Exclusive preview: Saintly Girls Zone

Bam! A surprise new project announcement! 

Bet you didn't see this coming, huh!

...Or technically, it's an old project, just with a new coat of paint. But let's not get stuck on the little details.

Long story short, my original English light novel, Saintly Girls Zone, will be released on Amazon as a paperback and digital ebook in early August. This is a KDP rehash of Sword Saint vol.1 which was originally released in 2015 through a different service. Which we will not be talking about.

Some of you may have already read the original, but this version will likely surprise you in several ways.

Sword Saint was the first novel-length story I ever wrote, and, as is very typical of first works, it was kind of terrible. No lie.

I always believed in the story and the characters, but simply didn't have the skills to convey my vision the exact way I wanted to. You could say I learned how to write by endlessly editing and rewriting this novel and its sequels, and that road has brought us surprisingly far over the years.

I just couldn't give up on it.

Now, over 15 years since the idea's conception, and 6 years since the release of the digital ebook, I believe the story has finally reached the shape it was meant to have. At least, for the first time, I feel actually glad I wrote this, and can think about it without just cringing.

The distributor was changed, the ISBN was changed, the title was changed, the contents were changed...In short, there was nothing that wasn't changed, by force of circumstance. 

What was meant to be a simple editorial facelift snowballed into a huge effort that required my full-time attention for a couple of months.

I combed through the text with modern proofreading software, employing all the experience gained from my work on A Hero Past the 25th, to make sure the language is nice and makes sense. Some parts were rewritten entirely, some cut, some otherwise adjusted. I reworked the mystery explanation to patch a couple of plot holes and also added a few additional hints regarding the main secret awaiting at the end of the series. And that's just for starters.

I don't have the courage to call it "perfect" yet either, there's not a book out there without a blunder or two, but at least it can be called an improvement. I think.

I also redid the print layout, redesigned the logo, am working on a new cover, etc, all in order to deliver the best possible reading experience I possibly can, as I am now, older and smarter. Well, mainly just older.

Hopefully the effort was worth it and the novel will have the chance to find more readers through the biggest online book distributor in the world. And make a bit of money. Even just a little...

Whether or not the sequels will receive the same treatment will depend on how the first one is received, I guess. And if I still have any life left in me later. Thumbs up. I really hope it will do well.

I will be publishing this book under the more human pen name "Nooa Kander", and I'll be using that name for all my Amazon books (provided there will ever be more).

So don't be surprised by the name on the cover, that's still me, not a random thief. 

Not my real name, but at least from the same continent and cultural sphere.

This may be a "light novel" in style, and exceedingly weeb-ish, but I didn't want to pretend to be Japanese, or something to sell easier. That would simply not be true. Then again, I'm not an American either, a more burgeriffic name would've been no less a lie. 

So it's a compromise of a compromise.

I've been reluctant to build any kind of online name, since it goes against my starting principle of how it's the story matters, not the guy who wrote it. But, I also get that many people out there are reluctant to pick up a book when the author's name isn't even a name. Human beings can't connect to faceless, abstract concepts, there's just no getting around this.

Hence this difficult decision to use a name-name. Just disregard it.

Anyway!

You, my esteemed patrons, don't need to worry about any of that. And I won't keep you waiting any longer either. You can read a full digital copy of this book for no additional cost, right now, before it's news, and you can download it via the link below. 

I really hope you like it.

If not, feel free to tell me that too. There's still time to cancel everything! Well, not really, the die is cast. But comments are always welcome.

I still have a few things to work out before the book is officially available. Like, whether or not to include illustrations in the paperback. I'm still not sure if my art is good enough for that. I wouldn't want any "well, eh, they're ok"-reactions. Pictures gotta "WOW!" you, or else there's no meaning. That's what I think. I'm just not being insecure here, okay?

I don't know if most readers even want pictures, or if they won't prefer their own imagination. I've seen comments both ways online. What do you think? 

If I can doodle something I personally think is worth showing, then maybe. A good cover image would be a start. The one above is just a promotional sketch. Didn't make the cut.

What else?

Thank you once again for your continued support! 

Hope your summer is going great.

After this, my work on Verse 7 may finally resume. 

More news about that another time!

Until then, see you later, alligator!