With my new work schedule I've been a bit short on time, which has kept me away far longer than I would have liked. After much (over)thinking, I have finally come up with an update schedule which should be workable in what little free time I have.
Tuesdays: blog posts. Hopefully setting a specific day each week will make it easier for me to maintain my oft-neglected blog. I'll post mini-updates and links here on Inkshares each time a new post goes up.
Thursdays: full Inkshares update starting with this one.
Saturdays: new chapter upload if applicable. I'm also going to start posting up chapter sections of Book 2 as a new draft on those Saturdays when the threshold is not met for new Book 1 chapters are going up. I'd debated whether or not to do so since there are some potential spoilers, but ultimately decided it would be a good thing to give people a chance to peek ahead if desired. I don't plan to post more than chapter 1 at this time, and that will be divided between that chapter's sections.
Sundays: I will recommend 2-3 other funding books in mini-updates on Inkshares that I enjoy enough to think that they also deserve your support. I'm a bit slower at typing and reading than I would like though, so that may end up shortening to 1-2 some weeks.
I've also revised the order thresholds for new chapters to also take account for the number of followers. The current goal we're shooting for is 100 orders or 250 followers in order to get Chapter 6 posted up.
Other than that there have been two big announcements Inkshares-wide: Syndicates and the Review-a-thon.
First follow the Syndicates link for full details on them. In particular I already found two I wanted to join: John Robin's Epic Fantasy Syndicate and C. Brenneke's SnarkyDarkSy. As those of you who've read all the chapters I've posted so far may have guessed, I'm a big fan of both epic and dark fantasy to the extend that I try to blend them in my own works. Ultimately for budget reasons I decided to only join John's syndicate for the time being, though if my finances improve I'm definitely joining C. Brenneke's next. This way though I can also continue to independently support 1 - 2 books of my own choosing each month. I'm considering forming my own syndicate but haven't decided yet. I tend to think on a move far too long before making it.
As for the Review-a-thon, I can't describe it any better than A.C. Weston herself, so I'll just copy and paste her words:
"On December 19th, all authors and readers are invited to leave reviews on currently funding Inkshares books using the Inkshares "leave a review" option.
Throughout the day we'll be hanging out on Twitter in the#InksharesReviews tag as we share our favorite book projects, answer author Q&As, debate the merits of astronauts with swords versus cavemen with lasers, and more!
Then, from 6 - 8pm ET, JF Dubeau and Paul Inman of the WriteBrain Podcast will be hosting a video livestream filled with author interviews, review readings, and live announcements of prize winners!
Prizes?!?!
Everyone who leaves a review on December 19th by 6pm ET will be eligible to win one of our fantastic general prizes:
- Sword & Laser Contest Winners Package - print copies of the six winning books from the Sword & Laser Inkshares contest!
- Nerdist Contest Winners Package - print copies of the five winning books from the Nerdist Inkshares contest!
- An immediate pre-order of the book of their choice for five winners!
- $30 in Inkshares credits!
Readers: Peruse the "currently funding" books on Inkshares and leave as many reviews as you want on Dec 19th. You could even start up a "must-have" list of books to order in case you win a free pre-order or the $30 in credits!
Authors: Join our review exchange to leave three reviews in exchange for two guaranteed reviews on your Inkshares project and a chance at author-exclusive prizes! Email me at cara.c.weston@gmail.com to learn more and get on the list.
(And authors, if you're in, please copy the message above and include it in your next update!)
It's gonna be fun."
Now though, its finally time for me to discuss the status of my own project. I'm still getting followers and preorders which is a good thing, but I'll be the first to admit that its at a far slower rate than it needs to be in order to reach even the lighter Quill goal of 250. Currently we're at 61 orders, so 189 more are needed in 50 days to achieve that(or 689 to achieve the full funding goal for more intensive edit/publishing of 750). That being said, we're at 240 followers according to the top of my update page, so if every follower who hasn't ordered yet were to we would be almost to the Quill goal already. Hopefully I can convince those of you currently on the fence to go ahead and place that order sometime within the next 7 weeks.
That's all I've got for this week though, just remember that if you want to get in touch with me at anytime the best ways to do so are on Twitter or on my Facebook page. Thanks for all of your support! (And don't forget to click on the horde of links I embedded in this update, good stuff.)
