Book Deal

Last year, I set a goal for my writing (hobby? career?), and I've been striving toward it ever since: 100 short stories published + a book deal by the time I'm 40. Most of you are well-acquainted with my shorter work as I've sold 75 tales to various publications and then republished them via Amazon/Smashwords once the rights revert. But my novels (7 to date) have unfortunately been relegated to the back burner. I've revised a couple and queried dozens of agents, but none have bitten off more than a partial manuscript or few.

Late in 2011, I was contacted by the editor in charge of a new venture: Every Day Novels. Based on reader response to the flash fiction offered at Every Day Fiction, she figured that readers who enjoy a daily quick-read story would likely also enjoy a novel delivered in that same bite-sized format. She asked if I'd be interested in writing a serialized Captain Quasar novel. Considering my penchant for the Flash Gordon and Commando Cody serials of yore, I jumped at the chance.

By August of 2012, I had the manuscript polished up and submitted for consideration: 80 flash-sized episodes that take four of my previously published Quasar tales and add another 68,000 words of rollicking space opera. Then I waited. Wrote some more short stories. A couple novellas. Another novel. Waited some more. The gears of publication often turn slowly, and I was no stranger to the need for patience. I kept busy, though -- even had another Quasar tale accepted and published by EDF in the interim.

Last week, the wait finally came to an end. I signed my contract with Every Day Novels for Captain Bartholomew Quasar and the Space-Time Displacement Conundrum, and it will be published next year! The novel will first be serialized for subscribers, followed by an eBook and print release. Here's the publisher's preliminary announcement:

Readers love Milo James Fowler’s stories of life aboard the Effervescent Magnitude, and we’re so excited to have signed a contract for the first full-length novel featuring Captain Quasar and his hairy sidekick Hank. There seems to be general agreement from readers that the Captain’s (mis)adventures are “genuinely funny” and “hilariously good”, even for those who don’t normally read science fiction. Judging by the usual response to Fowler's Captain Quasar stories at EDF, this novel-length adventure is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

I've mentioned before that the Quasar stories are my favorites, and I had more fun writing this tale than any other project. I'm so glad it will be my first published novel.

Now to find homes for the others...
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