An avid reader.. My son Paul wrote Ghosts of War. Check it out, all support greatly appreciated. It ...
So the several year long journey of getting Ghosts of War: Retribution to publication day has finally come to an end. Many, many hours of writing and editing and deadlines and design and planning and crowdfunding and...
I got a cold on release day, proceeded to be wiped out, and forgot to do an update...
Go me.
But fear not! The book is just as released today as it was yesterday and here are three simple things you can do to help the book as it takes it’s first steps into the wider world.
1. Read it!
Unsurprisingly the first step is to actually read the book. If you haven’t yet received your print copy (they’re on the way!), you should be able to download the ebook from the Inkshares website. If you haven’t bought it yet, and would like to here are a few places you can do that:
Physical
Ebook
2. Leave reviews!
The next step is to head over to Amazon and Goodreads and leave your reviews. I believe the magic number is 50 reviews for Amazon before it does something magical with their algorithms. So lets aim for 50.
Every review helps grow the books profile, and will help to get it in front of more peoples eyes.
3. Tell some people about it! (or everyone even)
Spread the word. Tell people about the book. Encourage them to buy a copy (and leave a review!)
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I think that’ll do for the moment. Lastly though, I want to thank everyone that helped make this thing a reality, you’re all awesome. It still feels weird. It still doesn’t feel real. But I am a published author today (er, yesterday) because of all of you.
I do really need to go lie down now though.
Just a friendly reminder that it’s very important that you check and confirm your shipping address prior to books being shipped out. You all should have received an email from Inkshares in the last day or so prompting you to confirm your address. You can follow the instructions there, or follow the ones below. Either way it’s very important to do so, as I know several of you have moved, because if the address isn’t right in the system (if you’ve moved for example) YOU WON’T GET YOUR BOOK!
And I don’t want that. You don’t want that. No one does.
I know what you’re thinking: Another update so soon? Well, this one has been a long time coming. Even the animals are talking about it...
That’s right! The team at Inkshares has informed me that production has really started ramping up for The Animal in Man I: Violent Heart, and the book will be hitting bookstore shelves on September 25th of this year! Granted I’ll need to keep my s**t together well enough to meet all the deadlines on my end, but I owe YOU - my supporters, my greatest strength through all this, the thing that’s kept me going - and I’ll get it done.
Friend me on facebook, look me up on Twitter, stay tuned to your email for more upcoming updates on book signing events in and around Chicago as that wonderful date draws near! And if you haven’t already, check out my new and improved promotional video for “The Animal in Man.”
THE MOST IMPORTANT UPDATE....IN THE WORLD.
Want some news? Here’s some news...
To the best of my knowledge, very shortly (if not right now) Ghosts of War: Retribution will be off to the printers.
That right, it’s D-O-N-E, done.
Edits have been done, copy edits have been done, covers have been done and finalised, the interior has been designed and finalised. Done.
So what now? Well, there is one thing that is rather important:
Shipping Addresses!
Since Ghosts had its backing period so long ago, undoubtedly some of you have changed address in the meantime. If you want to receive your physical copy of Ghosts of War: Retribution, it’s very important to update your address on the Inkshares site (or just confirm it to be super safe). Just follow this simple guide to fix everything up:
With that squared away, you should safely receive your print copy (provided you bought one) some time before the general release date of the 17th of July. If things stick to the current schedule, I believe that backer print copies (and ebooks) are set to go out around the 15th of June.
And now onto some pretty things.
Like the final full cover spread (the final book is 416 pages, and should be just under an inch thick):
and the blurbs pages and title page:
That’s all for now. I’ll be doing a couple more updates in the run up to release, and I’ll make sure to keep reminding you all about confirming your shipping addresses. I want make sure everyone gets their books.
Until then...
The kids are almost done with school for the year, and then before we know it summer will be in full swing. Our family will be kicking it off with a week on the South Carolina coast with good friends - playing in the ocean, eating seafood, and hopefully I’ll be making progress on my massive to-be-read pile.
With June just a few days away, I’m realizing that in just over three months, my book will be out in the wild. We’ve almost made it people! I realize that this update is coming a few days earlier than usual, but that is because a lot has been happening on this end. So, today I have an exciting production update for you, and interviews with authors Jason Pomerance and Christopher Huang to share.
The Seclusion Production Update
The book is finished with copy edit and layout, and Advanced Reader Copies are being printed shortly. I have received a couple of amazing blurbs from authors that I respect greatly! These will be printed on the galleys, and possibly on the final books as well.
One of the secrets to a strong launch is early reviews. A while back I promised that those who have already preordered a copy of the book and would like to receive an early PDF version, would be offered that opportunity as soon as review copies were ready. Well, that day has come. I need as many of you as possible to be on my early review team!!!
Shoot me a message if you are one of the original 570 backers to have already preordered the book and would like an early review copy.What would being on the early review team mean?
Well, Goodreads allows reviews any time, including before the publication date, and Amazon begins allowing reviews on the date of publication. So, the goal would be to post Goodreads reviews asap, and then mark your calendars with a reminder to leave an Amazon review on September 4th. My personal goal will be fifty Goodreads reviews prior to publication, and fifty Amazon reviews within the first week after publication. This accomplishment will change the way Amazon ranks the book, so it will start showing up in the "if you like this, you might like this" section when people are browsing.
Remember, reviews don’t need to be incredibly detailed, they just need to exist. Detailed is great! But, a simple star rating is better than nothing. Have I told you recently how much I appreciate all of you?
I am hoping in the next few weeks to finalize my travel plans for my trip out to the west coast to sign all of the backer copies. If any of you are in the San Franscisco area and would like to grab a cup of coffee, let me know.