Dear Sweethearts,

 I hope that you are doing well and that you are having a lovely Tuesday! I wanted to reach out to you to give you a few updates and also to ask you for one small favor. So I want to share the coolest update first - we have sold over 3,000 copies of this book!! Can you believe it?!  I know that I couldn’t! I sat staring at my computer blinking long and hard to make sure I was seeing the numbers correctly! You all made this possible, so thank you so much! 

Recently “How to Get Run Over by a Truck" was reviewed by Her Agenda. The reviewer was kind enough to  say: ”The memoir is beautiful—it’s shocking, heartbreaking, funny, dark, and brutally honest. It’s a must read for everyone.”  Which was so incredible to hear! I also recently wrote an article for Amendo Magazine entitled “What Not to Say to Someone Who Has Been Through a Trauma", I was delighted that they asked me to write this piece, and I am so hopeful that it will be helpful for others when finding the right words can be really challenging. 

 In publishing news two awesome things have happened: the audiobook of “How to Get Run Over by a Truck” has just been published by Audible! I was so excited when I found out that they were going to let me be the voice actor for the audiobook, but I couldn’t have imagined what a meaningful experience it was going to be. Reading the entire memoir aloud made me relive the experience in a way that I didn’t when I just read in the book. While I was reading I was humbled by all of the love and support that had brought me to this beautiful and unlikely place. Here I was sitting in a recording studio, reading a book that I wrote, that only came into being because of all of your love and support! We had to stop the recording like 10 times because of my spontaneous weeping (I am the consummate professional!) You can listen to a snippet of it here, and if you are so inclined, you can buy it and hear me talk to you for over 8 hours ☺ The other awesome thing that has happened is that the short story that I wrote “The Gift of Hope” has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels and Miracles Edition, which is such an honor! 

 I also have a small favor to ask you all – so many of you have been kind enough to reach out and let me know your thoughts about the book, what you liked, what made you laugh, what made you cry – and it has been one of the best experiences of my life to know that something I wrote made you feel something! I was wondering if I could ask you to take that feedback one step further, and write a short review on Amazon. I currently have about 34 reviews, which is awesome! But I recently learned that if I was able to get over 100 reviews of “How to Get Run Over by a Truck”, it would increase the visibility of the book on the site dramatically, and bring more potential readers to the book! Which would be so amazing. It doesn’t have to be a super long review, just a few sentences would be so helpful! And a huge thank you to those of you who have already written reviews – you are wonderful!  

Also, if you are in the New York City area and are free on Monday night, I am going to be doing a book event for "How to Get Run Over by a Truck" on Monday November 21 at the Cobra Club in Brooklyn! All of the information you’ll need is here. I would love to see you there for hugs, a reading, some storytelling and also Q & A where I would be happy to answer any questions you might have! I hope to see you there! 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and for being incredible people. I am so grateful for you! 

Heart, 

Katie   

Hi Everybody,

My apologies, as it’s been awhile since I’ve provided an update for the production timeline for The Battle Within. Part of that is by design as I haven’t wanted to flood any inboxes, but part of it is also a lack of discipline. On that note, please find below a quick update!

Timeline           

The manuscript for The Battle Within is currently with Girl Friday Productions as it goes through a line edit, which is punctuation, grammar, and other ‘in the weeds’ details. This edit will be done by the end of November, following which the manuscript goes into the proofread stage. Not to get into too much technicalities, but the proofread isn’t as easy as it sounds because it takes into account visual appeal based on how the chosen font breaks across the page sizes. Bottom line, the proofed manuscript is scheduled to be complete by 12 January 2017. On a separate note, the cover has been finalized, very happy with how it turned out! 

What does all that mean? It means that the book itself will be completed by mid-Jan 2017. Unfortunately for readers, the end of the production process is only the beginning of the marketing process.

From Jan 2017 to Jun 2017, Inkshares will be identifying prominent people who would be interested in reading and possibly endorsing the book. In addition, Inkshares will be laying the groundwork for the book launch, which could include interviews, reviews in national or local media, and getting the book into more bookstores. When all is said and done, The Battle Within will be released on 27 Jun 2017.

Opportunities to Help

Although The Battle Within production process is largely transparent to anyone not directly involved, that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to help out, if you’re interested. As I mentioned earlier, once the manuscript is done, Inkshares will be looking for influential people (based either on their involvement in the book industry or through links to subject material) to read and (hopefully!) endorse the book by having a blurb on the jacket cover or as part of the marketing campaign. If you know someone who might fit that bill and would consider reading an advance copy, it would be a huge help.

Other Projects

As The Battle Within progresses, I’m keeping busy with some new projects that may be of interest. First and foremost, I’m halfway through a second draft of my second novel, tentatively named Jihadi Bride. I won’t give any more detail for the moment as I haven’t even engaged beta readers yet, but I think that it’s an exciting story that I hope to be able to share within 9 – 12 months.

I’m also running a blog at www.AlastairLuft.com, where I’ve been publishing articles on various challenges I’ve encountered so far as a writer, as well as interviews with other authors. Lastly, I’ve been playing around with writing poetry (mostly as a method to improve my writing) and I’m toying with the idea of perhaps releasing a short e-book later next year, although lots will depend on continued inspiration! Please find attached a short poem I wrote several weeks ago – would love your feedback if you have the time.

So that’s it, I hope this update was helpful and I’ll endeavour to provide more frequent updates. As an alternative, please consider liking my author page at www.facebook.com/AlastairLuft if you’d like updates via Facebook, or signing up to an e-mail list through my blog. As always, should you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with me at any time.

 All the best,

 Alastair Luft

Dear Friends

What better day to release The Catcher’s Trap e-book than the first day of Halloween weekend!

This afternoon you will receive an e-mail from inkshares with a link and instructions to download your digital copy of The Catcher’s Trap. Fear not, if you purchased a physical copy you will receive yours very soon. The e-book is just a nice perk Inkshares offers to their readers so you can have access to your books on the go.

You all have done so much for me already, but I have to be shameless and ask you for more. Getting reviews on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads is key for a book to succeed. There is, actually, a magic number: 100

Books with over 100 reviews are featured more prominently on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Visibility is key when you are a new author trying to make a splash in an industry that releases over 3,000 books a day.

Please follow the links and leave an honest review. Seriously, be honest. If you love The Catcher’s Trap as much as you love your mama, then leave a five stars review, but if not 4 or 3 are perfectly fine. A book with all five stars reviews looks fishy to readers.

Goodreads

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Finally, don’t forget to join me on Thursday, November 10th, at 6 PM at North Haven Barnes and Noble, to celebrate the release of The Catcher’s Trap.

You can RSVP here.

Have a thrilling weekend!