July 24, 2017

Good morning, everyone. Sending out a brief update on Shadow King to keep all of you informed on what the current scoop is:

Shadow King
I’m still in the queue for the editor. After speaking with Angela at Inkshares, she let me know that they will try to kick-off my project as soon as possible, however, there are close to 50 books in the Quill forecast and they are a small team. They try to honor submissions on a first-come, first-served basis but some other considerations factor in (I’m hoping to find out a little more about those factors).

They’re currently working on three Quill books with Reedsy but will only kick-off new projects when they are confident they can be managed without a sacrifice to quality. I’ll keep everyone posted as I learn more--thank you as always for sticking with me through all of this!

Coming soon: Pre-order a copy of Shadow King and enter to win a signed copy of Darkstar Rising.
Earlier in my writing career, I self-published a fantasy novel called Darkstar Rising. You can read more about it on my website: www.susankhamilton.com. If you have not pre-ordered Shadow King yet, you could win a signed copy of Darkstar--stay tuned for details coming in August.

Please follow The Devil You Don’t on Inkshares
Entries are now closed for the 2017 Launchpad Competition, and in the coming weeks, I’ll find out if lightning can strike twice for me. Devil has its own Inkshares page now: www.inkshares.com/books/the-devil-you-don-t. I’m very excited about this new story and would love to keep you updated on it as well.

Thank you!
Thanks again to all of Shadow King’s supporters; your enthusiasm means the world to me. I’ll send another update in August. Have a great week!

Best,
Susan

PS. Hopefully, those links are active above--when I update from this particular computer I often have trouble with links looking live as I write, but then not working after I send. Fingers crossed!

There is big news on the Crow’s Gambit front! The book has been selected as the July 2017 pick for the “Break the Bechdel with Strong Female Characters Syndicate”. The syndicate comment was: 

Patrick Tebbe’s Crow’s Gambit takes the reader into another world that is fascinating and realized. Luckily for us, our guide is Cassie--a smart, savvy protagonist who will pilot her way through both politics and alien interactions with a calm, cool and collected brilliance. 

The interest and support of the Syndicate and its members is greatly appreciated. Thank you. 

More to come soon...

PT

July 18, 2017

Hello, hello! I wanted to send a quick note to thank all of you for following "The Devil You Don’t," especially at this early stage.

Entries for the 2017 Launchpad Manuscript Competition closed the other day, so now it is up to the judges, so fingers crossed! Right now the top 25 are scheduled to be announced on September 12, but I’m not sure if they’ll do a Top 75 and Top 50 prior to that (they did last year, but those milestones are not on the official list).

In the meantime, I am working through a really robust set of edits to the manuscript, and am excited with how it is developing. I think these changes help raise the stakes for my two main characters, Mara and Duncan, and give more depth to their relationship as it unfolds.

I’m also working on a book trailer to use once (with luck) I’m able to open Devil up for funding on Inkshares as part of the competition. I’m not, however, going to do more work on the trailer until my manuscript edits are done to make sure it is truly reflective of the story’s content.

Thanks again for your interest in "The Devil You Don’t." I’ll send out another update when I have some news to share. If any of you have questions, you can message me through Inkshares or through email: susankhamilton@yahoo.com, and of course, if you know anyone who might be interested in joining us on this wild ride, please share my Inkshares page with them (https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-devil-you-don-t)

Best,
Susan

This is the best update of them all!

WE DID IT!!!

With the help of you who are receiving this email (the “follower” list,) we finished the contest in the top three and have won the publishing prize! That is the dream of every writer, to be published. I have ONLY YOU to thank for that. There are many excellent writers who never have this opportunity. The difference here was YOU!

Here are the numbers: Mission 51 has an awesome number of “Followers” on Inkshares: 419. Most of you helped with a pre-order. Mission 51 would not be getting published like this without those pre-orders! Pre-orders is what Inkshares uses to determine who merits publication. It can’t be done on Inkshares without your vote of confidence and crowdfunding support! - Many followers helped with public exposure and awareness by simply “liking,” and “sharing,” and “commenting” on the Inkshares site, facebook, twitter, and instagram. Even without purchasing a pre-order, drumming up support for Mission 51 like that was enormously helpful. The level of interest and enthusiasm for Mission 51 was phenomenal! I will point out proof of that in just a bit.

Of the 419 Followers, 246 of you purchased a pre-order. Wow!!! That’s the number that counted for the contest. That’s the number that was top three out more than 180 submissions.

Those 246 fabulous supporters purchased a total of 267 copies, as some people purchased multiple copies of the book. That’s the crowdfunding Inkshares is looking for to: 1. prove the project is worth it, and 2. provide funds so they can at least start the expensive process of pre-production and production.

Those 267 copies broke down like this: 63% ordered ebooks, and 37% ordered physical books. That amounts to over $3,600 worth of crowdfunding support!!! That’s HUGE!!! Inkshares will use all of that and more to provide world-class editing, layout, production, marketing, and distribution services. I will update you all later on the timeframe of this exhaustive and comprehensive process. 

So the Mission 51 project page on Inkshares suddenly changed at 3:00 AM EDT this morning as the contest ended. The part that said “Funding” now says “In Production.” I am so very, very happy and proud about that! The green funding bar has disappeared. But I’m happy that most of the content is still visible. 

There is now one new little badge which appeared under the title and description on the Mission 51 project page. It says, “#18 Community Interest in Science Fiction.” I am blown away by that!!! There are many Science Fiction projects on Inkshares. To be ranked as #18 in Community Interest is unbelievable! That’s the proof about "interest and enthusiasm" I was alluding to!

I am starting to receive emails from Inkshares about my next steps. I have a number of things to learn and to decide, as you might imagine. As I know more, I will continue to keep you all informed through this medium. I ask for your patience as Inkshares navigates Mission 51 through their pre-production process. The goal is to eventually have a professionally polished product in your hands as soon as humanly possible. It won’t be as soon as anyone of us would like, but I will do my part to make it happen as soon as possible. I’ll keep you informed.

Again, THANK YOU! From the bottom, middle, and top of my heart, THANK YOU!!!

Peace!

Ferd 👽