Hello Machiners! A pleasant Saturday to you! 

We have VERY significant news on a numbers of fronts. I am going to list the highlights just below, so you can quickly see what I’m covering in this update - then you can read more on any topic!

1. We have an AUDIOBOOK!

2. A second bookstore event - East Coast-style!

3. Last Machine artwork in an ART GALLERY!

4. Slash and burn prices! eBook now only $1.99!

5. 1,500 total book sales!

6. We need more REVIEWS on Amazon!

#1: I know. I said this was a big-time update! So for the AUDIOBOOK. It’s available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. It’s narrated by voiceover professional Scott R. Smith. It’s amazing! Don’t take my word for it, listen to it yourself!

This is what I’m doing. If you haven’t read Last Machine yet, no problem! Send me a message - Email (matthew.sobin@gmail.com), or on Twitter or Facebook, and I’ll send the first 10 people a coupon code to get the Audiobook for FREE. That’s right! I assume that if you are receiving this email, that you at least have some interest in reading / listening to Jonathan’s story. All I ask in return for the free audiobook is a review on Amazon and Goodreads. It can be as short as a sentence or two about why you liked the book. Reviews are critical - more on this below!

#2: Do you live in the New York area? I’d love to see you in October. I will be doing a second event, this time at Book Revue in my hometown of Huntington, NY! I’ll be reading and signing copies, and refreshments will be served. What could be better? It’s on Monday, October, 23 from 7-9 pm. 

It’s by no means required, but if you want you can RSVP here! 

#3: Are you in the San Francisco Bay Area? Super treat for you then! The artwork for The Last Machine in the Solar System is part of an Art Gallery Show! So crazy cool. It’s an amazing show with an eclectic mix of SciFi and Steampunk artwork. The show runs through August 5 at the Sun Gallery in Hayward, CA. The ARTISTS RECEPTION is next Saturday, July 22 from 1-4 pm. I’ll be there with the legend himself, Jack Katz. I hope you can join us for artwork and a double signed copy! :-) 

Also, not necessary, but you can RSVP here!

#4: Look, I want everyone to read this story. I really do! The eBook is now available on Inkshares and Amazon for only ONE DOLLAR & 99 CENTAVOS. You like SciFi, right? So please do us all a favor and grab Last Machine for Kindle and leave a review on Amazon :-) 

#5: 1,500 sales?! Holy cow!! Thank you, and THANK YOU! Next stop, 2K! 

#6: This has somewhat been covered already, but it bears repeating: REVIEWS are the absolute lifeblood of newly published books. We need to get to 100 on Amazon. It’s not really an option. Like winning the contest, that wasn’t optional either. So let’s make a big push! We’re at 32 on Amazon right now. 68 to go! 

As mentioned before, we have an Audiobook now and I’m offering it for FREE in exchange for Reviews on Amazon and Audible. Also, I’ve slashed the eBook to $1.99. No barriers to entry for this entertainment! Leave a REVIEW!! 

I will leave you with this today. The Last Machine is doing amazingly well, and I have you all to thank. That’s forever. But there’s still a ways to go. Below, you can see us in the Tri-City Voice newspaper about the Sun Gallery exhibit, and in Green Apple Books, a San Francisco institution, on the fiction table - next to some guy named Neil Gaiman! Keep spreading the word!

Wow... what a month it’s been.

Since the launch of A God in the Shed, it’s been a bit of a wild ride. Did a couple of local signing events, went to a convention in Utah... started writing the sequel.

While I’d love to bore you with the nitty gritty details however, this isn’t my diary. There’s new I need to share with you. News you want to know about.

Let’s start with this:

Gorgeous isn’t it? Joseph Gates of Gates of Imagination is making six of these for me. Each will have a hand written, unique secret about the story inside. You want one? Well, good news.

When I reach 100 reviews on Amazon, I’ll be raffling off one of these beautiful leather-bound copies of the book. I’ll randomly pick one of the first 100 reviewers as the winner. If I can’t get in touch with them after 48hrs, I’ll pick another. Until I have an address where to mail this beauty. So if you read the book and have a few moments, might be worth writing a short review. It doesn’t even matter if you rate it 1 star. You’re still eligible. And if you have a few extra seconds, copy and paste that review to Goodreads.

What else? Oh yeah!

You want an audiobook of A God in the Shed? If Amazon isn’t lying to me, you’ll be able to get one on July 18th. So if you’re less of an eye-person and more of an ear-person, this might be up your alley. I know you can already pre-order, so there you go.

Finally, why not take a moment to check out my other project currently funding on Inkshares? The sequel to my debut novel, The Life Engineered, is taking pre-orders. You don’t even need to have read The Life Engineered to enjoy it (though it adds that extra layer, and The Life Engineered is only 99 cents on Inkshares right now). Check it out!

As always and forever, thank you friends. You absolutely rule.

JF

Happy Midsummer everyone!

It’s the middle of July and warm weather has finally come to Maine.  Birds are chirping, the black flies are (mostly) dead, and most fun of all is seeing the pictures showing up in my Facebook feed of people showing off their copies of It’s All Fun and Games.  It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since it was released, but time has the tendency to keep moving forward, doesn’t it?

I keep running into people who want to know when the sequel will be coming out, so I wanted to give you an update on how More Fun and Games is progressing.  My summer teaching has been taking a bit more time than I’d hoped, which means editing has slowed down a bit.  I’m still chipping away at it, however - I’m maybe a third of the way through so far.  I’ve added Chapters 1 and 2 to the preview read on the project page, so you can read about the start of this new adventure.

Now my part is only half of the work.  YOUR part is the other half.  Inkshares only publishes books that a) cover much of the up-front cost; and b) show an established interest.  The 2400 or so copies of It’s All Fun and Games that have already been sold shows the interest.  Now we just need to cover those editing and design costs.  Please, if you’ve got the interest and means to do so, head on over and preorder your copy now.  

I also have one additional (less costly) favor to ask of you.  DragonCon, one of the largest fan conventions in the country, gives out the Dragon Awards annually.  I would deeply appreciate it if you could swing on by the nomination page and nominate It’s All Fun and Games in the "Best Young Adult/Middle Grade Novel" category.  Sure, it’s a long shot, but so was publishing in the first place, so why not give it a try?

As always, you can find me on twitter @llabak and on Facebook 

Thank you all for your continued support, and enjoy the rest of the summer!

Best
Dave

Greetings Jackolytes,

I’m currently in Saskatoon, Canada, the spiritual home of Jack and Sync City. Thursday morning at 7:50 am (CST), I’m going to be on the CBC Saskatoon morning radio show to talk about the book.

If you’re in Saskatoon, you can find it at 94.1 FM. If you are not in Saskatoon, then the following link will get you there: CBC Saskatoon Morning. You can find the live stream in the top right hand corner.

As I mentioned, the time is 7:50 am (CST) - you’ll have to work your local time out yourself!!

Enjoy the day.

Cheers,

Peter

Okay!

So, around 92% of you want the slightly delayed autographed book, and that is what you shall get. On July 24th I will enter Inkshares’ office with a bunch of special pens and not leave until every pre-ordered signed book is numbered and autographed. For the few of you who wanted your books early but unautographed, I’ve discussed the matter with Inkshares and they asked that you simply pop them an email at: hello@inkshares.com and let them know that you pre-ordered a signed copy of The Punch Escrow, but you’d rather get an unsigned copy sooner.

More news soon! We’re almost at the finish line. We’ve crossed the 4,000 pre-orders threshold. Tell you what, if we break 5,000 by July 24, I’ll add something extra for all of you early backers.

More soon!

-Tal 

This is a short but very important update, so please take a moment to read it:

Because of some complications owing to particulars involving the unique glue required to bind the amazing foil cover we’ve designed for The Punch Escrow, I won’t be able to sign the books in time to get them to you before the July 25 publication date. So, I need to know if you guys would rather have the books early and unautographed or slightly late and autographed. By "slightly late" I mean I’ll be signing them on July 24th and Inkshares will ship them out that day, so you’ll still get your book on publication week, just not on publication day. But it’s up to you. And by "you" I mean the collective "yous." We’re going to make this democratic with a survey. You can fill out the survey here, and whatever the majority decides 24 hours from now will be the way we do things for everyone who pre-ordered the autographed books.

Here’s the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/ZBBDCQF

More news soon!

-Tal

Poetry lovers, art lovers, good morning! 

I hope you’re all having a great Sunday. It’s been a long while since I’ve updated this project. I have a new poem, and I want to share. A Jack Katz illustration to follow in the next week or two. Enjoy!