A full post about exactly what happened with Mister Mercury is coming. But for now, here is what the future holds!

• A NEW COVER!

I'm currently working with a new cover artist for a new, more “novel-y” cover. Kent Mudle of Beret did an excellent job with the first one, but with a new direction comes a new cover. Initially, Kent was going to make the new one too, but he's too busy with making awesome, genre-busting games, so I've got another ace in the hole. Rest assured, it will be just as excellent, if not excellenter.

• MORE MARKETS!

One of the reasons Mister Mercury did so poorly was because it was hardly available anywhere. The publisher stuck it in only two places- its own website, which was hard to navigate and even harder to find the content that it hosted, and Amazon- and even though Amazon is an enormous market, the time delay between the announcement of its availability and its actual availability was so large that the enthusiasm for the novel had long run out before anyone was willing to buy it. I frequently talked with people who wanted to buy it, but had an Ipad, or an Iphone, or a Barnes and Noble Nook, or basically anything that wasn't a Kindle, and therefore was out of luck (unless they got the user-unfriendly Kindle app).

Not this time! Mister Mercury will be available to absolutely every kind of reading device there is. I'm talking Kobo (my preferred market), Barnes and Noble, Google Books, Sony (My own reader is a Sony but their store is arse), and of course that one book store for apple devices... can't recall it, starts with an I. A CAPITAL ONE.

• PRINT VERSION!

Okay, full disclosure: The print version will NOT be available right away. If the digital version sells well (and it probably won't! Statistically speaking, of course), then I will produce a print version.

A print version will almost certainly be a print-on-demand, I.E., the book won't be physically made until someone wants to buy it. This will increase the cost significantly, but print books don't run out of batteries, smell good, and are compatible with all hands. Also, you can loan a print book to your friends... by handing it to them! Magic.

• WEP PAGE AND COMMUNITY!

This one might not sound so exciting, but I'll be launching a third section of the website, the front page of which has information about the book (a dust jacket description, pricing information, where to buy, etc), the rest of which will be an online community for fans (fan?) of the book to discuss it. It will be a place where Mister Mercurians can meet, converge, discuss, and be themselves! All four or so of them.

So that's how things as they are now. Plans are in motion. I'm going to leave you with this image from one of my favorite comic books ever, Transmetropolitan, written by the talented Warren Ellis, who, as you may recall, shares my feelings about writers' block. Stay tuned!