Hello again! Sorry I've been so quiet for so long. My sprint to get the draft done sort of turned into a marathon on me. There have been times in the last month where it felt kind of like trying to drag a boulder up a flight of stairs, but the finish line is finally in sight! Expect a post that's pretty much a howl of triumph and relief once I cross it.
Inkshares has done some interesting things to their funding model while I was otherwise occupied. It looks like the goalposts for minimum pre-orders have been moved, and now I find I'm at 20% of goal instead of like, 6%. SUDDENLY, HOPE! I jumped into this ride face first with no idea what I was doing and I admit it, and so far, that's been working out about how you'd expect. I am nothing if not stubborn, however, and there are still 29 days left in the funding window for Forty Days.
I want to see this project fund. I want to see it get the attention of a good editor and be able to deliver to all you lovely people the books that you've ordered. I'll be doing my best over the next month to make that happen, so you'll probably be hearing a lot more from me, and as always, I'd love to hear from you! Tell me what I'm doing right/wrong, let me know what stuck with you. Nothing fuels the fire quite like feedback!
The Nerdist contest is officially over. Congratulations to the top 5! There are some really exciting projects in that winner's circle, and I look forward to getting my copies of the ones I supported!
Now that the contest is over, I'm changing gears a little bit. I've been looking for new ways to bring new readers to the project and hopefully get Forty Days some new word of mouth. If anyone has suggestions, be sure to let me know in the comments!
Hello, readers. It's time for your state-of-the-project report; Forty Days more than doubled its reader count over the weekend! (There might have been a wiggly butt-dance of triumph in the kitchen. You'll never know - there are no witnesses.)
This is starting to feel like momentum, and I am really pumped to try to keep that momentum going. Fortunately, Inkshares provides us a great way to do that! Some of you probably noticed the recent change to the Inkshares home page; now every time you excerpt text, Like something, or comment, Forty Days is briefly featured in the Buzzing section! I'd like to know what is really working for folks in the sample chapter anyway, so if you have a spare few minutes, send me some feedback?
I ran the numbers this morning, and we've gotten Forty Days into the top 25% of submissions. Not bad, for starting two weeks late with the social media skills of your grandma! (Okay, not your grandma - maybe your aunt who wants to stay current but thinks 'twittering' sounds ridiculous.)
There are only 9 days left in the Nerdist contest, but I'm confident that this project can make it to the leaderboard. Never fear - even when the Nerdist contest is over, I am still going to keep pushing to take this to publication. I believe in this book, and my funding window keeps going long after the contest ends.
So I'm going to go back to the salt mines and keep writing, pitching, and reaching out, and you're going to tell me what imagery struck you, or what line made you laugh or cringe, right?
I've pre-ordered my copy and look forward to reading your book! I hope you'll check out my son Robert Wren's book, Ophelia, Doll, and pre-order a copy if it's something you like. It's a dark fantasy. Good luck!
It's creepily familiar to how my book starts, although I am 100% certain they go in vastly different and wonderful directions from there. :) I too started late in this gig, so let's roll with it. Ordered a copy!
First of all, a big thank you to everyone who's followed or preordered Forty Days in the last nine days. Watching the number of readers grow is really exciting!
I've spent a lot of time in the last ten days cramming. And by "cramming" I really mean "Social Media Marketing Bootcamp". Apparently being the kid in the class who doesn't really grok Twitter and Facebook is a handicap if you want to be an author in the digital age! Who would've guessed? Add to that the tree that came down in the back yard (what a diversion!) and the unexpected trips out of town (can I get those two days back somehow?), and I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off.
HOWEVER! There's only so much cramming you can do before you have to surface for air (probably with an eyestrain headache and jargon spilling out of your ears), and I think I've hit that point. That means it's back to the fun stuff - the book itself!
This draft is not quite complete, so this week I'll be sealing myself into my writing nook with a gallon of caffeine and sprinting to get it across that line. This week will probably also be peppered with outreach and pitches, so I'm hoping we may go into the weekend with some momentum.
You can help too! No, I don't just mean by sharing the project on social media (although please do that) or encouraging friends and other readers to check it out (and please do that too). I mean by leaving me some feedback! Something stand out to you in the sample chapter? Leave you wanting to know more? Make you cringe/laugh/shudder? Good or bad, whether it's something I did right or wrong, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
If you're here, it's because Forty Days caught your attention. If it caught your attention, I hope you want to see it reach publication and get a copy for your very own. If that is true, I hope you've also pre-ordered that copy!
Forty Days is a tale that has been kicking around in my head, in various different forms, for the last 15 years. Research for this story has led me to learn some truly amazing stuff about my craft, about the world we live in, and about the cosmos beyond it. I'm hoping that it still has a few lessons left to teach me, because if I successfully meet my goals, this will be my debut novel.
This is my first foray into crowd funding, and as you can probably tell from my spartan profile page, I am still working out the nuts and bolts of it. I am submitted in the Nerdist contest, but even if I can't make it into the top 5 in time, I intend to run out my funding window and try to reach the finish line anyway. I want to see this book reach readers, and I cannot express how excited I am to be talking to other people who do too.
Unfortunately, I entered the contest late - I am weeks behind on the 200-plus people who submitted before me, and I have a lot of ground to make up if I want to get into that top 5.
It's going to be a pretty frantic September, but it should be a hell of a ride!
Hello again! Sorry I've been so quiet for so long. My sprint to get the draft done sort of turned into a marathon on me. There have been times in the last month where it felt kind of like trying to drag a boulder up a flight of stairs, but the finish line is finally in sight! Expect a post that's pretty much a howl of triumph and relief once I cross it.
Inkshares has done some interesting things to their funding model while I was otherwise occupied. It looks like the goalposts for minimum pre-orders have been moved, and now I find I'm at 20% of goal instead of like, 6%. SUDDENLY, HOPE! I jumped into this ride face first with no idea what I was doing and I admit it, and so far, that's been working out about how you'd expect. I am nothing if not stubborn, however, and there are still 29 days left in the funding window for Forty Days.
I want to see this project fund. I want to see it get the attention of a good editor and be able to deliver to all you lovely people the books that you've ordered. I'll be doing my best over the next month to make that happen, so you'll probably be hearing a lot more from me, and as always, I'd love to hear from you! Tell me what I'm doing right/wrong, let me know what stuck with you. Nothing fuels the fire quite like feedback!
Till next time, kids.
The Nerdist contest is officially over. Congratulations to the top 5! There are some really exciting projects in that winner's circle, and I look forward to getting my copies of the ones I supported!
Now that the contest is over, I'm changing gears a little bit. I've been looking for new ways to bring new readers to the project and hopefully get Forty Days some new word of mouth. If anyone has suggestions, be sure to let me know in the comments!
Wow, what a weekend!
Hello, readers. It's time for your state-of-the-project report; Forty Days more than doubled its reader count over the weekend! (There might have been a wiggly butt-dance of triumph in the kitchen. You'll never know - there are no witnesses.)
This is starting to feel like momentum, and I am really pumped to try to keep that momentum going. Fortunately, Inkshares provides us a great way to do that! Some of you probably noticed the recent change to the Inkshares home page; now every time you excerpt text, Like something, or comment, Forty Days is briefly featured in the Buzzing section! I'd like to know what is really working for folks in the sample chapter anyway, so if you have a spare few minutes, send me some feedback?
I ran the numbers this morning, and we've gotten Forty Days into the top 25% of submissions. Not bad, for starting two weeks late with the social media skills of your grandma! (Okay, not your grandma - maybe your aunt who wants to stay current but thinks 'twittering' sounds ridiculous.)
There are only 9 days left in the Nerdist contest, but I'm confident that this project can make it to the leaderboard. Never fear - even when the Nerdist contest is over, I am still going to keep pushing to take this to publication. I believe in this book, and my funding window keeps going long after the contest ends.
So I'm going to go back to the salt mines and keep writing, pitching, and reaching out, and you're going to tell me what imagery struck you, or what line made you laugh or cringe, right?
Till next time, internets!
Hello, internets!
First of all, a big thank you to everyone who's followed or preordered Forty Days in the last nine days. Watching the number of readers grow is really exciting!
I've spent a lot of time in the last ten days cramming. And by "cramming" I really mean "Social Media Marketing Bootcamp". Apparently being the kid in the class who doesn't really grok Twitter and Facebook is a handicap if you want to be an author in the digital age! Who would've guessed? Add to that the tree that came down in the back yard (what a diversion!) and the unexpected trips out of town (can I get those two days back somehow?), and I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off.
HOWEVER! There's only so much cramming you can do before you have to surface for air (probably with an eyestrain headache and jargon spilling out of your ears), and I think I've hit that point. That means it's back to the fun stuff - the book itself!
This draft is not quite complete, so this week I'll be sealing myself into my writing nook with a gallon of caffeine and sprinting to get it across that line. This week will probably also be peppered with outreach and pitches, so I'm hoping we may go into the weekend with some momentum.
You can help too! No, I don't just mean by sharing the project on social media (although please do that) or encouraging friends and other readers to check it out (and please do that too). I mean by leaving me some feedback! Something stand out to you in the sample chapter? Leave you wanting to know more? Make you cringe/laugh/shudder? Good or bad, whether it's something I did right or wrong, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Until next time, internets!
Hello, readers!
If you're here, it's because Forty Days caught your attention. If it caught your attention, I hope you want to see it reach publication and get a copy for your very own. If that is true, I hope you've also pre-ordered that copy!
Forty Days is a tale that has been kicking around in my head, in various different forms, for the last 15 years. Research for this story has led me to learn some truly amazing stuff about my craft, about the world we live in, and about the cosmos beyond it. I'm hoping that it still has a few lessons left to teach me, because if I successfully meet my goals, this will be my debut novel.
This is my first foray into crowd funding, and as you can probably tell from my spartan profile page, I am still working out the nuts and bolts of it. I am submitted in the Nerdist contest, but even if I can't make it into the top 5 in time, I intend to run out my funding window and try to reach the finish line anyway. I want to see this book reach readers, and I cannot express how excited I am to be talking to other people who do too.
Unfortunately, I entered the contest late - I am weeks behind on the 200-plus people who submitted before me, and I have a lot of ground to make up if I want to get into that top 5.
It's going to be a pretty frantic September, but it should be a hell of a ride!