Hey everyone. Friendly helpful PSA time.

I ordered a physical book but was just told my ebook is ready to download. What happened? 

Don’t worry. If you backed These Are My Friends on Politics, you’ll either have received or soon will receive an email informing you your ebook download is ready. That’s not a goof — every physical book comes with a complimentary ebook version you can load onto your preferred e-reader of choice. So you’re getting that right now while the physical books are being prepared for shipment. If you ordered a physical book (or three, or ten), that package will be heading your way before long. This is just a pre-order bonus.

Sounds good. So what’s a .mobi file? 

If your experience with getting ebooks comes from buying them straight from Amazon’s or Apple’s store, you might be a little thrown by seeing two different formats presented for your consumption. The download page has all the instructions you’ll need, but here’s a bonus quick cheat sheet. 

ePub version: This is the .mp3 of ebooks, and it works on anything not called a Kindle. So if you’re using iBooks for iOS/Mac, Google Books for Android, or a Sony Reader/Nook/Kobo/basically any e-reader ever made that isn’t a Kindle, this is the format for you. 

Kindle (.mobi) version: This one is for anyone using a tablet made by Amazon -- be it a Kindle Fire, the regular monochrome Kindles (Paperwhite, whatever weird name that new one is called) or anything else that has the word "Kindle" stamped on it. It also will display nicely on the Kindle desktop app for PC and Mac. The one place it won’t load: the Kindle app for iOS, which uses a different file format that’s laden with DRM and requires purchase through Amazon’s own store to display books properly. Fortunately, if you’re an iOS person, the ePub version plays perfectly with iBooks. 

So should I read this ebook now or wait for the physical book if I ordered one of those? 

Honestly? If I’m being candid, I’d wait, because I think the physical book is the best experience. I love ebooks, but I don’t think heavily-illustrated books are best served by that format. I also hope this is the kind of book people open up and enjoy together, which is something the physical book better allows to happen. It’s up to you, of course, but if you’re waiting on a physical book and choose to ignore the email about the ebook as result, you’ll get no argument from me. 

Hi,

So, as you probably noticed, First on Mars did not make its funding goal and so everyone has been refunded. Some of you have contacted me wanting to know more, so I felt I should update everyone.

This campaign has always been a long shot – getting 250 pre-orders for a book from an unknown author using primarily free publicity in this world is a hard thing to do. I had hoped to get a lot more exposure, but it mostly didn’t pan out.

It’s been a great run. I’ve learned a lot in this process and met some really great people. I’ve been impressed by the support from people in my circle, and I am so grateful for any assistance you gave – I’ll never forget it – and I’ve also been impressed by support from complete strangers, which is a great feeling. If you need anything let me know.

I especially want to thank those people that reached out to me to offer encouragement and editing help, you know who you are – thank you!

As promised, and just because, I’ve given $100 to the AFSP (I promised $1/order, so I rounded up a little). It’s a four star charity and supports a great cause. It also happens to be national suicide prevention week this week. Check out the site if you want to know more.

This project is not over for me, but not meeting the goal has forced me to rethink my plans. In retrospect I underestimated how much work it is to run a campaign like this. (Not surprising, I’m constantly underestimating how much time something takes). So, regardless of which direction I go, I’m going to focus on getting the story in good shape first. If you would like to help me out by beta reading, please let me know!

Thank you again!

ICYMI: Mars Mission Crew Emerges from Yearlong Simulation

Okay, so lot’s of great progress going on!

• We are now in the top 10 of the contest in terms of overall sales. 

• We reached our expansion goal of 60 backers! This is the number that needs to multiply like rabbits. (I’ll take the rabbits from Watership Down, thank you very much!) Congratulations to Scott Early  for winning my initial drawing. He’ll be receiving a limited edition original print of his choosing. 

• The next drawing for new artwork will come when we reach 100 backers. The next piece is a lot of fun and comes with a poem from the book, so please get your orders in to be eligible. 

• You voted, I listened, and the new cover will remain! Please check out my reworked-and I’m told mucho simplified-project page. And yes, the current cover (also seen below) is my original work as well.

• And just around the corner, I will also upload new chapters once we reach 125 pre-orders-halfway to the promised land!

I’ll end with the best news of all, we got press coverage! Kingdom of Dreams was covered in an excellent article by my old campus newspaper, The Breeze at James Madison University. Please read to learn more about our project and yours truly:

It’s the Final Countdown, Space Crew.