I’ve got a surprise new release coming out. Let me tell you about it.
This Machine Kills Billionaires is a new collection, centred around my award-winning novella, The Hidden God.
The Hidden God first appeared in the prestigious Asimov’s Magazine, and has since won the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novella, the Ditmar Award for Best Novella, and been nominated for an Australasian Shadows Award (winner yet to be announced at the time of writing). It’s also on the shortlist for the Asimov’s Reader’s poll, and was included by Locus on their Recommended Reading List. Which is to say: I assure you it doesn’t suck.
There’s also three bonus short stories included, and an essay. Pre-orders open June 21, and you’ll be able to own it come July 7.
An early reviewer (Robin Duncan, author, and host of the British Fantasy Society Podcast), said the following of This Machine Kills Billionaires:
T.R. Napper has done it again. Lying behind this incendiary title is a novella (The Hidden God) crackling with invention and insight. Do not think based on the description that this is a purely intellectual exercise; there is action and suspense, physical violence and psychological strife, and there are testing moral questions, laid out with the author’s quintessential thoughtful directness.
If you loved 36 Streets, revelled in Ghost of the Neon God, were enthralled by The Escher Man, rest easy – you will be equally entertained and challenged by this superb novella, a story for our times.
And that’s all you need to know. I’m damn proud of it, and if you click the link and get yourself a copy, you’ll be supporting my career (and, I hope, your own reading pleasure).
It’s available in hard copy*, eBook, and audiobook (the latter voiced by the brilliant Luke Arnold), across on a variety of platforms – Amazon, Kobo, Google Play, Booktopia, Audible, & many more.
But if you’re curious about why I self-published, and what more you can do, then read on:
Why Am I self-Publishing?
While I considered selling This Machine Kills Billionaires to an indie publisher, like I did with my first collection, Neon Leviathan (published by Grimdark Magazine), in truth I wanted to try my hand at self-publishing.
Now, I don’t think I have the precise skill set for self-publishing in general – the hustle, the talent for marketing, the willingness to learn the ins and outs of each part of the production – but I think it’s an important process to learn. It’s important because it gives the author a greater range of ways to find readers.
This is the so-called ‘hybrid’ model of a writing career, where the author can switch between trad, indie, and self-published, as they desire, and as the book warrants. The truth is no-one knows what they are doing in this business, not really – the agents and the editors and the authors – we’re all just taking educated guesses on what might work. This is mine.
And while I don’t have a strong desire to dig into the weeds of the publishing process, I am a control freak. So it was cool, actually, to be able to commission a cover (which fucking bangs), and the internals (which is at least as good as any trad published book I’ve seen), and the audiobook (which, again, is a first class performance from Luke Arnold).
What More Can You Do?
Other than buy it? Well, if you like it, tell people about it. Whether online or in person, word-of-mouth is still king. For a self-published book, the best marketing campaign is a good book AND the willingness of readers to let others know it is a good book. I said above that no-one knows what they are doing – and it’s true – but this part is a truth, well-known: word of mouth still works.
So review or rate This Machine Kills Billionaires on Goodreads and Amazon. Mention it on social media, or on Reddit, or wherever you lurk. And tell people out there in the real world, too. There’s something about a real human recommending a book in person that really can’t be beat.
You’re also welcome to buy 1000 hard copies and store them in your garage. I guess that’d work as well.
*note that physical copy can only be pre-ordered from Amazon US up until July 7. I don’t know why, it’s just the way they do it. As of July 7 it will be in all formats for everyone everywhere.