Thank you so much for posting this update about the business side of self publishing.  There are many roads to Rome, and we have to find the one that is the best path for us!

Some good news for me, and a big up for Inkshares. 

Here’s the thing; I missed my funding goal, didn’t even make Quill. Because I am impatient, and because the book itself was already finished, I just couldn’t wait to try another route to crowdfund my novel. 

So, I went to Kickstarter, and I did reach my funding goal. The book itself is being printed now and backers will be getting their copies before the end of June. Digital launch is set for 1st July on all platforms, advance orders available now. Paperbacks should be on Amazon around the same date. 

So does that mean I turn my back on Inkshares? Well no. 
Obviously I haven’t been as active on here as when I was funding, but part of the reason for that is the massive amount of work involved in self publishing. 

While I was funding, I read some comments on a Kindle forum criticising the Inkshares model, saying it wasn’t good value. An INkshares spokesperson pointed out that self publishers spend on average $2,000 (or thereabouts) getting their book to market. 
Another person said it was nothing like that. 

Well I raised £1,666 (£1,800 before deductions) on Kickstarter, and I have spent it all and then some.

I set up a publishing imprint "Blue Poppy Publishing", I had an artist paint a picture for the cover £450, I spent £350 on ISBNs, £360 on editing (it only had one editor), £300 on cover and other design work, £900 on printing, and a bunch of other sundry stuff.

I have had to format the interior file and convert it to PDF, which included learning more about Word sections, embedding fonts, and all sorts of painful stuff like that than I ever expected to do. I had to liaise between the printer and the designer over the exact specs for the two different cover templates, and check silly details like which way round the title goes on the spine. 

I also had to find out how to convert the file into a digital type layout with internal links and approved fonts, then get it converted into .mobi .pdf .txt .rtf .epub dot dot dot you get the idea? 
Also had to upload a special version to Createspace because otherwise I will have to jump through hoops and pay through the nose to get the paperback available on Amazon. 

So while I may be a lot more experienced at producing a book now than I was six months ago, I would still drop it all and leave the hard work to experts if I could. The difficulty for me, living in the UK is the cost of postage for physical books to the vast majority of my friends. Other than that, I think Inkshares is a brilliant idea, and I hope it goes from strength to strength. Well done for making so many authors dreams come true. 

So since Inkshares said that it was OK to promote my book via a different medium, I just want to share my Kickstarter project with you all.
Even if this project is successful, I still hope to get the gold standard with Inkshares in the future, to take advantage of the huge potential of the US market, but for now, this is my focus.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/988709253/children-of-the-wise-oak

Hate to see that you didn’t hit goal, but glad to see that you’re planning to move forward with it in other ways.

Can I first say thank you to everyone who back Children of the Wise Oak.
We didn’t hit the publishing goal. I guess I know some of the mistakes I don’t want to make excuses, but there were some aspects that presented more of a challenge than others. 
I’ve read a lot about Inkshares, and other options for self-publishing. Some positive comments and some negative about all options.
I still see Inkshares as the Gold Standard for self-pub but I am going to fall back to Kickstarter in an attempt to get this title published. If it makes it, there will still be heaps of good reasons to try again on Inkshares since I still won’t be in bookstores beyond my home region, apart from Amazon.
The email from Inkshares did say "Feel free to use Inkshares as a communication vehicle, even if you choose to publish elsewhere." which is actually a very mature business position. 
It makes me a whole heap more likely to stick around and recommend Inkshares to others.
So as soon as my Kickstarter project is live I will let you know. 
Thanks for the ride so far everyone. It’s not over yet.

Don’t lose heart just yet Oli. 24 days is 24 days. Get your children to harass all of their friends! Rob a bank and pre-order 200 copies! Contact any of the zillions of bands you’ve promoted or otherwise worked with and get them on board. I believe in you!

I feel at this point that I will have to admit defeat. 
Yeah, there are a few people I can think of who will probably still pre-order, but honestly, nowhere near the 185 more needed, just to make quill. 
For everyone who has already pre-ordered you will obviously get your money back and this is not me giving up completely. 
I shall regroup and have another think. 
All the time that I am spending trying to promote "Children" is time I am not spending writing Women, or the fourth Time Tunnel book, or the biography of my Grandfather Frank Kingdon-Ward. 

Love y’all

30 days left and 62 pre-orders. Am I downhearted? Nope. 
188 to reach Quill, but with the possibility of an extension, this is do-able.
My thanks in particular to Thomas J. Arnold for the review and recommendation. Wow. That bolstered my ego no end. Thanks also to everyone who has pre-ordered, and especially those who have shared on social media.

Yesterday I co-presented a book themed radio show on my local station. I was joined by published author Simon Dawson and we had a blast. 
I read the weather in a variety of literary styles as suggested by Simon and we interviewed each other about our books. Not that anyone ordered the book as a result, but it was fun. I promoted Inkshares as well.

I have paid Facebook to put my posts in front of avid readers and lovers of historical fantasy although $15 later I have had three click-throughs and two followers. I’ll have another crack at that though as it may yet bear fruit. My Facebook author page is https://www.facebook.com/ollitooley/

I am also giving £1 (that’s $1.45) to Cancer Research for every pre-order between 02/08 and 02/29 £12 ($8) so far, but I hope to be paying out three figures on March 1st. This is regardless of whether I hit my funding goal or not, so don’t be afraid to order now. 

My Twitter account just for me as an author was set up in January, and now has over a thousand followers. I didn’t pay for any of them. Tweet me @OTooleyAuthor 

There are a few lovely but technologically inept friends who want a paperback copy but don’t want to pay $15 for postage. Some have no online presence (my mum) or are having technophobe issues. For those people I will be using a friend’s account to buy up to 10 copies. This will be genuine demand, so I am not "gaming the system" hope that’s ok.

On the subject of pre-order exchanges.  There are numerous books that I have a sincere interest in reading but were I to buy all of them with my credit card, I would very rapidly go bankrupt. I’m sure many other authors feel the same way so if you are not pre-ordering my book for a genuine lack of funds you can always ask me if I am having the same problem with your book.  

All, thank you for the support. Things have been progressing well... however, I need to shift up a gear if I am to hit my goal.

To that end, I pledge to give £1 ($1.45) to Cancer Research for every pre-order for the remainder of February.

--- Regardless of whether I hit my funding goal or not ----

I’m excited about the sequel. The heroine, Gwenn, is currently at the top of a mountain in the alps. Later she is going to jump off. But I can’t focus on that because I am spending too much time asking my friends to check out my book. 

For this reason, if no other (although there are many!), please join me in preordering Oliver Tooley’s Children of the Wise Oak.  Tooley, now a  married father of  four  "...has had a number of jobs over the years but has always dreamed of making a living by doing something creative. He spent 7 years as the lead singer of Led Zep Too (a Led Zeppelin tribute band)..." This is a man who goes for it, how can we not support him?