The Vacant Forge Released

[Darrin Drader]

Just an FYI, I've released either a long story or a short novella called The Vacant Forge, which is the first volume in the series called The Heroes of Gracia.

The Vacant Forge is a fantasy story set in a shared world called the Endlands, which was created by Scott Fitzgerald Gray, and shared by the Monumental Works Group (Monumental Works Group - About).

At $1.99, it is 33 novel-length pages, and is the first in a series of self-contained stories that cover a larger story-arc that will be told weekly in an episodic manner.

When a blacksmith is found dead by his apprentice, it sets in motion a series of events that will reach to the highest levels of power in the port city of Ansti.

Antilos doesn't want to be a hero, but the death of his master compels him to uncover what happened and seek justice.

Tanryn is an animys caster in service of Aheryll who dreams of a life of adventure.

Nalgaar is a rogue who seeks to finally pay off a large debt with one final score.

The Vacant Forge is available for purchase at Drivethru Fiction here: The Vacant Forge - Darrin Drader | DriveThruFiction.com for $1.99.

You can also read more about it on my blog at Blog Darrin Drader.com

 

[Darrin Drader]

And just a follow-up to this, in case you missed the thread in General:

The second episode of Heroes of Gracia, Thunder at Aridas, is available for sale. You can grab it at Amazon for $2.99 here: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Aridas-Heroes-Gracia-ebook/dp/B008CM52G0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1340126184&sr=1-1&keywords=thunder+at+aridas]Thunder at Aridas (Heroes of Gracia 2): Darrin Drader: Amazon.com: Kindle Store[/ame] or you can get it for $1.99 at Drivethru RPG/RPGNow/Drivethru Fiction. I'm offering it at a discounted price to my friends in RPGs first, but two weeks after release, prices will go up to match Amazon.

 

[Darrin Drader]

So, two points:

First: Episode 3 is called The Season of Storms, and is available at Amazon here: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Season-Storms-Heroes-Gracia-ebook/dp/B008FCBU5O/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1340846647&sr=1-3&keywords=heroes+of+gracia"]Amazon.com: The Season of Storms (Heroes of Gracia 3) eBook: Darrin Drader: Kindle Store[/ame]

It's also available at Drivethru Fiction.

Second: This will be the last of the weeklies. So far, while the feedback has been positive from those who have read the novellas I've released so far, but the other main piece of feedback I've had regarding the series is that people still haven't finished reading the first one.

Point taken.

My initial goal was to release a novella a week (Novella being defined as 10,000 words) to professional standards. I also wanted to have one focusing on each of the three main characters as a means of developing them and introducing some of the larger ideas that would come into play later. So far I've been successful with those goals, and the stories break down as follows:

THE VACANT FORGE served as an introduction to the larger series and briefly introduced the main characters.

THUNDER AT ARIDAS focused on the party healer, Tanryn, and the questions of faith that she must face. It also introduced a recurring villain, a tiefling mercenary who is out to collect the bounty on the rogue.

THE SEASON OF STORMS focuses on the party's reluctantly honorable rogue, Nalgaar, and also answers some questions that were posed in parts one and two of the series. There's also a pretty good chance that the plot threads introduced here aren't completely resolved by the end of the story.

Next up, there will be one more story of the length, to be released in two or three weeks (I have a freelance project I need to take care of before I can produce this one). It will focus on the party's warrior and former blacksmith's apprentice, Antilos, and delve deeper into the larger story.

So, with that said, sales trends plus the feedback I just mentioned steer me in a new direction. So, here's what's going to happen after that: first, I'm committed to this experiment of producing episodic content on a regular release schedule. I'm just not as committed to releasing them every week. Instead, starting with episode 5, I'm going to transition to longer pieces (roughly 100 novel-length pages each), which will be released on a monthly schedule. That means that if you've followed this far, you'll be getting more material less often, and at a lower cost per word. The down-side (if this is in-fact a down-side) is that Drivethru pricing and Amazon pricing will be synced. It also means that you can look forward to more story with your story.

I'd like to thank everyone who has followed this effort this far, and I look forward to sharing the rest of the story as it unfolds.