Hello all!
Thanks for all the support as I tried out this new thing! I'm a little late with this final update, but you know how the end of the year gets. Or if you don't, then let's just say life gets busy and I start getting more interested in wine by the fireplace than staring at screens more than work requires. But I digress. New year, no holidays, the time has come to rev up my creative engines once more.
I would not be surprised if Inkshares has already sent out notes to you all on my behalf informing you that Beneath White Clouds is back in "draft mode." My book did not meet its funding goal for Inkshares publication by its December 31st deadline. This is not a shocker. 750 pre-orders were required, and I think I gathered sixty-odd. No worries, as promised, the book will plow on.
Business: If you pre-ordered under the old model, where your payment info was saved for future withdrawal, pending I hit my goal, well then no fundage will be charged to you. If you pre-ordered under Inkshares' new model, where payment was taken up front, then that money is back to you.
Seeing that my crowd-funding drive was going to stay in "I think I can" territory without actually getting over the hill, I started snooping around for other stuff to try out. Last December I participated in #SFFPit, a twitter event wherein authors hurl book pitches into the twitterspace and see if anything sticks. Pitches for Beneath White Clouds picked up a little love - 3 small publishers and 2 agents showed interest. As of this writing, I've contacted all but one of the publishers (who seemed shaky to me). "Thanks, but No" responses have come back from 1 agent and 1 publisher. I'm waiting to hear back from the others. Patience is the name of the game as things progress at the speed of the publishing industry.
If nothing comes from those avenues, I might try Kindle Scout - It's an amazon thing that works a little like Inkshares, but with no money exchanged, just votes, and no hard goal. Just gather lots of votes, and some Amazon droog will take a look and deliver final arbitration as to whether the book gets Kindled. I dunno. Might try it, but on the other hand, I'd hate for the book to only be available for Kindle. On the other, other hand, it would cost nothing for anyone, I wouldn't be asking for money, and I might get paid. Eh, we'll see.
In any case, no matter what, I can always self-publish. I did that for BREAK!, and had a lot of fun doing it, and that's what really counts. (Oh, hey! As a thank-you for being a supporter, and for reading this far, here's a gift. If you like Epic fantasy, you can download BREAK! in any e-book format from here. Use the coupon code JA52C to get it for free. Enjoy!)
So, one way or another, Beneath White Clouds will come out in 2016. I'll keep in touch personally, and remember each contributor in the book. Look for news to come through e-mail from my addy: eland001@gmail.com. You can also keep up with all my ranting and occasional useful info through facebook, twitter, and ericlandreneau.wordpress.com.
It's been a fun attempt. Didn't work out, but I learned some great new things and made connections with some fantastic people. Can't put a price on that. Thank you all. Most of you are writers, all of you occasionally have to write something, so I'll end with my preferred send-off: Happy Writing!
Peace,
Eric Landreneau
