Publishing – Page 9 – Sharon Lee, Writer

Barnburner and Gunshy were first published by SRM Publisher LTD in 2002 and 2006, respectively. Barnburner was also published as an ebook by Embiid, in 2002.

Both books are available as ebooks, from the Usual Suspects, and as paper books from Amazon. They concern the adventures of one Jennifer Pierce, a native of Baltimore, who has inherited her aunt’s house in Wimsy, Maine.

Sharon Lee introduces us to Wimsy, Maine…a world built with the same attention to character, story, and setting that we have long expected in the Liaden Universe® books. Like all her books, this one is a keeper… — Modean Moon, author of RWA RITA Award winner The Covenant

Carpe Diem Book Day!

Y’all know what today is, right?

Right!

It’s Book Day! Carpe Diem by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller in an all-new paperback edition, with brand-new cover art by David Mattingly!

Carpe Diem was the third Liaden Universe® novel EVER published, appearing. . .

First! as a Del Rey mass market original in October 1989, cover art by Stephen Hickman.

Second! as part of the three-novel compilation, Partners in Necessity, in February 2000, cover art by Michael Herring.

Third! as a mass market from Ace Books, in February 2003, cover art by Michael Herring.

Fourth! as part of two-novel compilation, The Agent Gambit, from Baen Books, in January 2011, cover art by Alan Pollack.

Fifth! as a mass market paperback from Baen Books, today, February 25 2020, cover art by David Mattingly.

That’s 31 years of active publishing life, which is pretty dern amazing.

So! Let’s raise a glass to Carpe Diem!

On a related note — today’s publication of Carpe Diem means that the First Three Books, which is All The Liaden there was for seven-or-ten years (depending on if Steve’s counting or I am) are all in print in the same format, and in stores, now. So this is the perfect time to do needy friends a favor and introduce them to Val Con, Miri, Edger, Shan, Priscilla, Mrs. Trelu, Hakan, Kem, and all the rest of the people who live in: Agent of Change, Conflict of Honors, and Carpe Diem.

Eeeh-HAH, Book Day! Always exciting. Even after so many years.

Progress on paper edition of GATE

I have pushed the button in Amazon’s back room to publish the paper edition of THE GATE THAT LOCKS THE TREE: ADVENTURES IN THE LIADEN UNIVERSE® NUMBER 30, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.

Amazon will now review the book to make sure that it meets their stringent quality standards, and if it does, it will arrive on a catalog page, and be available for purchase.

Patreon new story, and newly released stories

News for Patrons and The Public.

For Patrons, a new post, Sharon reading The Vestals of Midnight.

Free for All, several stories have just been unlocked.

Go to this link and scroll down. patreon.com/leeandmiller

Pre-orders Open: The Gate that Locks the Tree

The ebook edition of That Gate that Locks the Tree: Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 30, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, is now available for preorder from:

Amazon
BN
Kobo

The ebook edition will be released on Wednesday, February 19. At that time, it will also be available from Baen.com.

The paper edition is delayed. I apologize, but we have some quality control concerns which made it necessary for me to order in a paper proof, rather than relying on an electronic proof.

The Gate that Locks the Tree is an original, never-before-seen Liaden Universe® novella.

New Liaden chapbook in the works

Today is entering the corrections into the manuscript of The Gate that Locks the Tree, destined to become Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 30. As I open the manuscript, it is 16,200 words thick — that is, according to SFWA, a novelette.

The cover price for our last chapbook, Shout of Honor, Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 29 was (and is) $4.25 for ebook; $8.00 for paper. We anticipate no increases in cover prices at this time.

There is a better than 50% chance that this title will be collected at some point, into Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume Five, if Baen is willing.

There has lately been some confusion about the honor of authors and the requirements of readers.

I will attempt to clarify.

RE AUTHORS:

There is no dishonor in publishing our own stories independently; we’ve been doing it since 1997 (this time).

There is no dishonor in our charging such cover price as we find good.

There is no dishonor in selling reprint rights so that a publisher may bring X-number of indie-pubbed stories into a “collected works” edition.

There is, in fact, no dishonor in trading the products of our skill for money. That’s what authors do.

RE READERS:

There is no dishonor in purchasing books, for whatever reasons seem good to you.

There is no dishonor in declining to purchase a book for whatever reasons seem good to you.

There is no dishonor in waiting for the collection.

There is no dishonor in not caring to read shorter works.

RE THE CONTRACT BETWEEN AUTHOR AND READER:

The authors put the stories out there, as an opportunity to readers.

Readers decide whether and when they wish to take advantage of this opportunity.

I hope this helps.

And now — to work! See y’all on the flipside.

I was raised in the canebreak by an ol’ momma lion

So, suddenly and with only a little bit of warning — we’re busy.

Well. I’m busy.

Steve was already busy. Being lead on a novel comes with an “I’m busy” card. Plus, he’s already recorded a short story for Patreon. Here’s the link.

Me, though, I had a couple things on my plate — getting the taxes ready for the accountant, a short story that may come under contract a little further down the line, that Archers Beach universe story I’ve been thinking about, the next novel after Steve’s got done with his two. Also, I’d been thinking about another Liaden story or two, for inclusion in a new chapbook. So — work, but not a lot of work.

And then? I started going through the “cope with this after you’ve healed” folder on my desk, and I discovered that I had some splinters for eventual posting on Splinter Universe (there’s one up now, with author commentary, at this link).

The rest of the splinters in hand are Liaden in nature, and the plan is to get them up in a more-or-less leisurely manner. First, I have to do something about the color scheme at Splinter Universe.

Then, Steve had finished drafting a story that Would Not Be Quiet just before my foot got rebuilt, and I put it aside to read until I was back on both feet. That story — “The Gate that Locks the Tree In: A Minor Melant’i Play for Snow Season” — is destined to become a chapbook, Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 30.

So, this is what’s lined up, so far:

1 Do the taxes
2 Edit, format, put on sale “The Gate That Locks the Tree In”
3 Write short story
4 Fix Splinter Universe template
5 Plot and write Archers Beach story
6 Type in Liaden snippets/write author commentary for each
7 Plot and write story(ies) for Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Number 31
8 Post Liaden snippets
9 Plot and write Liaden novel
10 Confer with Steve over producing possible “outtake” chapbook

So, that’ll keep me busy for a while, I guess.

And now you’re up to date.

Today’s blog title brought to you by Tennessee Ernie Ford, “Sixteen Tons.”

Family Portrait

Those who have been with us for a while will recall that, back in 2012, Steve and I pitched five books to Madame at Baen, the so-called Five Book Dash.

Well, in the Way of Things Lee and Miller, the Five Book Dash became a Six Book Dash, and just yesterday, we got the cover art for the sixth book — Trader’s Leap — in the mail.

All art by David Mattingly.

Here’s a family portrait:

Accepting the Lance National Bestseller

Bookscan reports that Lee and Miller’s Accepting the Lance, the 22nd novel set in their Liaden Universe®, debuted on its bestseller list at the Number Three position, behind Dead Astronauts, by Jeff Vandermeer; and Rebecca Roanhorse’s Star Wars novel, Resistance Reborn.

Lee and Miller extend their thanks to all Liaden Universe® readers — give yourselves a hand!