Dave Barrett · Author · added over 9 years ago · 10 likes

Happy Spring everyone!

So things have been progressing nicely with the project, and since I’ve got some more info for you I thought I’d pass it along.

First, you can now find It’s All Fun and Games on both B&N and Amazon’s web pages. The book obviously isn’t out yet, but it’s cool to see it available for preorder on the big sites.

Second, we are getting ever closer to having the finished product. After copy editing was done we moved into proofreading, and that process is now done as well. So the book is pretty much in its final form. The amount of care that went into every step of the editing process was amazing - the proofreader actually caught a letter out of a word that wasn’t italicized when the rest was. Talk about professionalism! The editing team over at Girl Friday has been great!

So where are we now? Well, the marketing work has begun. The folks over at Inkshares and The Nerdist have been sending out galleys to influencers and other folks who might be willing to write blurbs for the novel. We’re hoping to get a couple great quotes to stick on the cover before we go to print. Speaking of which, at the beginning of May the cover, with all the text added, will be finalized and the files will be sent to the printer. Copies have also been going to bookstores, book clubs, etc., drumming up interest for the book once it is released.

The printed books will be in San Fran by the end of June, with backer copies going out not long afterwards and the book in Bookstores August 2. Ebooks will be available early July as well, so folks will be able to get started even before getting the physical copy.

The marketing blitz will be starting up in another month or two as well. Inkshares has so far been keeping cards close to the chest in terms of initial print run, so your guess is as good as mine, but the sense I’m getting is that most, if not all, of the stops are being pulled out. Super cool.

Now I’m sure you’re wondering how you can help promote It’s All Fun and Games! I’m glad you asked! There are a couple things we can do now before the book comes out.

First, don’t forget to join me on Facebook here and Twitter @llabak. Then, you can share updates and tweets with your own social networks.

Second, if you use Goodreads, you can do a few different things:

- Add the book to your list of "Want to Reads" The book page is here.

- Share the book with your other Goodreads friends. Inkshares is sponsoring a giveaway - 5 copies of the advance galley will be given out in a random draw of all those entering. It’s an advance copy, so you can enter too and get the book before all your friends!

- Vote for It’s All Fun and Games on the Goodreads lists, and ask your friends to do the same. If you visit this page here you’ll see a bunch of lists that it is a part of. A couple dozen votes in each of those may help increase visibility and create an avalanche effect as more people gain interest.

So that’s where we stand. I also want to remind everyone that Inkshares and the Nerdist are continuing to partner for more contests. The last contest, for a Space Opera, just recently ended with the top three books getting right around 300 buyers. There is a new contest that just got started for Hard Sci-Fi, sponsored by Geek and Sundry (a Nerdist sister company). If you’ve been sitting on a novel (or even an idea that you’ve been toying with), go for it! The funding mechanism has changed a little bit, but it’s still super doable.

Thank you all again for your support!

Cheers

Dave

Dave Barrett · Author · added over 9 years ago · 5 likes

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to give you a quick update - the Copy Edits are done! My Copy Editor Michael Trudeau over at GFP did an absolutely bang-up job, not just cleaning up grammar and such but finding some rather embarrassing inconsistencies in the text. He also highlighted a number of passages that could be confusing to a first-time reader, and I got all those cleaned up. The final product keeps getting better and better.

So next steps: The copy edited manuscript is getting "poured" into galley format. This means that the book is finally going to start looking like a book! It’s in this galley format that the final proofreading gets done, and there will be a limited print run so we’ll have copies to send as promos to elicit blurbs. I’m planning on dropping a copy off over at Stephen King’s house...wouldn’t it be cool if he gave us a quote to put on the front cover?

This phase of the process is budgeted to last through March, and then mid-April it gets sent to the printer.

I haven’t mentioned it in a while, but you can follow me on twitter @llabak and you can find It’s All Fun and Games on Facebook here.

We recently lowered the ebook price to $5.99, so if you know someone who might be interested, by all means spread the word. New Inkshares members are still receiving a $5 credit, so the ebook is only $.99 (and the trade paperback is $8.99). The first time someone orders any particular book from Inkshares using your referral code you get $15 in credit with which to support another up-and-coming author. It’s a win-win!

Thank you again for all your support through this process!

Cheers
Dave

C. Brennecke · Author · added over 9 years ago

Gasp! It's GORGEOUS! Love, love, love, love, love!

Ricardo Henriquez · Author · edited over 9 years ago · 1 like

I love it! congratulations Dave you must be really happy. I'm looking forward to adding your book to my Summer reading list :-)

Dave Barrett · Author · added over 9 years ago · 16 likes

We have a cover!!!!!!

Hi Everyone! After several months of working like dogs, revising, re-revising, and tweaking, the design crew is ready for the big reveal. Here it is!

Well I'm just tickled pink by it. So cool, so cool, so very cool.

In other news, here's a quick update on where things stand:

The manuscript is currently with the copy editor, hammering out all those last pesky commas and such. That should be wrapping up in the next couple weeks. Once I've gone through and checked out all the comments it goes into book format, and another couple sets of eyes make sure the conversion from doc file to publishing file didn't muck up any of the formatting and stuff. Then off to the printer!

The file is scheduled to get sent to the printer mid-April, with the ebook going live by early July and the finished book hitting bookstores August 2. Backers should, in theory, be getting their copies well in advance of that August date - the late date has something to do with book store purchasing cycles and whatnot.

So there we have it! Thank you again for all your support! Since the project went live the price has gone up somewhat from what you paid, but if you know someone who would like a copy, the $5 credit for new Inkshares users is still live. And if they use your referral link you'll earn $15 in credit (only once per project), which you can use to order or pre-order other great books from the site.

Cheers

Dave

Dave Barrett · Author · added over 9 years ago · 5 likes

Well hello there, supporters!

A couple updates for you all today: First, I have replaced the teaser materials on the Inkshares site so you can see the outcome of the developmental and line edits. The text reads much more cleanly now, and the characters have had all sorts of details about their lives added in, making them much more three dimensional than they were in the original draft. I'm hugely indebted to my editor Kiele Raymond for these improvements.

The second thing is that we are getting close to a finalized cover for the book. The cover designer has been working like a dog, and it's shaping up nicely. We've gone through two rounds of drafts, with the third due 12/23. As soon as the cover is approved I'll be sure to let you see it!

If you're on Facebook, don't forget to connect with me here.

And if you're on twitter, look me up at @llabak

Cheers

Dave

Dave Barrett · Author · added over 9 years ago · 8 likes

Hi Everyone!

So quick little bit of exciting news - It's All Fun and Games has gone through its developmental edit with a top notch editor (http://kieleraymond.com/) and has now gone on to the next stage - copy editing! The story has improved significantly over my earlier drafts, both in terms of writing and character development. Now it's time to quash all those pesky little typos and such!

Also, I'd like to remind everyone of the review-a-thon that's going on this Saturday, December 19. Check my prior update about the details, but the upshot is that we're trying to get as many people as possible checking out currently funding books. Read the excerpt - if you like it, leave a review. If you really like it, commit to funding it! If you super like it, commit to funding it and share with your friends!

There are a ton of great books still looking to become reality. Let's all work together to get it done!

Cheers

Dave

Dave Barrett · Author · added over 9 years ago

Isn't that stuff great? Glad to have brought you to him! :D

Kris Calvin · Author · added over 9 years ago

Thanks for sharing Chris Patrick's update with your blurb on his short story collection Toasted Fiction... Your comments prompted me to take a look. Chris' work is amazingly creative and funny, very funny. I preordered...happy to have discovered him.

Dave Barrett · Author · added almost 10 years ago · 8 likes

Hi Everyone!

This update has nothing to do with It's All Fun and Games. Rather, it's about to HUGE things going on over at Inkshares that I think many of you will be interested in.

First, there's a new contest. Sponsored by The Sword and Laser, this contest will award the top three entrants with a publishing contract, with at least one being added to the Sword and Laser collection. It's been up and running just for a few days now, and I'd like to point out that I joined the Nerdist contest almost two weeks after it started, but still finished top five. I strongly encourage anyone who's thought about getting their fantasy or science fiction novel published to look into this. More info about the contest can be found here.

The second thing is the inaugural Inkshares review-a-thon. Here's a shameless cut and paste from someone who wrote up the details:

On December 19th, all authors and readers are invited to leave reviews on currently funding Inkshares books using the Inkshares "leave a review" option.

Throughout the day we'll be hanging out on Twitter in the #InksharesReviews tag as we share our favorite book projects, answer author Q&As, debate the merits of astronauts with swords versus cavemen with lasers, and more!

Then, from 6 - 8pm ET, JF Dubeau and Paul Inman of the WriteBrain Podcast will be hosting a video livestream filled with author interviews, review readings, and live announcements of prize winners!

Prizes?!?!

Everyone who leaves a review on December 19th by 6pm ET will be eligible to win one of our fantastic general prizes:

Sword & Laser Contest Winners Package - print copies of the six winning books from the Sword & Laser Inkshares contest!

Nerdist Contest Winners Package - print copies of the five winning books from the Nerdist Inkshares contest!

An immediate pre-order of the book of their choice for five winners!

$30 in Inkshares credits!

Readers: Peruse the "currently funding" books on Inkshares and leave as many reviews as you want on Dec 19th. You could even start up a "must-have" list of books to order in case you win a free pre-order or the $30 in credits!

Authors: Join our review exchange to leave three reviews in exchange for two guaranteed reviews on your Inkshares project and a chance at author-exclusive prizes! Email me at cara.c.weston@gmail.com to learn more and get on the list.

So that's the scoop. Start looking around at books currently funding. Give them a read. Write up a review (or two or five or twenty), and then on the 19th, post them all up in a massive orgy of literary abandon! Maybe you'll win some sweet prizes. Worst case scenario, you make some folks feel good about the work they've put their hearts and souls into. As far as worst case scenarios go, that's pretty damn decent.

Happy December!

Cheers

Dave