Hello Cape’s Side faithful!

Wow. Wow. Wow. What a weekend THAT was! We passed the coveted 250 mark of pre-orders, meaning that Cape’s Side Bay WILL be a published book!

But... that is no reason to stop. Light-publishing is an accomplishment and I couldn’t be happier about reaching it and in such a short period of time. 

So now the question becomes, "can we reach 750 and full-publishing?" It will not be easy and will take a lot of work. We’ve all gotten this far, why not take Cape’s Side further? It will be published after all, so why not bring it to its full potential and achieve full-publishing?

We wouldn’t be at 250 without the help of a lot of people. Some iparticular were been critical to the success of Cape’s Side and, frankly, I doubt I would be this far without them.

Last week Ferd Crotte, author of Mission 51 sent out an update informing his followers of Cape’s Side Bay. His book is in the middle of funding and is something you should definitely check out!

Christopher Johnson’s book Seven Days Dead just became a staff pick and is an excellent zombie tale. Trust me it’s on you’re gonna want to read! He also sent an update regarding Cape’s Side.

Evan Graham, who’s book was in the Geek % Sundry contest finishing 5th, Tantalus Depths, is cruising with 84 days left, check it out and bring it to Quill!

Don’t miss out on Project Human by Tabi Card (Cape’s Side Bay cover desinger) big news coming for it soon! She has a few more Cape’s Side "tricks" up her sleeves!

Joni Dee, author of the Wolf Shall Dwell is helping me out with editing the book. The chapters uploaded are all drafts, and hopefully in the coming months I can clean them up and upload them again! 

We’ve received 38 recommendations so far. Unbelievable! I’m so happy that so many of you believe in the book. It’s truly amazing.

I just want to give two final shouts out before this bloated update comes to an end! When I first posted Cape’s Side Bay as a draft from idea I had no idea how things would work out, I had no idea when I was going to go into pre-orders, but I knew I had a book written. After the first weekend I had no idea if anyone would like it, or even care about it!

Stephen Carignan (who I am sure most authors on here are familiar with!) gave Cape’s Side a fantastic review, the first review! It made me feel good about the book, and the future of it. His comments were the type I needed when setting this up. It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle of inkshares, and seeing others acknowledge your work is critical. Stephen has a book taking pre-orders now, The Sleeping Man, and it’s amazing! Check it out you will kick yourself if you don’t!

and

Alexander Barnes, co-author of the Amaranth Chronicles: Deviant Rising, he gave Cape’s Side it’s first comment, and he said he was intrigued... and that was a big deal because, again, it peaked an interest in a reader I had never met. The Amaranth Chronicles is excellent, go for the artwork, stay for the book!

Finally...

It takes a lot of nerve for an individual with no real fanbase to crowd fund, to ask for their money to support a project that they have no reason to believe in. All of these people and MORE (much much more, they will be given their due I promise!) helped get this book this far. 

So there’s a long way to go for full-publishing still, but it’s nice to be where we are!

Keep spreading the word and let’s make this the best version of Cape’s Side Bay that we can!

Talk soon, enjoy your day!

James

I bought a book. Now what? 

This is the first update I’ve dispatched since These Are My Friends on Politics reached its full funding goal and became a real published book that a real publishing house is putting into real bookstores instead of the unprofitable ones I see in daydreams. So a thank you — to everyone who bought in, followed along, shared it with others and otherwise showed support for this little ray of light in this insatiable nightmare of an election year — is overdue. 

But it’s overdue for a reason, because rather than thank and leave you with a vague "you’ll get it someday!," I wanted to show my gratitude by letting you know exactly what’s happening with your support. (And I wanted to know what I was talking about before I started talking.) 

So here’s what’s happened. I sent in the manuscript and the initial cover design. Inkshares’ production partners at Girl Friday sent both back with some notes and some ideas about modestly bumping up the page count to hit the magic 64-page printing number (long story having to do with printers and multiples of four) and very possibly give the book the hardcover treatment (at no extra cost to you, of course) instead of the softcover treatment. (No promises yet on that, because I don’t know if it will happen, but it could happen.) I made a batch of new pages, lightly touched up a few existing pages, and handed in version 2. They sent back a few more notes, I did a last round of small touchups, and then I cropped and sized the pages so that they’re printer-perfect before handing in version 3.

And here’s what happens next. While the production wizards take those pages and assemble them into a sharp-looking book with all the interior and exterior necessities it needs, the marketing wizards at Inkshares are ramping up an extensive (word not used lightly — it’s extensive) plan to put the book inside national and independent bookstores and in front of media large and small that cover not just books, but politics and current events too. All of these wizards and plans are joining forces to coordinate a far-and-wide-reaching release in October, and if you’re a backer, you’ll have your signed and numbered copies of the book most likely a month before that October release date. (Again, that’s not ironclad, but based on what I’m told and on my own experiences as a backer of other authors’ books, backers getting their copies a month early seems to be the norm.)

So that’s the roadmap. It’s lengthy (even though it’s hyperloop-fast by book publishing standards — these things almost never happen inside of a year, never mind six months), but it’s that way because a lot of talented people are using really impressive resources to give this book the best possible chance it could ask for. When I said back in the campaigning stage that fully funding this thing is a (to borrow a phrase from the great Eddie Olczyk) tremendously tremendous deal, this is what I had in mind. So thank you for helping make that a reality.

5+2+1+1+6 = 15 

As is customary with these updates, I’ll close it out with the best thank you gift of all: some new pictures of Nina, who turned 15 on May 21 but whose face and table mannerisms remain indistinguishable from those of a puppy. Enjoy, and thank you again.