Supporters and followers, here's a breakdown of where we stand and what we need.
There are 65 days left of the 90 days to fund my book, Disintegration. I've sold 330 copies.
That means I'm 33% of the way to the hardcover goal with 72% of the time remaining. You might think, "Great! You're ahead of the game!" and, for now, I am ... but, with no new sign-ups, I'll soon be losing ground.
I don't want to lose ground. I want this book to be published.
I need to sell ten copies every day for the rest of the campaign in order to make it. Ten copies. Each day. Yeah, it's mind-boggling, right? Except ... it doesn't have to be.
Here's why:
You refer someone to sign up, using your own link (generated by clicking the facebook, twitter or email icons), they use the $5 sign up credit and the $5 first-follower credit to get a free copy, and you get a $15 credit for your referral. If I'm your horse in this race, reinvest those credits in my book. Refer two people and that's three more copies from you and two from them!
Every THREE people (you and your two referrals) is FIVE copies!
At the simplest level, I need 134 of you -- 235 people will get this email -- to refer two people who buy, then you reinvest those credits, and we're done. No more emails of me begging you for help. Instead, you'll have a hardcover novel that YOU were instrumental in having published.
Please. Don't wait for someone else to do it. Find two people you know, give them your referral code, have them get their free copies, and then reinvest your credits in my book. If you need help generating the referral link, email me, give me your phone number, I'll talk you through it.
Friends and enemies of the Klingon Empire!
Now that the Nerdist contest is done and dusted, everyone else can now focus on reaching their secondary goal (1,000 pre-orders). However, firstly, I would like to congratulate the winners and the tremendous marketing and promotional efforts that they undertook to get their book into the proverbial hands of hundreds of followers. *hats off*.
So, I've done the math (yes, I did) and if all my 70 followers successfully pitched my book to a further 11 (was 10.71) readers, I would reach my e-book goal of 750! It's not quite achieving the print goal, but it's the next best thing. In the next couple of days, I will introduce some art work that I have collected over the past year while writing my book to whet your creative appetite. The timing was so that my updates might actually get a chance of reaching the presence of your mind, instead of being random noise in your inbox. Stay tuned.
Last, but far from being the least, I would like to thank all of you who have supported my creative endeavor! I hope that at the end of this journey, I would have in some way enriched your life with a good story.
As always, live long and prosper \V/,
I want to thank everyone for jumping into this crazy contest with me in trying to get Soft Robotics published through Nerdist and Inkshares. Although we didn’t win, some super talented folks did and you should and definitely check out and order their books! As for Genevieve and her adventures, fear not! I am currently investigating other publishing avenues. I’m actually heading to Chicago for a week and traveling to Genevieve’s hometown will give me a much needed dose of inspiration on where to take her story next. You can bet you will see her very soon!
In the meantime check out my book Molding A Jurassic Universe, a collection of essays about the Jurassic Park franchise that was published by Thought Catalog earlier this year (http://thoughtcatalog.com/book/molding-a-jurassic-universe/). I also write a bunch about the Los Angeles comedy scene. Check out my latest interview with Emily V Gordon and her new book Super You out now (http://www.yaylamag.com/emily-v-gordon-on-making-a-super-you/)! And as always check out my site for any and all updates (http://www.stevenraymorris.com/), and better yet Twitter is the easiest way to stay in touch (https://twitter.com/StevenRayMorris). I also cohost a podcast about cats called The Purrrcast (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-purrrcast/id1041016803?mt=2). I know you’re going to check that one out.
Thank you all again for your support. It really does mean the world to me. Speak soon!
Steven
Greetings Team Shaping Fate!
Well, this will be my final dispatch here, because we have reached the end of the road for the Nerdist contest. Did we win? Well, not the contest, but I feel like the whole experience is a win. I met some really great fellow authors, got to read some exciting new fiction and got to share part of Shaping Fate with you; a project that I've been working on for a very long time. I know I've said it about a zillion times now, but I'm so grateful to all of the people who followed and pre-ordered the book. Putting myself out there in this capacity was hard, but when I was met with such amazing and unwavering support, it made me wonder why I ever hesitated!
So what now? I'm going to keep going. "Shaping Fate" and it's follow up books, (yes, it's at least a trilogy) will see the light of day. Thank YOU dear readers for giving me that confidence.
If you want to keep up to date and haven't already signed up for my newsletter, here's where you can do just that: http://vrleavitt.com/newsletter-2/ (Don't worry, I don't send frequently)
Not into email? Here's my website, Facebook and Twitter:
https://www.facebook.com/coffeeandakeyboard
http://www.twitter.com/vrleavitt
I also want to thank The Nerdist and Inkshares for putting on this contest and bringing attention to authors. It means a great deal!
Lastly, congrats to the top 5.
Very best of luck!
All of my gratitude,
-V.R. Leavitt