Greetings wonderful followers, 

Guess what! As of Jan 30/19, it has been a full year since my first novel, Beyond the Code, was published and sent out into the world. And what a year it has been. Just for fun, let take a look at my author journey so far. 

I got Beyond the Code on the shelves of Indigo Books and did several book signing events at Indigo and Chapters all over the city of Edmonton. Actually had a kid want to take a picture with me because I was an author. Really cool. 

I was a guest panellist at panels on character development and Urban Fantasy writing at the When Words Collide writers convention in Calgary. 

Beyond the Code has been given great reviews from Roll Out Reviews, Literary Titan, The San Francisco Book Review, Readers Favourite, Opal Publishing, and Delusion of Literacy. These are people who know what they’re talking about. Also, from the reviews of my readers, Beyond the Code is running at a 4.23/5 rating on Goodreads and a 4.8/5 rating on Amazon.com. 

I was a guest on several podcasts talking about my writing and other geeky stuff. I’ve been on Spilling Ink, Just Joshing, Functional Nerds (this was my favourite one), Stories by Nerds, Alive after Reading, and Go Indie Now. You can check out these episodes through the kelseybarthel,ca website or the Beyond the Code Facebook page. 

And, last but not least, Beyond the Code was a featured book with the Scifi and Fantasy Network. 

Like i said, it’s been one hell of a year. So far it’s been a pretty good showing for my first novel and I am very happy with it. As for the future of Beyond the Code and me as an author, that’s still very much in the planning stage. Right now, I’m working on Beyond the Code’s sequel Beyond the Masquerade (working title) and like always, i will always endeavour to keep my readers informed. 

Thank you all for staying with me on this journey and I hope I can continue to deliver, 

Kelsey Rae Barthel 

Hey, everyone. I hope you made it through January with your sanity intact. Things continue to chug along with BoAT. Inkshares has kindly granted another extension on the campaign. We continue to be the top title in funding in terms of pre-orders, and one of the top titles trending on the entire Inkshares site.

But we are still a looong way from hitting the 750 pre-order mark. You may be asking at this point, and rightly so, if that goal is even obtainable.

The fact is, I don’t have to hit 750 to get this book published with Inkshares.

That’s right. The Inkshares team has seen enough to know that pre-sales alone are not a full measure of a title’s popularity or marketability. It is tough to convince strangers to pre-order a book which they can’t actually have and read yet, even if they like it.

That’s why Inkshares also has a program called Blink that tracks metrics like page visits and time spent reading chapters. Inkshares will also chose a book for publication based on these metrics, aside from number of pre-orders.

The thing is, I have no idea how well I am doing on these other metrics. Inkshares doesn’t share them with me. I could be close, or still miles away. That’s why I have kept the focus with you on reaching 750 – it is the clear and obvious goal that I can track through my Inkshares dashboard. 

But I have done plenty to drive those non-pre-order metrics.

I have reached out to hundreds and hundreds of people, tried Tweet promotion on Twitter, post boosts on Facebook, secured local newspaper coverage, posted flyers and business cards in my local coffee shops, library and gym. Many of you I know have also been spreading the word to friends and family and supporting my efforts on social media with shares, likes and retweets, and I thank you.

Together, we are driving eyeballs to BoAT’s page, even if those pre-orders are slow to come.

So, let’s keep at it. While pre-orders remain of utmost importance, know that the needle is moving on other key indicators behind the scenes, too.

Lastly, I want to give a shout out to Ricky Ruszin, who launched a campaign for a suspense thriller called Showtime only 17 days ago and has already racked up enough pre-orders to make BoAT look like it’s standing still. That’s hustle for you. 

As always, I remain truly humbled and grateful for the support each of you have lent this dream of mine thus far.

Cheers

Leo