And without further ado, here is the cover for Sunshine is Forever! I promise if you ordered a paperback you will be pleasantly surprised by how great this book will feel in your hands. Inkshares did an amazing job!Look for your copy on August 29, 2017! And don’t forget to follow my next book KARID on Inkshares so you can be the first to preorder a copy when it goes on sale.

FOLLOW KARID: https://www.inkshares.com/books/karid

Thanks again for all your support!

Kyle T. Cowan

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 👽

This will be the last update I post before the contest ends.

Proteus remains in fourth place. We’ve been absolutely tenacious in keeping up with the top three. We’ve more than doubled our overall orders over the course of this week, and I have it on good authority that we’ve scared the pants off the competition. We are the charging bull. They are fleeing us.

They’re still probably going to win, but at least we’ve given them a really, really good chase.

It’s not impossible to win from where we stand. The last day of my Tantalus Depths campaign I brought in something like 80 pre-orders, so I know that’s a thing that can happen. But I’m also not going to sweat it if we don’t. The top three books have earned their spots, and I won’t be sorry to see any of them win. In any case, I’m already looking forward past the end of this contest. I didn’t get as far as I’ve gotten by not thinking several steps ahead.

Win or lose, I’m enormously grateful for all of you. You really came through in a big way, and I’m proud to have friends and supporters as loyal and enthusiastic as you are.

A few more hours remain in this contest. We might win, we might lose, but either way, let’s make them work for it.

MID-YEAR UPDATE

I’m guessing most of you, at this point of time, might’ve completely forgotten about my book. Which is fine by me - a blessing, in fact. However, I don’t want to take your patience for granted. So thank you for waiting. Thank you for understanding. And thank you for, as odd as this might sound, the silence. 

Since I’m writing today, you’re probably wondering if there’s good news. Alas, I write this update simply to say I’m still waiting. I submitted my manuscript and all the related documents on March 31st. Since then, I’ve decided to trust that The Slave Prince will start production in its own perfect timing. Silly, I know. What kind of gullible faith is that? However, I choose to believe that the day The Slave Prince is made, is the right day for it to be made. I don’t know when that will be - it could be in 2018 (I hope) - but I believe.

Recently, I wrote a blog post about the perfect timing. It’s sort of my life’s motto (you can read the whole post here: https://jeynagrace.wordpress.com/2017/06/01/the-perfect-timing/). Naturally, I approach this novel with the same mindset. Since it took 3 years to find the right place for The Slave Prince, what’s a few more years? At the end of the day, The Slave Prince is simply a part of my writing journey - it isn’t the finish line.

With all that said, I hope you’ll continue to wait with me. I truly appreciate all you’ve done - supporting the book during the contest, and post-contest with your syndicates (those were such pleasant surprises). I’m looking forward to the day I present you with my book. But until then, believe with me - its perfect time will come.