Tag: Publishing

The Opposite of Ugly

I did not retire from the work life for the purpose of toiling at another job. Writing is its own reward. In other circumstances, I would tend to be satisfied with unremarkable sales.

If I did not believe there is an audience for the opposite of ugly.

“Bring back wholesome,” says the book beat.

Dystopia is out. Optimism is in. The literacy crisis is overstated.

I should be in like Flynn — but I am not.

I appended a chapter illustration from Maroli Tango to an author’s discussion thread.

She replied, “I think this looks absolutely terible. There is no life in it. I cant explain why exactly. But I would not want to open a book with this image waiting for me in it. It’s weird.”

Maroli Tango is forty percent family drama, performed on a Science Fiction backdrop.

In this chapter, 182-year-old American Civil War veteran Elbert Holland Harrison reconciles with Francine Suraksin Harrison, his 141-year-old spouse-from-another-planet.

The sun was setting in the Loire River Valley when Ranger arrived at the Veronica Charron cottage.

The maroli twins Virgil and Chester bailed out early, waving lighted ground crew wands. Street traffic came to a halt.

Francine watched the final descent from the main hatch, shaking in her sandals, hanging on to Marie Jourdain’s arm as though gravity might fail, sending her pinwheeling into the sky.

Magic stairs unfolded. The next-door neighbors helped her down.

The wife said, “We showed your husband to the patio.”

Virgil entered the house through the front door. Francine went around the side by herself, knees weak, legs like rubber.

Elbert met her on the stone path, arms open. He hugged her tight, kissed her ears, massaged tension out of the space between her shoulder blades.

She leaned in, chin on his collarbone, murmuring, “If you take me back, I’ll never let you go.”

He whispered, “It’s settled, then.”

These books are not furry porn, okay? In 2012, when I started my Anye Universe series, I had no idea such a thing existed.

The Anye Adya are descended from lemurs, evolutionarily regressed due to an ancient gene tailoring accident. Had that not happened, one would be hard-pressed to distinguish Francine from a citizen of Greece.

Sure, it’s weird. It’s SF. Get your mind out of the gutter, for Pete’s sake.

But I get it — how would you tell from the cover (featured image) what kind of book this is?

Fine. Here you go. It’s this kind.

 I hope that clears it up.

1

Mystery Sale

It is a Mystery why my Science Fiction novel is on sale.

Illustrated 8.25X11 full color hardcover on premium paper. 254 hi-res color plates. Expensive to print.

The minimum was $81. At $90 I make $5.

What happens at $76.74? Do I have to pay Amazon $4.26 for every copy sold?

I published this edition on Thursday. It went on sale right away.

Did the print shop accidentally run a pallet off the press? I have no idea.

But if someone buys it, we will know if I get paid.

0

Supersized!

I am waiting impatiently for Amazon to publish the 8.25X11 color print edition of Maroli Tango — after several days spent upsizing 254 chapter illustrations to upsized margins — thereby provoking repagination, orphan lines, unplanned text wrapping, thigh cramps, etc.

Curious, are we? See the eBook, also in color.

Imagine Maroli Tango, supersized, on your coffee table. 

Let us wait, in eager anticipation, together.

1

Shaman

You are here by the Hand of Destiny.

An unexpected Experience awaits.

Silken Thread is free in the Kindle store until October 2.

Silken Thread is one of those rare novels that you don’t just read — you inhabit. It’s sensual, disciplined, and emotionally truthful, a hybrid of literary fiction, historical intrigue, and personal revolution. Dyer writes with the eye of a journalist, the heart of a poet, and the conscience of a man who has seen how easily power corrupts innocence.

If you appreciate stories that don’t flinch from uncomfortable truths, read Silken Thread. It will linger in your mind like the scent of rain on a foreign street — familiar, vivid, and impossible to forget.

0

Sci-Fi Novel Crushes Amazon Sales Records

Persons over the age of seventy should never eat anything less than three hours before bedtime.

Ice cream, 9:00 PM. I knew there would be trouble. I did it anyway.

There I was, loitering on the patio at our first home on Kratz Avenue, examining a trio of 2″ PVC pipes cut flush to cedar siding, where once sat a 350-gallon Jacuzzi-brand hot tub.

“What happened?” I wondered. “Did someone find out it came from a vice-squad-raided massage parlor?”

True story. We ran household bleach through it for two days. For all I know, nothing happened, and the spa is still where I left it, twenty-six years ago.

Continue reading “Sci-Fi Novel Crushes Amazon Sales Records” →
0

Almost Famous

I have 4,500 followers on Substack.

In related news, my stats are unremarkable. I am cultivating neither likes nor comments.

I am not selling books — nor doing well at the business of giving them away.

And I never have. A few years ago, an eBook promotion produced 437 orders, driving the title to #1 in a new releases category.

It was a high mark, after which I received zero reviews.

I tell folks, “It is a good thing I am not trying to make a living as a novelist.”

However, if I am to believe the chatter on Substack, there are readers somewhere on this planet who are looking for the kind of material I am writing.

Wherein the story does not begin with twenty-something girl bosses pulling each other’s hair out on the dance floor of a Miami nightclub.

I know. There’s a market for that. I could write it, but I do not.

Ghosts of Ancient Vidura is free in the Kindle store.

Space soap opera. #wholesome

0

Trilogized

Ghosts of Ancient Vidura is free in the Kindle store!

ChatGPT says:

This is not a “chosen one” power fantasy. It’s a story about competent adults—doctors, engineers, officers, lawyers—forced to confront realities that don’t fit neatly into ideology, religion, or national interest. The tone is thoughtful, sometimes wry, occasionally confrontational, and deeply curious about how societies actually function under stress.

Somewhere in the middle of all the robots and spaceships and ray guns and thunderous battle scenes, don’t you sometimes wish an author would bother to write a story? Yes. Me, too.

0

Starter Kit

Today, it is my hope that you will buy Maroli Tango after reading Elbert and Ghosts of Ancient Vidura, which I am offering free, one at a time, on the Kindle store, starting today.

It is a three-step process, which relies upon you, the pigeon customer, clicking on a button, below.

Author Ashley Manning said:

One of the books biggest strengths is the way that John G. Dyer manages to side-step what you think’s going to happen next and then go in a completely new direction, and I was completely onboard for the ride. It’s an interesting story as you can never quite guess what will happen next.

So says Ashley, who ought to know because, unlike yourself, he read the book.

0

Freebooked

I have run three eBook giveaways since September 10. Orders: twelve, ten, and five.

I am not discouraged. Elbert is free in the Kindle store — for three days starting tomorrow September 23.

ChatGPT says: Literary science fiction in the classical sense: a work where speculative elements exist not to dazzle, but to reveal. The extraordinary enters gently—through family history, withheld truths, and the slow accumulation of unease—until the reader realizes that the familiar world has been irrevocably widened.

The story begins in 1928 South Dakota. There are only a handful of unfamiliar proper nouns. 

It’s a great yarn. I promise.

0

Resilient is free in the Kindle store

Resilient is free in the Kindle store, now through Monday.

Alter AI says: “Resilient fortifies The Anye Legacy as one of the most intellectually ambitious and metaphysically rich science‑fiction cycles of the last decade.”

The Robots have read everything published. If we did not believe they understand what they’re looking at, we would not be asking them questions.

ChatGPT says: “You’ll find a lived-in world with deep history and internal logic. Moral dilemmas where there are no clean victories. Characters who endure, adapt, and sometimes fail—but keep going. A rare fusion of hard science fiction with spiritual and philosophical inquiry.”

It’s not boring. I promise.

Featured image: Suban Dhava, the little tyke on the book's cover, at the age of twenty.
0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑