Avant Nation Publishing News

Here's a list of what's been going on over here in "cog" land:


Title Changes

• When novel one was released back in 2015 it was simply called Avant Nation. I recently went back to give it a subtitle, Resist the Machine. Available here.

• Avant Nation is now the name of the entire series. 

Sequel Release Info

• The title of the second book is Escape the Machine.

• Gingerman Editorial has given it a thorough content edit and now it's currently with Mitey Editing for a line-by-line check. At this point, I can't give a precise publication date. My best guess is September 2017, thereabout. Fingers crossed.

Book Cover Switch-A-Roo

• I had planned to commission the same cover artist to do all of the books in the series, but he has dropped out of the business. Talk about bummed. I absolutely adored the image of Clara clinging for dear life on a giant cogwheel, but whaddaya gonna do?

• I decided to use the opportunity to rethink the vibe I wanted it to give off.  Since Avantica is a place where the government uses advanced technology to exercise total control over its citizens, I wanted book cover 2.0 to wed Technology with Big Brother Is Always Watching for a creepy Utopia Gone Wrong effect. Do you think the new cover is effective that way? Feel free to comment. 

Available on Amazon

• A big thank you to my new cover artist, Keith Draws. When I approached him, I had a totally different idea in mind that I later scrapped. He was infinitely patient with my indecisiveness. Check out his webpage here.

Evolution of Avant Nation's Lingo

I made a few small editorial changes to the world building in book one. For starters, I gave names to technology that hasn't quite come to fruition yet in the real world. 

• If you have read book one, you already know that flat screens are a thing of the past in the advanced nation of Avantica. Three dimensional viewing is everywhere. Images from video games and television are projected into the air. The Avants call these images video clouds. Vloud is the slang term (video + cloud). 

• The clock makers wear telescopic goggles now instead of sunglasses. I didn't give them a special name, but I wanted to let you know.

• In keeping with my own vision of the future, the majority of vehicles in Avantica are now driverless. The citizens summon them like taxis and simply tell the on board computer where they want to go. No human driver required. I decided to keep calling them cars and trucks. The reason being is that Avants assume a vehicle is driverless unless someone says otherwise.

• The young Avants in the artificial wombs at the population factories are no longer called children. They're potentials. 

Since every powerful culture develops its own vernacular, I think it makes sense the Avants would as well.  

Now you're up-to-date and hopefully eager for book two. 

In upcoming posts, I'll reveal the the precise publication date for Escape the Machine (Avant Nation, Book #2), how to get it at a discount, and maybe talk about some of the cool elements commonly found in dystopian cover art.