Hello followers of the business of monkeys. Hope everybody is doing great. I know its been a long time since I updated you but it’s cool, you get plenty of updates from Inkshares. I wanted to say happy holidays and new years and all that jazz. 

I am currently in the process of recording an audiobook for Monkey Business. This is me doing it on my own time and own dime but I hope it will be a fun listen for anyone who is interested. I have learned that it’s really hard to narrate and audiobook! When it’s ready, I’ll let you know how to get a copy.

Also, if you’ve read Monkey Business and would like to leave an Amazon Review, that would be just fine and I would be most grateful. I stalled on the long road to 100 reviews but I think it’s at 57 right now, which is pretty good. A few more would certainly help though!

If I haven’t mentioned it enough, Monkey Business would make a great gift. I mean, a great gift.

And lastly, if you haven’t purchased or read Monkey Business yet, check it out. I think it makes a great I’ve had too much eggnog and don’t want to talk to my family anymore escape this holiday season. Instead of watching A Christmas Story that third time, crack open a funny little book that takes place somewhere with palm trees, sand and sun. And exploding fish.

Happy Holidays you crazy kids.   ~ Landon

Hello, friend!

As you know, Devil’s Call was chosen for Inkshares’ 2016 The List, which is a contest to see which of the site’s top-rated but as-yet unpublished manuscripts will get the full publication treatment.

Devil’s Call has been parked at 9th place since the contest began, which is nothing to sneeze at. In order to win the contest, we need to sell the most unique preorders between now and December 31st.

I personally will be content if we sell another 116 preorders, which will put us at a nice round 250. So my humble request to you:

If you already preordered your copy, I appreciate you. There’s a Recommend button on Devil’s Call’s page that will generate a code for you to share with your friends on Facebook or Twitter, if you haven’t already.

If you’re on the fence about preordering, I’ve uploaded the revised first chapter. This is the chapter that will be going to my editor and coming back with line notes, but it already looks immensely better than it did six months ago. Your preorder will help ensure this novel looks and sounds the best it can when it hits shelves next year.

And, since I have a reputation to uphold, here is an appropriate gif to wrap things up.

Happy Tuesday!

Dear friends and followers:

Christmas is coming. So is my birthday. If you’re following the Julian calendar, those are on the same day. I think it’s pretty clear what I’d like for Christmas....

Well, the List contest continues apace. Thanks to you, I’m still in second. There’s no place for complacency, though, as I am not convinced that the numbers are entirely accurate: I believe that some of the books behind me have uncounted readers, which puts them a lot closer to knocking me out of position than I’m comfortable with. And things could easily change over the next month.

I’m grateful to all of you for having gotten me this far.

Meanwhile, I have not been neglecting the book itself in favour of selling it. I’ve updated the first two chapters on the site; I’ve worked out the actual calendar-date timeline for the events of the novel, and I am happy to say that the story officially begins on 31 October 1924. I’d very much like to be able to hand this in first thing in the new year, but that’s all dependent on what happens with the List.

Speaking of timelines and the upcoming New Year, it’s been a while since I made any recommendations. So here are a couple that I believe you’d enjoy, and whose authors would also appreciate the Christmas gift of your vote of confidence.

1) "Manifesto", by Daniel Poort. This one’s a psychological thriller about a small-town cop on the trail of a serial killer. Poort promises an escalating body count; and of course nothing says edge-of-your-seat like murder and betrayal.

2) "Shady Place", by David Byrne. A more light-hearted take, I think. A police detective and a mobster retire to the same seniors’ community, and find they have to work together to prevent a murder. If they play "good cop/bad cop", I wonder which would be which....

Until next time: have fun, and keep reading. And tell all your friends!

Happy December Everyone!  I hope that as we move to the darkest time of the year you have your own lights to guide you through until spring.

I’ve got a few pieces of news I want to share with you all, now that November is all done.  Why November, you ask?  Because of NaNoWriMo, of course.  The genesis of these incredible Fun and Games was a month of throwing myself into “literary abandon,” and each year since 2007 (with the exception of last year’s editing frenzy) I have written a 50,000+ word first draft between November 1st and 30th.  For instance, the novel that you read was written in November, 2010, with the sequels written in 2011 and 2012 (yes, the series is complete(ish)).  After taking a year off into a different direction (don’t ask, it was awful), 2014’s novel was a standalone Chuck-centric story.  This year focused on Stu, and while I’m not done yet (about 53k words and counting), I can now take a breather without feeling guilty.

A couple exciting things happened during November.  First, we crossed the 2,000 sale threshold, which is absolutely amazing.  I sold just under 800 copies during the frantic funding phase, so that’s over a thousand copies purchased by readers through amazon and friendly local booksellers all across the country.  That’s super cool.  If you come across a free range novel, feel free to swing by Facebook and share it!

Second, the audio book was released, and is now available for download via audible.  You may remember that I shared the webpage of the supremely talented actor who performed it, Cassandra Lee Morris.  I’ve listened to a good chunk, and she really knows how to bring a story to life.  Sitting on some audible credits or just want to experience It’s All Fun and Games on your commute?  Swing on by and pick it up.

December is a season for giving, and my publisher, Inkshares, is giving everyone a great deal – you can order It’s All Fun and Games through my project page for only $4.99, and that includes free domestic shipping.  A great gift for all those cousins, nephews, nieces, and anyone else who would like a fun fantasy adventure to read this winter.  It’s not just my novel on sale, either – there’s a whole host of books all there for the grabbing.  Want a suggestion?  Shoot me an email, or check out my blog at authordavebarrett.com.  I’ve been away from it, but I think a nice book recommendation list would be a great addition, once I re-learn how to work the website.

On the review front, after my last email there was a flurry of posts on Amazon.  As a reminder, indie authors live and die by the review and the referral.  If you liked it (or your kid liked it, or your dog liked it) please pop over to your favorite ecommerce site (Amazon, B&N, BAM, or all of them!) and leave me a review!  And of course, if you’ve got a Goodreads account, that’s a great place to go too.  I’ve got 66 reviews at Amazon right now.  I’d love to hit 100 by Christmas!

Lastly, I’ve had a bunch of people asking me about when the sequel would come out.  At least three or four people, that is.  I’m not entirely sure if Inkshares is the place for book two (in a non-contest world I would need to sell 750 preorders at an increased price of $20 per book to fully fund), but I will probably be testing the waters along that front sometime in the near future.  Look for another update with a link to the new project page. 

As always, you can find It’s All Fun and Games on Facebook, and me on Twitter.

And as always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support.

And then, all of a sudden, it was done.