My First Book, The Last Exodus, is On Sale Now

ByPaul Posted on

I’m not sure I’ve ever actually been nervous about writing a post on Unreality before. Today is a big day for me, one where I accomplish a goal that I’ve been working toward for a long, long time.

After a solid year jam packed full of a thousand hours writing, reading and editing, I’ve finished my first book, The Last Exodus, and published it through Amazon where it’s now live and available for purchase and download as an eBook. It’s only $3.99, and even if you don’t have a Kindle, there are free Kindle apps for iPad, iPhone, Android and even PC that you can download which will allow you to read it on pretty much any device.

It’s a sci-fi story, something you might expect from me if you’re familiar with my writing and interests. It’s an adventure tale of sorts, and before I speak further about it, you can read the full plot synopsis below:

“The Earth lies in ruins in the aftermath of an invasion, the land devastated by an intergalactic war where neither side won. The seas are drying up while the atmosphere corrodes and slowly cooks all remaining life on the now desolate rock.

Few survivors remain, but one of them is Lucas, an ordinary man hardened by the last few years after the world’s end. He’s fought off bandits, murderers, and stranded creatures on his long trek across the country in search of his family. What he finds instead is hope, something thought lost in the world.

There’s a ship buried in a crater wall. One of theirs. One that works. To fly it, Lucas must join forces with a traitorous alien scientist and a captured, merciless raider named Asha. Their perilous journey fighting savage men and creatures alike takes them across the remains of the planet and far out into the stars to…where exactly? Lucas has to live long enough to find out.”

I’m taking to Unreality to make this announcement because you guys have been an awesome community ever since the site was founded way back in 2008. I’m incredibly scared/excited to see what you all think of the book, as you are the kings and queens of the geek universe, and it would mean the world to me if you picked up a copy, read it, and let me know what you thought.

It’s not super long, and I believe only 300 something pages if it were an actual print book. It’s just over 100,000 words total (the first Harry Potter was 76,000 words for comparison’s sake) and I think it’s a pretty easy read. I’m not going to pretend like its “hard” sci-fi in the vein of the some of the classics of the genre. Rather, I  just wanted it to be a good story with memorable characters, and I didn’t think spending huge chunks of the book trying to prove imaginary science would be worthwhile.

The Last Exodus is meant to be the first of a series, and I’m already about 25% of the way through the sequel. Nothing would motivate me to keep writing more than positive feedback, so I’m waiting to see how it’s received among you guys, my closest e-friends. Yes, I just said that.

If you really, really want to help me out, if you read the book and like it, a good Amazon review would go a long way in terms of getting it more attention in the Kindle store. If you hate it? Uh, do me a favor and maybe email me your review instead, heh.

Fact is, if I sold 20 copies of this thing, I’d be pretty pumped. Finishing a book is kind of like running a marathon. It’s a goal you set for yourself, and once you complete it for the first time, it hardly feels real. Just seeing my book listed on Amazon is incredible, even if I did put it there myself.

So take a look, and let me know what you think if you do get a chance to read it. Feedback is welcome and you can email me at paul@unrealitymag.com with your thoughts. And yes, even after 30 read-throughs, I’m sure there’s still a typo or two in there somewhere.

I’ve dreamed about writing this post for a long time, and now I guess all I have to do is wait and see what people think. Or if anyone reads it all. In any case,  it’s been an incredibly fun, exhausting journey to get to this day, and I’m just excited it’s finally come.

I think I'm a part of the first generation of journalists to skip print media entirely, and I've learned a lot these last few years at Forbes. My work has appeared on TVOvermind, IGN, and most importantly, a segment on The Colbert Report at one point.

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50 Comments

  2. I’ll give it a look relatively soon, but let me just say congratulations. Whether it turns out to be a success or not, most people who start writing a book never finish it in the first place.

    So, kudos for that and now I’m off to download.

  3. Congratulations. You are my hero, Mr. Tassi. I will pick this up sometime in the near future, hopefully before the impending alien invasion.

    Who am I to say… but, seriously, keep up the great work in general, Paul. I don’t throw around the word inspirational a lot, but this may be one of those times…

    You, Sir, are inspirational. And I mean that, truly.

  5. Bought. I’m currently writing my first novel and I totally respect that you’ve gotten this far with yours. I’m excited to read it. This isn’t an easy thing to do by any means. Bravo, Paul.

  7. I’ll try it when I have the time 😉

    That aside, seeing as I’m in-between-jobs right now, I would really be interested in an article about yourself, how you got to where you are right now.

    You’re writing for Unreality, Forbes and now you have your very own first book. And you’re what, 30 max judging from your profile pic?

    I’d be interested in your work history, and it would probably make for an interesting article (especially how one gets to write for Forbes and other stuff, and still finds the time to write a book).

  11. Bought (I think). I guess its free with Prime or something? Regardless, it was a trial Prime membership and if I don’t own it after it expires, I’ll buy it.

    Really looking forward to reading. Also, congrats!

  14. ehm… you are kinda living my dream… 😉

    Some day I will write a book of my own, not in English though.

    well, congrats, Paul! I will definitely read it. If only to see what your style of writing is like and feels like in a book.

    What definitely would interest me as a follow up to this post – and maybe other readers of unreality as well – when did the idea to write a book first pop up in your mind? How did you come up with the story? The genre? How did you find the time for it beside writing this blog, for forbes, while having a girlfriend etc.?

    Just give us the entire process of how it came to be. I think this would be extremely fun and interesting to read, especially for people like me, who hope to someday write a piece of fiction themselves. 😉

  18. Congrats! Trying to wrap my own long-suffering novel up this week so I think I understand the combination of pride and sheer terror you must be going through. Checking out this site has been a daily staple for a few years now, so I’ll be sure to check out the book, too.

    Nice cover, by the way.

    Good luck!

  21. Congratulations on finishing the book. I don’t even think I have the capacity to write a children’s book. I don’t have a kindle but I’m gonna look into one of those other apps.

  22. Congrats. I’ve always wanted to write stories but have been too lazy/busy/scatterbrained to ever sit my ass down and do it. I’ve got two books in my queue at the moment (one of which is the lengthy Dance with Dragons), but I’ll try and give it a shot when I get some room. I’ve been looking to get into sci-fi literature for a long time.

  24. Congrats, man. I’ll surf over there and purchase today. Also, I’ll let you know when my first one hits Amazon. I wrote it earlier this year, but I’ve been sidetracked in the personal life by a death in the family. I’m hoping to finish my rewrite next month.

  28. Incredibly excited for you, and honored to call you my boss. Also, beyond excited to read this, and I am with @Aether on this, you should definitely write about your experiences building (and destroying) this world.
    Very well-done, man.

  32. I’m not really into sci-fi, honestly. I follow Unreality mainly for the movie reviews, pokemon, and fan art. But, I may just buy this and read it, just because I’m happy for you and want to support your endeavor. This is the first time I’m commenting on Unreality, and I just wanted to say great job, congratulations, and don’t give up! It takes a special person to take initiative and pursue their dreams like this.

  35. Just curious what the next one will be called. Since the Amazon page says it is in the Exodus Trilogy and the first book is called “The Last Exodus”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one to judge a book by it’s title and plan to pick it up. Just wondering.

  36. POSSIBLE SPOILE POSSIBLE SPOILER

    a hook. I got the sample from Kindle and it ended on the sentence “How did you get all the way up here from Georgia?”. I had no choice but to buy the rest of the book. I’ve read over 125 books this year and twice as many samples. At first I was on the fence about buying the book. $3.99 is a bit high for a first time book on Amazon. I’ve seen better books cheaper and worse books more costly. The story picked up once the “mission” got underway and I haven’t been able to put it down. I swore to myself that I’d read another 30 minutes and go to bed. That was over 2 hours ago. This is one of the better Freshman books that I’ve read I’m awhile. I am looking forward to books 2 & 3.

  38. Bought!
    Congrats Paul – I don’t often comment here, but am definitely looking forward to reading this. Good on you for your achievement. I would enjoy reading a post about the creation of the book (and just generally about your work at Unrealitymag).

  39. Bought. Very excited to read it. I’ve loved your site ever since I found it and even though I don’t always agree with you, I respect your opinion. I myself am working on a novel and I understand how much of a pain it can be. I can’t wait to read it and I want to wish you my heartfelt congratulations for achieving such a milestone.

  40. Congrats dude! That’s totally awesome! I’m about 3-4 chapters away from finishing my first one as well. The wife having our first child kind of slowed things down for me a little bit, but I will finish that fist draft by the end of this year if it kills me darn it!! I will pick up The Last Exodus and give it a read. Go Blue!

  41. So far, so good. I almost missed my stop on the train this morning because I was so into the book. 😉

    Also, and this can’t be said for most books in this price range, this book looks like it has actually been proofread. That really makes a huge difference.

  42. As someone with a love of sci fi and a passion for writing fiction I’m very intrigued to see someone take that step with their first book. Also curious to see an example of self-publishing in action. I’m tempted to wait to see the first batch of reviews come in before I make a purchase (currently unemployed and jobseeking so every luxury is picked carefully), but I really wish you the greatest success with it, if only to give me hope to do the same thing one day!

    I promise if I do purchase it that I’ll leave a nice fat review on Amazon for you.

  45. Awesome! congratulations! i will totally get this. if its anything like your posts that have amused and entertained me for the past few years its got to be good. im stoked to start reading this! and i see others have asked the question already about a printed version. how many digital versions sold would it take you to get some printed?

  48. Wow!!!!

    Just finished reading the first chapter. I’m very hooked. Good work Paul!!!! I am pleasantly surprised by the tone, you’re always very positive with the site, so to see such desolation and lack of hope at the get-go is very off-settling – in a good way.

    Congratulations!!

  49. I finished it last night, it was much better than I expected it to be. The pacing was great, the characters were deep and engrossing, and there were some pretty good twists. I really hope you continue this series.

    And I only noticed 2 things I would call typos, much better than some other professorial authors out there.

    You should be proud of this. I hope people make fan-art so you can post it.

  50. Thanks Xeno! Appreciate it. Review it on Amazon if you want 🙂

    Man, if someone drew cool art for this, it would make my year. Few more people probably need to read it before it’s fan-art worthy though, hah.

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