Amanda Orneck liked the forum thread, Logged-in Redesign
Hi Everyone,

As you may have noticed we just deployed a pretty significant change to the homepage for logged in users.  Our aim is to provide a cleaner, more cohesive experience which serves as the foundation for some great new features we’re rolling out in the coming weeks.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions or tweaks you’d like to see.
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    Amanda Orneck liked the forum thread, Logged-in Redesign
    Looks nice and functions well. But one thing I’d still rather see (in the discovery areas) is books laid out in rows and columns instead of just rows. The current holiday sale page, for instance, is one long row, and I think it’d be easier to scroll through all the books for sale if they were arranged more as a grid that flows down the page. This is especially the case on smaller screens. I know that’s trickier on the main discovery page, since there’s categories to consider, but just something that’s stood out to me for a while. 
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      Amanda Orneck liked the forum thread, Genre Updates
      Hi Everyone, 

      Starting today we’re beginning to consolidate our genres into a more structured taxonomy.  For example, genres like "Biographical", "Memoir" and "Autobiographical" will now be consolidated to "Biographies and Memoirs".

      As we’re making these updates please let us know if we have miscategorized anything by sending us an email: "hello at inkshares.com"

      Thanks! 
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        Amanda Orneck liked an update for Human Resources

        Today I have the most amazing news to share. Yesterday, The Launch Pad announced their final winners of the 2016 Manuscript Competition — I am thrilled by the revelation Human Resources has been picked by Scott Free as one of their winners. 

        To discover that a production company with such an impeccable reputation liked my novel — that they believe it has what it takes to become a successful movie — is beyond my ability to describe. Here is the official description of what that this prize is:

        Ridley Scott’s company Scott Free was one of the first major companies to take e-books into the spotlight when they found The Martian and developed it into what would become a Best Picture nominee starring Matt Damon. They were also the first company to buy a Launch Pad project, when they picked up Daniel Turkewitz’s Tranquility Base. Now they’re looking to do the same for you. Our exclusive partnership with Scott Free means not only are they represented on our judging panel, they have also committed to option at least 1 project with an eye towards discovering their next break out hit.

        More than 24 hours later and I still can’t fully process what has happened. There are no details to report beyond the official announcement. The novel has not — yet — been optioned, but it seems that is likely. My dreams are coming true, and you have all played a key role in enabling that to happen.

        Thank you.

        Bonus Feature: Advanced Field Intelligence System. 

        I’ve created the second of my planned bonus features for you. This time, I’ve unearthed the wiki page for AFIS, the system used by the Special Operations Group in the novel to give them an advantage of the field. If you’ve read all the excerpts on the site, you will have encountered this under the acronym COED — the product has undergone a re-branding.

        If you would like to learn a little more about AFIS, follow this link.

        Crowdfunding Competition Rolls On 

        The crowdfunding competition has not finished! The announcement yesterday was for the formally judged portion of The Launch Pad for 2016. The crowdfunding competition — the part you have direct control over — continues until 16 December. If you haven’t pre-ordered a copy, now is an excellent time!

        You can pre-order here.

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          Amanda Orneck sent an update for Deus Hex Machina


          And then, all of a sudden, it was done.


          The second draft of Deus Hex Machina is in the can.  At just over 75,000 words, this is the second book I’ve finished to this point, and the first that I did the edit myself. It’s liberating and terrifying all at the same time. I ended up with the same number of scenes as I began with, although only about 10% of the manuscript has remained the same as the first draft. It’s funny how these things work out.

          What’s next for the book? I’m going to be sending it out to beta readers this month, and once I get feedback on it I will dive into a revision of this draft. My hope is the turn the final manuscript over to Inkshares by the end of the year. 

          But there’s an interesting wrinkle to this plan: The List 2016. As you know, DHM is in the running for the contest, and if I manage to win, then the book gets a full production treatment, including a developmental edit. While that would delay the process of getting the book published, it would also mean that it would be more polished when it is. That’s the dream, to have the best book possible and share it with as many people as possible.

          The chance to win the contest doesn’t actually change my editing timeline really, but it does put a little pressure on the whole "sharing the book with as many as possible" part of the dream. Please, if you haven’t ordered a copy of the book, do so now. With only one month to go in the contest, I am sitting at 7th place. We have lots of new followers of the book since it campaigned a year ago (A year ago today in fact), and I can tell you that now that I am on the other side of this edit the book is better than ever. Like really good. Not perfect, but I’m very proud of how it stands right now.

          I need 11 people to order the book to make it into 6th place. Please consider being one of those 11. 

          Thanks, and may the code replicate eternal.


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