Live at Amazon! THE EMISSARY!

I delayed the release of THE EMISSARY for pre-orders. Today, the book went live in ebook format and is now available for immediate purchase.

Perhaps the best novel I've written to date, it was certainly the most difficult to write.

THE EMISSARY by James Robert Smith.

DEADLOCKED

My zombie apocalypse novel DEADLOCKED is now out. This is the rewritten and heavily revised version of  my novel previously released as THE LIVING END. I was never happy with the cover of that book and had left out a few things in the orginal version that I always wanted to change. And so, now that almost all of my previously published book rights have reverted to me, I have it out in my preferred text and with a much more effective cover and title.

I have several choices facing me on which of my older books to release. I'm leaning toward getting WORKING CLASS HERO up next, especially since it was always intended to be a continuing series of episodic fiction, reflecting the Silver Age comics of my youth. And since I have BILLY B VERSUS THE TROUBLE BOYS almost ready for publication, I think it's the obvious choice of getting my next book back into print.

But right now DEADLOCKED is available in both ebook and paperback formats! So grab your zombie apocalypse adventure! Cheap at only $2.99 for ebook, or $10.99 as a paperback! YOW!

DEADLOCKED available in ebook!

DEADLOCKED available in paperback format!

Writing and Publishing.

THE EMISSARY sales will begin on Saturday, November 30th. Also going up at around the same time will be my novel of the zombie apocalypse, DEADLOCKED.

DEADLOCKED is the rewritten, re-edited, expanded version of my novel THE LIVING END that I wrote for another publisher some time back. I've rewritten and added sections to the book and cleaned up the manuscript somewhat. Also with a new, much more effective cover that better represents the book.

Coming in the next few weeks several more of my older books will come back into print under the Last Hemlock Press. All of these will be rewritten and re-edited to one extent or another. Some of them will have major revisions, while others will be only moderately changed. Also coming out will be my sequels to WORKING CLASS HERO, the series that was stopped in its tracks by my previous publisher. Expect BILLY B VERSUS THE TROUBLE BOYS in the next few weeks.

In addition to getting my back-list books back to the light of print, I'll also get my original projects scheduled as time allows.

At any rate, come what may, I'm stuck to this path for the time being.

The cover for my preferred author's state of DEADLOCKED, A Novel of the Zombie Apocalypse. Starring Roland Thompson and a large cast of supporting characters.

And, of course, THE EMISSARY is available for purchase on Saturday, November 30, 2019.

Reviews Needed!

In my history as a professional writer the toughest thing for me has been to get written reviews posted on Amazon and other online booksellers. These are important for the sales of a novel. Some of my past books did okay and I didn't have to push too much to get reviews.

But lately it has been exceptionally difficult finding people who have the time and inclination to create reviews for my work.

Thus, I am offering a free autographed paperback copy of my new novel THE EMISSARY to ten people who would like the book and would agree to post a review at Amazon if you enjoy the book. (If you don't enjoy the book, don't wreck my carrer and just keep the copy or sell it---Heck, I don't care!)

At any rate, review copies will be in hand here at the Smith House tomorrow and I can send them out as requests come in. Just email me at jamesrobertsmith at yahoo.com with your mailing address and I'll send you a copy (with autograph). Please be sure to put REVIEW COPY in the subject heading of the email so I'll know it's not spam.

Thanks!

THE EMISSARY, from James Robert Smith, author of THE FLOCK.

THE EMISSARY Goes Live!

The Kindle version of the new book is up and available for pre-order. The paperback should pop up in a day, maybe two. It's good to see a new book come to print, since it has been a couple of years since my last novel.

From the author of THE FLOCK comes THE EMISSARY, a novel of modern fantasy and horror.

In the North Carolina mountains the town of Jasperton has lost a fading enchantment that has protected it for almost one hundred years from an ancient curse. Martin and Amy Braun, separated, and their marriage almost at an end over the death of their young son, suddenly find themselves reunited to care for a lost child who bears a striking resemblance to their deceased boy. As the town begins to fall victim to the rising influence of an aged evil, they must decide if the child is an emissary for salvation, or for the malignant forces gathering within the town.

THE EMISSARY by James Robert Smith. I was very, very happy with the cover art!

Eating Crow.

In the past there has likely not been a bigger opponent to self-publishing than I have been. It wasn't merely the act of self-publishing that got on my last nerve, but the absence of quality in the material that is constantly being self-published. In those early days I would read book after book that was self-published, and never once did I read anything that rose above the level of the worst of a massive slush pile on a suffering editor's desk.

Thus, I hated the concept of self-publishing and not only wanted nothing to do with it, I wanted it to go away.

In the end the concept seems to have weakened an already emaciated traditional publishing marketplace. The number of publishers willing and able to dig through submissions has dwindled to the point that it's sad to watch because what one is seeing is the death of a very old industry.

And so, as I hinted some time back in an earlier blog post, it is time for me to eat crow (as they say) and do what I had not wished to do. And that is to join the ranks of the self-published.

Since those early days I have managed to find well-written novels whose authors have gone what is called the "indie" route. All right, then, I'll have to go down that road also. Over the past year I've tried a few short story efforts almost as advertising promotions.

Currently I need to get my older novels back into print. I recently got the rights back to all of my traditionally published novels with the exception of THE FLOCK from Tor-Forge Books. The rest are mine again and so I'll tackle publishing and promoting them on my own.

We'll see how it goes. At this point in my writing career, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Worst case, I'm at the same point I'm at right now.

And so it goes.

First up will be THE EMISSARY. It's a novel I had sold a couple of years ago, but the small press publisher who accepted it has apparently folded. THE EMISSARY is an important book to me. The ideas and themes for it occurred to me many years back and I kept struggling with the concepts for a very long time before I put it all together in a story that made me happy. I think I put more sweat and toil and thought into this novel than anything I have ever written.

In the North Carolina mountains the town of Jasperton has lost a fading enchantment that has protected it for almost one hundred years from an ancient curse. Martin and Amy Braun, separated, and their marriage almost at an end over the death of their young son, suddenly find themselves reunited to care for a lost child who bears a striking resemblance to their deceased boy. As the town begins to fall victim to the rising influence of an aged evil, they must decide if the child is an emissary for salvation, or for the malignant forces gathering within the town.

Appearing very soon in both ebook and print formats.