Dear friends and followers:

Christmas is coming. So is my birthday. If you’re following the Julian calendar, those are on the same day. I think it’s pretty clear what I’d like for Christmas....

Well, the List contest continues apace. Thanks to you, I’m still in second. There’s no place for complacency, though, as I am not convinced that the numbers are entirely accurate: I believe that some of the books behind me have uncounted readers, which puts them a lot closer to knocking me out of position than I’m comfortable with. And things could easily change over the next month.

I’m grateful to all of you for having gotten me this far.

Meanwhile, I have not been neglecting the book itself in favour of selling it. I’ve updated the first two chapters on the site; I’ve worked out the actual calendar-date timeline for the events of the novel, and I am happy to say that the story officially begins on 31 October 1924. I’d very much like to be able to hand this in first thing in the new year, but that’s all dependent on what happens with the List.

Speaking of timelines and the upcoming New Year, it’s been a while since I made any recommendations. So here are a couple that I believe you’d enjoy, and whose authors would also appreciate the Christmas gift of your vote of confidence.

1) "Manifesto", by Daniel Poort. This one’s a psychological thriller about a small-town cop on the trail of a serial killer. Poort promises an escalating body count; and of course nothing says edge-of-your-seat like murder and betrayal.

2) "Shady Place", by David Byrne. A more light-hearted take, I think. A police detective and a mobster retire to the same seniors’ community, and find they have to work together to prevent a murder. If they play "good cop/bad cop", I wonder which would be which....

Until next time: have fun, and keep reading. And tell all your friends!

Happy December Everyone!  I hope that as we move to the darkest time of the year you have your own lights to guide you through until spring.

I’ve got a few pieces of news I want to share with you all, now that November is all done.  Why November, you ask?  Because of NaNoWriMo, of course.  The genesis of these incredible Fun and Games was a month of throwing myself into “literary abandon,” and each year since 2007 (with the exception of last year’s editing frenzy) I have written a 50,000+ word first draft between November 1st and 30th.  For instance, the novel that you read was written in November, 2010, with the sequels written in 2011 and 2012 (yes, the series is complete(ish)).  After taking a year off into a different direction (don’t ask, it was awful), 2014’s novel was a standalone Chuck-centric story.  This year focused on Stu, and while I’m not done yet (about 53k words and counting), I can now take a breather without feeling guilty.

A couple exciting things happened during November.  First, we crossed the 2,000 sale threshold, which is absolutely amazing.  I sold just under 800 copies during the frantic funding phase, so that’s over a thousand copies purchased by readers through amazon and friendly local booksellers all across the country.  That’s super cool.  If you come across a free range novel, feel free to swing by Facebook and share it!

Second, the audio book was released, and is now available for download via audible.  You may remember that I shared the webpage of the supremely talented actor who performed it, Cassandra Lee Morris.  I’ve listened to a good chunk, and she really knows how to bring a story to life.  Sitting on some audible credits or just want to experience It’s All Fun and Games on your commute?  Swing on by and pick it up.

December is a season for giving, and my publisher, Inkshares, is giving everyone a great deal – you can order It’s All Fun and Games through my project page for only $4.99, and that includes free domestic shipping.  A great gift for all those cousins, nephews, nieces, and anyone else who would like a fun fantasy adventure to read this winter.  It’s not just my novel on sale, either – there’s a whole host of books all there for the grabbing.  Want a suggestion?  Shoot me an email, or check out my blog at authordavebarrett.com.  I’ve been away from it, but I think a nice book recommendation list would be a great addition, once I re-learn how to work the website.

On the review front, after my last email there was a flurry of posts on Amazon.  As a reminder, indie authors live and die by the review and the referral.  If you liked it (or your kid liked it, or your dog liked it) please pop over to your favorite ecommerce site (Amazon, B&N, BAM, or all of them!) and leave me a review!  And of course, if you’ve got a Goodreads account, that’s a great place to go too.  I’ve got 66 reviews at Amazon right now.  I’d love to hit 100 by Christmas!

Lastly, I’ve had a bunch of people asking me about when the sequel would come out.  At least three or four people, that is.  I’m not entirely sure if Inkshares is the place for book two (in a non-contest world I would need to sell 750 preorders at an increased price of $20 per book to fully fund), but I will probably be testing the waters along that front sometime in the near future.  Look for another update with a link to the new project page. 

As always, you can find It’s All Fun and Games on Facebook, and me on Twitter.

And as always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support.

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

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.

OMG, I just had to report on this! Rob Batten and his Human Resources has just won one of the major prizes in the 2016 Launch Pad competition! He is one of the two recipients of the Scott Free prize. That’s Ridley Scott!!!

Congratulations, Rob! What a terrific accomplishment! I am happy for you, and actually, this helps us all on Inkshares. It helps solidify this platform as one that can deliver top-notch works, with ideas suitable for mass consumption. We are on Hollywood’s radar! Thanks, Rob!!

Again, congratulations, Rob! Great job! :D

Happy Cyber-Monday!!

Today should be a holiday. A day dedicated to searching online for the best bargains while wearing your pajamas and sipping on a strong cup of coffee. Unfortunately, it is not a holiday, so we all have to shop in between answering e-mails and reviewing spreadsheets.

In the spirit of Cyber-Monday Inkshares is running a massive sale. Most books published during 2016 are half off and ship for free in the U.S.

That means The Catcher’s Trap is only $6.99

Click the link below and get your copies. If you live in the tri-state area I’ll be happy to meet you and sign your copies.

Have a fantastic week my friends and take advantage of this great offer.

At 81,369 words, yesterday I submitted the final draft of The Punch Escrow manuscript to Inkshares and Geek & Sundry. There are still a couple of rounds of developmental editing coming which may see the story change somewhat, but I’m fairly confident the narrative arc is concrete (or firmly crooked, to quote Douglas Adams) at this point. Good news is: the book is coming on for super duper sure in July 2017

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Here’s the schedule going forward for those following along at home:

TK hand in manuscript: 11/28/16
MH to begin dev edit: 11/28/16
Dev edit letter/assessment due back to TK: 12/9/16 (1.5 wks)
Dev edit rework due to MH: 12/30/16 (3 wks)
Dev round 2/line edit due to TK: 1/11/17 (~2 wks)
Dev edit cleanup due to MH: 1/30/17 (2.5 wk)
Final dev edit version to INK: 2/6/17 (1 wk)
INK hands MS to CE (copyeditor): 2/13/17
Copyedit due to TK: 2/27/17 (3 wks)
TK’s copyedit review due to CE: 3/13/17 (2 wks)
Clean copyedited MS to INK: 3/20/17 (1 wk) {INK will print galleys}
INK hands CEMS to proofer: 3/20/17 
Proofread due to TK: 4/4/17 (2 wks)
Proof comments due from TK: 4/9/17 (1 wk)
Clean proofed MS to INK: 4/18/17 (1 wk) 
Send clean proofed MS to interior designer: 4/25/2017
Book published: 7/11/2017
Geek & Sundry SDCC book launch: 7/19/2017