My Literary Orphan.

I'm talking about one of my novels this week. 

Of all my novels, The Golden Princess stands out as my proudest achievement even though it sells the least. I wanted to talk about it today because it deserves to be read. 

In 2016 I published The Golden Princess, a prequel (and stand-alone) novel in my Chronicles of Fu Xi literary universe. The Golden Princess takes place in distant antiquity, and tells the story of a princess running for her life after her father's throne is usurped. 

I wrote this novel for several reasons: 1)  to bring readers into my greater series 2) to be an easy read (It's short, it's simple. 3) and to attract younger readers and those not necessarily avid readers. 4) to give two characters from my main series more depth and attention.  For these reasons, I also converted it to an audiobook narrated by the great Philip Battley. 

The novel didn't sell as well as I would have liked, even though it met with some critical success. The audiobook fared worse, even though it, too, met with excellent critical success. Now it sits out there on the Amazon and Audible shelves, my literary orphan. I don't push this book like I push the main series.

I should, because I'm very proud of this novel, even through there are a few things I would change about it if I could go back in time.

First, I wouldn't have self-published. I think I could have landed a contract with this one. I wish I would have tried, but at the time I had a company called Underground Book Reviews that specifically covered the indie publishing scene. My plan was for UBR and The Golden Princess to support each other's marketing plan. UBR folded, and the indie publishing scene is massively oversaturated.  Also, the cover doesn't do the novel credit. I freely admit it needs a better cover. It seemed like a good cover at the time for the budget I had.  I'm currently working on that. In fact, I have new covers coming soon for all my novels! 

Pound for pound, this little novel gets the best reviews (on Amazon and Goodreads) of any of my other novels. It's the tightest, most disciplined book I've ever written regarding plot, narrative, and character development. It's not overly complicated, with lots of action that moves quickly. It has some of my favorite characters. It's also ideally written for conversion to a screenplay. That's one reason it makes such an excellent audiobook. 

If you enjoy audiobooks, I invite you to download a copy from Audible. It's slightly over 6 hours long, and Philip Battley nails the reading.  If you prefer eBooks or paperback, click here. 

Give The Golden Princess as try. You won't be disappointed. 

#books #audiobooks #publishing #fantasy #epic #adventure

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