Hello All,

Well, we’ve got an ISBN and a Library of Congress Control Number.

Here is the cover. It needs a bit of important copy to plug into that white void on the back, a final page count to adjust the spine, and it’ll be done. 

I struggled with the cover art. I initially thought I wanted something pretty, and harassed good friends with my bad ideas. As any sensible person would expect, the results of that direction didn’t translate the content. Also, my ideas of fanciful colors and dynamic fonts didn’t elicit any questions or emotional responses from the people surveyed. Another discovery showed those ideas were lost in the field of contemporary covers.

In a flock of swans, it’s the mangled farm goose that captures your attention. 

Out of frustration, I smashed the front of this in a few seconds and it stuck. It’s the frustration that speaks. The emotion. Those of you that don’t know my story probably understand what’s depicted here on a visceral level. Way down under the level of consciousness - where letters have no meaning and language is unrecognizable - pictures speak. 

All over the world, primitive cultures without a written language scratched and pecked momentous events into stone. Many of those friezes depict times of loss and death; these scrawls often have a horizontal line separating stick figures above and below while some exhibit rows of humanoid figures - both upright upright and inverted. That’s how we described burial or the debarkation of the living to the world of the dead. That’s how we recorded our pain.

Also, I think this cover works for reasons you’ll understand when reading my story.

Anyway, there’s your dose of nerd for the day.

The proof read will be completed and sent to Inkshares on Wednesday the 26th of May. From there, they will merge any repairs into the final pour. After that, it’ll be a few more weeks until the E-Readers are sent to you. Paperbacks follow shortly after that.

Thanks for your support,

Sharek

Hello All,

After a conversation with Inkshares, they agreed to a summer fulfillment if I can provide the proofreading by the end of May. I’ve contracted that through Reedsy with a delivery date of 26 May. Square peg, round hole. I still have concerns; I figure there’s nothing to stop them from kicking the can down the street again. We’ll see.

I’m moving toward marketing, and some disturbing realizations are facing me. Who really wants to read this? It’s not a happy story with a happy ending. Most of it is really depressing. I thought that maybe the story of my family might be able to help families struggling with the same condition (Li Fraumeni Syndrome) as mine, but that’s a horrible idea. LFS has no turnaround. There’s no cure, and now it’s known that traditional cancer treatments aggravate it. You might add a few yeas to a life but that’s it. Everyone needs hope in a situation like that; you’ll cry to God for it but you’re staring down the barrel of a gun. I really hope those families never find this story.

I don’t know what you’ll get from my book - hell half of you probably won’t read it when you get it - and that’s fine. Maybe it’s just for those that are gone. Maybe it’s just the satisfaction of knowing all those moments wont be forgotten.

Thank you for your help. I appreciate it,

Sharek

Hello All,

Here’s the best update I can provide.

The "pour" is the manuscript formatted for printing or digital copies.

From Inkshares:

Proofreading: 2 weeks

Proof resolution and cleanup: 2 weeks

Cold read: 2 weeks

Cold read cleanup: 1 week

Pour: 1 week

Printing/Ebook conversion: 4 weeks

Ship from printer: 1 week

Ship from Inkshares HQ to backers: 1 week

Publication date: should be approximately 2-3 weeks after backers receive their finished books, but discretion is up to Inkshares.

What is that, seventeen weeks?  September?

This evening I offered to drop another K or two on the project to contract the proofreading myself... to keep the ball rolling. I’ll see where that gets us. Square peg, round hole.

I think its down to the odd bits and that most valuable resource, time.

I admit, the copyedit worked wonders and the pour does look perfect. 

Thanks for being patient,

Sharek

Hello All,

For the last time, the manuscript is out of my hands and into the machine. I’ve seen the Elephant.

I’d hoped my mom could have been part of this; that was the plan. I admit, the loss of her midstream took the wind out of my sails.

January 2021, they say, and you’ll have my life in your hands.

If any of you are interested in being part of the marketing - blurbs and reviews - I can provide a PDF of the manuscript proof for your review. Just send me an email:

amalek7th@gmail.com

Thank you for your long suffering,

Sharek Amalek Gadd