Howdy! I just got off the phone an hour ago with Adam Gomolin, CEO of Inkshares. 

He didn’t call to talk about the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Inkshares will publish Bane of All Things.

I can’t say when yet. There is still much work to do. The Inkshares team and I are in wholehearted agreement that BoAT be the best version of itself that it can be before hitting bookstores. Debut novels face a tough battle to get noticed these days, what with Netflix, HBO and everything else on a 55-inch flat screen competing for people’s attention.

We don’t want to just publish a novel, but a novel with the best chance of success.

So, it will be back to school for me and BoAT for the next several months. I will get the paperwork tomorrow that will begin my “enrolment” in Inkshares’ Incubator Program. Consider it the literary version of the incubator that a tech startup would go into, with the nose-to-the-grindstone revising and editing that I expected would follow a successful campaign. 

I will keep you up to date as this moves along. Hopefully before too long, I can give you news about an actual publication date and when you can expect the copies you have pre-ordered.

For now, let me say once again, “Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!”

It is not an exaggeration to say that this could not and would not have happened without the patience and support of each and everyone one of you. My deepest and sincerest thanks. I will be reaching out to everyone who ordered two or more copies individually for your mailing addresses to send those signed souvenir posters.

The reality of this might finally be starting to sink in :).

Cheers 

Leo

Your All-Time Favorite Player! For those who pre-ordered 5 or more copies of GOING, GOING, GONE! tell me your favorite player, or name a few players, or a team. DON’T BE SHY! And make sure I have your address. I’ll be putting together baseball card thank you packages in the coming weeks. If you’ve pre-ordered less than 5, feel free to order some more, and hit that 5!

Book update: GOING, GOING, GONE! is in the hands of the Inkshares editorial team. They promise that we will have a publishing date and plan of action in one month. Meanwhile, please mention GOING, GOING, GONE! to your baseball-loving friends. Ask them if it’s OK if you forward their email to me. As you know, I collect those emails.

Thanks so much for your pre-orders and your faith in GOING, GOING, GONE!

Steve Hermanos 

SteveHermanos@yahoo.com / SteveHermanos.com / Instagram / Fbook

Good morning, dear supporters.

Well, we have been in this spot before – only a handful of days before the campaign for Bane of All Things expires, waiting for word on whether or not it’s made the grade.

Have you ever been in that situation where you’re waiting to find out if you’ve gotten that dream job, desperate to know but afraid to ask? 

Trust me, this is that times 10.

Who knows where this might go if Inkshares decides to publish BoAT? Take Tal M. Klein’s sci-fi novel, The Punch Escrow. To date, this novel has sold almost 22,000 copies through Inkshares. But that isn’t even the big news – before The Punch Escrow even hit bookstores, Inkshares had secured a 7-figure movie deal for the book with Hollywood studio Lionsgate.

I can only hope. It’s your support that will help make something like that happen.

As you know, when we crossed the 400 pre-order mark back on April 1, Inkshares editors committed to review the manuscript. I expected to have their decision by now, but these are busy folks with a lot on their plates. They may even be waiting to see how much higher that pre-order total can climb by Tuesday’s deadline before responding to me. 

What makes Inkshares so great is that it will support authors who are still diamonds in the rough. The editors will invest considerable time to help authors up their game and produce a strong novel that’s ready for the big time. 

But their willingness to commit to BoAT and to me, and invest that time and effort, very much depends on how much community support I have been able to muster. It’s your support that tells Inkshares my work, beyond its own merits, is worth their time.

After working on my own dime with a great developmental editor up here in Canada before ever launching BoAT’s campaign on Inkshares, I can only hope that this diamond shows some polish. But still, it is you who ultimately holds the power to swing that vote in my favour.

On Monday morning I will reach out to see if the editors have arrived at a decision. If I can beg your patience one more time, let me again ask that you pre-order another copy this weekend, if not for yourself than for someone else. If you have already done that, fantastic, and thank you very much.

Let’s get that pre-order total a little higher before I bite the bullet and send that email on Monday.

Cheers

Leo

Well, here we are into a long weekend and Bane of All Things’fate remains undecided. That’s the way it often goes in the publishing world. Editors are busy folk. It’s usually the busiest who are the ones an author wants to work with most. 

Getting a novel published and levering that into a career is a long game that demands patience and persistence. In the meantime, here is Smokey and Snowbelle to wish you a Happy Easter, even if neither of them was willing to play along and stay in that basket this morning for the photo opp ;)

Enjoy your time with friends and family this weekend, however you chose to observe it.

I will just leave you with the usual thought – so long as the jury is still out on BoAT, additional pre-orders continue to matter to help influence the editors in our favour. We are at 425 now, let’s nudge that total a little higher!

Cheers

Leo

Good evening. Well, this coming week may be the one we have been waiting for -- I might hear from Inkshares with their assessment of Bane of All Things and whether it has made the grade for publication. Stay tuned with fingers crossed!

Whatever the outcome, know that each and every one of you have my deepest thanks and appreciation for all that you have done and the patience and support you have so graciously provided.

Bane of All Things is of course not the only title in funding on Inkshares. Another is Steve Hermanos’s baseball/time travel mash up Going, Going Gone!, in which a trio of over-pampered, modern-day baseball players are thrust back in time to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Today, Steve hit the 750 pre-order funding goal, which immediately put GGG! into the production pipeline for publication! It’s a huge accomplishment and a testament to his hard work. Steve is a baseball guy and well tapped into that community. He’s done an excellent job of mustering support from baseball fans and the results speak for themselves.

As I have said before, many titles are selected for publication by Inkshares without hitting that 750 pre-order target and I am hoping BoAT will be the next one.

Until the very last minute before I get that fateful email from an Inkshares editor, every additional pre-order does count to help swing the vote in my favour. So, if you have any inclination at all to order another copy (or your first copy) of BoAT, now is the time! Right now, before you go to sleep tonight!

Happy reading.

Cheers

Leo