JRMathews posts
Thank you everyone for all the help with another book launch!
I have to admit, I was really nervous about this one. It had been over two years since JMM1 was released and I wasn't sure if anyone would still be interested in the story after so much time had passed. It's pretty firmly accepted in this genre that you should never wait more than 3-6 months between book releases or nobody will read your next book - but to my surprise people have come out in droves to read it so far!!
We hit rank #114 in the entire Kindle store rankings which is fantast...
2024-01-06 01:26:18 +0000 UTC View PostJake's Magical Market 2: A Trek Through Time is officially out!
The audiobook is also currently up for preorder with release set for February 15th if you missed the announcement. You can check it out here: https://www.audible.com/pd/Jakes-Magical-Market-Book-2-Audiobook/B0CQMGVTC8
Also, the final book in the series Jake's Magical Market 3: Home Sweet Home is also on its way with a current release date schedule for mid-...
2024-01-04 11:51:49 +0000 UTC View PostAUDIOBOOK for Jake's #2 is up for pre-order now!
Release set for February 15th!!
2023-12-22 13:58:40 +0000 UTC View PostFinal card art is here for JMM2!
The artist still has to add all the text for each one but check out the finished artwork!
2023-12-21 23:52:03 +0000 UTC View PostJust got the color version of JMM3's cover back! Which color palette do you like best?
I can also make a few more color adjustments one way or the other if people have feedback to give.
Image 1: Warm
Image 2: Mid-Blue
Image 3: Blue
Let me know what you all think!
Jake's Magical Market 2: A Trek Through Time is officially up for PRE-ORDER now!
Got the first sketches for Jake 3's cover back! Here's the horrible sketch I sent the artist and their stunning work translating that into actual art!
My card artist is starting to put the final touches on the cards and they look AMAZING!
Wanted to let you all know that I'm holding a $200 competition to see who can write the best summary of Jake's Magical Market #1 for use in the sequels!
Why? Because I cannot for the life of me take a 700+ page book I wrote and condense it down into just a few paragraphs. If I could do that, the book wouldn't be 700 pages!
See my reddit post below for more details of how the competition will work. If you're interested in submitting a summary, please post in the reddit thread to let me know (otherwise if nobody responds I'll just slink away and pretend this never happened).
Inspired by other authors sharing their cover art/process, I made a long reddit post about my journey as a writer and how I found my artists
Check it out here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgressionFantasy/comments/15d6ikr/since_were_sharing_about_our_covers_heres_my/
Card art is starting to trickle in for JMM2. Here's the first one the artist has completed!
I've got another sneak preview for you all. This time I've got the borders for the upcoming card art for Jake's #2/3!
And if you look closely, you can see the little icons on the top which indicate the different types of cards like divine, melee ability, magical ability, summoning, and crafting. : )
2023-06-29 04:21:03 +0000 UTC View PostOk, I might have FINALLY figured out a way to sell posters of my covers...
I set up a print on demand agreement with a company called Printful and linked it to an Etsy page. I have canvas prints for all my covers and then matte posters for the two Jake's covers. If you order something, please let me know if the product is actually high quality or not once it arrives. I think it U.S. only, but not 100% sure.
I could also add others things if I end up having time to design them, like T-shirts or more posters of the Nova Roma covers. Let me know if there is a sp...
Slight modifications to the cover for JMM2
Also, contacted my artist and he is going to be making the cover for JMM3 for me around November. Very excited to have him complete the series with me.
2023-06-09 22:25:01 +0000 UTC View PostUpdates!
1: JMM 2/3 News:
Last night around 1am (after putting in a 14 hour day), I FINALLY finished the rough draft for JMM2/3. It came out to 334,612 words, which is absolutely massive for a rough draft of mine. For context, the rough draft of my Nova Roma books typically came in at about 100k words and then during editing they increased to about 250k words.
If the rough draft of JMM2/3 is 330k+ words, then the final versions might be 500k words or more! If so, I'll be splitting it in...
Jake's Audio question for you all
Since everyone has been so helpful with the title of Jake's #2, I figured I'd just share one of the dilemmas I'm currently facing for the JMM2 audiobook. TL:DR at the bottom.
Basically, Travis Baldree has NO availability. He is booked until 2026 and isn't even accepting bookings into 2026 because he doesn't know what he'll be doing. He is publishing his own books and was already slammed for time, so it is literally impossible to get a slot with him right now.
I have a couple of op...
2023-05-23 02:18:24 +0000 UTC View PostOk, so don't tell anyone, but JMM2 might be coming out at the end of the year...
I don't know the timeline 100% yet, still a lot to figure out, but I got the cover done and LOVE it so I wanted to share! I don't want to tell the world yet about the sequel so I'm not announcing it anywhere else but I figured you all might enjoy it. : )
Also, I'm still debating between "A Tour Through Time" or "A Trip Through Time" for the title. Any thoughts between those two?
2023-05-21 01:41:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Christian has officially finished recording the audio for Portal to Nova Roma: The Rhine.
Now we just have to wait for Audible to approve it (10 business days minimum) and it will be out!
If you want to hear a sneak preview of the audiobook right now though, you can swing over to Christian's Facebook page and listen to a 37-minute sample of the recording!
https://www.facebook.com/CJGAuthor
2023-02-12 23:54:41 +0000 UTC View PostSome of the rough drafts of the map for Portal to Nova Roma #1
I was sharing my maps with a reader and came across some of the rough drafts and hand-written versions I sent to my artist and figured someone might find them a bit interesting.
In this post you can see the historical map I based the city on. My first notes about how the city changed in my world and then a more detailed drawing I did of the city to send to my artist.
2023-02-03 03:16:47 +0000 UTC View PostPortal to Nova Roma: The Rhine launch follow up
It's been a bit over a week since Portal to Nova Roma: The Rhine launched and I am still blown away by how many people enjoying reading what I write!
We broke a personal record with this book. I reached rank #63 in the entire Kindle store, which is just mind-blowing. Breaking top 100 as a self-published author (who has only been publishing for a bit over a year) is frankly amazing. Thank you all for making it possible!
We are also almost up to 1,000 ratings/reviews on Amazon alrea...
2023-01-27 01:55:49 +0000 UTC View Post
I updated the title/font work for every cover to make them look a little better!
Updated Patreon tiers!
Hi everyone!
Just wanted to let you know I updated the various Patreon tiers. Not any major changes, but a couple of small things that people might be interested in. We now have five tiers available:
The Early Supporter tier at $1.50 for those of you that supported me from the start. You will always have full access to Patreon content for that amount. This tier is now closed, so only those who supported me during my first year as a writer qualify!
Here is a nice review from fellow author Samuel Hinton about the Nova Roma series!
They even got to read book three in advance to prepare the review so it does have a slight spoiler about Nova Roma: The Rhine. If you are interested in some hints about what that book contains read here, otherwise wait until January 14th!
2022-11-22 21:44:35 +0000 UTC View PostMy book three edits are complete!
I still have two more rounds with my editor but the big edits are done! My editor does most of the heavy lifting from here so I can finally stop putting in the 8-10 hour days of nonstop editing, editing, editing, editing. At least for now...
Books three is currently resting at 254,772 words + around 10k words for the characters sheets. This is the largest book I've done so far. Jake's was around 230k or so and that came out to 774 pages on Amazon. This one is gonna be a real doozy.
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