Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to a very special edition of the Archefire Newsletter! You may have noticed the header image looks a bit different this month. If this newsletter landed in your inbox and you read the subject line rather than rapidly clicking into the email (as I always do when an author sends me an update), then you may know why! Without further ado, I present to you...
The Long-Awaited Grave of the Waiting Cover Reveal
What have I been saying? Luke nailed it! It's unmistakably sci-fi horror, with all the digital tendrils hooked into the brain of this gentleman on the cover. Who is he? Well, you'll have to read the book and hazard a guess. I suppose you must be wondering about a release date. It's closer than you think!
In fact, it's...
It's...
It's right now!
Grave of the Waiting - Available now!
That link leads to the Amazon page, where you can pick up the Kindle edition for a limited time price of $0.99. In December, it'll go up to $2.99. The paperback is also live for $16.99 (and I've got signed copies available). Head on over and pick up a copy if you want to support me with an Amazon algorithm boost.
But don't feel obligated, because I've got an even better price for you as a newsletter subscriber:
Free! (Stand by for launch sequence.)
This book has been a long time in the making, overcome quite a few hurdles, and wound up as a story I'm incredibly proud of. I've already shared some feedback from my editor, Sarah Chorn, in a previous newsletter, but it's worth sharing some more (mostly because I like reading it over and over to ward away the imposter syndrome)!
I'm also lucky enough to have gotten a few early reviews as well. Thank you to Kate and Pete for these! You both made my day!
I'd say the story is landing well! 😄
Suffice to say, I'm so excited to get this book into your hands. If you're reading this in your inbox, all you have to do is head over to the Thank You page with the button below and you can get the Free Digital Edition. (It's the same as the Kindle Edition but it deserved a fancy name too.) If you're a fan of Alien, The Martian, or The Three-Body Problem, there's a good chance you're going to love this one.
If you're not subscribed already, well... it's free! You can sign up, download your free book, then unsubscribe if that's what you want to do. Just be sure to leave a glowing review when you recover from the inevitable heartbreak you suffer at the end of the story. 😉
Now... I need your help
I've wanted to do a Beyoncé-style surprise release for a while now, and after preparing all month for this... let me tell you, there are some challenges. Publishing a book is never easy, but trying to keep that fact secret while you're in the middle of executing the plan? Impossible! (I don't know how you did it, Queen Bey...)
I'm sure some people have spotted the cover art out in the wild – it's been live on Amazon and Goodreads for two days now, thanks to Amazon's "72 hour" processing time actually only being 3 hours. No one spoiled the surprise, thankfully. (Special thank you to early readers who've been in on the plan since last month's newsletter!)
But that means exactly what it sounds like... no one knows about this thing!
I'm going to need your help to spread the word. You know what that means?
GIVEAWAY TIME, BABY!
Look, you know me well enough by now, don't you? Surely you didn't think you were getting out of this newsletter without a giveaway to celebrate the book release! Have I got a doozy this time.
One lucky winner in the US will win the Grand Prize, pictured above. That's a signed paperback, a Grave of the Waiting bookmark, a Crimson Grave stainless steel water bottle, planetary stress balls, and a very special handcrafted plush dodo.
Ada's dodo.
In Grave of the Waiting, humanity is quickly approaching extinction. As the stuffed animal's neck is wrung by Ada's hand, humankind is strangled by the stifling energy austerity imposed around the world after the destructive war of Ada's childhood. As the story progresses in Ada's adulthood, the stuffed dodo becomes something more—a way to remember her home and what's important as she journeys to the icy rogue planet that mysteriously arrives in the solar system.
I wanted this giveaway to include something special, a piece of Ada's story that you can hold in your hands. When I discovered this plush dodo from My Bloody Stuff, I knew it was exactly what I was searching for. Lovingly handcrafted by @petergolop and @bloodybetty_, this stuffed animal is going to one lucky grand prize winner, something to hold tight while Ada and the Dauntless crew try to survive the nightmare planet of G9615. (Try not to squeeze too hard.)
But wait, there's more! I'm also giving away five signed copies with bookmarks included, and these are available internationally. I didn't want readers on the other side of the globe to feel left out. Especially not for a story starring two Americans, a Swede, a Brit, and an expat living in Switzerland.
That was a lot to dump on you. You're probably thinking, "Okay, Josh, I'm sold already. This book sounds great! Now how do I enter?"
Easy peasy. Just follow me on X and retweet this post:
This thing's numbers need to go to the moon if there's any chance this book does well on Amazon with no pre-orders to grease Jeff Bezos' palms the wheels. Sci-fi is a hard sell—there's a much bigger fantasy market—so any support you throw behind this will be greatly appreciated!
To Burn All Belief
Just because this is a special Grave of the Waiting edition of the newsletter doesn't mean I'd forget all about my other baby. To Burn All Belief came out last month on audiobook — head over to the Audible store to pick up a copy!
Now listen closely, I'm going to tell you how to get it for the cheapest possible price. Don't let anyone know I told you this.
The listed price is $43.66 — crazy, I know! But they're counting on people to buy it with an Audible credit, which drops the cost to $15. But if you buy the Kindle Edition first, the audiobook can be added on for just $7.49. That means you'll get both versions for just $2.99 + $7.49 = $10.48. Now that's a deal!
I have no control over pricing for the audiobook, and I don't know how long this trick will work, so I'd pop over to the Amazon store and snag your copies while it lasts!
Monthly Giveaway
Just because this is a special Grave of the Waiting edition of the newsletter doesn't mean I'd forget all about my other giveaways. (Deja vu, much?)
Last month, I asked what your favorite audiobook performances were, and both responses mentioned the same guy! Tim Gerard Reynolds, who narrated the Riyria Revelations and Red Rising, is definitely on my radar now. Another shoutout was for Steven Pacey, narrator of the First Law series. I can personally vouch for that one — his reading of The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie had me utterly absorbed into the story. I couldn't put them down (them = my earbuds + my paperback)!
The giveaway prize was a copy of To Burn All Belief on audio, naturally, and the winner is Nina! I'll contact you so we can make sure you get your prize. Congratulations! 🥳
This month, I've got a Grave of the Waiting stainless steel water bottle to hand out. Begone, microplastics! Stainless steel is the future!
All you have to do is answer this question in the comments section:
What's your favorite sci-fi book or movie?
I'm always looking for good sci-fi book and movie recs, so this seems like a good chance to harvest a few. Show me what you got!
Same pup, different day
Alright, let's wrap this thing up with a little Nazgul update. This month, he got visited by his Uncle Bradley!
These two are like yin and yang. Nazgul constantly wanted to play with Bradley, but Bradley doesn't like other dogs, so he was always growling at Naz to back off. Quite a headache for the week Bradley stayed with us!
Eventually they learned to calm down and tolerate each other (mostly Bradley tolerating Nazgul). Shortly after Bradley went back home, we donated some of our furniture to make room for baby things—including Nazgul's favorite lookout chair. Now he has to lounge on the couch pillows to see out the window.
I think he's accepted it. He seems to find the pillows perfectly comfortable! We'll see how quickly he accepts being a big brother with a new baby in the house.
The due date is only about a month away now—December 11. If everything sticks to that schedule, I'll still have a newsletter for you next month on the 4th. Of course, no one is in control of that schedule, so the baby may be here before then. In that case, the December newsletter may either be delayed or slightly early as I rush to type something up while in the hospital.
In January, however, all bets are off! I have no idea how well I'll manage to stick to the monthly schedule while sleep-deprived and managing a newborn, so please forgive me if I go incommunicado for a little while.
That's all I've got this month! (I say, as if there wasn't a metric ton of stuff in here...) Tomorrow is Election Day in the US, and let me tell you, as a voter in the most important swing state of the race, I am absolutely ready to get this over with. No more spam messages and canvassers please!
I guess one way to look at it is that we're so popular because we hold all the power! Muahaha! Let that sink in, mortals. Whoever wins the election tomorrow, know that it was MY VOTE that pushed them over the finish line. Unless it's the candidate you didn't want to win, then don't blame me. It was probably my neighbor. See you all on the other side. 🫡
As always, thanks for reading!
— Josh