I think maps in fantasy books are important. That’s why I thought I was way past due on including some in my own books.

Jared Blando of The Red Epic site is the illustrator I commissioned to produce my maps. He came highly recommended and I don’t think he disappointed.

Below is the map to go along with The Five Elements. What do you think?

Full descriptions of all locations and more can be found on the places page at the World of Uhl.

The Five Elements has a 1 star review. It's been out there for a while. I haven't tried to hide it. In fact, I called it out, especially since the person who left it gave away a fairly big spoiler in his review. I went back and forth with Amazon on it. The review's still there, unaltered, so you can guess how that went.

***** SPOILER WARNING ******

At this point I have to issue a spoiler warning. If you haven't read The Five Elements then I have to first ask, why not? One reviewer said "the pace is rapid and there's a dizzying array of twists and turns". Another called it "vibrant and entertaining" and said it "far surpassed my expectations". Also, "I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next". It's a blend of pseudoscience, alchemy, and elemental magic with a varied cast of deep characters. It's usually $2.99 or less, too. You should go buy it now.

In any case, there are spoilers below. You've been warned.

***** SPOILER WARNING ***... [More]

The past couple of weeks I've highlighted two ways in which readers can get my eBooks for less than retail. The first way you get a steep discount. The second, you get a full discount, as in the eBooks are free.

Here's the deals:

1. Get'em for $0.99

The 99 cent method involves heading out to Smashwords and using one of the coupon codes below.

The Five Elements - JJ32F

The Hall of the Wood - EC98E (not for sale currently)

2. Get'em for free

The second way is slightly more complicated because it requires a commitment on your end. But in exchange you get the eBooks for free. The reasoning behind this was discussed in this post, but the gist of it is that in exchange for me sending you either or both of my eBooks in a format of your choo... [More]

There's an easy way to get one of my eBooks for free that's perfectly legit in literary circles. This method also does not violate retailers' review guidelines. How you accomplish this is by agreeing to write and post a review.

Exchanging a free book for a review is really the only legitimate manner in which an author can obtain a review (beyond a person just buying the book and leaving a review themselves, of course). There are other means being employed, though, including some that are outright wrong and others that maybe are a bit borderline. On one hand you have authors who pay people, who in some cases don't even read the book, to leave a review. That's wrong. On the other, you have authors running various promotions including giveaways of, for example, Kindle Fires or Amazon gift cards. This violates the 'free book for a review' guideline of which Amazon explicitly condemns under their "What's not allowed" section:

Reviews ... [More]

My second commitment with KDP Select, where Amazon Prime members can borrow books for free (Amazon pays the author a nice royalty and gives the author the opportunity to make his or her novel free for up to 5 days during the 3 month commitment period), ended a month ago. I chose not to renew this time for a few reasons: (1) The initial "free effect" (as my fellow indie authors were calling it) where an eBook coming off a free run got a nice boost in the sales rankings was wearing off due to some supposed Amazon algorithm changes, (2) the number of borrows per month was steadily declining for me, and (3) I really don't like the exclusivity part of the Select agreement.

The last point basically means that when a novel is enrolled in KDP Select the author cannot sell that novel through any other retailer. No Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo or even selling or serializing the content on one's own web site or blog. This wasn't as much of an issue early on when the money was ro... [More]

Trying another KDP Select promo. Today only The Five Elements is free on Kindle.

Here's some more info:

Hello, If you enjoy character-driven fantasy adventure books, I think you'll like The Five Elements. A recent Goodreads reviewer described it as "reminiscent of Lord of the Rings and The Terminator, combined, with lots of precision and details". Far be it from me to refute such nice words. ;-)

What Readers Are Saying

"I loved the story and it was the perfect combination of elemental magic and adventure." - Ritesh Kala, Ritesh Kala's Book Reviews

"The characters are varied (an eslar mercenary, sorcerers, dwarves, hell hounds, demons, etc), interesting, well-drawn, and the action is nearly non-stop." - Chase, Goodreads reviewer

"A story that doesn't deserved to be missed." - Anna-louise, Goodreads reviewer

"Wow - just wow. Scott blends magical realism, elemental... [More]

There's a lot of discussion amongst both writers and readers about the "correct" price for an eBook. Take 99 cents, for example. Some writers feel 99 cents is too low; you can't make a decent living wage without having to sell an astronomical amount of books. Some readers look on that price as an indication of lack of quality. Others see it as a benefit because they can read more books at less cost. And if a 99 cent eBook isn't good, no big loss. $2.99, in my opinion, is a fairer price for an author. Writing a book is a lot of work. At $2.99, an author makes about $2 per book sold, which is much better than the $0.35 he or she makes on a 99 cent eBook. Typically, I price my eBooks at $2.99 for this reason. While I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon, I feel that the $2.99 price point both rewards my efforts while maintaining a low enough cost for readers that they shouldn't think too hard about making the purchase. I've experimented with highe... [More]