One more thing!

I promise not to send too many updates, but in the last email the writer links were scrambled. It is important you have access to these writer's works.

These Old Bones by A. J. Ainsworth

A young summoner must travel a long and dangerous road to appear before a council of master summoners to prove himself worthy of their craft.

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/these-old-bones

Ghosts of War by Paul Robinson

A military sci-fi thriller, 'Ghosts of War' is a planet hopping tale of revenge and retribution, born out of a love of Star Wars and science fiction.

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/ghosts-of-war

Rockets by Liam Dynes

A young girl searches for a long-lost family secret in a world that has lost its capacity for wonder.

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/rockets

Hello Everyone, 

Have you seen the emails yet? You did it! Thanks to your support, Inkshares will publish Lost Generation. Your support places an incredible faith in me, and I will give all that I have to deliver a product worth of the opportunity. In this update, I describe what is next, but first I’d like to give some thanks and recommendations. 

I feel incredibly lucky for the support of my amazing wife, Brenda. She was my inspiration when I doubted myself and a key supporter for spreading the word. I look forward to continued success with you in my life as we grow our family together and pursue our dreams. 

Thank you, D Kirschling, when I was uncertain you used your connections to expose a whole new set of readers to my work. You were the microphone that spread the word when I needed to focus on writing. 

Dan Rooney, you were a madman. You believed in my goals from day one, edited draft after draft, and always gave good feedback. You were up late with me, attuned to the heartbeat of the campaign. My work would be less without you. Take a breath and then maybe take your fiancé out to dinner for putting up with it all. 

Angela Antinucci, when I first took my campaign online, you pre-ordered it immediately, no questions asked. I had not even mentioned it to you yet. The world could use more people like you. 

I am so lucky to be a Sword & Laser winner, but before the project ended, I already won. The bonds and friendships that grew between me and the other writers are greater than any prize and will produce fruit for years to come. As we all fought for the coveted top five positions, nothing was certain, and some of us would not make it. As we celebrate this victory, there are several equally worthy writers that did not earn this chance. I would like to highlight them and ask that if you have remaining credits, or feel generous, that you support their dreams as well. They provided invaluable companionship in the late nights, and I hope to share self-space with all of them in the future. 

These Old Bones by A. J. Ainsworth 

A young summoner must travel a long and dangerous road to appear before a council of master summoners to prove himself worthy of their craft. 

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/these-old-bones 

Ghosts of War by Paul Robinson 

A military sci-fi thriller, 'Ghosts of War' is a planet hopping tale of revenge and retribution, born out of a love of Star Wars and science fiction. 

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/ghosts-of-war 

Rockets by Liam Dynes 

A young girl searches for a long-lost family secret in a world that has lost its capacity for wonder. 

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/rockets 

These writers deserve your attention and share my dream. Please consider them. 

In the weeks and months that follow, you will receive status updates on the project and updated drafts. I welcome your feedback and hope you will enjoy the journey to Lost Generation’s official release. Thank you again for your support. I will take this opportunity and create something truly special. 

PS. My wife has some free time from work, so I’m not proofing this. Sorry for any mistakes, but you have to enjoy life when it is available. Have a wonderful night!

Hello, supporters!

Three days remain and anything is possible! Long nights, hard work, incredible support, and dedication have gotten us to this point. The process has been incredible and exhausting and as we near the end, don't let up. If you haven't pre-ordered yet, now is a great time, and for those who have, spread the word. We spent most of the month in 6th place. It is a miserable place to be and now as we sit in 2nd, let's keep it there!

I give thanks to my wife, who has supported the process and maintained me throughout, and to all the friends and family who have stepped up and contributed to spreading the word. It's cliche to say none of this would be possible without you, but it's true. Every pre-order counts and because you believed in me, we reached this point.

I'd like to share with you a number, 232. That's the number of readers that support Lost Generation, and that is incredible. At this time, we have more readers than any other book in the Sword & Laser Contest, and it makes me so happy. Each digit is a person who decided they would support this dream, I feel your support and I thank you for it.

Feedback has been a driving focus for this project, and you have delivered. Those of you who have been reading each iteration of the draft and supplied your thoughts have made the end product much better. Feedback and quality are important to me, and you have my word that I will push myself as hard as I must to ensure Lost Generation receives the dedication and polish to become a top quality product. I owe it to myself, Inkshares, and you to ensure Lost Generation is a novel we will look back on in ten years and still be proud.

If you haven't read the chapters in a while, I recommend you check out the updated chapter one (now chapters one and two,) and view how your feedback and my commitment are helping to shape a better product.

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/lost-generation/book_segments/chapter-one-1805

This address might be my last before the contest ends. Forgive any grammar mistakes I have made, I am exhausted but happy. Please keep those pre-orders strong and cheer me on until the final hour comes. I'll bow to you at the finish line, and we will all watch Lost Generation mature and finalize together.

A Survey

Hello, readers. 

At the start of the year, I designed Lost Generation with two primary goals in mind: to create a tale that at its core level entertains, and for those who desire something deeper, provide a medium to reflect upon ourselves, who we are, and how we treat others. Many long nights have been required to accomplish these goals, but the work has been good. Planning is complete, and the story is taking shape. With your help, the final product will exceed all expectations.

When you access early copies of Lost Generation, you give yourself a window to the writing process. For some, it can be exciting to watch as the story develops. It is exciting for me as well, but I ask, why merely watch? As some readers have already, you can provide feedback to the work in progress and help shape it for the benefit of all. Just as Inkshares democratizes the publishing process, I would like you to join me in a similar endeavor. Come review my work in progress. Does it accomplish the goals that have been set out? Where does it excel? Where can it be improved?

It is a brave new world in which we live, and you can be part of it. Please fill out this survey. Your impressions are invaluable to me as I move forward.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V793PPD

As always you can email me directly at joe.terzieva@gmail.com.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Weekly Update and Production Schedule

Let's start with a PSA. Did you know there are additional ways to help me reach my goal and they won't cost you any money? Log into Inkshares. You may already have credits. With credits, you can buy additional copies of my book for free! The contest ranks books on total pre-orders sold, so every order is incredibly important. If every person who pre-ordered used their credits I would be back in the top 5 right now!

Visit my project page (https://www.inkshares.com/projects/lost-generation) and share my project on Facebook, Twitter, or via E-mail. Every person you refer who buys a book will give you $15 credit. That's money you can use to buy more books!

Weekly Update

Hello, everyone! Why don't you go look at yourself in the mirror? It's alright. I will wait. Did you do it? What did you see? I can tell you what I saw, an amazing person who put their money on the line to help me realize a dream. I hope you feel excellent knowing that you could have done anything with that money, but instead you chose to help me out. You are great.

If you are one of the people who used their credits to buy additional books. Thank you so much. You have helped me reach ever closer to my goal.

I'll be honest with you, at the start of this week I felt quite down. Lost Generation crushed April, sitting pretty in the 3rd spot. Since then I have been knocked into 6th position and struggled to move back to the top five.

It is challenging to be so close to your goal, yet so far away, but thanks to some new additions and a generous infusion of credits by the Inkshares team, some ground was recovered.

Slowly the gap is closing and with your help the project will be a tremendous success. Keep spreading the word, sharing, reading, and using those credits if you have them.

Feedback

As I move forward, your feedback is more crucial than ever. Don't worry about hurting my feelings. Read the sample material and send honest feedback to joe.terzieva@gmail.com. Something you love? Something you hate? Let me know! I have dedicated myself to this project every night since it started, and I will take your critiques seriously. You may have already seen the revisions of chapters one and two. These represent my commitment to the quality of this work and a promise to continue this path until the amazing final product. Speaking of the final product, that takes us to the next section.

Production Schedule

This project began at the start of the year, and formal writing began in April. Now that I have an efficient process in place, I can lay out a realistic production schedule.

After significant consideration, I am happy to report, you will receive a new chapter of Lost Generation every week! Chapters four through eleven will appear on the Inkshares site. Once the campaign is complete, the remaining chapters will complete on the same schedule until the end of September. This schedule is based on the current summary document. I will add or remove weeks from the schedule if chapters are added or removed.

Wrap-Up

Thank you all for your support. Please continue to spread the word and follow along as the work develops.

A special thank you to the Inkshares writers who have supported me. I don't want to miss anyone, so will double check my supporters and send out a list in another update. I am honored to be one of you, and I couldn't ask to work with a nicer bunch of guys sharing a common interest. Regardless of the outcome of this contest. I am proud to have done it with you.

The Milestone of May, or Where Projects May Fail

I set out at the start of 2015 to plan and write a book, so when I heard of the Sword & Laser Contest, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity. Preparation of the story elements was already underway, but writing was not projected to start until May 1st. I needed to do something. The contest stared me in the face, and the chance was too good to disregard.

Feverishly, I took the material I had, assembled a project page, and produced a plan for the campaign. I would accelerate the first few chapters and develop them concurrently with the summaries. I would advertise through social media, seek out local help, attempt to generate publicity, and build word of mouth.

Since then, I have dedicated my life to the project. If you are reading this, you likely know. When I'm not at work or with my son, I'm either writing or campaigning, and my wife, who has supported me all the way, rarely sees my face. I have pushed myself, listened to feedback, and revised my work over and over. I am confident in the product and overwhelmingly proud every follower and every pre-order, but despite the incredible support shown to me, at this moment, I don't believe it will be enough.

I hoped by diversifying the campaign into multiple channels, one would catch. Advertising generated likes and mentions but did not convert. Local support fell through. I failed to find sources of publicity. And the word of mouth, though minimally successful, was not enough to keep the project in the top five. The flames were stoked, but the fire would not burn brightly.

What does it mean? 

I am unable to muster any publicity in May while I maintain my writing schedule. It falls to you, the reader to spread the word. Read chapters one and two. Do you like them? Would you like to see more? Could you get a friend or family member to pre-order? Don't like what you see? Have questions or thoughts? Send me feedback at joe.terzieva@gmail.com. I require your input to ensure the final product is of the highest quality. It is still possible that we can build a groundswell and earn a position in the top five, but I need your strong involvement to make it possible. Trust me when I say, I've explored and exploited every lead I know and I need your help to extend to a wider audience.

What happens if we miss the first milestone?

If we don't end in the top five at the end of May, the goal shifts to the final milestone for funding July 15th. We will need one-thousand total pre-orders by that date. This goal will require some serious public chatter, so if milestone one looks beyond reach, I will dedicate all campaign effort to find blogs, podcasts, anything that can spread the word. If the word gets out, and the work is high enough quality, it will catch, and we'll get our numbers.

What happens if we fail?

We don't fail. The project was a success the day it started. The incredible support, the lessons learned, it is all indisputably the greatest reward I could receive. The writing schedule remains unchanged. The book will be written, but it will be edited and finalized out of pocket, rather than with the support of Inkshares. The final product, from a production and a distribution standpoint, will suffer, but the story will not change. I will determine the platform and method of delivery and you will read a tale you will not forget.

Please, check out the chapters and spread the word. Only with your help will this succeed.

Hello, everyone!

Here is a quick note. If you would like to know when updated draft documents are available, follow @joeterzieva on Twitter. You can expect to find chapter two revisions in the Kindle document, but they need more work. I will take another pass at them soon, and if you follow me, you will be the first to read them.

You know what works. Yellow is back!

Did you like the other one better? I had an idea in my head and I wanted to try it out with the minis.

Hello, everyone! If you have not checked the project in a bit, now is a good time to return and read the revised chapter one. Please review it or recommend it to a friend. I think it will give you a good taste of what you will get in Lost Generation.

The project has fallen out of the top five science fiction and fantasy books and I need your help to create word of mouth and attract more backers to the project. Read the first chapter. If you are hooked, try to hook a friend. Tell them this won't happen without their help.

Thank you!

Joe