So I’ve been pondering what to do for 2018. For the past four years I’ve been busy with the Valley trilogy, but I’m mostly done with that. There are some pretty cool projects floating around out there, but the time is not yet ripe to publicly discuss them.

One of the things I will probably do, however, is bundle the Valley series into an omnibus  and release it through my publishing company, CreateSpace. A print and e-book version will be out there. I’m thinking the e-book will be 8.99 USD or something.

I don’t know about you all, but I like to buy omnibuses- you get the whole series in one handy package. If it’s any good, a nice thick multi-book will keep you entertained for a while, and the Valley series is some 270,000 words long.

I think an omnibus is a good idea, but there are some problems. I don’t know what to name the omnibus, and I will have to pay to get it organized and released. That’s one of the major drawbacks of being an independent author- you assume all the risks, and everything is on your own dime. Of course, the upside is that you own your work, and you are your own boss. I like being an Indie author, but funds are a bit of an issue right now. Plus there’s the problem of the name.

“The Valley” is the name of my trilogy, but I think it’s an awful name for a sci-fi omnibus. “The Valley” summons up visions of Western novels, and I wish I would have had more marketing experience when I originally named my first book and later the series. Of course, you only get experience by doing things, and it’s too late to go back and rename the series or my first book.

As an aside, I named the series after an Afghan valley that my team, Advisor Team 1.6, fought in. Of course, no-one got the reference but me, and it led to an awful series name. When I wrote “In the Valley,” I figured I’d never sell more than a hundred copies if I was lucky, so I didn’t care.

However, the first book took on a life of its own, and it metastasized into a full blown trilogy with time. So here I sit, pondering the creation of an omnibus with a terrible name, “The Valley.”

I need your help. If you guys can think of a decent name for my omnibus, shoot it to me.

I’m all ears.