In Darkness Bound

After more than a year in release it would be fair that I have been disappointed with how In Darkness Bound has faired. Despite spending several hundred hours promoting the novel in many different ways, the results of all these efforts have not been sufficient to overcome two main obstacles: price and the pedigree of the publisher I happen to have had the misfortune of falling in with. I knew from the moment that I first saw what PublishAmerica intended to charge for the book that it would be an uphill battle to get people to buy. Even reasonably well-established writers have a difficult time selling books in that price range, so the notion that a relative unknown author could somehow entice people to part with so much cash seems unrealistic. Of course, I have since surmised that PA operates largely on the assumption that an author will buy dozens of his own book from them at the "special" author discount rates and then sell them to friends and family. The fact that they regularly send me e-mail missives informing me that I can purchase my own book at 40, 45, or even 50 percent off the cover price if I order in sufficient numbers would seem to verify this.

It would be fair to say that my first foray into the publishing world has been one of bitter disappointment. When I was first pointed towards PA I was under the impression that it was a traditional publishing concern; but while it's true you are never asked for a single cent when it comes to publishing your book through them, it's also true that in almost every other regard PA resembles a vanity/self-publishing press. They don't edit your work, they don't promote it (not, at least, in any way  that is meaningful), they don't send copies out to reviewers (certainly they didn't in my case), they don't put your book in brick-and-mortar bookstores, and the cost of the books they produce is far in excess of what the same book would cost from a true traditional publisher (the sort that does all the things I've just mentioned).

Frankly, at this stage I rue the day I ever heard of the outfit, and if I could terminate my contract with them forthwith, I would do so. In Darkness Bound deserved a far better fate than it has had at the hands of this publisher. Not to sound immodest, but it's a good book. Certainly the equal to a lot of the SF I've read or seen on the shelves over the years. And had I not had the misfortune of being steered towards PA, my novel might well have a found a home with a more reputable publisher -- one that would not only have got me more sales, but who would have been worthy of mention in future submissions to agents and publishers. As it stands now, I would prefer to bury the fact that I have had a book published by PA. Regrettably, in this day and age of the Internet that is virtually (no pun intended) impossible.

Ironically, the existence of entities like PA likes squarely at the feet of the traditional publishing industry, whose intractable, close-minded and often elitist nature makes it exceedingly difficult for nascent authors to break into the ranks of the published. PA and agencies like it, prey upon the desperation of writers who -- despite the merits of their works -- invariable find themselves recipients of the ubiquitous form-letter rejections. With each submission to a publisher taking four to six months before a determination is made, and many of those publishers demanding exclusivity (meaning they do not want you submitting the same work to several other publishers at the same time they're sitting on it), the process of getting published can be a lengthy and onerous one. Many give up and either go the self-published route or find themselves in the hands of companies like PA. Certainly that was the case with me: after more than a year wasted on submissions to three publishers, I was beginning to feel a little desperate, and as a consequence fell prey to the very sort of publishing concern I had actively sought to avoid. Unfortunately I didn't do my research, assuming that because PA was listed in a well-known writer's market guide that it must be a legitimate, "traditional" publisher. It was only after I had signed my contract and had begun to process of getting my book ready for publication that I began to grow uneasy. The farther the process progressed, the more unsettled I became. By the time I was aware of what I had got myself into it was too late to do anything about it. The contract was signed, my book was prisoner to PA for seven years, and the only thing I could do was make the best of a bad situation. I determined to do my best to sell the unsaleable, but I might as well have been trying to sell kangaroos to Australia for all the good  it did me.

Well, I have wasted a year trying to flog this book, and this is my one last kick at the can. Because of my contract with PA I obviously can't give away the novel, but I can provide readers with a more substantial sample than in the past. Accordingly, I am making available to anyone who wishes to download it a full one half of the book. At about 142,000 words that's longer than most novels you'll read, and it should give you a far better grasp of what the book is about. Maybe by the time you've finished this free portion of the book you'll be encouraged to venture over to Mobipocket.com or one of the other ebook sites that sells In Darkness Bound and plunk down some cold hard cash for the novel (there are links on the Home page for this digital version). I don't imagine many will want the hard copy, given the price, but should you actually wish to purchase such you'll find links on the Buy! page of this site.

The samples cost you nothing, so take a look. You're under no obligation to buy. And who knows? You may actually enjoy what you read. For the PDF and DOC version just click on one of these links to download the version you want. For the TXT version you might have to right click on your mouse and select the "Save link as..." option from the menu in order to download this in a readable format.

In Darkness Bound PDF version

In Darkness Bound DOC version

In Darkness Bound TEXT version

There may be some glitches and errors in these copies; I haven't had the time to go over all of them. They should be sufficiently readable, however. And hey! they're free, so don't complain.