It all looks like a dream... or maybe a mind game… People are disappearing, lost in their own mind. Anodyne, creator of LUCID gaming seems to be behind it and no one can stop them, except Jenner Ward, who knows how to debug the dream gaming space.
Apparently a lot of other people like bones too!! Thanks everyone for the multiple preorders, if you made one today, up until the end of the contest (September 30th!), your name will be entered in a raffle to win one of my prized possessions...a REAL human vertebrae bone!!
For every copy you order, you will get another entry and a better chance to win! So keep 'em comin' and again, thank you all so much for your support already. I have been overwhelmed. Love to you all and have a great weekend!!
It’s Friday! Time for an update.
What to tell you? We crossed 450 readers! We cleared 500 copies pre-ordered. We have 600 followers of the project. Those are some staggering numbers. I can’t convey to you in words how much it means to me that you all have taken the time to back this dream.
So, what’s left? There are 5 more days in the Nerdist Competition. We are currently in the top 5, thus eligible for the prize: a contract. We need to stay there. How do we do that? Keep finding friends! Keep spreading the word. It’s so easy to do and we all know that bringing new people to the project is the easiest sell: it’s free for them! So, just go find one person. Some of you have and some of you have multiple times. Amazing! Awesome! Stunning! Just a few words for all of you. Every one of you that has backed it. Not just those that have brought more. You’re all amazing.
I promised you more chapters in the PDF. I have not forgotten. My work schedule changed this week so I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to dedicate to things like that. I prioritize my family, my writing, and, for the time being, this project. I know, putting the PDF together is part of that. As a thanks for your continued patience, the next update will take you through chapter 30! That’s a ton of content to consume.
As a treat for you, here is a concept sketch done of a shell floating in that world. It's made from descriptions given us in the transcript and details Logwyn has revealed. The artist hopes to flesh it out in the coming days.
Also, I’ve made contact with Logwyn. A message is in the works. I hope to have it here and ready for you to see by Wednesday. We’ll see. Last word I received, their engineers had potentially come up with a way for us to talk back and forth. Considering the difficulties we’ve faced so far, I’m not holding my breath for that one.
Have a good weekend! And, everyone, go find one friend!
POST-MORTEM, DAY THREE
Know your audience.
We were told going in that a substantial number of our preorders could come from other authors on the site. I have had a small number of people on the site preorder (and dog bless you for that!), but not many. And why would they? I write humour, one of a very small number of writers on the site who do. The novel I entered into the competition was weirdly structured and didn’t fit comfortably into any of the genres’ popular sub-genres. Perhaps worst of all, Both Sides. NOW! has ;* LITERARY PRETENSIONS *. I probably couldn’t have chosen a book less likely to succeed in a contest such as this.
;This is, of course, a good general piece of advice. The problem with me is that Both Sides. NOW! is not an anomaly; everything I write is like it. I was talking to another writer the other night, and I pointed out that, as far as I can tell (and my experience with this contest has confirmed), there doesn’t appear to be a natural audience for what I do. This means that I literally have to build my audience one reader at a time. At some point, I may reach a critical mass of readers that will grow exponentially (the cascade effect I mentioned a couple of days ago), but until that happens, I just have to grind out every reader I can.;
To make the point obvious: don’t enter a science fiction novel into a contest for romance novels (unless it has a romantic plot that really kicks ass). Again, if you’re honest about this, you could save yourself some embarrassment.
It's less than one week left and I'm very grateful to everyone who's preordered my book and followed me along on this journey so far. I can't thank you enough! If you wouldn't mind spreading the word a bit in the final hour it sure would mean a bunch! Check out this link for a new cover design! http://stevenraymorris.tumblr.com/post/129857823593/theres-less-than-one-week-left-to-pre-order-soft
