Prescott is one brilliant dude, and I cannot wait to see what he cooks up, in any medium!
Time for another character update! This time we meet The Diamelen’s ever-eager geologist, Becky Traviss!
Will Becky’s inquisitive mind and extensive experience exploring exoplanets help the crew discover the mysteries of Tantalus 13? Will her insatiable curiosity lead her to push the crew deeper into the depths of this alien world than it is prepared for? Will her academic experience be of any use when things begin to unravel around her? Find out when you place your pre-order of Tantalus Depths!
First Edit is DONE!
Hey folks, I’ll try to walk the line between too many updates and never hearing about the progress of Pilot X, but I think this is a good milestone.
The Developmental Edit is done!
What the heck is a developmental edit some of you ask? Now some of you are sneering because you know what it is. Stop that. Not everybody is as smart as you.
Basically this is the edit where Clete finds the things that I abd my beta readers didn’t realize were confusing or contradictory. I slap my head and go WOW how did I miss that? I take his suggestions add a twist of my own and YOU end up with a better story.
Among the highlights
- The people of the Fringe Cascade have much more readbale names but their horrible spellings have been preserved as a hilarious joke. At least Clete and I think it’s hilarious
- The Encyclopedia chapter is now at the end of the book as an appendix so you all don’t throw the book out the window thinking the whole thing is a dry recitation of facts
- A really confusing bit where Pilot X travels back int time to the same point three times is now understandable.
There’s more but it would be spoilery.
So there you go. Developmental Edit MANAGED.
Now it’s off to the copy editor where they will wail and gnash teeth at all my typos and utter lack of comprehension of the proper use of a comma. Clete tried to catch most of those things but he is only human and I am really awful at commas.
MARKETING PLAN! There’s a marketing plan. Spoiler: THIS IS PART OF IT RIGHT HERE!!! But also exciting things like newspapers and blogs and radio and podcasts. Heh. Podcasts.
Also a side note. Amazon decided the book comes out in February which it doesn’t. The expected release date is still March 14. Amazon just makes up stuff sometimes apparently.
And that’s it! By all means please let me know if you have any more questions and I’ll keep you up to date as we pass more milestones.
As always THANK YOU for your belief in this book and making the publishing possible. You are the best.
Tom
A Huge THANK YOU !!
As all of you who already checked your emails have found out - WE DID IT !
I must admit that in every scenario I ran through my head writing this email - it was always close or pretty damn close, but never have I dreamt that we would reach 750 orders, and 11 days ahead of schedule.
What next? Well, the truth of the matter is that I do not know... The book is already available to buy as a regular book on Inkshares, but it will take time for me and whoever will be chosen as my editor, to create a final marketable version. What I do know, is that I will work as hard as I can to make this novel the best & worthy of your support.
I want to thank each and every one of you who pre-ordered. But before I will quickly run through what I’ve learnt during these 4 hectic months and a day, I wanted to specially thank people who actively helped getting me orders & supported in any way they could: First my wife Yael who not only helped but endured this thing firsthand; my Dad Yosefi, Mom Mira & Sister Michal who actively bugged everyone to a great personal cost of their own; my Aunt Ilana who is by far the top referrer; My mother-in-law Orit; James Rasile & Evan Graham who came close second as referrers; My mom’s friends who helped raise orders as well: Dieda Robins & Judith Lynn, and everyone else who pitched in - I am forever grateful. Finally all my wonderful friends from home and work, who I bugged relentlessly, and they keep answering my calls regardless - you know who you are!
A special thanks to friends I’ve made along the way who helped with orders or just moral support: Billy O’keef, Peter Ryan, Kelsey Barthel and Rick Heinz - you guys are the best. As well as to all my supporting Goodreads buddies (Vicky, Paula, Diane & Anna Jane) who have been more than kind but actively took a chance on someone who was, until recently, a stranger.
All these people have helped with no personal gain of their own, simply because they like me or my book, and this means a lot.
Regarding the Charity - I want to keep the pledge to Norwood UK a while longer - so any book sold in the course of July, regardless of the referral, will grant 3.5$/2£ for this special cause.
Finally, before i come back with an official schedule (I am just in the dark as you are), I wish to take the time and tell you what I have learned in these educating 4 months and a day:
I learned to write better; I learned to accept criticism; I learned Social Media (is the devil); I learned video making; I learned crowdfunding; I learned that a picture is truly worth a thousand words;
I learned about the kindness of strangers;
I learned about cruelty and jealousy;
I learned that best friends are best friends (and they are always there for you);
I learned that family is family - no matter what you decide to do;
I learned the value of helping others;
And I learned there’s nothing we can’t do - however far it may seem, if we just set our minds to it.
Oh and these babies will be going out to top referrers, so expect a personal email about it soon ;-)
More in due time...
J Dital
Hi, my faithful and wonderful Readers,
