Prefer to watch? Check out the video version, complete with outtakes.

Howdy Partners,

I LOVE seeing the videos and pictures of kids getting Prince Lander and the Dragon War! It’s awesome to see your family holding in your hands what my family touched just the other day when we signed and prepped the books. I hope you enjoy this tenth Green Ember adventure. I’m so grateful for your help in Operation Black Star Rising. It was wonderful, a big success that helped introduce this trilogy inside the bigger Green Ember world—Tales of Old Natalia—to more readers. Thank you for being on our side!

Post Mission Debrief: Operation Black Star Rising

Hello friends!

A week ago, we invited you to join us on Operation Black Star Rising, and boy, did you ever respond!

Why Operation Black Star Rising? Well, we’re always thinking about the challenge of how to introduce people to the world of Green Ember stories. Of course, the best gateway is when the people who love The Green Ember tell other people about it. That’s something that you all do so naturally, and we’re thankful.

But, occasionally we stop to think about how we introduce folks who have read The Green Ember to the rest of the series. And every time we undertake this kind of effort, we hear from a few people saying, “My kids LOVED the Green Ember, but we didn’t know there were other books!” It’s easy to feel like we beat that drum so much that surely everyone already knows about the whole series.

And then, occasionally, we try to think about how to make sure we stay visible in the places where people buy books. You help us with that, too: your reviews of these books have helped us to stay in front of the audience on Amazon, Audible, and everywhere else these books are available. 

But, sometimes, a little concerted effort goes along way. That’s what happened with Operation Black Star Rising. We didn’t quite accomplish the goal of cracking the top 100, but look at what we did accomplish:

• An increase of 1022% in sales over the preceding two weeks
• 157 new reviews of The Black Star of Kingston
• An increase in sales rank from 75,755 all the way up to 855 overall
• #1 in Children’s Rabbit Books 
• #1 in Children’s Folk Tales & Myth Collections
• #1 in Christian Fantasy (Books)

Thanks so much for helping us with Operation Black Star Rising. We’re so thankful for the way you support us. We’re on your side.

Andrew Mackay
Publisher
Story Warren Books

Prince Lander LANDS: From Our Hands to Yours

We’re happy to report that Prince Lander is out of our hands and into yours. Watch this video for more pictures!

There’s still time to grab a signed copy!

Come for the Mountains, Stay for the Speakers

HopeWords is just around the corner so now is your opportunity to register! The beautiful mountains and incredible people of Bluefield, WV—my neck of the woods—will force you to slow down and think deeply. Need more convincing? You’ll be challenged by world-class writers and surrounded by readers, thinkers, dreamers, and lovers of words & God.

#SDSmithDopeQuotesCuration

I curate quotes on the socials and wanted to leave you with this one from, “On Living in an Atomic Age” by C. S. Lewis:

Find more dope quotes here.

That’s all for now.

I’m on your side,

Sam