400! Thanks to Keliance of Eastwind for being the 400th person to jump onboard and order copy number 461. It means so much to me that you all have cast your “vote” by pre-ordering Rise. I usually limit these updates to one on Friday, but I felt 400 was worth noting.

But the race isn’t over. We’ve got a week left in The Nerdist Competition and are gaining on the two leaders. Go find that friend or uncle or cousin or coworker who you know would love to help and walk them through signing up.

In celebration of our meteoric climb into the Top Five, I’ll be posting more chapters to the project page and adding more to the reader PDF file found at this link (coming soon). Those chapters will be added before I go to bed tonight.

Thank you so much. I hope those of you following that haven’t taken the plunge will do so soon. Just some thoughts someone shared about this project that may help you decide. First, I will never, ever know whether you actually read it or not, unless you want to tell me. If you know me personally, you know my heart. I’m not trying to profit off of friendship, just asking friends to support a dream, one that I hope will bless many people beyond my family someday. And we all know some people have done this free using credits on the site. Just because it's free and in a contest for print doesn't mean it's not good. In today's world, even long-established professional authors are trying new publishing techniques, and marketing oneself is essential in today's tech-savvy, on-the-go, network-oriented world.

Onward and upward!