Are you an avid reader of adult science fantasy? Does a 200,000 word book sound like a good sized book to you? Do you like stories where morality is subjective? Do you like stories that are both heroic, but have disturbing themes to them? Then Tales of the Alénarian: Legends of War may be the book you’ve been waiting for.
Who am I?
Greetings. I’m Caleb Teal, Author of the Avala: Spirits of the Mindscape Series. I recently published Avala book 3 late in 2022. However I’m already ready to publish my next project, this one, my magnum opus. I am the author of the yet to be published book, Tales of the Alénarian: Legends of War, which will be published under the penname Calen Aeézanak.
What is Tales of the Alénarian?
Tales of the Alénarian: Legends of War is an epic in the truest sense of the word. It is a two-hundred-thousand-word science fantasy tale stretching over a roughly hundred-year time period set in the Préssérvium Universe, a completely different universe that exists parallel to ours. It focuses on a variety of cultures, heroes, and people in numerous situations involving war, morality, and faith, spread across the stars in a reality where magic is real.
You can find a preview of the book here (note it has only undergone very minor editing): https://www.eveloniistudios.com/tota-low-part1-teaser
Morality is Subjective
One of the main selling points of this book is its stance on morality. Too many stories these days focus on good versus evil. But what really is good and evil other than the interpretation of humans having trouble seeing nuance. In Tales of the Alénarian: Legends of War, morality is subjective, there is nuance to everything. There are numerous situations in the book where morality isn’t as straight forward as good or evil. Likewise the cast of characters each have their own flaws and sins, nobody is perfect. Those you may consider evil, are actually likely doing what they do for a very good reason, such as a curse, a nature they can not resist, or for the survival of entire worlds.
However this causes the book to be very, very dark. Twisted acts are performed regularly, and there are themes that may make people uncomfortable. Examples of such themes include rape, pedophilia, bodily harm to children, necrophilia, cannibalism, incest, debauchery, swearing, excessive drinking, non-consensual drugging, and blood drinking. Though do note this isn’t erotica. There is no sexually explicit content in it.
200,000 Words!
Another selling point is the size of the book, 200,000 words. (For reference the famous Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was about 200,000 words as well.) The book covers a period of roughly 100 years, but the way its divided allows for a relatively easy way to follow each individual story arc in the larger tale of the time period. Because of this the book isn’t divided into the regular chapter format.
First off, the book is divided into four parts of average 50 thousand words each. Between each of the parts is an Interlude section that contains a page worth of in-universe quotes, a one-to-two-page essay about something in-universe, and a series of special holy symbols of the universe.
The book is further split into 62 Codexes, plus an Intro Codex, an Epilogue Codex, and a Preview Codex for the next book. Codexes tell individual stories set in the Préssérvium Universe set over a shorter period of time. Each codex starts off with its own in-universe quote, and is then followed by a subdivision of small, short, chapters which tell the tale of a separate date, time, and/or point of view set in the story of the Codex.
But don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a series of short stories. Each codex is part of the grand narrative that I’m trying to tell, building into a grand finale that threatens everyone, everywhere. And every one of the four parts has its own climax and story it’s trying to tell.
Being 200,000 words in length, Tales of the Alénarian: Legends of War is a tome of a book that offers a compelling and thought provoking read that is great for the avid reader in your family.
Physical Book
For the physical version, and hopefully for the eBook version to some extent, I am planning to have 92 full-page or two-page pieces of artwork in the book. These pieces of artwork will precede every codex, as well as fill the interludes with awesome art, so you can see the wonder and beauty of this universe as the author intends. There are also plans for beautiful interior border designs on almost every page, and other simple but beautiful decorations for the interior design.
To maximize the space for artwork, and to minimize the actual depth of the book, the book will be published in a 8.5" by 11" trim size. The book itself was designed with this size in mind from the start, as the way Codexes intros are laid out this size works best. This results in the book having a depth of approximately 1".
The Story
As for the actual story of the book – which of course is the most important part – It follows the story of several generations of heroes as they live their lives as well as fight against those that would harm them and their people.
Part One is about the rise and fall of the Daughters of the King – two sisters who bring terror to the universe – and the legacy they leave behind. Its also the rise of seven heroes who help bring about the defeat of the Curse of the Sands, a vile curse that destroys entire planets in a matter of days by turning everything and everyone into sand.
Part two is about the start of a Great War that is set to last thousands of years. It is about the rise of great heroes that will rail against each other in this conflict and forces of darkness that try to take advantage of it. Its also about the rise of the Goddess of the Mind, a mortal queen who seizes power so that she can eternally rule her people.
Part three is about the aftermath of the start of the war and the rise of the Goddess of the Mind. It focuses on the stories of people across the universe as they struggle in the new way of things as all this change brings about great strife. It is also about the Queen of Magic, a powerful Queen who rails against the Goddess of the Mind, but is secretly a worshipper of her.
Part four is about the daughter of the Goddess of the Mind, who becomes possessed by a horrible monster. Under this possession she runs her empire into the ground, and then triggers a cataclysmic level event across the universe where heroes from everywhere must band together to help stop, or the end of all things will come.
But the story is so much more than that. It delves into the lives of over fifty characters throughout the story, touching so many parts of how things work in the Préssérvium Universe. At least half of those characters are extremely important to the story. You get to see windows into their lives, and into cultures so vastly different from our own. It’s a story of faith in religions not of our world, and a story of courage and determination. It’s a story of heroism, and wickedness. It’s a story of epic proportions that is just waiting to be read.
There are even LGBTQ+ characters and elements to the story, but like everything in this story, not all of these people can easily be considered the good guys, but many of them definitely can.
Current State
However, though I have already completed the writing process for Tales of the Alénarian: Legends of War, the book will be costly to produce. I personally hate looking for traditional publishers. As someone with a personal history of anxiety and depression disorders, the dread of sending out my work only to be rejected over and over again is something I have long tried to avoid, and I lack the skills to effectively self publish without spending a dime. Thus, when I was looking to publish book 1 of the Avala: Spirits of the Mindscapes series, I was searching around, and came across FriesenPress. They are a company that offers professional self-publishing services, for a price. However unlike vanity publishing, FriesenPress is not overly expensive, nor are they a scam trying to get money from me.
Someone I known went with a Vanity publisher for her book. It cost her quite a bit more than mine for relatively around the same size book. And the service she got was terrible. I dropped out of contact with her before I could really find out how well her book sold, but I don't have hopes up that the vanity publisher she went with actually did the job it was supposed to.
FriesenPress however is amazing. Their services are amazing quality that matches the price tag. They are efficient, and their staff are extremely helpful. They can do every step of the publishing process from editing, cover design, interior design, as well as many other services. They also handle the distribution of the book to both online and in-person retailers, so I don’t have to.
And unlike vanity publishers I don't have to purchase a truck load of my own books as part of the deal that do nothing but sit around collecting dust. I did that anyways for Avala Book 1, but only because my someone I know suggested I do that. It was a mistake, but FriesenPress didn't make me do that. I think for Avala Book 2 I only purchased like 10 softcover and 10 hardcover so I could deliver them to family, friends, and reviewers and that's it.
Unfortunately FriesenPress does cost money, and with a book the size of Tales of the Alénarian: Legends of War, its going to cost a lot. That’s why I’m starting a Kickstarter to hopefully get the book able to be published.
Target Goal of the Kickstarter
The amount we’re looking for is: $50,000. Now, that may seem like a huge amount, but here’s the breakdown.
The first $2,500 CAD is for actually starting the process of the book. This includes most of the nitty gritty details of book publishing, the parts people don’t normally think about, like interior design, evaluation of the manuscript, and other such things.
Then there is $13,600 CAD for editing alone. For a 200,000 word book, its going to be extra costly to do editing. First off because there are so many words, almost twice the average of most novels, and I have to pay by the word. The cost is roughly $3.40 per 100 word but I may be able to secure a small discount. Secondly, editing services only really catch 90% to 95% of the errors in the book. For smaller books like my Avala: Spirits of the Mindscapes Series, that becomes unnoticeable, but for a book this big, there will be a lot more errors missed. If we estimate roughly 50 errors per 100 words – which knowing my personal editing skills seems a bit generous – then we are left over with between 5,000 to 10,000 errors still left in the book, which is a HUGE amount. Thus I will have to pay for a second round of editing. Each round of editing roughly costs $6,800 to do, but since I have to do two of them, it will be double that.
Then $25,000 is for the artwork. This is going to be one of the most costly parts of publishing the book, but its going to be worth it, because the artwork will really add to the book making it really beautiful. However it would have been a lot more, but as I’m getting them in bulk, I have a 20% discount.
Cover Design though will cost roughly $400 CAD which is small compared to what we’re dealing with here.
Lastly there is another $3,500 CAD added on as a safety buffer and to cover any additional costs of paying for the backer’s rewards. The book I'm currently publishing, things were a bit more expensive than I thought they were going to be due to inflation, and I had to scramble for money to finish publishing it. It wasn’t very fun.
The rest is for Kickstarter fees.
Backer Rewards
Now for the question I know you have been waiting for. What will I give you, in exchange for backing my book?
Tier 1 Backers: of $2 CAD who support this Kickstarter will receive an eBook of Tales of the Alénarian: Legends of War when it releases.
Tier 2 Backers: of $10 CAD who support this Kickstarter will receive an early access PDF of Tales of the Alénarian: Legends of War upon completion of the Kickstarter, as well as the eBook of Tales of the Alénarian: Legends of War when the book releases
Tier 3 Backers: of $25 CAD who support this Kickstarter will receive everything from Tier 2 plus eBooks of my other books, the first 3 books in the Avala: Spirits of the Mindscape series. That’s 4 eBooks.
Tier 4 Backers: of $50 CAD will receive everything from Tier 3, in addition to the physical soft cover copy of the book when it releases. With an add-on you can instead change these books to hard cover.
Tier 5 Backers: of $100 CAD will receive everything from Tier 4 as well as the physical soft cover copies of the three Avala: Spirits of the Mindscape Books. With an add-on you can instead change these books to hard cover.
Tier 6 Backers: of $150 CAD will receive everything from Tier 5, only all the physical books will be signed.
Tier 7 Backers: of $250 CAD will receive everything from Tier 6, plus a 8.5” x 11” plaque mounted physical print of your choice of artwork from inside the book. You will have your choice after you receive your eBook and have a chance to look through it.
Tier 8 Backers: of $1,000 CAD will receive everything from Tier 7, plus a fully painted 16” statue of one of the Characters from the internal Artwork of your choice. You will have your choice after you receive your eBook and have a chance to look through it.
The statues and plaques will also come as add-ons if you don't want to pay for the full tier. These will be $500 for the statue add-on, and $150 for the plaque add-on.
When is the Kickstarter
The Kickstarter is now released! Check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/authorcalebteal/tales-of-the-alenarian-legends-of-war/description
Want Updates?
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Links
Pre-Publication Reviews of Tales of the Alénarian: Legends of War
"Avala: Spirits of the Mindscapes - Book 1: Hope" on Goodreads
"Avala: Spirits of the Mindscapes - Book 2: Death" on Goodreads
"Avala: Spirits of the Mindscapes - Book 3: Ruins" on Goodreads
