I guess I ought to share the news I mentioned regarding the Palladium Wars. Unfortunately, it’s not all sunshine and roses.
47North has decided not to continue the series. I don’t know the reasoning behind the decision because they did not share it with me, and it doesn’t matter in the end whether it was sales numbers, budget issues, new editorial direction, or none of the above. The bottom line is that Palladium Wars #5 (the “E” novel, for those of you following the alphabetical naming order) will not be published by 47North.
That doesn’t mean it won’t be published at all, of course. I don’t intend to chop the series off at four installments without a satisfying conclusion. What it does mean is that I’ll most likely have to self-publish future installments. There’s always the possibility that my agent will find a new home for Palladium Wars, but the odds of that happening are very slim. It’s highly unlikely that any house will want to take on Book Five in a series they don’t own completely.
I’m not new to the self-publishing game, so I don’t have a problem with the prospect. I’ll have to hire my own editor and cover artist, of course, and the book will be available on Kindle and in paperback, but the audio version will depend on either my agent selling the audio rights to Audible (an easier proposition than selling the series rights to another house altogether), or me hiring an audiobook narrator for the job. All of this means expenses out of pocket for me, and good narrators and cover artists do not come cheap. I’ve thought about doing a Kickstarter for the fifth installment, but I’m not fully sold on the idea yet, and I may just decide to eat the expenses instead of asking readers to commit to a pre-buy like that.
(Self-publishing would mean there’d be no pre-orders because there’s no way to do those on KDP, so I’d be flying blind as to potential reader interest, and I may end up holding the bag fronting the production costs.)
Sorry I can’t give you better news on that particular front. I am very fond of the series (I think it’s superior to Frontlines in many ways), but I also recognize that the stars haven’t always been aligned for it. I had the distinct misfortune to get four different audiobook narrators for the four books in the series, and that’s been a cause for a lot of negative reviews even though there’s precisely nothing I could have done about the situation. (To recap: Luke Daniels didn’t have time in his schedule for the second book, Angelo DiLoreto untimely passed away before the third book came out, and Korey Jackson…well, maybe I’ll get to that in a later post. The fourth artist, Seth Podowitz, may or may not be available as an independent hire, so we’ll see whether we end up keeping our streak of a different narrator for every book. Hey, at least we’d be consistent on that front.)
That’s the current state of The Palladium Wars for you. I fully intend to write Book 5, and unless it finds another home in the meantime, I’ll be making it available on the Kindle and in paperback formats once it’s done, but right now that’s all I can tell you with any certainty.
That’s disappointing. I’m only 2.5 books in at the moment, having randomly plumped for them from a Kindle-Lock-Screen advert (yes, amazing, sometimes they get it right). This series connects to me deep in the bits of my scraggy old bird brain that loves running and playing the game Traveller. If you don’t then I feel convergent evolution is proven; regardless, count me in for a kickstarter. Have a good day.
That’s a huge bummer 🙁
But nonetheless, i’d support whatever/however you decide to continue! 🙂
Sad to hear for you Marko and all the fans of the series. From a technical standpoint I would acknowledge the series to be the better of the two, but there is a reason I fell in love with FRONTLINES and its characters, so from my view it will always be better. I tried the PALLADIUM WARS too, but gave up after 3 books, that somehow couldn’t really touch me, but I really liked SCORPIO again and hope the EVOLUTION- series will keep going. I wish you all the best with finding a way to finish the cancelled series and looking really forward to CORVUS. Greetings from Germany
I love the palladium wars! A kick start is not a bad idea, I always preorder! I am sorry they did that to you!
I’m in for book 5 so just point me to where I need to send money! Also, I know it is controversial, but if there is no other alternative – financially, you could have an AI read it. I have listened to several AI read books, and while they are not nearly as good as a human, they at least provide an audible option which I really appreciate.
I love the Palladium series! I’ll support it whatever way makes sense for you.
If you do it, no matter how you do it, you 100% get a pre-buy from me without question. I love your work!
Bummer! Dang publisher. The Palladium Wars is awesome. I’ve been with you ever since you put your first book out there. Here’s my committment to support your Kickstarter, pre-pay on a pre-order, anything. Whatever it takes to help get it done, I’m with you, Marko.
I hope you continue the series. It is quite a departure from Frontlines. I will continue to support the series by purchasing it through Amazon.
Really enjoying the series, looking forward to at least one more installment. Though I would say go ahead and roll the dice again on a narrator for 5.
We’ll get to the end of this series, I’m sure.
Faith manages
So glad you intend to continue the series!
I found the Palladium Wars and was introduced to you as a writer (and followed immediately!) before Frontlines and love, love, love the series! So glad you’re going to go ahead with Book #5 and will definitely buy in whatever format it is released. Cover art? Ask your loyal readers to come up with a concept and you might be amazed at what you find…
Sorry to hear that. It’s often similar in the software industry where projects that have been worked on for months or years end up never seeing the light of day. Sure that this is frustrating for you but, however you choose to publish, I’ll absolutely be buying book E, F, or however many there are because I really enjoy the location and characters in ways that I haven’t enjoyed Frontlines – although also really enjoyed that series and the new spin off series. Thank you for continuing to write and entertain your audience.
I’m sorry to learn that the publisher is dropping the series. I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ll look forward to the next installment whenever and however it gets published.
I would prebuy #5! I love that series so much.
if its worth anything I would back a kickstarter to help fund the production of the book. Not that I don’t love the frontlines books but the story in palladium wars is refreshingly different from what I typically see and I have been really enjoying the series.
I would be willing to invest in a crowd-funding program to get the next novels published! I suspect that most of your readers feel that way. (I am not sure of the terminology, but I hope that you get what I am suggesting)
I can imagine it’s extremely frustrating for you to be left in the cold like that. Not explaining the circumstances to you is very unprofessional of them. I believe there are a few of us looking forward to the conclusion of this series. I am also a fan of the Frontline books and that’s how I found your work on Kindle. I hope everything falls into place for you to continue your work. I appreciate the escape it gives me. Thank you for the update.
I will purchase any other books in this series. I read a lot, and have discovered so many books just can’t combine an adventuresome plot with well written characters. Your characters have become my book friends;)
Thanks for keeping your readers informed.