Good morning all (he says at midnight, assuming you'll be reading this when you wake)

Lots of news and good things to go over. First and foremost, the Sword and Laser, the reason yours truly is still talking to you about this dandy little fiction he's concocted (I've spent a good portion of today writing. Does it show?) has returned with another book contest! More authors are being given the same opportunity to get their book published and distributed just as I have. Books like:

The Darkest Places by Byron Gillan
The discovery of an ancient artifact, buried deep below Cairo, brings three individuals together in a race against an ever-ticking clock to stop an ancient and eldritch evil.  

You had me at eldritch Byron. Go here to check it out this tale of 1920s adventurous Lovecraftian horror:
https://www.inkshares.com/projects/the-darkest-places?recommended=true

I also would like to recommend a book that is not actually in the Sword and Laser contest, but looks immensely fun.

Dax Harrison by Tony Valdez
In a space-faring future, an alien war criminal seeks vengeance on humanity, and a celebrated-but-bumbling hero is forced back into action... whether he likes it or not.  

It looks like a great, golden-age style space adventure with plenty of humor to go around. You can read excerpts here. Just remember to do so soon, it only has 15 days to meet its Quill publishing goal:
https://www.inkshares.com/projects/dax-harrison-2276

There will be more recommendations to come I promise.

Meanwhile, because of the new contest, people have been asking me and the winners of last Sword and Laser contest J.F. Dubeau and G. Derek Adams lots of fun questions about our books and our experience with Inkshares. First, Alicia Smock from the Examiner wrote this wonderful article highlighting each of us:

http://www.examiner.com/article/inkshares-and-sword-laser-team-up-for-new-publishing-contest

And the Inkshares team asked us to contribute our insights for their blog on the new contest here:

http://blog.inkshares.com/post/134876312095/insights-from-the-winners-of-the-first-sword

AND I know many of you have been asking when your books will be arriving. Well, the release date is March 15. But if you'd like to see what they look like ahead of time, you can see an advanced galley being unboxed by Tom Merritt of the Sword and Laser by following this link here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0RmQf9h5oM&feature=youtu.be&a

Anyway, that's all for now. I hope to have more good news to tell you soon. Until then, dear readers...

Hi everyone,

I’ve been trying to write this short update for a few days now, but I keep being interrupted with more things to add in.

Friday night, I was having diner with family and my phone as vibrating like it was trying to make a break for it. I usually don’t look at my messages at the diner table but the whole point of having a mobile device is to be available in case of emergencies and, considering I rarely get any messages, I was wondering what was up. Turns out, I had sold a handful of copies of The Life Engineered in a very short amount of time. “Cool.” I thought, making a note to track down what as up later that night.

The thing is, I’m a marketing guy. My instinct when seeing sales is rarely about the money or about the visibility, it’s almost always about ‘where are these coming from?’. So as soon as it was polite to do so, I went to social media to see what had happened. Turns out, The Life Engineered, along with Sword & Laser, were the focus of a short article on io9.com.

I read io9.com daily.

Already that's pretty awesome and I wanted to put up an update about it. Then I got confirmation of this article by Alicia Smock being posted on examiner.com. It’s a great article and was fun to participate in. So I was going to include that in my update.

Then The Life Engineered gets mentioned on Geek & Sundry and I lose my God damned mind. I can only keep a rational, marketing oriented line of thought for so long before I become an irrational mess. This isn’t a client’s product being mentioned in the media according to plan. This is my book.

Finally, another article, this time on Inkshares very own newsletter pops up.

So there you have it my friends. The surreal events of the first few steps of promotion of The Life Engineered. If you’ve ever doubted that this little crowdfunding venture takes care of their authors, I think I can testify that we are handled with much love and care. And that’s just the stuff I feel comfortable putting on a public forum!

But wait! That's not all. Remember when I gave away a model of the character Koalemos to someone at Nerdtacular last summer? Well, I'm making more of these models (7 more for reasons obvious in the book). A couple of them are earmarked for people that need to be thanked for their help, but one is going to be raffled off to the people who pre-ordered during the funding campaign. I know more about building and shipping these things now. It's going to be cool. Check out who got the first model.

As always, you have my gratitude. It’s an incredible ride so far and none of this is happening without your support. Thank you.

JF

Hey all,

We have achieved 250 orders! The ebook will 100% be printed. Thank you so much, it is a privilege to receive so much support.

The next goal is 750, which is lofty, but I have confidence we can reach it over the next few months. There will be additional editing input as well as marketing support, and a hardback version, if we reach the goal. I'm excited about the possibilities of reaching more audience at that goal.

To incentivize, I've released another chapter. Please take a look and spread word if you enjoy what you see. I'm thrilled to be able to allow more Nazis to be corralled by the magnificent Dracula.

Thank you,

Pat Duncan

Hey everyone, 

Just taking a chance to post a quick reminder. I've made the choice to enter my novel "The Children of the Forest" into the Sword & Laser Contest through Inkshares. After completing the first draft of the final copy, I decided this was the best way to get the book quickly into readers hands. This means that everyone who has currently pre-ordered a copy of my book has been refunded their purchase(s). 

I'd like to ask that you please use the credit you've been refunded to support me with a new sale to help me take 1st in the contest! This has the added benefit of being cheaper, as the contest is based on unique orders instead of needing to reach a goal-line. Readers only have to support me with a digital sale for a measly $10.00!

Thanks everyone!

I got you a Christmas present. 

Well, I’m kind of ’re-gifting’ it. Every year, me and my co-conspirator Jonathan Sparks get a bunch of friends together and make a Christmas album. This is our sixth one from last year, and I just uploaded it all on Soundcloud and made a fancy playlist for you all to enjoy.

As should come as no surprise: it is weird. But some nice songs! Your heart will be warmed even as you are confused.

AMOD Update: Turned in copy edits this week, so we are full speed ahead into proofing, production, and staying on schedule for release in April. It was odd/nice to do my final ’creative’ work on the book - there’s always a tiny ache along with the relief as my brain gets to free up resources for other projects. I am beyond proud of this book - and very eager for you all to get to read it.

Reviews and blurbs. Over the next few weeks you’re going to start seeing me actively address and educate you about the massive importance of reviews to the success of AMOD. All of the backers should be receiving copies of the book before the official release - those early reviews are crucial to the long-term survival of the book. I’m also on the hunt for extremely influential and famous people who want to tarnish their reputation by reading the book and giving us a blurb for the cover - which is daunting!

Thanks as always for your support and attention! Enjoy the Shadeaux Bros!

So I've been noodling the pizza party idea (lol it's a food pun!) and I'm thinking it will go something like this.  When we hit 50 preorders I will raffle off a $20 gift certificate to your local pizza place.  Obviously, it has to be something I can buy online.