Because I was not content to just write a book, I also wrote a soundtrack for THE BLACK SKY. I was listening to instrumental music and film scores during the writing process, so it somehow made sense to draw from the inspiration and compose my own score. Each track corresponds with a chapter, but you don't need to sync them up. The album is available to stream, download, and purchase on compact disc.
Bandcamp (Book and CD bundle available)
Spotify:
It's been a long road to finally publishing The Black Sky. Aside from writing, rewriting, and actually getting the darn thing to people, plenty of other work was involved.
Like any other unrepped writer, I tried to get an agent or publisher interested in the book. That meant query letters, lots of query letters. To my own detriment, I sent out The Black Sky before I should have. The first round of queries occurred before I ended up rewriting the first chapter, which made a significant difference in kicking-off the story. The second round of queries, the book was in better shape, but still had plenty of grammar issues that a quality copy-edit pass would have caught. Overall, here's what querying looked like:
You're probably thinking, "holy cow, Tim, you got an agent!" Well, not so fast. Getting an agent doesn't mean getting published, obviously. Having a literary agent tell you they loved your book and want to get on the phone was thrilling, but it is just the start of another process. Over the course of a year, the lit agent sent out the book to thirteen publishers. None were interested, and since we had nothing more than a handshake deal to start, the agent I parted ways when it was clear the book was going that route.
In retrospect, it was too early. I still hadn't re-written the first chapter yet, and there were other edits/adjustments that needed to occur, plus the grammar issues. The fact the agent took a chance on me was, to some extent, validation.
When I knew I was going down the self-publish path, that meant returning to my roots as a DIY musician. Building a press kit, researching outlets for reviews, and all the other work to get the word out on the book. Here's what those numbers look like:
The Last Emperox by John ScalziTo celebrate the release of THE BLACK SKY on August 28th, I'll be hosting a virtual book launch event from 5pm to 7pm EST. Broadcasting from "The Dank," the dive bar mentioned in the book, I'll be spinning punk rock records, reading from the book, answering questions, mixing drinks, and giving away books and swag.
You can check it out several different ways, as I'll be broadcasting from Zoom. If you want to hop on there CLICK THIS ZOOM LINK. It will also be on FACEBOOK. Hope to see you then!
