Hello everyone!

I have some exciting news to share today – I just got some possible covers for The Bones of the Past.So I’m looking for some feedback on which cover(s) you like best, and input on what you would change if anything!

Don’t be shy! Reply to this update, Email me at thebonesofthepast@gmail.com, Facebook me @Craig.Munro.Author, or  Tweet me @bonesofthepast !

Thank you all yet again - it’s all coming together!

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Hello everyone!

It’s been a while since my last update and I have lots of news!

First, the developmental edits are done. This was a massive job I’ve been tackling for the last 5 weeks that even involved me taking two weeks off work and doing nothing else for the entire time. I’m happy to say the time was well spent and the book has improved in leaps and bounds. My amazing developmental editor gave me lots of work that mostly involved adding in more of pretty much everything and making sure the story and wording were clear. Usually editors recommend cutting chapters, characters or even entire story arcs at this stage, so being asked to do the opposite was a very positive sign!

I’ve uploaded the most recent versions of the sample chapters onto my Inkshares page for anyone who’s curious about the changes. We still have copy editing to get through and then proofreading so these samples will get polished up a little more yet before going to print.

Second, the publication date has been pushed back to May 30th, 2017. There were a number of production and marketing reasons for the change. But the positive side of it is I got a couple extra weeks to work on developmental editing and a slightly more relaxed schedule for the following stages.

And finally, I should have a couple early versions of my book cover back from the cover designer around September 15th which I will be sure to send out to gauge everyone’s opinion!

Thank you all for your continued patience and support! The Bones of the Past is well on its way and it’s going to be awesome!

 Cheers!

We have a publication date – March 28th 2017!!!

This awesome little addition was made to my Inkshares page last night.

Thank you all for being so patient with me, I know many of you didn’t realize just how long a wait it was going to be when you generously supported my quest to publish The Bones of the Past. To tell the truth, I had no idea how involved the process was myself. I’m now on a schedule to make edits and respond to questions from a sequence of editors through to October.

First up is the developmental edits where plot holes are identified, chronology issues are addressed, fat is trimmed and any big issues fixed. Then comes the copy edits to fix the overall quality of the writing and address any weird word choices I might have made and managed to ignore over my repeated rewrites. Then proofreads, looking at the layout of print and eBook formats… all of which is going to take longer because I can’t manage to tell a story in less than 460 pages… And of course during all that, the interior and cover of the book are going to be designed.

So there’s still lots of work ahead for me, but it’s a hugely exciting process where I get to work with a great bunch of very talented people. The end result is going to be so much better than I ever could have managed alone.

March 28th is a long way off and yet it’s tight for all the work still going into the book and then the marketing efforts that roll out before Bones lands in bookstores. But you won’t have to wait quite that long – Inkshares orders usually show up about a month early! 

Thank you all for your continued support, interest, and *cough* great taste in books! March is just around the corner!

Good afternoon, evening, or morning depending on where you live!

 There isn’t a lot of news to share about The Bones of the Past right now (though that should change very soon). This update is really to draw your attention to an event Inkshares is holding this week called Draftshares. The purpose of which is to draw attention to all the projects on the site that have not switched over to the pre-order stage, but are looking for some feedback and to add a little polish.

Head over to Inkshares.com anytime between May 30th - June 4th, give a few authors some constructive feedback on their work and be entered in to win all kinds of prizes (including a free copy of my book when it finally launches).

Full details (including the prize list!) are available HERE

But that’s not quite all. As the current lead of the Epic Fantasy Syndicate, I was asked to pick out five particularly interesting projects to recommend within the genre. The following books are those that really caught my eye:

 Author: Thomas J Arnold

Book: Exile, Magus

Twitter: @Thoasoold’s,

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redthomasjarnold/?fref=nf

 

Author: Joe Roe

Book: Legion’s War

Twitter: @JonRoe4’s

Author: Lauren Drube

Book: The Elements: Decension

Twitter: @LaurenDrube’s

 Author: Louise Lindell

Book: The Vanguard’s Incursion

 

Author: M.R. Laver

Book: A Tale of Mist and Shadow

Thank you all for your patience and continued support – I hope to have some big news to share with you in the next week or so. Happy Draftfesting!

Here we are almost two weeks ahead of schedule and my re-writes and fixes for The Bones of the Past are finished! Not only that, but after struggling with my acknowledgements, I have finished all the associated paperwork and writing Inkshares and Girl Friday Productions need to get the ball rolling on their end. All of this means I should have a schedule for edits and even a tentative publication date sometime in the next few weeks!

I had also been toying with the idea of including a map but hadn’t managed to find an artist that felt like the right fit for my book. Little did I know he was in front of me the whole time. My amazing map was drawn by non-other than John Robin, the author of Blood Dawn (if you haven’t pre-ordered his book yet you can and should do that HERE!). The hand-drawn style perfectly fits with the flavor of my world. I hope you like it!

Thank you all once again!

Hello everyone!

The re-writes and fixes are moving along nicely and I’m definitely on track to hand the manuscript over to Inkshares in May… Then the work of turning it into a real physical book really kicks off!

In the meantime, I wrote a piece for John Robin’s World Builder series that will give you a little bit more insight into the setting I’ve created. The map is still a work in progress, but a more polished version of it will likely find its way into the book. Go take a look!

Inkshares is running a series contests with Nerdist and Geek and Sundry over the coming months - first up is Space Operas! Lots of great books to check out both in the contest and out. 

A couple of contest books that already caught my eye are Christopher Leone’s Champions of the Third Planet and Jake MacMillan’s Dangerous Thoughts; As different from each other as they could be and still be in the same genre, but both well worth a look and a pre-order!

And let’s not forget all the other great books that are still funding on the site! A couple that I’d like to recommend in particular:

-For the epic fantasy fans, John Robin’s Blood Dawn is a must.

-For anyone looking for a good laugh (and I mean is seriously funny!), Billy O’Keefe’s These are my Friends on Politics is for you!

More updates as stuff happens! Likely every month or so :)

Congratulations, Craig! So happy to see your book with the winners of S&L 2!

We won!!!!

 I can’t seem to make myself fully believe it, still so I have to keep saying it! :)

I am incredibly grateful to each and every one of you for all the help and support getting word out about my book. The last month has been one of the most exhausting experiences I can remember – Sleep? No time for that, I have to message people in other time zones! Writing? After work, there’s only time for promoting the book!

I would like to take a moment to thank my family who went above and beyond in getting me through this contest, in particular - my sisters Kirsty and Laura, my brother Keith and my brother-in-law Cyril who each worked at least as hard as I did promoting the book; my parents Scott and Elaine who reached out to more people than I can count; and of course my lovely wife Margo who not only worked tirelessly alongside me, but also somehow managed to keep me sane.

I was also greatly helped in my efforts by a number of great friends including Sebastien Genest, Mathieu Pralus, Sara Hernandez, Isabelle Pottier, Eddy Lesert and so many others that I just can’t list everyone. Again, I am grateful beyond words.

And I can’t leave out the amazing authors who helped me out and made (and continue to make) the Inkshares experience as amazing as it is – John Robin the author of Blood Dawn and backbone of the whole author community, Julian Green the co-author of Suffrage – the First World Key, Cara Weston the author of She is the End, Billy O’Keefe author of These Are My Friends on Politics, Michal Sebby author of The Inhabitants: An Unremembered Life, and Janna Grace author of the Talkers are Talking, not to mention my co-winners Joseph Asphahani author of The Animal in Man, and Matthew Sobin the author of the Last Machine in the Solar System. All of their books are amazing and well worth checking out if you’re looking for something else to read!

 And now, I’d like to make my small gesture of thanks to my supporters: here is the video link of the 4X50$ gift card draws, and the draw for a themed cake by Lolai’s Yummies. Congratulations to the winners!

 I’m looking forward to a little break - picking up Fallout 4, maybe even making it in to see the new Star Wars movie, and most importantly getting back to my writing! I’ve started to miss my characters and wonder what they’ve gotten up to in my absence! There are also still some edits and rewrites I need to finish before the manuscript is ready to be turned over to Inkshares so that the process of getting it published can get under way :)

 Thank you all!!!!

I've purchased a copy and am looking forward to reading it! Congrats! Here's my referral link: 

Sorry for the double update - for everyone in or around Ottawa we're celebrating at Darcy McGee's in Orleans.  Just ordered my first pint!