Shining's publication!

The time is finally here! More than eight years after the first draft was completed, Shining is finally being published in print. Though since marketing plays a huge role in book sales, and I have none, I don't expect this to sell well, but if it can make some people happy, that would be great. Sure I would love to get a book/movie/game deal out of this, but that is certainly a dream that probably won't come true.

The book is finalized at 286 pages in a 6 by 9 inch book, with a little more story content, grammatical and plot corrections, improved flow, more character insights, and 2 appendices.

Pricing

In the US, it is $12 and is available on Amazon, qualifying for Prime free shipping.
https://smile.amazon.com/Neostriker-Shining-J-D-Nyle/dp/1530392748

In the UK, it is £10.01. I see that if the book was more than £10, then it could grant free UK distribution. If £9.50 is better for consumers though, I'm willing to lower the price
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neostriker-Shining-J-D-Nyle/dp/1530392748

In the rest of Europe, it is EUR 10,70. I don't know if Europe has free shipping options. If it does, please let me know
https://www.amazon.de/Neostriker-Shining-J-D-Nyle/dp/1530392748

For now, I'm going to hold off making the kindle edition as I keep running into new complications and issues. Sorry to anyone who was hoping to buy that version.

The Differences

Now you are most likely aware if you are reading this that an earlier draft of the novel is posted right here on this blog. Most of the content is the same, especially the plot, so you might wonder what makes the print version different. So let me explain.

1. Editing: I paid for an editing service to help polish up the story. In addition to that service, I also found a few of my own grammatical, spelling, and plot-related errors and fixed them up. 
2. Plot holes and weak links: In the earlier draft, it made no sense for the father to trust David after being lied to. The lie itself was not in the original draft and it's reason for existence did not hold up, so I removed it. The explanation for why Neocyx survives the first battle also didn't hold up well, so I added extra dialog. I polished stuff like this across the book so things should be more consistent and the reactions make more sense.
3. New sub-chapter: I added a chapter 10b to help cover a period of time and provide some added context.
4. Two appendices: There is one appendix with 18 pages of notes on each chapter (including some ideas about what happens to the cast afterwards). The is also another one describing neocards David uses. I figured this would be helpful for readers who might forget what a neocard does.

In addition, I've made some decisions that I feel might help the reader even though it may be against convention.

1. The neocards appendix is the last section. This helps because it allows readers to easily find it and read through it without many spoilers. From what I've read, the chapter notes should be the last section, but I figured this was better for the reader.
2. Names of enemies are bold in the first mention if mentioned mentioned multiple times. This happens normally by the description or provides a hint where the description is to be found so if someone needs to refresh his imagination, it will be easy to do so.
3. In the header, I go with chapter-title on the left-hand page and book title on the right-hand page. I found that having  the same chapter title appearing twice in a spread to be annoying, and for it to be beneficial to mark the chapter title when the last page of a chapter falls on the left-hand page.

Now whether you think all of these changes and improvements is worth spending $12 is up to you. I found it incredibly easier to read the book in print rather than on a screen. I personally would also like the support in growing the fanbase for the series. I would really like to be able to spend more time on Neostriker, but unless I can sell the books, I need to do other work in order to provide for my family and Neostriker would continue to be a side-project.

Again, you might wonder if there will be a sequel. The plan is I would like to write one, but my plan is that it would focus on the children of the current cast. Neostriker: Shining is a complete story and I have nothing more to add that is worthy of writing a new book with the current generation. Now if there are adaptations, I certainly have ideas for new material, but nothing solid for taking place immediately after the events of the book. If you are curious what happens to the cast in my current outline of the sequel, you can find some details in the episode notes.

Thanks for reading all of this, and I really hope you enjoy the book.

Dream on,

J. D. Nyle