7 days remaining, and I only need 32 more copies sold... Incidentally, Fae Child would be the 10th book from the Geek & Sundry Fantasy contest to fund.
Another week of the campaign has come and gone! Knowing that The Walls are Closing In has passed the light-publishing goal and will be in your hands in the future is an amazing feeling, and reaching that milestone allowed me to take a few days to refocus and come up with advanced marketing plans.
To achieve the full goal of 750 orders, I can’t afford to slow down for long. The campaign halfway point is in a few days, and there are a couple of marketing efforts in the works. The Walls are Closing In will see some online publication attention in the coming weeks, and I will share those links as they become available.
To continue spreading the word on social media, I have started a giveaway. I invite all of you to enter for the chance to win a bundle of 5 dystopian books! All are eligible to enter in a variety of ways - those who have preordered already, and those who have not. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you again for your overwhelming support!
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.
The Walls are Closing In has reached the Quill light publishing goal!
This means that The Walls are Closing In will be published through Inkshares!!! Once the campaign ends, the book will be assigned a production timeline. This is a dream come true, and I am grateful to each and every one of you for helping me get to this point. Thank you.
There are still almost two months left of the campaign, and I will continue to strive for the full contract (which adds perks such as advanced marketing to bookstores, developmental editing, professional cover design, and representation for TV/movie rights).
455 orders to go!
In the past week, the book was chosen for two syndicates on Inkshares (bringing the total to five). Thank you to all members of Break the Bechdel with Strong Female Characters syndicate and Rite of Passage syndicate for the support.
Syndicates are groups of Inkshares members that pool together to support one book per month. To say that it is a tremendous honor to be selected would be an understatement, as there are currently 320 books funding on Inkshares.
Writer John Robin recently interviewed me on his epic fantasy blog! You can check out the interview here.
We are only 5 orders away from 300. Once 300 is reached, I will post a new novel trailer, with teasers! I am also trying to come up with some other clever ideas for future milestones. Tossing around an audio chapter, giveaways, etc. Let me know if you have any ideas!
Below this I will be pasting a copy of the steps that can be taken to help with the campaign for the new followers who are joining. Feel free to either continue reading or just get on with your day!
Thank you all again for your support. Until next week.
-Jacqui
For those that are willing, there are numerous ways to help me reach my preorder goal. Every little bit helps a great deal!
1) The greatest way to help, the method that has been shown to produce the best results, would be to select people you know who might like this book (I think we all know those who would, and would not, like this book), and personally tell them about the book via email. Invite them to read the material that is up, and ask them to offer their support if they like what they read. Remind them that if they are one of the first 750 to order, they will be a backer, and will receive a signed, first-edition copy if they select a physical copy over an ebook.
2)If you are on this list and have not ordered the book, then order it, or two, or three, or ten (who am I to judge?)
3) Share the information for my novel on any of your social networks (there are share buttons on my book’s page), tagging those who you think would be interested. Share updates, reviews the book has received, the link to my novel trailer, and/or interview and YouTube links as they become available.
4) Preorder three or more print copies and receive your name in the back of the book.
5) Leave a recommendation on Inkshares if you notice that the novel has slipped off the front page of the site. Providing a recommendation places The Walls are Closing In under the "Recommended by Inkshares Readers" section on the front page of the website, thereby increasing exposure.
6)Send me any and all ideas that you have for spreading the word and getting this book out there!
Thank you again!
-Jacqui
Hello, everyone!
I wrote a short blog post on the topic of immigration. You can find it here:
http://thebestparts.net/immigration-the-entire-journey/
Peace!
Greetings, Faoii.
One person I pay a lot of attention to is Donald Maass, from Donald Maass Literary Agency. He’s written several books and frequently contributes articles to Writer Unboxed and other groups, but I think my go-to book from him right now is The Breakout Novelist. That book is a quasi-compilation of much of Maass’s earlier works and is written to be a sort-of story doctor for when you get stuck or jammed in a novel.
One thing I find particularly useful about the book is the extensive series of exercises. I’m not always a big fan of exercises in books on writing, but the intent of a lot of Maass’s exercises is to get you to think deeper about the major parts of the story, characters, plot, theme, setting etc. as opposed to ‘write two paragraphs on x.’
Having had a chance to go through a developmental edit with Girl Friday Productions as well, many of the exercises are directly relatable to issues that my developmental editor mentioned, like the nine-tenths of character details and timeline issues that probably don’t even make it directly into the novel, but which are important to know since they can be obliquely referenced to give added depth. Aside from reading the book, the worksheets and all the exercises are freely available through Writer’s Digest at http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/improve-my-writing/breakout-worksheets.
I’ve gone through a couple of other books by Maass as well (currently enjoying The Emotional Craft of Fiction) but I’d have to say that The Breakout Novelist is my favorite so far.
He handled wood-gathering and fire-building and roasting potatoes. Tir offered to help; Ollie scowled at him until he sat down meekly and got out a book. Bandages remained around slim fingers, catching light under distant stars.
They both knew enough not to go hunting or trapping in the Northern Territories; for one thing, it was impolite, given that some fairies could shapeshift, and for another, nobody really knew what eating too much fairy game or fruit would do to a human. Tir said that the local berries and fruit that almost-but-not-entirely resembled apricots were safe, and anyway they were still on the human side of the border; the fruit would’ve adapted itself to less-magic conditions. Oliver considered the almost-apricot and its potential for sentience and deliberate adaptation, and did not eat it. Tirian rolled eyes, got up and picked two, and threw one at him. “You export these, you know.”
“Well…yeah, but—wait, go sit down!”
“And you make wine out of them. Expensive wine.”
“Not me personally,” Ollie said. “I have no clue how to make wine. Yes, I know, you’ve made your point, thank you.” The not-apricot was delicious. “Potatoes in a minute. Read your book.”