Jane-Holly Meissner liked an update for APEX

Dear Readers,

I have been working through several different potential versions for my story for the past couple of months, and I’m pleased to say that I’ve worked out a new story board and plot line that I think is great. My daughter, Amanda, has been a huge help--listening to version after version and asking questions that come to her mind. She’s also great at suggesting "what if?", making me think about my characters and story in new ways. This has allowed me to fix major plot problems and fill gaping holes, which has created a stronger draft.

I’ve submitted it for review and should hear back in the next couple of weeks from Inkshares. They’ll likely have edits and revisions for me to consider, and then I’ll plow back into the writing and redo the manuscript. This shouldn’t take long, as I have the whole story envisioned from start to finish, and I have at least 50 percent of my original manuscript I can tweak and use.

Many thanks for your continued support! We’re one major step closer to having this book in your hands!

Cheers, Debbie
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    Jane-Holly Meissner liked an update for The Last Faoii

    Updates, Faoii! Listen up!

    We’ve done so much and gotten so far during this war, Faoii, I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I am.  This book is going to become a real thing, and I have YOU to thank. You’re the ones that brought us to the top of this hill, and you’re the ones who deserve the spoils at the end of it all. I could not have asked for a better army.

    Updates on our progress: This week I finished up the final round of edits with Reedsy and I am SO pleased with the changes made. This was a much more thorough edit than I expected (since it was a copy edit rather than a developmental one) and The Last Faoii is a much stronger book for having seen it through.  After that was finished, Inkshares took The Last Faoii back to begin its pour (this is where they develop the layout for the finished product). Our finest victory to date is on the horizon!

    Also, this last, frantic charge up the hill brought on some really amazing changes for The Last Faoii’s look. Thank you to everyone who joined in the small skirmish on my Facebook Page to decide on a new cover. With your ideas and with the help of the incredibly talented Evan Graham (Author of Tantalus Depths and Proteus, both of which you should check out) we now have this beautiful new image to represent our army:


    Is that not both fierce and beautiful? Is that not worthy of the Faoii name? I hope that that is the cover of a book you’d be proud to show your friends, because the time is coming when we will have better chances and stronger allies in our fight to make The Last Faoii known. Soon I will call on you again to spread the word that we have taken the first hill, but we are not through. The world will know us, Faoii. Let me hear your battle cry! 

    Shields up.

    Faoii-Tahani

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      Jane-Holly Meissner liked an update for Dax Harrison

      Hi there friends,

      Tony here. I know you haven’t heard from me in a good long while. You may have even completely forgot that you helped crowdfund a book nearly 2 years ago and have yet to see it. For that, I apologize. I assure you that these long delays have been out of my control. And more importantly, NO THIS BOOK HAS NOT BEEN ABANDONED, and YES, IT IS STILL COMING.

      "Why the long silence, Tony?"

      Well, frankly, I grew a bit tired and embarrassed of sending updates with no real news to speak of. I’m sure you may have grown tired of it as well, so I figured I’d lay low until I could come back with something real for you.

      "Why the delays?"

      Inkshares is a small publishing team with limited resources, and business decisions resulted in my book being put on the back burner for a very long time. It’s been unfortunate and frustrating, but there it is. The plus side is that I’ve had plenty of time to edit and revise. So the book you’ll be receiving is better than the book that would have been published a year ago.

      "So what’s going on with the book now?"

      As of a few weeks ago, I was assured by the Inkshares team that they should be able to get my book published and into your hands "by the end of summer". I have submitted the updated version of my manuscript to them and am currently waiting to hear back on the next steps of production. The book has been polished with the aid of beta readers, a professional dev editor, and my own neurotic nitpicking. I even added  a bonus prequel short story while I waited. Inkshares will assist with copy editing (sentence structure, punctuation, making sure things make sense, etc), formatting, slapping on the cover art, and it’s off to the printers. Again, hopefully, in an expedited fashion from here on.

      "So when exactly is the book coming?"

      I wish I had an official date to give you rather than "by the end of summer", but that’s all I got for now. I will let you know as soon as I have more.

      "How about that cover art?"

      Not that anyone asked, but I am excited to say the final book artwork is in progress. And if the concepts I’ve seen are any indication, it’s going to be something special. So whether or not you enjoy my writing, you will at least have a very pretty book to display on your shelf. ;)

      All right gang, that’s all for now. Thanks again for your patience. I hope to have an official date and/or some art to show next update. See ya!

      -Tony V.

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        Jane-Holly Meissner liked an update for Kanimbla

        G’day everyone,

        This will be the last update from me regarding Kanimbla.  I just wanted to let you know that after spending the last month deliberating, I have made the decision to cancel the Kanimbla campaign on Inkshares.  

        There are a number of reasons for this, the largest being that Inkshares’ distribution power is severely limited outside North America.  If I knew then what I know now, it is very unlikely that I would have ever considered a campaign with Inkshares.  The only reason I spent the last month considering my options is because there is still more than a month to go in the campaign (two months when I first came to the realisation that Inkshares might not be the best publishing option for me), the campaign has received backing from the Fantasy Syndicate and is about halfway to its goal which meant that the campaign was very likely to successfully achieve the Quill publishing goal if I were to continue.  So I had to make sure that cancelling was the right decision.  

        In the end, I have decided that the benefits from publishing through Quill do not outweigh the disadvantages of Inkshares’ poor distribution power, which would have prevented the book from ever appearing in Australian bookstores (although it would have been on American shelves), and either sorely cost my Australian readers or forced me to self-publish in addition to Quill in order to alleviate some of the unwieldy shipping expenses. 

        I have emailed Inkshares to cancel the campaign so for those who have already pre-purchased their copies, refunds should start being processed over the next few days.  

        For those on Inkshares who have backed me, I wish you well with your own campaigns.  You’ve been a great bunch and I plan on staying in touch over Slack. 

        For my friends and family who have already supported me, I am absolutely overwhelmed that you would even consider paying $50+ for my book just to support me, and shocked that the number of you that opted in at the $120+ level for three books.  Although I have always prided myself on my choice in friends, that was a lot to ask, but you delivered without hesitation.  It means a lot to me. 

        However, this is not the end of the road for Kanimbla.  I will be pursuing other publishing opportunities, and one way or another the book will be published.  If everything goes pear-shaped and I am unable to have Kanimbla published through traditional or alternative means, I will pay for professional editing and design services and then self-publish the book so that it will be available at a fraction of the cost Inkshares was charging (approx $20 delivered instead of $60) for the same quality book.   I should be able to pull most of your email addresses off Inkshares so when Kanimbla is in production, I will let you know. 

        In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to follow me on https://www.facebook.com/cshpicone/ and/or https://twitter.com/csh_picone as I will still be producing short stories, poetry, game reviews, interviews, and other content in the meantime. 

        Thanks again and love you all!

        Cheers,
        Pico
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          Jane-Holly Meissner liked the forum thread, Welcome new and old!
          Just a quick note to the entire Inkshares family. I’ve only been up-and-running for a few weeks now, but I’m already struck by the energy I’m steadily drawing off of this place. I should have known that surrounding myself with a fraternity of writers would do exactly that, but it’s been much more than I expected. So often what we do is such a solitary endeavor, staring at the screen and that taunting cursor, that it’s easy to assume the hurdles and obstacles and celebrations that you’re experiencing aren’t being experienced by other writers here, there and everywhere. This site is a welcome reminder of all that. Thanks for the many kind welcoming words over these past couple of weeks. It’s good to be here.
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          People who have liked this comment in the forum thread, Welcome new and old!

            Jane-Holly Meissner liked the forum thread, Welcome new and old!
            We have a pretty solid community. I know I wouldn’t be anywhere without some of the connections I’ve made here. Welcome to the fold!
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            People who have liked this comment in the forum thread, Welcome new and old!

              Jane-Holly Meissner liked the forum thread, Welcome new and old!
              Yeah, Hi everyone, I’ve just been lurking and reading old posts to get a feel for the place, but I already check the forum often  to see what’s new. I plan to be a lot more involved once I finish writing. You’ve got a great community here, Thank You
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                Jane-Holly Meissner liked an update for Artificial Generation

                Hey everyone! 

                So the Nerdist Contest is over, and I’m sorry to say that Artificial Generation was not among top 3, so it won’t be published this way. 
                Then again, I am over the moon for being among top 10 in this contest, and want to thank all of you for that. It would not have been possible without your help and support. It meant, and mean, a lot to me still. Thank you from the bottom of my being. 

                So what happens now? 

                Well, originally I had planned to go through with the campaign and try to publish the book through Quill or even a full funding, but life gets in the way. 
                Because of some personal issues, I have decided to end the campaign now - if Inkshares will let me - and not publish Artificial Generation just yet. 
                The book is finished, and I do plan to publish it in the future, but it will not be withing the next months. I do hope you will still be interested when this happens, and I will keep you all updated! 

                Again, thank you so, so much for your help and support!
                And congratulations to the 3 winners!

                Cheers,
                Anniken

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                  Jane-Holly Meissner liked an update for Proteus


                  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.


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                    Jane-Holly Meissner liked an update for A God in the Shed

                    Friends... I have some really cool stuff to talk about.

                    But first, I need a favour. You get this from probably every single author you support, whether on Inkshares or on any other platform. Once we publish, we all become these strange creatures that seem to feed on one thing and one thing alone: reviews.

                    The arcane mechanisms that explain why reviews matter so much in books sales are difficult to explain and keep changing (thanks Amazon algorithms!) but they are always important.

                    So go review A God in the Shed on Amazon and/or on GoodReads. Smarter people than I say that 50 should be a good goal for now, so lets go with that. Can we do 50 reviews in two weeks? I think so.

                    So what other cool stuff do I have to talk about? Well, that’ll have to wait. I want to have photos.

                    "I have such sights to show you." - Pinhead, Hellraiser

                    JF

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