So I am pretty freakin’ stoked to announce that the Severed Press has picked up the Apex Trilogy!

That’s right, folks, DEAD MECH, The Americans, and Metal and Ash will be re-born and re-released into the world! Severed Press is a small horror press that is making great strides in the publishing industry. Based in Australia, they have released some great horror fiction by authors such as Wrath James White, Tim Curran, and Eric S. Brown. They plan on updating the covers (So cherish the versions you have now! Collectors’ items!) and getting the entire trilogy out into the world again this summer (or winter down under).

Why, you ask? Why go with a publisher when I have already self-published the series? Simple: I don’t like being a publisher. You know how I walked away from podcasting because of the time thing? Apply that to self-publishing. It takes a lot of time and energy and makes a writer a bit schizophrenic. I would much rather go with a publisher, even a small press like Severed, and let them deal with all the headaches of editing, formatting, cover design, proofing. I need time to just focus on writing. This doesn’t mean I’m not still self-publishing Natural Born Cyborgs. I am. It just means that the Apex Trilogy will have better exposure to publications and reviewers and I’ll have more time to focus on Natural Born Cyborgs since I won’t be as busy trying to hustle and pimp the Apex Trilogy.

But rest assured that my hustling and pimping days are not over. Hell no, yo! I am a writer in the 21st century. I’ll be pimping the shit out of the Apex Trilogy! But I’ll have a publisher in my court, getting my back, on my side, another colloquialism, which is nice. Being solo is lonely. Sure, there are indie groups I could align with, but so many are reactionary and divisive. I’m just not that guy. This is writing, people, not the bloody French Revolution. No one’s lives are at stake, despite the hyperbole by the extremists on both sides of publishing.

Which brings me to this: there are no sides in writing. It isn’t Us vs. Them. It isn’t Big vs. Indie/Self/Martyr. It isn’t about who gets the best percentage of royalties, or whether or not you have control over edits and cover. It’s about the writer and the reader. With this deal I get to reach more readers and spread the fun that is the Apex Trilogy. It’s like I’m Jakey Writerseed spreading my wonderful word herpes across the land! Across the WORLD! WORD HERPES FOR ALL!

Ok, that was a bit much even for me.

The bottom line is I will have all the privileges that go with being published. I want to expose more readers to my word herpes, I, Uh, need to stop saying that. I want to expose… Maybe not use the word expose? I want the Apex Trilogy to find new readers and to make a bigger impact in fiction than it has. I want it to gain more attention so maybe when it comes time to launch the comic book series, or a movie producer comes sniffing around, it will have a strong enough name as a franchise to get the dues it deserves.

It isn’t about me, it’s about you- the reader. It’s about you- the fans. It’s about bringing the series to life in a way it hasn’t been fully able to under my watch. It’s about letting someone else be a cheerleader for a time.

So, whoop, there it is. I am going to be an officially published author with all the treasure and warts that come with that. It may also mean my local bookstore will return my emails. Snobby bastards…

Anyhoo, be on the lookout for more announcements about the release dates. And spread the word!

Cheers!