Glorious news! The Walls are Closing In has begun developmental edits.
I received a thorough twelve-page document with insights, as well as several notes within the body of my manuscript, from the Head of Story Development at Inkshares, Matt Harry.
I was so pleased to read Matt’s feedback and suggestions, as he certainly seems to understand what I am striving to accomplish with this novel. I know that he and the rest of the team at Inkshares will guide me in strengthening the story, ensuring that all of you receive the best version possible.
Matt has worked on Tal Klein’s Punch Escrow, which recently signed a deal with Lion’s Gate, and JF Dubeau’s recently released A God in the Shed, optioned by Skydance. Matt’s own book, Sorcery for Beginners, will be out in October.
Check out a recent video with Matt Harry, discussing the development of A God in the Shed.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/224256631
Over the next several weeks I will be hard at work incorporating Matt’s suggestions, and then I will send the revised manuscript to him for round two. It also sounds like Inkshares has started kicking around some ideas for the cover. I will keep you posted on all fronts.
Until next time,
Jacqui
Hey early followers of Black Cloud. This book has been a long time coming and I wanted to say thank you for your early interest. In the wee hours of this morning I have quietly launched the funding campaign for Black Cloud. I’m sure you’ll all get an email about it.
I wanted to "soft launch" this campaign because I’m doing something that I think might be a first on Inkshares. I’m giving away a free audiobook of my first novel to everyone who pre-orders Black Cloud. I’m really excited about it. I think it’s a really great value and a great way to entice folks to order the new book. It feels really good to me to do it this way because you as a reader are actually getting something immediately for your money. PLUS you’re investing in a future book. PLUS you get the audiobook whether I make my funding goal or not. It’s really win/win for the reader!
I hope all of you will go check out the updated project page. There is a promo video up now that features an audiobook style presentation of the first chapter. I think it’s a good listen. I punched the "audio" portion up a bit with some music and sound effects. You’ll hear what I mean.
I’m assuming most of you are fellow authors. I hope this experiment goes well. I welcome comments, input, questions, etc. If you guys are able, please check it out and pre-order a copy if you want. In about five days I’ll start the real push for support. I just wanted some time to make sure everything was working smoothly before I started begging people to buy books.
I really appreciate your time and I hope you all have a great day!
- Landon
Hi there friends,
Tony here. I know you haven’t heard from me in a good long while. You may have even completely forgot that you helped crowdfund a book nearly 2 years ago and have yet to see it. For that, I apologize. I assure you that these long delays have been out of my control. And more importantly, NO THIS BOOK HAS NOT BEEN ABANDONED, and YES, IT IS STILL COMING.
"Why the long silence, Tony?"
Well, frankly, I grew a bit tired and embarrassed of sending updates with no real news to speak of. I’m sure you may have grown tired of it as well, so I figured I’d lay low until I could come back with something real for you.
"Why the delays?"
Inkshares is a small publishing team with limited resources, and business decisions resulted in my book being put on the back burner for a very long time. It’s been unfortunate and frustrating, but there it is. The plus side is that I’ve had plenty of time to edit and revise. So the book you’ll be receiving is better than the book that would have been published a year ago.
"So what’s going on with the book now?"
As of a few weeks ago, I was assured by the Inkshares team that they should be able to get my book published and into your hands "by the end of summer". I have submitted the updated version of my manuscript to them and am currently waiting to hear back on the next steps of production. The book has been polished with the aid of beta readers, a professional dev editor, and my own neurotic nitpicking. I even added a bonus prequel short story while I waited. Inkshares will assist with copy editing (sentence structure, punctuation, making sure things make sense, etc), formatting, slapping on the cover art, and it’s off to the printers. Again, hopefully, in an expedited fashion from here on.
"So when exactly is the book coming?"
I wish I had an official date to give you rather than "by the end of summer", but that’s all I got for now. I will let you know as soon as I have more.
"How about that cover art?"
Not that anyone asked, but I am excited to say the final book artwork is in progress. And if the concepts I’ve seen are any indication, it’s going to be something special. So whether or not you enjoy my writing, you will at least have a very pretty book to display on your shelf. ;)
All right gang, that’s all for now. Thanks again for your patience. I hope to have an official date and/or some art to show next update. See ya!
-Tony V.
So it’s come to this... publication day.
To be honest, it snuck up on me. I thought the actual pub date was June 15th. Needless to say, I’m unprepared.
I could bore you with a long text about how important your support has been, but instead, let’s take a quick look at what you were a part of accomplishing, shall we?
All of that, and probably more in the future, because of Inkshares’ tireless work and your support. I know some of you had even forgotten you’d pre-ordered this book. That’s how long the road has been. Yet, here we are.
So what’s next?
So that’s it. You guys are amazing and you’ve done something amazing for me. Hopefully there will be so much more in the future and I’d be thrilled if every one of you were there for the ride.
Thank you. So much.
JF
