The Sword and Laser discussion

The collection of short stories that we did for our NaNoWriMo workshop is live for download. Divide and Conquer Volume One is available now for FREE at Smashwords and is coming soon to other retailers.

If you can't wait or you hate Smashwords, you can get a copy from me directly at foilandphaser(at)gmail(dot)com (specify format), or you can always read the blog at Foil & Phaser as we are serializing the stories over the next few weeks. Just click on the Divide and Conquer link on the menu bar.

Please show your support emerging authors and pick up a free copy today.

Done and done! I subscribe to the email updates for Foil & Phaser, though, so I knew about it from there. :D

I wish I knew the icon for "thumbs up" :)

Congrats! Have downloaded.

I've heard people mention Smashwords, this is the first time I've been there. Will look it over at some point...

Serendi wrote: "Congrats! Have downloaded.

I've heard people mention Smashwords, this is the first time I've been there. Will look it over at some point..."

Thanks for checking it out. I chose Smashwords as it seemed like the best platform for our needs. It offers a wide variety of formats all in one place, and it will, pending approval, be distributed to every major retailer. It is also more friendly to those offering free books than an outlet like Amazon, but it still allows for a pay structure. We may do a charity project later this year, so publishing it this way is a test of the process.

Downloaded it, kind of had to since I wrote one of the stories in it, and just wanted to thank everyone who gives it a chance. Personally, I'm really excited to see how it goes. I've self-published on Amazon before but never on Smashwords, so watching things play out will be a learning experience.

My mother nabbed Divide and Conquer earlier today and blazed through it in a little over an hour (she's somewhat of a voracious reader) and threw up a review for it already. It was pretty impressive considering she has trouble with most technology, and figuring out how to download an ebook off Smashwords was fairly daunting for her.

I just want to thank everyone that participated and found the time to comment on my piece. I was going through some terrible stuff when this all started and wasn't sure if I was going to finish. Foil and Phaser was fantastic, and if anyone has the opportunity to participate in one of their workshops I recommend you go for it.

I hope you all enjoy the stories!

It's only been a couple of days and we've already topped 100 downloads, so thanks to everyone who took the time to go and get the book. Sorry it hasn't gone out to other stores yet, but it should clear review and start shipping next week. Next time I'll wait until it's available everywhere before I start promoting. Oh well, live and learn.

Over 100 downloads huh? That's amazing. It's to bad that it hasn't been picked up by the other sites yet, but I'm sure the review process is quite strict.

Any plans to toss it up on Amazon? Or did they want exclusive publishing rights in order to carry it for free?

Jacob wrote: "Over 100 downloads huh? That's amazing. It's to bad that it hasn't been picked up by the other sites yet, but I'm sure the review process is quite strict.

Any plans to toss it up on Amazon? Or did..."

Please see the blog post on Foil & Phaser Regarding Divide and Conquer Ebook on Amazon for more info.

I have a quick question. The link on the Goodreads page for the book has my author's name linked to the wrong person. Can we fix that or is it permanent at this point? Thanks,

Sophie

When your name is added to a book, it is linked automatically to an author account. Since you don't have a Goodreads author profile, it was dumped into a generic profile. Unfortunately someone else with the same name has also published and that's why you show up together.
You can edit your profile to a Goodreads Author Profile (there should be a link somewhere on your profile page, it's free) and see if you can edit which books show up under your profile. Haven't tried this yet so I'm not sure it will even work.
The only other thing I can think of is to change your name on the book to S. Anderson or add a middle initial, although that is less than ideal. Whatever happens you both are likely to show up on searches together because search engines are stupid.
Try editing your profile and I'll check back later.

Ok, thanks for the help!

Update: The book has been accepted into the premium catalog at Smashwords and should start shipping to retailers soon, including Apple, Barnes & Noble (US and UK), Sony, and Kobo. Yay! Kindle users will still have to download the MOBI file from Smashwords for now.

Update: Now available for the Nook at Barnes & Noble.

Jacob wrote: "My mother nabbed Divide and Conquer earlier today and blazed through it in a little over an hour (she's somewhat of a voracious reader) and threw up a review for it already. "

Looks like she added individual comments for each story and found all the commas you slackers missed. ;)

If you're interested in such things.

At least I thought it was her, but now I'm not so sure.

@Jacob @Dustin
I saw that. It was pretty impressive. Maybe she can help edit the next book.

Wow, that was very nice of her (or whoever it was) to take the time to do that for us.

Dustin wrote: "Jacob wrote: "My mother nabbed Divide and Conquer earlier today and blazed through it in a little over an hour (she's somewhat of a voracious reader) and threw up a review for it already. "

Looks ..."

Nah, my mother (Lee Lawrence) wrote a short review, it's at the bottom of the page.

In regards to the longer review, that was written by Lyrabelle, who is actually my little sister. She has worked as an editor in the past, and tends to give great advice in terms of grammar and content. I have a ton of people read my work before I publish it, and I value her counsel quite highly (more so than anyone else, truth be told).

She spent 3 or 4 days looking over the anthology, giving each of us our just due, and phrased her critiques in a way that wouldn't break our spirits, which I appreciate.

She may be participating in this months workshop on Foil and Phaser, so if you guys are lucky you may get to see her in action and benefit from her presence.

Jacob wrote: "Nah, my mother (Lee Lawrence) wrote a short review, it's at the bottom of the page...."

I don't actually remember why I made that assumption. Oh well.

Jacob wrote: "and phrased her critiques in a way that wouldn't break our spirits...."

Yeah, that isn't something my reader is familiar with. He believes strongly in the theory that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. His feedback came in the form of volunteering to refresh my knowledge of grammar. I took the hint.

Jacob wrote: "She may be participating in this month's workshop on Foil and Phaser,...."

Hope she does.

Update: Now available for your Apple products through iTunes or your iBooks app. Just search for "Divide and Conquer".