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May Science Fiction Reviews for You

May Science Fiction Reviews for You that may please you. Where do I start? I’ve been so busy reading books I barely have had time to read my own reviews. But here they are, somewhat in time order.

May Science Fiction Reviews
Book cover

The Science Officer (The Science Officer #1)
Rating 4 of 5 stars
Shelvesread edit
FormatKindle Edition edit
StatusMay 9, 2022 – Finished Reading2 Show more
ReviewDelightful little novella. He introduces a vivid character, former Space Academy graduate and space scout, Javier Aritza, who raises chickens, fruits and vegetables while exploring the universe.

Too bad he runs into pirates. But with some aggressive negotiation skills, he agrees to join them as their science officer. Their air is barely breathable and their water barely drinkable but he fixes that.

For such a short read, Blaze Ward packed in a lot of character development and adventure.

Recommended!
Andy Zach’s review

May Science Fiction Reviews – Your Next Review

Get Your Zombie Turkeys Laughter
Zombie Turkeys front cover. Click to get a copy!


May 19, 2022

it was amazing

OK this was funny, I actually started with volume 2 in this series (My undead mother in law) and all the things that I was missing in the story in the one I started are explained here, its brilliant and very funny XD, one thing that I love about this series, the people reading the book (there’s more than one ^__^) they actually sound like they’re having fun, and that’s twice the fun for us that are listening to the audiobook.

If you want a series that makes you laugh, with lots of gore and at the same time, even normal life, yeah people get to know each other and they even marry, yeah I guess you could say this is for all ages hahah

I got a free ARC from StoryOrigin and this is my honest opinion

Sofia rated it 

Click here to get Zombie Turkeys for free.

May Science Fiction Reviews – Your Third Follows

May Science Fiction Reviews
Book cover
Review ofThe Mind Field (The Science Officer #2)
Rating4 of 5 stars
Shelvesaction-adventurehumormilitary-scifireadscience-fiction edit
FormatKindle Edition edit
StatusMay 18, 2022 – Shelved as: science-fictionShow more
ReviewOkay, Blaze Ward’s first book was good and his second was better.

The story begins with the pirate crew going to a haunted system. Ships that go there, never come back. And that almost happens to them, but thanks to the quick thinking of Javier, their Science Officer, they escape.

Does the stalwart, former military pirate captain use the opportunity to escape? Nope. They get into problems they never expected.

I won’t give away any spoilers.

Read and enjoy. (less)
by Andy Zach

May the Fourth Review Be With You – May Science Fiction Reviews

Sofia

May 03, 2022

SciFi Story Fuel My Undead Mother-in-law
May Science Fiction Reviews
My Undead Mother-in-law cover. Click to get yours.

it was amazing

One of the most funny books about zombies, where the zombies are not the monster or the bad guy, actually being zombified, cures all sorts of health problems, from being overweight to the death doors, and you feel much more energetic and strong.

What can I say that wont give spoilers, but it will explain in details what I did enjoy about this audiobook, both voice actors, you had a male and a female, they seemed to enjoy themselves while they were reading it, so it was so much more fun, it was also very nice the way they interact with the other, great fun, the story was also fun, and with lots of action and violence, but in a way that you will find yourself laughing out loud while listening to the violence, yeah the first dinner in the parents-in-law in the first few minutes of the book set what I was sure I would find during the book and it didn’t disappoint.

Just try it out, keep in mind that this it’s not your usual zombie story 😉 it was really a good fun, and I highly recommend, I started by this volume, I understand this is the second in the series, but unlike many other stories I didn’t find myself lost or in need to go back and read or listen the first book in the series, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to go back (sure I want) but if like me you start by this one, I don’t think you’ll find yourself lost in anyway.

Thank you StoryOrigin by the free Audible and I am leaving this review voluntarily. (less)

Sofia rated it 

Your Fifth May Science Fiction Review

May Science Fiction Reveiws
Review ofThe Gilded Cage (The Science Officer #3)
Rating4 of 5 stars
Shelvesaction-adventuremilitary-scifireadscience-fiction edit
FormatKindle Edition edit
StatusMay 19, 2022 – Shelved as: science-fictionShow more
ReviewMuch to my delight, Blaze Ward continues his high-quality writing in the third installment of his military scifi series, The Science officer.

Javier Aritza was captured by space pirates, who destroyed his scout ship and upset his life. He negotiates his way out of slavery and into a valuable officer on their ship, where he can pay off his slave debt.

But things change. The imperturbable captain Zolokov keeps generating new challenges for Javier. Once again, Javier must risk his life to save a crew member or three. One of them hate his guts. They’re in a den of pirates. Oh my.

Oddly, Javier had been there before.

Read and find out what happens. 
Do you want to review one of my books? Click here and tell me and I’ll send you one.
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Oops! 3 Mistakes I’ve made in Self-publishing

Oops! 3 Mistakes I’ve made in self-publishing since I started with Zombie Turkeys in 2016. I’ve made unique mistakes with each novel, but I’ll cover the big ones in this blog.

Oops! 3 Mistakes
Zombie Turkeys, where my self-publishing started

Oops! 3 Mistakes – The First Mistake I Always Make

What could it be? I’ve got an MBA. I’ve written computer programs to schedule, I’m a certified project manager. I have both training and experience in managing projects, like self-publishing.

Time estimation. Things always take longer than you think.

Oop! 3 Mistakes
I break time deadlines

For example, my latest book, Oops! Tales of the Zombie Turkey Apocalypse, should be in my hands today. I planned to sell it at the Chambanacon convention. It’s not.

Oops! 3 Mistakes
Andy Zach and Brenda Sutton at Chambanacon 2016

The book isn’t printed. The covers are done, but not the binding. And I just fixed a problem with the ISBN yesterday.

What went wrong?

First, writing the book took longer than I planned. I traveled to California and Israel, which impeded me. I also waited until the last minute/month to finish up.

Second, my editor took longer than I thought. She got a lot of work all of a sudden. No problem, if I had been done a month earlier.

Third, we found a mistake in my binding. Oops! 3 Mistakes I’ve made, number 1.

Oops! 3 Mistakes
Andy’s soon to be published book

Oops! 3 Mistakes – My Second Mistake in Self-Publishing

Where else did I go wrong?

I thought nothing would go wrong. Never before did I have a typo in my binding. I never made a mistake with my ISBN before. But I have the capacity to make new, never before seen mistakes.

Maybe you do too.

Plan for mistakes in your plan.

Unplanned fly under
Do you think this was planned?

Finally, Mistake Number Three

I know better about this one. I haven’t always failed here, but this time I did.

What else did I do?

Andy Zach at Archon, instead of writing in October 2019

I didn’t plan for slack time.

When I realized how little slack time I had to publish by November 29th, I should have blocked off all October as slack time to catch up with any problems. I should have targeted September 30th as my writing deadline.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes.

The final back cover of Oops!

I’m Thankful for You This Thanksgiving

I’m thankful for you, my blog readers and newsletter subscribers. I’m giving you 15 free middle-school books. Click below.

Oops! 3 Mistakes
Click to get 15 free middle-school books, including Secret Supers

That’s right. You’ll get my latest novel Secret Supers for free here. Enjoy the first promotion I’ve run for this book.

But that’s not all! Click here next to subscribe to my newsletter and get my free short stories in my upcoming Oops! anthology.

Finally, newsletter subscribers will be able to get my audiobooks for free! Find out how in my next newsletter this month.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Gobble! Gobble!
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How I Published 4 Books in 3 Years – You Can Too

Yes, I Published 4 Books in 3 Years. Here they are:

Published 4 Books
Andy Zach’s Published 4 Books

First I published Zombie Turkeys on October 31, 2016. Then ten months later, out popped My Undead Mother-in-law on August 5, 2017. I still strove to hit my nine-month publishing goal with Paranormal Privateers, which debuted on May 5, 2018. Finally, I switched genres to middle-school science fiction with Secret Supers, appearing March 29, 2019.

I feel like these dates are the birthdays of my children!

4 Books Published
The Andy Zach Family, before publishing

In the next section, I’ll give you a rundown of my steps in publishing.

4 Books Published – First Zombie Turkeys

  1. I wrote the first draft in November – December 2015 – I used NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month) as my motivation. You can too!
  2. Then I self-edited my book – inefficiently. January to March 2016. I checked grammar and spelling and reviewed checklists of what not to do. I think I went through six or seven revisions.
  3. Next, I studied publishing and self-publishing. ‘Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual, Volume 2‘ and How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle were my primary influences.
  4. In April, I worked with an editor for the first time. April to August 2016, Dori Harrell. She’ll work with you too! This created another six or seven revisions.
  5. I knew I needed a cover artist, so I got one: Sean “Fuzzy” Flanagan. We went through ten ideas and we selected the handprint cover. August to September 2016.
  6. Then, I bought IBSNs from Bowker. September 2016.
  7. After this, I set up Amazon Kindle and Createspace accounts. They’re now merged. September 2016.
  8. I learned I needed a format editor: someone who edits the text into ebook and print formats, Rik Hall of Wild Seas Formating. You need him, too. September 2016
  9. I set up a website, zombieturkeys.com. It’s now merged with andyzach.net. October 2016
  10. Finally, I uploaded my edited ebook and print book with their covers to Amazon and set the launch date to October 31st. October 2016
  11. Before I could order books, Amazon had to approve them. As soon as they did, I ordered my print books. Mid-October 2016.
  12. Then, I set up my book launch party at the Peoria North Library for October 31st. That was probably a mistake. I learned that some people were out, due to Halloween.
  13. I got my print books in the mail. Huzzah! I got them just before the launch party. Late October 2016.
4 Books Published
My First Book Copy

The first concept sketch for Zombie Turkeys:

Zombie Turkey Concept Art

Zombie Turkeys, the first sketch

Next, My Undead Mother-in-law

I knew I had to surpass my first book with my second one. I had to be crazier, funnier, wilder, more exciting, more violent. In November of 2016 when I wrote my first draft of My Undead Mother-in-law. I’ll tell you what I learned through that book in my next blog post.

This one is long enough.

But naturally, you’ll have questions. Ask me! I‘ll do my best to answer you.