Farewell is such sweet sorrow...

January 2009 marked the beginning of Penumbra Publishing as a royalty-paying independent small publisher offering genre fiction to readers in ebook and print format. Our services to authors included editing, cover art, ISBNs, and online distribution at major retailers in exchange for 50% net royalties.

Over the next seven years, Penumbra Publishing produced over 75 titles and served over 30 authors. It was a roller-coaster learning curve for us and our authors to meet the demands of independent publishing. (And by 'independent' we mean 'not the big-six' or 'big-five' top NYC publishers - the list keeps changing depending on mergers and buyouts.) Sometimes our results were mixed - good and not-so-good - but we persevered in our efforts and remain proud to this day of our joint accomplishments. Many readers are still able to enjoy the work of authors that might never have been published otherwise.

In January 2016 we as a company made the difficult decision to cease active publishing due to staffing, revenue, and personal issues that made ceasing operations the most prudent choice.

For some time, our Twitter account has been virtually inactive, and our Facebook account remains somewhat static. This blog will remain active for legacy purposes, and new posts will be few and far between. Our website, http//:www.penumbrapublishing.com, still being modified, will remain live for the purpose of showcasing affiliate/former authors' work free of charge.

Today, self-publishing has become a mainstream online service that nearly anyone can enjoy with varying levels of success - 'success' meaning many things to many different people. Selling millions of units of a title or merely getting the darn book published - and all levels in between - may be counted as 'success' for an author. We applaud all independent authors struggling to succeed in telling their stories and urge anyone with a story worthy of telling to do their very best to share it with others. After all, isn't that what storytelling is all about?

And so it is with a heart both heavy and glad that we bid good-bye to all our authors and readers and followers. We'll miss the excitement of new work and personal interaction and finished results that made our publishing experience a blast. We wish all of you the very best.

-PENUMBRA PUBLISHING

X-tra, X-tra, X-Files is baaaaaack...

So, have you seen the first two episodes of the rebooted six-episode special X-Files on Fox, Mondays? (Yeah, the poster says eight episodes, but in reality we are only being given six.)

The eerie music is back. Dana Scully, Fox Mulder, and Director Skinner are back. A bit older, a bit grizzlier, and perhaps a bit wiser, but still respectively doubting, wanting to believe, and trying to keep investigative shenanigans quiet from the big guys 'upstairs'...

The opening two episodes "The Truth" parts 1 and 2, have aired already. The third episode is set to air next Monday, February 1, 2016. Werewolves. Yeah.

The tone, look, and story line seems true to the original series that began airing in 1993. Conspiracy theories still abound. Guest monsters are making appearances to lighten up the pedal-to-the-metal conspiracy battle. The conspiracy holding this six-episode special together is a big'un with a twist on the alien cover-up story line, promising a sci-fi/political/fantasy-fest for all those fans out there who were left hanging, wanting to know the TRUTH. According to the promo poster, the truth is still out there. Hopefully it won't be a kitchen-sink free-for-all like LOST's wrap-up.

Whatever is in store, enjoy the reunion while it lasts...

Note: Image borrowed from a previously posted article at TorontoSun for visual identification purposes only.

Keep Writing

A note from our most prolific writer, Walter Knight...

Keep Writing

I am well into writing "America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 23 - Bandits."  Why write such a long series?  Why not write another series?  I did write a vampire book and a zombie book, but they didn't sell. My science fiction sells. I can't put ideas to paper and computer fast enough.


The invention of Kindle E-books changed writing and publishing forever. Before Kindle, the Big Six New York publishers controlled what we were allowed to read and publish, rejecting 99 percent of all manuscripts submitted. Now, there are many small online publishers. If an author cannot find a publisher, he or she can self-publish. It's a great time to write. No author can be shut out.


Sort of. An author still needs to be noticed to make money. Online publishers and self-published authors have flooded the market with millions of books. Established publishers have converted their out-of-print backlists to E-books. How can an author with no New York connections ever hope to break through and be noticed in such an ocean of E-books? It's next to impossible.


An agent told me to not write just one book, that one-hit wonders cannot be easily marketed, especially in the science fiction genre. He said write a sequel, then another, and another. You'll gain credibility as you write. Hone your skills.


I cannot control whether a big publisher will publish my books. I cannot control whether readers will buy my books, or even like them. What can I control? I can keep writing no matter what. If I cannot write a million book best seller, I will at least write a science fiction series so long in cannot be ignored. 


I am not getting rich. No one owes me a living. But, sales happen every day. That's good for a new author with no advertising budget. Will I stop at #23 in the series? Oh, hell no. Write long and prosper.


Walter Knight
www.waltknight.yolasite.com

New Release - FEMININE PRODUCTS, women's fiction

From the celebrated author of LILY STEPS OUT and ALTERATIONS - Rita Plush - comes a standalone sequel to LILY featuring the character Rusty Scanlon, owner of a trendy New York boutique. What she goes through to find love and acceptance will astound and uplift your spirits!

FEMININE PRODUCTS
by Rita Plush
Fiction: Women's Fiction
 

Everyone’s got personal baggage, but Rusty Scanlon thinks she’s carrying more than her fair share. Owner of a trendy boutique in the outskirts of New York City, Rusty has an eye for fashion and a gift for messing up her love life. She doesn’t trust men. They’ve all abandoned her – the first being her carpenter father, who ran out on her and her mother when she was only six years old.

When she meets Walter Margolis, a guy who adores her, she thinks she has it all. Not so, she discovers when she tells him she’s pregnant and he suggests a paternity test. Rusty doesn’t know what to make of Walter’s reaction until he reveals the details of the accident he thinks he caused as a teenager, and the guilt that has tormented him all his adult life.

When a smooth-talking con man puts two and two together, ‘by the way’ mentioning that he once knew Rusty’s father, and also her mother – they apparently had a ‘thing’ some years back – she realizes he’s after something. She decides it’s time to find out the truth, and find her father. Until she does, she can’t fully commit to the life she hopes to share with Walter.

Rusty’s emotional roller-coaster ride is full of twists and turns that teach her and those around her about losing love and finding it, and what it means to be a family.

Available now in ebook and print at popular online retailers - Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes&Noble!

New Release - America's Galactic Foreign Legion Book 22

From his humble beginning as a published author in 2009, Walter Knight has managed to build a huge following for his long-running military/humorous science fiction series, AMERICA'S GALACTIC FOREIGN LEGION. We're pleased to announce the release of BOOK 22, BLUE POWDER WAR...

AMERICA'S GALACTIC FOREIGN LEGION
BOOK 22: BLUE POWDER WAR
by Walter Knight
Fiction: Science Fition, Military, Humor

In the twenty-second installment of this preposterous science fiction series, Colonel Joey R. Czerinski still has his hands full, trying to keep the drug trade and the Arthropodan spider commander under control on planet New Colorado. After Major Manny Lopez used the time machine to bring two grade-A cookers from the past to concoct a special recipe of blue powder to be distributed on New Colorado, the drug trade has really exploded.

With Legion enlistments down, the draft is reinstituted, and Czerinski plucks likely victims from every quarter as his Polish ancestry rears its ugly head in the form of a Polish drug cartel. Struggling to get the drug lords on New Colorado under control, Czerinski lands in more trouble with more bad press. The Butcher of New Colorado is as unaware and ineffectual as ever in handling the situation. Can he keep it together long enough to make another successful wager on football, this time a game between guards and prisoners at the local jail?

Familiar faces make appearances along with new ones – including a talking groundhog. Has Czerinski’s insanity rendered him the only one who can understand what Mr. Groundhog has to say? Even as the war on drugs draws to a close and Czerinski contemplates retirement from the glorious life of a legionnaire, the laughs continue! He’s in for the duration.

Available now in ebook exclusively at Amazon Kindle, and print!

Good or Bad? We Choose Good!

An author's nightmare - a bad book review. But praise in between the lines? That's icing on the Devil's-food cake. All in all, not bad!

See Bookstooge's backhanded review that praises AMERICA'S GALACTIC FOREIGN LEGION...

http://bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1219617/feeling-lucky-america-s-galactic-foreign-legion-1

New Book Release - Torreón's Fire by Robert L. Tecklenburg

TORREÓN'S FIRE
by Robert L. Tecklenburg
Fiction - Spy Terrorist Espionage Thriller

America's security is in jeopardy, and Gina Lopez goes to her homeland Nicaragua on assignment to provide intel for the US embassy, working under former CIA Agent Roberto Morales. She's really on a secret undercover assignment but can't tell anyone, especially not Morales. When the embassy is bombed by militant group Heroes Brigade, Gina discovers Morales has brought in an old Army buddy, Jake Turner, to help out. Morales sends Gina and Jake to the jungle for intel while escorting an American reporter investigating the possible link between Heroes Brigade and the separatist group God's Children led by fiery former priest Joaquín Torreón, brother to infamous international arms dealer Jesús Torreón. With bullets flying and everyone seemingly out to get her, Gina's on a race to find out the truth before a bullet with her name on it finds her.

Buy now online at our web site or popular online retailers like Amazon - available in ebook and print!