It’s Smashwords’ Read an Ebook Week 2024!

Hey, book lovers! Today’s the day when e-book distributor Smashwords launches its annual Read an Ebook Week Sale, during which you can purchase tens of thousands of digital books at special prices! It runs March 3–9—and yes, you’ll need to set up an account (it’s free) to take advantage of this promotion. 

Included among the many participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (of course), which means you can get the following dark-urban-fantasy digital titles at 25% off:

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is my young adult novel that’s perfect for lovers of dark urban fantasy.It introduces readers to Pandora Zwieback, a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets professional monster hunter Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. In Blood Feud, Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father.

In Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2, Pan and Annie face even greater challenges as the vampire clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover! But Pan isn’t about to let some ancient monster win the day, not when the lives of her parents and friends—along with those of every human on the planet—are at stake, so she leads a charge of her own. But whose side is going to emerge the victor remains to be seen…

And Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase is Richard C. White’s collection of fantasy-noir, pulp-detective tales starring a private eye working the supernatural beat in the city of Calasia. From a sexy chanteuse who literally turns into a beast when the moon is full to a string of pearls that kills its owners, and from the ghost of a dead woman seeking justice to the Grim Reaper’s little girl seeking her stolen chicken, Theron Chase certainly has his hands full—of danger, death, and dames!

Read an Ebook Week Sale runs March 3–9, so head over to the StarWarp Concepts publisher page at Smashwords and start shopping!

StarWarp Concepts Joins Ebook Distributor Draft2Digital

Last year, major publishing news was made when it was announced that e-book distributor Draft2Digital had acquired competitor Smashwords and, over time, would migrate Smashwords’ client publishers into D2D’s ever-expanding stable, while also making Smashwords available to D2D’s clients as a new selling venue. (Smashwords now basically serves as D2D’s storefront.)

Well, good news, everyone—as of this month, StarWarp Concepts has joined the Draft2Digital family! In addition to our existing presence on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords, you’re now able to purchase SWC’s e-books through Everand (the subscription-app imprint of Scribd), Gardners (in the UK), Tolino (in Germany), and Vivlio (in France).

(Just a reminder: Our titles also remain available through e-tailers DriveThru Fiction and DriveThru Comics, as well as the SWC Store.)

And hey, all you librarians looking for quality books for your patrons! Our titles can be ordered through OverDrive, Baker & Taylor, Odilo, Bibliotheca, BorrowBox, Palace Marketplace, and hoopla.

Bonus news: In a couple of weeks, StarWarp Concepts will be participating in Smashwords’ annual Read an Ebook Week sale, running March 3–9, where you can purchase our titles at 25% off!

So, get to reading!

DriveThru’s New Year, New Comics 2024 E-book Sale Is On!

Holy unexpected promotions!

I just happened to drop by the home of DriveThru Comics, one of StarWarp Concepts’ e-book distributors, and saw they’re currently running a New Year, New Comics Sale, in which the first volumes of all publishers’ graphic novels are available at discounted prices. And among those bargains is…Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1?

Okay, Blood Feud is a young adult novel, not a graphic novel, but it is a first volume and it does feature a cover painting by comic-art legend Bob Larkin (Star Trek, Star Wars, Vampirella, Dazzler, Doc Savage) and a frontispiece illustration by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, The Legend of Calamity Jane: The Devil Herself, Stargate Universe), and I am the writer of the Pan Zwieback and Calamity Jane comics, so I guess that’s close enough!

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1, of course, is my young adult novel that’s perfect for lovers of dark urban fantasy. It introduces readers to Pandora Zwieback, a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets professional monster hunter Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. 

In Blood Feud, Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father!

“Far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels. Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.”HorrorNews.net

Got your interest? Good! The New Year, New Comics Sale runs now through January 19th, so head over to the StarWarp Concepts publisher page at DriveThru Comics, and (if you haven’t done so already) get introduced to Pandora Zwieback!

Smashwords’ 2023 Summer/Winter E-book Sale Is On!

Hey, book lovers! Today’s the day when e-book distributor Smashwords launches its 15th annual Summer/Winter Sale, during which you can purchase thousands of digital books at special prices! It runs from July 1 to July 31—and yes, you’ll need to set up an account (it’s free) to take advantage of this promotion. 

As for why Smashwords gives this event such an unusual name: Because Smashwords serves a global readership where it’s summer in the Northern hemisphere and winter in the Southern hemisphere. So whether you’re looking for a great beach read, or you want to curl up in front of a warm fireplace with a great read, we’ve got you covered!”

Included among the many participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (of course), which means you can get the following digital titles at 25% off:

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is my young adult novel that’s perfect for lovers of dark urban fantasy.It introduces readers to Pandora Zwieback, a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets professional monster hunter Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. In Blood Feud, Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father.

In Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2, Pan and Annie face even greater challenges as the vampire clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover! But Pan isn’t about to let some ancient monster win the day, not when the lives of her parents and friends—along with those of every human on the planet—are at stake, so she leads a charge of her own. But whose side is going to emerge the victor remains to be seen…

And Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase is Richard C. White’s collection of fantasy-noir, pulp-detective tales starring a private eye working the supernatural beat in the city of Calasia. From a sexy chanteuse who literally turns into a beast when the moon is full to a string of pearls that kills its owners, and from the ghost of a dead woman seeking justice to the Grim Reaper’s little girl seeking her stolen chicken, Theron Chase certainly has his hands full—of danger, death, and dames!

Again, the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale runs July 1 to July 31, so head over to the StarWarp Concepts publisher page at Smashwords and start your summer (or winter) shopping!

StarWarp Concepts E-books Available for Libraries Through OverDrive

With the unofficial start of summer having arrived last week with the celebration of Memorial Day here in the U.S., the time has arrived for summer reading—and for many people, summer reading means visiting your local library (either in-person or online) to find books that will assist in your enjoyment of these lazy, hazy days.  

Well, librarians, it just so happens that OverDrive, the biggest distributor to libraries—both school and public—has StarWarp Concepts’ titles ready for order directly from their website! All you need to do to get started is visit the author pages for Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) and Richard C. White, where you’ll find all of the available ebooks.

Via OverDrive, the following titles can be ordered for your libraries:

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 and Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2 are the critically acclaimed, character-driven action-fest young adult novels by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) that introduce readers to the title character, a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets an immortal monster hunter named Annie that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. In Blood Feud and Blood Reign, Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover! 

“Far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels. Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.—HorrorNews.net on Blood Feud

Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is our popular how-to book for writers and gamers in which fantasy author Richard C. White takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. Included is an interview with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) that discusses his methods of world building, as well as his creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, the book is so popular that it’s currently being used as a textbook in the Interactive Media & Game Development program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worchester, Massachusetts!

“A solid introduction to the subject of world building. The book succeeds in helping the aspiring writer in creating a skeletal framework on which to hang the moving parts required of a believable fictional setting.”—The Gaming Gang 

For a Few Gold Pieces More collects Richard’s fantasy short stories about a Rogue With No Name who travels a world of epic-fantasy adventure, looking for treasure—and revenge against the woman who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (but she did). Think Lord of the Rings meets the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone (A Fistful of DollarsThe Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). It’s “entertaining, old-school sword and sorcery, in the tradition of [Fritz Lieber’s] Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser,” according to author Jim C. Hines of the Magic ex Libris book series.

Harbinger of Darkness is Richard’s first fantasy novel for SWC. In it, a thief named Perrin steals an extremely valuable—and magical—gem from the evil king ruling her home country. With thugs and fellow thieves and the king’s assassins hot on her trail, Perrin finds just staying alive is becoming a full-time occupation, which directly conflict with her secret life—and identity—as a humble bookseller’s daughter. It’s sword-swinging adventure at its finest!

“A visceral adventure through a world of magic with well-developed characters, dynamic dialogue and a good dose of two-handed sword fights.”—Experience Writing 

So if you’re a librarian interested in adding those titles to your digital bookshelves, head over to OverDrive and place your order today!

DriveThru’s 2019 Thanksgiving Sale Is Underway!

thanksgiving-turkey-mdBeating the rush before the post-Thanksgiving shopping season goes into overdrive this weekend, e-book distributor DriveThru Fiction—along with its sister sites DriveThru Comics and DriveThru RPG—has launched its annual Thanksgiving Weekend Sale, during which you can purchase a ton of digital books and comics at special prices! It runs from now through Monday, December 2—so it covers those special shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday—and yes, you’ll need to set up an account (it’s free) to take advantage of this promotion.

Included among the many participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (of course), which means you can take advantage of some sweet discounts while the sale’s running. Been meaning to purchase author Richard C. White’s ever-growing backlist of titles, which includes this year’s noir-fantasy collection Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase, as well as his bestselling guide for gamers and writers, Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination? Interested in checking out the comic-book adventures of Lorelei, the seductive succubus who’s SWC’s First Lady of Horror? Had plans to meet Goth adventuress Pandora Zwieback, star of young adult books and comics?

Then head on over to the SWC DriveThru Comics page or the SWC DriveThru Fiction page now and get to shopping! And have a Happy Thanksgiving!

DriveThru’s 2018 Cyber Sale Is Underway!

DTFiction-BlackFridaySaleBeating the rush before the post-Thanksgiving shopping season goes into overdrive this weekend, e-book distributor DriveThru Fiction—along with its sister sites DriveThru Comics and DriveThru RPG—has launched its annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sale, during which you can purchase a ton of digital books and comics at special prices! It runs from now to November 26—and yes, you’ll need to set up an account (it’s free) to take advantage of this promotion.

Included among the many participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (of course), which means you can take advantage of some sweet discounts while the sale’s running. So head on over there now and get to shopping!

DriveThru’s 2018 Halloween Sale Is Underway!

pumpkin-clipartWith the Spooky Season officially in high gear, e-book distributor DriveThru Comics has launched its annual Halloween sale, during which you can purchase thousands of horror-themed digital books and comics at special prices! It runs from now to November 1—and yes, you’ll need to set up an account (it’s free) to take advantage of this promotion. Included among the many participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (of course), which means you can get the following titles at lower prices:

blood_feudBlood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is my young adult novel that’s perfect for lovers of dark urban fantasy.It introduces readers to Pandora Zwieback, a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets professional monster hunter Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. In Blood Feud, Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father. It’s a character-driven action-fest that leads immediately into the second novel:

blood_reign-coverBlood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2: Pan and Annie face even greater challenges as the vampire clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover! But Pan isn’t about to let some ancient monster win the day, not when the lives of her parents and friends—along with those of every human on the planet—are at stake, so she leads a charge of her own. But whose side is going to emerge the victor remains to be seen…

pan_annual_coverThe Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 is a spinoff from the novel series. In this 56-page, full-color comic special, the teenaged Goth adventuress battles Gothic Lolita vampires in a shopping mall and a jealous, man-stealing siren in the middle of New York’s Central Park. It features stories by me and Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up, Mighty Mouse), art by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0), comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), and Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School), and cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella).

troubleshooters_lrg_coverTroubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is a general readers’ graphic novel about a group of supernatural-superheroes-for-hire taking on their first case. The team consists of a wizard, a female ninja, a sorceress, a werewolf, and a rock ’n’ roll lighting designer wearing high-tech armor. Sure, they might not be on a power level with the Avengers or Justice League of America—they’re more like superpowered Ghostbusters—but they get the job done. The graphic novel is written by the husband-and-white team of Richard C. White (Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination, For a Few Gold Pieces More, Harbinger of Darkness) and Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman.

And Snow White is the classic story by the Brothers Grimm that’s been adapted numerous times. The SWC edition features incredibly lush full-color illustrations first published in 1883.

Again, the Halloween sale runs through November 1 (the Day of the Dead!), so head over to the StarWarp Concepts publisher page at DriveThru Comics and start shopping!

SWC Ebooks Now Available Through Walmart

Walmart-ebook-phoneHey, e-book fans! As you might have heard, on August 22 superstore retail chain Walmart announced the launch of its new e-book store in a partnership with Kobo, the e-tailer and e-reader company that’s been seeking over the years to upend Amazon’s e-book dominance—and with Barnes & Noble recently stealth-eliminating its Nook kiosks and incorporating the devices into their customer service area, it looks like this might be Kobo’s best time to try and play King of the Hill with Amazon…although that’s a mighty big hill to climb.

So what does all this have to do with Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts? Well, through SWC’s e-book distributor, Smashwords, its titles have been available to Kobo readers since 2011—and now that Kobo is linked to Walmart, that means our books are also available to the superstore’s customers.

Well, the ones who buy Kobo devices at their local Walmart, that is…

If you have a Walmart account and purchase a Kobo, you’ll be able to take advantage of Kobo’s backlist to order yourself some quality SWC titles like The Saga of Pandora Zwieback and Richard C. White’s fantasy adventures. So get to it!

Quality SWC E-books for the Discerning Librarian

ghostbusters-library

With this past Saturday having been the seventh annual celebration of Take Your Child to the Library Day, I was reminded of a conversation I once had with Richard C. White, author of StarWarp Concept’s supernatural graphic novel Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings, pirate-fantasy digital comic The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special, the fantasy-adventure titles For a Few Gold Pieces More and Harbinger of Darkness, and the popular how-to book for writers, Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination.

Rich had been a guest at a science fiction convention and had spoken with some school librarians who were interested in adding Terra Incognito to their lists of e-book titles. But how, they asked, would they be able to obtain it? As librarians, they’re required to order books from distributors, not from publishers; that applies to e-books as well.

Well, it just so happens that one of The ’Warp’s digital distributors, Smashwords, makes our titles available to libraries through Baker & Taylor’s Axis360 and OverDrive e-book programs. To quote from Smashword’s arrangement with the programs:

“Library patrons are able to check out only one copy at a time. The books are wrapped in DRM so they time out after a specific period of time. The library can purchase multiple copies if they decide demand warrants multiple simultaneous checkouts. Otherwise, the library purchases a single copy and allows only one copy at a time to be lent out. If a library patron wishes to obtain a book that’s already checked out, the patron is sometimes given the option to purchase a copy through a retailer.”

In the case of OverDrive, If a library patron wishes to obtain a book that’s already checked out, the patron is sometimes given the option to purchase a copy direct through OverDrive (for libraries that utilize OverDrive’s ‘Buy it Now’ feature).”

Via Smashwords, the following titles can be ordered through Axis360 and OverDrive:

terraTerra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is our popular how-to book for writers and gamers in which bestselling fantasy author Richard C. White (Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil, The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special, Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings) takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. Included is an interview with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) that discusses his methods of world building, as well as his creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons.

Gold-Pieces-CvrFor a Few Gold Pieces More collects Richard C. White’s fantasy short stories about a Rogue With No Name who travels a world of epic-fantasy adventure, looking for treasure—and revenge against the woman who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (but she did). Think Lord of the Rings meets the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). It’s “entertaining, old-school sword and sorcery, in the tradition of [Fritz Lieber’s] Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser,” according to author Jim C. Hines of the Magic ex Libris book series, and we at SWC couldn’t agree more!

Harbinger of Darkness is Rich’s third title, and his first original novel for SWC. In it, a thief named Perrin steals an extremely valuable—and magical—gem from the evil king ruling her home country. With thugs and fellow thieves and the king’s assassins hot on her trail, Perrin finds just staying alive is becoming a full-time occupation, which directly conflict with her secret life—and identity—as a humble bookseller’s daughter. It’s sword-swinging adventure at its finest!

You can also obtain the Saga of Pandora Zwieback young adult novels, Blood Feud and Blood Reign—written by yours truly, Steven A. Roman. You know how popular young adult books are these days, don’t you? Well, here’s another series your patrons might be interested in!

blood_feudPan is a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets an immortal monster hunter named Annie that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. You’ll find Pan battling her own brand of evil dead in the following titles:

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1: This critically acclaimed novel is the beginning of Pan’s story, explaining how she, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father. It’s a character-driven action-fest that leads immediately into the second novel:

Blood-Reign-FinalCvrBlood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2: Pan and Annie face even greater challenges as the vampire clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover!

So if you’re a librarian interested in adding those titles to your digital bookshelves, head over to Axis360 or OverDrive and place your order today!