10/17/17

Well, we are down to hours and I continue to tell myself that the silvery strands in my hair are sparkles and not grey hair from stress.

Last 24 hours have been, as I suspected they would be, wild. I gained some ground and then lost it again. So, "Devil" remains in 4th place right now with a little distance to make up before the final aria gets belted out.

We can still get Devil into the Top Three, but that means mustering the troops. As always, this is a team sport.

So, how can you help? I’m glad you asked!

If you have already ordered a copy... if each of you could get one person--just one!--to put in a pre-order before 10:00 pm Pacific time, that would be beyond amazing, and would make a HUGE difference. So if you’re at the office, hit up a friend in the cube next to you. Call your best friend (or your sibling or spouse), tell them you’re sending an email, and you need a favor...

In fact, here’s some information you can send them: My friend, Susan, has a novel manuscript that’s in a national competition, and she could win a full publishing package for her book. The contest ends tonight at 10 pm West Coast time. Do me a favor and order a copy--I know she’d appreciate the support: https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-devil-you-don-t 

If you have NOT ordered a copy yet... That’s a super easy solution! PLEASE put in a pre-order. You have the chance to be my Fairy Godmother today, how epic would that credit be on your resume?

And don’t forget, if we make the Top Three and win this bad boy, I will be doing a "thank you for your support" raffle for all of my readers -- for a $100 Amazon gift card.

No matter what happens at the end of the competition, I could not ask for a better set of friends, colleagues, and fans...

1

Best,
Susan

Hello everyone!

I’m terribly sorry about being MIA. I’m sure some of you have been wondering where your promo items are, as well as the book.

The plan is for promo items to be out before Christmas. I know I promised sooner, but this year threw me a few curve balls that have been enormous stumbling blocks. The largest of all was my father being diagnosed with cancer. He ultimately passed away last month. It has been extremely difficult for me, as he was my buddy. But, each day I gather courage and strength to move forward and accomplish the goals I know he would have wanted for me to work towards. So, promos will be out before Christmas.

As far as the book goes, I’ll be honest… I’m not entirely sure what is going on with it. I sent an email out today asking if I could find out a status. I submitted it in July along with all the questionnaire information, but I haven’t really heard anything else about it. I know Inkshares has been swamped, so I didn’t want to be pushy. Once I hear anything, I’ll give you an update.

Thanks everyone, and I really do appreciate your patience.

Much love,
Kaytalin

10/15/17

Hello! Well, we are certainly coming down to the wire in Launchpad and I think I’m going to have grey hair and high blood pressure by the time we’re done.

Right now, less than 20 pre-orders stand between "The Devil You Don’t" and that third place spot! So a HUGE thank you to those of you who have ordered and gotten me this far. WE ARE SO CLOSE!

I am doing my best to network and contact all of my prospects, and hopefully will see more orders come in to propel us up into that third place spot (or better!). Please, if you have not ordered yet, it would be a tremendous boost to have you become an official reader.

The competition will end on October 17 -- That’s in just a few days!

And don’t forget: If I’m in the Top 3 at the end of the competition, I will be doing a "thank you" raffle for everyone who pre-orders a copy, and the prize is a $100 Amazon gift card!

And speaking of raffles. I’m happy to announce that the winners of my first raffle were Tracey Bigelow (gift card) and Trinity McKay (signed copy of "Darkstar Rising"). And I just passed my 100 reader mark, so as promised, I’ve done the second drawing. The lucky winners are Karen Bradbury (gift card) and Jessica Hackett (signed copy of "Darkstar Rising")! Congratulations.

I’ll send another update before the competition ends -- thank you for your support and enthusiasm. You guys are the best readers ever!

All the best,
Susan

It’s been a minute since you’ve had an update! I’ve got three things for you here!

First!

Reviews - If you’ve read the book please click here and go leave a review. Amazon reviews are a thing that we need. 

Second! I’ve been writing for Geek & Sundry, and was able to be on a show to share my GM Tips. You can find the video here! (Trying the embed feature below, it may not work, so just click on the link)

;;

Third!

Teaser Image.

You all have a habit of making me feel special.

There you go, making me feel special, and then I get all mushy with the feelings, and it’s disgusting for everyone. So this is all your fault. You monsters. ;)

Today, Inkshares posted an image of a pile of DAX HARRISON books, ready to be sent out to all of you fine folks who backed it. The physical books, existing in real life, sitting in their office.

I re-shared the photo, and my little corner of the Internet blew up. The outpouring of love, support and excitement from friends, family, colleagues and so forth was ridiculous. I even had a friend or two saying "What?! How did I miss this?! Where can I get this thing?!" Haha.

By the way, if you didn’t catch my previous official cover reveal on social media, there it is, in all its glory. Another very special thanks to Jessica R. Van Hulle (theladyjessica.com) and Seth Kinkaid (sethkinkaid.com) for their stunning painting and graphic design work. You better believe I’m making posters of this baby for conventions and book signings!

"WHEN DO I GET MY BOOK, TONY?!"

Backer copies will be shipping out this week! I believe Inkshares should be sending out an email asking you to confirm your shipping address, but I encourage you to log in at Inkshares.com and double-check your saved address just in case.

For those of you who ordered e-book copies, you can expect an email with a download link sometime next week. If you accidentally lose the email, don’t panic. You can access your purchased e-books anytime at Inkshares.com under your "Bookshelf". And if anyone still has trouble, you can always reach me at rockhollywood8@gmail.com, or send questions to the Inkshares team at hello@inkshares.com.

You know what’s ironic about all these long updates I write? The book itself is actually a pretty quick read. You’d think I would have written a much more long-winded story. I guess I’m saving it for Dax 2...

That’s all for now. It honestly feels VERY silly making such a big deal over a little comedy book. But the world deserves laughter. It really, really does.

I hope Dax gives you a chuckle or two!

-Tony

10/9/17

Well, it has been a day full of surprises, let me tell you!

First, I learned today (and it was confirmed by Elena), that the original deadline for Launchpad was incorrect! That’s right -- all this time I’ve been working towards a 10/10 finish when the real contest deadline is October 16 (that’s next Monday).

So I am psyched to have the chance to continue building my reader base over the next week, but I know all the other authors will be doing the same thing, so I will keep at it right until the end. The thing that terrifies me about this is that I built my entire marketing plan around that first date so now, I’m flying without a net a little. But that’s where the magic happens, right?

Second, I was thrilled to learn today that "The Devil You Don’t" was selected as the October pick for the Rite of Passage Syndicate on Inkshares. I am delighted and humbled that this wonderful group of folks has elected to throw their backing behind my book. 

Where does that leave things then?

As of right now--with one week left--I am in fourth place, and thanks to the syndicate and several orders that have come in over the past 24 hours, am working towards that elusive top three. But there is a lot of time left, and I can’t just kick back and assume orders will roll in. I know it takes a lot of focus and hard work to bring in pre-orders, and I’m up for the challenge.

If you haven’t ordered yet, the clock has reset, but it is still winding down. Please consider a pre-order -- if not for you, a gift for the book lover in your life? A donation to your local library? The possibilities are endless!

And if you have ordered, you know you have my constant and sincere thanks for your support.

I’ll update again soon. Until then, "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more."

Best, 
Susan

Dear followers,

This is just to update you on the progress of "Everything is Normal." Last 2 months saw heavy developmental editing: the editor and I advanced the main themes and trough-lines of the book. That also included lots and lots of restructuring and writing 3 entirely new chapters.

But the most painful thing was cutting. We ended up decreasing the original manuscript by 25% or by 34,000 words. (This is more than the entire "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".) Ouch!

Now that this stage is over, copy editing will start. Also, designers have finalized the cover for the book (below). A lot of clever marketing has gone into it. Inkshares has set the official release date for the book for March 6.

I will keep you posted. And thank you all very much again for your support.

 Regards,

 Sergey

It’s been far too long since I’ve been able to deliver news of any significant amount of progress with Tantalus Depths. I’ve had quite a few people approach me asking when the book is coming out, and I’ve regrettably had nothing to offer in the way of a satisfactory answer. I’m not sure I made it clear enough during my campaign last year just how long it takes to get a book through this kind of production process, but it can take a very long time.

Fortunately, today I finally have some good news. Progress has at last been made! Last night I finally received my development letter from Matt Harry, my development editor. Matt is the Head of Story Development at Inkshares, and his work has helped books like the amazing Punch Escrow succeed brilliantly during their production processes.

For those unfamiliar with how the publishing process works, all Inkshares books receiving the full editing treatment (such as Tantalus Depths) go through several waves of editing, each one focusing on improving a separate aspect of the manuscript. The development edit is the first, and it focuses on big picture stuff, such as focusing the story’s overall tone, message, and style. Basically figuring out exactly what kind of story Tantalus Depths is and how to make it the best example of that kind of story it can be.

Tantalus Depths has been read by quite a few beta readers and has gone through at least four rounds of edits, but this is the first time it’s been seen by a professional editor. Matt sent me eleven pages of advice on what sort of things I should consider changing to improve the book, on top of dozens of margin notes in my original manuscript for specific lines and sections I should change.

There’s a lot to work on here. The overall story isn’t going to change from the one I set out to tell; in fact, Matt was very clear that they want to make sure I get to tell the story the way I want it. The primary point of these notes is to focus the story properly, to trim out anything that doesn’t work so I can make the stuff that does work even better. Most of the notes he gave me deal with things such as keeping a consistent tone, improving character development, and getting more into the worldbuilding. I was actually surprised by that last one, since I’ve done a tremendous amount of worldbuilding but was intentionally holding back on including a lot of it, lest I get too carried away. Now that I’ve been given a green light to add more, I’m going to be having a lot of fun with these edits.

So, long update short, the wheels are rolling on Tantalus Depths once more! There is still no release date nailed down (I’m afraid there’s still going to be a decent wait ahead), but finally we’re fully into production mode now. I have a lot of writing and re-writing to be doing in the next couple weeks, but I am looking forward to it. We’ve finally gotten to the point where Tantalus Depths is making the transition from a simple manuscript to a proper Novel.

Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks!

Oh, by the way, my campaign for Proteus is still running, and I’m going to go back into campaigning mode as well within the next month or so. Stay tuned for that as well, and if you haven’t ordered a copy yet (or would like to help the campaign out even more by ordering a second one), please do so!