Big Red and Printing & Distribution Matters

I am thrilled to announce Dancing Lemur Press’ latest release! Compared to Heinlein and Black Mirror, this military sci-fi story takes many twists and turns on its journey. If you love action and a compelling mystery, you will love Big Red.

Big Red by Damien Larkin

We have always been here...

Traumatized by the effects of Compression travel, soldier Darren Loughlin holds the key to the fate of Earth’s Martian colonies. With his Battalion decimated, his fractured memory holds the only clues to the colony-wide communications blackout.

With time running out, Darren pieces together his year-long tour of duty with the Mars Occupation Force. Stationed in the Nazi-founded New Berlin colony, ruled by the brutal MARSCORP, he recounts his part in the vicious, genocidal war against the hostile alien natives and all who question Terran supremacy.

But as his memories return, Darren suspects he is at the centre of a plot spanning forty years. He has one last mission to carry out. And his alien enemies may be more human than he is…

Release date: May 14, 2019
$18.95, 6x9 trade paperback, 304 pages
Science Fiction - Military/Alien Contact/Alternative Historyv Print ISBN 9781939844606 / EBook ISBN 9781939844613
$4.99 EBook available in all formats

“There is drama and heartache here, insights in the light and darkness of humanity’s soul. This book makes you think.” – Phil Parker, author

“A mesmerizing mix of genres: A dash of Starship Troopers mixed teasingly with Memento, spiced with a haunting blend of Black Mirror.” - Roland Yeomans, author

“An action packed Military Science Fiction novel that kept me on the edge of my seat.” - Jamie Kramer, Books and Ladders

“This is a military sci-fi that reminded me a lot of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers.” – Lynda R. Young, author

“Every time I thought I had the story figured out Larkin threw another curveball, and I could barely keep up. It felt like the Twilight Zone or Black Mirror…” – C. D. Gallant King, author

Damien Larkin is a part-time Planning Analyst and a full-time stay-at-home father of two young children. He enjoys turning terrifying nightmares into novels and currently resides in Dublin, Ireland.

Find it at B&N / iTunes / Amazon / Kobo / Goodreads

Plus get a free Big Red MOF sticker with any direct print purchase through Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.

Printing and Distribution Matters

I know so many authors who are Amazon/KDP only. But at what cost?

I have been researching bookstores in the Cherokee Nation area for our fall release, Stone Man: And the Trail of Tears. Bookstore after bookstore, here is what I am encountering:

“We do not stock or sell books available exclusively through Amazon or CreateSpace.”

If you are an author who prints through KDP/CreateSpace, most bookstores won’t stock your books. Why? Amazon is their biggest competition. They want money in their pockets, not Amazon’s.

And if you think that doesn’t matter, that most of your sales are online only, consider this – going with Amazon gives you almost zero chance of your book in a bookstore or you making a bookstore appearance. Because independents (who have made a huge comeback in the past few years) aren’t the only ones – Barnes & Noble won’t buy from their competition. (Who else is left in the USA? Books-A-Million – and they won’t order anybody’s book who isn’t with the Big Five publishers anyway.)

And with Baker & Taylor, the second largest wholesaler of books, bowing out of the bookstore business to focus on libraries only, that leaves just one option – Ingram. Specifically, Ingram Spark or Lightning Source if you are a self-publisher or a small press.

Or, you find a distributor.


Who distributes your titles?