It may be wishful thinking, but I expect to have a lot of new visitors to the site over the next few months.    So now, before the crowd arrives,  I’d like to address my old fans.

First of all:  Thanks.

You’ve stuck by me through unexplained absences, odd experimental phases, a complete and utter lack of proofreading, and many other sins that a guy that aspires to be a writer should never commit.    And you’re still here.     That means a lot; and I owe you folks more than you know.   More than I can repay.   I won’t forget it; and I won’t be taking readership for granted any more.

Now, on to the future.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I’m going to try to make a career out of my writing.  The purpose of this post is to explain in moderate detail what that means, so that you’ll know what to expect.   You guys deserve at least that much.

So what does “making a career” mean, exactly?   I have two jobs; neither of them is writing.  I intend to change that.    I seriously doubt I’ll be replacing both income streams with my writing, but pulling down a few hundred dollars a month is possible, and it would allow me to drop the side-gig that I have.  Making more than that would be a big improvement in my quality of life.   Making a LOT more than that would be a dream come true.   I’ll take any of those results over what I’ve got now.

So what’s the plan?    Ebooks.  Specifically, ebooks on Kindle.   Yes, I know there are lots of other platforms, and I also know that some of you have been waiting (for years) for me to make something available in a physical format.   I’m not closing the door on any of those options, but the key here is to focus on something that I can do quickly with a bare minimum of financial input from me.    I have neither the time nor money to figure out anything other than ebooks on Kindle.      I’ll add other platforms and formats (including print) when it makes sense for me to do so.

So what, exactly, is the plan?     The first phase is to create a catalog of my work on Amazon.   I’m going to do so by turning some of my existing stories into ebooks and putting them in the Kindle store.     While this will involve some work (editing, writing sales copy, more editing, creating a cover, still more editing, redesigning this website…), it is MUCH less work than starting with a new novel from scratch.   It will enable me to put something up for sale in a matter of weeks instead of months.    My goal is to have a minimum of two and as many of five novel-length stories on Amazon by the end of this year.

Which ones?    I’ve already started editing “In Deed”, and I’ll likely follow it with “Court of the Abominatrix.”     After that, I’ll either finish writing “Other side of the Eye” , or publish a collection (or two) of Crusade stories.     They’ll all get done eventually.  Note: I’ll most likely be changing the titles, but I’ll make sure you know which book is which.

After I’ve got a catalog of five or so books, I’ll consider how (or if) to proceed with completely new tales.  That’s the second phase, and it will probably be next year.

So all of the free stories are going away?  Pretty much.    Even the short stories will eventually get yanked to become part of an anthology.    Magekiller?   Gone.   December and crew?   Undecided.   The point I’m making here is that the purpose of this site will no longer be to host free stories to read.   It will be to sell books.   Yup; I’m selling out and it’s something I should have done a long, long time ago.

The change in this site’s purpose will necessitate changes in design; but you folks have seen that a few times before.   But here’s something I bet you didn’t see coming…

I’m not publishing as Dark Icon… OR that other guy.   My real name is not a secret, but I don’t go out of my way to advertise it, either.     The “Dark Icon” persona is more than just a cool-sounding pseudonym and a kickass domain name… it’s also a way for me to write whatever the hell I want without having to answer odd questions from family and co-workers who decide to type my name into Google.   Don’t dismiss it as paranoia; I’ve done it myself, found out that a co-worker had written a novel that she never told us about, and felt weird about knowing it.    So I won’t be publishing under my real name.   The website address will stay the same, but the “Dark Icon” at the top might change… or another name might be appear beside it.   I’ll announce my pen name later.  I think you’ll like it.

What if the books don’t sell?   They might not.   In fact, I don’t expect to make any money at all on the first couple.   Nobody on Kindle makes money from ONE book.   They make money from having a DOZEN books, with a website and a mailing list and all the other stuff that goes with it.    If someone buys a single book, they should be able to find, without much effort, an entire catalog of other books to buy from the same author.   That’s how money is made.   So my immediate expectations are pretty low and I’m not going to be disappointed if nothing happens with my first two offerings.     If I’ve got between five and ten books on Amazon and I’m still not encouraging results… then I might need to reevaluate.

In the meantime, I’ve got work to do.   The first book will be out in a couple of weeks (or sooner) and the next hopefully within a month of the first.   Keep checking back for news and announcements.