Myths that Echo in Eternity
A pre-order option for Brightstar is now open through Tertulia for up to 50% off!
Go here for the Tertulia pre-order!
This pre-order option gives my readers up to 50% off (depending on how they want to order) and offers me the opportunity to sell books through book scan (which increases my pre-order numbers with bookstore visibility and on best-seller lists–this is VERY important!)
Thank you all for being a part of this with me!
I’ve released a new, free short story specifically to say thank-you to those who are interested in my work and have joined the Energematrice6 email list!
Tom Nelion isn’t exactly human, but he’s still just a boy, at least by The Peoples’ standards, and he’s on a mission to find this “Brightstar” everybody’s been talking about.
The problem is, the most powerful enemy his people have ever known are hiding him. The only place Tom knows to look is directly in the center of their most powerful citadel, the Telestry itself!
Sign up for the email list to get your free copy!
If you haven’t seen The Keeper of the Mysteries, it’s available online, check it out:
Both stories are written as companions to Brightstar, due to hit shelves April 16th!
Brightstar, the forthcoming book from Jared N. Michaud, is now open for eARC for a limited time!
eARC is short for electronic Advance Reader Copy. The purpose of eARC is to spread the word, so if you like the story, please tell EVERYONE!
…And, almost as important, we’d really appreciate it if you’d leave a review! (Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, etc)
For those who would like a free ebook copy of Brightstar, go here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/82hnwt2tor.
Send everyone you think might be interested in Brightstar to get their copy, because this will only be available for a limited time!
My initial quota for the book launch team has been filled…BUT!
I still plan to accept people to the Book Launch Team (and send out special signed copies to them!)
From now on, though, only those who have already read the story (via eARC) and want to help promote it will be considered for the Book Launch Team.
If you’re interested, write an honest review for Goodreads and include the link in your Book Launch application (I will genuinely consider any review and rating–though if you didn’t like the story I can’t imagine why you’d be here)!
(Join the Book Launch Team here: https://energematrice6.com/register)
It’s been a month since Brightstar went on pre-release sale and I’ve just finished polishing up a short story to give prospective readers a window into the E6 universe.
The Keeper of the Mysteries is set in the days (and moments) before Brightstar comes on the scene in the Aurora Galaxy. The story follows Teron Galton, the Keeper of the Mysteries as he works to thwart the machinations of the Telestry and in particular Telestic Drake Loriden.
This story is written as a prologue to Brightstar, specifically to give prospective readers a window into the Energematrice6 universe. If you like this story, that’s a good sign Brightstar will be right up your alley!
Hope you enjoy it!
Nate, an autistic boy from this world, is ripped from the prison of his unbearable daily life and thrust into a different universe whose very foundations are built on mysterious forces. There, he has no memory of his past and his autism is refocused and transformed into a near superpower.
Caught up in a mission he can barely recall from his shattered memories, Nate must learn to live an entirely unfamiliar life, filled with difficulties (and monsters) he could never have imagined. Existence in a new galaxy with new friends is a challenge, especially with powerful enemies and sinister forces attempting to destroy everything around them. Most important of all is the critical lesson:
I’ve been waiting to make this announcement for so long, it hardly seems real… but it is!
Brightstar officially hits bookstore shelves April 16, 2024.
But…! You don’t have to wait that long.
I’m told the reason for this sort of delayed launch is that bookstores only buy books three times each year, and so for a publisher to properly sell books, it’s a long pipeline.
This is one cost an author pays for going with a traditional publisher, but because Morgan James isn’t exactly a ‘normal’ publisher, I can get author copies starting right now.
If you want a copy of Brightstar now, there are two ways to get one. First, I can sell copies through my own website for a special pre-launch time window.
These are author copies–I am the only person allowed to order them, and my current supply is limited (due to financial constraints). That said, I’m offering a them for sale at the cover price (or a slight markup for signed copies).
I’m also offering a near 2-for-1 deal (one signed and one unsigned copy) for just barely more than a single signed copy. (The best way for me to spread the word about Brightstar is to get people to read it. Word of mouth is far and away the best marketing for fiction books.)
Head over to the Store Page if you’d like to pick one (or two) up. Or if you’d like a free copy, you could volunteer some of your time to…
eARC is short for electronic Advance Reader Copy. The purpose of eARC is to spread the word, so if you like the story, please tell EVERYONE!
…And, almost as important, we’d really appreciate it if you’d leave a review! (Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, etc)
For those who would like a free ebook copy of Brightstar, go here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/82hnwt2tor.
Send everyone you think might be interested in Brightstar to get their copy, because this will only be available for a limited time!
My initial quota for the book launch team has been filled…BUT!
I still plan to accept people to the Book Launch Team (and send out special signed copies to them!)
From now on, though, only those who have already read the story (via eARC) and want to help promote it will be considered for the Book Launch Team.
(Join the Book Launch Team here: https://energematrice6.com/register)
Read The Keeper of the Mysteries (for a taste of the E6 Universe)
This short story is set in the days (and moments) before Brightstar comes on the scene in the Aurora Galaxy. The story follows Teron Galton, the Keeper of the Mysteries as he works to thwart the machinations of the Telestry and in particular Telestic Drake Loriden.
The Keeper of the Mysteries is written as a prologue to Brightstar, specifically to give prospective readers a window into the Energematrice6 universe. If you like this story, that’s a good sign Brightstar will be right up your alley!
The latest episode in the saga of writing and publishing Brightstar has been by far the most stressful, though the ending was more than satisfactory. (You have to read, or at least scroll, to the end to see the final cover!)
Part of that stress came from communication issues with an editor, bringing me right up against a deadline I couldn’t afford to miss (now resolved). Part of it came from the headache of getting together a book cover I liked (which is the subject of this post).
The cover design process started back in June when I had my all-important meeting with the folks from Morgan James and they assured me their design team would be able to create something satisfactory even though they don’t employ (or generally contract with) an illustrator. That should have been a warning sign for me, but I’m an optimist and I gave them the benefit of the doubt.
Weeks passed after that call, during which I was told I should be getting cover proofs any time. They never appeared.
With the third week (in which we were supposed to be completing the cover) drawing to a close, I mentioned the situation to my friend Greg (who has always had an artistic bent).
Greg immediately offered to work on a cover for me, and what he came up with was truly impressive.
Starting with the AI-generated concept art I showed in Midjourney Magic, he created this:
Frankly, I was more than happy with the art. It’s better than anything I could have done myself.
The discussion at this point was complicated by the current legal status of AI-generated images. The folks at Morgan James were understandably concerned that I might have a problem with commercial rights because the original image (and some small parts of this version) were AI-generated.
I have commercial rights to every image I generate with Midjourney because I’m a paid subscriber. Their Terms of Service is legally binding, and it grants me full commercial rights, but there is still some concern. AI-generated images are subject to litigation right now that may threaten the companies responsible for the algorithms with bankruptcy (because the images they used to train their machine learning models are subject to intellectual property rights).
As an end-user, I should be protected from that litigation, especially with the image above being so drastically different from the original, AI-generated concept. This is still a legal gray area, though (even if barely).
The Morgan James team agreed that this art was better than anything they could have provided, and we made the decision to move forward. Two weeks later, I started getting final cover concepts from Morgan James. (Keep in mind, we were already behind the hoped-for schedule, though my contact there assures me it’s only a guideline.)
Of all the concepts we came up with, I think my favorite was this one:
I was pretty happy with our progress. I had only one minor adjustment I wanted to make.
Then, when I thought I was finally reaching a conclusion, the plot twisted yet again!
While I was waiting for a final proof, my family was visiting my cousin Ben and his wife Sarah for the weekend. I showed her the proposed cover (along with giving vent to some stress-induced grumbling about the delays).
Sarah is a professional graphic designer and artist, so her opinion on the subject carries significant weight. After a thoughtful pause, she asked if she could take a stab at it, a proposal I was only too happy to agree to.
Barely a day after we got home, Sarah proved she was both a professional and something of a miracle worker, asking for my opinion on a cover she’d made from scratch in the intervening day. The next morning, after a bit of detail work, I sent her counter-proposal to Morgan James and it was quickly approved as the final cover.
I know, I shouldn’t have been stressing over it. God’s got me in the palm of His hand. He’s proven it over and over.
I also have some truly amazing folks around me. Both Greg and Sarah showed up at a level that leaves me forever grateful.
I can only imagine how much I’ve already irritated the people working with me on the project (at Morgan James and elsewhere) but what we’re coming up with is going to be truly excellent, and the stress and frustration is totally worth it.
Thank you, God. Thank you, friends. Thank you, future readers!