Good day, everyone. It’s been an intense four months to get where we are and now it’s crunch time for Bane of All Things.

I can’t emphasize this enough – it’s now or never. We crossed the 250 pre-orders mark a week ago. Help me get this thing past 300 by March 1 by encouraging a friend or family member to pre-order, too.

(And if you have followed BoAT but haven’t yet pre-ordered, please do!)

Before I go further, let me again acknowledge and express my deepest thanks for the support and patience of each of you. This campaign would not be anywhere without you.

Help build the Ripple Effect

Most funding campaigns on Inkshares fail. Some that succeeded hit that 750-pre-order goal, but many did not. As I wrote in my previous update, the Inkshares team is tracking metrics beyond just number of pre-orders to decide which books to publish.

The common denominator among Inkshares’ success stories is that the author’s friends and family had the biggest impact—they not only pre-ordered, they brought in their friends and family to also lend support. This ripple effect is key. An extended community of people who wanted to support a new author, even if the author’s kind of story wasn’t necessarily their thing. 

Many of you have helped to bring in those additional supporters. You have helped to spread the word. And some of you are of course Super Reader supporters. Again, thank you all.

It takes just one, for US$10

I have asked you before about bringing in other supporters. I can definitely appreciate that it may seem like a daunting task. But you don’t have to muster a whole team—it takes just one to make a difference. A single additional e-book purchase by a fresh face for a mere US$10. (Of course, if you can bring me more than one, please do!)

So, I ask you, please and thank you, can you find me that fresh face, today, tomorrow or by the end of the week? It could be your sibling, parent, cousin, child, co-worker, neighbour, workout buddy—anyone interested in supporting a new author and a good cause.

We may be literally a few dozen more supporters away from success! Together we can cross the finish line.

Reach out with a direct message/email or phone call. This is much more effective than social media posts. Remember to tell them that this also supports autism services and if my campaign does not succeed, they do get a refund.

There will be prizes

If we cross the 300 mark, I will be holding a prize draw for a piece of artwork printed on canvas, signed by me and the artist. Do you remember that skull and sword illustration from the early version of the BoAT cover? This is the work of award-winning Canadian comic book and graphic artist Dominic Bercier:

An additional prize will be drawn for those of you who bring in an additional supporter(s) between now and then – a $50 Amazon gift card.

And FYI: You can also pre-order additional copies of BoAT yourself. Up to 10, in fact. That includes e-books. The way Inkshares’ shopping cart works, you can’t purchase multiple e-book copies on one transaction – you have to do separate transactions. But anyone who pre-orders at least three copies, even if they are all e-books, will be recognized as a Super-Reader supporter.

Thanks again, and happy reading.

Cheers

Leo

To our readers and supporters,

We’ve been a little quiet since the start of the year, largely because the ball was in our publisher’s court. We’d delivered the manuscript, and we’d delivered the preorders that Inkshares requires to move forward – in record time, thanks again to all of you – and we were waiting to hear from them.

We’re happy to report that we had our first telephone conference with Inkshares officials Friday, Feb. 15, who told us that our book will be one of the top five projects they’ll be working on in the next few months. The CEO told us he’d read 50 pages so far and planned to read the rest in the coming weeks. Inkshares’ editing team should be responding to us with an editorial letter by early March, laying out their reactions and next steps. The CEO told us that he’s very excited about this project and wants to shape it so that we can maximize our audience. (Which we are obviously in favor of).

This is a new world for both of us, as it’s the first book project either of us have ever worked on. Neither of us had any idea of what goes into publishing a book or how long that process takes. We learned a lot during Friday’s conversation. The company is already thinking about cover art and who will design it. We had done our own mock cover, just to get ideas started, but the company has professional designers it uses. We’re excited to see what they come up with. 

We also discussed the importance of media coverage, particularly radio interviews, to promote the project. Company officials believe the editing process can be completed during the spring. But the earliest possible publication date would probably be in the fall. Inkshares will be doing market research to see if similar books are coming out and when, to determine a strategic release date. But we’re probably looking at fall at the earliest, maybe into the winter.

Clearly, we’re going to be learning a lot. Neither of us ever thought much about market research in terms of timing a release. But that’s why they’re publishers and they’ve got expertise that we don’t.

We do hear from many of you wondering when the book will be published. We plan to keep you updated throughout the year. A few people have asked when the book will be mailed to them. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been published yet, but it will be. 

Doyle first approached Lou with a draft of the book in Oct. 2015. We’ve been working together ever since. And now we’re getting closer to reaching our dreams – this book, published by a real publisher, with our names on the cover – than ever before. 

We wouldn’t be where we are without the support of all of you. Thanks again for your support, your faith in us, and your continued patience. If we could deliver a finished product to you tomorrow, we would. But this has been a multi-year effort for us, and we’re committed to making this the best product we can and offering the best experience possible to our readers. It may take a few more months, but we are going to get there.

Sincerely,

Doyle and Lou