Well, the Nerdist contest is over and I’m very happy for those who made it into the top three. Congratulations!

For the rest of us, the story doesn’t end here. Some have chosen to move on to other publishing options, while many have chosen to stick it out with Inkshares. I, for one, am going to stick it out for the remainder of my campaign and see if I can at least hit my Quill goal, if not more. I keep having this very positive feeling that things are going to move in a very good direction from here on out.

I have some friends who have their own podcasts and I will be plugging the book on both shows. I have passed out postcards all over Asheville and haven’t even hit the bookstores yet. I’m going to try and reconnect with some of the press outlets I reached out to a while back just to cover all my bases. 

If you were holding back on supporting me because of the contest (which I totally get), now’s the time to get your pre-order in! It would mean the world to me to at least see the book make it into Quill. It will open so many doors for me and I will be one step closer to realizing my dream of being a full-time writer. 

But, enough about me, don’t you all want to see how my quirky, retro-sci fi spy story turn out? Avalon, idyllic home of the human race has remained a neutral bastion for alien refugees escaping from across the galaxy. The Sons of Mars want to turn the system into a staging area to wage their own war for dominance. The fate of the galaxy all rests on the shoulders of a badass secret agent, a scientist completely out her element, a blue-skinned tech specialist and a somewhat obnoxious A.I. 

There’s still time to come along for the ride and make sure the "ride", as it were, becomes a reality for everyone to enjoy!

THANKS!

Jason

Top of the Evening to You, Space Crew!

First, a humungous congratulations to those who won the Nerdist contest. That would be Christopher Leone, Michael Haase, and Patrick Edwards. These guys not only have great-sounding stories, but they put in countless hours of marketing and pitching to get their books where they are today. Please consider supporting them if you haven’t already, because their books will definitely be released in the near future.

Where does that leave us? Let me break it down for you. 

First of all, thank you for being the most amazing space crew that’s ever existed. I hope to get around to thanking each of you personally once I’ve had a bit of time to recover from this chaos, but for every one of you who ordered, who pitched to your friends and family, who gave me encouragement along the way—thank you so much. You just may have been a glimmer of hope on a bad day or one of many reasons to smile on a great one. 

In the end we finished 6th. Which, out of  96 entries isn’t too shabby at all! I was extremely focused on the contest throughout this campaign, so I failed to explain the alternative routes. I’ll do that now. First, let’s feel good about how much we accomplished for a moment.

Now we go back to being regular Inkshares book-funders. Let me try to explain this as simply and eloquently as I can.

All the orders we’ve accumulated are going to stick around until May 5. On that date the total orders will be counted and one of three things will happen:

At 750 total orders (note: these do not have to be unique orders), the book will get the same fabulous treatment as the Nerdist contest would have provided. Full service editing, marketing, publishing, and distribution from Inkshares. This is the dream.

At 250 total orders (we’re extremely close already), we reach the "Quill goal". The book will be published via Inkshares with fewer of these fancy services. 

At less than 250 total orders we won’t be published on Inkshares and you’ll all be refunded. That doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road, but that we’ll need to look at alternate routes to get my writing into your hands. That said, I believe this to be a highly unlikely scenario. 

You can check the progress bar on the book page to see how we’re doing. This is us right now, at 199 total orders:

So what should you expect next? I’m gonna cut back on the daily spam until we get closer to the May deadline. It’s a bit much for me to keep up, and I have some "bigger picture" ideas of how to pull more people into the project. 

In the meantime you can definitely keep sharing The Traveller’s Cup with your friends, since reaching 750 won’t be easy. If you use the recommendation links on the book page you’ll earn Inkshares credits too, which will let you pick up other people’s books.

Our ship hasn’t quite reached its destination yet, but that’s okay. We’re still a crew. And thanks to your support in this contest, we’re several pixels closer to our goal. 

Heading into overdrive. Man your stations. And...we’re off!

Your-Inarticulately-Indebted-Space-Captain,
-AC

HAPPY PUBLISHING DAY!!!

 
(Yulric does not approve of my rudimentary photoshop skills.)

So at long last, the day I have worked toward for five years has arrived. Time to sit on my laurels and fall into a deep, contented sleep.

WRONG!!!

There’s still so much news and so much to do involved with this book for me and, if you’re willing, for you. 

First, tell everyone you know about the book! Word of mouth does wonders. If you have extra copies, give them to friends, neighbors, coworkers.If you don’t yet own a copy, you’re in luck! Goodreads is giving away 20 copies!  

Second, again, I implore everyone who reads the book to please, please, PLEASE go to Amazon and leave a review. It doesn’t have to be long or involved. You can simply write "Thumbs up" or "Thumbs down." However, if I get past 50 reviews my book will begin showing up in ads and algorithms so it is really important.

Third, good things...reviews! Interviews! So far things have been incredibly positive. Which is good, because I hate crying. Last night, I recorded a podcast with my fellow Inkshares writers J.F. Dubeau and Paul Inman so look for that soon over at Writebrain Podcast. And in two hours, I get to live the dream by appearing on the Sword and Laser. I’m excited. So...yay!

Fourth, lest we forget...there is going to be a party this Friday at Bucket O Blood Books and Records in Chicago. So if you happen to be in or around the city, celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (again) stop on by. 

And...finally? I don’t know. I’m too excited. I had a hundred things to say in this update and now I can’t remember them all. As one of many thank yous that you all deserve, it was suggested by J.F. that maybe I show a little of the behind the scenes work that went into the process. So here are some early markups of the An Unattractive Vampire cover:

Hold On, I’m Getting At Something

The backer copies of Asteroid Made of Dragons have all shipped and the wave is crashing down on the East Coast. By tonight – tomorrow maybe – they will have all arrived. My Facebook profile is awash with pictures – pictures of my friends with their copy, the copy they bought a year ago because I asked them to. Some have one, some have three, or five, or more. A gesture of love, of confidence, of faith and it wrecks me.

Writing is lonely. Being a human is lonely.

I don’t do well with moments of connection. Socially, sure. Joking, sure. But a real moment? Something important and true? Not my scene. We’re so unstable, the most unsuitable of symbols. How can I know the things I say are being received in the moment, in the blur of memory and sense and thinking of the next thing to say while half-hearing what you are saying now while also feeling the echoes of other versions of this conversation from before and beyond  on TV, in dreams, from splinter-blinks of fragmented now? I mean, how? Maybe it’s just me.

Being lonely is writing. A human is.

Hold On, I’m Getting At Something. This should be my coat of arms. I’ve written three books now (THREE!), and thousands of other words off in the Grand Margins.  And all in the service of this dimly perceived quest of discovery of meaning – of this THING I’m trying to say, but cannot express. Only glimpse the edges of as I travel forward and back in time. It’s hard to connect with humans – but with words, you have a puncher’s chance. This word connects to that, shapes form. Things stay where you put them. Mostly. Rime is Rime and Jonas is Jonas and Xenon loves graham crackers and Linus snores just a little bit. Now, on my desk is a red ball, the color of summer sunset and it is red, red, red. And it will stay red as long as I believe that it is red.

A lonely human is writing. Being.

So now – I see these pictures, I see these signs of love and faith. And all I can say is – do you see the ball on my desk? Is it red? Is it summer sunset or is it more of a cranberry? Why are you listening? Why are you picking up the signal? Why are you dreaming with me of the three moons that have no name and the Lost and the stupid, stupid power of friendship that keeps the dark at bay?

Being human is writing lonely.

Ah, the simple words. I’ve already said them – but they don’t land right. Thank you. Thank you. You thank, you are thanks. Thanks You. A tic, a nod, a thing we say to strangers and waiters and cats when they heed. An empty thing, not enough, a hollow gourd. A blob of ink at the end of emails and yammering sales pitches. Useless, sere, not enough. I pick up the pieces and slam them together, that’s all that I am, all that I do – all that I can do. With whatever art I have I try to say the Thing.

Lonely is being. Human is writing.

Thank you. You thank. You are thanks. Thanks are you.

Lonely human thanks you. You are writing.

Writing is you.

You are thank.

The ball is red and it is not so lonely. Thank you for coming so far with me.

WE DID IT! We got the #1 spot in the Nerdist competition! 

Thank you all so much. The outpouring of support from you guys BLEW ME AWAY. To everyone who pre-ordered a copy (or three!), I just want to tell you again how much I truly appreciate it. If I had any human feelings left I might almost be moved, but as you know I got rid of those around 1998.

THANKS TO YOU, Champions of the Third Planet will be in your mailbox or your inbox or on Amazon or at your local bookstore later this year! I really can’t thank you guys enough.

Now everybody QUIET! I have to get back to writing...

--Chris

About two hours remain in the Nerdist contest. This is it, guys. Though I’d be ecstatic to jump into third in that time, the realist in me is already onto our next steps (but go ahead and spam your friends in the name of space dragons). 

Tonight I’ll send a full newsletter with any news and what we can do to make sure The Traveller’s Cup succeeds. 

You guys have been the best space crew a captain could ask for, and one way or another this book is going to end up in your hands. 

Your Overbearing Overlord, 

-Captain AC

My wonderful readers and followers...the day is upon us! The final day of the contest!

And, here’s the funny part...despite being a writer, I’ve read this entire time that the contest ends at midnight, whereas the fine print states that it ends at 12pm PST, or...3pm this afternoon for those of us on the east coast...which means...

LESS THAN FOUR HOURS LEFT IN THIS CONTEST!!!

This contest has been a marathon of love and labor...blood, sweat, and tears...

Thank you all for your support and love and, well, EVERYTHING throughout this contest. I still can’t believe that’s the finish line I see on the horizon. 

I wish everyone in the contest the very best, no matter the outcome. This cup runneth over with outstanding talent. Let us all support each other. We can all get published.

With such little time left in this contest, I’m certain that everyone’s efforts to place will be ramped up appropriately...as should mine. It’s only appropriate, as I love my book and want the absolute best for it. 

Nothing is guaranteed until 3pm EST. Until then, if you haven’t ordered a copy of Mr. Butler, please consider doing so now. If you have, please take these next couple of hours to get just one other person interested enough to pre-order. 

Thank you all for your unwavering support. I really can’t believe it’s all coming to a close today.

Take care, everybody.

Have a wonderful day.

-Michael

Dear Readers,

By my count (using my fingers...I’m a writer, not a mathematician), we have SIXTEEN HOURS left in the Nerdist Space Opera contest. That’s 16 hours to get the 70 more unique readers that we need to win the contest. If you’re following this novel, but haven’t purchased a copy yet (and you know who you are), do so now so your contribution will count towards the contest!

Also, some exciting news: Lucky was chosen by the Break the Bechdel with Strong Female Characters Syndicate to be their March nomination. This nomination came in late last night and I only saw the email this morning, but I feel truly honored as an author to have my work chosen by this Syndicate for support.

That’s all for now (and I need to refill my coffee mug too). I’ll be back later this afternoon/evening with an update and maybe even a plan for the future!

Thanks to all of you for your support and your faith in this novel.

- Webster

Greetings friends,

Orders are trickling in, slowly crawling towards the ultimate goal of 750 and full publication on Inkshares. Now, we don’t need these to come flowing in. That would be greedy. However it would be better if they were streaming in.

We’ll get there, I’m sure. Making noise about this project is an ongoing effort and I’m nowhere near done ramping up.

But I’ve been asking a lot of my supporters and backers without offering much in return. The time has come to give back a little.

MAGIC!

If you’re hyper-sensitive to spoilers, you might want to skip what comes next. Go bully a friend into pre-ordering instead. However, if you don’t mind knowing a little more about the world in which A God in the Shed takes place, here’s your chance to learn about how magic works. I like to think that the backdrop of the world is just the set on which the play unfolds and it’s the story and characters who make the novel, so knowing how magic works won’t ruin your experience but instead might enhance it. That’s not for me to decide though, so consider yourself warned.

Reality

Before explaining how magic works, you need to understand something about reality in A God in the Shed. The greater world in which the story takes place is more than what we perceive it to be. Reality is infinitely complex and layered. So much so in fact that one could almost consider it sentient and self-aware. Reality is also composed of an unfathomably long list of rules. The laws of physics, causality, and so forth.

The three types of magic

Tricks: So named because of their very nature, Tricks are the closest to traditional magic found in A God in the Shed but in a very important way they are the least magical of activity. Reality, like any complex system, has gaps and loopholes. Errors in the code and flaws in the pattern. Through luck and experimentation over thousands of years, these gaps have been discovered and documented. There is no practical reason why they work and most of the effects are subtle but they all rely on a glitch in the fabric of reality. Like using cheat codes in an arcade game. The downside is that, like toying with a bug in some software, there are occasional side effects to exploiting errors in the code.

Divine Magic: Here’s a bit of a real spoiler; the god in A God in the Shed is an extra-dimensional entity. This means that it exists outside the laws of Reality. What is perceived as god-like power is in fact an immunity to the laws that regulate how the world works. This doesn’t mean the god is omnipotent. It has it’s own rules to follow, some of which might seem arbitrary to us. However, the god is powerful, so much in fact that simply interacting with it will change someone on a fundamental level. You can’t expect to stare into the eyes of a creature from outside reality and remain unchanged, to touch their skin without consequence. These ‘gifts’ are random and while occasionally powerful they may also come at a cost.

The Art: Have you ever listened to a piece of music and had your mood altered? Or looked at a painting and seen ideas blossom in your mind that you didn’t know the seeds were there to begin with? That’s art. It influences who we are and how we perceive the world. Now imagine that power pushed to its extreme expression. Music so perfect that it changes the world. A drawing so flawless that it become real. That, is Art, with a capital ‘A’. It is the more subtle magic in A God in the Shed but it’s the most powerful. Difficult to achieve, it depends on making something so perfect that Reality itself can’t distinguish that it’s artificial and starts treating it as real. Cooking a meal so good that it heals wounds or a dance so enthralling that gravity starts to forget to hold onto the performer. Art is almost impossible to perform and some will spend their entire lives trying to make it work without even flirting with success.

So there you have it; magic in the world of A God in the Shed. It’s simple and elegant, at least I think so. More importantly, it’s not a super-power. Magic is hard work and dedication. It’s knowing the right secrets and how to apply them. The only shortcut to magic is to literally touch the face of a god, an act that can have repercussion of biblical proportions. A God in the Shed is the story of how fragile humans, everyday people with their real, human problems, deal with a universe that is more vast and deep in it’s complexity while being utterly uncaring about their petty problems and lives. It’s terrible and beautiful and only the first part of a trilogy that I want to share with you guys.

Thanks for your support. Without you I’d have a very hard time getting this story out there.

Cheers,

JF

Hey, folks. We’ve come to the the last day of the Nerdist Space Opera Book Contest. As of this writing, my book PIPERVERSE has an iron grip on ranking #23. Unless the folks at Nerdist.com suddenly go crazy and change the rules of the contest to award their publishing deals to the top 23 spots, my little space book will not be crowned a champion at this time. 

This is not the end! This contest was a shortcut to greatness, but greatness is still achievable. I will still be pushing PIPERVERSE here on Inkshares for the next few months and hope to reach the goals that will get it published. Please keep recommending it to all the bookworms in your social circles.

I want to thank all of you who have pre-ordered the book so far...and I must say I was blown away by all of you who bought the book this past week! That sudden surge of support was a true delight!

So...onward! More sample chapters to come. More strange Character Cards to see. More shameless nagging directed at all of you who HAVEN’T bought the book yet. More, more, more...

Thanks again, everyone! I’ll end this update with a new Piperverse Character Card (#5 - The Mindworm)...with a quote that just might serve as a fortune cookie message for the future.