It has been a while, and so many great things have happened. Let me break them down.
Since getting bumped from Quill an Inkshares property, and getting all the wonderful benefits that come with that, The Living God went through several rounds of developmental edits. It has been copyedited, "poured" into book format, proofread, and had a brand new cover designed by Tim Barber of @dissectdesigns!
I don’t know about you, but I think it looks fantastic. I’ve gotten several compliments on it ranging from, "Its beautiful!" to "It looks like a NYT bestseller!" And while it may not be a NYT bestseller (yet, gotta keep the faith), it sure does make me feel like one!
The whole process has been a rollercoaster of emotions, mostly joyful. However, there is a change that I am sorry to inform you. The publisher has moved the release date to May. This is to better strategically place and market the book. While I’m bummed you won’t get it for a few more months, I understand their decision to do so.
These things take a lot longer than I ever anticipated when I started this process and when you pre-ordered in 2016. I want to thank you all again for believing in me and in this project, but especially for your patience. May will be here before you know it, I promise.
Happy New Year Everyone! I hope that 2019 is off to exactly the start you were hoping for.
I recently discovered a review that was posted back in December. That was quite the nice new year discovery!
I wanted to let you all know that paperbacks of More Fun and Games are now available! You can get them the following ways:
Your own friendly local bookstore can order them through Ingram. It’s ISBN 9780578214610
or
You can order them through Amazon
or
If you would like a signed/inscribed copy, you can order them through my own friendly local bookstore, The Briar Patch. If you had previously ordered the ebook on release day, you can use the code EBOOKFUN to save 99 cents on the purchase. You can put in inscription requests in the comment section at checkout.
I’m also determined to write more this year, which at least so far has exhibited itself in the form of working on my webpage, authordavebarrett.com. In particular, I’m going to be writing mini-blurbs/reviews of books as I read them this year. I’ve got two posted already, though I’m certainly not going to maintain a two-book-a-week pace. I’m also going to try to keep up with my blog.
As always, you can follow me on twitter or check out my facebook page.
And not but least, if you’ve already read More Fun and Games and haven’t left a review at your favorite etailers and Goodreads, please do so! A review is like giving an author a hug!
Thank you all for your continued support.
Dave
Hello Love Cats!
Check out this awesome review of The Love Fool on the renowned Kirkus Reviews.
Link: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lorenzo-petruzziello/the-love-fool/
Spread the word and keep on loving.
Lorenzo Petruzziello (author)
Just got off the phone with Inkshares and we have a plan. We’re hoping for an autumn release. To do that I need edit notes back in a couple weeks then turn around revisions. So yay! We’re making progress finally! Sorry for the long time between updates but as the progress continues I’ll keep you updated.
Hey, everybody. It’s been a long time but, rest assured, neither I nor the book have died. In fact, I’ve finally got some news for y’all, which is why I’m sending out this update. (It seemed counter-intuitive to send out updates when there wasn’t any news, hence the long silence.)
I just received the copy-edited version of the manuscript and—if we meet all of the deadlines—the book has been assigned a tentative publishing date during April, 2019. I am going to endeavor to reach every goal we’ve set for which I’m responsible, so I’m confident that, come April, this book will finally come to life.
It’s been quite the journey, I know. I didn’t expect it to take this long, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you have forgotten about it, and about little ole me, even, in these ensuing years. But we’re back, baby. Disintegration is happening.
I’ll keep you posted on any further developments. Watch this space.
P.S. Please be sure to update your shipping address, if you’ve moved some time in the last three years. :-/
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We had fresh snow this morning and it’s starting to feel like Christmas. Since we’re in Michigan, it’ll probably feel that way until May.
I hope that you have a great holiday and time with family & friends. I’m grateful for all that happened in 2018 especially for your help in publishing my novel Gumshoe Rules. Best wishes, stay warm and here’s to an even better 2019.
--Zack, Gregg & Roxie
The 14th has come and gone, and the Inkshares Mystery & Thriller Contest is over. Unfortunately for us, both "Richly Drawn" and "Ripe for Execution" put on a last-minute spurt and forged ahead, leaving us in fourth place and off the winners’ podium.
HOWEVER
While we don’t have a guaranteed publishing deal, we still have a chance. Inkshares is currently evaluating each of the entrants for inclusion as an "additional winner". A number of contest entries have been counting on this "additional winner" spot, I believe; but I also believe that fighting for a top three spot (even if we failed!) has put us in a much better position to get it.
We should know by January whether we’re going to get the go-ahead after all.
In the meantime, pre-orders remain open on "Cat’s Paw" until the end of January, and Christmas is almost upon us. I don’t know about you, but I refuse to let any of this get me down. May the new year bring all the best we could hope for!
It’s official: The Astronaut Instruction Manual is Amazon Best Seller
As of today, The Astronaut Instruction Manual is an Amazon Best Seller. That’s Top-100 Children’s Books: Science: Astronomy & Space for all age groups. This is the big list. Here’s a screen shot:
Amazon Best Seller! Gosh! So today if you are receiving this message from me it’s because you have been with me all the way here. If you have enjoyed the ride and The Astronaut Instruction Manual, there is one thing and one thing only I am asking of you to keep the momentum going.
If you enjoyed it all, write and post a book review on Amazon for The Astronaut Instruction Manual.
Writing and posting a simple review is how you and I will get The Astronaut Instruction Manual into more hands of more kids who are readers. And that’s all I really want, for kids who love reading (and love Space) to read the book I wrote for them because I was them. Here’s the link.
Four years ago (!) we started this journey together. Today, we have an Amazon Best Seller. In my opinion the best is yet to come. And if you can write an Amazon review it will guarantee it.
Thank you, my friends, family, and supporters…
Oh my Google! What a day!
Mike
We did it! The Inkshares Mystery & Thriller Contest has ended, and with your help, I came in first place. I don’t think that’s ever happened to me since I ran a 10k race, New Year’s day in Toronto some years ago and it was so cold just about no one showed up.
Thank you everyone who supported this creative project. It’s because of your support that Gumshoe Rules will be published by Inkshares. I couldn’t be more excited about this. In November, I pledged a donation of $5 per order to the non-profit NaNoWriMo.org that organizes National Novel Writing Month and then doubled that in December. I rounded up and donated $1,000 to NaNoWriMo.org, a very good charity that encourages writing and creativity.
As I understand it, the process from here is as follows: There’s still about half of the book left to edit for this latest draft, which will take until January. Then I’ll submit the manuscript to Inkshares and we’ll begin another round of editing. Depending on what input and feedback they have, I’ll have to rewrite some sections of the book. Then a cover is selected and there’s proofreading, copy-editing, marketing and so on. Eventually, many months from now the book will be formatted, printed and shipped out. Hopefully all that happens in 2019.
I’m fully committed to getting the book completed as fast and with the best quality possible. I will share updates as milestones are achieved, but communications will be less frequent. If you ever have questions about the book, you can shoot me email and I’ll do my best to respond.
Thank for giving me this opportunity to publish my book.
—Z.Z. Traver
PS. It was a thrill to meet with Inkshares CEO & Publisher Adam Gomolin at their offices this week. He knows more about story structure and closing rights deals than I will ever know.