Philippa Ballantine - Author

Award-winning Author of fantasy, science fiction, and steampunk

Digital Magic

Once more into the breach dear friends…

 

This week the final chapter of Digital Magic will drop, and while I am excited about that, I barely have time to breathe before plunging into another podcast frenzy.

Yes, the very first Tales from the Archives has dropped. The story read and written by me is called The Evil That Befell Sampson. It is the story of how Agent Eliza D Braun ended up exiled from New Zealand and working in the London Head Office of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences. There are suffragists, clockwork and nefarious goings on.

Listen here and/or subscribe

All these stories are about the Agents of the Ministry- including some tales about Eliza and Wellington that predate events in Phoenix Rising.

A new story will appear every two weeks, and you can look forward to stories from the like of OM Grey, Nathan Lowell, Starla Hutchon, PC Haring, and naturally Tee Morris.

In other news from the Ministry, Phoenix Rising will be included in the Science Fiction Bookclub so for those of you who are members, please check it out when it comes.

Take me with you…

..well at least take some of my words with you.

I am happy to announce that Chasing the Bard and Digital Magic are both available on a variety of ebook formats.

You can find it on the Nook, on the Sony e-reader, for the Kobo, on Diesel, on the Kindle (Chasing the Bard and Digital Magic) and on the ibook store for the iphone and ipad.

Or if you prefer your book DRM free, then buy the Smashwords versions

These books are slightly different from previous editions. I gave them another polish, and new shiny covers by Alex White. In Chasing the Bard you will also find a new Chapter Thirteen- one that was only previously podcast.

I am working on putting together an ebook version of my stories from Erotica a la Carte- so look for that in the coming month.

Closing of the Veil

This may come as a shock to some of you, but I hope no one will freak out with this news.

You will no longer be able to buy a print edition of Chasing the Bard or Digital Magic from DragonMoon Press.

OK… wow that was like ripping off a band-aid. Hopefully you are all still with me.

So let me explain. I signed with DMP back in 2003, and I still recall the excitement when I got my offer from Gwen. It was my first print deal, and a validation for me as a writer. They picked up Digital Magic and through them I got to know and work with Tee Morris. They also let me podcast my novels in their entirety- something unusual in the publishing world.

They gave me me a lot, but things do change. Writing for a living is hard, and unfortunately it has been my experience that being with an indie press does not bring in enough dollars to keep body and soul together.

That may sound harsh, but this year has meant making some hard choices. That’s the difference between having writing as a hobby and having it be your business.

I wish Gwen and Grabrielle at DragonMoon all the best, and thank them for the time and effort they put into teaching me about writing and the industry.

If you want to snag a papercopy of either of these books then I suggest getting in now… they could become collector’s editions. 🙂

So it isn’t all dark clouds and grim news. Times they are a changing, but there will not be a shortage of paper books from me. In the next year I will have three books coming out with both Ace and Eos. So I hope you hang in there with me, and together we’ll see how the ride pans out.

Triple Threat Double Dipping Contest

Coming Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Three Podcast Authors, Three Podcast Novels, Three Contests!

What to look for: Blog posts containing printable PDF bookmarks at Digital Magic, Metamor City, and Literary Abominations.

What you can win: A free book, maybe two or three! (Prize details for each contest will be available at each author’s website).

Your Mission:

  • Download and print the bookmarks
  • Cut along the dotted lines
  • Take to your local libraries and bookstores
  • Leave a set near the checkout (1 pt for a stack) or put a stack inside of similar books (2 pts ea – Philippa, Chris, and Dan will each provide a list of authors to target)
  • Take photos of each instance of bookmark distribution
  • Send photo(s) to the author
  • Each point will count as one entry of your name in the hat – so repeat as often as you wish to enter before December 20th.

Winners will be drawn December 21st.

Anyone who enters all three contests will have their names automatically entered into a second drawing – this time for a basket of tasty treats from San Francisco and New Zealand!