Sunday, 24 March 2013

Rapture Blog Tour


Welcome to my stop of the Rapture Blog tour. Author Phillip W Simpson will be doing a guest post here at my blog, there will also be a tour wide giveaway of 3 print copies of Rapture and 1 print copy of Tribulation. Thanks for stopping and I hope you enjoy it!

Guest Post by Phillip W Simpson

Pet peeves of the publishing industry

In the course of my writing career, I’ve had almost 50 books published by mainstream publishers. Publishers include Penguin, Macmillan, Pearson, Oxford University Press and Cengage. These, admittedly, are mostly educational books for children and books to help teachers teach the writing process.

In terms of my commercial fiction, I’ve recently become an indie writer. My Rapture Trilogy was published by Pear Jam books, a small publisher based in New Zealand. I got my rights back in January, 2013 and decided to go Indie because of the trouble a small publisher faces in terms of distribution. They struggle to get their books in mainstream bookstores. Many of these bookstores are reluctant to take on stock not produced by a major publisher.

Not only that, but my books are difficult to buy in print where they need to be – the U.S.  The Rapture Trilogy is set in the States and I believe the content appeals more to American audiences than any other. It’s also difficult to get reviews in popular review spots such as newspapers, magazines etc. I had many reviews by bloggers and in all fairness, bloggers target my demographic much better. It’s a fantastic way to get word out to potential readers. But still – it would be nice to see my books in the review pages in the Sunday papers.

There are so many good books out there by small presses and indie authors but many people have never heard of them. I believe the industry is changing however – for the better.  Indie and self published authors have a lot more control now, especially with the advent of the e-book and the ability of these authors to sell their books on-line. Mainstream review sources are starting to sit up and take notice but it’s still very difficult. Kirkus, for instance, offers a review service for Indie authors but it’ll cost you. From memory, I think it costs around $500 for a Kirkus review. I know it’s impractical for them to review every book but it would be nice if they offered the same free service they offer to mainstream publications. Perhaps when a book has received enough attention, Kirkus could produce a free review. Maybe the criteria could be a certain amount of reviews from bloggers or a certain amount of ratings from sites like Goodreads. Food for thought.

Regardless, I have fully embraced my Indie status and I’m looking forward to publishing my next few books myself. With Apocalypse, I will have five novels available as e-books. I’ve got one chapter book that I want to put up as well as two picture books. In addition, I’m currently working on my sixth novel. It’s going to be a busy year!
Thank you for this awesome post Phillip! Now here is some information about the book and the author.


Ya Dystopian
Date Published: 12/1/2011



The Rapture has occurred - the end of the world. The faithful have risen up to Heaven.
Those left behind are in a living hell. Armed only with his swords and his wit, a teenage boy
wanders this post-apocalyptic world alone, separated forever from everyone he loves. Cursed
by his demonic heritage, he must now embark on a quest that will take him across the US to
the City of Angels.


Author Bio:
Phillip W. Simpson is an author of mostly children's books - both fiction and non-fiction.

As well as being a writer, he is an elementary school teacher. Career highlights include being in the army, gaining a Masters in Archaeology, owning a comic shop, becoming obsessed with martial arts and oriental weapons and turning down a job at the British museum.

His YA novel RAPTURE (the first in the Rapture trilogy) was released Sept 1st, 2011 by Pear Jam books. RAPTURE is a dystopian/post-apocalyptic story about the end of the world featuring demons, angels and a half demon protagonist caught in the middle. RAPTURE was shortlisted for the Sir Julius Vogel award for best Youth novel.

Book 2, TRIBULATION, was released in December, 2012. The final book, APOCALYPSE, will be out early 2013.

On a personal note, he is married to Rose, has a son (Jack) and two border terriers, Whiskey and Raffles. He loves fishing, reading, football (soccer) and single malt Whiskeys.

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