Save 25% on My Books!

Lulu just sent me a coupon to share that you can use to save 25% on any of my books!

You can find my books here: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/mikeluoma

And here's the Lulu info:

25% off any of your books
Coupon Code: BUYMYBOOK305
Coupon expires December 14, 2011
$50 Max Savings


So that's the deal - The Lulu people also said in their email:
How you use this coupon is completely up to you. You can share it on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. You can post it on your blog or mention it over Thanksgiving dinner -- as word-of-mouth sales always work well this time of year. We encourage you to get creative and encourage your audience to save. We do ask, however, that you make sure your buyers are aware of the coupon's max savings amount ($50) and the coupon's end date (December 14, 2011).


Enjoy!

Getting Away With Murder...

Can BC get away with murder?



The Vatican Assassin has done his job - Governor Meredith McEntyre of Lunar Prime is dead. So far, no one suspects BC. Authorities are not yet even certain that McEntyre was killed - it looked like a heart attack. But McEntyre's widower Daniel is about to accuse BC of being her killer! 

That's all you need to know to dive right in as Vatican Assassin continues - chapters five and six on this episode of Glow-in-the-Dark Radio! 

Got carried away creating bonus material for this episode - there's more bonus stuff than chapters, and more than an hour's worth of both! Thought about breaking The History of the UIN up into two parts, but decided you could do that if you want. Just to forewarn ya - there won't be much next week with the holiday and all. But there will be an episode. 

Come back each week for more chapters and exclusive background material from VATICAN ASSASSIN!

Links: http://vaticanassassin.com - http://glowinthedarkradio.com - http://mikeluoma.com

Page One of "Souverain: The Kid"

Here's a look at page one of the prose short story in the new upcoming Souverain #1:

Souverain... soon!

December 1st...

The Earthbound Comics release for December is Souverain #1 by Ben Ferrari and myself, along with Matthew Grant, Kitae Kim and Vic Moya, and Seth Frail and Chuck Michael Obach on cover art.

Spent a long time on the lettering and layout on this, too - but, again, I wanted it to be right :)

Black and Blue From the New 52

This is not a complaining, bitching and moaning blog post. Got no problem with the New 52. I approve of the idea, the sort of risk-taking relaunch DC approached but failed to follow through on before – they almost did it a few times. Kudos to them for finally following through. It’s working. Sales are up. Digital sales are finally beginning to uptick. The timing on that couldn't be better with the excitement for new tablets and the market exploding right in front of us. Those new toys are going to need content. Could be time for a new comics renaissance. The future looks bright.

But right now? OW! OUCH! CUT IT OUT!

I’m getting black and blued by the New 52!

Call it "sucking all the air out of the room" or "dominating the market" or whatever you’d like, DC’s New 52 initiative has grabbed hold of the comic world’s collective consciousness and ferociously refuses to let go. Even now, Google "New 52" and you’ll discover article after article, blog post after blog post on "The New 52 – Two Months In!" and the like. The coverage is intense and exhaustive, from the highest trafficked websites down to the smallest comic book bloggers.

Hell, s’pose this is even more coverage... hurm.

This is all great for DC. As a fan of their iconic characters, gifted artists and talented writers, I’m happy for them. But their market saturation and domination makes the life of an independent comic creator an awful tough slog right now – it’s not easy for the little guy to fight against Supes, Batman and the rest of the Justice League!

My new book The Adventures of Alibi Jones #1 came out last month from small indie publisher Earthbound Comics. It’s a pretty sharp 40 page black and white comic with fantastic art and pretty good writing and lettering, if I do say so myself. It’s gotten a couple of great reviews. Just a couple, though. Because Alibi Jones is no match for Superman – it’s been almost impossible to garner coverage and reviews for my little indie book in the wake of the New 52.

Comic book blogs and websites aren’t doing anything wrong. They’re covering and writing about what the comic book buying public are spending their hard-earned cash on. I get Gary Scott Beatty’s Indie Comics Magazine’s emails. Today’s triggered this post, as I read, "DC had 51% of the comics unit share in October. That was a whopping 21 points over Marvel. My diamond brand manager said indie books are still struggling, some canceled, going up against books like Action Comics #1, #2 and #3."

I knew it wasn’t just me. Hard for all us little guys to go up against the Superheroes at full strength. Bad time to try getting an indie book noticed. 

So this post is a bit of a plea. If you’re a web site reviewer, reporter, writer or blogger, please consider reviewing or covering an indy book or two this week. If you’re a comic book reader, please consider buying an indie comic book this week. You can find them at sites like IndyPlanet.com and DriveThruComics.com, to name just a couple.

Of course I’d love you to check out my new book The Adventures of Alibi Jones #1... more at http://AlibiJones.com. If you review or cover comics and want a pdf of the book, please email me at mike (dot) luoma (at) gmail (dot) com.

It’s hard out here for an indie comic trying to promote. Show your favorite indie creators a little love if you can this week. The future is looking bright, but right now we’re all a little black and blue from the New 52.

And A New Podcast Episode, Too!

After the layout was done I got down to recording. New podcast up with some pretty cool previously unreleased material (if I do say so myself).

The Science Fiction Adventure Continues! It's 2109 and Bernard Campion - BC - is the VATICAN ASSASSIN! A tale of Politics, Religion & War as humankind expands into the stars. Hear Chapters 3 & 4 of the Vatican Assassin audiobook - written and read by Mike Luoma - on today's episode. You can get the chapters as FREE downloads at iTunes and Podiobooks.com as well. Those are the chapters alone - on this podcast you get more.

Get the history of Lunar Prime - once known as Reagan Station. Find out who The Cardinal was in the first draft, as we revisit the original manuscript of the story, lost for years. Hear a previously unreleased scene with two characters who were lost with the original mss! Exclusive background material on VATICAN ASSASSIN - only on this episode of Glow-in-the-Dark Radio!

Come back each week for more chapters and exclusive background material from VATICAN ASSASSIN!

Links: http://vaticanassassin.com - http://glowinthedarkradio.com - http://mikeluoma.com

What I Did With My Saturday...

Layout! Beautiful art by Seth Frail and Chuck Michael Obach - the book comes out on 12/1/11!

And So It Begins... AGAIN!

As I work on the rewrite of my 5th novel - tentatively titled Alibi Jones and The Sunrise of Hur - I didn't know what I was going to offer you next on my podcast. Decided to offer you a fresh take on some work you may or may not have heard before, to go back to the beginning and see if I can convince any new friends to come on board for the ride... as I bring you a new presentation of VATICAN ASSASSIN!

It's the chapters of the remastered audiobook, written and read by me - you may have heard those before. But there is also new background material before and after the fiction, to offer old fans something fresh.




Hope you'll join in my blatant attempt to bring Vatican Assassin to a whole new wave of fans by linking to this blog or this podcast, posting a link on facebook or Twitter... please share the science fiction fun and help expose Vatican Assassin to a whole new wave of fans!

IT ALL STARTS HERE! Science Fiction Adventure - Politics - Religion - War - And Humankind's expansion into the stars! Come along for the ride - hear the story of our future! It's 2109 and Bernard Campion - BC - is the VATICAN ASSASSIN!

Hear Chapters 1 & 2 of the Vatican Assassin audiobook on today's episode of Glow-in-the-Dark Radio! Get the chapters as FREE downloads at iTunes and at Podiobooks.com, too. Those will be just the chapters - on this podcast there's also exclusive background material. Get the background on BC - his biography. And ponder the perils of prognostication with a consideration of extrapolating "future history" - plus you'll hear some of the future history behind VATICAN ASSASSIN! And be sure to join us in coming weeks for more chapters and exclusive background material!

Links: http://vaticanassassin.com - http://glowinthedarkradio.com - http://mikeluoma.com