JULY BASEBALL UPDATE

TYLER SKAGGS. First off, two weeks ago Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, just shy of his 28th birthday, died in his sleep at a hotel in Arlington, TX. He wasn’t the Angels’ best pitcher, but he was a solid major leaguer, and everyone seemed to like him. First game back from the All-Star break, all of the team wore uniforms with his name and number on the back. And then Angels pitchers Taylor Cole and Felix Pena combined for a no-hitter. You’ve probably seen the photo from after the game, Angels players standing around the pitcher’s mound, having laid their jerseys to cover the mound. The world of baseball will remember that July 12 game forever.

JIM BOUTON. Goodbye Jim Bouton, author of one of the greatest baseball books ever, BALL FOUR. I met him at a book signing in 2000. I asked him a question about the Yankees and he couldn’t have been ruder! Lots of people have great memories of him, and in interviews he sounded like a considerate guy. BALL FOUR exposed ballplayers for the adult-juveniles that most of them were at the time (baseball culture is bit more buttoned-up now, and that’s, in part, the subtext of GOING, GOING, GONE!). BALL FOUR was also the best recounting of trying to hold on to a career as a Major League pitcher.

FIREWORKS. We’ve been having a lot of fun going to A’s and Giants games. Most kids love fireworks, and all baseball fans love stepping on to the field. On their fireworks nights, after the game, the A’s invite everyone down to the field. When we’re all settled, the lights go out and the A’s put on a GREAT 20-minute fireworks show. If you’re with kids who can deal with a late night, who love fireworks and baseball, it’s a thorough winner.

GOING, GOING, GONE! The extraordinarily-talented Inkshares staff is working on GOING, GOING, GONE! And it looks like the novel will be published during Spring Training 2020. That’s when you will, hopefully, receive your pre-orders. However, don’t be surprised if that timeframe is pushed back. After all, it’s the book business!

Baseball card rewards will be on their way by the end of July to those who ordered between 5 and 10 copies of GOING, GOING, GONE! Any of your baseball-loving and/or well-read friends are welcome to pre-order through Inkshares at any time.

I owe so many thanks! I appreciate all of your support!

Thanks & Swing For The Fences!

 Steve

Hello Again All My Lovelies!

I had promised to send the revised manuscript to Adam end of June. It’s a couple weeks past my deadline, but this weekend I’m working through the draft with a final polish before submitting to the publisher. It’s been almost two years since that 2017 Horror Contest Halloween photo-finish with Mike Welch. There have been major edits, revisions, darlings murdered and rewrites to the novel. But what really happened, from my perspective, is a personal transformation as my editor urged me to dig deeper, write better and bring nuance to every aspect of the story. I am not that same writer from 2017. It’s hard to articulate what exactly I am now, but I believe that journey is captured in my story: MINE. Hopefully this draft will pass muster with the Inkshares team and you all will get a glimpse into this shadowy realm of becoming… 

Dear Followers and Supporters -

I have been radio silent for quite some time, but I do have news to announce regarding the status of Fae Child. 

Since the book funded in March 2017, I finished the first draft in July of that year. After that my family and I had several life changes that stole my energy and attention, including becoming small business owners and having a fourth child. The THIRD draft of the book is now underway with a few small tweaks to accomplish before I send the manuscript in to Inkshares.

At that point I will find out when they anticipate the book being published - there would be a copy edit to do and a few other miscellaneous things.

I have a cover for the book well underway with a talented artist, Aliana Wong ( www.alianawong.com ) and I have updated the cover on the Inkshares site to reflect the in progress work. I am in love with it already.

I also have had a short story accepted into an anthology which should be published later this year. Here is the link to the announcement: https://writingbloc.com/announcement-of-the-stories-and-authors-for-the-upcoming-deception-anthology/

That is all for now! I will send out another update when I am sending it off to Inkshares. 

Thank you all for your support and your patience,

Jane-Holly

Wow, only 12 days since Showtime’s campaign ended? It seems like longer. Maybe that’s just because I’m enjoying the lack of nail-biting stress from trying to think of new people to get to buy. Or maybe because it’s summer and I’ve lost all concept of time.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a couple updates.

NEXT STEPS

Inkshares now has my full manuscript and their aim is to have their editorial notes back to me by mid-August. Books typically go through two (if not more) rounds of professional editing—developmental (story, character, pacing) and line (sentence structure, spelling, etc.)—so how many rounds Showtime will go through depends on their initial impression of the manuscript. Either way, that’ll be the next step in the production process. Exciting, right? And scary. That too.

BOOK AVAILABILITY

Now that the pre-order phase of things is over (whew!), the official order page is now up and running. It’s the same link I’ve bugged you all with for the past six months, so if you missed out on buying another or if you wanted to still share with someone else, feel free.

A note about pricing: you’ll notice that the pricing is a bit different than during the pre-order phase, with eBooks now selling at $8.99 and print copies at $14.99. You might be thinking, “What in tarnation?! Didn’t I pay $10.00 for my eBook and $20.00 for my print copy?” Do not adjust your TV sets. Yes, you did. And no, it’s not a trick. The reasoning for the adjustment is that Inkshares bumps up the pre-order pricing to account for production overhead costs (the monies from pre-orders go straight to production). Now that pre-orders are over, the book is available, and Inkshares knows from the submitted manuscript roughly how many pages it will be to print, the retail prices have been set. There we go. Angry mob defused.  

PROPERTIES

I’m working on Showtime’s "Properties" page for Inkshares (which gives agents and people in the entertainment business access to buy film, TV, and audiobook rights), and need a couple books and movies to compare it to. Kind of like “If you liked ________ and ________, you’ll enjoy Showtime.” It doesn’t have to be exactly the same plot. It could be similarities in terms of story, character, tone, voice, whatever. I’ve got a couple, but need 1 more book and 2 more movies. If you’re one of my beta readers who has read the whole thing (or anyone who has read my sample chapters), feel free to let me know if anything comes to mind.

NOTE OF APPRECIATION

Thanks again to everyone who helped this happen. I feel like it’s going to go well (knock on wood) and it’s no hyperbole to say that it couldn’t have happened without your enthusiasm, kindness, and support. Everyone receiving this update played some part in helping get Showtime to publication. So no matter if you bought copies, read and reviewed my chapters, asked friends and family to order, or simply clicked the FOLLOW button, thank you. Money’s not everything (especially since someone who bought 1 book might mean for them what it means for someone else to buy 10), so thank you for doing what YOU were able to do.

That’s all for now. I’ll send out another update when I have more news to share.

Thanks again,

Ricky