and you decide who will be a best seller from all the available books, not just from the books somebody else decides to offer. You are in control. Be an Indie reader.
