I write mostly unamusing web code by day and moonlight as a writer and illustrator of words and pict...

Follow

Billy O’Keefe liked an update for Exile, Magus

Saturday update time. A bit later in the day than I intended, but with the combination of the campaign and my work schedule I have been somewhat neglectful of family so I gladly took some time to remedy that a little with a bit of a hangout, dine, and game session with my brother.

First off, congratulations to the winners of the latest Sword and Laser contest: Joseph Asphahani (The Animal in Man); Matthew Isaac Sobin (The Last Machine in the Solar System); and Craig Munro (The Bones of the Past). In addition to what I've read of each book being well written, intriguing, and most definitely deserving of this honor, from my interactions with each of them they all seem to be wonderful people as well. If you haven't already checked out their books, then do yourself a favor and go do so now. While you're at it also check out the remainder of the top 10, especially three of my favorites: Adam Greven and Matt Deller’s The Knight Proper; Byron Gillian’s The Children of the Forest; and Amanda Orneck’s Deus Hex Machina.

Now on to the current state of my campaign. We're still moving ahead and had a brief uptick in the normal sales which I suspect was mainly due to the efforts of a number of fellow Inkshares authors, but that has since slowed considerably. We're currently at 85 copies ordered, and with only 5 days left in the campaign we are in need of quite a large surge in order to get the minimum 250 orders to get into Quill. With such a short time left, I'm hoping that more of you who have followed but not order will go ahead and place an order. I'll continue work on my end to draw in more readers beyond the exiting 283 followers, but with such a short time left it will be quite difficult to draw in enough new people to make up for those who haven't ordered.

Regardless, as I've said before many ways I will not give up on hitting the goal until this campaign is over, and even if it ends in failure I won't give up on getting this book published though I may have to reassess just how I go about that. I hope I can reach the goal through Inkshares because I truly believe that this is a publishing model which can lead to a better environment for both readers and writers, but as I'd noted in my previous update with my lack of network and promotional abilities/financing it may turn out that this technique of crowd-sourcing is not one I'm as capable of as I need to be to succeed at Inkshares. Wherever my path takes me and this series of tales about a strange dwarf and his increasingly strange family, I hope you won't give up on it or me either.

As for new material, unfortunately we haven't hit the next thresholds(at least 90 preorders and/or 290 followers), so I won't be posting anything new up yet. I'll post up new sections on the day thresholds are hit from now until the campaign ends. There's 7 sections of Chapter 6, and section 4 was the last uploaded . Section 5 will of course be next, with sections 6 & 7 being posted simultaneoulsy at the next threshold after that. Also, section 1 of Exile, Hunted's 2nd chapter will be posted once we hit 100 preorders for Exile, Magus. Keep the orders coming in so I can continue to share these stories with you and we can eventually get the full book into your hands.

Thank you all for your time and support. Keep reading, enjoying, and have a good remainder of your weekend.

like · liked by Jason and 5 others

Billy O’Keefe liked an update for The Cora Chronicles: Genesis

Hello humans,

Just a quick update - I'm still very much a corporeal being in this reality, rumors of my untimely dematerialization have been greatly exaggerated.

So, I've finished revising character sheets, which can be fun and a chore at the same time (especially when you just want to get stuck back into the writing). No only do I better understand my characters, I also know a lot more about the world/galaxy/universe I'm building (sci-fi is BIG). As a result, I have begun tweaking Genesis to include these new developments, which I think will make the story more interesting.

Those of you with writing experience know that this is the reverse method, especially for someone who had very little exposure to fiction writing. My consolation is that I didn't succumb to world-builder's disease. Haha. Anyway, I've begun first pass author-edits on Chapters 3 and beyond and hope to get a second pass editing soon after.

To those of you who have $5 credit from pre-ordering before the 31st Oct 2015, here's how you can further assit me by pre-ordering the e-book for FREE:

Sign-in
Click on INKSHARES (next to Recommend via)
Wait 5 minutes for your confirmation email, then click CLAIM
Pre-order e-book (credits are automatically applied)

Live long and prosper!

P/S: Congratulations to the winners of the Sword & Laser sequel contest! Matt, I knew you could do it! Well done!

like · liked by M and 11 others

Billy O’Keefe followed Moonflowers

Moonflowers

Alima Song’s family gets cursed by the Wild Hunt, and numerous gods have to improvise their help.

Billy O’Keefe liked an update for THE BONES OF THE PAST

We won!!!!

I can’t seem to make myself fully believe it, still so I have to keep saying it! :)

I am incredibly grateful to each and every one of you for all the help and support getting word out about my book. The last month has been one of the most exhausting experiences I can remember – Sleep? No time for that, I have to message people in other time zones! Writing? After work, there’s only time for promoting the book!

I would like to take a moment to thank my family who went above and beyond in getting me through this contest, in particular - my sisters Kirsty and Laura, my brother Keith and my brother-in-law Cyril who each worked at least as hard as I did promoting the book; my parents Scott and Elaine who reached out to more people than I can count; and of course my lovely wife Margo who not only worked tirelessly alongside me, but also somehow managed to keep me sane.

I was also greatly helped in my efforts by a number of great friends including Sebastien Genest, Mathieu Pralus, Sara Hernandez, Isabelle Pottier, Eddy Lesert and so many others that I just can’t list everyone. Again, I am grateful beyond words.

And I can’t leave out the amazing authors who helped me out and made (and continue to make) the Inkshares experience as amazing as it is – John Robin the author of Blood Dawn and backbone of the whole author community, Julian Green the co-author of Suffrage – the First World Key, Cara Weston the author of She is the End, Billy O’Keefe author of These Are My Friends on Politics, Michal Sebby author of The Inhabitants: An Unremembered Life, and Janna Grace author of the Talkers are Talking, not to mention my co-winners Joseph Asphahani author of The Animal in Man, and Matthew Sobin the author of the Last Machine in the Solar System. All of their books are amazing and well worth checking out if you’re looking for something else to read!

And now, I’d like to make my small gesture of thanks to my supporters: here is the video link of the 4X50$ gift card draws, and the draw for a themed cake by Lolai’s Yummies. Congratulations to the winners!

I’m looking forward to a little break - picking up Fallout 4, maybe even making it in to see the new Star Wars movie, and most importantly getting back to my writing! I’ve started to miss my characters and wonder what they’ve gotten up to in my absence! There are also still some edits and rewrites I need to finish before the manuscript is ready to be turned over to Inkshares so that the process of getting it published can get under way :)

Thank you all!!!!

like · liked by Reader and 16 others