Dylan’s Thoughts

One thing you might notice about the Broken Typewriter Press covers is that each authors has their own visual style. This is true with the contents also, from the fonts chosen to how the individual chapter pages look. There is no BTP “style” as it were, only author styles.

This is intentional, mainly because of my own experiences with being published. My first publications were with small presses that did everything for me. Once they accepted it, I really didn’t get to see the results until the final printed version showed up in my mailbox. I had no say on the cover, layout, or even chapter plates. In one book, which was set in the desert (I appear to really like deserts), the chapters all had spiderwebs decorating the numbers. It would have been fine with it except there wasn’t a single spider in the novel nor were there spiderwebs. It didn’t fit. The cover had the same problem, it had nothing to do with the book itself.

I didn’t enjoy that lack of participation. With BTP, we don’t do that. Authors have feedback because they own the work, it is their baby. I want them to be absolutely happy with the results, Of course, it means going back and forth (sometimes quite a few times) until it settles, but in the end, I want them all to be able to hold a book up and say “I did this and I love it.”

Spotlight on Dylan

This month, the spotlight is on Dylan Moonfire and his recently completed serial, Sand and Ash.

There are many ways to die in the desert.

In the Mifuno Desert, the dead walk among the living. Their hearts still beat in their chests and their breath passes across their lips, but the living refuse to acknowledge their existence. The banyosiōu are the social outcasts, the unclean, and those who were rebuked from their clan because of unforgivable transgressions.

Rutejìmo couldn’t imagine that a decade-old crush on the woman who almost killed him would cast him among the ranks of the banyosiōu. His clan never accepted him keeping her in his thoughts but he didn’t fear being thrown out or attacked by his own family.

That changed when a young woman began to emulate his ways. Before he knew it, Rutejìmo was thrown on a path that will have him racing toward death or into the arms of a woman he never forgot.

Sand and Ash is the second of a trilogy about Rutejìmo’s life. It is a look into the difficult life of living in the Mifuno Desert, the challenges of finding one’s place, and the fatal consequences of love.

If you are looking for a high-fantasy story with hints of steampunk and a rocky romance, you might consider checking this out.

Sand and Ash was released as a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA licensed serial with weekly postings usually on Wednesday morning. It was funded by his patrons who have access to this, the sequel, and the previous novel (which is going to be the next weekly serial).

In the next month or two, we will be going through the final edits, polish, and a cover finalized. While the ebook will remain free, we will be charging for the print version.

Last Month

• Shannon Ryan was on Unreliable Narrators’ E’Ville, a radio play about a sleepy port town during the Prohibition.
• Dylan and Cassie Leigh both participated in interviews for a TV show that is being packaged up and offered to a network. If it broadcasts, we’ll tell everyone about it.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, April 9

• Cassie is going to be at the Romance Rendezvous II from 2 to 5 PM in Cedar Falls, IA.

Saturday, April 30

• Cassie is also going to be at the North Iowa Book Bash from 9 AM to 4 PM in Clear Lake, IA.

Friday, May 27 through Sunday, May 29

• Dylan will be at WisCon participating in various panels. The actual panels will be listed once they show up.

Thursday, October 27

• Dylan and Shannon will be participating in the author signing for ICON at Barnes and Noble.

Store

We have just created an online store. It has all of the print books and every digital book that isn’t currently an exclusive deal over at Amazon. Every printed book comes with the digital version, if available, and you can request it be signed by the author. If one of the digital books ceases to have an exclusive deal with Amazon (we know Kindle Unlimited is hard to resist), we will retroactively make it available for anyone who buys a printed version directly from our store.

Also, you’ll get the latest version of the digital books in EPUB and MOBI format. So if we have to update it, you can just grab the newest version from your account page.

Survey

Like last month, we have a small survey asking about social networks. None of the questions are required. At the end of it, you can enter for a chance at a five dollar coupon at our online store, good for any Broken Typewriter Press book or service. Coupons don’t expire.

The drawing will be done on the fifteen of April.

Final Words

Please consider visiting our authors’ websites, check out their books and checking out what’s available. You can also visit our store to purchase direct from them, including requesting signed copies.