The Campaign In Brief
Welcome to the campaign for Galaxy Ascendant books 4 & 5, A Fiery Reckoning I: Ascendancy’s Rise, and A Fiery Reckoning II: Empire’s Fall!
I’m Yakov Merkin, author of the Galaxy Ascendant series, The Dragon Hand, and a few other things. I’m also a recovering academic and active duty soldier in the Israeli Defense Force.
While I’ve been blessed with the ability to write quite a bit during my service, these books being the second and third I’ve written over about a 19 month period, army salaries aren’t anything to write home about, and, as I’m doing all of this on my own, it can be a bit difficult. My aim with this campaign is to raise the funds to be able to pay my cover artist, editor, map artist, and formatters for their excellent services and bring these next two books of the Galaxy Ascendant series to life!
Now, the big question: Why try and fund two books at once? The answer in simple. These two books were originally conceived as one; however, it quickly became apparent that the story was so big it required two books to tell properly, and so we come to the two biggest books in the series so far, if not in word count than in the scope of events that take place. We follow more than eight primary characters through this war which began in Galaxy Ascendant book 3, A Shifting Alliance, and which has only further escalated.
My ultimate goal with my writing is to make this my full time job once I complete my army service, and one crucial stepping stone to that is being able to continue to be able to afford to get the highest quality people to work with me on this project—which will not end when the series concludes with book 7. The Galaxy Ascendant is here to stay.
That’s where you come in. By helping me cover these costs, you assure that this series, loved by its readers, can continue, and you can help ensure that in an age where so many established space opera franchises are reeling, new, fresh, and awesome stories can still be told in—in my opinion—the best speculative fiction genre out there.
Some More Detail
As mentioned above, I need your help to be able to pay my artists, editors, and more for top-quality work.
Of course, you will get things in return for your support. Perks range from a cheap as $5, which nets you ebooks of books 4 & 5, up to levels that get you the entire series in ebook and print, with Galactic level reward tiers that can see you help shape this emerging universe.
With the Travel to the Galaxy Ascendant, A Glorious Death, and Live in the Galaxy Ascendant reward levels, you will get the opportunity to work with me to create a side character who will appear in the last two books of the series.
With the Ship Design reward levels, you will work with me and an artist to design ship concept art. Level 1 sees you get input into the look of ships already established in the series, while level 2 allows you to help create, from the ground up (with some limitations) designs and specs for ships mentioned but not described in detail in the series—or possibly an entirely new ship type which will appear in book 6 or 7. ;)
Lastly, if you truly want to make your mark on the Galaxy Ascendant, we have a new, mega reward tier that will see you work with me to craft a Galaxy Ascendant short story which will be canon to the universe, centering on a character of your choice from the series. Apart from that, you will help determine the type of story that will be written, what will happen, etc (I get some say too, of course), and then I will write the story, which will be dedicated to you in thanks for your generous support. You will of course see it before anyone else. Additionally, when I eventually (within the next year or two most likely) put together a collection of Galaxy Ascendant short stories, yours will be included as well.
If we don’t hit my goal, I will still, thanks to flexible funding, get whatever was raised. I will find a way to ensure the books come out regardless and that the series continues, but that will be much more doable with your generous assistance.
The Impact
Many of the great sci-fi franchises we grew up with and which inspired us are not in a good state today, whether due to poor creative decisions by those overseeing them, or through simple abandonment. The Galaxy Ascendant series is my contribution to an indie space opera renaissance, a vast, expansive galactic setting in which the storytelling options are endless, and in which I intend to write for a long, long time to come. And this galaxy is growing rapidly. Book 1, A Greater Duty, was released in May 2017, and now we’re nearly at the release of book 5. G-d willing, books 6 & 7 will be out by next spring. In total, I’ve already put out four novels, including A Greater Duty, in that time span, along with several smaller works. And as those who backed my last camping can attest, I get the rewards out on time, and the book released promptly. I take great pride in getting my work done, on time, and getting people what they paid for. If there are any unforeseen delays, rest assured that I will be completely transparent about them.
Risks & Challenges
There are none for you! As I mentioned above, I pride myself on getting the work done, on time, and I am easily reachable if there are any issues (due to time delay and army stuff, it might take my a couple days to get back to you, but I always do.)
Obviously, there are more risks & challenges here for me; I have the books to get ready and out, after all, and, as can be seen, I’ve already gotten most aspects of the project done (cover arts, maps, and book 4’s editing) done so that there will be as little as possible time between the campaign’s end and when rewards start shipping out.
This is why it’s all the more vital that I be able to raise the necessary funds via this campaign, so I can properly pay everyone on time. Whatever happens, I will make it work and get the books out, because this is what I do. This series is something I need to complete and share with the world. But it’d be much better, much more pleasant, if this campaign can take care of that. Success here will better enable me to put out more, awesome products in the coming year—and of do I have fun things planned!
Other Ways You Can Help
I knew that there are plenty of people out there for whom money is tight; I’ve been there myself. However, even if you’re unable to contribute at this time, you can still greatly help this campaign by sharing it out with others online, telling people you know personally about it, or even by sharing the campaign video, which is on YouTube. Don’t underestimate just how much even a simple share, which takes barely a second or two to do, can do to help! It only takes the right person seeing the campaign to help ensure that it is a success.