At 81,369 words, yesterday I submitted the final draft of The Punch Escrow manuscript to Inkshares and Geek & Sundry. There are still a couple of rounds of developmental editing coming which may see the story change somewhat, but I’m fairly confident the narrative arc is concrete (or firmly crooked, to quote Douglas Adams) at this point. Good news is: the book is coming on for super duper sure in July 2017

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Here’s the schedule going forward for those following along at home:

TK hand in manuscript: 11/28/16
MH to begin dev edit: 11/28/16
Dev edit letter/assessment due back to TK: 12/9/16 (1.5 wks)
Dev edit rework due to MH: 12/30/16 (3 wks)
Dev round 2/line edit due to TK: 1/11/17 (~2 wks)
Dev edit cleanup due to MH: 1/30/17 (2.5 wk)
Final dev edit version to INK: 2/6/17 (1 wk)
INK hands MS to CE (copyeditor): 2/13/17
Copyedit due to TK: 2/27/17 (3 wks)
TK’s copyedit review due to CE: 3/13/17 (2 wks)
Clean copyedited MS to INK: 3/20/17 (1 wk) {INK will print galleys}
INK hands CEMS to proofer: 3/20/17 
Proofread due to TK: 4/4/17 (2 wks)
Proof comments due from TK: 4/9/17 (1 wk)
Clean proofed MS to INK: 4/18/17 (1 wk) 
Send clean proofed MS to interior designer: 4/25/2017
Book published: 7/11/2017
Geek & Sundry SDCC book launch: 7/19/2017  

When challenged for his use of questionable racing tactics, three times world F1 champion Lewis Hamilton said, “I had to help myself, because no one else was going to help me.” A gritty sentiment from a gritty competitor. 

Photocred: Sky Sports (Lewis, on the right, reminds me of how grateful I am that us writers aren’t forced to shout slam poetry to the death in order to get published.)

The extreme self-motivation and tenacity demonstrated by these athletes is undeniably tremendous, whether you’re a racing fan or not. They’re inspirational. To other drivers, athletes, and yes, even fiction writers. 

It’s difficult to stay motivated. It’s hard to keep going. Each of us who are in this together, know exactly what I mean. But when I see champions like Nico Rosberg —the man on the right who trounced Hamilton in spite of his questionable tactics— single-mindedly chase down his dream over decades, I’m reminded that only by overcoming adversity, over and over, can I make it to the other side. The world needs people to persevere, and champions like Nico provide motivation so that we may. 

I will never claim to be in the same league as a world champion like Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, or Jensen Button —to name but a few contemporary F1 bigwigs— but each and every morning that I wake, still in it to win it, I know I get a little closer to the other side.

I’m proud to be at 60% of my Quill goal —I still need just over 100 pre-orders to meet it— and I’m unspeakably grateful for the amazing show of support I’ve received from the people in my life thus far. Most of all, I’m overwhelmingly daunted to know that there are hundreds more people I need to touch with my story, to achieve my publishing goal.   

But if this journey were an easy one, I wouldn’t be given the opportunity to know what it’s like to persevere (said every masochist, ever).

All that said, I’d be lying through my teeth if I didn’t say that every little bit counts. 

If you’ve been thinking about reading my first chapter (https://www.inkshares.com/books/where-the-sun-sets/book_segments/the-last-welcome), sharing an awesome and heartfelt story by a debut author with a friend, or even thinking of placing a pre-order and just haven’t gotten to it yet, now’s a great time revisit the notion!

I have just over a month left to reach my pre-order goal. When I hit it, it will be because of you.

PS - I have a new video! Check it out here: https://youtu.be/ozTWldcFDNE I’d love to hear what you think!

Have a great evening & thank you for reading.

Donna

We have reached 450 orders! This means we have only 300 more to go before guaranteeing the Full Publication deal.

We’re also holding steady at second place on The List.

Things are looking good, but nothing is written in stone yet. The competition on The List is close, but a just a few more orders could be all we need to ensure our position; and if we make it to the end of the year still in the top three, we won’t have to worry about getting a whole 300 more orders. So, tell your friends, tell your neighbours, tell your enemies, tell your total strangers ... the sooner this becomes a done deal, the sooner we can start the process of getting this book into your hands.

Good things are coming.

Hello Readers and Followers,

Fae Child is currently at 89 copies sold. At this point I am no longer in any contests on Inkshares, only in the race to 250 copies sold before December 31st. 

My stuffed animal giveaway for orders 71-80 has been drawn, and Maria Aleman was the winner of the pink dragon! Thank you so much for your support, Maria. All three mythical creatures have now been boxed up, and I hope to send them out on Monday.

That being said, I am going to announce my next giveaway! This one will include referrals! For every 15 orders (so 81-95 is the next targeted group) I will be giving away another toy. I will also add in the names of everyone who referred one of those orders - if you have a friend you know has bought the book on your recommendation, email/PM/DM me their name and I will add yours to the hat. ADDITIONALLY - if you refer 10 or more orders before the end of the campaign I will send you a super special prize. I haven’t determined exactly what it will be yet, but probably a Pop! or Funko figure.

Don’t forget to review or recommend Fae Child through the Inkshares site. Every little bit helps. Thank you so much for all the support: having friends, family, and my new Inkshares family coming together and believing in me and Fae Child has been wonderful.

Jane-Holly

FREE SHORT STORY!

While you wait ever so patiently for Mr. Butler, I thought I’d offer you some light reading. I’ve entered a short horror/thriller story of mine into a contest on Wattpad. It’s called "Open Heart," and you can read it here:

http://my.w.tt/UiNb/T1xXRvgeDy

No need to purchase anything. But if you like it, I’d appreciate it if you clicked on the "vote" star in the app. Couldn’t hurt. 

Otherwise, The Editing of Mr Butler is going quite well. I anticipate turning in my manuscript in a couple weeks. Thank you for your patience. 

Love to all, and I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving (if in the US) and I wish you a happy holiday season. 

-Michael 

The holidays are here!  And you know what that means.  Sales!  Inkshares isn’t skipping out on it.  They’re throwing a 50% off sale for published books.  Yes, that means you can get one or two or a dozen books for half what it would normally cost you.  Got a friend or 10 that you want to give a great gift to?  Well, check out the books out now from Inkshares.  You’re sure to find something for that reader in your life.

Why am I telling you all about this?  Well, duh.  I want my author friends to make mad money this holiday season.  And, shhh, don’t tell anyone but they let Rise in for some reason!  So, yeah, you can get an extra copy or two of Rise to share also.

Hurry!  The sale ends Dec 16th!

At long last, an update on the progress of things! Tantalus Depths​ is officially 100% funded, and I am so, so thankful for that. I couldn’t have possibly managed any of this without your extensive help. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for making this happen. So what’s next?



Watch the vlog for details, but here’s the summarized version: I’m working on my final round of edits before I send Inkshares my finished manuscript. There’ll be a wait before they can pair me up with an editor and put me into the production process, and the entire process could take quite a while. But we’re on our way, and the greatest obstacles are well behind us now. Happy Thanksgiving to all, and congratulations to Kelly Miloro​ for winning my "name-a-planet promotion" thing. You’ve earned it :)

Greetings, Faoii.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving for those of us living in the USA. I’m thankful for many things in my life. It’s been a trying year with health issues (both mental and physical), uncertainty, financial troubles and fear. But it’s also been filled with great new friends, adventures, and more hope than I think I’ve ever experienced before. Of course I’m thankful.

Mostly, though, I am thankful for all of you out there who supported me as I fought to publish The Last Faoii. I took what was arguably the hardest route to publication, and I know more than few people told me that I should stop with Faoii and write something new to put my hopes on, but you all supported me and kept me going even when I wanted to give up. 

Thank you. 

I hope that your day (Thanksgiving or not) is wonderful and that you, too, have something that makes your heart fill when you think of it, because you can’t contain your gratitude. I hope you have more smiles than tears at the end of the day and more hope than doubt.

Shields up. I love you all.

Faoii-Tahani

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 

Earlier this year, despite some solid success, I let the Inkshares funding campaign for Mission 51 end without asking for an extension for two reasons: I wanted to focus on the writing and not on the campaigning, and I wanted to submit Mission 51 to Hollywood’s Launch Pad Competition 2016. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed it didn’t make it to the finalist group, but today I received some very strong encouragement!

I received the formal Feedback Notes from Launch Pad, essentially an opinion about my submitted sample from an industry judge. Let me give you a few excerpts from the report:

"This is a knockout premise, and those are very rare."

"The fact that Mat’s story... is an immigrant story, takes this premise from being a great high concept to being a great high concept with real emotional subtext, and one that has resonance with our modern world today."

"The pages here consistently communicate the story clearly, with great momentum, and a very palpable sense of empathy for ALL the characters... This is a great read, and a very capable execution of a highly evocative premise. This project has tremendous potential."

"The quality of the writing here, not just on the conceptual level, but also in terms of the story in these pages and the writing of that story, is uniformly strong. The dialogue’s good too, voice specific and smart in its use of subtext."

"This project feels like it has strong potential for either a TV or feature adaptation, and stands on its own as a great read as a manuscript."

Well isn’t that just awesome!!! I am greatly encouraged that I am on the right track!

Looking forward to the next suitable Inkshares contest so I can jump in and try again. I really want you to read the story!

Peace, and Happy Thanksgiving!

👽