WE’RE ROUNDING THE CORNER TO THE NEXT PHASE OF EDITING!!!
Dear friends and followers,
It’s been a very long time since my last update. My apologies for that. On the book front, we’re now in developmental edits ... basically arguing with an editor over just how much of the novel needs to be rewritten from the ground up. A couple of chapters are going to be juggled around, but I should probably not say too much beyond that. We’re at a point where Change is an unchanging fact of life.
For most of the past year as well, I’ve been buried neck-deep in writing something else: "The Hero Unmasked!", a CYOA-style game for Choice Of Games.
It’s a superhero story, as you might have guessed, and very different from "Murder at the Veterans’ Club". The game was just released on Steam, Apple, and Android last Thursday, and I’ve pretty much spent the past couple of days grinning madly as the reviews roll in.
Is there anything else of note? Yes.
Landon Crutcher, author of "Monkey Business", has begun his campaign for "Black Cloud". I remember enjoying "Monkey Business", and I expect "Black Cloud" to be an even better outing. Crutcher’s writing this time about something he knows intimately from his work, and that always adds a certain special something. Like James Herriot writing about veterinary practice.
Ryan Smith has decided to publish his novel, "Goodbye, Angel", via Amazon instead. I’ve purchased it and read it, and I’ve found it an engrossing and enjoyable read, especially if you love the "hard-boiled" detective genre. I’ve recommended this before, and I continue to say ... Highly Recommended.
Until next time, being aware that "next time" could be A Long Time Off ... have fun, and keep reading.
I’d like for you all to meet my editor, Matt Harry. He has been amazing in the journey toward getting The Madness of Mr. Butler published. As I’ve said, it is a long process, but that process is all in the best interests of the story, and in your best interests as my readers, investors, and friends. This man is doing great things to help make Mr. Butler a great story. He is challenging me and pushing toward making the final product the absolute best it can be. He is behind the greatest successes at Inkshares, and Inkshares decided that my little book deserves the attention of an incredible editor. Please enjoy the blog entry and video regarding one of his recent releases, "A God in the Shed" by J.F. Dubeau, here: http://blog.inkshares.com/post/162717697220/it-all-comes-back-to-story
As for Mr. Butler, great things are happening, and I appreciate your patience as everything remains under construction. We are still looking at an early 2018 release date.
Any questions? Please don’t hesitate to email me at info@talltalestold.com
Why the new email address? Because I am running an internet thing called "Tall Tales Told" now. It’s a home for everything I’m writing and thinking. I’m featuring music, stories of both fiction and nonfiction, and illustrated poetry. Please take a moment and visit if you haven’t already. You can visit by clicking here.
Thanks again for your support and patience.
Love always,
Michael.
This is the best update of them all!
WE DID IT!!!
With the help of you who are receiving this email (the “follower” list,) we finished the contest in the top three and have won the publishing prize! That is the dream of every writer, to be published. I have ONLY YOU to thank for that. There are many excellent writers who never have this opportunity. The difference here was YOU!
Here are the numbers: Mission 51 has an awesome number of “Followers” on Inkshares: 419. Most of you helped with a pre-order. Mission 51 would not be getting published like this without those pre-orders! Pre-orders is what Inkshares uses to determine who merits publication. It can’t be done on Inkshares without your vote of confidence and crowdfunding support! - Many followers helped with public exposure and awareness by simply “liking,” and “sharing,” and “commenting” on the Inkshares site, facebook, twitter, and instagram. Even without purchasing a pre-order, drumming up support for Mission 51 like that was enormously helpful. The level of interest and enthusiasm for Mission 51 was phenomenal! I will point out proof of that in just a bit.
Of the 419 Followers, 246 of you purchased a pre-order. Wow!!! That’s the number that counted for the contest. That’s the number that was top three out more than 180 submissions.
Those 246 fabulous supporters purchased a total of 267 copies, as some people purchased multiple copies of the book. That’s the crowdfunding Inkshares is looking for to: 1. prove the project is worth it, and 2. provide funds so they can at least start the expensive process of pre-production and production.
Those 267 copies broke down like this: 63% ordered ebooks, and 37% ordered physical books. That amounts to over $3,600 worth of crowdfunding support!!! That’s HUGE!!! Inkshares will use all of that and more to provide world-class editing, layout, production, marketing, and distribution services. I will update you all later on the timeframe of this exhaustive and comprehensive process.
So the Mission 51 project page on Inkshares suddenly changed at 3:00 AM EDT this morning as the contest ended. The part that said “Funding” now says “In Production.” I am so very, very happy and proud about that! The green funding bar has disappeared. But I’m happy that most of the content is still visible.
There is now one new little badge which appeared under the title and description on the Mission 51 project page. It says, “#18 Community Interest in Science Fiction.” I am blown away by that!!! There are many Science Fiction projects on Inkshares. To be ranked as #18 in Community Interest is unbelievable! That’s the proof about "interest and enthusiasm" I was alluding to!
I am starting to receive emails from Inkshares about my next steps. I have a number of things to learn and to decide, as you might imagine. As I know more, I will continue to keep you all informed through this medium. I ask for your patience as Inkshares navigates Mission 51 through their pre-production process. The goal is to eventually have a professionally polished product in your hands as soon as humanly possible. It won’t be as soon as anyone of us would like, but I will do my part to make it happen as soon as possible. I’ll keep you informed.
Again, THANK YOU! From the bottom, middle, and top of my heart, THANK YOU!!!
Peace!
Ferd 👽
Dear Fans of the Assassin, Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads!
Local ADK is a free magazine distributed primarily in the Adirondacks of Upstate New York. It’s a beautiful magazine dedicated to high-quality photography and journalism. Tears of the Assassin is featured on the summer issue’s "Bookshelf" page.
Greetings Jackolytes,
Sync City and Jack Trevayne have been out in the wild for a few months now. If you’ve had the chance to stroll through Jack’s adventures, then it’d be fantastic if you could put a review up on Amazon and/or Goodreads (follow the links). Books live and die by reviews, so your contributions would be vastly appreciated!
The reviews can be good, bad or indifferent; they can be long or short, it really doesn’t matter. What does matter, is that you chuck your two cents’ worth in. Let people know what you think!!
For those folks in Australia, the UK and South Korea, the Kindle version is now available. Hit the country link and you’ll get right there.
I look forward to seeing you on Amazon and Goodreads!!
Cheers,
Peter
Short update, I promise...
I got 2 pieces of cool news for you today....
Cool News #1 - The rad fellas over at The Negative One podcast had me on to guest-host their latest episode. We discuss the glittery trash pile that is David Lynch’s 1984 movie adaption of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel, Dune. Check it out:
http://neozaz.com/category/podcasts/negative-one/
Cool News #2 - The Space Tripping Audio book is available for pre-order at Audible/Amazon now! The release date is June 6th. Because your eyes shouldn’t get to have all the Space Tripping fun. It’s time to share the love with your ears. Here’s the link:
http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Space-Tripping-Audiobook/B072F52XST?source_code=AUDORWS0505179KAP
That’s all for now!
XOXOXO,
Pat