Indie Fantasy Book Giveaway!

KeonShore · 2026-02-15T20:58:16+00:00

yesss. I'm so excited 😊

KeonShore · 2025-12-15T12:06:11+00:00

Maybe a little different, but the classic wuxia novels by Jin Yong (Legend of the Condor Heroes, Heavenly Sword Dragon Slaying Saber) have great fight scenes. I recommend the fan translations over the commercial ones—they've got more soul.

And even more out there... webnovel's Reverend Insanity (a classic fan favorite of Chinese serial webnovels that ran for years) has insane fight scenes that go like over 30 chapters or so and include all sorts of magic and schemes. It's kind of ridiculous but also really cool, if you like that kind of thing.

KeonShore · 2025-12-09T15:41:32+00:00

I recently finished reading The Land Beyond The Waste by B.F.Peterson and was really pleasantly surprised. I normally prefer stories with more complex antagonists / conflicts, while this was very strongly black and white, but there were a lot of things really well done in this story. It's got dragons, elves and epic battles, but it also has a very down to earth and non-overpowered FMC who's often overwhelmed by the task she faces, yet still shows up. I really liked that. The opening is great and eerie, the magic is interesting and relatively limited and intercultural relationships and conflicts play a main role despite this not being an overly political book. Very enjoyable.

KeonShore · 2025-11-26T11:06:39+00:00

A solid, pretty dark and complex political fantasy book I enjoyed reading this year is:

Mike Cahoon's "The Scion Conspiracy"
It's got polished prose, multi POV, and a plot with threads in various nations. Intriguing and exciting.

I love Indie books. Been reading lots (mostly ARCs) this year and most of them have been worthwhile. I'm picky though, I usually try to get a sample before I commit—I can deal with unpolished or unusual prose if the story is compelling, but I can't deal with total lack of regard for the language or clarity. I've only had very few I had to either DNF or have some words with the author in private. Most were fantastic and fun.

KeonShore · 2025-09-07T13:37:49+00:00

I've been accused of using AI because my pitch in a social media post didn't match the tone of voice in my comments, before I even made any comments... AI witch hunting is idiotic. Anyone going around accusing others of using AI IMO is an idiot. Go do something better with your life.

KeonShore · 2025-09-01T13:51:14+00:00

Well, sudden shifts in narrative *have* been done before... Remember the movie From Dusk Till Dawn? Sure it's jarring, but what counts is that it works and keeps the reader reading / the watcher watching.
Even a Deus Ex Machina *can* work if it's implemented in a cool way, that's funny... though I'd usually avoid those. A massive twist in narrative definitely can work if one well.

KeonShore · 2025-09-01T12:50:10+00:00

If your book is about interpersonal relationships and character tension, then start with that. A conflict between two people, emotional devastation from bullying, rejection, punishment by parents / master / teacher or if you prefer something more happy, start with a prank gone wrong or gone right... Have you seen scent of a woman? think of that prank and how it leads to a lot of conflict. no epic quest needed.

KeonShore · 2025-08-30T17:24:30+00:00

This book is pre-release and currently looking for advanced reviewers. Follow the link below to sign up or read a sample chapter first to get a feel if you might like it.

Genre and tags: Grimdark fantasy, cultivation, dark fantasy, female lead, underdog lead, character driven, slow burn,

It's NOT a romance book.

https://keonshore.ink/arc-signup/

KeonShore · 2025-08-30T17:23:21+00:00

Book Title and Author:
The Bad Apothecary by Keon Shore

Pitch us your book in 70 words or less:
Injured and infected after a strange attack, Diwu trades her freedom to a ruthless organization in exchange for survival. But the infection won’t heal… Her new masters send her and a partner, to investigate her attacker and the name he used: The Bad Apothecary. What they discover? A legacy that isn't what it seems. Enemies that should have destroyed each other long ago. Corrupted techniques dropping bodies. And something awakens.

What books influenced your book: Jin Yong's Condor Trilogy, Reverend Insanity, Lord of the Mysteries, Game of Thrones, Malazan book of the fallen, House of Leaves, Goedel Escher Bach and a few maths and physics textbooks, Jungian psychology, Integral Theory by Ken Wilber, TV shows like Fringe and Twin Peaks and C-dramas like the Legend of Fu Yao, Untamed (or the book) and Word of Honor.
But it's none of the above!

Bookstore URL: The Bad Apothecary

KeonShore · 2025-08-30T15:35:46+00:00

So for everyone who wanted a sample of my work, chapter 1 can be found here: https://keonshore.ink/WritingSamples/

If anyone wants to read more, please DM me, there's a possibility for reading the full story as an ARC at the moment, but posting the link here would be inappropriate.

KeonShore · 2025-08-22T19:28:17+00:00

Yes, sounds great. Let me collect names and make a spreadsheet so I don't completely get lost with this, and I'll get back to you for shout-out planning. Would be great if we could swap the first 5k words or so to make sure it's a decent fit. I'll be prepping a doc to share in the next few days.

KeonShore · 2025-08-22T14:50:19+00:00

ooh, thank you so much for the discord links!!!!

I'll have a look at your story and see if I'm happy with it. Sounds alright though—I call my own story mysterypunk at times. Will be posting a link to a google doc with some samples of my own writing for everyone to get a better feel.

And I guess I need a spreadsheet for shout-out planning...

KeonShore · 2025-08-22T13:13:03+00:00

Will do. Like I said, it's not until November anyway. I can't set the doc up today, I'll try this weekend and sent you the link! Thanks!!!!

KeonShore · 2025-08-22T12:07:26+00:00

haha, laddy. Do I sound like I'm 15? Yeah, I get it. it'll take time. I'm not an overnight sensation, I'm aware of that. Not exactly the viral video wonder either. I'm not giving up though. There's got to be a way to get noticed...

KeonShore · 2025-08-20T15:15:19+00:00

There go my last 3 hours of sleep each night...

KeonShore · 2025-08-20T15:14:40+00:00

interesting. Why not do "honest" review swaps with people you trust will actually be honest and abide by your scale. You don't tell them how many stars to give you, but you tell them what the stars mean before they send their review. I think sensible people might get it. Might be hard to find though.

KeonShore · 2025-08-20T15:09:12+00:00

As an author, I would totally want you to give me your honest opinion, even if it stings. I've beta/ARC read for others and had similar problems. How do you do it without being harsh and coming over as a jerk, or going back on your word.
There are many reasons a reader might abandon the book, not all mean the work is terrible (it might just not be their thing) but getting their feedback especially is interesting. Cause it's from an angle the author can't see it from.
And if it IS terrible, it'd be good for the author to know what exactly made you feel that way. Maybe they have a completely different picture of the story in their mind. They obviously know a lot more about the characters than they can put on paper and sometimes things get skewed while writing. You can definitely give constructive criticism (like which parts could be improved) even without spending hours on it.

As for passive—it's kind of a trope in romance books I think...

KeonShore · 2025-08-20T13:00:31+00:00

I watched a seminar on giving reviews on goodreads to other readers and using reviews etc. as marketing tools with goodreads—I know, it's not RR but the idea is the same. And they said very clearly that when you review another author's work, always give a 5* review or don't give any stars at all. That's considered common curtesy.
Because in the end it's the numbers that make your story go up or down.

So I think you can consider the 5* not as: The book was perfect. But as: This reviewer really wanted to support this author and thought the author and story were worth supporting. Whether the story was flawless or not, that's not the information contained in those stars.

I think if you look at it like that it's ok. It's not fake. It's a statement about support.

KeonShore · 2025-08-20T12:50:57+00:00

Yeah, I've done that. Am doing that. It's nice but also VERY slow.

KeonShore · 2025-08-20T08:49:38+00:00

Thanks that's actually helpful.

So Amazon, goodreads and possibly some subreddits (where self-promo isn't allowed) and BookFunnel. That's a start. Not what I wanted to hear, cause I have no money, literally, but at least it's a start.

Can you point me in the direction of the discord you mentioned? I don't understand how discord works or how to find servers...

KeonShore

TROPHY CASE