I have the best crew of dedicated followers out there. You guys are just so fantastic! 

TOO MANY CONTROLLERS, the short story project I’m part of, has hit the Quill funding goal and that means THE BOOK WILL BE PUBLISHED even if we don’t win this contest. 

But let’s be real, you guys are going to make that happen, amiright?

Here’s why YOU need a copy - There are 15 amazing Inkshares authors coming together for this book for the first time in Inkshares history. I can tell you that each of us brings something great to the table. Trust me, I know, I have seen the synopsis of all the stories and even some of the early drafts. This book is going to be KILLER! 

Since it’s now public, here is the synopsis for MY short story.

1989 - Paul Inman

• A rare, old arcade game is dropped off at a modern repair/restoration house where it is discovered that gameplay holds the keys to changing the events of the future.

Make sure you PREORDER YOUR COPY if you haven’t already. (I’m borrowing this great graphic from J.F. Dubeau)

Also very important, AGELESS is still looking for your reviews on Amazon and Goodreads!

Speaking of Ageless, I’m going to be at my local Barnes and Noble this SATURDAY for a Q&A and signing! If you are in the Myrtle Beach area don’t miss out! If you don’t have Ageless we will have some on hand! Come let me thank you in person for helping me achieve this amazing goal! 

Hey, everybody. Surely you’ve heard, by now, that Disintegration will be published. Some of you have asked me directly: when?

Some good news for me, and a big up for Inkshares. 

Here’s the thing; I missed my funding goal, didn’t even make Quill. Because I am impatient, and because the book itself was already finished, I just couldn’t wait to try another route to crowdfund my novel. 

So, I went to Kickstarter, and I did reach my funding goal. The book itself is being printed now and backers will be getting their copies before the end of June. Digital launch is set for 1st July on all platforms, advance orders available now. Paperbacks should be on Amazon around the same date. 

So does that mean I turn my back on Inkshares? Well no. 
Obviously I haven’t been as active on here as when I was funding, but part of the reason for that is the massive amount of work involved in self publishing. 

While I was funding, I read some comments on a Kindle forum criticising the Inkshares model, saying it wasn’t good value. An INkshares spokesperson pointed out that self publishers spend on average $2,000 (or thereabouts) getting their book to market. 
Another person said it was nothing like that. 

Well I raised £1,666 (£1,800 before deductions) on Kickstarter, and I have spent it all and then some.

I set up a publishing imprint "Blue Poppy Publishing", I had an artist paint a picture for the cover £450, I spent £350 on ISBNs, £360 on editing (it only had one editor), £300 on cover and other design work, £900 on printing, and a bunch of other sundry stuff.

I have had to format the interior file and convert it to PDF, which included learning more about Word sections, embedding fonts, and all sorts of painful stuff like that than I ever expected to do. I had to liaise between the printer and the designer over the exact specs for the two different cover templates, and check silly details like which way round the title goes on the spine. 

I also had to find out how to convert the file into a digital type layout with internal links and approved fonts, then get it converted into .mobi .pdf .txt .rtf .epub dot dot dot you get the idea? 
Also had to upload a special version to Createspace because otherwise I will have to jump through hoops and pay through the nose to get the paperback available on Amazon. 

So while I may be a lot more experienced at producing a book now than I was six months ago, I would still drop it all and leave the hard work to experts if I could. The difficulty for me, living in the UK is the cost of postage for physical books to the vast majority of my friends. Other than that, I think Inkshares is a brilliant idea, and I hope it goes from strength to strength. Well done for making so many authors dreams come true. 

Hello again, Clockworkers!

Yep, that’s what I’m calling the followers of Clockwork Charlie.  I like it.  I think.  CLOCKWORKERS!

Anyhow, I hope you’ve all had a great week.  Mine has been hectic, but good.  I know we gained quite a few followers for the book during Draftshares Week, and that is amazing.  This community is so special, I know that I brought Clockwork Charlie to the right place.  I had so much fun during Draftshares (I even won a signed copy of Ageless by published Inkshares author, Paul Inman!) that I’ve decided to do a thing to keep the love going.  More info on that later in the update.

I was hoping to start delivering character profiles, but I’m not quite ready.  I’d really like to find some art to go along with them, and I still need to tighten them up and do some fact-checking in the manuscript before I’ll feel ready to put them out there.  They’re coming, though!  Soon I’ll have profiles for most of the major characters so that all of  you lovely Clockworkers can decide who you’re going to root for as the story unfolds. Charlie (of course), Mac, Nash, Cricket, Old Richard, and several more profiles are coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

This week I thought I’d share a couple of projects that I’m following, just in case you haven’t found them yet on your own.  I encourage you to follow these books and their authors, and make tons of pre-orders so they can get published asap.  Trust me, these titles deserve your love!

Proxy by Rebekka S. Leber has a great urban-fantasy feel mixed with a plethora of mythological figures and lore.  The writing is great, and the protagonist, Max, has a voice that is truly all her own.

Reset the System by Jeremy R. Strong has an excerpt that draws you in, just based on how imaginative and witty it is.  This one smacks of the classic dystopian stories like ’Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ while still welcoming lovers of more contemporary fiction.

---

And this brings me to the "thing" I mentioned at the beginning of the update.  Although, I’ve become a poor blogger with no sense of schedule over the last year or two, I still have a blog which counts several hundred page-views even when I don’t post, every month.  Much more when I do.  Starting this coming monday (very much in honor of Draftshares which has so recently ended) I would like to invite Inkshares authors the chance to display themselves and their projects on my blog.  Basically it would be an author profile and an introduction to their stories, with one or two images of their choosing.

Obviously, I don’t promise any specific results.  It’s only a chance to spread the word of your project on another tiny piece of this infinite little internet of ours.  If you are interested in taking part, message me here or post on the forum thread HERE.  I can’t say that everyone will be able to do this, since I’ll only be posting one profile per week, but I’ll do my best to spread the love!

That’s it for this week, thanks so much for reading and continuing to support Clockwork Charlie!

-Ken