The finish line is in sight! As of right now, The Walls are Closing In has received 619 PREORDERS, leaving 131 TO GO!
I want to take a breath to express the appreciation that I am feeling for all of you, for rallying behind me and this book. Some of you are family members and close friends who sprang in without hesitation when I asked. Some of you are friends from my past with whom I had lost touch, but you still supported me when I reached out or when you happened to see the book circulating on social media. And, most of you, were complete strangers before this campaign began, but who nevertheless clicked the preorder button to support an unknown author.
I started writing this story over a year ago when our current political reality didn’t yet seem probable. The idea for The Walls are Closing In came to me during the primary election campaign. It began as a short story, and it snowballed from there. The first draft was complete by mid-summer 2016. At the time, I sincerely thought that the story would forever reside in the ‘alternative future’ category, but as events unfolded, the story evolved.
The themes explored in The Walls are Closing In cut a bit deeper with each passing day. In fact, I am currently making notes to rewrite certain backstory sections because, well, they have more or less happened over recent weeks and months.
Though it does walk the line between fact and fiction, more than anything The Walls are Closing In, like other fictional stories, is about the characters. There is a splash of romance and a healthy dose of perseverance as the main characters explore what makes life worth living by rooting out the joy in unlikely places. It is about digging deep, figuring out how to tap your own truth, regardless of what society throws at you.
On an unrelated-to-storyline note, I have noticed that as the campaign approaches the end, several people have gone back and placed additional orders. Thank you! Also, I received confirmation from Inkshares that if multiple e-books are purchased, that you will have the ability to share the additional files with friends and family. Each person can order a maximum of 10 total books (ebooks or paperback).
This is also the last chance to receive your name in the back of the book by ordering a ’super reader’ package of 3 paperbacks. Once 750 order mark is passed, the window will close on this opportunity. Again, for those just joining, this is that would look like (from another Inkshares book).
Again, thank you for the support. Hopefully, only one or two more campaign updates, before we move on to the fun of "in production" updates.
Until next time,
Jacqui
P.S. - Running a bit behind on the chapter 2 recording, but check the site at the beginning of next week and it should be up.
Dear all,
This is a quick update. It has been 3 months since we started to collect pre-orders for "Everything is Normal" and over a month since we reached the magic number of 750 pre-orders. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PRE-ORDERS AND SUPPORT!!!
The last few weeks were taken by filling different creative and marketing forms with the publisher. I expect that the publisher will assign a developmental editor in May and the production process will start. The next steps will be line and copy editing, cover and style design, marketing and getting pre-orders from book distributors and stores.
It all sounds exciting, but it seems to be taking more time than I originally expected, given that the book is finished. At present the publisher estimates shipment of books to you and to bookstores in early 2018.
With thanks and kind regards,
Sergey
Hey readers!
I know it’s been a while since I last updated you.
Where are we at with the book? My publisher Inkshares is working diligently on many books that are in the line up – and yes, THE LOVE FOOL is included. As Inkshares knocks out the pile of books, THE LOVE FOOL moves up in the line for production. For now, we patiently wait for an official release date. And I will update you on that as soon as I know.
In the meantime, I’m currently in the planning stages for book publicity and promotion. Recently, I attended GrubStreet’s Muse and the Marketplace national writers conference in Boston. (Fellow writers: This may be something to look into.) I attended many sessions focusing on book marketing and publicity; learning the many different options for building awareness around my awesome novel. We covered topics from digital marketing, social media, live events, interviews, book clubs, and more. All fascinating insights specific to book marketing.
Of course, there are many similarities to the publicity I’ve done in the past, so I felt a bit advanced in some sense. However, it’s always important to know how to market for a specific product, genre, and to a specific type of audience. I seem to be getting a little to MBA Marketing here, and I apologize. But for any marketing minds out there – you know how exciting and interesting learning this can be.
Anyway…. in the coming months, I’ll be working a lot on planning a strategy for THE LOVE FOOL’s release. And you’ll notice some of these new tactics as I roll them out. :)
In the meantime, be patient – THE LOVE FOOL will be coming to you.
-Lorenzo (author)
Hey Campers!