Two emails in two days? I know... I’m really smothering you here. This’ll be real quick. Space Tripping ’s cover art was added to The Qwillery’s "Cover Wars" contest. If you have 30 seconds free, follow the link below and drop a vote in for your good ol’ buddy, Pat

Machiners,

My most ardent and unabashedly enthusiastic supporters! Good morning!

Uh oh, I hope none of you are malfunctioning today - do not close this email !!

Believe it or not, we are now less than two weeks away from publication of The Last Machine in the Solar System (April 11!!!). There’s been lots of exciting news lately, which I’ll mention in subsequent updates. 

Here I want to hit a few critical points relevant to YOU, benefactors of Jonathan, The Last Machine:

1. If you bought a book during the CONTEST, you should have received it. Whether that is a hard copy paperback or an eBook. Didn’t receive your book? Don’t know what I’m talking about? Email me please and let me know what’s going on: matthew.sobin@gmail.com

Let’s make sure everyone who put up money a year ago when this was just an idea gets the final product! eBooks are available for download by logging into the Inkshares website and going to the webpage for The Last Machine.

2. If you have received your book, please read it! Seems obvious, right? In theory, one of our big advantages is that this is a 60 page illustrated novelette. It can be read in 1-2 hours. And that brings me to...

3. Leave a REVIEW! This is possibly the most critical thing you can do. Read the book? Great! Please go onto the book’s Amazon page and tell others why you LOVED it :-) Authors need 100 reviews before the Amazon algorithm takes them seriously and starts suggesting the book to random Amazon visitors. Here’s our Amazon page: Last Machine on Amazon

Also important: You can copy the same review over to Goodreads. So far we’re doing really well with Goodreads reviews. Check them out here and leave your own: Last Machine on Goodreads

4. eBook holders, grab a paperback! This can make a huge difference as we push The Last Machine to a wider audience. Go to your local independent bookstore and see if they have The Last Machine in the store! They don’t? They’ll order it for you! And this may bring about a larger wholesale order from that store. They’ll say to themselves, "Hey, what’s this cool looking book that brought this person in here with such enthusiasm??" That’s the idea!

Can’t make it to the store but still want a paperback? Purchasing on Amazon helps too. Then when you leave an Amazon review, it will be shown as a "Verified Purchase" review, which further helps the Amazon algorithm. 

5. I’d love to know what you think of The Last Machine in the Solar System. You’ve now read the book, left your reviews, and have strong opinions about the story. Great! Shoot me an email. I’d love to hear your personal reactions to Nikolai and Jonathan’s journey to the ends of the solar system (and back)! 

Email me here: matthew.sobin@gmail.com

Signing your books!

And for those who haven’t seen it yet, the final front and back cover!

Stunning work by artist Dan Stiles and the design team. Also, my sincerest thanks to authors Tal M. Klein (author of The Punch Escrow - check it out on Inkshares!) and Jacques Vallee for their wonderful back cover blurbs.

Expect some more frequent updates as we hit pub day and beyond! More to come!

-Matt

Hi all my buddies! (Can I call you my buddies? I totally feel like we’re buddies at this point) 

So, Space Tripping has officially launched! And honestly, it’s been awesome. I’ve been greatly humbled by the support I received at our first two book signings... Look at this picture!

That’s Space Tripping! On an end-cap at a Barnes and Noble! How cool is that? 

If you’re getting this email, then you helped make this happen. Words cannot do justice to how grateful I am. Thank you. 

And, hey, if you’re in the Chicago area, we have one more book signing scheduled. It is this Friday, March 31st. We’ll be at:

City Lit Books, 2523 N Kedzie Blvd, Chicago, IL 60647 - 6:30-8:00pm

If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll come say "Hi!" (And do it just like that... literally shout "Hi!" at me)

Byeeeeeeeeeee...

Hello friends!

When was the last time I updated you on things? A while ago I guess. We had the new cover and I might have bragged about being done with the editing at some point. Since then, we’ve had developments, but nothing I can share right away. Soon, I hope.

In the meantime, I have a favour to ask. I didn’t think A God in the Shed would be eligible for nomination for the Dragon Awards in 2017, but it turns out that the release date slips in just under the wire. Last year, my readers managed to get The Life Engineered nominated. It was an incredible honour and it gently convinced me to go to DragonCon in Atlanta. Well, I’m doing the same deal: help get A God in the Shed nominated in the Horror Novel category and I’ll once more drag myself to Atlanta, brave the crowds, and be present as someone else wins the Dragon Award.

All you have to do is click this link, follow the instructions and fill in the information, and you’ll be part of a potentially huge change in my life.

Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it.

JF

P.S.: There are other great books from Inkshares that you can nominate too! Pilot X, Rise, Rune of the Apprentice and several others. Make sure you enter all of the books you can and give as many authors a chance at being recognized.

Dear friends and followers,

It has been a while, and I apologise for the radio silence; we are still waiting for an editor to be assigned to us, and can only be patient. And anxious. And anxiously patient....

If any of you are in the Montreal region in April, however, I would like to draw your attention to the following event:

It is as it says above: the Arthur Ellis Awards recognise the best in Canadian crime writing. I’m not in the running (yet) but, being in Montreal, I’ll be there as one of the local crime writers playing host. With me will be Peter Kirby (last year’s winner for Best Crime Novel), Michael Blair, Michael Kent, Jim Napier, Geri Newell, and, of course, Hilary MacLeod who is also the organiser for the event.

In the meantime, here’s hoping for a speedy editorial process.

Hey everyone! I have news! Important News!

Every year, debut books and new books that JUST came out are eligible for awards! One of them, is easy to vote for, and has a huge impact!

If you think that the Seventh Age: Dawn is your favorite Apocalyptic Novel of the year, let the Dragon people know! There are a ton of categories so you can nominate your favorite stuff all over the spectrum. 

Click Here - to nominate things. You can fill out the entire thing, or only one, and even come back later and add stuff. It’s free. There are a ton of great writers and books to nominate, and it’s one of the bigger Sci-Fi Fantasy awards so even a nomination really matters!

Thank you so much for your time!

Hello everyone!

So… I have a small request today. The nominations for the Dragon Awards are now open and my book is eligible! I know most of you haven’t had the chance to read past the teaser chapters on Inkshares but the book finally went to the printers last week so the wait is almost over!

Anyway, I would very much appreciate it if you could take a minute to throw a nomination in for the best fantasy novel! This type of thing can do wonders for the visibility of a new book.

There’s a tonne of categories but you don’t have to fill in any more than you feel like.

 http://application.dragoncon.org/dc_fan_awards_nominations.php

 Thank you all yet again!

65 days to publication! And just because - here is the updated cover now complete with blurbs :) 

Hi all,

This is going to be my last update through Inkshares.

We have now setup secure checkout with PayPal to re-process your Orders, on my own website.
The book will be published this summer by Blue Poppy Publishing here in the UK. And if you can show faith by re-ordering I would be thrilled.
Btw - there is also a new option for a Hardcover! 

http://www.jondbooks.com/shop/

Thanks all for the staggering support I’ve received overnight.

Hello loyal Derric followers! Arrrooooooo, as the beagles would say! I know, I know...you’ve probably been wondering what’s up with the book, because things have been a bit quiet, and with beagles that’s always suspect...they’re usually getting into some sort of trouble.

Well, the truth is it’s me -- dad’s -- bad. I launched this campaign in the middle of finishing up a second novel -- a follow up to WOMEN LIKE US -- and it took way more of my time and attention than I figured it would to get it ready to get it shopped around. (Side note: if you don’t have a copy of WOMEN LIKE US, why not order one?  10% of all royalties still go the Beagle Freedom). Anyway, now that the bulk of work on the second novel is out of the way, I can focus back on helping Derric get his story out. To that end, the kind folks at Inkshares have extended the campaign for the book, which gives me and the beagle more time to work. 

So...couple of things to announce soon -- first and foremost news on a chapter that will be about The Beagle Freedom Project itself, so thank you everybody for your kind patience and please stay tuned for more!! 

Love, Derric (and, of course, me Jason!)