There is big news on the Crow’s Gambit front! The book has been selected as the July 2017 pick for the “Break the Bechdel with Strong Female Characters Syndicate”. The syndicate comment was: 

Patrick Tebbe’s Crow’s Gambit takes the reader into another world that is fascinating and realized. Luckily for us, our guide is Cassie--a smart, savvy protagonist who will pilot her way through both politics and alien interactions with a calm, cool and collected brilliance. 

The interest and support of the Syndicate and its members is greatly appreciated. Thank you. 

More to come soon...

PT

Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,

Good news everyone! Proteus has received the honor of its very first syndicate selection!

The Fantasy Syndicate has selected Proteus as their pick for the month of July. Why the Fantasy Syndicate? I...have no idea. Proteus is definitely science fiction, through and through. But I’m not going to question it! It’s a good thing! Plus, Proteus is an adaptation of Shakespeare, and Shakespeare goes hand in hand with fantasy, so...there. I found a connection!

Regardless of the reasoning, I am incredibly grateful and honored that the Fantasy Syndicate would consider Proteus a worthy selection, even from across genres. With the contribution of their support, we are within arms’ reach of the coveted 250 pre-order milestone: the one-third marker towards full funding.

More will come soon as I make more progress with Proteus, both in writing and campaigning. Stay tuned, and remember to keep telling everyone you know about Proteus. We’ve got a lot of ground yet to cover!

Wow... what a month it’s been.

Since the launch of A God in the Shed, it’s been a bit of a wild ride. Did a couple of local signing events, went to a convention in Utah... started writing the sequel.

While I’d love to bore you with the nitty gritty details however, this isn’t my diary. There’s new I need to share with you. News you want to know about.

Let’s start with this:

Gorgeous isn’t it? Joseph Gates of Gates of Imagination is making six of these for me. Each will have a hand written, unique secret about the story inside. You want one? Well, good news.

When I reach 100 reviews on Amazon, I’ll be raffling off one of these beautiful leather-bound copies of the book. I’ll randomly pick one of the first 100 reviewers as the winner. If I can’t get in touch with them after 48hrs, I’ll pick another. Until I have an address where to mail this beauty. So if you read the book and have a few moments, might be worth writing a short review. It doesn’t even matter if you rate it 1 star. You’re still eligible. And if you have a few extra seconds, copy and paste that review to Goodreads.

What else? Oh yeah!

You want an audiobook of A God in the Shed? If Amazon isn’t lying to me, you’ll be able to get one on July 18th. So if you’re less of an eye-person and more of an ear-person, this might be up your alley. I know you can already pre-order, so there you go.

Finally, why not take a moment to check out my other project currently funding on Inkshares? The sequel to my debut novel, The Life Engineered, is taking pre-orders. You don’t even need to have read The Life Engineered to enjoy it (though it adds that extra layer, and The Life Engineered is only 99 cents on Inkshares right now). Check it out!

As always and forever, thank you friends. You absolutely rule.

JF

Hello Machiners! A pleasant Saturday to you! 

We have VERY significant news on a numbers of fronts. I am going to list the highlights just below, so you can quickly see what I’m covering in this update - then you can read more on any topic!

1. We have an AUDIOBOOK!

2. A second bookstore event - East Coast-style!

3. Last Machine artwork in an ART GALLERY!

4. Slash and burn prices! eBook now only $1.99!

5. 1,500 total book sales!

6. We need more REVIEWS on Amazon!

#1: I know. I said this was a big-time update! So for the AUDIOBOOK. It’s available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. It’s narrated by voiceover professional Scott R. Smith. It’s amazing! Don’t take my word for it, listen to it yourself!

This is what I’m doing. If you haven’t read Last Machine yet, no problem! Send me a message - Email (matthew.sobin@gmail.com), or on Twitter or Facebook, and I’ll send the first 10 people a coupon code to get the Audiobook for FREE. That’s right! I assume that if you are receiving this email, that you at least have some interest in reading / listening to Jonathan’s story. All I ask in return for the free audiobook is a review on Amazon and Goodreads. It can be as short as a sentence or two about why you liked the book. Reviews are critical - more on this below!

#2: Do you live in the New York area? I’d love to see you in October. I will be doing a second event, this time at Book Revue in my hometown of Huntington, NY! I’ll be reading and signing copies, and refreshments will be served. What could be better? It’s on Monday, October, 23 from 7-9 pm. 

It’s by no means required, but if you want you can RSVP here! 

#3: Are you in the San Francisco Bay Area? Super treat for you then! The artwork for The Last Machine in the Solar System is part of an Art Gallery Show! So crazy cool. It’s an amazing show with an eclectic mix of SciFi and Steampunk artwork. The show runs through August 5 at the Sun Gallery in Hayward, CA. The ARTISTS RECEPTION is next Saturday, July 22 from 1-4 pm. I’ll be there with the legend himself, Jack Katz. I hope you can join us for artwork and a double signed copy! :-) 

Also, not necessary, but you can RSVP here!

#4: Look, I want everyone to read this story. I really do! The eBook is now available on Inkshares and Amazon for only ONE DOLLAR & 99 CENTAVOS. You like SciFi, right? So please do us all a favor and grab Last Machine for Kindle and leave a review on Amazon :-) 

#5: 1,500 sales?! Holy cow!! Thank you, and THANK YOU! Next stop, 2K! 

#6: This has somewhat been covered already, but it bears repeating: REVIEWS are the absolute lifeblood of newly published books. We need to get to 100 on Amazon. It’s not really an option. Like winning the contest, that wasn’t optional either. So let’s make a big push! We’re at 32 on Amazon right now. 68 to go! 

As mentioned before, we have an Audiobook now and I’m offering it for FREE in exchange for Reviews on Amazon and Audible. Also, I’ve slashed the eBook to $1.99. No barriers to entry for this entertainment! Leave a REVIEW!! 

I will leave you with this today. The Last Machine is doing amazingly well, and I have you all to thank. That’s forever. But there’s still a ways to go. Below, you can see us in the Tri-City Voice newspaper about the Sun Gallery exhibit, and in Green Apple Books, a San Francisco institution, on the fiction table - next to some guy named Neil Gaiman! Keep spreading the word!

Glorious news! The Walls are Closing In has begun developmental edits.

I received a thorough twelve-page document with insights, as well as several notes within the body of my manuscript, from the Head of Story Development at Inkshares, Matt Harry.

I was so pleased to read Matt’s feedback and suggestions, as he certainly seems to understand what I am striving to accomplish with this novel. I know that he and the rest of the team at Inkshares will guide me in strengthening the story, ensuring that all of you receive the best version possible.

Matt has worked on Tal Klein’s Punch Escrow, which recently signed a deal with Lion’s Gate, and JF Dubeau’s recently released A God in the Shed, optioned by Skydance. Matt’s own book, Sorcery for Beginners, will be out in October.

Check out a recent video with Matt Harry, discussing the development of A God in the Shed.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/224256631

Over the next several weeks I will be hard at work incorporating Matt’s suggestions, and then I will send the revised manuscript to him for round two. It also sounds like Inkshares has started kicking around some ideas for the cover. I will keep you posted on all fronts.

Until next time,

Jacqui

Hey early followers of Black Cloud. This book has been a long time coming and I wanted to say thank you for your early interest. In the wee hours of this morning I have quietly launched the funding campaign for Black Cloud. I’m sure you’ll all get an email about it.

I wanted to "soft launch" this campaign because I’m doing something that I think might be a first on Inkshares. I’m giving away a free audiobook of my first novel to everyone who pre-orders Black Cloud. I’m really excited about it. I think it’s a really great value and a great way to entice folks to order the new book. It feels really good to me to do it this way because you as a reader are actually getting something immediately for your money. PLUS you’re investing in a future book. PLUS you get the audiobook whether I make my funding goal or not. It’s really win/win for the reader!

I hope all of you will go check out the updated project page. There is a promo video up now that features an audiobook style presentation of the first chapter. I think it’s a good listen. I punched the "audio" portion up a bit with some music and sound effects. You’ll hear what I mean.

I’m assuming most of you are fellow authors. I hope this experiment goes well. I welcome comments, input, questions, etc. If you guys are able, please check it out and pre-order a copy if you want. In about five days I’ll start the real push for support. I just wanted some time to make sure everything was working smoothly before I started begging people to buy books.

I really appreciate your time and I hope you all have a great day!

- Landon

Yes, finally there’s news from the realm! And it’s short and sweet:

1. KOD in Developmental Editing. 
2. New Books in the Making...

1.) Developmental Edits have begun on Kingdom of Dreams! I’m hoping my editor can help me take this project to the next level. It needs a ceiling and a finish, my great hope is that we will achieve both. We are looking at the end of September or very early October as our end date, meaning: I will have a polished complete manuscript. When will it be in your hands as a physical novel? That depends, but the honest answer is sometime in 2018--my gut says closer to the end of the year. The publishing world is a slow monkey. That said, I should be able to set some semblance of a timeline when the book will hit actual publication. 

2.) I’ve started writing 4 new books. I know, I know. Let’s just say there’s a lot going on, and my mood swings need 4 new books to deal with my ever challenged attention span, sliver of available time, and my need to get book #2 and other subsequent novels out there rapido. I try to write 1,000 words a day--by the way I’ve fallen in love with the writing tool for the Mac, Ulysses. I choose which novel I work on based on mood, but one has worked it’s way into my full attention zone, so it will be my focus until I have the horrible, terrible, very bad first draft completed. I will not stop, no matter what. Scout’s honor. ;-)

I hope everyone is having a safe, fantastic summer. I’ll keep you posted!

Best Wishes,

Kevin

Greetings Jackolytes,

I’m currently in Saskatoon, Canada, the spiritual home of Jack and Sync City. Thursday morning at 7:50 am (CST), I’m going to be on the CBC Saskatoon morning radio show to talk about the book.

If you’re in Saskatoon, you can find it at 94.1 FM. If you are not in Saskatoon, then the following link will get you there: CBC Saskatoon Morning. You can find the live stream in the top right hand corner.

As I mentioned, the time is 7:50 am (CST) - you’ll have to work your local time out yourself!!

Enjoy the day.

Cheers,

Peter