Weaponized is real!

That’s right, I’ve received many messages and photos that many of you have received copies of Weaponized in the mail. I do hope that you enjoy the strange book and I sincerely apologize for any nightmares caused by the content within its pages.

Here’s where I ask one more thing of you. If you wouldn’t mind reviewing Weaponized on Goodreads, and Amazon I would be forever in your debt. Reviews for new novels are how we live and die in the direct market and having your honest thoughts on the book will go a long way into enticing new readers to take the jump. 

Amazon

Goodreads

And that’s it! Go forth and enjoy this awfully weird book! 

Well hello there,

So? How was your summer? Mine was busy. Too busy to run a book funding campaign properly. I started funding Arch-Android  (the sequel to The Life Engineered) around the time of Nerdtacular in late June. It got a good start but soon after I got caught up in going to other conventions like Necronomicon and DragonCon along with promoting A God in the Shed after its June 15 release and writing the sequel to A God in the Shed!

Long story short, I dropped the ball.

But I’m back! 

Inkshares was good enough to grant an extension to the Arch-Android campaign. Let’s get 750 pre-orders as soon as possible and get this over with. The faster this funds, the faster you can read the final product and I am so eager for you to read this one. 

Here’s what you can do to help:

• If you haven’t, read The Life Engineered (it’s only 0.99$ on Inkshares right now)
• Pre-order one (or more) copy(ies) of Arch-Android.
• Encourage your friends and family to also pre-order by lending them your copy of The Life Engineered

What do you get for helping?

• Every pre-order and reference gives you an additional chance to win a KOBO Aura ebook reader with original art by me on the back.
• 3 or more pre-orders gets your name in the acknowledgements in the back of the book
• All physical copies are signed and come with an exclusive bookmark
• Participation in any further promotion I may add as the campaign progresses
• My eternal gratitude

So there you have it. Expect more updates and more previews and information as this campaign progresses. Let me put this bluntly: If everyone who receives this pre-orders a copy, we’re done. The book is funded. How cool is that? The campaign ends on December 7th.

Above: The KOBO Aura ebook reader  

Thanks!

10/9/17

Well, it has been a day full of surprises, let me tell you!

First, I learned today (and it was confirmed by Elena), that the original deadline for Launchpad was incorrect! That’s right -- all this time I’ve been working towards a 10/10 finish when the real contest deadline is October 16 (that’s next Monday).

So I am psyched to have the chance to continue building my reader base over the next week, but I know all the other authors will be doing the same thing, so I will keep at it right until the end. The thing that terrifies me about this is that I built my entire marketing plan around that first date so now, I’m flying without a net a little. But that’s where the magic happens, right?

Second, I was thrilled to learn today that "The Devil You Don’t" was selected as the October pick for the Rite of Passage Syndicate on Inkshares. I am delighted and humbled that this wonderful group of folks has elected to throw their backing behind my book. 

Where does that leave things then?

As of right now--with one week left--I am in fourth place, and thanks to the syndicate and several orders that have come in over the past 24 hours, am working towards that elusive top three. But there is a lot of time left, and I can’t just kick back and assume orders will roll in. I know it takes a lot of focus and hard work to bring in pre-orders, and I’m up for the challenge.

If you haven’t ordered yet, the clock has reset, but it is still winding down. Please consider a pre-order -- if not for you, a gift for the book lover in your life? A donation to your local library? The possibilities are endless!

And if you have ordered, you know you have my constant and sincere thanks for your support.

I’ll update again soon. Until then, "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more."

Best, 
Susan

See you tomorrow Albuquerque! 

Thank you to Adrian Gomez at the Albuquerque Journal for doing an article about my signing at Barnes and Noble Coronado in Albuquerque tomorrow at 2PM. I hope to see some of you there! Share the article with this link: https://www.abqjournal.com/1073668/sunshine-is-forever-a-poignant-story-about-youthful-depression.html

Thanks everyone! 

Kyle T. Cowan

To all of you who’ve already been such great supporters of my upcoming debut novel, "Skavenger’s Hunt," I’m happy to say we’re closing in on the finish line. Everything’s good-to-go for our November 14th pre-holiday-season release date, with the printer about to push the button on our very first round of books. Today’s update, though, is one I’ve been looking forward to sending your way for quite awhile now, because I get to give you the first-ever look at the last component of the book itself: Will Staehle’s flat-out amazing cover. 

You’ve seen the front cover for awhile now; which, in my opinion, was so good we could have simply placed a blank cover on the back and we would have been okay. But, no surprise, Will reached into his bag of designing talent and pulled out a SECOND image that staggered me: a silhouette time-traveling image of the story’s main character, young Henry Babbitt, tumbling through an hour-glass from present-day New York on Christmas Eve, into summer-drenched New York from long ago. July 10th, 1885, to be exact, where the lion’s share of the adventurous story takes place.

Will - I’m grateful to you for giving my first book such a fantastic look. I’m dead-honest when I say it’s one of the best book covers I’ve seen in a long, long time, and I’m beyond thankful that it’s on mine. Thanks to Adam Gomolin who had the intuition to bring Will onboard. Thanks as well to Oscar-winning producer Mark Johnson, to the Wibberleys (writers of the film "National Treasure") and to Ocean’s 13 writer Brian Koppelman (creator of Showtime’s "Billions") for their incredible blurbs in support of the project. 

To all of you, the early backers of "Skavenger’s Hunt," stay tuned as we approach that November 14th release date, because I’ll be out pushing the book every opportunity I can get. And a special thanks to Inkshares marketing wiz Angela Melamud for helping spread the word. We’ll keep everyone posted on the when-and-where of bookstore reading-and-signing events. 

Until then, hope you enjoy this look at Will’s cover, which you’ll be holding in your hands just a few weeks from now. The "Hunt" is about to begin...

Greetings, Faoii!

I cannot even begin to describe what today has been like, my warriors. To know that The Last Faoii is finally a real book available to everyone. After so many years of hard work and uncertainty... it’s indescribable. 

People are already answering the call to fight the next wave. We currently have two reviews on Amazon and seven ratings on Goodreads. In addition to that, the amazingly-talented and incredibly supportive Evan Graham (Author of Tantalus Depths) wrote this wonderful and humbling update to honor our success. 

I’ve been posting reviews in an album on my Faoii Facebook Page (Like us if you haven’t already) but the newest one is a bit long for that. However, it’s too good not to share. So I’ll leave you with another Faoii’s battlecry and once again thank you for all of your continual and greatly appreciated support. This could not have happened without your help and will not go any further without you, either. 

Thank you, my warriors. Keep those shields up.

Review via Goodreads: 

 "An amazing first novel from a young voice. It’s apparent that Ms Nelson comes from a world that I have only glimpsed. Her characters are strong with personality; you will care about them and remember them. Her world is unique and it’s apparent that we’ve glimpsed only a bit of the whole. 

Initially, one might assume this to be a period in the world we know. It’s not. There are so many small signs, indicators, beliefs that simply aren’t part of what we see every day. This is a well conceived world of it’s own.

I enjoy varied books and movies. I read SF heavily and Fantasy occasionally. I have no direct comparison for this; it’s unique and fulfilling. In some instances, it reminded me of Asimov’s Foundation series, but mostly as you learn more of the running of the world.

Marketed as a YA book, I (a mid-50s male,) thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are vivid, the world interesting, the story fast and engrossing. As the main character is a woman of color, this is a bit unusual in today’s books and is inclusive, though natural within the world of the Faoii. 

Nothing here is quite what one expects; everything here is quite what it should be."