JRMathews

EARLY sneak preview of the first five chapters of Portal to Nova Roma: The Rhine!

Well, one of you wonderful Patreon subscribers

Here is a first look at the "takeover" interview I did for Litcon!

About a half hour interview with questions from fans/people watching. Ignore the first minute of awkward silence, haha.

Why Nova Roma expanded to 5 books and Jake's was delayed (long explanation)

Someone shared with me their disappointment that Jake's sequel is delayed (which I REALLY appreciate them being willing to say directly to me and they are 100% right to feel the way they do). I wanted to take a few moments to share some of what I wrote to them, so other people that may feel the same could understand a bit more why the Nova Roma series is ending up as five books instead of three and why Jake's is delayed. Here is some of what I wrote about that:

(TLDR at the bottom)
...

First look at the cover for book four for Patreon!

Book four is called Portal to Nova Roma: Paris (which was originally the title of book three). I had to get a new cover for it, which turned out to be my favorite cover yet!

I'll share this on Facebook/Discover in a few days, but wanted to share it here first. : )

Cover reveal for book three (changed from previous cover)!

So I mentioned this on the LitCon panel, but Portal to Nova Roma has expanded to a five book series. I'll be sharing the new covers here, on Facebook and on my discord over the next couple of days!

Book three is now called Portal to Nova Roma: The Rhine. Here is the new cover!

LitCon panel/Q&A with me at 6pm EST today!

My Litcon panel "Unique Magic Systems" starts in about an hour and a half (6pm EST) and then after that I'm hosting a 30 minute Q&A if you want to ask me any questions or just chat! To watch the video live you have to join the LitRPG Facebook group here:

2022-10-21 20:25:22 +0000 UTC View Post

The audiobook for Portal to Nova Roma: Venice is now live!

Alexander and his growing legion have managed to escape Nova Roma and, more importantly, learned that the rest of the world may not be as ravaged by monsters as they had all thought. Join them as they set sail for ancient Venice, the Queen of the Adriatic, to try to learn more about the wider world outside Nova Roma. Along the way, they'll encounter a growing plague of deadly pirates, deceitful old merchant families out to quash any new competitors in the region, mysterious new allies, and mu...

Today is officially the one year anniversary of me being a published author!

One year ago I uploaded Jake's Magical Market with absolutely no expectations. Only my wife and my editor even knew I was writing a book, mainly because I was only writing as a way to help me deal with a difficult job, Covid stress, and other ongoing struggles of mine. I expected maybe 100 people to read the book MAX, but wanted to get a cover I loved, the card art to bring the book to life, and an editor just so I could feel proud of what I published no matter if people read it or not.
2022-10-06 19:51:16 +0000 UTC View Post

The major content edits for book three in the Nova Roma series are complete!

I still have plenty of regular edits to do before I send it off to my editor but really loving how the story has developed. Lots of cool new powers, tons more empire building and technology being mixed with magic, and more exploration of the wider world. Excited to finish the edits over the next couple of months and get it out to you all!

"Liking" positive reviews to help the audiobook

I mentioned this on Facebook today, but if you happen to be on the Audible website already and wanted to "like" some of the more positive reviews for Portal to Nova Roma (if you agree with them) it would be really helpful, because even though the book has hundreds of good reviews already the top reviews skew towards the super negative because just a handful of people liked them, bringing them to the top.

If anyone felt like they agreed with some of the more positive reviews, it would b...

Audible sale

Portal to Nova Roma audio is apparently on sale for 70% off, and Jake's audio is on sale for under 5$ if anyone is looking to pick up either audiobook for a deal.

Audiobook for Portal to Nova Roma is finally out!

Link for the US store: https://www.audible.com/pd/B0BCH43V6V/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-320874&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_320874_rh_us

UK store: https://www.au...

So Audible is taking FOREVER to approve the audiobook for book one, but in the meantime I just got back one of the custom maps I had made for book three!

Audiobook for Portal to Nova Roma book one should be out in a week or so!

Just got word from Christian Gilliland the narrator that he should be done in a couple of days. Once he sends me the file I'll need to get it proofed to check for any major issues and then hopefully (if no errors found) it can get uploaded and released soon after!

Amazon only showing written reviews again - please leave a written review if possible!

So apparently Amazon is only showing written reviews for my new book right now. This is allowing just two reviews to skew the overall rating of the book downward rather heavily. If you finish the book, can you try to leave a written review (not just rate it by the star system) for me?

Also, if anyone has finished it recently, can you confirm for me if the splash screen that normally pops up at the end of the book asking you to rate the book is working? I've had it not show up for a book...

Portal to Nova Roma: Venice is now out!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RYPGRQ8

Release date for Portal to Nova Roma: Venice has now officially been moved up to 6/24 (3 days from now).

I am emailing with Amazon support to see if I can move it up even sooner (like today or tomorrow!) but that seems unlikely.

Earlier release of Portal to Nova Roma: Venice!

Just spoke to my editor and it looks like he will be able to get the finished version back to me earlier than we anticipated, so the tentative new date for release is: July 14th!

I also plan to post the first five chapters here leading up to release as soon as I can (hopefully mid/late June) so you all get a chance to read it almost a month in advance. So keep an eye out for a post around then!

Thank you everyone for all of your continued support. I am working every day (7 days a...

Portal to Nova Roma was selected for r/fantasy's reading club this month!

 If you want a place to discuss the book check out the midway discussion thread here.

Book two of Portal to Nova Roma is off to the editor!

After months of non-stop editing book two is officially off to my editor. He and I still do two more rounds of edits back and forth, but the major content edits are officially done.

The rough draft of the book started out at 100k words (about 300-400 pages) but by last night when I finished the final content edit it was over 200k (about 600-700 pages). A ton has been added to really flesh out the story, dialogue, scenes, and so on. I am really happy with how it turned out and...

Audiobook for Portal to Nova Roma

So it seems that Travis is too booked to fit in my new series. He has been trying to find an opening for a couple of months for me but it just isn't looking like it is going to happen.

Does anyone have a recommendation for another narrator that they love and they think would fit the tone of this series?

I've had someone suggest the following but I have no experience with any of them so not sure which would be best to approach first:

Zachary Johnson

Daniel ...

My first interview as an author!

If you haven't seen it yet, here is my first interview as an author. I discuss Jake's Magical Market, my life and journey to becoming an author, and a bit about the abrupt change between part one and part two in the book. Enjoy!

Oh, and here is the custom map I had made for book two!

Cover for book three reveal!

Thank you everyone!

Portal to Nova Roma has officially passed a million pages read on Kindle Unlimited, 500 Kindle copies sold, and is approaching 300 ratings with 4.9/5 stars. I really appreciate everyone's amazing support. 

Thank you to all my Patreon supporters for helping me continue to write. We have a number of new people who have pledged as well, thank you as well!

Portal to Nova Roma has launched!

Those of you that received an advanced copy please make sure to go and leave your review to help boost the Amazon algorithm and all that. Thank you!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09K54TBST

Advanced Reader Copies of Portal to Nova Roma now available!

Hello everyone,

Thank you all again for the amazing support here on Patreon. My next book Portal to Nova Roma got back from the editor much faster than I anticipated, so I have moved the launch date up to March 3rd.

I have prepared advanced reader copies for those that are interested in reading it now for free. If you download it this way, please leave an honest review on Amazon at the time of launch. Early reviews can make or break a book launch, so please do your best to leave ...

Book two cover reveal!

I just got this back from the artist tonight. The title of the sequel is Portal to Nova Roma: Venice. I am very excited with how the cover turned out!

Discord

I finally set up a discord if anyone is interested in a place for news and discussion about my books. Here is the invite:

https://discord.gg/9xpddKgGBw

2022 Rough Roadmap

Update on my plans for this year for those that are curious about my rough plans for the year:

My goal for 2022 is to release all of Portal to Nova Roma this year. Book one is set for March 17th. Book two is going to my editor around April. Book three hopefully around September? Maybe earlier. It is a complete trilogy and should come out to around 2,000 pages total by the time the third book is done.

My plan is to release Jake's this year as well, the sooner the better but probabl...