Caribbean-born Tobias S. Buckell hasn’t published a new book in his Xenowealth saga since 2008. Fans of Crystal Rain, Ragamuffin, and Sly Mongoose have been hoping for another book in the series, particularly since Sly Mongoose ended with a huge plot shift that opened up Buckell’s “universe” to an infinite number of new stories. But publishing is a wicked beast, and things don’t always go as planned. That is until Kickstarter showed up and started changing the game for writers. Buckell has taken the next installment of the Xenowealth saga to the indie funding/incentive platform and is calling on fans to help him reach his $10,000 goal: One of the most frequent questions I get is this: ‘When will you write a sequel to Crystal Rain/Ragamuffin/Sly Mongoose?’ The truth is, I have most of the outline for the fourth book already written, as well as a chunk of the opening already done. And I think it would be great to see it fully written. Using Kickstarter, it seems to me that we can put together a very cool project. One where I can present readers of this existing series with a sequel, while allowing everyone to basically pre-order the novel. If enough people commit to backing it, readers will get an awesome eBook (I create eBooks for freelance income on the side), or a great hardcover (with the help of a great designer), with even cooler rewards for those who want to read the book as it is being written or who want to leave their mark on the Xenowealth universe. The Xenowealth novels have always been fairly unique with their diaspora characters in the future, bringing a range of diversity to straight up adventure novels, with bits and pieces of Caribbean inspiration folded in for good measure. Allowing readers to pre-purchase the next Xenowealth adventure is an exciting prospect, and I hope that many of the dedicated readers of the first three books are as as excited as I am about a chance to come back to these worlds and characters. If we can raise $10,000, upon completion of the novel (I will start writing it January 1st at the latest, and will finish in June), backers receive their rewards (those backing the project for above $250 get to read along live, however) once the book is finished and turned into an eBook and limited edition hardcover. The project has to meet its minimum funding goal by the 19th of October (by 2:56 PM EDT). And what’s in it for readers? Depending on how much you give, you can receive ebook or hardcover copies of the finished product, have a character or spaceship named after you, or even have a short story set in the universe written specifically for you. There are also incentives to publicize the hell out of the project. Buckell has set a series of goals above $10,000 that, if reached, will result in lots of cool extras for everyone who donates (artwork, etc.). But the main goal is that $10,000. So the question is: are you going to donate? Because I am…as soon as I get my next paycheck. ——————————– P.S.: You can check out our interview with Tobias S. Buckell here.
