Kaylib is compelled by a goddess to save his 600 year eclipsed planet, Levion, by destroying the eclipsing planet with magic.
Good day! For all of you who so generously pre-ordered Bane of All Things those many moons ago, this update is for you. (If you did already hear from me earlier today about the sequel, The Crucible Tree, this is a whole different update.)
First, I want to again thank you for being so patient. Getting BoAT into your hands has taken far longer than I had hoped. COVID-19 is the principal culprit.
What’s happening now?
At present, BoAT is off to copy edit – its last nitpicking round of editing.
As I am writing this, Avalon Radys, Inkshares’ Director of Editorial & Publishing Operations, has emailed me a tip sheet to fill out. A tip sheet is one of the essential marketing pieces for a book. We will see how my notes compare to hers.
Cover design will be next – I can’t wait to see how this goes and who will be the cover artist! When it is ready, you will be the first to see. (That cover below which you have become so accustomed to is just a placeholder by me using an Adobe Stock image.)
So, what does this mean for you?
I had hoped by now to provide a firm release date you could mark on your calendar. I can’t yet, but I will soon – the Inkshares’ team is making that determination right now.
What I can say is that we are now aiming for a December-January release window.
I know, that seems a looong way off. Trust me when I say I feel your pain – I live it. On the other hand, that gives us plenty of time to get this done right – to ensure a jaw-dropping cover design and make sure those reviewers and bookstore buyers are suitably wooed and wowed. Build as much advance buzz and anticipation as possible.
Why the delayed release?
As I have said before, the past year has been good for established authors as people do more reading while under quarantine lockdown. For new authors who are not yet established, the disruption of the publishing industry and the impact on brick-and-mortar retail made it a not-so-good time to release a first book.
For these reasons, Inkshares choose to delay most of the titles it had planned to release through the last half of 2020 and the first half of 2021.
But the end is in sight. Inkshares is ramping up for a slew of new releases through the latter half of this year.
Inkshares’ sales and marketing team wants to avoid rushing this backlog of releases out the door too fast. They want to make sure that every new title, including mine, gets its fair share of marketing and promotion. I can’t argue with that.
Meanwhile, I continue to work away on revisions to the next book in the series, The Crucible Tree. If you haven’t yet checked it out, you can find and Follow it here.
Thank you again for making all this possible. I truly hope you will be pleased with the result and satisfied that the wait was worth it.
Stay safe and keep reading!
Cheers
Leo
Inkshares Update: January 7th, 2021
It’s been eight months since my last update and I keep clicking my heels together and still flying monkeys rain down upon us spewing their virulent exhortations. Anyway, without rehashing the obvious that we’re all living, I did want to bring to your attention that Dean Fearce hasn’t given up. MINE is at this point in time still a viable work in progress and I thank you one and all for your patience and support. If something truly remarkable changes in the manuscript’s status, you will be the first to know. But do know this: I’ve produced another one-hundred thousand words in a single document and they are far better with more amazing characteristics than any previous thousands upon thousands of words I’ve strung together, creating multitudinous documents before they went to their final resting place at the bottom of a litter box. Requiesce in pace. But, that’s just my opinion so we shall wait upon the prophecy as foretold by the man behind the curtain to reveal the true nature of such a thing. You see, writing is easy. Creating delightful characters is harder. Stringing chapters together with continuity and a plot line that serves those characters with an arc that truly delivers them somewhere over the rainbow is harder still. I won’t even bring up those wicked witch revisions. And yes I do go on. It amuses me. I do so hope it amuses you but I still have my day job in any event. Hope you are safe and healthy and I love you all. Now go follow those writers in the 2020 All-Genre Manuscript Contest. Oh-Ee-Yah! Ee-Oh-Ah!
Good morning! (Or afternoon, as the case may be). I hope this finds you well and you are enjoying the Holiday Season, however you chose to observe it.
If you are receiving this update, it means that you kindly came and followed The Crucible Tree in recent weeks as part of the new contest by my publisher, Inkshares. Thank you very much for doing so.
As we look to the release next summer of my first book, Bane of All Things, doing well in this contest is an excellent way to drive some vital publicity. The contest currently has 200+ entries, drawing thousands of new visitors to Inkshares’ website. These are all potential buyers for Bane of All Things. For Inkshares to agree to publish a second book, sales of the first must of course be strong.
So, if you haven’t already and have a little time during this holiday season, it would be awesome if you could read my sample chapters for The Crucible Tree and post a short review or recommendation. This activity also helps to boost me up the contest standings. And if you could muster anyone else in your household to join the cause, too, that would be fantastic!
Best wishes and a Happy New Year!
Hello!
We are just about a month away from the publication of When Force Meets Fate. I’m happy to report that everything is moving along smoothly. We have sent off advanced copies to reviewers, and the book already has almost 50 reviews on Goodreads with an average of 4.85 stars: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55659364-when-force-meets-fate
In a couple weeks, shortly after the holidays, you too will get your copy of the book. Because you were among the first to preorder it, we are going to send your copy out before the official release date of January 26th. So you should get your copy a week or two before that. For that reason, it is important that you make sure the address on your Inkshares account is accurate. If you’ve moved in the last year or your address is incorrect, here are the steps to change it:
If you have trouble, reach out to me or Inkshares at hello@inkshares.com
More good news: We are finishing up the audiobook now, which should be available for preorder in early January.
Lastly, I just want to say that I will always be grateful to you for ordering the book before it was finished, for trusting that it would one day become a tangible thing.
I am going to add everyone who preordered the book on Inkshares to my email list, so you will receive a welcome message soon. If you wish not to receive my emails, feel free to unsubscribe, but you may want to stay subscribed for future updates on the book and my recovery.
Thank you again and happy holidays!
Jamison
