Apocalypse Weird is attracting the one thing that authors crave… buzz.
Everybody is talking about this Apocalypse Weird thing…
“The Red King is something of a literary seed, the first chapter in an innovative collaboration between bestselling indie authors that sees the creation of an entire world for them to play around in. The creators have ambitious plans for this sandbox series and there are a huge number of popular authors involved and already busy writing new episodes in a huge interconnected world. A clever viral marketing campaign has attracted readers like moths to a floodlight with the promise of something big…” ~ Eamon Ambrose, Eamo the Geek Reviews
(For a more in-depth discussion on Apocalypse Weird, make sure to listen to Nick Cole on the Scrivener’s Soapbox podcast, here, or the awesome Interview that Hank Garner did with Nick Cole, here.)
So what is Apocalypse Weird?
Apocalypse is a new brand-world… think MARVEL meets Digital Publishing. Apocalypse Weird is the Marvel of Digital Publishing. Fourteen authors (with more big names coming on board all the time) have formed a guild of sorts to produce a huge, fully realized weird apocalyptic world. And some of the biggest stars (both Indies and Mainstream Pubbed authors) of speculative fiction are part of it. Matthew Mather of Cyberstorm and The Atopia Series, Nick Cole of The Wasteland Saga and Soda Pop Soldier, E.E Giorgi of Chimeras, Steven Savile of the Ogmios Team novels and Battlefield Three, Weston Oches of Seal Team 666, Jennifer Ellis of A Pair of Docks, and even me… Michael Bunker, of Pennsylvania and Wick, (and a bunch of other top flight authors) are teaming up to create an earth spanning, time bending, apocalyptic smorgasbord of epic proportions.
Zombies, dragons, hordes of cannibals, sunken cities besieged by giant squid, genetic mutants, electric fog, arctic mysteries, gojira, and every other conceivable apocalypse around the globe… all of these are the setting for Apocalypse Weird, and all of it is riddled with clues, with Easter eggs, with supernatural bad guys, and huge umbrella arcs that tie it all together.
Within the big arcs, authors are creating mini-worlds… entire book series that feed the whole. Nick Cole’s The Red King is just the first in a 12 book arc that takes place in Southern California. But Texas, the Arctic, Japan, and every area in between will be represented as well.
And these authors are planning on doing what no one has ever done before in digital publishing. They plan on dropping up to a half dozen of these books during their Big Launch in late February, and then another book or two every month, building up to a mind-blowing confrontation some time in the future.
So what’s so new about all this? ALL OF IT.
No one has ever tried anything like it in the digital book age. We’ve seen a resurgence of single author worlds, of anthologies, box sets, and book bundles. But no one has ever tried anything on this scale, with high profile authors across such a broad expanse of speculative fiction writing in the same world. It’s MARVEL meets Graphic Novels meets LOST meets Publishing meets Stephen King. And no one has even considered the entirely new system of publishing that will produce it all. Entire back office systems, programs, and techniques are being written from scratch just to handle the breadth of it all. It is a fully realized world with different apocalypses happening all over the globe, and all of it is tied together in a brilliant brand that’s destined to change the face of publishing.
That’s a lot.
But it’s bigger than that. The authors have designs on other media outlets too. All that remains to be seen,but if the early viral buzz is a sign of things to come, the next year should be fascinating to watch for Apocalypse Weird.
Apocalypse Weird: The Red King by Nick Cole is the first story out of the block. It’s a free taste that’ll have to hold readers until the big launch in February, but just check out the reviews! As of this writing, in the first weekend AW:RK has received 48 reviews with a 4.6 rating!
Over the next few months, there’ll be more information available about Apocalypse Weird. There will be a WIKI available so readers can follow the arcs and story lines, and keep up with what is happening in the AW World. The AW team will be leaking new awesome Mike Corley book covers, and story blurbs so you’ll know what is coming up. And there will be many opportunities where the authors are doing interviews, blog posts, and answering your questions about Apocalypse Weird.
How Do You Find Out More?
Make sure you are signed up to the Apocalypse Weird email list. You’ll receive emails that will keep you up on everything that is going on in the Apocalypse Weird world.
Make sure you have downloaded the free copy of Nick Cole’s The Red King. And please share the link to the free download. It’s FREE!
If you are a member of the media, have a blog, a podcast, or in some way you report on Publishing, please contact me – or any of the Apocalypse Weird team, and we’ll make sure you have what you need. You can contact me: mbunker@michaelbunker.com any time.
Join us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/apocalypseweird/
We’ll keep you up to date right here too. So, enjoy the teaser stuff, and there will be a lot more to come.
Your friend,
Michael Bunker
Is there room for authors who have nothing published?
Great question. We are working on that right now. We’re working up a program with Rob here at ThirdScribe so that authors can produce works in the Apocalypse Weird world and get the opportunity to receive a contract for writing a full novel in the world. That utility will be available very soon. It’s being built right now. So I’m very much looking forward to it.
That sounds brilliant! I’ve read the Red King and had some very intriguing ideas floating around in my head. I’d very much be interested in that. Is there anyway I can keep up on the progress of said program?
Stay tuned here, or on the apocalypseweird.com page and we’ll let you know as soon as the system is set up. Thanks!