The final days are upon us — there is less than a week left in the Inkshares / Launch Pad crowdfunding competition. On the 16th December (PST, 17th December in Aus) the competition wraps up and we will know who the winners are. Those winners will receive more than just bragging rights, they will benefit from mass production and additional editing / design / marketing resources.

If you have been planning to pre-order, but haven’t yet, it would be a great help if you did so before the end of the competition.

It’s been a long campaign, but the finish line is in sight. Thank you for all your support — the book has 350 followers; received more than 500 shares, likes, and comments on Facebook; been tweeted about countless times; and has received 20 recommendations and 10 great reviews. Every share, recommendation, and review has been an enormous help in getting this far — one final push should get us across the line.

PS: There is more bonus content planned, but the next two instalments will take a bit of work, and they will come out after the end of the competition.

Thank you all.

Robert
https://www.inkshares.com/books/human-resources

Today I have the most amazing news to share. Yesterday, The Launch Pad announced their final winners of the 2016 Manuscript Competition — I am thrilled by the revelation Human Resources has been picked by Scott Free as one of their winners. 

To discover that a production company with such an impeccable reputation liked my novel — that they believe it has what it takes to become a successful movie — is beyond my ability to describe. Here is the official description of what that this prize is:

Ridley Scott’s company Scott Free was one of the first major companies to take e-books into the spotlight when they found The Martian and developed it into what would become a Best Picture nominee starring Matt Damon. They were also the first company to buy a Launch Pad project, when they picked up Daniel Turkewitz’s Tranquility Base. Now they’re looking to do the same for you. Our exclusive partnership with Scott Free means not only are they represented on our judging panel, they have also committed to option at least 1 project with an eye towards discovering their next break out hit.

More than 24 hours later and I still can’t fully process what has happened. There are no details to report beyond the official announcement. The novel has not — yet — been optioned, but it seems that is likely. My dreams are coming true, and you have all played a key role in enabling that to happen.

Thank you.

Bonus Feature: Advanced Field Intelligence System. 

I’ve created the second of my planned bonus features for you. This time, I’ve unearthed the wiki page for AFIS, the system used by the Special Operations Group in the novel to give them an advantage of the field. If you’ve read all the excerpts on the site, you will have encountered this under the acronym COED — the product has undergone a re-branding.

If you would like to learn a little more about AFIS, follow this link.

Crowdfunding Competition Rolls On 

The crowdfunding competition has not finished! The announcement yesterday was for the formally judged portion of The Launch Pad for 2016. The crowdfunding competition — the part you have direct control over — continues until 16 December. If you haven’t pre-ordered a copy, now is an excellent time!

You can pre-order here.

This is an email I’ve dreamed of sending, but was fearful would never happen. Thanks to the amazing support you have provided, Human Resources is going to be published by Inkshares! 

The competition is not over yet, and the campaign rolls on, but in the last week HR reached a critical milestone — we passed 250 pre-orders. This means the novel has qualified for "Quill" publishing by Inkshares, regardless of the competition outcome. 

I am thrilled, and can’t thank you all enough. I can’t stop and relax yet though, as I need to continue campaigning until the end of the competition — 16 December (PST). 

Why keep pushing when you are going to get published?

Quill is a "light" publishing model — it is print on demand (not mass-production), doesn’t include marketing to bookstores, and misses out on some of the more valuable editing. If the book is published under Quill, I’ll hire an editor to make sure you get a quality finished product, but if we win the competition that is included — and obviously the marketing and mass-production would be amazing. 

But wait, there’s more! Human Resources has also been selected by two Syndicates; the "Quill Brotherhood" syndicate and the "Great sci-fi for the 21st Century" syndicate. For those not familiar with Inkshares syndicates, they operate as a block. Readers can sign up to a syndicate (most have a clear theme) and agree to purchase the syndicate pick each month. I’m honoured to receive the support of both these groups.

And now for some bad news... 

The judges’ of the Launch Pad Manuscript Competition announced their Top 10 finalists this morning, and Human Resources did not make the list. This is disappointing, but I have much to celebrate: 

• Human Resources is getting published. 
• Out of more than 3,000 entries from 24 countries, the novel was judged by Hollywood insiders as being one of the 25 best. 
• We are currently leading the crowdfunding competition. 
• I’m still in the running for three major prizes: 
• Human Resources could still be optioned by Scott Free. 
• I could still be signed by Energy Entertainment. 
• I could still win a mentorship. 
• The novel and I will be featured in The Tracking Board’s Top Manuscripts of 2016 and The 2016 Hit List. 

Over the course of the competition so far I have interacted with a number of the authors I have been competing against. Not only do they have some great books, but they have all been friendly and supportive. My sincere congratulations to the Top 10. 

Where’s my "special" update? 

Last week I promised something special this update. I was full of enthusiasm at the time, expecting to get everything done in time. However, I’m still refining the content of my second bonus feature. Rather than send it out bursting with typos, I’ll hold onto it and share it over the next week. 

As always, if you haven’t ordered yet — there’s still time! 

Robert 

Good evening everyone!

Another week of the competition is drawing to a close. The Launchpad Competition is fierce, but we are holding on to our place! There is now one month left until the crowdfunding competition closes, and I’ll be campaigning until the last second - I’ll need to, as I know the talented authors nipping at my heels won’t ease up.

Thank you again to all of you. Incredibly, Human Resources now has 231 pre-orders, from 201 separate readers! Another nineteen orders and it will qualify for Inkshares Quill publishing. That’s right - nineteen to go and the book is guaranteed to be published. We won’t stop there, but that is a huge milestone and it is in striking distance!

Why not relax at "Quill?"

If Human Resources qualifies for quill (receives at least 250 pre-orders), it will be published. However, at this level, Inkshares only provides a copy edit, the book is print-on-demand (as opposed to mass production), and it doesn’t get actively marketed to book stores. It’s still an amazing opportunity, but if we win the competition, the book will get a lot more love... 

If we win the competition (or if HR receives at least 750 pre-orders), it will also receive developmental edits (super important), tailored design, mass production, and marketing.  I will be ecstatic if we qualify for Quill publishing, but that won’t stop me from setting my sights higher (and ensuring you receive the best possible book I can give you).

I have something special planned for next week’s update, in the meantime keep being awesome :)

Goodnight!

Robert

Today has been a momentous day. Early this morning (Australian time) the latest round of finalists in The Launchpad Manuscript Competition were announced — The Judges’ Top 25.

I am ecstatic to confirm Human Resources has been included in this exclusive list! This competition started out with thousands of entries from twenty-four countries. To have HR selected by industry judges as being in the twenty-five best manuscripts from such an impressive cohort has me lost for words.

Moving forward, the judges will continue to whittle the finalists down. In a few short weeks they will announce the Top 10 and the judges’ winners! In parallel to that, the crowdfunding competition will continue until 16 December (PST). The three winners of the crowdfunding competition are guaranteed publication, regardless of the results of the main judging process, so if you are following the novel but haven’t pre-ordered yet, please consider putting in an order now.

The competition has been fierce, and even with the amazing support I have received, the pack is slowly reeling me in. If you are able to spread the word, to help me get HR in front of new eyes, it would be an enormous help.

Thank you, and fingers crossed,

 

Robert

Hiya Robert.  Sympathies on the contest, man.  The move seems reasonable on Inkshares’ part, as we were expecting a Top 25 back in October, not three times that number.  It’s a testament to the quality of submissions, right?

Hi all,

Some of you — those who follow me on Facebook — may already know this. Overnight Inkshares sent out an announcement to competitors in The Launchpad Manuscript Competition; they have extended the duration of the crowdfunding competition. Originally, this competition (one part of the overall competition process) was due to finish on 8 November (PST), just four short days away. It will now finish on 16 December — for those keeping track, that changes the duration from approx three weeks to eight. At the time I’m writing this, there has been no public announcement, but I’m assuming it isn’t far off. 

I’ve blogged about the date change on my website here: https://robertbatten.net/2016/11/05/the-launchpad-manuscript-competition-announcement-date-change/

TL;DR: I’m disappointed, as we were close to the finish line and in a good position. With an additional five weeks of campaigning, this becomes anyone’s game again.  

You have all been an important source of support through the campaign so far — and I don’t just mean pre-orders. The personal words of encouragement, the recommendations on Inkshares, and the wonderful posts on Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for that, it has been overwhelming. Now, I will soldier on, keep campaigning, and — with your help — prove to be the little Tasmanian who could.

If you can keep working with me to see Human Resources published, it would be fantastic. We need to keep spreading the word to find new supporters!

Note: I try to limit myself to weekly updates so as not to become a nuisance, but I felt this announcement deserved to be sent out immediately.

Cheers,

Robert

https://www.inkshares.com/books/human-resources

Good evening from Tasmania!

Tonight marks the end of day fourteen in The Launchpad Manuscript Competition (crowdfunding stream) and the funding campaign for Human Resources. As I’ve mentioned before, this is a short competition compared to others Inkshares runs, so there is now only seven days left!

Thank you everyone who has pre-ordered, written a review or recommendation, or shared the project on social media. Your support has been amazing — as a direct result, Human Resources is doing well in a competition packed with talent.

We have now entered the stage where most campaigns settle in for the long haul — a regular crowdfunding campaign on Inkshares is three months. However, with such a short competition window, we will be sprinting all the way to the finish. Keep up the great work — I still need your help!

For those of you who haven’t pre-ordered yet, but are considering it, I’d love the opportunity to convince you before the end of the competition. There are eight excerpts on the project page for you to read, and I’m happy to chat online!

This week, I wanted to reward you all for the hard work and support you have provided me. I’ve been scouring the available research, and can now pull back a little of the curtain shrouding the world of Human Resources. Below is your explainer on the vampires of HR.

Have a great night,

Robert

NB: I would like to acknowledge the above has been developed from the Wikipedia / MediaWiki template, who retain all rights to their intellectual property. Obviously all references are intended to be fictional. 

Campaign Week 1

Day seven of the campaign and the crowdfunding competition is now drawing to a close.

It has been an intense week.

The support from my friends, family, and the community has been astounding. In seven short days, you have all ordered 125 copies of Human Resources! That is crazy — Human Resources is now 50% of the way to guaranteed publication on the Quill imprint!* What’s more, that has been enough to push the book into first place in The Launchpad Manuscript crowdfunding competition!

Unfortunately, second place has not been idle — they have been working hard to erode my lead in the competition, so we can’t slack off now! If you haven’t yet ordered a copy, it would be great if you considered doing so. Other things that are incredibly helpful are all the posts people have been making on social media, and the fantastic reviews / recommendations people have been leaving on Inkshares. Please keep it up!

I’m working on some special campaign content for the coming week -- keep an eye out for the next update :)

* If you would like to know what the Quill imprint is, and how it differs from the full Inkshares publishing service, I talk about it on my blog here.

Judges’ Top 50

Today the The Tracking Board announced the second round finalists from the formal judges stream — the Top 50. Guess what? That’s right, Human Resources made the cut!

Some more information about Inkshares

I know a number of you haven’t encountered Inkshares before, and some of you haven’t heard me speak about it before. I want to take the opportunity to familiarise everyone with the Inkshares model (my apologies for those this is old news to).

Inkshares is a book publishing company that selects the books it publishes through crowdfunding. The books not yet published on this site (i.e. Human Resources) are author drafts — they have not gone through a publisher’s editing process. When projects successfully fund, that means there is a delay before books are available for those who pre-ordered. Once a book is funded, before you receive your copy, the following must happen:

1. The author makes final changes to their manuscript.
2. Inkshares editors work through and enhance the manuscript with the author.
3. The polished manuscript is published (design, production, shipping).

There is more information available on the Inkshares FAQ and on their “How it Works” page.

The short version:

1. The excerpts you’ve all read are not the final versions.
2. The book won’t be available immediately after the campaign finishes.
3. You will be kept informed every step of the way.

Thank you again for your support,

Robert
https://www.inkshares.com/books/human-resources