Amanda Orneck liked an update for Sorcery for Beginners

Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,

It’s here at last! The final cover design for Sorcery for Beginners, done by the amazing Mike Corley (with graphics from illustrator Juliane Crump). Without further ado:

Love it love it love it. Mike managed to capture the feel of a 1940s how-to guide but also make something that is striking and engaging. On top of that, we were able to add in elements from the book itself. All the graphics on the cover relate to the story in some way. There’s even a coded message in runes. I can’t wait to see this on bookshelves.

I couldn’t be happier. Actually, I could, because we also have pages on Amazon and Goodreads!

Amazon

Goodreads

These two sites are extremely important when it comes to book marketing. The more people add the book to their wish lists, the more the sites will drive traffic to them. So even though you guys have already done so much, I have another favor to ask. If you could log in to your Amazon or Goodreads account and add Sorcery for Beginners to your Wish List and ’Want to Read’ list, it will make a HUGE difference for us.

Thanks again for everything. More updates coming soon!

mh

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Amanda Orneck liked an update for Are You Sure You Want to Quit?

Hello faithful readers!!

I know it has been wayyy too long since my last update but please be rest assured that I am working hard to finish writing AYSYWTQ? My oldest guinea pig Arya recently had a cystotomy (to remove a bladder stone) and as you can imagine that whole ordeal has been stressful for my boyfriend and I. Arya is recovering very well, although she hates being wrapped in a burrito when it’s medicine time >;;;;;;;;;;;.>;;;;;;;;;;;

As of right now I am setting a deadline of end of March for myself to have a draft ready for editing (yay!). The Nerdist video game contest was definitely one of the hardest things I have ever done and so in a way I had a recovery period like Arya. I am back feeling rejuvinated and ready to hammer out the rest of Maggie’s story and I hope ya’ll are ready for more dragon-filled pages :D

Thank you all for being supportive, patient, and kind on this journey with me I sincerely appreciate all the love. Please don’t hesitate to contact me through email or Facebook if you have any questions or concerns I am always here.

Oh, and I’ll leave you with a shameful plug for a Facebook page I admin called Relentless Empire....a nerdy, geeky page led by myself and 7 other lovely gamer girls so check it out and give us a like on Facebook if you wish!! :)

Have a great rest of the week!!! Catch all those Pokemon ;)

-Alisa King

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Amanda Orneck liked an update for Sorcery for Beginners

Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,

Quick update today as we build up to the reveal of our final cover design next week. Here is Runner-Up #2:

n

Mike Corley is so talented! Love the vibe of this one, but ultimately it felt more adult, like a Dan Brown novel, than the fun magical adventure feel we’re going for. One more runner-up to go, then we’ll reveal the final cover next week!

Enjoy your weekend -

mh

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Amanda Orneck liked an update for Rune of the Apprentice

Military Family Charity Donations
MP3 Audiobook CD
New Vai’kel Map!

1. Military Family Charity Donations

Excited to say we have our final pre-order royalties numbers all figured out! The grand total came to $2,806.33 (again, this was triple checked/confirmed by Inkshares)! So very excited to get these hard earned funds to our four designated Military family charities! With February nearly over, it has been both suggested and requested that I wait until next quarter (just over a month from now) to submit, and I will follow up with you all both here and on my blog once the donations have been made!

Additionally, if you all remember, when my Inkshares campaign ended in October of 2015, I also made my own independent $10,000.00 discretionary grant to ’Our Military Kids’ to support their fabulous work. Although not connected to my RUNE campaign or my pre-order charity pledges, I had really wanted to do all in my power to aid these communities. ’Our Military Kids’ no doubt put those funds to good use, and will do likewise with their share the new funds they are soon to receive!

Thank you all for your help and support in this. We were able to raise a good deal of money for some great organizations! Yay!

2. MP3 Audiobook CD

Shiro has an important announcement! The MP3 Audiobook CD of Rune of the Apprentice is now available! It’s only $9.99 and super awesome! Not only a perfect collector’s item, this is a wonderful option for those who want the audiobook, but just don’t like digital. And no, I’m sorry I don’t think they are making a cassette tape edition, so we will all have to settle with only CDs! I highly suggest you listen to a free sample HERE! Enjoy!

3. New Vai’kel Map!

Amazing artist M. S. Corley and I are 95% done with the new Vai’kel map! How exciting! For the next update, I think I am going to do an entire post showing exactly how I made it (with pictures of each step along the way) but for now you can have a seek peak below! Again, I cannot speak more highly of M. S. Corley (if you remember he did RUNE’s cover) and am so excited to show you all the finished map soon! Super stoked to also collaborate with him on the cover art for RUNE’s sequel, Oath of the Apprentice.

Alright, that’s all for now! Thank you all for your support with the charity campaign! I am so proud of our community for making this happen! And, lastly, if you have not yet reviewed RUNE on Amazon and/or Goodreads, good god, please do! THANK YOU! :)

"I was immediately captivated by the world created by Stone; the world of a teenage boy, Aleksi, cast out of innocence into the machinations of adult politics and manipulation. Aleksi is forced into a life of danger, uncertainty and the possibility for a hopeful, better future. He has the skills and the magic, does he have the courage?" ―David Atekpatzin Young, Native American Storyteller and Healer, author of Chicansimo and A Magic Feather

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Amanda Orneck liked an update for Fae Child

I apologize for sending you two emails in a row, but we did it! Fae Child has hit the 250+ threshold for Quill publishing!

This is going to be a real, live, book. Thank you so much - I’m in a little bit of a daze right now! I will update in a week or so with what happens after the preorder campaign is over.

Thank you again!
Jane-Holly

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Amanda Orneck liked an update for Sorcery for Beginners

Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,

Some wonderful updates for you from the end of this rainy Los Angeles month. First, the new draft of SORCERY FOR BEGINNERS has been sent off to Inkshares. We got great notes from the development editor Staton which forced me to take a hard look at the whole novel. Thanks to her, I think the book is much improved. We may get notes back from a few more beta readers and make some more adjustments, but I think we will be heading off to copy editing soon.

Secondly, we have a cover! Inkshares hired the amazing M.S. Corley to do a whole round of covers. We’ve settled on a final design, but before I unveil that, I wanted to show some of his other designs first, ’cause they’re just that awesome. Also you can check out some of his other work here: http://mscorley.com/

But for now, here is Runner Up Cover #1 for SORCERY FOR BEGINNERS:

Really cool, love that it has the feel of a real textbook, but the one we chose is even better! Stay tuned for more ...

mh

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Amanda Orneck liked an update for Fae Child

Just a quick update to say: YOU ROCK!

Fae Child is SIX orders away from securing a place in Quill, Inkshares’ light publishing imprint. I almost can’t believe it. There are five days left in my preorder campaign - the one I started in August 2016 as part of the Geek & Sundry Fantasy contest, without any idea what I was going. Once Fae Child reaches 250+ orders, it will become just the tenth book from that contest to earn publishing. And that is thanks to YOU. I didn’t place in the contest, but I kept going, and look at where we are now!

Thank you so much to all my backers and readers - I couldn’t do this without you.

~ Jane-Holly

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Amanda Orneck liked an update for The Seventh Age: Dawn

Greetings everyone! It’s time for some quick... seriously bad-ass news.

Okay; maybe not that bad-ass. It’s actually just an actual booth number for Emerald City Comic Con next week.

DD11.

So if you live in Seattle and want to meet up or happen to attend the con. Let me know. Metal and Drinks will commence.

In other things. Reviews. The book has only come out a month ago from now, but in order for Amazon (or the internet) to functionally count it as an ACTUAL book... I’ve got to hit a certain threshold of reviews. (That’s 100 for those who count. I’ve got 10...) Even if you hated the book, that’s okay. Just... if you support the IDEA of authors writing books... take 5 minutes and leave a review on one of these platforms:

Audbile (For you Audio blokes out there): Click HERE

Amazon (For those who wish to feed into the belly of the beast): Click HERE

Goodreads (For those who are cunning enough to copy and paste a review from Amazon): Click HERE

As always, you can follow me or find me on Twitter @CrankyBolt and I’ll have additional written content for everyone in a few months. I’ve already got a short story about Akira done, but I’m waiting till more people finish the book before I get there.

Do you guys think I should try a video update? Let me know.

~Rick.

like · liked by S.T. and 13 others