Christopher Huang
liked an update for Not Afraid of the Fall: 114 days through 38 cities in 15 countries.
Christopher Huang
liked an update for Not Afraid of the Fall: 114 days through 38 cities in 15 countries.
Hey there readers!
Well, I said I’d have some updates coming for you soon. So guess what? I got updates. :)
If you haven’t already spotted me plastering these all over social media today, here are some progress photos of the artwork for the book!
These come courtesy of the artist, Jessica R. Van Hulle, who is in fact creating AN ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING for the book cover! Why? A) Because she is fantastic, and B) Because I am a crazy person and decided "go big or go home". She is without a doubt creating something that truly captures the old-school fanciful sci-fi spirit that I hoped for with Dax. Can’t wait to see the final piece! You can check out more of Jessica’s work at theladyjessica.com.
Also, while we still do not have an exact publishing date for the book, the editing team says we may likely be looking at sometime in October. I will keep you all posted as soon as I have more to share.
Until next time!
-Tony
Hey early followers of Black Cloud. This book has been a long time coming and I wanted to say thank you for your early interest. In the wee hours of this morning I have quietly launched the funding campaign for Black Cloud. I’m sure you’ll all get an email about it.
I wanted to "soft launch" this campaign because I’m doing something that I think might be a first on Inkshares. I’m giving away a free audiobook of my first novel to everyone who pre-orders Black Cloud. I’m really excited about it. I think it’s a really great value and a great way to entice folks to order the new book. It feels really good to me to do it this way because you as a reader are actually getting something immediately for your money. PLUS you’re investing in a future book. PLUS you get the audiobook whether I make my funding goal or not. It’s really win/win for the reader!
I hope all of you will go check out the updated project page. There is a promo video up now that features an audiobook style presentation of the first chapter. I think it’s a good listen. I punched the "audio" portion up a bit with some music and sound effects. You’ll hear what I mean.
I’m assuming most of you are fellow authors. I hope this experiment goes well. I welcome comments, input, questions, etc. If you guys are able, please check it out and pre-order a copy if you want. In about five days I’ll start the real push for support. I just wanted some time to make sure everything was working smoothly before I started begging people to buy books.
I really appreciate your time and I hope you all have a great day!
- Landon
Hi there friends,
Tony here. I know you haven’t heard from me in a good long while. You may have even completely forgot that you helped crowdfund a book nearly 2 years ago and have yet to see it. For that, I apologize. I assure you that these long delays have been out of my control. And more importantly, NO THIS BOOK HAS NOT BEEN ABANDONED, and YES, IT IS STILL COMING.
"Why the long silence, Tony?"
Well, frankly, I grew a bit tired and embarrassed of sending updates with no real news to speak of. I’m sure you may have grown tired of it as well, so I figured I’d lay low until I could come back with something real for you.
"Why the delays?"
Inkshares is a small publishing team with limited resources, and business decisions resulted in my book being put on the back burner for a very long time. It’s been unfortunate and frustrating, but there it is. The plus side is that I’ve had plenty of time to edit and revise. So the book you’ll be receiving is better than the book that would have been published a year ago.
"So what’s going on with the book now?"
As of a few weeks ago, I was assured by the Inkshares team that they should be able to get my book published and into your hands "by the end of summer". I have submitted the updated version of my manuscript to them and am currently waiting to hear back on the next steps of production. The book has been polished with the aid of beta readers, a professional dev editor, and my own neurotic nitpicking. I even added a bonus prequel short story while I waited. Inkshares will assist with copy editing (sentence structure, punctuation, making sure things make sense, etc), formatting, slapping on the cover art, and it’s off to the printers. Again, hopefully, in an expedited fashion from here on.
"So when exactly is the book coming?"
I wish I had an official date to give you rather than "by the end of summer", but that’s all I got for now. I will let you know as soon as I have more.
"How about that cover art?"
Not that anyone asked, but I am excited to say the final book artwork is in progress. And if the concepts I’ve seen are any indication, it’s going to be something special. So whether or not you enjoy my writing, you will at least have a very pretty book to display on your shelf. ;)
All right gang, that’s all for now. Thanks again for your patience. I hope to have an official date and/or some art to show next update. See ya!
-Tony V.
250 PRE-ORDERS!
Aloha All,
I’m very excited to announce my novel Lost in the Fog has received over 250 pre-orders (261 and counting) and will now be published by Inkshares! Thank you so much for your support, and I cannot even begin to express how grateful I am!
I’m also thrilled to report this is (hopefully) just the first step for Lost in the Fog. Inkshares is sponsoring their Launch Pad Contest, and I’m officially entered. It started April 1st and goes until November 4th, and the top three books on the basis of unique pre-orders will be automatic winners. For more on the contest, you can click here.
All Launch Pad winners will receive full marketing/promotion/editing, and their novels will be sold in brick-and-mortar bookstores! With the 250 pre-orders, I’m only guaranteed Lost in the Fog will be published and available to purchase online, but without any promotion and only basic copy editing. That is cool in itself and a huge accomplishment, and I’m super happy to have reached that goal.
But being a Launch Pad Contest winner would be a dream come true! Not only will Lost in the Fog get full publishing and promotion, there’s also top talent agencies (including UTA & Paradigm) and production companies (such as Village Road Show & 3 Arts Entertainment) involved in the contest. I’m currently in second place on the leaderboard out of 116 submissions. That’s very exciting, but there’s still a long way to go.
The goal now is for new readers to keep pre-ordering so I can cement Top 3!
You are all the absolute best, and thanks again from the bottom, top, and (gooey) center of my heart for your support! If you think any of your family or friends or work colleagues would enjoy Lost in the Fog, I would be very grateful if you shared the link with them via email or text:
https://www.inkshares.com/books/lost-in-the-fog
With the first goal of 250 pre-orders complete, Top 3 in the Launch Pad Contest is in now in our sights! Mahalo, mahalo, mahalo!!
Here’s a picture of me on Maui (on my birthday this past weekend) celebrating 250 pre-orders. 😊
(before you start reading, there is a surprise at the end)
Friends, it has been a while
You may have heard that my absence in the hallways of Inkshares is due to my adventures around the world gathering material for my memoir: Eat, Drink and Pass Out. You may have also heard that I got a job at NASA and I’ll be the first rainbow flag waving queen to put foot on Mars. All lies, friends. All fabrications from one of my multiple personalities.
The truth is I’ve been ridiculously busy juggling a new job, a cranky brain that insists on not working properly and writing Bad Medicine, a novel that I think you will love.
A couple of things have happened since the last time we talked:
1. I finished the manuscript, but then I read it again and decided it needed a lot of work. Characters needed to be stronger, motivations had to be clearer, and villains needed more evil running through their veins.
2. I changed the name of the novel. I thought the tagline “Slay it Queen!” didn’t convey clearly what the novel is about, so I changed it to Bad Medicine: Zombie Slaying Queen! Sometimes straight to the point is best.
3. I started practicing meditation and mindfulness (I won’t be offended if you roll your eyes now) and had an epiphany (roll them again) the goal of this journey is not publishing a novel, the goal is creating art. Taking the ideas bubbling in my chest, shaping them and then surrendering them to you.
Yes, I want to see my book on bookstores but more than anything I want to feel confident that every drop of creativity inside of me labeled Bad Medicine, is out of my system and ready for the world to love, hate, ignored or adored.
In the large puzzle of the publishing process, I have only one job, and I am planning to do it well. I have to write a great novel.
I guess I am asking you for patience and trust. Your novel is coming. I don’t know when, but Inkshares and I will work hard to make sure you feel great about the investment you made six months ago.
In the meantime, since you have some waiting to do, I created a playlist called “Essential Drag” below are songs and videos where I find inspiration for Bad Medicine. Even if you are not writing a novel about a zombie slaying drag queen, these are just fun songs to listen to.
Until the next time...
