My friends, today is a very special day for a very special book.
But not one of mine this time.
Today is the official publication day for The Last Faoii. Some of you may recall I’ve been championing this book from the very beginning, and today, at long last, it is out and available for purchase.
I’d like to ask you all to consider supporting this new book, for a couple of reasons. For one, I helped design that kick-butt cover, so I have to brag about that at least a little. It’s also a really fine fantasy novel, so it deserves to be read for its own merits.
But beyond any of that, I’d like you to support the author. Tahani Nelson has been as big of a supporter for both Tantalus Depths and Proteus as I’ve been for her book, also from the very beginning. She’s been through some of the worst struggles imaginable during the process of campaigning her book and getting it through the production process, and the absolute tenacity with which she has tackled those obstacles deserves every reward. She’s inspired me tremendously on a personal level and has helped keep my spirits up during the various obstacles I’ve faced during my own campaigns and production processes. Heck, she inspired me enough to name a planet after her, so that should tell you all you need to know about how much I respect her.
It’d also just be nice for me to plug a book you can actually hold in your hands shortly after buying it, for a change. Tantalus Depths is coming, but still not any time especially soon. The Last Faoii is out right now (I have a copy on the desk in front of me). So yay for semi-instant gratification!
Anyway, I’d just like to make this the best Publication Day possible for The Last Faoii. The book is great, the author is even better, and they both deserve as much support as we can send their way.
Dear Inkshares Community,
In November of 2015, we launched the Inkshares imprint called Quill, which provided an intermediary level of editorial services, printing, and distribution to backers for books that sold 250 pre-orders. Quill’s services include line editing, proofreading, and interior design, but not developmental editorial or full cover design. We started Quill because we saw promising titles raising significant funding on the platform and an opportunity to provide services and distribution into brick-and-mortar stores not available in self-publishing. The hope was that Quill would graduate stories and authors into Inkshares.
In many ways, Quill has been a success. Excellent titles have been published and sold into stores. There are authors on the Inkshares platform with sophomore works made stronger by virtue of their Quill experience. And many books have been pulled up from Quill to our comprehensive Inkshares platform and published to both popular and critical praise.
However, after two years, we are winding down Quill as we continue to evolve Inkshares. One of the strongest assets of Inkshares is its community of authors and readers—many of whom provided us with valuable feedback on the strengths and limitations of Quill throughout these two years. This feedback, along with our own insights gleaned from the process, helped inform our decision to wind down Quill.
The main function intended by Quill is now more effectively being performed by Story Machine. We created Quill because we saw meritorious books not reaching the 750 pre-order goal, whether because the author had little social following or because the author was less inclined to vigorously campaign. Quill attempted to solve this by providing fewer resources at a lower pre-order goal. By contrast, Story Machine selects books on a broader array of reader-interest indicators beyond just pre-orders, with those books receiving full editorial and development. Books that don’t reach the threshold of 750 pre-orders, but garner significant interest on the platform, have the opportunity to be granted a full Inkshares publishing deal through Story Machine.
To be clear, all books which have funded under Quill to date will be published. Authors currently selling pre-orders to reach Quill will have until midnight (PT), February 28th, to reach their goal for publication through Quill.
We founded Inkshares with the aim of developing the most important literary voices of tomorrow. Quill served this purpose by providing authors with significantly more resources and distribution than self-publishing. It has given talented writers a chance, both to see their story succeed, and to graduate into full Inkshares. And with many books still to be published under Quill, it will continue to achieve these goals.
We would be remiss if we did not note that we, as a company, have learned a tremendous amount from operating Quill and working with Quill authors. We will bring this experience and wisdom into 2018 as we continue to bring existing Quill authors to market and work on the next iteration of Inkshares.
—The Inkshares Team