The Best-selling SFF Debut of 2008 is…

Complicated. No, really. According to Bookscan (the most accurate measure of book sales available), the best-selling fantasy debut of 2008 in the United States was Russell Kirkpatrick, with Across the Face of the World (excerpt HERE). I came in at #2 with The Way of Shadows–not bad for a book that’s only been out three months! Congratulations, Russell.

In the UK, however, I did grab the big chihuahua. #1 in the land of Shakespeare and Scary Spice, baby. Brilliant!

I have to confess to being particularly pleased by this tidbit from the press release: “Tim Holman said, ‘This year has also got off to a great start for Brent: this week, the three books in the Night Angel Trilogy are the first, second, and third bestselling mass-market paperbacks in the UK SFF market.'” Aside from the obvious (it’s great to be selling well), I like to think that means something. You can fool a reader with a great cover, and I do have great covers. But if what’s between the covers stinks, most people aren’t going to come back for more punishment.  Right? Unless people in the UK are such art-lovers that they decided that the covers alone are worth eight pounds. Which is possible. Crap.

In other news, the Great Arbiter of All Things Worth Knowing (Wikipedia, natch), now lists your humble correspondent. (Thanks to you fans who took it upon yourselves to make sure the world knows I exist.)

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My Book… for a Buck

Rejoice, all e-book readers. If you read books through the Amazon Kindle, Mobipocket or Sony, during the month of January, you can get The Way of Shadows for $1.

That’s right, for the same price you spent in a moment of weakness on that last shamefully lip-synched song by an over-produced Disney boyband from iTunes, you can get the first book of the Night Angel Trilogy.

Have a fear of commitment? Hey, it’s only a dollar! Poor because you spent $359 to read $8 books? Hey, it’s only a dollar!

Technophiles, this is what you’ve been waiting for. Here’s your line: “Look how cheap the books are on this, honey. In the long run, we’ll save money.”

A fancy new Kindle (sold separately),  none of the guilt that comes from supporting a boyband–and for a limited time, this special offer even comes with a halfway decent book! And hey, it’s only a dollar! If it were any cooler, we’d have to hire that guy from the Sham-Wow! commercials.

And even if you want to pass on my book, Orbit will be running the same promotion with different authors every month. Check it out HERE.

(Wow, being a breathless shill is tiring. I think I’ll go back to being a nerdy novelist, and I promise my next post will contain no more than one exclamation point.)

UPDATE: Due to sad “territoriality issues,” Mobipocket has bailed from this cool promo. Good news–well, for me–is that The Way of Shadows has been #1 in the Sony e-store for the past week. Good news for all Sony readers is that Sony has finally got book 3 (Beyond the Shadows) into its store. (A mere two months and dozens of emails later!) Sorry for the extra snark this morning–I haven’t had my coffee yet.

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The Best Kylar Stern Costume…Ever

Too late for Halloween costume contest–breathe a sigh of relief everyone else–Sam writes in, “This is me being Kylar. I reckon my costume smashes yours. =D

(Click to enlarge.)

(I’m standing in the corner next to the window, opposite the camera.)”

Uh, no arguments here. Sir.

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Gemmell Award Voting is Open

The David Gemmell Legend Award is now open for voting. I have been nominated to the long list. “The award will be given to a work written in the ‘spirit’ of the late, great David Gemmell, a true Master of Heroic Fantasy.” From the website (and Gemmell’s obituary): “Characterisation is acknowledged as one of Gemmell’s major skills, and… themes that remained pivotal to his work [included] the lone hero, often tortured by loss or doubt; the battle against advancing dotage; the pursuit of seemingly lost causes; complex villains, and the inclusion of elite, usually mystical, groups. A consistent thread in Gemmell’s fiction, and one which reflected his Christian beliefs, was the conviction that redemption was possible for even the most corrupt.”

If you think that sounds like my work, please VOTE HERE. It only takes two or three clicks, and you don’t have to register. Although if you’re already part of my Ning forum, you’ll find they’re using the same platform, so it should be a snap. Then you can take part in the Gemmell discussions, or tell people why they should check me out. 🙂 It’s also a good place to find other great work published this year. I’m up against some huge talents, and making the short list would make my year.

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The Best-of-the-Year Lists Begin…

Civilian Reader has selected its annual 10 Best Fiction Releases of 2008 (in all genres), and I’m delighted to report that they have chosen my books. Thrice. For spots 3, 2, and yes, #1. Woo hoo!

The Night Angel books “take the top spot because they fulfill every criteria that goes into making an excellent read: plotting, characterization, pacing, interest, style, imagination and originality…. A stunning achievement for a first time author.”

And as before, I’d like to publicly affirm that I do not engage in payola to get on these lists. Not that I’m above it. It’s just that bloggers haven’t figured out that payola isn’t just for DJ’s any more. (C’mon, people, innovate.)

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Fan Art Contest Winner

The winner of the Fan Art Contest is Meaghan Beninati with this cool rendition of Vi in Caernarvon:

 

(Click to enlarge)

Congratulations, Meaghan. (Check her website for other cool stuff.) Great work. I wish I had half of your talent. You will be receiving a signed set of the Night Angel Trilogy, made out to whomever you want. (Check someone off that Christmas list!)

I got lots of cool entries for this contest, (and hated having to choose just one winner) so I will be posting all of the fan art (of those entrants who give me permission) into the pictures area of the forum. So give that a day or so for people to tell me yes or no, and then you should be able to find some more great fan art all in one place.

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Indie Next Pick

Indie Bound is a site organized by independent booksellers to help them better compete with the biggies, and foster all the independent-bookstore goodness you can imagine. I just learned learned recently that I was selected as an Indie Next Pick of the Month. (For November, but hey, I just found out.) Peeps in the industry tell me this is a semi-big deal.

Book-industry-person quote: “Oh, yeah, biiig deal. Just last year, Virginia/Brad Shake’s book ‘Billions of Small Pieces, No–Make that Trillions of Tiny Pieces, Microscopic Pieces, Nano-Pieces Really’ was selected. Two months later, she-he got The Call. Ya know? From Oprah. Instant millionaire.”

Really, I was most excited that I wasn’t a fantasy pick… just a pick. I feel like an unruly nerd inadvertently released from the ghetto.

Still waiting by the phone, though. Ya know. For The Call.

(p.s. I’ll be posting the Art Contest results tomorrow…sorry, buried.)

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“The Perfect Fantasy Debut”?

Books Monthly thinks so, and has selected BOTH The Way of Shadows and Shadow’s Edge as its Science Fiction or Fantasy Books of the Month. They call it, “A genuine page turner, and truly impossible to put down.” They say other ridiculously nice things, too, so heck, go there and CHECK IT OUT.

Books Monthly also has a ridiculously easy quiz for UK residents to win all three books, but the deadline is November 28th. (Sorry for the short notice, my fault, I’ve been meaning to post this all month!)

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Fan Art Contest

The fan art contest deadline is December 1st. If you wish to participate, please email me a .jpg of your art at brent[dot]a[dot]weeks[at]gmail[dot]com. You can submit as many pieces as you wish. The winner will receive signed copies of the Night Angel Trilogy, and your art will be posted on this webpage for a billion fans to adore. (That is, if you tell 999,998,000 of your friends to come look.)

I’m really looking forward to seeing what you all can do!

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