Update. Book 7. Serial novels.

Bite Back book 7, Queen of Diamonds, is with the editor. She has promised to get back to me this week. I am still hoping to publish this month (Dec 2020).
The book is 135,000 words long, which is pretty much standard for my main novels. It has taken me a little more than a year (so far) to produce, but I have had other projects running at the same time.
I’ve given lots of estimates out about the length of the Bite Back series. I started thinking I was writing a trilogy! At the extreme, I thought it would take me 16-18 books to tell the story. Currently, I think it’s 9 books long, so there will be at least two more.
While waiting for the edits, I’m working on the two serial novels I have running. These are for subscribers to my mailing list only, and have been going down a storm. The general idea is the same as the serial format I used in this blog, but the updates are bigger and only arrive monthly. Unfortunately, I had to skip last month’s episodes to get Queen of Diamonds to the editor, but I should be back with new episodes this month. The two novels are The Long Way Home (Science Fiction, set in the same universe as Among The Stars, but at an earlier time) and Stand Up (Urban Fantasy, loosely tied to Bite Back, and set in New York after the novella Change of Regime).
Update: Bite Back 7 & Newsletter

The first quarter of Bite Back 7 is with the beta readers. The events covered were intended in the original plan to be the first 10%, but things snowballed and Amber got the bit between her teeth.
That section is 45,000 words long, which suggests book 7 will be 180,000, which will be approximate the length of Wild Card. Looking to release in Q3, but it may slip to Q4.
Newsletter

The other news of the week is the first newsletter has just gone out.
Some of you read the novels which I ran in serial form here on the blog. Change of Regime, A Name Among the Stars, A Threat Among the Stars, and The Harvest of Lies all appeared in weekly or monthly sections on this blog before being released as full books. I’m doing the same thing in the newsletter, but on a monthly release with longer sections.
There are two serial novels available with each newsletter. One is Science Fiction and the other is Urban Fantasy.
Science Fiction: The Long Way Home.
Their war has just ended. Their struggle has just begun.
Set in the universe described in ‘A Name Among the Stars’, but much earlier, around the time known as the Third Expansion. Janice and Bjorn are two young soldiers from a remote, pacifist planet on the Frontier who signed up to earn the money for essential Terran technology to save their colony from dying out. But nothing is easy. They have to overcome betrayals, corruption, greed… and pirates, on ‘The Long Way Home’.
Episode 1 is currently only available in eBook form in an anthology called ‘The Great Beyond’ ($0.99/£0.99)
smarturl.it/greatbeyond
(You can get the FREE audiobook for episode 1 at bit.ly/thelongwayhomeaudio)

Episode 2 ‘Problems and Opportunities’ is ready for download now, and you need to sign up to the newsletter to be able to use the links.
https://mailchi.mp/27afed3e7c0c/mark-henwick-scifi-newsletter-signup
Once you’ve signed up, then the download link is https://dl.bookfunnel.com/ae4uomtjpa
Urban Fantasy: Stand Up
This is an Athanate PNR, set in New York, and the events occur between Bite Back Books 6 and 7. This book is not essential for the Bite Back series. It follows on, in a fashion, from the Change of Regime novella, in that some of the characters return.
Carla is a comedienne, running away from a terrible event in her past, and whose stand up routine has run out of inspiration. Katja is a sophisticated New York Athanate in a state of denial over her broken heart. Neither of them wants what the other needs. Or do they?
Episode 1 is called I Died Tonight.

As before, sign up for the newsletter and then your download link for Episode 1 is: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/2dkw4kl9xq
Newsletter news and brief update

Hello! Long time, no post!
My efforts these days are going more toward writing the books and newsletters. Today’s blog post is mainly about newsletters.
First off, where am I with writing? I’m 20 chapters into Bite Back 7, Queen of Diamonds, and I was expecting this to be about 70 chapters. Having said that, I’m spending a lot more chapters on the early part of the book, without actually seeing any of the later chapters reduced. Maybe this will be one of the longer books. Hopefully I should finish the draft by the end of summer.
Concentrating on Bite Back 7 means that Bian’s Tale 2 and Among the Stars 3 are both started but on hold.
That’s my weekday writing. As many of you will know, I try and do something very different at weekends (no, I don’t write every day, but most days). I’m back doing something that I did on this blog site a couple of years ago, when I write Among the Stars books 1 and 2 – I’m writing a serial.
It’s another Science Fiction, in the same universe as Among the Stars, but centuries earlier. It’s called The Long Way Home. I will be publishing it in episodes of about 10k words on a monthly basis. I’ll be publishing it as a newsletter.
Episode 1 is available as the opening story in an anthology called The Great Beyond, available for 99c/99p at the moment. To continue reading The Long Way Home, you’ll need to join my newsletter, and new episodes will be released each month, starting with July (this one!). Episodes will be free.
Links below.
What’s it about?
“Their war has just ended. Their struggles have just begun.“
Janice Skelling and Bjorn Thorsson are desperate to get back from the war with the technology that will mean the difference between life and death for their remote home planet, out in Frontier space. But nothing is easy. They have to overcome betrayals, corruption, greed… and pirates, on The Long Way Home.
Two easy steps to get on board:
1. Buy The Great Beyond anthology ($0.99/£0.99) to get episode 1.
smarturl.it/greatbeyond
2. Sign up for the newsletter and get free monthly episodes.
https://mailchi.mp/27afed3e7c0c/mark-henwick-scifi-newsletter-signup
BONUS STEP! Get a free 1 hr audio. Jessica Henwick, star of Iron Fist & Matrix 4, narrates The Long Way Home, Episode 1!
bit.ly/thelongwayhomeaudio
I hope you enjoy it!
And reviews. Reviews on any of my books. Reviews are lifeblood for writers. Reviews please, readers. 🙂
Thank you!
Cover reveal and alert for book 6

Inside Straight will be appearing on Amazon sometime today for pre-orders.
Actual release is scheduled for 31st October.
I’m relaunching the series with new covers and advertising.
The full images which will be used for the print books:
And the eBook covers from these:
I’ll be making some merchandise items from these images – T shirts, mugs, etc.
I love these covers. 🙂
Update and Angel Stakes cover reveal

The first featured image is Andrew discussing handling weapons with Maria at White Box Studio.
Inside Straight
I’ve completed my major edit pass and the text has gone to Lauren for the final checks on spelling and grammar. The book will be published on the 31st October, and I’ll put it up for pre-orders a week or so before. I’ll make sure you know it’s up on Amazon. 🙂
Relaunch of series
The pre-order of Inside Straight will be combined with a relaunch of the whole series with new covers. That means I have to reformat all the print books (previously printed by CreateSpace), change the audio covers, sharpen up the blurbs, and insert a brief (!) summary of previous books and cast list into books 2 – 6. I am so looking forward to that. Lol.
At the same time I’ll start releasing ‘bundles’. The first will be books 1-3 combined into one eBook, and sold at a discount. This is to capture those readers for whom one book at a time is not enough. Yes, this is a thing, and quite a large thing apparently. The second bundle of books 4-6 should go up sometime in December. These bundles will require their own eBook covers, which I will reveal here on the blog.
The relaunch will combine the new covers and bundles with an advertising campaign.
When I first published on Amazon, the only marketing tools under my control were covers, blurbs, newsletters, Bookbub (and similar), reviewers etc. With the possible exception of Bookbub, these tools have less and less direct, primary effect. Why? Because Amazon has changed. They used to have fairly neutral ranking and promotional algorithms. If you sold, and got good reviews, your ranking went up in a straightforward manner, and they promoted you in their newsletters. Now, to get the same effect, you have to reinvest part of your sales in the Amazon advertising machine. That’s what I’ll be doing, to the tune of approximately 20% of my target income. Gulp.
(This is not to say that reviews no longer work. I’m still very keen on reviews. Just a few words if you haven’t already. Please. 🙂 )
I may also try Bookbub and similar newsletters as well. And I’m considering building my own newsletter too. I have a current mailing list, but that is *strictly* for new book releases. The general newsletter will (among other things) explore the lore of the Athanate/Were/Adept world, especially those parts that don’t quite make it into the books. I may write some short stories which would go out in the newsletters.
Merchandise
I hear you. I’ll have some T shirts, coasters and stuff made from these covers and some photos that don’t make the covers. I have no schedule yet. 🙂
Angel Stakes cover
Books 1-4 have concentrated appropriately on Amber with weapons – the handgun, submachine gun and the shotgun. These demanded action poses to convey the best impact. However, although Amber uses weapons in Angel Stakes, there’s a different feel to the book. Amber rights old wrongs. Amber stalks her enemy almost as a personification of justice. The second werewolf ritual takes place in this book as well, and whereas Amber can almost convince herself that the first halfy ritual down in New Mexico (end of Cool Hand) was a fluke, the evidence that it’s an ability she has becomes overwhelming in Angel Stakes.
So I wanted something less to do with physical weapons, but more to do with a rather spooky, witchy Amber coming to get you.
I think Andrew and Maria hit this brief out of the park. What do you think?
Print book image
And the eBook cover
Cover reveal for Bite Back books 3 and 4

Cover reveal – books 3 and 4
I’m in the last few chapters of editing. Good news (I think): the book has got longer.
I’m a guest at a French convention in Lille, Les Halliénales, this weekend, so this week’s cover reveal is a short post concentrating on the images themselves. As I haven’t much to say, you get two for the price of one! Book 3 and book 4 covers!
Feedback always welcome: Do you like the images? Do they convey Bite Back well? Do they feel branded in the same way as books 1 and 2?
First, the full images which will be used for the print books.
And the eBook images.
Delay of a month for Bite Back 6

Month delay for Bite Back 6…
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, there’s going to be a delay in the release of Inside Straight. I had intended to load the Amazon servers with the pre-order on the 16th (next Monday), for publication on the 30th, but that’s not going to be possible.
The text is still in editing and the covers (plural) aren’t ready.
My marketing plan was to boost the series with new, professionally-created covers and a bundle (several ebooks in one at a discount) and an advertising campaign while Inside Straight was in pre-order, so that book 6 got the maximum amount of publicity.
That’s still the plan, but I am now aiming for release on the 31st October, with the pre-order and advertising beginning on the 14th.
I am also scheduling a series of previews of the new covers on Facebook and here, which will serve as a countdown to the marketing.
My apologies for the delay!