Why is the downloadable PDF free?

The electronic version of I Am Nero is free in order to encourage people to read it! My feeling is that people still like real, physical, hold in the hand books - and will buy it after taking it for a test-drive. If you read it because it's free and you're not risking your hard earned cash that's great. If you find your eyes bleeding from screen glare after you're already hooked on the story, and have to buy it, thats even better...

Why is the printed copy the price it is?

I Am Nero is printed on a per-order basis. At such low volumes the printing costs are high. The price is dictated by the number of pages, and works out at about £9 or $18 for a 373-page novel. It's already expensive enough that I didn't add a mark-up - I don't make anything from sales, and therefore neither does Lulu.Com.

Is I Am Nero a proper book then?

Yes! It's a big chunky novel that you can hold in your hand. The words are small and the lines are close together. It has a story and everything. It also has an ISBN number, and a swanky barcode, which means bookstores will know where to get it too.

Where can I get I Am Nero?

You can download it free, or order a printed copy, by clicking on the link above. You can also get it from amazon in your country, and any good book store, or their website.

How does Lulu publishing work? Isn't it just vanity publishing?

Not really. Lulu.Com is print-on-demand digital publishing. Briefly, you give them your source files and they print a book, cd, comic, whenever someone orders a copy, and sends it to them. For a fee, they also provide you with an ISBN and entry onto the wholesaler's database, so that Amazon, Waterstones, and your local indie bookshop can order copies too. Lulu make their money from selling these marketing packages, and from commision on the author's profits (if any), whereas a vanity publisher charges an author a large amount upfront to print a small number of books that rot in the author's garage. It works pretty well, the author keeps the rights, and it means people can get their art out there without spending silly money, or attacting commercial (read: lowest common denominator) interest.

Are the rights to Nero for sale?

Yup. If you want to publish Nero commercially, get in touch, you'll make my day. If you want to make it into a movie - even better. It's a very visual story set in a very visual world, it's tense, action packed, and would make a great movie.

Is I Am Nero based on I Am Legend?

No! There is no relation between the plot or character of the two books. Nero is its own story, dealing with its own themes. It is a homage to I Am Legend, and as such, tips it's hat at the beginning and the end.

How long did it take to write I Am Nero?

It took a year to write, a year to edit, a year to publish.

How old were you when you wrote I Am Nero?

I finished the story just after I turned 26.

Did you airbrush that author portrait?

... Maybe a little...

I have another question/review/criticism!

Contact me at sam_cade (AT) hotmail.com