Author Yakov Merkin announces the exciting Indiegogo campaign for the third installment in his galaxy-spanning sci-fi series, Galaxy Ascendant.
Do you miss the days when grand, epic sci-fi franchises like Star Wars and Mass Effect were good? Do you want grand-scope, creative, action-packed, and FUN space opera fiction?
Then come on over to the Galaxy Ascendant! We have action, adventure, romance, space battles that are among the largest in all of space opera fiction, and truly heroic characters!
Readers have only great things to say about the series so far, and A Shifting Alliance takes it to a whole new level.
One detail that makes this campaign so attractive is that you get all three eBooks in the series at the $5 tier and all three eBooks plus the new paperback at the $25 tier. It’s a generous offer that lets new readers jump right into the series from the start. Think I’ll steal the same approach for future Combat Frame XSeed campaigns.
Have you read any of the series? I must admit I'm getting on this bandwagon since you're boosting it. That and the $5 for all 3 ebooks is a really good deal.
Not the whole series yet, but I've read excerpts and it's on my TBR pile.
Would love to but due to recent events have sworn off indiegogo.
That said, when it gets published I'll provide whatever support I can by purchasing a copy then.
Thank you for taking the time to voice your decision and explain the underlying logic. We authors know that the reader is king, and that we are competing with TV, movies, and beer for your hard-earned dollars. I would not presume to gainsay readers' market preferences. Yakov asked for monetary support. The reader said no. That is the reader's sole prerogative.
What solidarity with my brothers in the craft obliges me to do is make sure readers' sovereign decisions are as soundly informed as possible.
It's undeniably true that Indiegogo has engaged in partisan and unethical behavior toward creators on their platform. They should face repercussions for those actions.
It is also true that the only currently viable alternative to Indiegogo, Kickstarter, has a much longer track record of gross partisan discrimination. In terms of frequency, Kickstarter is an even worse platform for dissenting creators.
Your pledge to purchase Yakov's book upon publication is, I'm certain, greatly appreciated. Note that I have also always said not to give money to people who hate you. Like all aspirational statements, it admits of degrees. I should point out that Indiegogo, which you understandably refuse to do business with, takes only 5% of what you pay to the author, while arch-Leftist Jeff Bezos' Amazon takes 30%.
Being an indie author, Yakov does not enjoy the benefits of a traditional publisher. He must pay for editing, cover and promotional art, and formatting out-of-pocket. Nor does he receive an advance to offset the cost of time spent writing. Perhaps he can foot the bill on his own, but soldiers' pay is notoriously modest.
Offsetting the production and opportunity costs incurred by foregoing a traditional publisher was the sole remaining obstacle inhibiting indie authors from devoting our full efforts to publishing stories normal people actually want to read. The new patronage system ushered in by crowdfunding seemed to have solved this problem. Unfortunately, one major crowdfunding service has consistently embraced SJW behavior, and the other has brazenly stolen from a dissenting publishing house. Indiegogo will not miss the $100 denied them if Yakov's campaign fails, but he'll certainly miss the $2,000 he'd hoped his readers' goodwill would provide.
I see no good solution. When elephants fight, the grass suffers.