The Calling begins...Book #1 Qualia has been released!

Hardcover Version Cover

So in about mid December I finished the tenth edit of The Calling Series Book One: Qualia. My first endeavor was to publish in hardcover. I wanted a collector's edition for myself, close friends and family, eventual fans and for people that just dig hardcovers in general! I really wanted a high quality collector's item, and so I got just that! I used a photo of the Shattuck BART station in Berkeley, CA, which parts of Chapter one and three take place. It creates a vortex look, which is an image that has resonated with me for many years beginning with dreams I used to have with an iron spiral staircase when I was a tiny child, to mindless drawings I would doodle during classes as a teenager (and beyond it still happens now in grad school). I took that photograph with my pal Yvette Mangual in early Spring 2010. The one I actually showcased on facebook and deviant art is a different photo, the one for the cover I just had saved in my throw aways until I decided to work on the cover and discovered how perfect it was! Just imagine the cover is Eden's view as he's being carried out of the station, because that's basically the idea I had.

For $32.52 on Lulu you get an original photograph of mine as the cover, the Calling Series Book One: Qualia on high quality paper with a glossy hardcover (kind of feels like a small textbook). I tried to price things as low as I could while still making sure I got something. If you purchase this from Lulu.com I actually get ten bucks, once it is available anywhere else I get like a penny just to give some information on that. You can preview it online to the tenth page, which is the first page of Chapter 1, before purchasing. My Lulu Page.

After Christmas, and doing some research, I embarked on publishing the book on the Kindle. No easy feat I will let you know. I had to brush up on some very old HTML skills. Don't let anyone tell you that someone is taking the easy road by self publishing. Basically you're doing the work of an entire publishing house! However, I feel the experience has been very rewarding. I actually am really proud of the way it looks on the Kindle because I worked so hard on it to make sure the formatting was done well. It isn't perfect, none of the versions are, I learned a lot from doing my own formatting, and I'm excited to improve my skills as I publish more books in the future. So for $1.00 you can read Qualia on the Kindle and Kindle Fire through Amazon.com. The pictures featured here don't do it justice, but taking a picture of the Kindle Fire's beautiful high def screen with an iphone probably isn't the best way to get the best photo of it. You can preview it on your Kindle before purchasing. Also you can download the Kindle app to the iPad or iPhone to read it on those devices.

If you are interested in publishing to the Kindle I'm happy to help, answer any questions etc. I'd even be willing to format it for you for a small fee. If you are a DIY kind of person check out Format Your Ebook For Kindle by Derek J. Canyon.

It has been very important to me that I publish to every format someone might want to read my book on. So on Lulu there is an Ebook publishing option. So I published Qualia in that format as well. It runs on Adobe Digital Editions, which is a free app, and can then be read on any device that isn't a Kindle, so your Apple products, PCs etc. It is available in this format for $1.25.

Qualia in Adobe Digital Editions on my Computer

I did the ePub, Kindle and trade paperback versions of Qualia on one very long Sunday. Once I mastered the Kindle it was really easy to do the rest. I already had a formatted manuscript, the artwork, the backcover blurb and photo, it was just a matter of uploading and checking to make sure I liked the finished product. Since I already was really happy with the hardcover I allowed myself to play with some of the templates for the tradepaper and with some feedback from my fiancee Michelle, decided upon the blue universe looking framework for the cover of the trade paper. I actually kind of like this version the best, it feels right in my hand and really makes me want to curl up on the couch with an afghan and read (although I will admit I've read it in every version, not to check it, but for fun). For  $15.43 you can get the tradepaper at lulu, it is also in the process of being distributed to other online retailers and possibly will be available on request in stores, once I know more I'll of course let the internets know.
           Lastly this week I published to the Nook. Lulu's distribution service took almost two weeks to tell me that Qualia had been rejected for the Nook. It took me 48 hours to publish to the Nook with 2 minor changes to my formatting. So if you're trying to use Lulu's ePub format to publish to the Nook and are encountering problems, try doing it yourself through Pubit, which is the Nook self publishing site, you might be pleasantly surprised with how easy it is. I actually really liked the Barnes and Noble system for uploading my manuscript a little more, there were more options for how to categorize Qualia and it felt more like publishing to me for some strange reason. Perhaps I'm just used to how Barnes and Noble does things since I used to work for them (yes the first chapter is entirely about that time of my life, no that manager is not YOU, or is it?) I don't own a Nook (I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas from my fiancee cuz she's awesome!), but I think it's a really cool device and want people that own one and are interested in my work to be able to read it. So I downloaded the Nook app to my computer and to my iphone to preview Qualia and it looks really nice.

On the Nook previewer for PC

Everyone that has purchased my book or will in the future, thank you. The Calling is something I have to write and publish and experience, there is no getting away from it. I dream asleep and awake about this world constantly and have to say that it is my opus, it is my destiny to complete. It will probably be about six books, or six story arcs, meaning I don't want to publish 6 books at 600 pages each. I like the 300 page mark so if that means the arcs come in two parts etc I'll publish as such, as long as it doesn't mean they won't make sense as a book with a beginning/middle/end that is clear. Thank you again, you're making my dream come true and it means so much to me. Happy to chat with you about it, as a matter of fact I can't wait to!
If you want a signed copy just hit me up with a comment here or on facebook and we'll figure out the details on shipping etc. I'm happy to do that, I mean this is my dream so I frakkin' better be happy to do that right? I also have business cards to advertise for the blog and the book if you want one as a collector's item or want a stack to hand out to people that might be interested, just let me know. Happy to sign one for you too. Glossy prints of the cover can be done up as well if anyone is interested that perhaps wants a signed book but owns it on a Kindle/Nook/Ebook device.
I really hope you take the time to post comments here on the blog and to review my book on any (or all please!) of the sites it is availble. Spread the word, let's keep this indie publishing scene alive!
Thanks to Sharon Shutjer who shouted out on amazon.com for me! Gave Qualia 4/5 stars, hot damn!
"This is a pretty good book for a first time author! It moves very quickly and its full of adventure. Sort of a matrix meets vampire diaries meets hunger games all rolled into one. Good character development. I am looking forward to what he writes next!!! It was entertaining and the fact that the story was based in the bay area made it all the more familiar. Keep up the good work. " - Makes a brother feel gooood.

Thanks everybody, for everything, sincerely,