Hey followers... special update.
Hello everyone,
Cara Weston is the author of "She is the End" which is seeking funding through Inkshares as well. She's graciously provided me with a bundle of her work to hand out to the next 50 customers who purchase my novel!
https://www.inkshares.com/projects/she-is-the-end
Grab yourself a copy of The Children of the Forest, and snag not only a chance to win a $250.00 gift card to Amazon on December 10th, but also a cool piece of collectible art, featuring several of Science-Fiction's best female leads!
The Children of the Forest only has 4(!!) days left to hit its funding goal for the Quill printing option. Pre-order a copy (or 10) and help me reach my goal before it's too late! https://www.inkshares.com/projects/the-children-of-the-forest
End of November update: I has finished my developmental edits and a quick round of copy editing. I've also filled out the Inkshares paperwork. For everyone out there, their initial packets they have you do are not light reading. It easily takes a few hours to fill out, and a few trips to book stores.
They ask about your target audience, excerpts you want, what kind of books you like, what covers are appealing to you, why are they appealing. What percentage of your presumed reader base are male or female? So on, and so forth.
I'm super curious to see how this process goes from here on out. On Tuesday, I turn everything over. I'm glad to see that Inkshares has a very robust initial packet. It's feels good to provide them with some meat.
I'll keep you guys posted! Now my next step is to continue with a two more rounds of editing. One more developmental edit, even though I already had that done, a second pass never hurt anyone. Then a round of copy editing. This last part, I'm super pumped for. I'm a storyteller, not a writer by trade. So I'm about to pick up a bunch of new skills and grammar rules I probably never even heard of.
Zac Linnville has already been busting my chops on comma usage in dialogue. :).
This is the final weekend in November and thus begins the countdown until I finish the first draft of Blood Dawn! I have approximately sixty pages left to write, and I complete twenty every weekend -- so I'll be done the second Monday in December!
There's still a lot of work to do once the first draft is finished. I'm getting some beta readers to give me feedback, I've got an editor already working on what I've written so far, and then I have to do rewrites. While there's still a mountain of work ahead, I am completely on schedule to have this finished and ready to hand into Inkshares in mid-April, when my campaign wraps up. And then, some months later, we'll all be holding a copy of Blood Dawn in our hands.
As I get closer and closer to that final date, it just seems to sink in more and more that I've accomplished writing Blood Dawn. I've had the ideas for this novel percolating in my head for decades and now it's finally out on paper. (Well, out on pixels on the screen.) But the story doesn't stop there -- Blood Dawn is the first in an epic series ... an epic series that has several more books ahead. If I get my way, I will be writing more stories for you for decades to come, and they will get more and more exciting with every book.
But none of this will happen without the support of wonderful, amazing, supportive readers like you.
So many people have already taken the time to pre-order a copy (or multiple copies) to ensure that Blood Dawn sees the light of day through the Quill imprint. For this, I am so grateful! But if we work together, we can get it up to the Inkshares imprint.
If you haven't already pre-ordered your copy, please consider doing so. Ebooks are $10 and print books start at $20. Click here for more info. And if you've already pre-ordered a copy, you have my eternal gratitude, and all I would ask is that if you have a friend or family member who loves epic fantasy, please share Blood Dawn with them and encourage them to pre-order a copy for themselves.
That's it. That's my sales pitch. Thank you for allowing me to share it with you.
And to reward you, I'm going to at last unveil the REAL mastermind behind Blood Dawn.
This is Wizard. Do you see now where I get all my ideas? Can you not just see the wheels turning in his eyes? All the plotting and conspiring? When he's not busy figuring out how to get up onto the newest unexplored ledge, he's on my laptop adding to the story, usually brief passages like sl;a;hjdfkjah;fjl;sdlafj;sdjf;sdk;jf and alksfj;ohouh. I hate to delete his earnest contributions, so I usually just move those to the outtakes file.
Now that you see that it's really WIZARD who is behind all this, why not support this cute kitty? Can you really look into that big, adorable stare and not support his desire to be heard?
Thank you! And to my American friends, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.
hello,
I feel slightly guilty for not doing a monthly update and not keeping in schedule. I understand that some of you may not know what is currently going on. So I have some good news to deliver this time. So of it has to do with my book, the other...is slightly more important.
I am going to start with the good news. I have officially 'won' nanowrimo. Yay! It's kind of a writer's thing where everyone kind of get together and bashes their keyboard for an entire month repeatedly in a valiant attempt to type out something legible that could pass for parts of the books that the aforementioned writers were working on. The ones who 'won' wrote FIFTY THOUSAND words in an month, an average of 1,667 words a day. I did my own thing and were pleasantly surprised to find a certificate with my name on it.
But I am not celebrating and clicking my toes just yet (mainly because I can't do that); my book still needs a strong ending. So I estimate I will have to keep on writing until Christmas, yes, I work even in the holiday season. THAT'S how dedicated I am, you don't see a lot of people working through the christmas season...mainly because I got nothing better to do (excuse me, I need to have a talk with a dark corner. We are on a talking basis).
The other piece of good news is that there is an inkshares thing going around (that we writers created of our own volition, because we are good people). Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Get ready for the inaugural Inkshares Review-a-Thon!
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 much, much more!
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!
The Prizes:
Everyone who leaves a review on December 19th by 6pm ET will be eligible to win one of our fantastic general prizes: (make this a bulleted list) 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 the event organizer, Cara "A.C." Weston, 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(well, all work and no play make jack a dull boy :P).
HEY.
GUESS WHAT.
Get ready for the inaugural Inkshares Review-a-Thon!
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:
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.