MyVoice Publishing trials Publishizer with In Search of Spice, a Historical Fantasy Novel

Feb. 8, 2015 - PRLog -- Crowd Funding is a buzzword these days, being used to finance all sorts of projects.  It is proving so successful for books that there is a unique platform, Publishizer, just for books.  To date it has mainly seen instructional type books, but MyVoice Publishing, who like to help new authors become successful, are using it for a novel.

Not just a novel, but a fantasy novel, which is new ground for MyVoice.

In Search of Spice is historical fantasy rooted in facts, although the countries are invented and the maps show a world different from this one.  Harrhein is the country, which is trapped in its peninsular by warlike neighbours.  The story is the maiden voyage of the first carrack built, attempting to by-pass the pirates by going south into the deep ocean.  Aboard is the runaway princess of the country, who rapidly acquires a coterie of supporters and finds her talents in demand.

Author Rex Sumner says, "My fantasy is very much rooted in reality.  My dragons don't fly or breathe fire - I know too much zoology, physics and chemistry to be comfortable.  But I see no reason why they can't be intelligent dinosaurs.  (Unfortunately there are no dragons in this book, though there are in the prequel Feeding the Dragon available free from most online stores as an eBook.)  Much of my magic is actually scientifically possible, based on hypnotism, suggestion and sleight of hand though of course there is always some that I just can't explain.  I am an avid reader of history, particularly the history of other cultures, so I am able to describe customs which are weird and amazing to Westerners, but actually happened.

"I am very much a story teller, concerned with entertaining the reader and persuading them to be wrapped up in the story.  So I write consciously varying the emotional content, in my belief a key component of a good book."

Making a book successful requires careful marketing, says MyVoice.  Every week some thousand new books are published, of which barely twenty will sell more than a hundred copies.  That is incredibly sad.  The cost of a successful book lies not in the design or print, but in the marketing.  Of course the book must be well written with an engaging cover design, but the key, as in any business, lies in marketing.

The modern way to market a book is by reaching the reviewers - and they are no longer the magazines, rather the bloggers who tell their audience about the latest books.  And there are so many of them!  However there are specialist companies who cultivate relationships with bloggers, create databases of bloggers or in some manner are able to communicate with them and get your content into the blogs.  The modern online PR agency.

They are not cheap, and beyond the reach of most authors and indeed publishers have to be very careful they choose the right books to put forward.  And here is the beauty of Publishizer.  Success on Publishizer automatically means the book is suitable for promotion, and investing funds according to how well the book does.  Some books generated very large sums indeed.

It is easy for the non-fiction books to raise large sums.  They do it not by selling books, but by selling the ancillaries that go with the subject.  Seminars, lectures, courses and coaching.  Clearly, it is not so easy for fiction to do the same.

MyVoice believe they have overcome this obstacle with some clever innovations.  Firstly they have stepped in with offers to other authors, critiques and coaching to assist authors prepare their own work.  All at discounted prices.

Secondly the author is offering to instil sponsors in the book - there is still time before it goes to press.  Yes, the Crown Princess of Harrhein could have your name (I think the author might object if you wanted to call her Bill).  He is also offering to write stories about Harrhein incorporating you as the hero.

"It's actually a great source of inspiration," says author Rex Sumner.  "Look at Wagon Master, which I wrote for a friend in memory of his recently deceased uncle who had been in the Royal Corps of Transport.  Very popular and a source of solace to the uncle's sister despite being a very moving and sad story."

Finally, the author researches his locations and is currently in Malaysia.  It is hard to find out-of-the-way places in todays world, but he has found some and will act as a guide for readers wishing to visit and see them.  He is not saying exactly where, but for $1000+travel in sponsorship he will take you to a remote island and find spice growing there.  He promises fantastic food and beautiful snorkelling.  He will even take you game fishing for a price which seems like a pittance compared to Central America, which he puts down to the lack of infrastructure and purpose built boats, though the fish don't care.

Find out more about the book and the proposal at https://publishizer.com/in-search-of-spice/