Not sure things have been progressing well to be honest. 
People who I thought, for sure, would back my project, at least with the e-book, have blanked me. While others, who I hardly know, have backed me to the hilt. 

No matter. Keep striving. I have edited ruthlessly and cut over 500 words, mostly description, from the text. My only critic (so far) said there was too much description so I took her advice. I hope, as well, I have eradicated most basic errors and made the proof reading/editing job easier. 

Oh, there was one other criticism, it needs a map (or maps). I agree, I’m struggling with it though.

I have also, rather arrogantly (considering the lack of pre-orders for this one) begun on the sequel. I recently found out what the "Bechdel Test" is, thanks to Janna Grace’s "Break the Bechdel with Strong Female Characters Syndicate", and since the sequel already featured one strong female character, I decided that she would call upon the other strong female for help when things got tough.
"Women of the Wise Oak" will see Gwenn and Epona smash the Bechdel test out of the park. 

Meanwhile, I have boldly re-uploaded the entire text of "Children of the Wise Oak" for all to see. Remember, if you support this book and it gets published, then the girls get to have a field day in the sequel. 

I've attained the dizzy heights of 40 pre-orders. Yay. Go me. 
Quill is still in reach, but will be hard work.

Meanwhile I have been editing. I've been told there is a bit too much description, and I appreciate the criticism.
I originally intended the book to be educational as well as interesting. I have since decided to abandon all attempts at education in favour of keeping the pace up. 

To that end, I have been fairly ruthless. A great deal of description, especially background explanations as been expunged.
Some descriptions remain, but they are tighter now and more built into the action. This came from a writing tip I saw on Twitter. 
"Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." Chekhov 

The process is still ongoing but has resulted in the loss of about 300 words so far. 
Getting it below 55,000 words seems like a sensible goal. So 231 to go. 

Meanwhile, could I ask anyone who hasn't pre-ordered to dig deep, and anyone who has, please recommend me on Twitter/Facebook/carrier pigeon/smoke signals etc. 

Hi all, I get so many updates and recommendations it can be overwhelming, so I try not to write many myself.

Sometimes I am just a bit too despondent to read them anyway. Sorry if I missed any of yours. (I'm not bi-polar as far as I know but I have ups and downs)

Currently my "tail is up and wagging", and I'm reading updates and following recommendations like crazy. 

I'm pestering my closest friends to help me out, with some success, and I have some credits to spend. There are a few books that have caught my eye and without wishing to sound mercenary, I'll buy yours if you'll buy mine. 

I am also going to do what Kelsey Rae Barthel has done and remove all but the opening chapters of my book to concentrate properly on editing and refining. Cut out some of the description and slip it into the action instead, eradicate a few adverbs (not sure why they are so hated but must go with the flow) and generally tidy up the details. 

I'll be the first to admit that I haven't worked hard enough to build interest and pre-orders in this book. 

I get easily distracted and demoralised. Nobody is a more damning critic of me than I am myself. I've concentrated more on promoting my other books already published on Amazon Kindle, and I'm going to take a moment to mention them.

Time Tunnel to Londinium, Londinium Revisited, and Time Tunnel at the Seaside, are all on Amazon now for 99c/99p each and this month I am giving half my profit to my local RNLI 
OK, that's likely to be a few quid but it's a gesture. If I ever become a best selling author I will give them a lot more. 

Now, back to this project the book is now called "Children of the Wise Oak" because the other title was rubbish and already in use by at least one published novel. 

I'd really appreciate anyone who can give the project a boost. Share it on social media, recommend it, review it 23 of 25 chapters are already on here in full.

I notice at least one author has offered all her profits from publication to charity. To be honest, I would consider doing that if I thought it would get me published, this is the first of a series of nine books that I have planned out with a timeline spanning over a century.

Win or lose, I believe in this book more than I have believed in anything I've done, and will keep banging away until I get it right. 

All the best to y'all for 2016

I just want to say a big thank you for the pre-orders, and also for the first two reviews. 
I really appreciate the constructive honesty and will take another look at the first couple of pages myself to see if I can speed the pace up a tad.
Definitely will be going over punctuation, spelling and such like, chapter by chapter, and will welcome any corrections spotted while reading.