Josiah Bancroft's Blog - Posts Tagged "arm-of-the-sphinx"

Before publishing Senlin Ascends in February of 2013, I released the three parts of the novel separately over the course of several months. Serializing the book served two purposes. First, it gave Senlin a chance to attract a readership, particularly those readers who prefer to read shorter works published more regularly. And second, it gave readers a chance to tell me what they liked and didn’t like about the direction of the story and the shape of the characters. Much of that advice was invaluable.

With Arm of the Sphinx, Book II in the Books of Babel series, I’d like to repeat that process. So, I will release Arm of the Sphinx in four e-book installments over the course of this year, with a new part arriving every few months. Each installment will be about a hundred pages long and will cost $.99. The complete e-book will be available for $4.99 at year’s end, at which point I will take down the serialized parts. This means that intrepid readers of the serial will get to read the book first and for a dollar less than everyone else.

If you prefer print, don't panic. I'll be real releasing a print version at the end of the year, too.

My hope is that you can help me to spread the word about the Books of Babel. Reviews are appreciated, of course, but if you’d like to share your thoughts with me directly, you can email me at TheBooksofBabel@gmail.com. I’d be delighted to hear from you, even if you aren’t delighted with the book.

Ian Leino, my best friend, is responsible for the fantastic cover art. I asked him to draw the cover in stages, so that with each subsequent release, the cover will evolve from a sketch to a completed image. Visit ianleino.com to see more of his wonderful work.

Thank you for reading!

P.S. The e-book serial will be available on Amazon tomorrow. I will release it on the Nook and Kobo sites next week.

For all you Kindle users, the first part of Arm of the Sphinx is available for download. If you'll recall, Senlin Ascends ended with Senlin and his friends stealing an airship and escaping Finn Goll's tyrannical employment and Commissioner Pound's dread warship.

Part 1 of Book 2 finds Senlin and his friends have had to resort to piracy to survive, though their brand of piracy is not as bold or bloody as most.

Senlin leads his friends and captains the Stone Cloud under the pseudonym "Tom Mudd." Here's an excerpt from the first chapter:

Captain Mudd had a talent for devising unorthodox ways to raid a ship. His crew, to their credit, followed his outlandish direction with hardly a squint.

On one occasion, they had snuck onto a merchant ship under the cover of fog and opened a barrel of cooking oil on the deck. The natural sway of the ship distributed the slick evenly, and the next morning they invaded on spiked cleats while the unsuspecting crew skated helplessly about, trying very hard not to impale themselves on their own swords. On another occasion, Mudd's crew had dropped several pounds of rotting fish onto a ship's envelope, and then boarded amid a horde of frenzied seagulls. They had once resorted to posing as a wounded vessel full of collapsed damsels. Their would-be princes, who rode in on a barge of cured tobacco, helpfully lashed the two ships together and came aboard armed with decanters of brandy to revive the ladies from their swoon. The rescuers rushed to the sides of the fallen women only to be greeted by gun barrels drawn from under skirts.

“The rules of engagement,” Captain Tom Mudd explained to the irate captain who'd been duped by this rouse, “were invented by men who would benefit most from them.”

This philosophical pronouncement might've commanded more respect had it not been delivered by a man wearing a frilly bonnet.

I just published Part 2 of Arm of the Sphinx on Amazon, and I have to admit, I’m quite pleased with it.

The adventure continues with the marooning of the crew of the Stone Cloud within a dilapidated and infested ringdom called the Silk Gardens. There, Senlin and Edith must trek to a mission deep inside a perilous forest, to confer with the mysterious zealot, Luc Marat.

The stories of Adam, Voleta, and Iren diverge as each must confront the dire reality of their circumstance and grapple with the irresistible tug of hope and regret. The tension between Edith and Senlin comes to a head, too, and they are forced to address the difficulty of their intimate arrangement, even as their vulnerability grows.

But will Senlin find a way into Pelphia at last? Will he come any closer to reuniting with Marya? Will he finally escape the torment of the specter of his lost wife?

Read Part 2, The Golden Zoo, to find out!

The third part of Arm of the Sphinx is available on Amazon for download. But it won't be for long. Next Tuesday, I'm going to pull the parts down and publish the complete book. If all goes well with the proofs, the print version should be available starting then, too. I'm planning on doing a few Goodreads giveaways. I'll keep you posted!

If you're interested in reviewing the new book, I'd be happy to send you an e-copy. Haven't read the first book in the series? No problem! I can give you a copy of Senlin Ascends, too, so you can catch up. You can email me at thebooksofbabel@gmail.com, or you can message me. You don't have to be a professional reviewer. Everyone in the Goodreads community is a book reviewer as far as I'm concerned!

To celebrate the publication of Arm of the Sphinx, I'm hosting a Goodreads Giveaway. So that readers have a chance to catch up with the series, the Giveaway includes a copy of both Arm of the Sphinx and Senlin Ascends.

Last time I asked you to help me name a dandy. (I got so many excellent responses. I'm never in danger of running out of foppish monikers again!) This time, I need your help naming an airship. Two winners will receive a signed copy of Arm of the Sphinx.

Christening airships has turned out to be one of the funnest parts of writing the series. The Stone Cloud, the Ararat, and the State of Art are some of the names I came up with. Now it's your turn! To enter the contest, just put your ship name in the comments below.

The contest closes this Friday at noon (GMT). I'll select two winners. I'll choose my favorite name, which will be included in the next book in the series, and I'll randomly draw a second winner from a hat. That gives you two chances to win!

One entry per person. There is no restriction on region. If you can receive post where you are, I will mail a book to you! Good luck!

I announced the winners to my Name an Airship contest today. Winners will receive a signed copy of Arm of the Sphinx.