It’s crunch time, people. We are less than two weeks out from the end of the Geek & Sundry hard science fiction competition. Yes, we are in the lead. But there are no guarantees. Though my wife insists I stop hustling and giving all of my free time to this publishing contest before my daughters forget their daddy’s name, I can’t sleep properly until I see my dream of publishing this book come true. It’s not crunch time, it’s Captain Crunch time.

Saleem Dar, a fan of the book has provided this killer puppet rap for The Punch Escrow:

Share it with your friends, tell them if they pre-order the book I’ll buy them lunch. Yes: It’s THE LUNCH ESCROW. What a great idea for a promo Tal’s sleep deprived 12:34am mind! Let’s run with that. On top of all of our other giveaways and raffles, I am announcing the ultimate giant raffle: One lucky (for some definition of that word) winner will be taken out to lunch by me. I might come to you or bring you to me. We will *not* be teleporting. It will be an epic lunch. We will not eat bugs, which are the primary protein source for people in in the 25th century (turns out soylent green was just beetles). It will be awesome and delicious, and anyone who’s pre-ordered a book gets an entry. You get a second entry when someone you refer pre-orders a book.

Oh, and the winner of last week’s shirt and a mug raffle is... Erik Ebert! Erik, I’ll be in touch at the end of the campaign to sort out shipping logistics. There’s another raffle this week, keep those pre-orders and referrals coming!

Last thing:

I haven’t really been using this to promote other books, but there’s one I think  you guys should really check out. It’s called Lucky by RH Webster, and from what I’ve read so far it feels like this generation’s The Last Starfighter. I like it not only because of that, but because the protagonist is a girl, and it’s seeming like the kind of story I’d really want my daughters to get into. 

Well, this is it. The curtain has fallen on this campaign. The deadline has passed for the minimum of 250 copies sold, and unfortunately, my novel didn’t quite make the cut.

First order of business: all money will be (or already has been) refunded to you. If it isn’t within the next couple of days, please let me know, or contact hello@inkshares.com to get it sorted out. I’ve heard of some backers not getting the e-mail informing them of this yet.

My campaign’s postmortem assessment could yield a host of explanations as to why the campaign failed, but it would be pointless to get lost here trying to sort through all of them. What I accomplished at Inkshares is far beyond what I ever imagined. I’m an introvert with no fanbase or connections in the literary world, and so it was enough for me to push myself outside my comfort zone as much as I did. I met a lot of great people along the way and learned a lot about the business. What’s really important is that I generated some genuine enthusiasm around my novel, which is priceless for future success. To me, this was a victory.

This outcome is okay, because this isn’t the end of the road for this novel. There are plenty of routes to go through traditional or self-publishing, and I will explore them. As I make progress on that front, I will continue to update everyone who backed me here. One huge gain at Inkshares was meeting John Robin, who is a talented writer and all-round great guy in the community (and author of the wonderful fantasy novel, Blood Dawn). I’ve already reached out to him about employing his services to perform heavy edits on my book so that it’s the best version of my novel when it is released.

I will still recommend Inkshares to other authors, because I think it’s a great platform that is supported by an overwhelmingly positive community of like-minded writers. I hope more readers discover Inkshares so that funding is easier for authors who are trying to find their audience. I’ve seen other authors’ dreams come true at Inkshares, and I won’t rule it out for funding future work.

The Inhabitants will remain on my radar as I polish up the first draft. However, I do have some real-life things to tend to. My first child will be born this month, and he will take priority over everything. I will work on the book when time permits, but please understand my time is going to be otherwise consumed.

Oh yeah, and the last and most important part: THANK YOU. Seriously, thank you SO much for supporting me and believing in me. It actually makes me tear up a bit as I type that. I will honestly miss making those awkward raffle videos, because that was my opportunity to give back to you, as hokey as they were.

Thank you to my early adopters. I will never forget who you are. I mean this. You backed me without hesitating, and that means so much to me.

Thank you to everyone who helped blast my novel across social media. You did it at the expense of annoying all your friends and followers, and I am extremely grateful for that.

Thank you fellow Inkshares authors for providing support. And by "support" I mean anything you did to make this whole experience less daunting. You are some wonderfully talented individuals, and it makes me blush to even share the stage with you. I hardly feel worthy.

Thank you to the staff at Inkshares. You’ve created a safe place for authors to display and fund their work. You obviously care about your authors and work tirelessly to create the best books possible when they reach their funding goals. You take a financial hit publishing these books, and it’s a sacrifice that shouldn’t be overlooked. You are doing a huge service to authors by giving them this platform and constantly improving the user experience on your website. Thank you for making this possible!

Goodbye for now, everyone. May your dreams lead you to extraordinary places.

-Michael