Kaytalin Platt liked the forum thread, Tips for staying motivated?
Thank you, all of you, for sharing your own experiences - another thing that isn’t always easy to do. 

@Kaytalin Platt - it’s quite painful reading your response and recognising some very familiar feelings; and similarly - for me, one of the most painful and difficult parts of all of this is not nasty responses from strangers, but apathy from people who I know very well. 

I took your very useful advice, took a day for myself away from anything book-related and from reading any emails/comments/updates and just let myself recharge and then came back to write over the weekend. 

Pretty sure the rest of this adventure is going to be exhausting as well, but I’ve managed this far and really, overall, it hasn’t been as awful as I thought it would be; I’ve had some wonderfully positive responses from people I didn’t expect them from and most importantly, am writing something that I love writing. 
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    Kaytalin Platt followed Mission 51
    Mission 51
    After a tragic, fifty light-year voyage, Zeemat crash lands on a beautiful and sometimes hostile alien world... the planet Earth! Will he return to his own planet or make Earth his new home? Mission 51 is an immigrant story that is out of this world!
    Kaytalin Platt liked the forum thread, Converting Inkshares Specific Followers to Pre-orders
    Hi, Kaytalin and everybody!

    Just chiming in quick, if I can. (Literally, I am wondering how brief I’ll be here.)

    As it’s been mentioned, reaching out via direct message on inkshares can be a good way to go. You have to both follow each other before Direct Message becomes an option, though, I think. BUT, and this goes for everybody... DO NOT USE A FILL-IN-THE-BLANK TEMPLATED MESSAGE!!! Or, if you DO, do not make it obvious. 

    During recent contests, I’ve been getting maybe 1 direct message every other day which I can tell is just a cookie-cutter message. "Hi [Joseph Asphahani]!!1! I really like your [The Animal in Man] book! Such great characters. Really gripping! Would you have time to check out my own [here’s a link]? And if you like it, please share with all your friends! Hope I can count on your pre-order!"

    Something like that does waaaay more harm than good. 

    I know everyone has a busy life. It’s all too true. We’ve all got day jobs. And sometimes during a campaign you wish you could find that ONE strategy that’s like the EASY button. But which is better,  spending an hour spamming 100 people to secure 1 order, or spending one hour to painstakingly examine another author’s work (or two) and have some genuine comments that start a real conversation, which is much more likely to earn you not just a pre-order, but SUPPORT?

    Campaigning sucks. It’s so tiring. I know. But cutting corners is just going to get you lost. Take each step forward carefully.

    ....damn. Wasn’t so brief.

    (Again, this comment is focused solely on the concept of Direct Messages, and may or may not apply to other aspects of the campaigning experience. User discretion advised.)
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      Ryan Cook followed Kaytalin Platt
      Kaytalin Platt
      Designer and marketer by day, writer and illustrator in the spare time I can steal from life.
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      Kaytalin Platt liked the forum thread, Converting Inkshares Specific Followers to Pre-orders
      What I suggest is personally contacting them. Some may not know it’s up, others might just need that small push, but it’s very important to create a relationship with your followers. Make friends with them, and they will be your friend.
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        Kaytalin Platt followed James Rasile
        James Rasile
        Author of Cape’s Side Bay, and my own personal letters to Santa Claus.
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        Kaytalin Platt sent an update for The Living God

        Hey you beautiful people!

        We are still bouncing back and forth between 5th and 6th this week. Right now we have 94 Unique Readers and we need 23 more Unique Readers to pre-order in order to get into the Top 3. The gap is widening, but I’m not going to be disheartened by it. As much as winning this contest would open a lot of life-changing doors or as much as I think my book is worth making it into the Top 3, it is definitely a matter of how many people you know and  I’ve almost reached the end of my network. I have a lot of maybe’s on the fence, but not 23 of them. I desperately need your help.

         

        I can’t repay you with pre-orders, because I don’t have the monetary means to do that. But I can repay you with graphic design work like cover art, bookmark design, fliers, etc (excluding illustrated work). I can also repay you with recommendations and reviews on your work. Just message me! 

        Anyway! Onward to some cool things. How would you like some history about one of the main characters? 

        KELEIR AHRIMAN

        Keleir was born cursed with the soul of a Rauke at war with his own. A Rauke is a creature forged from the excess matter left over at the birth of a universe, and can only exist by taking a human child as a host. Like all children born with a Rauke, Keleir was surnamed Ahriman, which means darkness. From the time he was born, until he turned five, his village tortured him in the hopes that it would save him from his curse, but it ended up unleashing another, more terrible one instead. He killed his father and brought a Blood Curse upon himself, which allowed the Rauke control. He fled and was taken in by the Adrid army, where he fought for them and earned the bloody reputation: Lifesbane. For thirteen years the Rauke was in control of Keleir’s body until Saran found a way to give his consciousness the reins again. Keleir has spent the last five years atoning for his sins by helping the rebellion he almost crushed and fighting to keep the Rauke at bay. Keleir Ahriman is a Fire Mage.

        Second treat: A short, old bit of writing I did a few years ago |Click Here|. 

        Next week I’ll have another character profile up and another random bit of writing for you to enjoy. Have a great weekend guys! 

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          Kaytalin Platt liked the forum thread, Converting Inkshares Specific Followers to Pre-orders
          I feel you on the order-for-order. Coming from a country with a weaker currency, this technique is a no-go for me. As for motivation, I think there isn’t any. People follow projects out of curiousity, but not all are interested in getting a copy during the funding stage. I guess we’ll just have to write convincing backer updates to move them into supporting the book financially. And of course, hope they read our backer updates too. 
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            Kaytalin Platt followed Jeyna Grace
            Jeyna Grace
            A fantasy author from Malaysia. I write because my imagination needs a place to breathe.
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            Kaytalin Platt liked an update for A Beast Requires

            It’s Wednesday! That solemn day we set aside for Woden, because what’s better than celebrating the middle of the work week than a day to remember the Norse god of the gallows. Granted, he did some other stuff too.  But, yea! Wednesday!

             

            As it stands, 81 backers have pre-ordered 103 copes of A Beast Requires, putting it at 41% of its Quill publishing goal. This is pretty great news, but the 91 days left in the campaign are going to go by super fast. I’m working on this week’s video right now, but after that, I’m leaving it open to you guys, the backers. 


            So, what do you want to see me talk? What aspects or parts of A Beast Requires are you interested in? I’ll touch on any subject, or can spend time answering each question individually. Every backer put their hard earned money behind me and my book, so I figure it’s a good opportunity for you all to be involved in the crowdfunding crazy train. Let me know on Twitter, or by DM, and let’s see what we can come up with for next week.

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