War of the Seasons

I met the Janine Spendlove, author of this book series, last night. I haven’t read her books yet (I did purchase a copy of The Human and had her sign it) so I can’t give you a good review yet, but after meeting her and listening to her read one of her short stories last night I have no doubt they are amazing. These two are the first two installments of a fantasy trilogy she’s working on. The short story she read, “Slug” was excellent and she was so animated reading it; it was more like she was just talking to you and telling you a story than reading it out of a book. She was so much fun, I really enjoyed listening to her.

I’m also fascinated by the publishing model she and her husband have set up. They’ve created their own company, titled Silence in the Library (bonus points if you get the reference!) which publishes her books and as well as books for other authors, but they don’t function like a publishing company. They sign up authors, editors, artists, etc. to work with them and when an author finishes a book to publish with them, that author chooses who edits it, who does the cover art, all that. The author not only gets to have complete control of the publishing of their book, but they also get to keep most of the money from sales; the company only keeps just enough to stay in business. Essentially you are self publishing, but you get a publisher’s name on your book, which helps you avoid the negative stigma that goes often comes with self-publishing. They are selective about who works with them and publishes under them – they want to make sure they only put their name to quality work – but the concept is fascinating.

If you’re a fantasy fan I highly recommend you consider these books, which can be ordered from any book seller either in print or digitally. She also has a couple short stories that take place between these two novels. I can’t wait to start reading my copy of The Human.

Check out Janine K. Spendlove’s website: www.waroftheseasons.com