Well, after getting support from friends and these nice cool people on the site, I wanted to tell you, all (currently) 10 of you, that you are awesome. I didn’t realize that I could ever do something like this and I have been given the self confidence to do something great. So, to all of you, I have a declaration.

I will start the Pre-selling process on June 1st, in what I have decided to nickname "The Summer of Neon", and will be attempting to gain pre-orders so that publishing can go ahead. Between now and then, I will be set on doing my own checklist of tasks. These include:

-Finishing the Manuscript. For those that are curious where I am at on the project, I am around the third chapter. The current plan at the moment is to make it a 12 chapter book, making me a fourth of the way there. I know that it might not sound like much progress, but with some dedication I can push through it.

-Getting cover art. At this point New Neon Nights is without cover art and if I’m going to push forward I think it’d be a good idea to have a cover. The goal of 750 copies is a lofty one admittedly, so I’d like to be prepared if we hit over 250 instead.

-Reaching out. I wish to reach out to as many people that I can as possible. Friends, family, even people I haven’t talked to in a while. I know it’s going to be a climb so I need to really extend myself.

However, the story is more for all of you than for me, and I can’t do this alone. There are many ways that you can help make this a reality. You can share the link to New Neon Nights with your friends or family. Maybe there is someone that you think would really enjoy the story. You can even send me messages with suggestions or comments to help me along this arduous process. So please, lets make this a reality

Thank you

-Chris

I honestly didn’t think I would have a reader update so quickly, but here I am. In 24 hours, I’ve had 26 preorders and while it is upsetting I didn’t hit 250 immediately... THANK YOU!

I attempted to record a new video for TSM homepage on Inkshares, and, well, you should just see what I had to work with. In the video I attempt to tell people that I have already finished the book and am currently working on the second draft right now. That means when we hit the funding goal, the book will follow shortly after.

I’m planning to get this done before November 2016 because I will be stationed to a ship out of San Diego and deployed who-knows-where doing who-knows-what (I’m an IT Technician, so it will be a lot of, "Have you tried turning it off and back on again in a classified way?").

So many people have already recommended and shared on Twitter, Facebook, and Inkshares, it has made my day. I need everyone’s help getting the book out to the people I don’t know. For my part, I will continue to comb Inkshares, leave reviews, pre-order when I can, and keep working, but if the first 24 hours are any indication, this is going to be no problem.

Sweet Dreams,

Stephen Carignan

P.S. If you saw the video, Emma says hi.