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Here’s the latest on the ethereal software, my book, and this blog.
Ethereal Software
Using terms from software testing, we’re done with closed beta and ready for open beta. Here’s what that means:
- Alpha test: Employees test the software, make sure it basically works. That’s my own personal testing.
- Closed beta: Invitation-only testing, so there’s time to handle the feedback from each tester. This wrapped up this morning. (Thanks to Lisa, Julie, and a third tester who wishes to remain anonymous — you were a huge help!)
- Open beta: Anyone can use it, but don’t expect it to be bug-free. This starts tomorrow, since I need to write up instructions for you, and I won’t have time today.
I’m super excited about finally getting this out the door. It doesn’t have every feature I wanted — in particular, while it will make connections that are obvious to many mages, it won’t cause tingling that’s noticeable to non-mages. But the software is still useful, and you’ll be able to do more with it than without it, so I’d rather ship something imperfect than delay any longer.
So, tomorrow, look for the sigil and some instructions. And next week, we’ll discuss why it’s so hard to produce tingling in non-mages, and what I’m doing about it.
Three Books
Based on some ideas from yesterday’s post, and some things I’m realizing about the pace I can write at, I’m planning to split my book into three books. Same content, just split up into smaller bites. Roughly, it goes:
Book 1: An introduction to my overall model, and techniques to do magick using my ethereal software. It’s 3 parts, and I’m done with Part 1 already. Now that I have a clear vision on the scope of the book, I’m fairly confident it will be out later this year.
Book 2: Advanced use of my ethereal software, plus a little direct magick to help you use it better. By splitting this into its own book, I’ll be able to go more in depth here, walking you through various commands and techniques.
Book 3: Leave the ethereal software behind and do the magick yourself, directly. This is the work I really want to share with you, but I don’t have any useful beginner techniques for full direct magick (where you do all the steps yourself, without using ethereal software), so I’ll hold off on this until you’ve practiced with the software and you’re ready to jump into more complex techniques. To give you an idea of what I mean by “not beginner-friendly,” this book starts with sensory connections, and builds from there.
Each book will build on the others, and they’re intended to be read in order. But splitting them up lets me release the first one much sooner, and lets me keep the length to a reasonable 150-ish pages, rather than a 500-page tome. Plus, three books means a better resume.
Blog Updates
I’ve updated the list of blogs I like, which had gone horribly out of date.
I’ve added thumbs up/down voting for posts, at the bottom, just below the Like / Tweet buttons. Popular topics will get more attention.
I’d also like to add rating to comments, but I haven’t found a good wordpress plugin. Any suggestions?
If you liked this post, consider visiting my current blog at mikesententia.com.Tags: Book's Ethereal Software, Writing
while i wait in anticipation for the book(s) to come out i’m not too fond of the way the books are split in 3 though, 500 page tome is how i roll. :P
on a serious note, i’m just curious if there is going to be enough “meat” in the first book for a reader to take the plunge for 2 other books? especially with a new author releasing a new idea for mass consumption.
p.s: honoured that i made the blog list. :)
There will be plenty of meat. You’ll get the broad strokes of my full model, techniques to start learning direct magick (including ways to activate mental muscles that most traditional mages don’t use), and the steps to turn on and validate basic psychic intuitions and reiki-style healing. Someone already experienced in other styles could probably work through it in a month if they really push, or three months working at a comfortable pace.
(By the way, thanks for bringing this up. I hadn’t thought about the book description, but discussing how meaty it is would probably be worthwhile.)
And if you want a 500-page tome, I’ll probably release the Complete Edition once all the books are out. It’ll have a new intro, then all 3 books one after another. And remember, you can get each book as a free PDF, so it’s not like you’d have to repurchase anything.
Ok, Too bad that the book I want the more is the third, but sounds pretty cool using the “Direct Software”.
Think that the first book can be great, You’ll do what many magick writers have done that is talking about your E. software and tha how to use instructions, and if you E. software really can achieve some good results, then your book will succes.
Thanks for the vote of confidence! I figure each book will take 6 months to a year to complete, so you’ll get the third book late next year or early 2014. But don’t worry, there will be plenty of direct magick in the second book to get you started.
I used to be impressed by big meaty looking books about magick and then I read ‘magic simplified’ by Draja Mickaharic which is about 150 pages and has enough work in it to keep most people busy for several decades. Was one of the points where it really hit me properly that magic about doing- experiencing- testing out not reading endless theory. I’d heard it before and thought I understood it but realized I hadn’t.
150 pages can be ‘meaty’ enough
Thanks Simon. I shall strive to make a book that meaty. The first one, probably not, but the third will be quite challenging, and should take several years to really learn.
In fact, thinking about it now, that’s probably a good approach: Book 1 is fairly fast to work through, gets you some good results quickly, so readers can see that this style is effective without investing tons of effort. That builds trust so readers are willing to put in more effort in the later books. I’d imagine that would result in a lot more readers than hitting them with the challenging material right up front.