T w e n t y S i d e d

EVERYONE is asking me what I think of Mass Effect 3. I’m getting it in Twitter, email, and comments in multiple threads. I don’t think there has ever been a time when this many people wanted to discuss a single game like this. I’ve never seen such a pent-up urge to have a conversation. It’s actually kind of impressive, even if a lot of it is critical.

Sadly, I don’t have the game yet. We just spent a load of money on hardcopies of my book, and the royalties from the first sales won’t show up for another month and a half. (Another thing publishers do for you: They have the resources to solve this particular cash-flow problem.) Not to mention PAX East is coming up.

So, please be patient. It’ll happen. Please don’t post spoilers in the comments. I want to go into this cold. If I know what’s coming, it will blunt the effect, good or bad.

And the next question you’re likely to ask is, “How is the book selling?”

Roughly: Not bad. It’s selling in the hundreds, not thousands, but it’s selling. And other self-pubbing authors are quick to remind me that in self-pubbing, it’s all about the long haul. (The attitude of “Sell ten thousand copies in a month, or die” is a relic of the old system, apparently. Now the goal is, “Sell ten thousand, eventually, and in the meantime keep writing so your books can sell each other.”) The reviews are generally favorable, and I’ve got a few marketing efforts left to do.

Yes, another book is in the works. No, it’s not due soon by any stretch of the imagination. It just hit 25k words, which is the do-or-die point for me. Two years ago I started a book, hit 25k, realized it was a bad idea, and abandoned it. Next I wrote Witch Watch, and when I hit 25k I was thinking, “Yeah. This is working.” This book seems to be going well. So far. I’m not saying anything more about it. Okay you twisted my arm: It’s sci-fi.

And while we’re at it, do any of you have suggestions for sites that would be interested in a review copy of TWW? I’m talking about sites that you personally read and respect. I can google around and find a limitless number of sites willing to accept a free book, but I’d like to know about ones that have some kind of overlap with people who already like what I do here.

So far I have:

Unshelved.

Any other suggestions?

EDIT: The Mass Effect 3 problem has been solved by a nice person making use of the donate button. We’re good now.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.