Dear friends and followers:

Christmas is coming. So is my birthday. If you’re following the Julian calendar, those are on the same day. I think it’s pretty clear what I’d like for Christmas....

Well, the List contest continues apace. Thanks to you, I’m still in second. There’s no place for complacency, though, as I am not convinced that the numbers are entirely accurate: I believe that some of the books behind me have uncounted readers, which puts them a lot closer to knocking me out of position than I’m comfortable with. And things could easily change over the next month.

I’m grateful to all of you for having gotten me this far.

Meanwhile, I have not been neglecting the book itself in favour of selling it. I’ve updated the first two chapters on the site; I’ve worked out the actual calendar-date timeline for the events of the novel, and I am happy to say that the story officially begins on 31 October 1924. I’d very much like to be able to hand this in first thing in the new year, but that’s all dependent on what happens with the List.

Speaking of timelines and the upcoming New Year, it’s been a while since I made any recommendations. So here are a couple that I believe you’d enjoy, and whose authors would also appreciate the Christmas gift of your vote of confidence.

1) "Manifesto", by Daniel Poort. This one’s a psychological thriller about a small-town cop on the trail of a serial killer. Poort promises an escalating body count; and of course nothing says edge-of-your-seat like murder and betrayal.

2) "Shady Place", by David Byrne. A more light-hearted take, I think. A police detective and a mobster retire to the same seniors’ community, and find they have to work together to prevent a murder. If they play "good cop/bad cop", I wonder which would be which....

Until next time: have fun, and keep reading. And tell all your friends!

I am sorry to write you, again, without being able to tell you how Illegal will go forward with Inkshares. I do, as always, want to be transparent with what’s been happening.

On October 14th, Illegal fully funded after selling over 750 copies. On October 24th, a computer glitch gave everyone a refund. I immediately reached out to Inkshares and they told me they were not sure what happened but they would be able to recharge credit cards. However, they would not honor orders that used credits. When the funding period began Inkshares issued credits to encourage participation. They have since discontinued that promotion in part because customers were using credits in ways they did not like. For most of the campaign when a customer made a purchase Inkshares gave a referral code on the site at time of purchase and again in the confirmation email with a message that told them they would receive credits when someone used their link. I believe this is the source of most credits used and sought to establish a baseline with Inkshares to determine what they found acceptable and what not. I’ve asked variations of this question many times over the past month and half and have never received a clear answer what the criteria would be and if the aforementioned example would be valid or not. From the start I told them I would be happy to work with them to resolve the situation but thought completely throwing away all credit orders regardless of criteria was unfair and unacceptable.

While this was going on I was reaching out to various funded authors on the Inkshares platform to try and make sense of this all. I was encouraged to hear that the issue was a big topic among authors who were curious to see how Inkshares would handle the situation. I assumed Inkshares would want to show they had their authors interests in mind. 

In the month and half since the bug that triggered the refund I have constantly been reaching out to Inkshares to try to determine what is happening and when I should expect everything to be resolved.  Not all my emails are answered and I have not been given few specific details, but in the last reply I did receive I was told that they will know more before the end of the year. At this point, I think too much time has elapsed to re-charge credit cards which may mean that ALL orders have been lost. I was cautiously optimistic in the immediate aftermath of the bug but as more time passes without resolution I’m beginning to lose that initial hope and patience. I never imagined that this would have dragged on into December.

I spent nearly a year fundraising for this--which is something I hated doing. So after reaching the goal and having all those efforts taken away stings. A LOT. But, there is a bright side. I have forged friendships with other authors and despite losing all the orders, to know that hundreds of people were willing to spend their money (and often their time) on Illegal is wonderful and validating. I do have the email of everyone who purchased a book and if anyone wants to get in touch with me they can reach me at: j.a.dennehy@gmail.com

I’ll update again when the situation is resolved.

1. 41 pre-orders needed for publication!
2. Toys For Tots
3. NEXT UP: New Chapters, Sponsors

 1.) 41 orders until publication! 

So we picked up a bit of progress in November, many thanks to my new followers and backers. But now we’re stuck on 209 orders with the finish line fast approaching. Admittedly, I’ve been a bit down of late and am trying to rally myself to help us get this thing over the finish line before the new year.

I’ve come up with a charity event to encourage more orders and more importantly, help children in need:

2.) Toys For Tots:

Is there anything better than riding a dragon? No way, but there are countless children that won’t have that opportunity this Christmas. Therefore, all of my orders received by Tuesday, December 20th will be donated to Toys For Tots. For those that didn’t know-like myself-books are also included in what they give to kids, not just toys. 

Already pre-ordered? No problem. Order more if you can, even if it’s just one book. As mentioned, on December 20th, I’ll post the donated amount here. And this gift will keep on giving! Per your request, Graham, (my son pictured) will help me donate the extra copies of Kingdom of Dreams to children in need when they become reality. I’m looking into a few child literacy programs that we can work in tandem with as well.

3.) NEXT UP: New Chapters, Sponsors

I was Fantasy Writer of the Day the day before Thanksgiving on Reddit; they treated me well and I met some nice fellow writers and fantasy fans. As stated before, I’ve been working on new, REALLY new chapters to give potential backers a larger sample size. If the fates cooperate, I’ll have two new chapters up simultaneously and will send them out to all of you. Please feel to critique and review. If you’ve been waiting and like what you read, why not order? (Or again, purchase one for a child that wants to read these types of books but doesn’t have the means to get them.)

I’ve talked to a couple of local sponsors to help distribute our book if it becomes a reality. I plan to continue to be more aggressive with these efforts, as the real battle will begin to get this book in as many avenues as possible. But the focus is on hitting 250 pre-orders. We are so close! 

Stay tuned and stay well,

Kevin

Happy Week of Days With Descriptors!

We are nearly at the end of said days, but as the focus of today is "Giving" it is the perfect time to remind everyone of my raffle. I have six Audible codes for the An Unattractive Vampire audio book and if you give money to an at-risk cause, your name will be entered in to win one of them. If you need more information, visit my website or see my last update. There are lots of lists out there of groups who need help. Groups like Trans Relief Project, CeaseFire Illinois, Doctors Without Borders, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and more. 

Once you’ve donated (and you did donate, didn’t you? *Guilt stare*) tell me you did. You can respond here with a comment (don’t just like the post, that doesn’t actually tell me anything) or find me on twitter or e-mail me at anunattractiveemail@gmail.com. Your name will be entered into the contest which ends December 15th.

Look it’s win/win. You win because you get to feel good about yourself AND might win a free audiobook. They win because they get the money and resources to help people who desperately need it. And humanity wins because the entropic decay of the universe will be put off a little longer. EVERYBODY WINS!

Except for the cannibal Futurekind. They don’t win.

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!

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!

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!

(Long update ahead, bear with me)
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO PUBLISHING...

Comrades!

Two quick things, as I have a deadline and have been on my feet all weekend:

1) Those of you who preordered already may have noticed you’ve been issued a refund. I lost track of the campaign deadline due to things happening that I’m not at liberty to discuss yet, but I’ve been issued a second extension because

2) Apparently Inkshares has this The List 2016 contest thing happening and Devil’s Call was chosen as one of the contestants and if I get more readers/preorders than the other 34 people on the list then something happens. Publication, I think. Or bragging rights. IDK.

Here is a gif to celebrate the fact that I have to cashier not only on Turkey Day, but on Black Friday.

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Thanks for your support, as always,
J.