Announcing Gawain and Ragnell — and a request

I have a “new” short story in the Pendragon Chronicles series now available as ebook, Gawain and Ragnell.

To be honest, it’s been up on Amazon for almost a month, but I’ve put off announcing it for a couple of reasons.

1) It isn’t actually all that new, since it’s an expanded version of an episode from Shadow of Stone.

2) It took a while for it to get expanded distribution on Smashwords, so that it would be free on iTunes and B&N. Then, when I finally noticed that it was available, it was like a week before the Villa Diodati workshop I talked about in my last post, and I was just too busy reading and critiquing the stories to spend much time on blog posts.

But now it’s available. And I have a request, or rather, a couple. Back in the day when I included the episode in Shadow of Stone, I didn’t yet know that I would be getting out of traditional publishing. But I was a bit frustrated that Yseult still hadn’t sold in the original English, only in German, Dutch, and Italian. So even then I was intending to market the Gawain episode separately — by offering it to short story markets — in the hopes that someone in my native language would become interested in the series.

That didn’t happen. Once I published Shadow of Stone myself, Gawain and Ragnell was no longer a candidate for short story markets, since it was previously published.

But it’s still a self-contained story. And I’m hoping that it will still work to draw attention to my other Arthurian books. I’ve read numerous discussions on the KBoards and elsewhere about how effective having something “permafree” can be to entice readers to check out a series by an author they’re unfamiliar with. When progress on the prequel Ygerna didn’t go as quickly a I would have liked, I finally remembered that I actually had another stand-alone story in the world of the Pendragon Chronicles, and it wouldn’t take nearly as long to whip into shape and make into an ebook. It had been workshopped, it had been edited, it just had to be expanded a bit, quotes added, and a cover made.

And now I come to the request. In order for Gawain and Ragnell to work as an advertisement for The Pendaragon Chronicles, it has to be free. And in order for it to be free on Amazon, they have to notice that it’s free in other stores that they take seriously (which apparently doesn’t include Smashwords and Kobo). So if anyone would be inclined to help me out and tattle on me, I would really appreciate it! Here’s the link to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FIU136M/

On that page, click on the link “tell us about a lower price,” click “Website,” then enter one of the following links and the price “0.00.”

B&N:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gawain-and-ragnell-ruth-nestvold/1117165424?ean=2940045328937

iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/gawain-and-ragnell/id717956793?mt=11

The other request I have is to take a look at my blurb and tell me what you think:

Gawain was not only Arthur’s champion, he was the champion of the ladies as well. He loved many women, but none too much — until one of his lovers told him she intended to marry another man.

Now, a year later, he is running away from his disappointment, traveling north to fight against a mysterious warrior who has taken the hill-fort of the lady Ragnell.

But there is a mystery to Ragnell too, the beauty with the ravaged face. And Gawain learns he must solve both mysteries, that of the warrior and that of the lady …

Publisher’s note: Gawain and Ragnell is an expanded version of an episode in Shadow of Stone, so readers who have read the second novel of the Pendargon Chronicles will already be familiar with the story. The ebook includes an excerpt from the first book in the series, Yseult.

Gawain and Ragnell is a short story of approximately 17,000 words, or 65 pages.

And, of course, download it for free, if you are so inclined. 🙂