Hello 102 of my closest friends!

I haven't had much to update about so I figured I'd just add to your inboxes saying hi.  Well not just hi.  I'd like to ask you a favor.  I'm not that great at marketing.  I'm more so for writing and art.  If you could be so kind to recommend my book to a few of your closest friends I'd be grateful.  I know how difficult it could be especially to try and sell a book to someone so I'm cool if you're picky as to who you ask.  If each of you got only one to preorder that would more than double my preorder total and help so very much.  I'm realistic though, I mean I was able to only get one of my two sisters to order so any effort is appreciated.  

Oh wait there is something I can update about!  I pointlessly pushed to get more followers on Inkshares than Felicia Day.  And I got em!  I'm sure if you follow me on Twitter you're aware of the competition that she either had no idea was going on or didn't care was going on.  It's the pointless victories, really.  That is how that saying goes right?  But that does mean that I'm like number 11 on the top readers list.  My profile has almost 200 followers and I encourage all of them to check out my book and preorder if they or you like what you see. 

To show that I'm not selfish with my updates here are a few books that I support and can't wait to get my hands on:

The Talkers Are Talking

She's The End

Shadow of the Owl

The Fable Hunt

Cancel The Ark

Jadenel 

And 

Blood Dawn

Check 'em all out there is no disappointment to be had in any of them.

Thanks again for all the support

Cheers!

Brien

Except for one last pass to preen the language a bit, this book is essentially ready for submission. I'm working on externalities like the blurb, cover, and, of course, the title, which sucked and now sucks less!

So the contest ends and I don’t say anything? 

To be honest, I didn’t have much to say. Also, there’s a good chance that you were already receiving a lot of emails from other writers and participants. So instead of adding to the noise, I took a step back and worked on a few other things. What sort of things?

For one, I wrote a blog post about what it’s like to work with Inkshares once a book is funded. I also started preparing work on another book and recorded as short unboxing video so that you could see what books published by Inkshares look like (spoilers: dope as hell. Super legit.). 

We lost the contest, but not the campaign 

Aww… we didn’t get in the top five and grab an easy publishing deal. So what? "Suck it up JF!" I told myself. I didn’t jump in this just to win a contest. I’m here to publish a book and that’s what’s going to happen. Because I have a plan.

1. First, I’m going to get a significant extension on the deadline of this campaign. There are many who want to get my first book, ‘The Life Engineered’ before they commit to pre-ordering a second work of mine. Fine! I’ll extend this campaign until you have ‘The Life Engineered’ in your hands if I have to!
2. I’m going to try to reach readers outside my normal sphere of friends and family. Well I’m going to try. It’s not going to be easy because I don’t exactly know how to do that, but I’m willing to learn.
3. I aim to expand my ‘brand’. Let’s face it, at this stage in the game, I’m not just selling books but I’m also selling myself. Which means putting myself out there. Being more public and more accessible.

In essence, I’m not quiet because I’ve quit. Indeed, this is the calm before the storm. Soon I’m going to have to kick the promotion of ‘The Life Engineered’ into high gear and I want to ride that wave with ‘A God in the Shed’. What does all this mean to you?

If you’ve pre-ordered this book, you’re going to get your copy. It might take a little longer, but you’ll be holding this novel in your hands eventually. This is my way of thanking you for your support; not with simple words but with renewed commitment to get this thing funded. 

 JF

The Nerdist Collection Contest is almost at an end. I am not in it, but I've made friends with many of the authors in the contest and have loved showing support for their work along the way. Even after the Nerdist competition, there will still be several great projects funding and I look forward to our continued work together.

I thought instead of giving you a long list, I'd share with you my number one favorite project that's not in the top 5.

Now, this has been hard for me to do. But I confess, one has stood out for me above all others (keeping in mind I am an epic fantasy reader and love sprawling epics with maps and immersive worlds).

So here it is, my number one top pick:

Rune of the Apprentice, by Jamison Stone.

I've shared Jamison's book with you before, and his guest post over on my blog (haven't seen it yet? Read it here.)

Rune of the Apprentice felt to me like a novel after my own heart. I was blown away by Jamison's maps, his diligent world building, and his passionate tale about a young orphan's quest to stop his special gift from killing him.  Reading Jamison's work, I'm at once transported to something out of a Brandon Sanderson book -- yes, his writing is that good.

Jamison also draws his own maps. They're spectacular! I want to share one with you here:

Isn't that amazing? If you love immersive epic fantasy, you should definitely go to his page for Rune of the Apprentice and read more, and consider backing his project:

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/rune-of-the-apprentice

Jamison is also giving all his profit raised from pre-orders to charities that support military families. Inspired to write Rune of the Apprentice during long periods where he would be away from his wife during her service in the military, Jamison is doing something very generous by giving back to those who struggle with similar issues of separation. This is a great cause, all around, and I'd love to see you support this book to help it come to life.