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:

• Login to your Inkshares account

• Click the icon in the top right corner
• Click ’Profile’
• Click ’Account’
• Click ’Address’
• Click ’Change Address’

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 

 Howdy! How is this holiday season shaping up for you and yours?

In our house, circumstances have prompted gift shopping to be already done in record time, pending a few more doorstep deliveries. (A gift for my wife has a delivery window as late as Dec. 23 – should I worry?)

I want to thank everyone who has so far taken the time to support me in Inkshare’s new All-Genre Manuscript Contest, which I introduced in my last update.

If you haven’t done so, please do! I am competing against 100+ other entries and it’s getting interesting.

My contest entry is The Crucible Tree, book 2 in what I plan to be a four-book series. You can check it out at https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-crucible-tree

Remember, this contest is not a pre-order campaign like before with Bane of All Things. It is the first time that Inkshares is running a contest that is scored on social engagement metrics only.

All you need to do is:

1.     Visit the above link

2.     Sign in to Inkshares as you did before (You may need a password reset – easy to do)

3.     Then click to Follow The Crucible Tree (It may not stick if you click Follow then sign in, without clicking Follow again)

4.     You can also help boost me up the contest standings if you read my sample chapters and post a Review

This contest is an opportunity to promote my work ahead of next summer’s release of Bane of All Things. New authors can easily become one-book wonders if their first book doesn’t sell well. Anything you can do now to support me in this contest could help me be more successful down the road.

(FYI: If you visit the Leaderboard for this contest and wonder, “Why in heck is The Crucible Tree so far down the list?”, be aware that the public ranking algorithm doesn’t reflect the actual metrics that matter in this particular contest.)

On the cancer front, I have just passed the halfway point in my one year of gene therapy. Been a few bumps along the way, but I appear to have achieved a ceasefire with the couple of side effects that were troublesome. Onward and upward!

Again, thank you for all your patience and support. Have a great holiday season and keep safe.

Cheers

Leo