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Welcome!

09/01/2016 - 03:00

Welcome to The Rule of Five website. 

We have always loved world-building, brainstorming together, and we have always wanted to do a shared story. The Rule of Five is that perfect story, big, sprawling space opera, with a complex cast and complicated plots — in fact, it's too big for a single novel, or even a trilogy. It's ideal, however, for a serial, one episode a month, and that's why we've turned to Patreon. With your help, we can tell our story as it should be told.

Take a look around the site, using the links on the left or the menus up top. Read the exciting Prelude. Take a look at last month's episode. Get to know our pocket universe. And who knows, maybe you'll find that you want to help make this project happen.

Thanks for visiting!

-Don Sakers & Melissa Scott

 

Handout From Balticon Presentation

09/01/2017 - 03:05
The Rule of Five

By Melissa Scott & Don Sakers

www.rule-of-five.com

 

Tools

 

Scrivener

https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview

More than a word processor, Scrivener is a multifunction writer's tool. For our purposes, Scrivener makes it easy to compose and assemble a story in individual small chunks. We also use Scrivener to generate all our ebooks.

 

Patreon

www.patreon.com

A web platform that allows individuals to support artists through small, recurring payments. Patreon also includes tools to let us communicate with our supporters and distribute ebooks to them.

Our Patreon page is www.patreon.com/ruleof5

 

Drupal

www.drupal.org

A free, open-source content management system, Drupal is the tool we used to build our main website. There we publish our episodes, manage access levels for supporters, provide free content, and maintain background notes and information.

Drupal is a powerful and very flexible system with a steep learning curve. Definitely not for beginners.

Our main website is www.rule-of-five.com

 

Amazon KDP

kdp.amazon.com

Amazon's indie publishing service. We publish and market our ebooks through KDP.

 

Dreamstime and DeviantArt

www.dreamstime.com   www.deviantart.com

Two online marketplaces for art. We purchase the majority of our art though Dreamstime.

 

Intaglio

purgatorydesign.com/Intaglio/

A drawing app that we use to create covers for our books.

 

GraphicConverter

www.lemkesoft.de/en/products/graphicconverter/

A graphics app that we use to manipulate images in many ways.

 

iMovie

We used iMovie to put together our promo video.

 

Google Sheets

Shared spreadsheets for tracking word counts, plot points, and sales.

 

Episode 1.11

08/01/2017 - 09:00

Episode 1.11, "Drops" is now up! In this episode, Imric and the crew of Last Fair Deal puzzle over their orders, while a crucial experiment takes place on the Fourth Plane.

Patreon supporters can read it by clicking on "Read the current episode" on the left. If you don't see that choice, log in using the username and password you created when you signed up. If you need help, contact donsakers@gmail.comor message us via Patreon.

The usual housekeeping notes: Episode 1.10 has moved into the "last month's episode" slot, where it's free for all site visitors to read. For casual visitors and our Supporter ($1/month) and Subscriber ($2/month) patrons, Episode 1.09 is no longer available. (As always, Patrons ($5/month) and Benefactors ($10/month) will continue to have access to ALL past episodes.)

We're grateful for your ongoing support. If we're going to continue The Rule of Five long-term, we need your help. This month we're asking you to do one thing for us:

Thanks in advance.

We hope our Subscribers, Patrons, and Benefactors are enjoying their ebooks of Quarterly #3. All three Quarterlies are available on Amazon. Quarterly #3 is $3.99, Quarterly #2is now $2.99, and Quarterly #1 is now $1.99. Please tell your friends that they can get all caught up for under ten dollars.

 

Episode 1.10

07/01/2017 - 04:00
Episode 1.10, "Departures" is now up! In this episode, Imric bin Marrick meets his new crewmates, Val Millat and Caridad Sanrosa encounter some hostiles, and Nalani throws a party.
Patreon supporters can read it by clicking on "Read the current episode" on the left. If you don't see that choice, log in using the username and password you created when you signed up. If you need help, contact donsakers@gmail.com or message us via Patreon.
The usual housekeeping notes: Episode 1.09 has moved into the "last month's episode" slot, where it's free for all site visitors to read. For casual visitors and our Supporter ($1/month) and Subscriber ($2/month) patrons, Episode 1.08 is no longer available. (As always, Patrons ($5/month) and Benefactors ($10/month) will continue to have access to ALL past episodes.)
We're grateful for your ongoing support. If we're going to continue The Rule of Five long-term, we need your help. This month we're asking you to do one thing for us:
  • If you're enjoying The Rule of Five, please tell someone else about our project. Recommend the serial to a friend, post about it on social media, or bully someone else into reading it. Remember that anyone can read the prelude and last month's episode for free at rule-of-5.com . 
Thanks in advance.
We hope our Subscribers, Patrons, and Benefactors are enjoying their ebooks of Quarterly #3. All three Quarterlies are available on Amazon. Quarterly #3 is $3.99, Quarterly #2 is now $2.99, and Quarterly #1 is now $1.99. Please tell your friends that they can get all caught up for under ten dollars. 

 

Quarterly #3

06/27/2017 - 16:31

Rule of Five Quarterly #3 is now available in Kindle format for $3.99. This third quarterly volume contains episodes seven, eight, and nine of the ongoing space opera serial that's revolutionizing the way science fiction stories are told.

The two previous Quarterlies are still available at reduced prices. Quarterly #1 is $1.99, and Quarterly #2 is $2.99. This means that you can get the first 9 episodes of this groundbreaking series for less than $10.

 

Episode 1.09

06/01/2017 - 03:01

 

Episode 1.08 is Up

05/01/2017 - 11:49
Episode 1.08, "Reunion" is now up! In this episode, Milos and family arrive, Val Millat reaches out, and Nalani confronts Uenuku. Then, Nalani tells a bedtime story.
Patreon supporters can read it by clicking on "Read the current episode" on the left. If you don't see that choice, log in using the username and password you created when you signed up. If you need help, contact donsakers@gmail.com or message us via Patreon.
The usual housekeeping notes: Episode 1.07 has moved into the "last month's episode" slot, where it's free for all site visitors to read. For casual visitors and our Supporter ($1/month) and Subscriber ($2/month) patrons, Episode 1.04 is no longer available. (As always, Patrons ($5/month) and Benefactors ($10/month) will continue to have access to ALL past episodes.)
We're grateful for your ongoing support. If we're going to continue The Rule of Five long-term, we need your help. This month we're asking you to do one thing for us:
  • Share our trailer video on Facebook, Twitter, or your preferred social media platform. Here's a link to the video: https://youtu.be/z43vItrW6xA
Thanks in advance.
Things are starting to heat up for Nalani and her folks, and Val Millat is taking his first steps into a larger universe. We think you're really going to like what comes next. Thanks for joining us on this journey!

 

Episode 1.05

02/01/2017 - 03:10

Episode 1.05, "The Fifth Ship," is now up! In this episode, Val Millat's quest for the truth leads him in an unexpected direction. Nalani finds some allies and a new mystery. Meanwhile, equipment failures continue to plague the colony on Coquimbo.

Patreon supporters can read it by clicking on "Read the current episode" on the left. If you don't see that choice, log in using the username and password you created when you signed up.

Some housekeeping notes. Episode 1.04 has moved into the "last month's episode" slot, where it's free for all site visitors to read. For casual visitors and our Supporter ($1/month) and Subscriber ($2/month) patrons, Episode 1.03 is no longer available. (As always, Patrons ($5/month) and Benefactors ($10/month) will continue to have access to ALL past episodes.)

Subscribers ($2/month) and above should have received your ebook copies of Rule of Five Quarterly #1, which contains the Prelude and Episodes  1.01 - 1.03. If you haven't, contact donsakers@gmail.com or message us via Patreon.

A reminder that Quarterly #1, containing the Prelude and Episodes 1.01 - 1.03, is available in Kindle format via this link on Amazon.com. Remember, Subscribers ($2/month) and above already have this—and in a varitey of ebook formats—so please don't buy a copy for yourself.

Perhaps you know people who would enjoy The Rule of Five but don't want to make a Patreon commitment. This ebook is a great way to get them hooked...er, make that "for them to get started." Of course, we wouldn't object if you wanted to  give it as a gift; Amazon makes that pretty simple.

Your support has made it possible for us to get this far. If you'd like to help us a little more, here are three things you can do. First, consider leaving a review of Quarterly #1 on Amazon. More reviews raise the visibility of the book. Second, spread the word about about the Quarterly far and wide. Word of mouth is the best way to convince readers to try a book. Third, tell everyone you know about the Patreon site—to ensure the ong-term viability of The Rule of Five, we could use some more supporters. 

We're having a blast telling stories and exploring this pocket universe, and we hope you're enjoying being part of the journey. There's some really cool stuff coming up in the next few episodes, so keep reading.

 

Episode 1.04 and Quarterly #1

01/03/2017 - 23:29

Happy New Year to all!

Episode 1.04, "Wheels of Justice," is now up! In this episode, two pirate leaders share a drink, while Nalani looks for allies, and finds a new mystery.

Patreon supporters can read it by clicking on "Read the current episode" on the left. If you don't see that choice, log in using the username and password you created when you signed up.

Some housekeeping notes. Episode 1.03 has moved into the "last month's episode" slot, where it's free for all site visitors to read. For casual visitors and our Supporter ($1/month) and Subscriber ($2/month) patrons, Episode 1.02 is no longer available. (As always, Patrons ($5/month) and Benefactors ($10/month) will continue to have access to ALL past episodes.)

Subscribers ($2/month) and above should have received your ebook copies of Rule of Five Quarterly #1, which contains the Prelude and Episodes  1.01 - 1.03. If you haven't, contact donsakers@gmail.com or message us via Patreon.

Now for some welcome news: Quarterly #1 is available in Kindle format via this link on Amazon.com. Remember, Subscribers ($2/month) and above already have this—and in a varitey of ebook formats—so please don't buy a copy for yourself.

Perhaps you know people who would enjoy The Rule of Five but don't want to make a Patreon commitment. This ebook is a great way to get them hooked...er, make that "for them to get started." Of course, we wouldn't object if you wanted to  give it as a gift; Amazon makes that pretty simple.

Your support has made it possible for us to get this far. If you'd like to help us a little more, here are three things you can do. First, consider leaving a review of Quarterly #1 on Amazon. More reviews raise the visibility of the book. Second, spread the word about about the Quarterly far and wide. Word of mouth is the best way to convince readers to try a book. Third, tell everyone you know about the Patreon site—to ensure the ong-term viability of The Rule of Five, we could use some more supporters. 

We're having a blast telling stories and exploring this pocket universe, and we hope you're enjoying being part of the journey. There's some really cool stuff coming up in the next few episodes, so keep reading.

 

Episode 1.02: Between Planes

11/03/2016 - 14:22
Episode 2, "Between Planes," is now up! In this episode, Supreme Justice Nalani Lotuma makes a new friend, and a colony world faces disaster.
 
Patreon supporters can read it by clicking on "Read the current episode" on the left. If you don't see that choice, log in using the username and password you created when you signed up.
 
Some housekeeping notes. Episode 1 has moved into the "last month's episode" slot, where it's free for all site visitors to read. Next month (December 1), Episode 1 will cease to be available for visitors and our Supporter and Subscriber patrons. (As always, Patrons and Benefactors will continue to have access to ALL past episodes.) If you want to show friends how good The Rule of Five is, this is a great month to do so -- visitors can read the prelude and episode 1 for free.
 
We anticipate having the first Quarterly ebook—collecting the prelude and episodes 1-3—to our Patreon supporters mid-December, and it should be on sale on Amazon around the first of the year.
 
Thanks for supporting us in getting this project off the ground. There's a lot of excitement coming up in future episodes. If you're enjoying what you've read so far, please spread the word!

 

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