A new light, a new release: a brand new world!

 After a long pondering and fighting all the possible hesitations, I did it. I have searched and found a translator for my books. The first market I wanted to try, is the one I am more familiar with, the Italian market.

This means that I am proud to announce that the first book of the trilogy has been translated into Italian and has been published yesterday, 25.2.2020.

My biggest hesitation, so far, was due to two factors: the fares and the alternative solutions to a royalty share.

Unlike the audiobooks, where the royalty share is controlled and limited to a certain period, the translation market is wilder and less regulated. In this case, I preferred to keep all the rights and search for a translator who could have taken the job and was flexible enough to accept various payment plans. 

I am not a widely successful author who can afford to have a substantial cut on the royalties. At the point where I am now, I prefer to pay upfront but to keep the ownership of the title, after all already Amazon is having a 30% on the sales, and cutting the profit further for a translation and then audiobook means not having a margin for living out of my craft (unless I'm as successful as Stephen King).

The task seemed to be almost impossible until I found the person I was looking for. The first book is doing fairly well, and I hope the Italian audience will like it the same way the anglophone audience did, so please join me in keeping the finger crossed for this trilogy in this new market I'm dipping the fingers into.

I was so satisfied with the first book that I decided to have all the other books of the series translated. I have received the first part of the second book, and I'm extremely satisfied with the quality. I know you will wonder why I didn't translate the books myself, saving money. 

The reason behind my decision to hire someone else to take care of this job is time. I really have no time to take care of marketing, day job, relaxing, writing new books, updating social media and website. One thing I can do is checking the translation received and confirm the great value I've received.

But here is the cover of the translated version:

And if you like to read in Italian, here's the link to Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XK6H3QP

With this great news and having found back my writing mojo, I'm going to wish you all a great weekend.

Back from the cave

I've been deserted social media recently to get deeper into the preparation for the next novel. People who aren't in the writing business will never understand the amount of work required from the plotting of a story to the publishing and beyond. Sometimes I'm also surprised and overwhelmed by the amount of work needed, and the more I go further, the more the to-do-list seems to widen with new tasks.

I am not going to rant about it, and besides, this week, I'm going to tell you about my literary news. The first being the next novel, which I've set up for pre-order.

I am daring my luck because my editor promised to return my manuscript by the end of this month. However, since he has already delayed the delivery of one month, I'm reasonably concerned about the fact of being able to publish the novel by the planned date.

Nevertheless, I believe I have given enough room for everything by setting the pre-order release date by the 24th of February.

Let's now talk a bit more in depth about the novel "Merchant of Pearls."

The story focuses on a young man, Edward Sherwood, who grew up with a name he's not sure he will ever fit. In 1803 Eldridge Sherwood opened a small jewel shop, which kept growing thanks to generations of skilled family members who inherited the business, bringing it to become one of the most respected names in the city.

Besides the qualities as jewelers and dealers, the owners developed a flourishing side-business: the sale of cursed stones and jewels.

Customers looking for a precious stone with a peculiar history will confidently get in touch with the shop owner. Now, nobody actually knows how do the Sherwoods get in possession of those particular items. Some are acquired at auctions, others seem to return back to the shop...

Is the curse real, or the Sherwoods are playing a dirty game? Whatever the deal is, Edward gets dangerously drawn by that mystery.  

Also Detective Lars Lindström is interested, and when former customers seem to meet their destiny in fatal accidents, he can't just ignore the connection between them and the Sherwoods' business.

Things get complicated when at one auction in Moscow, Edward overbids the members of a local mafia family.

Now on the Bratva crosshair and chased by Detective Lindström, how will he save himself and the people he loves? How will he clear his name in front of justice?

As usual, there are also some side stories to complement the novel. One of the most interesting is probably the figure of a Russian man, Mikhail Orlov, hired by Edward as fixer and bodyguard. Their stories will come together, and Mikhail's background will bring a series of further twists to this psychological crime thriller.

To know more, you will have to wait, but you can also take advantage of the discount by pre-ordering it now.

PREORDER 'MERCHANT OF PEARLS'