Hi there friends,

Tony here. I know you haven’t heard from me in a good long while. You may have even completely forgot that you helped crowdfund a book nearly 2 years ago and have yet to see it. For that, I apologize. I assure you that these long delays have been out of my control. And more importantly, NO THIS BOOK HAS NOT BEEN ABANDONED, and YES, IT IS STILL COMING.

"Why the long silence, Tony?"

Well, frankly, I grew a bit tired and embarrassed of sending updates with no real news to speak of. I’m sure you may have grown tired of it as well, so I figured I’d lay low until I could come back with something real for you.

"Why the delays?"

Inkshares is a small publishing team with limited resources, and business decisions resulted in my book being put on the back burner for a very long time. It’s been unfortunate and frustrating, but there it is. The plus side is that I’ve had plenty of time to edit and revise. So the book you’ll be receiving is better than the book that would have been published a year ago.

"So what’s going on with the book now?"

As of a few weeks ago, I was assured by the Inkshares team that they should be able to get my book published and into your hands "by the end of summer". I have submitted the updated version of my manuscript to them and am currently waiting to hear back on the next steps of production. The book has been polished with the aid of beta readers, a professional dev editor, and my own neurotic nitpicking. I even added  a bonus prequel short story while I waited. Inkshares will assist with copy editing (sentence structure, punctuation, making sure things make sense, etc), formatting, slapping on the cover art, and it’s off to the printers. Again, hopefully, in an expedited fashion from here on.

"So when exactly is the book coming?"

I wish I had an official date to give you rather than "by the end of summer", but that’s all I got for now. I will let you know as soon as I have more.

"How about that cover art?"

Not that anyone asked, but I am excited to say the final book artwork is in progress. And if the concepts I’ve seen are any indication, it’s going to be something special. So whether or not you enjoy my writing, you will at least have a very pretty book to display on your shelf. ;)

All right gang, that’s all for now. Thanks again for your patience. I hope to have an official date and/or some art to show next update. See ya!

-Tony V.

Friends... I have some really cool stuff to talk about.

But first, I need a favour. You get this from probably every single author you support, whether on Inkshares or on any other platform. Once we publish, we all become these strange creatures that seem to feed on one thing and one thing alone: reviews.

The arcane mechanisms that explain why reviews matter so much in books sales are difficult to explain and keep changing (thanks Amazon algorithms!) but they are always important.

So go review A God in the Shed on Amazon and/or on GoodReads. Smarter people than I say that 50 should be a good goal for now, so lets go with that. Can we do 50 reviews in two weeks? I think so.

So what other cool stuff do I have to talk about? Well, that’ll have to wait. I want to have photos.

"I have such sights to show you." - Pinhead, Hellraiser

JF

Greetings all my wonderful followers, 

I apologise for the long radio silence, but I was working hard making Beyond the Code the best it can be. I’ll be it, it has been a long wait and life has gotten in the way alot more then I would’ve liked, but i finally have some news for you guys. With the help of my great and helpful beta readers and plenty of time slaving over my laptop, I have finished my manuscript and have sent it to Inkshares.   

That’s right.Now all i have to do is get some fancy new cover art made and wait for Inkshares to get back to me with the first round of the cover edit. Exciting! Although, I can’t give you all a timeline yet, I will send an update as soon as i hear news from Inkshares. 

Things are HAPPENING!! 

Kelsey Rae Barthel

And without further ado, here is the cover for Sunshine is Forever! I promise if you ordered a paperback you will be pleasantly surprised by how great this book will feel in your hands. Inkshares did an amazing job!Look for your copy on August 29, 2017! And don’t forget to follow my next book KARID on Inkshares so you can be the first to preorder a copy when it goes on sale.

FOLLOW KARID: https://www.inkshares.com/books/karid

Thanks again for all your support!

Kyle T. Cowan

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 👽

Thriller Fans, in two weeks, July 11th, I will be headed to NYC to attend ThrilerFest.  This genre’ specific conference brings together the biggest names writing thriller novels for four days of inspiration,
education and celebration.  I will take part in the Debut Authors Program.  Check out the link for a Q&A spotlight about Tears of the Assassin on Book Trib.    ThrillerFest Q&A

Drop me a reply if you’re in NYC, I’d love to meet more fans of Inkshares.

Also, today is your last chance to help Ferd Crotte in the Nerdist Contest. Mission 51 is an awesome book and he could use your help to get it published through this very tight contest. https://www.inkshares.com/books/mission-51

All the Best,

William Schiele  

Dear friends and readers of "Nowhere Else I Want to Be: A Memoir":

June has been a good month for the essayist in me - two published in online literary journals!

One of my own favorites of all the essay’s I’ve written is "How To Build A Bonfire", begun when my husband and I were visiting his family farm in Ontario, Canada, and the only one that practically wrote itself. 

Here’s the first paragraph, with a link to its page in The Los Angeles Review if you want to read more.

HOW TO BUILD A BONFIRE

by CAROL D. MARSH

Pick a safe spot

The slight depression with its darkened earth, bits of blackened twigs and surrounding stones lies near but not too close to the maple tree, halfway between house and cow barn. He passes that bit of ground every day. Not as often as he used to, when milking cows morning and night for sixty-plus years, yet regularly, on his way to the barn out of habit or to check in with his son before he takes the tractor to tend something in one of the fields. His wife comes with him as she’s been doing for about a year, ever since she became frightened when she can’t see him. As they walk across the yard together on this late summer day, he thinks about a bonfire and begins to plan. The stump of that dead tree he had cut down this summer would do nicely. And there’s always brush to clear, as well as accumulated stuff in the barn and woodshed. He slows his pace a bit, realizing she’s behind him, anxious, unsure of her footing on the uneven ground and afraid she’ll look up and he’ll be gone.

Read the rest of the essay HERE.

In other news, I’ve officially launched the first course in my online school for support of people in service to others: FORUM FOR GROWTH IN SERVICE. During June, the course is one-third off. Check it out HERE. 

And have a great day!

Carol

WEBSITE                          FORUM FOR GROWTH IN SERVICE

Mission 51 family! This is a call to arms!

Dear Kind Supporters of Derric’s Book: 

It’s a good news, bad news sort of update. 

The good news is that because time is running out on the pre-order campaign, you’re going to get a refund! The bad news is that, for now anyway, Derric’s book will be on hold. It’s my fault, don’t blame Derric! -- just not enough time, it turned out, to devote to a full court press on pre-orders, but one more piece of good news -- Derric’s story still will mostly likely find its way, and his Facebook page will continue to be updated regularly.

Oh, and if you still want to read a book and help the Beagle Freedom Project, don’t forget that I still donate 10% of all royalties from "Women Like Us" to BFP. You can buy and read that book today so here’s the link if ya need it! 

https://www.amazon.com/Women-Like-Us-Jason-Pomerance-ebook/dp/B01IOZUBEW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497973350&sr=8-1&keywords=women+like+us

If for some reason you don’t see a credit from Inkshares sometime soon after today when the campaign ends, shoot an email to hello@inkshares.com. You’ll probably get a kind person named Elena and she will make sure it gets done. Alternatively, let me know and I’ll bug them.

Thanks again for the early support. From Derric too!! And sorry we couldn’t make it happen this time around.

Best,

Jason and Derric