All of you have received an email from Inkshares this week informing you of a refund for ILLEGAL. It was sent out in error. I’ve been struggling to figure out what is going on and how this will be fixed and I wish I could write and tell you what will happen but I can’t. Basically the Inkshares team says they don’t know what triggered the mass refund but they can recharge credit cards and get those orders back. However, they do not want to re-issue orders that used credits--when the campaign began the platform gave you credits to encourage participation and they have since discontinued that practice. This seems unfair to me and I’m trying to reach out to them to come up with a better resolution. I don’t know what that will be but I’m also not sure how long it will take to figure out and I know many people were confused and curious about what was happening and I wanted to be transparent and share all I know. As you can imagine this is a very frustrating situation for me and I appreciate your patience and support, probably more now than ever. 

750! We did it.

Thank you. This is a dream realized for me, and I couldn’t have done it without the support of so many of you.

What’s next: I’ll be assigned an editor and together we’ll work on making Illegal the best it can be, a design team will work on the books look,  and then the marketing team will take over. Finally, Inkshares will mail out your copy and distribute Illegal to bookstores throughout the country. Hard to say exactly when that will be, but my best guess would be in the later half of 2017. I’ll send infrequent updates when there is relevant information to share, like a firm publication date.  

Keep sharing this story. And keep encouraging others to buy this book.

Onward and upward.

Only 9 days left and 18 orders to go. If you have followed this project but not yet ordered; now is the time. If you have considered telling a friend about the project; now is the time. If you have thought about picking up a second copy; now is the time.

We are so close. 750 is a lot. A huge number. I’m really thankful y’all have gotten me this far. This is a book I’ve been thinking about/ writing for years and to know so many people also give it value is really encouraging. We’re so close to having a dream of mine realized. I sincerely hope that this is the very last time I have to ask you to buy, that the next time I write is just to thank you to helping me make it.

Onward and upward!

Two weeks left! Thirty-seven orders to go! We can do this! 

As a special bonus, I’ve decided that beyond signing each book bought in this funding period I will also number each book in Esperanto. I’ll only ever number them like this for preorders. (Esperanto is a constructed language, meant to break down linguistic borders.) Order now and help me get this book published!

(E-books are great too, they help us reach toward 750 all the same.)

Onward!

Less than 100 orders to go!!! We are still just on pace to get those 750 preorders by the Oct 20th deadline. I’m confident we will make it and get a full publishing deal but it’s going to come down to the wire and every order is significant. Please do continue to share with friends; conversing in person or sending a personal email is always great and if you have Facebook you can invite friends to this nifty event I created that gives a pitch for the book: https://www.facebook.com/events/336202026717097/

As always, thanks for making all of this possible for me. I’ll leave you with a photo from Illegal; I took this from my front door in Latacunga, Ecuador at the start of what is now referred to as the ’citizens revolution.’ The entire city had been cut off from the rest of the country for three days and every intersection downtown burned. Within the week the government would agree to the protester’s demands and abruptly stop all trade negotiations with the United States. 

Just a quick update and some math: we are now up to 620 orders with just 32 days left to reach 750. That works out to about 4 orders a day. Since the last update, 11 days ago, there have been 46 new orders which is right on pace. Thanks y’all!

These last orders are going to be the hardest, so please do share this book around and encourage your friends to support this project. I’ve created a facebook event you can invite friends to here: https://www.facebook.com/events/336202026717097/

We are almost there! Onward!

The deadline has been extended until Oct 20th. I’m trying really hard to reach 750 preorders in order to get a full publishing contract. We are at 574 right now, so we are well on our way but those last 176 orders are going to be the toughest ones yet. I’ll need your continued support in spreading the word. Passively sharing is great, but from what I’ve seen the most effective appeal is direct. If you have a friend who may be interested, write them a personal message. Talk to them in person. Sit down next to them and help them preorder. And of course ILLEGAL would make a great gift ;)

I’ve also created a facebook event with some more info. Invite anyone and everyone who think may be interested (and then maybe follow-up directly). Here is the event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/336202026717097/

I’ve also added a new sample chapter. This one an excerpt from the chapter "Behind the Barricades: Love and Revolution." Please do check it out and let me know what you think. Leave comments, highlight passages, hit the recommend button. Anything and everything.

And lastly, thank you. This has been a long journey and I’m ever thankful for your support in helping me get this far.

Things are progressing well. I’m working on the final self-edit of the book right now and this is what my room looks like. I’ve color coded different themes or characters so I can ’see’ them all at once. Pre-orders are coming in steadily as well. We are inching toward 500 (at which point I’ll post the final sample chapter). I’m going to continue to push to reach 750, but, frankly, I’m running out of people to reach out to and there are less than two weeks left in the campaign. ILLEGAL will be published, but to get the deeper edit and marketing I desire, to make this the best book possible, I need your help. If everyone reading this could convince just one new person to purchase then we would reach full funding. So, please, if there is anyone in your life who you think may be interested, please do pass this on to them and get them to pre-order a copy. Thanks so much everyone!